Best Christians you have known personally in your Pilgrim's Progress

[staythecourse]

Who comes to mind as the most exemplary Christian you have known personally?

Consider their most gracious (meaning "God-given") attributes.

I have met Al Mohler and he seems remarkably authentic and interested in people.
I have met John MacArthur and what struck me was his uncontrived humility.
A less well-known pastor, Bob Johnson, always greets me warmly no matter how long it has been and remember details about my life that tell me he's been graced with caring for others.

My family has shown me great love and some would lay down their life for me, I know. I often agonize over their salvation (not in prayer as I ought though).

So, encourage me , brothers and sisters. Tell me of family-members in the faith of whom you can testify as being loving and devoted to Christ and have experience it yourself.

Thanks

 

[staythecourse]

Incidentally, I am contrasting my fleeting introductions, times with these very well-known men with the more intimate relationships with believers.

 

[Mindaboo]

One of my best friends is an 81 year old woman that I met 12 years ago. She has been a living example of God's grace and mercy in a very real way for me. She was the first person I met when we started attending church, she welcomed me warmly, and was the first real example of Christian love I had ever seen. I was an unbeliever at the time. She started a nursery for my then 9 month old son, so that I could attend Sunday School. She rocked him and sang to him every Sunday faithfully. We have talked on the phone every week since we first met, together we have cried, laughed, and even had a few arguements. I am 38, so she has had a huge impact on my life. Her wisdom and her love for me has gotten me through some of my darkest days. I know without a doubt she prays for me everyday and she is the first person I call when I need prayer. I have talked with her about home schooling, birth control, my role in the church, anything and everything that I need counsel on. She and her husband have been involved with our children and have been more faithful to us then our biological family has ever been. She has taught me by her example how to be a keeper of my home, and how to love and submit to my husband. She beams with the love of Christ and is truly one of the most beautiful people I have ever met.

 

[A5pointer]

Dr. John Skilton, WTS Philadelphia

 

[larryjf]

Some of the most pious men and women that i have known are not famous, so they would be unknown to most.

 

[JBaldwin]

One of my best friends is an 81 year old woman that I met 12 years ago. She has been a living example of God's grace and mercy in a very real way for me. She was the first person I met when we started attending church, she welcomed me warmly, and was the first real example of Christian love I had ever seen. I was an unbeliever at the time. She started a nursery for my then 9 month old son, so that I could attend Sunday School. She rocked him and sang to him every Sunday faithfully. We have talked on the phone every week since we first met, together we have cried, laughed, and even had a few arguements. I am 38, so she has had a huge impact on my life. Her wisdom and her love for me has gotten me through some of my darkest days. I know without a doubt she prays for me everyday and she is the first person I call when I need prayer. I have talked with her about home schooling, birth control, my role in the church, anything and everything that I need counsel on. She and her husband have been involved with our children and have been more faithful to us then our biological family has ever been. She has taught me by her example how to be a keeper of my home, and how to love and submit to my husband. She beams with the love of Christ and is truly one of the most beautiful people I have ever met.

What a lovely example of the older woman being an example to the younger. Would that there were more elderly women believers like that.

 

[kvanlaan]

The two greatest Christians I have known are my two grandfathers. Both were uncompromising men of faith, but in two very different spheres. One was a prosperous businessman (my father's father) and one was a poverty-stricken farmer (my mother's father). As far as temporal influences go, these two men and two of their married offspring (my parents) have had no equal in giving me living examples of faithful Christians.

But neither Teije van der Laan nor Klaas Visser would never have made it onto the guest list on the WHI...

 

[DeoOpt]

My best friend (who introduced me to the reformed faith) Derrick Sharpe, A good man. He is now in doubting castle, and so I (little faith) am trying to show his way out of there.

 

[Mushroom]

My best friend (who introduced me to the reformed faith) Derrick Sharpe, A good man. He is now in doubting castle, and so I (little faith) am trying to show his way out of there.

