Biographical Sketch

Dr. Graham became known as “America’s pastor.” He preached in 185 countries all over the planet. He was friends with numerous presidents, and met personally with these men, from Harry Truman to Barack Obama. Graham was known and respected by heads of state all around the world. His son, Franklin Graham is the founder of the international relief ministry called Samaritan’s Purse. Franklin Graham once said about his father, “My father, Billy Graham, lived to be 100 years old without a scandal, because he followed the footsteps of his father in heaven with consistency.”

A true peacemaker is very hard to find in our world of pride, contention, and division. However, one such person was widely known in his day as a peacemaker. That man was Robert Cleaver Chapman. He was a humble servant of the Lord. His life testified that a man of reconciliation is a man of humility.

There are times in the life of every Christian man and woman when a decision must be made, a difficult one, and the choices are between honoring the Law of the Lord, or honoring one’s own desires, or gaining the praise of the world. For some, this decision is made quietly and in secret. For others, the decision must be made in the full glare of public limelight. At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, an athlete named Eric Liddell was forced to make his decision before a watching world.

Up until the day Preena climbed into her lap, Amy Carmichael considered her work to be evangelism throughout the villages. She did not have intentions to be a mother. But on that day in March 1901, her ministry began that lasted for over fifty years in a place she named Dohnavur. Her special work became rescuing and raising these temple girls and eventually boys for Jesus instead of the heathen gods of stone. “Children tie the mother’s feet” was a Tamil proverb. As more and more girls and babies came to Amy Carmichael, who quickly became Amma to them, she had to turn her evangelistic work over to others.

As the thirty-nine-year old pastor was heading to church, a black van pulled up. Two men jumped out of the van, seized Wurmbrand, shoved him into the back of the van, and put a gun to his head. Thus, began the imprisonment of the man who would one day write a famous book, Tortured for Christ. This book was on the importance of rejoicing in persecution. It has been a blessing and encouragement to millions of believers worldwide.

The young minister of the Gospel weighed his options. A large, influential church on Long Island had given him a gracious invitation to become their pastor. If he accepted the position, he would have a comfortable salary, an esteemed pulpit, a beautiful home, and a position of influence and notoriety that could place his name among the honored of the land. But deep in his heart, the young man knew that God had called him to take the message of the Gospel to the Indian tribes of the western frontier.

No hymn has earned such a lasting place in the collective memory of humanity quite like “Amazing Grace” by John Newton. This beloved hymn is largely autobiographical, tracing the life and spiritual experience of John Newton. But Newton wrote the hymn in such an expansive way that its truths can be applied to every repentant human heart. We are all “wretches” who need Christ’s saving grace.

James Hudson Taylor was born on May 21 in Yorkshire, among the rolling hills and valleys of northern England. His father was a chemist and also a lay preacher in the Methodist church. Hudson was a sickly child. His father often prayed that God would strengthen his weak son and make him a mighty man to accomplish great things for God’s Kingdom.

Consider these questions: Who in Chrisitan history saw dramatic spiritual fruit when he obeyed our Lord’s command to pray for laborers? What medical doctor learned to love his neighbor as himself and thus spared many lives? Who was a mother that obeyed our Lord’s command to “despise not little ones” and saw the Lord use her children in a mighty way?

This servant of the Lord has often been called “The Morning Star of the Reformation.” Like the gleaming planet Venus that fades away with the rising sun, so also John Wycliffe died on the last day of the year and gradually faded away as the Son of Righteousness began to dawn upon Europe, a land held fast in the darkness of superstition and fear. Wycliffe had reflected the true light of God, and his translation of the Bible into the English language gave promise that a day of glorious revival was coming!

You probably were not expecting a biographical sketch of jolly old Saint Nicholas on this Christmas morning! The British know him as Father Christmas. The Dutch call him Sinterklaas. In German regions, he is referred to as Weihnachtsmann, meaning “Christmas Man.” Most Americans simply know him as Santa or Santa Claus.

John MacArthur grew up in his father’s church and saw the power of the Gospel to transform lives. For a time, he lived with his widowed grandmother, and her pious, Godly testimony deeply influenced young John for good. Although he was a sickly child, he grew into a strong teenager who had many athletic abilities. He developed great skill on the football field and considered a career in professional football.

Seawater poured into the crippled steamship. Chaos spread quickly through the ship, as passengers scrambled for life preservers and lifeboats. Within twelve minutes, the ship had slid into the icy waters of the Atlantic. Of the 313 passengers and crew, only 26 passengers and 61 crew members were pulled from the frigid water. The other 226 people drowned in that cold water.

In June 1645, Oliver Cromwell led his forces to an even greater victory on the field of Naseby. Cromwell, by this time, had risen to command an entire wing of the Parliamentarian army. His men, known as the “New Model Army,” shattered the Royalist forces under the flamboyant Prince Rupert. Cromwell’s men coined the phrase “Praise be for Naseby” to thank God for the dramatic victory.

One young man, a servant indentured to John and Katherine Carver, had suffered enough under the captain’s orders to stay below deck. He longed for the fresh air and invigorating breezes of the sea. Finally, in a moment when no one was looking, the desperate fellow pushed open one of the hatch grates! He scrambled quickly and emerged onto the Mayflower’s deck.

The newly converted chief soon began to be pressured by those in his tribe who resisted the “new ways” of the missionaries. Some wanted the chief to return to his former ways, which included his sins and his sorceries. Chief Timothy steadfastly refused. When he was mocked as being a weak man, Chief Timothy always proved that God strengthened his hands for the hunt. He could face grizzly bears, mountain lions, and enemy tribes even more courageously as a Christian!

It was now early dawn. Old Wagoner had spent the entire night around the campfires with his men, seeking to instill in them some of his own enthusiasm. While he knew that he could depend upon his veteran riflemen, he had little confidence in the raw recruits from the Carolinas. Thus, the wise leader had sought to encourage them for the coming battle. He had stoked their fires, shared their meager suppers, and encouraged them to stand firm the next morning. He asked his men to give the enemy three volleys: “Three shots, boys, and the day is ours.”

Finally, at about 9:30 at night, long after the sun had set, the party approached a clearing on the bank. For fifteen hours, the explorers had been on the river. They were wet, cold, and very hungry. The eyes of Lieutenant William Lynch gleamed with delight as the pale light of the moon reflected off the river. He looked upon the cleared bank with a smile of relief. They had made it!

Henry Ainsworth left England in 1593 when he was twenty-three years old. He found refuge in Amsterdam with the other Separatists who had come here from England before him. In Amsterdam he found employment as a porter to a bookseller. At first, he was given the ordinary tasks of a porter, which was making deliveries, and was paid barely enough to keep him from starving.

Pastor Duncan dearly loved his wife and six children; he could not bear the thought of separation from them. Boldly, he decided to take them with him across the River Tweed to Berwick, in the extreme northern tip of England. There, just across the river from his beloved Scotland, he was still under the rule of King James, but outside the reach of the Archbishop of St. Andrews.