Resources by Topic: Christians, Past and Present

Tomorrow, November 22, 2018, is the 55th anniversary of the death not only of John F. Kennedy, but also of C. S. Lewis. If someone asked me which historical figures I’d like to hear answer questions, one of them would be C. S. Lewis. Providentially, he had such a session on April 18, 1944.

I think Charles Spurgeon comes as close as anyone I’ve read to articulating what Scripture as a whole reveals. Sadly, though I attended both a good Bible college and a good seminary, I never read Spurgeon or learned anything about him. I’d been a pastor for ten years before I discovered him, and then I couldn’t get enough of him.

Though you may not have known EPM staff member Karen personally, we think you’ll be touched by hearing what was shared at her memorial and learning how she served Jesus with all her heart. 

On Sunday, June 10, at 10:45 a.m., Karen Stout Coleman went to be with Jesus. This amazing sister has been a dear friend to us, full of grace and truth in the face of hardships, never losing her wit and humor, quietly saying the funniest and wisest things. She is truly one of my heroes. 

I have only one Lord, but many spiritual heroes. Here are nine of mine. 

Last week, 99-year-old Billy Graham entered the presence of Jesus. In 1970, as a brand new Christian, I heard Billy Graham for the first time at a crusade in Portland, Oregon. His friend George Beverly Shea, the soloist who preceded Billy in song in Crusades over the span of nearly sixty years, sang How Great Thou Art. 

I love the psalms, because of their beauty and because the wide range of emotions they contain grant us permission to express to God our honest questions, doubts, griefs, and despair. My friend Jon Bloom, board chair and co-founder of Desiring God, wrote about two back-to-back psalms and the powerful message their proximity expresses.

One of my favorite movies of all time is the 1981 Chariots of Fire. It’s the only reason many people are familiar with Eric Liddell, the “Flying Scotsman” who shocked the world by refusing to run the one hundred meters in the 1924 Paris Olympics, a race he was favored to win.

Luis Palau is an international Christian evangelist and the founder of the Luis Palau Evangelical Association, a wonderful ministry that EPM has supported. Joined by his sons Andrew and Kevin, Luis made a video announcing that he’s been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. 

There are many Christ-followers in the NFL, more than most people are aware. Through the ministry of Pro Athletes Outreach (PAO), in the past few years I’ve been able to speak to and meet hundreds of them, and develop personal relationship with several dozen. 

One of the great highlights of the illumiNations event I attended last year was talking with Orville Rogers, who serves Jesus with all his heart, and hearing from him as he was interviewed on stage.

David Brainerd (1718–1747) served as a missionary to the Delaware Indians of New Jersey. He was orphaned at fourteen, and in college he suffered from debilitating tuberculosis. Having endured great suffering while serving in a fruitful ministry, he died at age twenty-nine. 

My wife Nanci and I deeply love Joni. With her warm-hearted exaltation of God’s sovereign love, she has profoundly impacted our own lives and ministry, along with countless others. 

At age 22, as a very young senior pastor of one of the first-ever mega-churches, Spurgeon and his church underwent a terrible tragedy. Throughout his life he struggled with depression. To counteract that depression, he preached much on happiness and was very quick to laugh.