Heroes of the Faith: with J.John and Killy

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There is much we can learn from people over the centuries. In this podcast series, we learn about some of J.John’s ‘Heroes of the Faith’, as described by his wife, Killy.

J.John


    • Dec 31, 2022 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekly NEW EPISODES
    • 8m AVG DURATION
    • 116 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Heroes of the Faith: with J.John and Killy

    On Heroes and Heroism

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 31, 2022 9:49


    This series on Christian heroes has made me think about how the idea of heroism applies to you and me. I think that when we use the word hero, even in the Christian context, we can blur two kinds of people. The first are those who we admire as heroes because of their supreme ability: those remarkable scientists, doctors, painters, musicians and athletes who let their skills be guided and guarded by God. Great, but the problem is that most of us don't have that sort of incredible ability.

    Heroes of the Faith: Billy Graham

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2022 9:43


    Billy Graham was a man who towered over twentieth-century Christianity and, if I may say so, I had the wonderful privilege of meeting.

    Heroes of the Faith: Jarena Lee

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2022 9:33


    Jarena Lee overcame many struggles and much opposition to become the first black woman preacher in the United States.

    Heroes of the Faith: Phillis Wheatley

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2022 8:33


    Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved black woman who became one of the first published writers in North America, was a Christian who fought the horror of slavery.

    Heroes of the Faith: Tom Rees

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2022 8:57


    Tom Rees was an evangelist who proclaimed the gospel, and here I should declare a personal interest: he was my wife's great-uncle, the brother of Dick Rees, her grandfather, who was also an evangelist.Thomas Rees was born in 1911 and grew up in Watford. His brother Dick became a Christian, prayed for his brother's conversion, and Tom received Christ at the age of fifteen. Immediately, Tom became involved in evangelistic activities, soon bringing friends to Christ. He left school to work but soon became convinced that he was to be an evangelist. He took on youth work in a parish church for three years but resigned when criticised for being involved with other churches. Tom then refused to be tied to any one denomination and was happy to work with any church that believed in preaching the gospel.

    Heroes of the Faith: Lillian Trasher

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2022 9:41


    Lillian Trasher spent a lifetime in Egypt, where she created one of the world's largest orphanages with small resources but enormous faith.Born in Florida in 1887, Lillian came to a living experience of Christ in her teens. She worked briefly at an orphanage where she found a love for children and learned how to care for them. She became engaged to a Christian minister in 1910 but, just days before the marriage, decided she was called to the mission field. When her fiancé refused to share that call, she ended the engagement.

    Heroes of the Faith: Bede

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 19, 2022 8:37


    Although Bede, the great Anglo-Saxon monk, scholar and historian, spent all his life in north-east England, his influence spread across Europe and gained him the title the ‘Venerable Bede'.Bede was born in 673 in what is now Tyne and Wear in north-east England. At the age of seven he was sent to the monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow, that he would ultimately become a monk. There, the Anglo-Saxon-speaking Bede learned Latin and Greek. In fact, he was to spend all his life at the monastery, which although isolated, was an outstanding centre of learning with a priceless library of over 200 books. There he became a deacon at the unusually early age of nineteen, a priest at thirty and, over the years, an increasingly renowned scholar and teacher.

    Heroes of the Faith: Ida Scudder

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2022 10:04


    There is no more outstanding example of a Christian dynasty than the Scudder family, of whom it could be written in 1959 that ‘forty-two members through four generations had given a total of 1,100 years to missionary service in India'. Amongst that remarkable lineage, the most striking figure is Ida Scudder.

    Heroes of the Faith: Brother Andrew

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2022 9:30


    When in September 2022 the Dutchman Andy van der Bijl, better known as Brother Andrew, died, many obituaries emphasised his dramatic role in the Fifties and Sixties as ‘God's Smuggler'. Yet Andrew was a man who did far more than merely take Bibles to closed lands.