The key hidden in his breast, brother.

One I'll mention is a now retired Reformed Baptist Pastor who stood against the arminian tide in the SBC way back in the '50's, separated from them in the '60's, and stood as a stalwart while his Church declined in membership to almost nil. He runs a barbershop as his tentmaking venture, and cut the hair of a 30 year-old arminian back in '89 who had read the book of Romans the night before, and just blew the poor guy away with truth he'd never heard before. That arminian was me, and I left with a fine haircut, an armful of Pink and Spurgeon tracts, and the impetus to slowly be dragged away from false teaching.

He's in his eighties now, and deservedly retired, but he never wavered in his defense of the truth or his commitment to faithfully shepherd those the Lord sent his way. He is also a real scholar of the original languages of scripture and Church history, all the while being a simple country preacher. His name is Rogers Chenault.

 

[DMcFadden]

Most times, I have looked to those much older than me for wisdom and example in the area of Christian discipleship. However, the most impressive Christian I have ever known (personally) is a person from my ministry, much younger than me. I work with a woman who exemplifies Christian discipleship, spiritual maturity, and grace under adversity better than anyone I have ever known. My wife and I both count her our dearest friend.

Her father abandoned the family when she was two. Pregnant in her teens, the father of the child had nothing to do with her or the child. As a Catholic School girl (even though she had an A average), unwed pregnancy forced her out of high school, yet she completed public school at night. Married while still in her teens, she had four more children in quick order (the last when she was 25). She and her husband converted to Christianity through a Calvary Chapel ministry soon after they married. They were firehouses for the kingdom, often inviting people from local parks home for a meal and sharing of the Gospel. She loved her husband, doted on him, and even rose at 3:30 a.m. so that she could cook him a big breakfast before he left for work. She then got her kids up, fed them, and walked them to school prior to having her own meal at 8:30 a.m. Sadly, a woman who worked with her husband deliberately targeted him for seduction, layed her snare, caught him, and induced him to leave his wife and family. He fled the country, working in Asia as a way of avoiding child support.

She was 29 at the time of her divorce, with five young kids, no education, and no job. Wellfare was her only option. Eventually, a pastor who coached her daughter's basketball team told her about our ministry and its need for a receptionist. She came here 16 years ago to be take that position. Quickly she moved up in the organization due to hard work until she became a member of the management team of the organization (a position typically held by someone with a B.A. if not MBA).

She left the charismatic movement shortly after her divorce, moving to a Bible church. During her years at the bottom of the ladder, however, she tithed, took her kids to church, and refused to speak ill of their father. She taught them to pray for him and his new family. She worked to forgive him even when he maliciously bribed the apple of her eye to come live with him where she would have more material goods (by then he was the owner of a multi-million dollar organization with branches in most states).

When I arrived at this ministry 11 years ago, I was astonished at the Godliness of this woman. Her motto is "do the right thing because it is the right thing regardless of the consequences." Even though we work quite closely together and she has become like family to our family, her boundaries are still firm. She will not go out to a restaurant alone with me (or any married man), nor will she be alone in a room with a closed door with a married man. Conscious not only of her own reputation, but the sensibilities of the wives of the men she works with, she is emblematic of a Godly woman in the workplace.

In addition to her divorce, she has suffered through just about every hideous catastrophe that could befall a person, and yet maintains a contagious confidence in the Lord and a depth of prayerful faith that shames the rest of us. Even in the toughest times, she exhorts those around her to trust in the Lord and she embodies what she "preaches."

She has had opportunity to cut corners, had enormous pressure to act unethically, and yet has been willing to risk or lose everything rather than compromise her convictions even a little. Yes, her eschatology and hermeneutics are different from mine (she is dispensational). Yet, her unswerving loyalty to the Lord, complete confidence in his inerrant word, and Godly countenance have been an example to all of us who know her.

