'Among the heroes of modern faith from which I have taken much courage is E Stanley Jones, the Methodist missionary and evangelist who spent more than fifty years of his life in India. At the age of eighty-three, after a lifetime of constant world travel during which he spoke to millions, and was instrumental in the conversions of countless people, he suffered a debilitating stroke. It left him without speech or physical mobility.
In his waning months before he died, Jones managed to mutter through virtually paralysed lips the manuscript of a remarkable book. Short, admittedly disjointed at places, the book is E. Stanley's final declartion of faithfulness to Jesus. In one amazing paragraph he writes:
'There are scars on my faith, but underneath these scars there are no doubts. [Christ] has me with the consent of all my being and with the cooperation of all my life. The song I sing is a lit song. Not the temporary exuberance of youth that often fades when middle and old age sets in with their disillusionment and cynicism.....No, I'm 83, and I'm more excited today about being a Christian than I was at 18 when I first put my feet upon the way'
A Resilient Life, Gordon MacDonald, Page 13-14
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