Most pastors know when they enter the ministry that they will spend time helping others through times of suffering. What they usually do not realize, though, is that they too will suffer. Caught off guard, many of them end up deeply hurt and quit the ministry, deciding that perhaps they misunderstood God's call on their lives or that they simply do not have what it takes. But church history is filled with compelling stories of men who were profoundly afflicted while they carried out their ministry and yet persevered faithfully until death.
Now the editors of The Gospel Coalition have collected inspiring stories of twelve faithful men who endured great suffering for the cause of Christ. The stories of the apostle Paul, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, Wang Mindao, and others show that suffering in the context of ministry is expected--and it's never wasted. Pastors and ministry leaders, as well as those who support them, will find in this collection encouragement to run the race with endurance.
| Foreword |
|
11 | (4) |
|
|
|
1 Paul: Apostle of Pastoral Affliction |
|
|
15 | (18) |
|
|
|
2 John Calvin (1509--64): Faithful in Exile |
|
|
33 | (14) |
|
|
|
|
|
3 John Bunyan (1628--88): Faithful in Prison |
|
|
47 | (14) |
|
|
|
4 Jonathan Edwards (1703--58): Faithful to the End |
|
|
61 | (14) |
|
|
|
5 John Newton (1725--1807): Faithful amid Disappointment |
|
|
75 | (12) |
|
|
|
6 Andrew Fuller (1754--1815): Faithful amid Heartbreak |
|
|
87 | (14) |
|
|
|
7 Charles Simeon (1759--1836): Faithful Shepherd to Hostile Sheep |
|
|
101 | (12) |
|
|
|
8 John Chavis (1763--1838): Faithful in the Face of Racism |
|
|
113 | (14) |
|
|
|
9 C. H. Spurgeon (1834--92): Faithful in Sorrow |
|
|
127 | (12) |
|
|
|
10 J. C. Ryle (1816--1900): Faithful amid Personal Ruin |
|
|
139 | (14) |
|
|
|
11 Janani Luwum (1922--77): Faithful unto Death |
|
|
153 | (12) |
|
|
|
12 Wang Ming-Dao (1900--1991): Faithful amid Political Coercion |
|
|
165 | (14) |
|
|
| Notes |
|
179 | |
Collin Hansen, MDiv, serves as editorial director for The Gospel Coalition. He is the author of Blind Spots: Becoming a Courageous, Compassionate, and Commissioned Church, and Young, Restless, Reformed. He serves on the advisory board of Beeson Divinity School and as an elder at Redeemer Community Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
Jeff Robinson, PhD, is a senior editor for The Gospel Coalition. He serves as lead pastor of Christ Fellowship Church of Louisville, Kentucky, senior research and teaching associate for the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, and adjunct professor of church history at Southern Seminary. He is coauthor of To the Ends of the Earth: Calvin's Missional Vision and Legacy and coeditor of 15 Things Seminary Couldn't Teach Me.
