A.W. Tozer: a study in heart versus head

A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer by Lyle Dorsett

In Tim Challies review of Tozer's biography he says,

"Those who have enjoyed Tozer’s writings will find here the life of a man who can and should be much admired for his deep spirituality and for his overwhelming love for Scripture. They will find here also the sad reality that Tozer, as have so many men before and after him, was willing to sacrifice his family on the altar of ministry. They will wrestle with the great irony that as Tozer grew closer to his Savior he seemed to grow more and more distant from his wife and family. His life stands as both an inspiration and a solemn warning."

Across the blogosphere very similar comments have been made, his was just the most eloquent.

I think that one further thing, and possibly the most important thing, can be learned from this. Can it really be that he "grew closer to his Savior" but "seemed to grow more and more distant from his wife and family"? I would say that it seems that Tozer subsituted "Knowledge of the Holy" for "relationship with the Holy." I have read all of Tozer's work and love it and have grown a lot from it and think it stands the test of time and nothing revealed about him personally will change that. I just think that as a result, bloggers have been letting him off the hook. Had a more recent theologian had similar revelations made about him I imagine it would not be so friendly.

1 Corinthians 13

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Drawing closer to God (who is Love according to 1 John 4:7-8) should enable deeper love relationships with our family, friends and the lost.

1 John 4:7-8

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

If that is not occuring one has to reflect on whether they really are just learning about God and not getting to know Him. I know I have taken this journey and it was painful to realize I knew alot about doctrine and theology, but very little about the heart of God.

There is a lot to learn from Tozer's story, but we must be willing to look honestly at both his story and our own.

Someone Else Beat Me to These Book Reviews...

The Politics of Freedom: Taking on the Left, the Right, and Threats to Our Liberties, David Boaz, Cato Institute, 329 pages

Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government’s Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives, Grover G. Norquist, HarperCollins, 338 pages

I have been wanting to get to this but Amcon did a great job so read their review...

http://www.amconmag.com/2008/2008_06_02/review.html

The Revolution: A Manifesto

The Preface of Ron Paul’s new book, The Revolution: A ManifestoCopyright © 2008 by Ron Paul, Courtesy Grand Central Publishing.

Every election cycle we are treated to candidates who promise us "change," and 2008 has been no different. But in the American political lexicon, "change" always means more of the same: more government, more looting of Americans, more inflation, more police-state measures, more unnecessary war, and more centralization of power.
Real change would mean something like the opposite of those things. It might even involve following our Constitution. And that’s the one option Americans are never permitted to hear.
Today we are living in a fantasy world. Our entitlement programs are insolvent: in a couple of decades they will face a shortfall amounting to tens of trillions of dollars. Meanwhile, the housing bubble is bursting and our dollar is collapsing. We are borrowing billions from China every day in order to prop up a bloated overseas presence that weakens our national defense and stirs up hostility against us. And all our political class can come up with is more of the same.
One columnist puts it like this: we are borrowing from Europe in order to defend Europe, we are borrowing from Japan in order to keep cheap oil flowing to Japan, and we are borrowing from Arab regimes in order to install democracy in Iraq. Is it really “isolationism” to find something wrong with this picture?
With national bankruptcy looming, politicians from both parties continue to make multi-trillion dollar promises of “free” goods from the government, and hardly a soul wonders if we can still afford to have troops in – this is not a misprint – 130 countries around the world. All of this is going to come to an end sooner or later, because financial reality is going to make itself felt in very uncomfortable ways. But instead of thinking about what this means for how we conduct our foreign and domestic affairs, our chattering classes seem incapable of speaking in anything but the emptiest platitudes, when they can be bothered to address serious issues at all. Fundamental questions like this, and countless others besides, are off the table in our mainstream media, which focuses our attention on trivialities and phony debates as we march toward oblivion.
This is the deadening consensus that crosses party lines, that dominates our major media, and that is strangling the liberty and prosperity that were once the birthright of Americans. Dissenters who tell their fellow citizens what is really going on are subject to smear campaigns that, like clockwork, are aimed at the political heretic. Truth is treason in the empire of lies.
There is an alternative to national bankruptcy, a bigger police state, trillion-dollar wars, and a government that draws ever more parasitically on the productive energies of the American people. It’s called freedom. But as we’ve learned through hard experience, we are not going to hear a word in its favor if our political and media establishments have anything to say about it.
If we want to live in a free society, we need to break free from these artificial limitations on free debate and start asking serious questions once again. I am happy that my campaign for the presidency has finally raised some of them. But this is a long-term project that will persist far into the future. These ideas cannot be allowed to die, buried beneath the mind-numbing chorus of empty slogans and inanities that constitute official political discourse in America.
That is why I wrote this book.
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Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Empire--Chalmers Johnson

Chalmers Johnson believes what he says very strongly. In Nemesis he does not hold back, does not give anyone the benefit of the doubt and for the most part beleves his subjects to have sinister motives. Some people who I admire and respect get caught up in the mix, which I know may turn a lot of people off to what could be one of the more important books you can read during this chapter of our nations history.

Nemesis is a fast pace read moving from well referenced example to well referenced example as it chronicles America's rapid increase in militarization and wars started since WWII. He details the errosion of constitutional checks and balances and civil liberties with conviction and passion.

Anguish and devastation are the only natural reactions to seeing some of what our gov't does behind closed doors. The gap between what our nation professes and actually practices is getting wider and wider with every passing administration. You may or may not agree with every analysis in this book but it will open your eyes.

Covert Persuasion: Psychological Tactics and Tricks to Win the Game—Kevin Hogan, James Speakman.

Covert Persuasion: Psychological Tactics and Tricks to Win the Game—Kevin Hogan, James Speakman.

While the title may sound sinister, this book is really about how to communicate. It deals with bypassing the critical, biased, defensive part of the brain and getting your point heard, getting your product sold, getting your intended result. It is written in an incredibly practical format with tips to put into practice at work or in your personal life as soon as you read them.

The Little Red Book of Sales Answers—Jeffery Gitomer.

Practical real world answers and advice from the Chief Executive Salesman. Easy to pick up, choose a topic, and put it into practice in your business immediately. Not just for those in sales, but anyone who has to build up any organization. Recruiters, financial planners, non profits, etc. Build value in yourself and people will come to you.