    Heroes of the Faith: Darlene Deibler Rose

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2022 9:50


    Through her long life, Darlene Deibler Rose was a witness for Christ to people in the furthest parts of the world. Yet through her unforgettable memoir, Evidence Not Seen, of her brutal imprisonment by the Japanese during the Second World War, she has become a witness to many more people across the world.

    Heroes of the Faith: Katharina von Bora

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2022 9:48


    Katharina von Bora, the nun who married the former monk Martin Luther, continues to be an inspiring figure after nearly five hundred years.Katharina was born into a family of nobility in Saxony, near Leipzig in Germany, in 1499. At the age of five she was sent away to a convent for education, with the intention that she should become a nun; a common strategy to avoid the expense of a daughter and a dowry. There, Katharina would have been educated not just in religion, but in writing, singing and practical skills such as farm management. At the age of sixteen she took her vows as a nun.

    Heroes of the Faith: Wang Mingdao

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 15, 2022 10:10


    One of the leading Christians of twentieth-century China was Wang Mingdao, a man who at enormous cost helped grow the house church movement that has kept biblical Christianity alive there.

    Heroes of the Faith: Brother Lawrence

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2022 8:38


    Few Christians have had as much impact as the 17th-century French monk Brother Lawrence with his little book The Practice of the Presence of God. It's a book that transformed my own prayer life and has done the same for many others.

    Heroes of the Faith: David Unaipon

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2022 9:59


    The arrival of Europeans in Australia from 1788 was catastrophic for the continent's Aboriginal peoples as they soon found it brought disease, slavery and land seizure. Yet the settlers also carried the gospel and the result was a number of remarkable native Christians. The most notable of these was the extraordinary David Unaipon, a man who, in difficult times, played a key role in finding a way forward for his people.

    Heroes of the Faith: Rasalama of Madagascar

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2022 9:19


    The history of global Christianity is full of little-known heroes who have been overlooked. One of these is Rasalama, the woman who was Madagascar's first Christian martyr.

    Heroes of the Faith: William Tyndale

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2022 9:37


    The name Tyndale, borne by many organisations, buildings and initiatives in the Christian world, honours the pioneer Bible translator and martyr William Tyndale.

    Heroes of the Faith: John Hus

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2022 8:44


    The story of John Hus is both one of tragedy and triumph. It is tragedy because had the church of his day listened to him instead of sending him to the stake, then the tragic split of the Reformation might have been unnecessary. It is a triumph because Hus, as a man of God and a preacher of the truth, stood firm on his principles. May we do the same!

    Heroes of the Faith: Betty Greene

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2022 9:05


    Betty Greene, called to be a pilot, lived a life in which, in every way, she flew for the Lord.

    Heroes of the Faith: Leonhard Euler

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2022 9:20


    While most of us acknowledge that mathematics is useful, it's not a subject we appreciate. How many of us could name a famous mathematician? Here's one: Leonhard Euler (pronounced oiler), a towering mathematical genius and a committed Christian.

    Heroes of the Faith: Toyohiko Kagawa

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2022 9:21


    Through evangelism, writing and social action, Kagawa won respect for Christianity in Japan.

    Heroes of the Faith: Agnes Smith Lewis & Margaret Dunlop Gibson

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2022 9:55


    Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson defied every convention of the Victorian era to make remarkable contributions to biblical scholarship.

    Heroes of the Faith: David Brainerd

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 6, 2022 9:10


    The 18th-century missionary David Brainerd was a man who had a brief life but an astonishing influence. Brainerd was born in 1718 to a prosperous local administrator in a New England still influenced by the Puritans. Orphaned early and lacking any relationship with God, Brainerd decided to enter the newly created Yale College. In 1739, after an intense spiritual search, he underwent a conversion to Christ.

    Heroes of the Faith: Francis Asbury

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2022 9:10


    Anyone travelling through the United States will come across schools, colleges and universities that carry the name of Asbury. They bear witness to a remarkable hero of the faith.

