The People Who Made a Pastor

A list of my top five spiritual influences, and a guide on how to access them

As a youth minister, one of my primary responsibilities is to find members in our church body who are able and willing to develop discipleship relationships with our middle/high school students. Given that I serve a fairly large church, this means I'm often meeting new people and trying to get a pulse on their understanding of God, the Bible, and the gospel. In other words, I'm trying to understand them theologically. One of my go-to questions for years has been, "Who are your top three spiritual influences?" If I'm really wanting to dig deep with someone, I'll ask them for their top six spiritual influences, with the condition that three must be people they know personally (i.e., pastors, parents, mentors) and three must be people they don't know personally (i.e., authors, popular theologians, podcasters, etc.). In my experience, this question is extremely illuminating. As the American entrepreneur, Jim Rohn said:

“You are the average of the five people you spend most time with”

I find that sentiment to be true spiritually. You can learn a lot about a person's spirituality by understanding who has influenced them theologically.

So with that idea in mind, here is a list of my top five spiritual influences, with a guide on how to access them so that (I hope) you can be influenced by them too.

** Disclaimer: I have limited myself to people who have published works/public ministries that are easily accessible to a large number of people. If this list included men who have influenced me via interpersonal discipleship, it would include men like David Pendleton (Pastor of Summit Church in Enterprise, Oregon), Timothy Ateek (Pastor of Watermark Community Church), Kylen Perry (Director of The Porch), and Tyler Briggs (My Pastor at WMFW).**

** Disclaimer 2: I have not included men like Augustine, Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, or Martin Luther on this list because despite the fact that they have had a humongous influence in shaping my spirituality (probably more humongous than I realize), it has not come through engaging with their works directly. My exposure to these theological titans has been primarily via osmosis or through more contemporary authors, as I will explain.**

I will order this list from least to most influential—although it feels difficult to rank these men because they have all had such a profound shaping effect on me.

This is my theological Mount Rushmore…

5. Dr. Tom Schreiner

Dr. Schreiner is a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and served as my primary instructor in New Testament studies. As the author of numerous books and commentaries, he was one of the first modern theologians to significantly shape my thinking. During my college years, I wrestled with fundamental theological questions—"How can we know the Bible is reliable?" "What is the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility?" "What should I make of the millennium?" and "What's the deal with dispensationalism?"—I consistently found Dr. Schreiner to be a reliable guide.

What I appreciate most about Dr. Schreiner is his careful approach to biblical matters. Collin and I often reminisce about his class, where he would emphasize that certain doctrines are particularly ~frothy~. By this, he meant that many theological issues are complex, and oversimplifying them produces simplistic solutions. He would often remind us that, "good questions deserve nuanced answers."

How to Access Dr. Schreiner

Books

Essential Reading from Schreiner Includes:

1. ESV Expository Commentary: Revelation (Volume 12)

2. The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance

Online Resources

1. Honest Answers on the Millennium

2. Honest Answers on the warning passages

3. Honest Answers on the gift of tounges

4. The Puritans

While grouping all Puritan authors together is certainly an oversimplification, I'll treat them as one unit for brevity's sake in this article. Collin and I plan to publish a detailed guide to Puritan literature in the future.

The first Puritan book I encountered was a profound one that remains in my top 5 to this day: The Mortification of Sin by John Owen. I was immediately struck by Owen's deep knowledge of both Scripture and the human heart. While reading, I often thought, "This man knows me better than I know myself"—and that man lived 400 years ago.

This depth of insight is characteristic of Puritan writers. Their robust understanding of God yielded extraordinary wisdom, discernment, and spiritual insight. I find their fervent devotion is contagious and invigorating. Reading the Puritans feels like opening a window to church history, letting the refreshing breeze of the saints of old sweep through your soul.

How to Access the Puritans

Books

Essential Reading from the Puritans Includes:

1. The Mortification of Sin: John Owen

2. The Godly Man's Picture: Thomas Watson

3. The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment: Jeremiah Burroughs

4. The Pilgrim's Progress: John Bunyan

5. The Christian in Complete Armour: William Gurnall

Online Resources

Ligonier Ministries has produced a fantastic documentary on the Puritans that you can view here

3. Dr. Jim Hamilton

Dr. Jim Hamilton is a Professor of Biblical Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is the professor who has shaped me most. I have taken Dr. Hamilton's courses in the Old Testament, as well as his course on the New Testament's usage of the Old Testament. Since I came to faith, no one has shaped my hermeneutics more than Jim Hamilton.

Dr. Hamilton emphasizes the necessity for a renewal of biblical theological interpretations of Scripture. He defines biblical theology as "The attempt to understand and embrace the interpretive perspective of the biblical authors." When I took his Old Testament class I was blown away by his incredible knowledge of the Bible, as well as his ability to take seemingly incomprehensible portions of Scripture (like the minor prophets) and make them come to life. He argues that the Bible ought to be understood as one unfolding story, and that to be good interpreters we must read the whole story in light of itself. I have been totally persuaded by that argument. In my book, if you're looking for a guide to sound and wonderfully robust exegesis, it doesn't get any better than Dr. Hamilton

How to Access Dr. Hamilton

Books

Essential Reading from Dr. Hamilton Includes:

1. Typology: Understanding the Bible's Promise-Shaped Patterns

2. God's Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology

3. What Is Biblical Theology?: A Guide to the Bible's Story, Symbolism, and Patterns

4. Psalms: Volume 1&2

Online Resources

1. Dr. Hamilton’s Sermon on the doctrine of the resurrection, and courage

2. An evening of eschatology

2. Dr. R.C. Sproul

R.C. Sproul is one of the most important theologians of the last 100 years. His teaching through Ligonier Ministries, as well as his prolific writing career, has radically impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Christians. I am one of those Christians.