Incidentally, after 8-9 years with her ex-husband, the one daughter moved back in with mom. After so many formative years of being spoiled materially and watching spiritual darkness up close, she had a number of "issues." Living with my friend again and observing her life brought conviction of sin, repentance, and fruits of a Godly walk. That daughter is now one of the most radiant and evangelistic Christians I know. In fact, she was so burdened for her father and his present wife that she began witnessing to him. Now her dad has repented of his life of immorality and unethical conduct and returned to church. He is even doing mission trips, men's Bible studies, and the like with his church, showing concrete signs of a change of life.

My friend has had a similar effect on the teens at her church, residents of our retirement community, fellow staffers, and even vendors. 48 years old, she would love to marry a Godly man, but will not compromise her convictions or standards to get one. Indeed, she has been celibate for nearly two decades and has not dated.

Throughout college and seminary, the Lord has put me in the presence of many great Christian leaders, eminent pastors, and great scholars. Recently it was my privilege to have lunch with one of the half dozen top names in missiology during the last half century. Yet, through it all, no person (male or female) has impressed me as much as this young woman.

 

[DeoOpt]

My friend Darrick happens to be a black man his wife is a wounderfull women who happens to be White thay just moved to College Park GA. Darrick is an avid golfer and an acomplished classical guitar playerand a well educated man. Every time he goes golfing he gets harassed cald names like uncle tom. He recently lost both his brothers to cancer, thay live with his aunt who doesent even call his wife by her name. His aunt's minister came to visit the aunt and would not even greet darrick our shake his hand. The police (because of wrongfull acusations) want to arrest Darrick if he steps on the property of the greens. This has been going on for many years and no matter how our what plans Darrick and Kathy make it turns to garbage. Darreck feels that perhapes the reason why God is treating him like this is his ownly conclusion he thinks he is a reprobate. Why? he feels that when he looks around and see the wicked prosper and as he put it "God has never answerd one of his prayer's. Like I sayed im trying to help this man through his ordeal, Im praying for him every day thoughout my prayers and devotions... He needs your prayers too Please

 

[Mushroom]

Wow, Dennis. What a testimony to what God will do with those who determine to remain salt and light in the midst of such adversity. Her life has been radiating the love of God with such intensity that many seeds have sprung up and rooted well by it. A fruitful tree is she.

 

[Mushroom]

My friend Darrick happens to be a black man his wife is a wounderfull women who happens to be White thay just moved to College Park GA. Darrick is an avid golfer and an acomplished classical guitar playerand a well educated man. Every time he goes golfing he gets harassed cald names like uncle tom. He recently lost both his brothers to cancer, thay live with his aunt who doesent even call his wife by her name. His aunt's minister came to visit the aunt and would not even greet darrick our shake his hand. The police (because of wrongfull acusations) want to arrest Darrick if he steps on the property of the greens. This has been going on for many years and no matter how our what plans Darrick and Kathy make it turns to garbage. Darreck feels that perhapes the reason why God is treating him like this is his ownly conclusion he thinks he is a reprobate. Why? he feels that when he looks around and see the wicked prosper and as he put it "God has never answerd one of his prayer's. Like I sayed im trying to help this man through his ordeal, Im praying for him every day thoughout my prayers and devotions... He needs your prayers too Please

We're praying for Derrick, here, brother. May God grant all the grace you need to stick by him in his struggles, it will be a blessing to you both.

 

[staythecourse]

Some of the most pious men and women that i have known are not famous, so they would be unknown to most.

Hey Larry,

Believe me, I expect the most influencial people in our lives to be no-names. For my benefit (as Mindy shared (great stuff lady)) tell me the no-names that I know will give me a lift to hear about.

 

[staythecourse]

That arminian was me, and I left with a fine haircut, an armful of Pink and Spurgeon tracts, and the impetus to slowly be dragged away from false teaching.

I laughed out loud! Thanks Brad. You are ministering to me.