    Heroes of the Faith: Watchman Nee

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2022 8:44


    Nee was born in 1903 in Fuzhou, south-east China. His grandfather had been one of the first pastors in China and his mother dedicated him to God before his birth. Despite this, and an education in a school run by a missionary society, Nee grew up without a personal faith. However, at the age of 17 he accepted Jesus in a powerful conversion experience. Totally dedicating his life to God, he immediately started witnessing to those around him.

    Heroes of the Faith: Catherine of Siena

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2022 8:42


    Catherine was born to a cloth dyer in Siena, Italy, in 1347, the twenty-third of twenty-six children, most of whom didn't survive infancy. It was a tough time and place to be born: the Black Death, which was to kill a third of Europe, was spreading; much of what we now know as Italy was a mosaic of warring factions; and the Catholic church, which had brought some measure of stability to Europe, was in disarray with the Pope exiled at Avignon in France.

    Heroes of the Faith: Richard Wurmbrand

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2022 9:59


    One Christian hero who I am privileged to have met is Richard Wurmbrand. His story, told in Tortured for Christ, impacted me deeply as a young student.

    Heroes of the Faith: Isaac Watts

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2022 9:17


    Watts' hymns were of such quality and so rich in spiritual insight that objections to hymn singing in churches faded away for good.

    Heroes of the Faith: Phoebe Palmer

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2022 9:11


    Phoebe Palmer was one the foremost Christian leaders of the 19th century and someone whose influence continues to the present day. She stepped out from her comfortable New York home to do whatever the Lord demanded of her.

    Heroes of the Faith: John Charles Ryle

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2022 9:15


    Two figures dominated the evangelical church of Britain in the late nineteenth century: the nonconformist preacher Charles Spurgeon and the Anglican preacher, writer and bishop, John Charles Ryle.

    Heroes of the Faith: Henry Martyn

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2022 10:20


    Few people have achieved as much for the kingdom of God in as little time as Henry Martyn, missionary and Bible translator, whose life ended when he was only thirty-one.

    Heroes of the Faith: Mahalia Jackson

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2022 9:29


    Running a beauty salon during the week, Mahalia began to sing professionally at weekends. She began to sing in secular theatres and bars, with jazz or blues bands, but she made the decision – sacrificial at the time – that she would only sing gospel and only where God's music was appropriate and appreciated.

    Heroes of the Faith: Evan Roberts

    Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2022 8:50


    Although well read in the Bible, Roberts had only minimal education and, at the age of eleven, began work in the coal mines. Always something of a contemplative, Roberts lived in a world where God, heaven and spiritual powers were very real to him and he spent hours in prayer, enjoying fellowship with God. For eleven years he prayed for a new revival and spoke of how, in a vision, he had seen a piece of paper with the figure of 100,000 written on it; the number of souls who would be saved.

    Heroes of the Faith: John Wycliffe

    Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2022 9:29


    The injustices that Wycliffe attacked are gone but what he stood for, an idealistic, individual and instructed faith, is something that every age should value.

    Heroes of the Faith: Helen Roseveare

    Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2022 10:49


    Helen was a woman endowed with intelligence, skill and determination but with a tendency to be impatient, domineering and a perfectionist. 

    Heroes of the Faith: Eric Liddell

    Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2022 10:12


    Athlete and missionary Eric Liddell had been largely forgotten until the 1981 film Chariots of Fire reminded the world of him.

    Heroes of the Faith: Thomas Barnardo

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2022 9:41


    One winter's night he learned that one of his boys had no home to go to and, led by him, was appalled to discover that homelessness among children was far worse than he had imagined. Barnardo now realised his calling lay not in China but among London's poor.

    Heroes of the Faith: David Wilkerson

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2022 9:25


    Denominations, churches and even individual Christians always risk stagnation; a situation in which everybody is busy doing nothing. At such times, God often sends someone to shake things up. A man who did just that was David Wilkerson, the American evangelist who took the gospel from the comfort of the pulpit down into the ugliest of streets.

    Heroes of the Faith: Benedict of Nursia

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2022 8:31


    Benedict of Nursia was born in AD 480 just at the time when the Roman Empire was ending and the Middle Ages beginning. That Christianity and learning were kept alive during the troubled millennium between Rome's fall and the Renaissance was something that Benedict played a significant part in.