I discovered R.C. in my late college years. In those days, I was regularly discussing issues of Calvinism, Covenant Theology, and Confessionalism with my roommates. I was looking for someone who could guide me in these matters... I needed a teacher... and I found my way to R.C.'s online classroom.

When I discovered R.C. Sproul, I felt like I had discovered a whole new world. Really, what I discovered was a mentor who could instruct me in the disciplines of Systematic Theology, Church History, and Apologetics. R.C. was a genius. He had an extraordinary intellectual capacity and, at the same time, had a knack for explaining complex concepts to lay people in a way that was simple, but not simplistic. I still attribute a huge part of my current understanding of things like the Doctrines of Grace, classical apologetics, and understanding of reformation theology to R.C. Sproul. If you desire to learn from one of the brightest minds that the church has recently produced at an approachable, lay level… look no further than R.C.

How to Access R.C.

As much as I love R.C.'s writings, I think he is a better teacher than an author. I would direct you first to his online lectures, and then if you desire to go deeper, to his books.

Books

Essential Reading from R.C Includes:

1. The Holiness of God

2. An Introduction to Apologetics: Defending Your Faith

3. Classical Apologetics

Sermons

1. The Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

2. Where Did Evil Come From?

Online Resources

1. Lectures on Reformed Theology

2. Lecture on Free Will

3. Lectures on the End Times

1. Dr. John Piper

Anyone who knows me saw this coming. No one has shaped me as deeply, profoundly, or broadly as John Piper.

I first encountered Pastor John at the Passion Conference on January 1st, 2020, in Atlanta, Georgia.

As a relatively young Christian who had only recently begun reading my Bible and thinking deeply about spiritual matters, I was utterly blown away by Piper's sermon. I had never seen anyone handle the Word of God the way he did. I sat in amazement as he exhorted a room of 80,000 college students to live lives wholly dedicated to the global fame of Jesus Christ, pleading with us to grasp these key truths:

A) Being a Christian means receiving a God-implanted desire for His glory that surpasses our desire for anything else in the world.

B) For a true Christian, living a life dedicated to magnifying God's glory is simply living a life dedicated to what you love most.

C) Therefore, a life wholly dedicated to the global renown of Jesus's name is a life utterly dedicated to your own eternal happiness—if what makes you happy is the glory of God in Christ.

This way of thinking was radical to me, as was the way he preached the Bible. His flat-footed, lionhearted, raw, authentic, passionate proclamation of God's supremacy over all things sent shockwaves through my soul—a soul that had long thought living for God's glory meant crucifying my desire for happiness. On New Year's Day, 2020, Pastor John took up the sword of the Spirit and cut away that faulty thinking, replacing it with a whole new vision of the Christian life.

We left the Passion Conference with a copy of Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life", which became my introduction to Christian literature. I then picked up his magnum opus, "Desiring God." This work explores Piper's organizing principle for Christian living, which he calls "Christian Hedonism." The basic assertion is simple: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Therefore, our goal as Christians is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. It was the same idea I had heard at Passion 2020, but applied to every area of life—from marriage to ministry to the mission field. Since encountering Desiring God, I have never viewed the Christian life the same way. I maintain that no book besides the Bible has shaped my worldview more profoundly than Desiring God.

Since my late college years, I have devoured Piper's online content. I haven't missed an episode of "Ask Pastor John" in over four years and have made significant progress through the episode backlog. I regularly listen to his published sermons.

Piper has done the most to show me, from Scripture, a God who is big, powerful, sovereign, and gracious. His unashamed embrace of God's absolute sovereignty in all things, and the centrality of God's glory in redemptive history, undergirds my entire understanding of Christianity. He has helped me work toward what Jonathan Edwards helped him achieve: a "God-entranced view of all things."

How to Access Piper

If you haven't explored John Piper's ministry yet, I implore you to dive in. I've heard Piper called "the gateway drug to Reformed theology"—I couldn't agree more. Allow me to be your guide...

Books

Essential Reading from Piper Includes:

1. Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist

2. Don't Waste Your Life: Make Your Life Count for Eternity

3. Providence

4. What is Saving Faith?: Reflections on Receiving Christ as a Treasure

5. The Supremacy of God in Preaching

Sermons

1. Make War Killing Sin: The Pastor and His People in the Battle Against Sin

2. Don't Waste Your Life

3. The Echo and the Insufficiency of Hell

Online Resources

1. Ask Pastor John

2. Look at the Book

3. The Preaching Class

Thank you for reading! I hope you found this resource list helpful, and I would love to engage further in the comments.

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