John Stott

Going furder in time, we have someone else who made a difference! John Stott was born in London in 1921. He studied at Rugby School and in 1938, he heard a sermon by the Rev. Eric Nash, entitled “What then I shall do with Jesus, Who is called the Christ?”. At the end of the sermon, the Rev. John Stott Nash gave him a verse that marked his life: Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

John Stott had always believed in Jesus, as a member of the Anglican Church, but it was at this time that he realized it was necessary to open the door and live a real relationship with Him. That changed the whole course of his life. The Rev. Nash accompanied him as his mentor, with love and care through weekly letters.

He studied at Trinity College Cambridge, where he graduated in Theology and French and was also Honorary Doctor by several universities in England, the United States and Canada. Since 1950 he was President of All Souls Church in London in 1954 and began his writing career. He has published over 40 books and hundreds of articles, and other contributions to Christian literature. Here are some books that Stott wrote: Basic Christianity, Why I am Christian, The Cross of Christ and The Radical Disciple (his last work).

He was one of the supporters, along with his friend Billy Graham, of the First International Congress on World Evangelization, a world congress of evangelicals that occurred in 1974 in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland. In 2005 he was elected by Times magazine as one of 100 most influential people in the world. This way, John Stott marked the History with his books and all of his work.

Translated by: Jenniffer Pais

John Wesley

Today we are going to talk about a man who was born in England in 1703, more specifically in the town of Epworth. In the eighteenth century, society was similar in some aspects to the presente one: corruption, rising unemployment, addictions and widespread violence. Christianity was moving away from the ideals and instead of influencing others, it was being influenced by everything bad around it. John Wesley was one of those who was not satisfied with this state of the Christian religion nor the apathy that the Christians lived in.

John Wesley began early to engage with God, learned to read with the help of Psalms of the Bible and went to Oxford University, met with friends, where they meditated on God’s Word and prayed. This small group decided to start evangelising and began with the arrests. John Wesley was interested, more and more, about the status of the population and the social and financial issues of the country. He graduated in Theology and helped his father in the direction of the Anglican Church, until one day he felt it that his mission was to evangelize the Indians in Virginia, United States.

This mission didn’t bring much result but in this trip he found a group of Moravians (Christian group of the Protestant Church) and he was marveled about their faith. When a storm came up on the boat, the Moravians continued to praise and to sing to God. Three years later he returned to England, where he met Peter Bohler (Moravian pastor) in London and decided to release the apathetic and cold religion to live in a practical way the teachings of Jesus Christ. In a small meeting that year, in 1738, he heard a comment written by Martin Luther and felt a warmth within his heart that gave him the certainty that he could trust Christ and that all of his sins had been forgiven.

In the next 50 years, John Wesley preached about three sermons a day and there was even one time that he preached to about 14,000 people. Thousands left misery and sin and experienced the grace and love of God. His brother, Charles Wesley wrote hymns of praise and both gave the religion a spirit of compassion and joy. It’s estimated that in these 50 years, John Wesley traveled over 400,000 kilometers and preached 40,000 sermons to several people, motivating many to follow his footsteps as preachers (about 1300). He helped organize the Methodist Church, the second largest Protestant denomination and influenced many movements that would later emerge as the Movement of Holiness and Pentecostalism. Furthermore, he emphasized that faith in Jesus Christ should be manifested in works of mercy and compassion with the people around us.

Translated by: Jenniffer Pais

John 1:5

John 1:5

Why should I do my best?

I'm known as a nerd. Everyone says that I study too much, and that I cling to books too much. It's not that bad, but it's almost true. I have the habit of putting all of me in everything I do and this applies to studying too. Being the best of the class has always been my ambition and no, not because I want to be better than others, but because this is what God asks of us. In Ecclesiastes 9:10 we read: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might(...)" and in Colossians 3:23 says: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;" These verses complement each other perfectly. God not only asks us to study but He asks us to do it with all our efforts as if we were doing it to Him. In this way we will achieve good results and creates the opportunity to show our friends that God blesses us when we give our best!

 

Proverbs 3:13

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