Restoring Kingdom Builders

How much do you know about great Christian leaders like John Knox, William Carey, David Livingstone, John Bunyan, and Johann Sebastian Bach?

If you’re like most Christians, probably not much.  But these men – and their wives – paved the way for evangelical Christianity to make significant inroads into their cultures … and our world.

I just finished reading all 502 pages of William J. Petersen’s book 25 Surprising Marriages: How Great Christians Struggled to Make Their Marriages Work by reading a mere 6 pages per day … and I didn’t want the book to end.

In fact, when I was done, I immediately wrote a glowing review of the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/25-Surprising-Marriages-Christians-Struggled/dp/1601261500/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383001942&sr=1-1&keywords=25+surprising+marriages

Why did this book resonate with me so much?

First, I learned so much about the accomplishments of these impactful Christian leaders.  For example, did you know that:

*Hudson Taylor shocked his missionary colleagues in China by dressing like a Chinese teacher … complete with shaved head and pigtails?

*John Knox laid the groundwork for modern democracy by challenging Scotland to fight against unjust rulers?

*George Muller built orphanages in England by faith and prayer … and without asking for either public or private funds?

*William Carey – British missionary to India – learned foreign languages like Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, Dutch and Italian in his spare time?

*David Livingstone sought to explore the interior of Africa because he believed that if slave traders got there first, Africans would never be open to the gospel?

*John Bunyan used to play tipcat – an early form of baseball – on Sunday afternoons?  (Had to throw that one in.)

*Francis Schaeffer was unknown outside his small denomination until he was in his fifties?

*When Johann Sebastian Bach was offered the job of music director in Leipzig, a councilman mumbled, “Since we cannot get the best, we will have to be satisfied with a mediocre one?”

*The great Jonathan Edwards – one of America’s premier thinkers – was forced out of his first pastorate?

*Adoniram Judson – an American – was imprisoned and tortured because the Burmese couldn’t distinguish Americans from Brits?

*John Calvin made so many enemies in Geneva that people used to name their dogs “Calvin?”

The Christian faith didn’t start the day you were born.  Our faith largely comes from Europe – especially Germany – through England and Scotland to the US.  The story of how it came to us is fascinating.

Second, I learned that getting and being married can be agonizing!

Did you know that:

*Hudson Taylor wrote Maria’s uncle in England to request her hand in marriage, unaware that Miss Addersley (Maria’s guardian and employer) had written to ask the uncle to turn down the proposal?

*Martin Luther married a runaway nun?  (Luther said that his marriage would “please his father, rile the pope, make angels laugh and devils weep, and would seal his testimony.”)

*C.S. Lewis married a former avowed atheist and Communist who had been divorced … and when he finally married Joy, they hid it from almost everybody?

*John Wesley did not marry Grace – the woman he really loved – because his brother Charles (the great hymn writer) arranged for Grace to be married to another man?

*John Wesley then married Molly, and that their marriage was “a miserable failure,” causing Wesley to write later in life, “Love is rot?”

*William Carey’s wife Dorothy became severely depressed in India … and never really came out of it?  (Some think she went insane.)

*David Livingstone disappeared for 4 1/2 years while exploring the interior of Africa … and that his wife assumed that she would never see him again?  (She did.  When I saw his memorial in Westminster Abbey, I was so moved that I burst into tears.)

*Billy Graham’s wife Ruth once dug her shoes into Billy’s shins (so he would avoid discussing politics) when US President LBJ asked Billy who his running mate should be before the 1964 election?

*John Bunyan was 31 when he married his second wife Elizabeth … and that she was only 16 or 17?

*Francis Schaeffer first met Edith by ordering her to break a date with another guy?

*Jonathan Edwards and his wife Sarah lived in a state of siege and rarely left their house for three years during the French and Indian War?

*Adoniram Judson’s wife Nancy developed a liver ailment in Burma and sailed to America for treatment … returning 28 months later?

*John Calvin put together a search team to find him a wife … and after three recommendations, was still a bachelor?

Third, I learned that these leaders willingly suffered for their faith in Christ.

Compared to these men and women, Hollywood knows little about love … and we Christians know little about suffering.

So many of these great leaders lost infants in childbirth and lost children to diseases.

They worried about finances … endured incredible hardships … and did it all because they believed God had called them to their particular ministry.

Missionaries like Hudson Taylor, William Carey, and Adoniram Judson and their wives sailed for months before arriving at their destinations.  Once they arrived in Asia, they not only faced hardships from the native people, but also from fellow missionaries.

And these people gave up so much to serve Christ.  For example, before Adoniram Judson sailed for Asia, he wrote the following letter to Nancy’s father:

“I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death.”

Surprisingly, both Nancy and her father agreed that she could marry Adoniram – who became the first American foreign missionary – even though she never saw her family again.

Finally, I resonated with a few of these leaders more than others.

I love Charles Spurgeon’s command of the English language … Billy Sunday’s affinity for baseball … John Knox’s courage in preaching God’s Word … and the desire of Jonathan Edwards and John Calvin to study and write without messing with “people problems.”

I could also relate to the fact that some of these leaders – notably Luther, Bach, Schaeffer, and Calvin – struggled at times with their temper.

Out of them all, I was more amazed by the stories of the missionaries – the Careys, the Livingstones, and the Judsons – than any of the rest.

In fact, some were so moving and meaningful that somebody should turn them into films.  We need to hear these stories … especially in our churches.

My prayer is that you will hear them too … by obtaining Petersen’s book and reading them for yourself.

Let me know what you think!