Category: HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY
Heavenly-minded, Courageous John Bradford
What would inspire a man to fearlessly preach Christ and offer words of hope in the minutes just before he was burned to death on a stake? Consider the life, and death, of John Bradford. John Bradford lived in Britain in the 16th century. He was...
Hard Work: The Spurgeon Way
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the renowned preacher of London in the 1800s, was not only a gifted leader, but was a hard worker. By the time most pastors write a few emails, wrestle with the dates for VBS and read the junk mail, Spurgeon would have completed...
Grace for a Wretch like John Newton
It must have been cold in John Newton’s study as he prepared his sermon during the last week of December, 1773. From his second-floor retreat, Newton could see the church at Olney, England, where he would preach on New Years’ Day, just as he did every...
Going Where the Need Was Greatest: The Story of Elizabeth Wilson
I can imagine Elizabeth Wilson turning over the calendar page at the end of another year and softly sighing. Perhaps she caught a glimpse of her gray hair in the mirror and wondered if she had been mistaken all these years. Perhaps God never meant for...
“With Skilled, Kind Fingers that Did Not Tremble”: The Story of Dr. Eleanor Chesnut
Eleanor Chestnut was born in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1868. Her father left the family about the time Eleanor was born. When she was three, her mother died, too, leaving her in the care of neighbors. Eleanor grew up knowing that she was a charity case and a...
A Helper Suitable for Francis Schaeffer
Edith Seville was ready for a fight. The announced topic for the young people’s meeting in her liberal Presbyterian church was “How I know that Jesus is Not the Son of God, and How I Know that the Bible is not the Word of God.” The...
A Most Unlikely Wedding
He was a most unlikely groom in a most unlikely wedding. For years Richard had waxed eloquent on his conviction that a pastor who was doing his job correctly would have no time for a family. He followed his own advice and was a confirmed bachelor...
A Pair of Warm Socks: God’s Provision for John Stam
Is there anything too small for the Lord? We often surmise (rightly so) that there is nothing too big for him, but fail to see God working in the smaller ways. Looking back at overwhelming trials, we speak about how God so obviously brought us through,...
A Story That Does Not End Well: Marianne Hearne
Marianne Hearne experienced her first real crisis of faith when she was just five or six years old. She attended a good church with her family and learned to love God through the teaching of her parents, church and extended family. So it was natural that...
Adoniram Judson: Free Thinker Set Free
The early 19th century American missionary Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) made a lasting impression on Burma, now Myanmar. His toil as a church planter, Bible translator, and sufferer for Christ is legendary. As a young man, however, he was radically opposed to the Savior he later preached....
