John Stamper with "Courage to Stand: Profiles of Enduring Faith" ancient to modern

“Courage to Stand: Profiles of Enduring Faith” by John Stamper (New Leaf Press)

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Corrie ten Boom, Josh Alexander, Jessica Tapia, William Tyndale, the Apostle Paul, Esther, Joshua & Caleb, and the Three Hebrew children Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego: all these faithful followers of the Lord God faced the wrath of the nation in which they lived or still live because of their firm commitment to God. This book tells their stories and their triumphs through God.

 

“This is a book of profiles containing inspirational stories of biblical figures, historical figures, and contemporaries who stood on God’s Word in the face of intense spiritual conflicts.” Some lived in Bible times, some during WWII, and some are heroes of our day. All had critical qualities: faith, conviction, courage and strength. You must believe in something or someone before you can have a moral or spiritual conflict; conviction follows faith; courage follows; and finally the level of quality and measure of your conviction and courage.

 

Dr. Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer could have stayed in America or England as his native Germany plunged into lethal anti-Semitism in the 1930s but he felt called to stand up against the Nazis among his fellow Christians. Eventually arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned for two years, Bonhoeffer was hanged days before the Allies liberated the death camp. But his words still challenge us and inspire us.

Corrie ten Boom came from a long line of devout Christians and clockmakers, who defended Jews whenever they were threatened. As Nazi German overran their native Denmark in WWII, the ten Booms hid Jews from the Gestapo until father, sister and Corrie were arrested and sent to the death camps. Corrie survived to tell their story, and to offer grace to the repentant oppressors. William Tyndale’s only crime was translating the Bible into English, but he was strangled by the Crown. It wasn’t long before the King led England from the Catholic Church and adopted Tyndale’s translation as the English Bible!

 

The 3 Hebrew Youth thrown into Nebuchadnezzar’s firey furnace, Queen Esther who asked King Xerxes to save her people, the Apostle Paul who proclaimed Christ despite the Roman Empire’s persecution, Joshua & Caleb who went against the 10 other spies’ opinion by declaring the Children of God could defeat the Promised Land’s evil inhabitants, were all examples of heroic God-followers who risked everything for the LORD.

 

There are two modern examples of Christians who stood up for their beliefs against the politically-correct stances which were anti-Biblical positions on gender ideology: teacher Jessica Tapia and student Josh Alexander.

 

“The culture pressures us and seeks to invade our lives on every level and pressure us into using a new language that’s contrary to God’s Word and is meant to change our biblical worldview into a secular one.” These people stood up against that political and cultural pressure, despite the danger. Some paid with their lives, others lost positions or homes or family members, but all were faithful no matter what the cost might be. They are heroes for our age who we should copy!

 

Check the author’s website, johnstamper.org.