Resource Type: Puritans

Classic Puritan works and accessible guides that open up Puritan theology and spirituality for today’s readers.

Smooth Stones Taken From Ancient Brooks (8.0)

Mid-levelBusy pastorsStrong recommendation
Author: Thomas Brooks
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

In Smooth Stones Taken From Ancient Brooks, Thomas Brooks gives us short, sharp counsels drawn from Scripture, aimed at strengthening faith and correcting spiritual sluggishness.

The style is direct and practical. We are given memorable sentences that press truth home, rather than long discussions that leave us unchanged.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

We should read this when we need steady, Scripture shaped exhortation that can be taken up in small portions. Brooks is skilled at turning doctrine into devotion, and devotion into obedience.

It also helps pastors who want material that stirs the heart without manipulating the emotions. The counsels are plain, earnest, and well suited to reorienting our priorities under Christ.

Used well, it becomes a tool for personal renewal, and a quiet aid for pastoral conversation.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend Smooth Stones Taken From Ancient Brooks for those who want brisk, weighty encouragements that keep us close to the Lord and his Word. It is a good companion for seasons of distraction.

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Spiritual Mindedness (8.4)

Mid-levelBusy pastorsStrong recommendation
Author: John Owen
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

In Spiritual Mindedness, John Owen presses us toward a settled frame of heart that is shaped by heaven, governed by truth, and warmed by communion with Christ.

We are not given mere religious feelings. We are given a careful, searching guide to what it means for the Spirit to form the inner life, so that our public ministry is not hollow.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

We should read this when our service feels busy but our affections feel thin. Owen helps us diagnose the drift of the heart, and then calls us back to a life that is nourished by Scripture and prayer.

We are helped to see how sin turns the mind inward, and how grace reorders our desires. That makes this book quietly powerful for pastors, because it speaks to the secret places that shape preaching, shepherding, and endurance.

Used slowly, it strengthens private worship and steadies us when ministry pressures tempt us to live off fumes.

Closing Recommendation

We warmly recommend Spiritual Mindedness for pastors and serious readers who want deep heart work that leads to humble, Christ focused ministry. It is best read with time, honesty, and prayer.

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A Sure Guide To Heaven (8.4)

Mid-levelBusy pastorsStrong recommendation
Author: Joseph Alleine
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

Many professing Christians live with little assurance, and many others rest on assurance without real conversion.

Alleine writes to lead readers into gospel clarity, showing what saving faith looks like and how believers may walk in peace without presumption.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

This is a searching book. It presses the necessity of new birth, repentance, and a living union with Christ. Yet it also offers real comfort, because it keeps holding out the free promises of the gospel to needy sinners.

For pastoral ministry, it is a steady tool for counselling on assurance, self examination, and spiritual fruit. It helps us speak honestly to both the complacent and the fearful.

The style is direct and urgent. That is a strength, though it is best read with patience and prayer, especially for tender consciences who need encouragement alongside challenge.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend it as a bracing and clarifying Puritan guide, particularly useful for evangelistic preaching and pastoral care.

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The Acceptable Sacrifice (8.3)

Mid-levelBusy pastorsStrong recommendation
Author: John Bunyan
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We can speak much about worship while neglecting what God calls acceptable worship, worship offered through Christ and shaped by the Word.

Bunyan addresses the heart of true worship, showing how faith, repentance, and reverence are bound together in the believer’s approach to God.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

Bunyan writes with plain directness. He will not let us hide behind outward forms, yet he also will not let us approach God apart from the mediation of Christ. That balance is deeply helpful for the church today.

For preaching, it offers clear lines for applying Scripture on prayer, worship, and spiritual sincerity. It helps us warn against hypocrisy without crushing those who come to God with weakness and need.

It can also serve elders and worship leaders by giving a theological foundation for gathered worship that is reverent, joyful, and regulated by Scripture.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend it as a concise, strengthening Puritan work on worship that keeps Christ and the Bible central.

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All Loves Excelling (8.4)

Mid-levelBusy pastorsStrong recommendation
Author: John Bunyan
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

Our love for Christ can grow thin through distraction, familiarity, and unconfessed sin.

Bunyan writes to rekindle affection for Jesus, showing how the gospel restores love that is both tender and obedient.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

This is not sentimental writing. Bunyan stirs the heart by setting Christ before us, His beauty, His grace to sinners, and His worthiness of wholehearted devotion.

For pastors, it is valuable as heart preparation. It reminds us that preaching is not merely explaining truths, it is commending a Saviour. The themes here can deepen our own worship and sharpen our exhortations.

The style is accessible, especially compared with heavier Puritan works. It is well suited for personal devotion and for recommending to believers who need warmth without shallowness.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend it as a nourishing, Christward read for pastors and church members who want love for Christ to be renewed and strengthened.

