Book Review: A Heart Aflame for God
A Heart Aflame for God by Mathew Bingham couldn’t have come at a better time. In the last five to ten years, I have seen a resurgence of interest among young Christians in the topic of “Spiritual Formation,” or more specifically the “Spiritual Disciplines.” Now, this is not a book dedicated to identifying all the Spiritual Disciplines that exist. As the subtitle suggests, it aims to describe “A Reformed Approach to Spiritual Formation.” That thread is what sets this book apart from other works like Donald Whitney’s “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life” or Richard Foster’s “A Celebration of Disciplines.”
In the first section of the book, he seeks to identify terms. Shockingly, not everyone agrees on the question, “What is spiritual formation?” In Bingham’s research among the Reformers and the Puritans, he noted a phrase many used called “keeping the heart” that seemed very similar to this pursuit of spiritual formation. Bingham puts forth three particular practices that make up the core of the reformed tradition when it comes to keeping the heart known as the Reformation Triangle: 1) hearing from God, 2) reflecting on God, and 3) responding to God. More simply put: scripture, meditation, and prayer.
Bingham shows how these three practices come straight from the reformation, and no matter what “spiritual discipline” you are looking to grow in, it should always be grounded in these three. Perhaps my favorite chapter, though, coincides with how the Puritans would use God’s created natural world as a way to evoke worship and awe of the Lord. The Puritans were so poetic in how they allowed scripture to point them to consider God’s handy work in creation. Then, after considering it intensely, their meditations led them to worship and admiration of the Lord!
If your desire is to grow your affections for God’s word, prayer, and the spiritual disciplines, then I strongly encourage you to pick up Matthew Bingham’s book! It has reawakened in me an earnest desire to open up the writings of the Puritans, many of whom I haven’t studied in years. This book is a blessing for the modern age to stay grounded in truth as we seek to be transformed into the image of Christ.
Review by Ryan Hamon