Product Description

John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce suffered lifelong opposition and endured for the causes of gospel truth, missionary zeal, and political justice. They found, in solid doctrine and humble joy, the tough roots for habitual tenderness in response to their adversaries-without doctrinal or moral flinching. They are examples of remarkable grace.

In Book 3 in The Swans Are Not Silent series, best-selling author John Piper looks at the lives of these three great men and focuses on how they not only endured great opposition, but that they did so with joy and without bitterness. Their lives exemplify how to set a pace and finish the race before us, encouraging every heart that it is possible to jump the hurdles in our paths.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #201798 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

Models for Perseverance in Ministry
In this third biographical study, Piper gives us three excellent sketches of men who persevered in ministry and righteousness in the face of incredible difficulty. John Newton, the converted slave-trader who penned Amazing Grace, is a model in "habitual tenderness" towards the hurting (most notably the manic-depressive poet William Cowpoer). Charles Simeon is lesser known, but proves to be a powerful demonstration of endurance in the face of almost unrelenting opposition and affliction. His endurance was rooted primarily in his high view of God and his low view of self (what a word for the self-esteem gurus filling America's pulpits today!!). Finally, William Wilberforce, the greatest instrument God used in the abolishment of slavery in Britain, is studied, along with the doctrine which gave him strength and moved him into action (the doctrine is justification by faith). This is a great book and very encouraging. Highly recommended.

Superb!
John Piper produced another top-notch work. This book is articulate, to the point, and easy to read. He clearly did a tremendous amount of scholarly work in writing this book. Very few works exist in Reformed circles wherein non-theologians can read and understand due to the concise nature of the writing. Piper did an excellent job describing how these men dealt with tremendous strife - and where the ability to do so originated. These men understood God's grace... and that is a point not lost, but rather promoted, by Piper. This is another book I can highly recommend.

Encouragement from three great saints of the faith
What a great book - in my opinion Piper is such a great writer and the subject of his essay this time was one of my personal heroes - William Wilberforce. But this wasn't just a book about the life and ministry of Wilberforce, it was a look at the interaction of three incredible men of God that all lived at the same time in England and how they each endured through extraordinary conditions. The elder statesman was John Newton, well-known today as the author of the hymn "Amazing Grace." Newton, a former slave-trade captain, became an outspoken abolitionist as he pastured a church and ministered to the lives of his parishioners. Piper also brings into the mix another pastor, a contemporary of Wilberforce, Charles Simeon who pastured Trinity Church on the campus of Cambridge for fifty-four years.

The primary emphasis of this book is simply to introduce Christians today to some of the great men of the faith from years past - the great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 12. This book is actually Book Three of The Swans are not Silent series and after reading this one, I'm looking forward to diving into the others. But the book is not just biographical in nature - Piper does a great job applying the lessons learned from the lives and struggles of these great men to our own personal spiritual journeys. In this book, specifically, each man had to overcome significant opposition to their faith and the common root of endurance they shared was their deep devotion to God's Word and their unwillingness to compromise their principles for expediency or approval. However, each individual did have opportunities to demonstrate God's grace in their own lives as they worked with those who stood in opposition to them, and in most cases, won them over as brothers-in-Christ by their compassion.

Three incredible stories of three god-sized challenges overcome by three humble, but God-centered, men. The book is a great read for almost anyone - a friend struggling with a life issue, a young person wondering how God could use them, or a pastor as he sacrifices to lead and minister to his flock - The Roots of Endurance is a challenging, uplifting and encouraging read and just what the doctor ordered to spur one another one toward love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24).