 

[staythecourse]

In addition to her divorce, she has suffered through just about every hideous catastrophe that could befall a person, and yet maintains a contagious confidence in the Lord and a depth of prayerful faith that shames the rest of us. Even in the toughest times, she exhorts those around her to trust in the Lord and she embodies what she "preaches."

I am ashamed of myself as I read that. Thanks Dennis for a sobering and encouraging testimony. That is a great woman.

 

[staythecourse]

At the risk of getting mushy, the posts of the "good unknown" reminds me of this poem

The Curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds,
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds;
Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower
The moping owl does to the moon complain
Of such, as wandering near her secret bower,
Molest her ancient solitary reign.
Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering
heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude Forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn,
The swallow twittering from the straw-built
shed,
The ****’s shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.
For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
Or busy housewife ply her evening care:
No children run to lisp their sire’s return,
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.

Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;
How jocund did they drive their team afield!
How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy
stroke!
Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Nor you, ye Proud, impute to These the fault,
If Memory o’er their Tomb no Trophies raise,
Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted
vault
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.
Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honor’s voice provoke the silent dust,
Or Flattery sooth the dull cold ear of Death?
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands, that the rod of empire might have swayed,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.
But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page
Rich with the spoils of time did ne’er unroll;
Chill Penury repressed their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.
Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast
The little Tyrant of his fields withstood;
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country’s
blood.
The applause of listening senates to command,
The threats of pain and ruin to despise,
To scatter plenty o’er a smiling land,
And read their history in a nation’s eyes,
Their lot forbade: nor circumscribed alone
Their growing virtues, but their crimes
confin’d;
Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind,
The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,
To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,
Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride
With incense kindled at the Muse’s flame.
Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learned to stray;
Along the cool sequestered vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
Yet even these bones from insult to protect,
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture
decked,
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.
Their name, their years, spelt by the unlettered
muse,
The place of fame and elegy supply:
And many a holy text around she strews,
That teach the rustic moralist to die.

For who to dumb Forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing anxious being e’er resigned,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing lingering look behind?
On some fond breast the parting soul relies,
Some pious drops the closing eye requires;
Ev’n from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,
Ev’n in our Ashes live their wonted Fires.
For thee, who mindful of the unhonoured Dead
Dost in these lines their artless tale relate,
If chance, by lonely contemplation led,
Some kindred Spirit shall inquire thy fate,
Haply some hoary-headed Swain may say,
“Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn
Brushing with hasty steps the dews away
To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.
“There at the foot of yonder nodding beech
That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,
His listless length at noontide would he stretch,
And pore upon the brook that babbles by.
“Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,
Muttering his wayward fancies he would rove,
Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn,
Or crazed with care, or crossed in hopeless
love.
“One morn I missed him on the customed hill,
Along the heath and near his favorite tree;
Another came; nor yet beside the rill,
Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;
“The next with dirges due in sad array
Slow through the church-way path we saw him
borne.
Approach and read (for thou can’st read) the lay,
Graved on the stone beneath yon agéd thorn.”

The Epitaph
Here rests his head upon the lap of earth
A youth to fortune and to fame unknown.
Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth,
And Melancholy marked him for her own.
Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,
Heaven did a recompense as largely send:
He gave to Misery all he had, a tear,
He gained from Heaven (’twas all he wished) a
friend.
No farther seek his merits to disclose,
Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,
(There they alike in trembling hope repose)
The bosom of his Father and his God.

 

[MrMerlin777]

My beloved Grandmother now with the Saviour.

 

[larryjf]

Some of the most pious men and women that i have known are not famous, so they would be unknown to most.

Hey Larry,

Believe me, I expect the most influencial people in our lives to be no-names. For my benefit (as Mindy shared (great stuff lady)) tell me the no-names that I know will give me a lift to hear about.

One of them would be someone who just passed away. He was an Elder at our church and was a great example to me...both as a man and as a husband.

Another would be my pastor. He is dedicated to the flock that Christ has called him to. His humility has been a great example to me.

