Lloyd-Jones on Whitefield

Wow! This is a rare treat (for me, at least): A short, 14-minute documentary on George Whitefield (arguably the greatest preacher of the 18th century) narrated by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (arguably the greatest preacher of the 20th century).

HT: Adrian Warnock

Music to encourage the soul

The last couple days the Lord has ministered to me through YouTube and the old-school gospel choir music that I’ve been digging up at that site. Listen to these selections from back in the day, and meditate on the Scripture verses I’ve included with each selection. May the Lord encourage your soul.


“We Need to Hear From You”
(1990 - Andraé Crouch)

2 Chronicles 7:14
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Revelation 3:13, 22
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'”





“God Never Fails”
(1967 - Harold Smith’s Majestic Choir of Detroit, with Harold Freeman & Charles Johnson on lead)

Hebrews 13:5-6
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”





“I’ll Get Home Someday”
(1970 – George Jordan & the choir of Christian Tabernacle Baptist Church, Chicago)

Hebrews 13:14
“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”

Philippians 3:14
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”





“The Potter’s House”
(1990 – recorded by Tramaine & the late Walter Hawkins. Incidentally, this song is composed by V. Michael McKay, whom I had the privilege of meeting and talking to, just 3 weeks ago!)

Jeremiah 18:1-6
“The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I... will let you hear my words.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the LORD came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.’”





“My Soul Loves Only You”
(1983 - Sandra Crouch)

Song of Solomon 3:1-4
“On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not. I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not. The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’ Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go…”

Televised interview of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

John Piper called Dr. David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “One of the greatest preachers of the 20th century” and, from what I’ve read and heard from him, and read about him, I would tend to agree.

Thanks to Adrian Warnock’s blog, I was made aware of this fascinating video which shows a portion of a televised interview from 1970 of Dr. Lloyd-Jones. My understanding is that Dr. Lloyd-Jones made very few appearances on television, so seeing him “live” on this video is a treat for those of us who never had the opportunity to know or see him while he was living. The Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust produced this video to mark the anniversary of Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ death, 30 years ago this week—St. David’s Day, March 1, 1981.

At one point in this interview, Dr. Lloyd-Jones was asked about his call to preach: “Did you feel in yourself that you had the qualities that would make a successful preacher?” Dr. Lloyd-Jones answered:

“I really was never concerned about that. My concern was with what needed to be preached, and it was this—with burning conviction as to the message needed—that drove me on. I’ve sometimes told people of a story which will help to answer your question, how, having taken my decision to go into the church and to preach, someone very near to me was walking with me one night and asked me the question, ‘How do you know that you’ll be able to preach? You know what you can do as a doctor. Why not go on with that and exercise Christian influence? What if you find suddenly that you can’t preach?’ Well, I’d only tried preaching about three times, in very small places, and the only answer I could give was this: ‘I know what I want to preach and what I think must be preached and I have a feeling, somehow, that I’ll be able to say it.’”

Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ answer reminded me somewhat of my own call, 22 years ago, to preach, and the burden Christ laid on my heart for His church and for a lost world.