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The Godly Man’s Picture (8.5)

Mid-levelBusy pastorsTop choice
Author: Thomas Watson
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We need clarity on what genuine godliness looks like, not as performance, but as a life shaped by grace.

Watson sketches the marks of a godly man with warmth and plainness, pressing the reader toward holiness that flows from union with Christ.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

Watson is searching without being cruel. He exposes counterfeit religion, yet he also helps tender believers see that true grace may be real even when it is mixed with weakness.

The book offers abundant preaching help. It teaches us how to apply doctrine to conscience, to distinguish between profession and possession, and to urge believers toward lively obedience rooted in the gospel.

It is also practical for discipleship groups and leadership development. The chapters are focused, and each section invites self examination that drives us to Christ rather than to self trust.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend it as a faithful Puritan guide for pastors who want to cultivate real godliness in themselves and in their people.

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Josiah’s Reformation (8.4)

Mid-levelBusy pastorsStrong recommendation
Author: Richard Sibbes
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

True reformation is never cosmetic. It begins with God’s Word recovered, believed, and obeyed.

Sibbes uses Josiah’s day to teach the church how repentance, reform, and renewed worship grow from a heart humbled before the Lord.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

We need older voices to remind us that renewal is not driven by novelty. Sibbes presses the primacy of Scripture, the necessity of heartfelt repentance, and the beauty of re ordered worship that honours God.

For pastors, it is a useful check on shallow activism. It calls leaders to begin with their own souls, then to labour patiently for reform that is doctrinal, moral, and corporate.

The writing carries Sibbes’s characteristic warmth. Even when he rebukes sin, he does so as one who wants sinners to find mercy and stability in Christ.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend this as a bracing, hope filled Puritan word for churches longing for renewal that is deep, biblical, and lasting.

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Learning In Christ’s School (8.3)

Mid-levelBusy pastorsStrong recommendation
Author: Ralph Venning
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

Christian growth is not mainly about gathering information, it is about being trained by Christ into humility, love, and obedience.

Venning presents discipleship as schooling under the gentle rule of Jesus, where doctrine shapes the heart and daily choices are brought under the Word.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

This is the kind of book that helps pastors keep their own souls in view. It calls us away from performing spirituality, and back to patient, hidden godliness in prayer, speech, family life, and relationships.

It is also a practical aid for preaching because it models careful, conscience aware application. The tone is earnest, and the counsel presses for real change without drifting into mere technique.

At points, the older Puritan style asks for slower reading. Yet the reward is substantial, and many sections can be used for personal meditation, leadership training, and discipleship of new believers.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend it as a steady, sanctifying companion for pastors who want their ministry to flow from a disciplined life with Christ.

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The Mortification Of Sin (8.7)

Mid-levelBusy pastorsTop choice
Author: John Owen
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We cannot treat sin as a small inconvenience, it is a living enemy that aims at our joy in Christ.

Owen’s classic work teaches the believer how to fight sin biblically, not with mere resolve, but with Spirit given faith, watchfulness, and gospel shaped obedience.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

Owen is relentlessly realistic about the heart. He shows how sin deceives, how it gains ground through neglected duties, and how it must be opposed early rather than excused.

The strength is that the battle is rooted in union with Christ. Mortification is not self salvation, it is the fruit of grace. That keeps tender consciences from despair and keeps complacent hearts from presumption.

For preaching and discipleship, it gives language that is clear, searching, and deeply pastoral. It helps us press holiness without moralism, and comfort sinners without softening the call to repentance.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend this as essential reading for pastors, and as a wise guide for any believer who wants to take sanctification seriously.

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The Rare Jewel Of Christian Contentment (8.7)

Mid-levelBusy pastorsTop choice
Author: Jeremiah Burroughs
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We live in a restless age, and even believers can confuse contentment with lowered expectations or emotional numbness.

Burroughs teaches contentment as a learned grace, a quiet strength of soul that rests in the Father’s wise providence without denying real sorrow.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

This book diagnoses complaining with unusual precision. Burroughs exposes the subtle pride beneath murmuring, then directs the heart to the sovereignty, goodness, and fatherly care of God.

It is especially helpful for pastoral ministry because it gives categories for counselling, how to speak to those crushed by disappointment, and how to correct those who demand their own way. The counsel is firm, yet it aims at healing.

For preaching, the applications are plentiful. Burroughs shows how the gospel trains us to receive Christ as enough, and to interpret hard circumstances through the promises of God rather than through fear.

Closing Recommendation

We strongly recommend it for pastors and leaders, and for any believer learning to endure with faith, patience, and quiet joy.

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