 

[a mere housewife]

My dad, my mom, and Ruben. Not because I think they are the most sanctified people on the planet; but because I have had more opportunity to truly know them. The more you know Christians, the closer (daily) view you have not only of failings but of amazing grace.

 

[PuritanCovenanter]

I have probably two such men.

The first is my Pa pa in the Faith, retired Pastor Joseph Gwynn. He is a great sinner with a Great Saviour. He has stuck with me long distance and through thick and thin trials of life. His preaching affected me more than anyone's has. I learned how to discern the will of God and how to hear God from scriptures because of him. God defined my theology through much of his teaching. He revealed to me the Holiness of God and what a loving Saviour we have. He is far from perfect but he is a Worldly Saint that seeks to be broken before the Lamb of God. He is the most pious man I know. He is one who can pull scripture out of his heart faster than anyone I have ever seen. He has hidden the word deep in his heart so that he can feed the flock. And he is still feeding the flock. He is a true mentor and statesman. My Papa in the Faith lives in Virginia Beach but visits Indy. He stops in to check up on me ever now and again.

My second pick is a Reformed Presbyterian Pastor of North America named Roy Blackwood. He was a very patient man with me and I sensed a deep love in him that doesn't always come without many trials. I use to meet with him at his home weekly when he was available. I can't begin to convey the things I heard him speak. He taught me some things about death and dying by relating his father-in-laws death that left a strong impression on me. He taught me about Restoring fallen men (and I don't necessarily mean men who fell into moral sin) who were Pastors. Some of these guys were just war torn. He has spotted Indiana with his Church plants. He and his wife use to go deer hunting together. He also taught me about Coventanting with God.

 

[TaylorOtwell]

The godliest man I may have ever met is a man basically unknown to the world. However, he is such a genuine Christian, I think I literally cried after the first time I met him.

 

[staythecourse]

I have probably two such men.

The first is my Pa pa in the Faith, retired Pastor Joseph Gwynn. He is a great sinner with a Great Saviour. He has stuck with me long distance and through thick and thin trials of life. His preaching affected me more than anyone's has. I learned how to discern the will of God and how to hear God from scriptures because of him. God defined my theology through much of his teaching. He revealed to me the Holiness of God and what a loving Saviour we have. He is far from perfect but he is a Worldly Saint that seeks to be broken before the Lamb of God. He is the most pious man I know. He is one who can pull scripture out of his heart faster than anyone I have ever seen. He has hidden the word deep in his heart so that he can feed the flock. And he is still feeding the flock. He is a true mentor and statesman. My Papa in the Faith lives in Virginia Beach but visits Indy. He stops in to check up on me ever now and again.

My second pick is a Reformed Presbyterian Pastor of North America named Roy Blackwood. He was a very patient man with me and I sensed a deep love in him that doesn't always come without many trials. I use to meet with him at his home weekly when he was available. I can't begin to convey the things I heard him speak. He taught me some things about death and dying by relating his father-in-laws death that left a strong impression on me. He taught me about Restoring fallen men (and I don't necessarily mean men who fell into moral sin) who were Pastors. Some of these guys were just war torn. He has spotted Indiana with his Church plants. He and his wife use to go deer hunting together. He also taught me about Coventanting with God.

Remarkable Randy. Thanks.

 

[staythecourse]

The godliest man I may have ever met is a man basically unknown to the world. However, he is such a genuine Christian, I think I literally cried after the first time I met him.

What sticks out in his character that comes to mind, Taylor?

 

[TaylorOtwell]

He was extremely humble, and not in a "I'm trying really hard to be humble" sense. Also, he has a great love for the Scripture and often seems to be melted with affection on the reading of a single verse.

But, with all that said, nobody is good but God. He has truly done all our works for us (Isaiah 26:12)

The godliest man I may have ever met is a man basically unknown to the world. However, he is such a genuine Christian, I think I literally cried after the first time I met him.

What sticks out in his character that comes to mind, Taylor?