    Heroes of the Faith: John Wesley

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2022 9:51


    John Wesley was one of the most influential Christian preachers in history and a man who had an enormous and lasting impact on his nation and the world.

    Heroes of the Faith: Lottie Moon

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2022 8:51


    Charlotte Moon was born in 1840 to a plantation-owning family in Virginia, in the pre-Civil War southern culture depicted in Gone with the Wind. After a youthful rebellion against Christianity, she was converted in 1859. A woman well under five-foot in height, Lottie spent the Civil War helping her widowed mother manage the estate and teaching in schools. Lottie felt called to be an evangelist and church planter. However, her mission's policy prohibited a woman from preaching to groups which included men. Never one to suffer quietly, Lottie began writing letters and articles, many of which found their way back to the United States. Pointing out the shortage of missionaries and the extraordinary evangelistic opportunities available in China, Lottie pressed for women to be allowed to use any gifting they had for evangelism or preaching.

    Heroes of the Faith: Charles Finney

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2022 8:47


    One of the most powerful American preachers was Charles Finney, who had an influential ministry in the first half of the nineteenth century.

    Heroes of the Faith: Richard Baxter

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2022 9:58


    The seventeenth century in England was a time of constant and often violent controversies over religion and politics. Despite finding himself cruelly vulnerable at the centre of many of these, Richard Baxter managed, as both pastor and writer, to proclaim Christ in a remarkable way.

    Heroes of the Faith: Adoniram Judson

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2022 9:23


    The story of Adoniram Judson, the first overseas missionary from the United States of America and the man who founded the church in Burma, is one of the most challenging in Christian history.

    Heroes of the Faith: Mitsuo Fuchida

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2022 10:04


    It's always inspiring to hear of encounters with Christ that utterly transform a life. The case of Mitsuo Fuchida is a spectacular example of just such a conversion.

    Heroes of the Faith: Helen Cadbury

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2022 9:04


    Helen Cadbury was born in 1877 into the Quaker family who ran the famous Birmingham chocolate firm. Helen's father Richard was committed not just to the social work that was a Quaker distinctive but also to enthusiastically sharing the gospel.

    Heroes of the Faith: Samuel Zwemer

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2022 9:08


    Samuel Zwemer was a remarkable missionary, traveller and teacher, and a man who became known as the ‘Apostle to Islam'.

    Heroes of the Faith: Olaudah Equiano

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2022 8:55


    In the eighteenth century the transatlantic slave trade had reached a level where, every year, tens of thousands of African people were transported under appalling conditions to the New World. Many Christians fought against slavery and the names of William Wilberforce, John Newton and Hannah More are widely remembered. Less well-known is the name of Olaudah Equiano, a man whose witness was particularly powerful because he himself had been a slave.

    Heroes of the Faith: Bishop Polycarp

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2022 9:25


    Polycarp – whose name means ‘much fruit' – was born in Smyrna, today's port of Izmir in Turkey. He was born in AD 69 and grew up at a time when some of those who had seen and heard Jesus were still alive. Converted at an early age he knew the apostle John, who in old age lived not far away from Smyrna in Ephesus. Throughout his long life, Polycarp was able to recount what he had heard from John and others who had been with Jesus. Living on to the middle of the second century, he became known as the last living link with the apostles.

    Heroes of the Faith: Anne Bradstreet

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 22, 2022 9:20


    Heroism isn't about achievements; in my view it's about what you attempt to achieve and how you attempt it. And that makes seventeenth-century Puritan poet Anne Bradstreet a hero.

    Heroes of the Faith: Andrew Murray

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2022 9:55


    Andrew Murray was not only one of the most gifted church leaders in nineteenth-century South Africa but also a writer who continues to inspire Christians across the world today. 

    Heroes of the Faith: Thomas Cranmer

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2022 10:03


    Thomas Cranmer lived in a difficult time and was often forced to make hard and sometimes questionable decisions. Nevertheless, he remains a hero; let me share three things that I admire about him.

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