The Mortification of Sin by John Owens (Review)
I highly recommend The Mortification of Sin by John Owen with a foreword by J.I. Packer. The longer title of Owen's book is On the Mortification of Sin in Believers, and it is available online in entirety for free (here and here). It's another short and small book with 176 half-sized pages. I highly recommend it!.jpg "John Owen")
John Owen (1616 - 1683) was a Reformer who lived a hundred years before Jonathan Edwards, and was a famous Calvinist theologian, and church leader in England. In this book, Owen describes the sinful and fallen condition of man as inescapable, and our only recourse is to put sin to death everyday, even though it is impossible to purge ourselves from our sinful nature. Unless we daily put our sin to death, it will constantly increase and manifest itself in different ways that will overcome us.John Owen writes everything that should have been written in "Every Man's Battle" series. I highly recommend that you read it today!
By: Wyatt Houtz 
Knowing God
I'm reading Knowing God by J.I. Packer for three reasons: #1. Christianity Today rates it #5 of the top fifty most influential Christian books of all time.
#2.. It's on Mark Dever's recommend reading list.
#3. Everyone loves J.I. Packer! Elliot, graham, hybels, sproul, hayford, swindoll have endorsements on the back cover.
The book begins with a great quote by Charles Spurgeon, and then describes what "knowing God" means. The book is an expanded outline, and each chapter has a numbered list of statements that are explained in the following paragraphs, making it a good reference (in addition to being a great read!) The book is very similar to A.W. Tozer's book The Knowledge of the Holy that lists and explains all of the attributes of god. (I have mentioned Tozer's book in the past.) Tozer described God, but Packer describes how to know God.
I was surprised (and amused) in Chapter 4 The Only True God to learn about J.I. Packer's extreme opposition to any image of God -- especially targeting the veneration of icons. Packer suggests that the reader should "think twice" before having any image of God at all in their homes, (even for art?) I enjoy painting, and recently created an Icon. My icon is not used for veneration like the Orthodox Church, and at most, it is a pictorial translation of bible. Either way, it made me worry I had made an idol or somehow broke the Second Commandment! I will think about this more...
I've read a third of the book, and recommend it as challenging, enjoyable, and valuable contemporary Christian classic.
By: Wyatt Houtz 
Pages:
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