Another Excellent Read

I had heard stories all of the men in this book. Except for maybe Charles Simeon, whose story is possibly the most powerful in the book. As all of Pipers books are this book is deeply truthful and passionately Humane. There are two main reasons why I think this book is compelling. First all three individuals did have incredibly power to endure. The most remarkable thing was not that they merely endured, but that they endured with a distinctively engaged and upbeat demeanor. Newton liked to tell a parable about a man who was given a carriage to travel a thousand miles at the end of which he was to receive an unimaginably large estate and inheritance. A mile from his destination the wheel broke on His carriage. Newton liked to pose the question at this point, "this being the case how silly would it have been if this man wept that whole last mile saying, 'my carriage is broken, my carriage is broken!'?" Now how Characteristic is this of our hearts at times. God is lavish in all of his promises and slack in none. Yet we still want to cry, "my carriage is broken," about the small sufferings we endure. There are many other and far deeper insights into how these three men found deep roots of endurance in their lives that are detailed which I will not go into. I reserve that Magellan like voyage for those who wish to read the book. But I will say that it was a very satisfying read for me. Which brings me to the second reason why this book was compelling. It was easy to mull over current modes of how I deal with suffering in light of their lives. This is part of the benefit of biographies which other genes cannot touch. It is clear to see how they trusted the Lord, feared man, repented, and obeyed. Their lives act as a foil for what they believed. In this there is great opportunity for improvement upon the principals they lived by and an even deeper encouragement because they made it!