Resources by Topic: Christians, Past and Present

My daughter Angela and I were able to attend a Steven Curtis Chapman concert with some friends last month. Steven had asked to meet with me before the show to talk about how the Heaven book and Safely Home ministered to their family after their daughter Maria’s tragic death 16 years ago.

The following story was first told in my book The Grace and Truth Paradox, and touches on Eric Liddell’s life after he won Olympic gold. I asked Stephanie Anderson, who works on EPM’s staff and helps with my blogs, to do some research and fill in the blanks to share more of what life was like for the children in the prison camp.

This summer is the 100th anniversary of Eric Liddell winning the gold medal in the men’s 400m. Today’s blog is the repost of one I first shared about Eric in 2018, with the addition of a few paragraphs and some tweaks here and there. Even if you read this before, I hope you’ll be touched once again by his story.

Samuel James writes, “It is a remarkable providence that John F. Kennedy and C.S. Lewis died on the same day. It is likewise remarkable that while Kennedy obtained the most powerful office in the world, it is the professor, the letter writer, and the storyteller Lewis whose prophetic voice rings out most audibly and most wisely from the grave.”

At the Tuskegee Institute, George Washington Carver’s tombstone reads: “A Life that stood out as a gospel of Self-Forgetful Service. He could have added Fortune to Fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honour in being helpful to the world.”

I found out recently that Stanley Tam went home to be with Jesus on Sunday, April 16. At age 107! I will never forget talking with him at length on the phone when he was a mere 102.

Last Friday, May 19, author and retired pastor Tim Keller entered into the presence of His Lord and Savior. I have always appreciated his thoughtful, biblical,  and Christ-centered insights, and have often recommended his books, messages, and online videos.

My dear friend George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization (OM) and advocate for worldwide missions, is with Jesus. I have never known anyone like George; he is—I speak in the present tense because he is fully alive—one of a kind. His love for lost souls, his devotion to Jesus, and his passion for the Gospel marked me and countless others.

In this video clip from an event Randy Alcorn and George Verwer did together in 2013, George shares about needs around the world, and passionately implores God’s people to get a vision for giving to get the gospel to the unreached.

Several years ago I shared on my blog about Christopher Yuan’s story of God’s grace, and his deliverance from homosexual sin. He posted on Twitter on February 15: “Today marks 22 years since I walked out of prison and my parents drove me to the halfway house in Chicago. Praise God for His faithfulness!”

There are few people who I admire more than Joni Eareckson Tada. This recent article by her is so beautifully written, and just so Joni.

Alex Harris is a wonderful brother, and a true servant leader. Recently I saw one of his tweet threads, talking about his grandmother Lily, mother to his amazing mom, Sono Harris.

Garrett Kell is an author and the pastor of Del Ray Baptist in Alexandria, Virginia, and also posts great things on Twitter. I’m grateful for his life and ministry and encouragement. I hadn’t read Garrett’s testimony before, but one of our staff shared it with me. It’s powerful. I think you’ll be touched just like I was.

Josef Tson, once the best-known pastor in Romania, openly preached the gospel at a time when the Christian faith had become virtually illegal. Josef said, “During the time I was expecting to be crushed by the Romanian secret police interrogators, God became more real to me than ever before or after in my life.”