John Bradford was a puritan who always measured his time by whether or not it was being used to benefit others. Bradford is also the one who gives us the saying, "There but for the grace of God go I," which he uttered while watching criminals being led to their execution. He also developed a practice of recording in a journal every day his own faults, and others' virtues, so that he could learn the things about himself he needed to avoid, and the characteristics he saw in other people that he would like to emulate.
The other cool guy was John Owens, another puritan, who was a pastor. He developed a system where he would visit families from his congregation (7-8 families a day, two days a week, for an hour per family) in order to be more involved in their spiritual development. For part of his meetings Owens would quiz the family on its knowledge of scripture, the ten commandments, and catechisms and confessions. He would also encourage them in their own personal study, and make sure he was engaged with their lives.
Both of these men have a lot to offer us today, I think. Bradford seems to have had an incredible understanding of grace. I want to find if he has any published works and read read read! Owens could add a lot to our modern-day pastoral models. I realize that his exact model would probably be somewhat impractical, but wouldn't it be cool if American pastors were that engaged in the lives of their congregants? Maybe they wouldn't have to quiz the families about the same things, but they could provide some accountability, and a regular interaction about life.
Anywho... those are my thoughts at the moment.
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