Hudson Taylor

Some of the most respected Christian leaders through the centuries have struggled with seasons of doubt.

People like Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther, Hudson Taylor.

If you're dealing with doubt, you're in good company and you're not alone.

Many people will be struggling right now as well.

But I wasn't quite ready to make the step of saying God's calling me to missions.

I had read about some lives like Ed and Iron Judson and Hudson Taylor.

And I wasn't sure I was cut out for that.

So I said, well, I'll be a pastor.

And it's so, you know, motivating and inspiring.

And like, I just think of all of these people, like I used to read so many missionary books when I was a kid, like Corrie ten Boom, Hudson Taylor.

You know, I even think of like Harriet Tubman, like these people who like you look at their life, you look at their story.

I don't know, modern Tim Tebow.

A good dad leaves an inheritance, he can leave them a testimony of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

I have a note written in the margin of my Bible that J. Hudson Taylor V is in the ministry today.

Do you realize that is five generations of men, starting with J. Hudson Taylor, who have served the Lord faithfully in the ministry to this day? Now that's quite an inheritance.

That's done because of a good testimony of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

Here's another good inheritance, a well-worn Bible.

that before you set out to change the world or the church, ask yourself first, am I being a faithful student? Am I working hard in the place and position God has me in right now? If you're married, am I loving my spouse well? If I have kids, am I doing the best that I can to shepherd my kids well? Am I working hard in the position that I have now and in so doing being a witness to the gospel? Or think about your involvement at your local church.

Ask, am I a faithful part of this local body? Am I faithful to build people up? Am I faithful to serve? Am I faithful to pray even when no one sees other than the Lord? The great missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, once said, a little thing is just a little thing, but faithfulness in a little thing is a great thing.

Again, God says faithfulness with little is a prerequisite for responsibility over much.

Now, again, this does not mean, to be clear, that if you're faithful in your current responsibilities, God's promised to give you this bigger platform or more influential ministry or more visible fruit.

We need to learn dependence on the Lord.

as we are actively following him so for number three chambers is my main selection here but sit walk stand is a valuable additional recommendation number four on my list of top recommended books for new christians is hudson taylor's spiritual secret by dr and mrs howard taylor the son and daughter-in-law of the great missionary hudson taylor I wanted to include a missionary biography on this list because seeing faith lived out can make the things we're learning much more concrete.

And we can talk about prayer, sacrifice, perseverance, trust.

But when we read about someone facing real uncertainty, real grief, real opposition, and incredibly difficult decisions, all out of their commitment to following Jesus, we begin to see what those things look like in practice.

And those things I mean are trust, sacrifice, perseverance, prayer.

Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China in the 19th century.

And this account gives particular attention to his dependence on Christ.

The title can be a bit deceiving, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret.

Robert Jermaine Thomas was a pastor in Ryder in Mid Wales in the 19th century, and he had a serious case of job unsatisfaction because what he really wanted to be was a missionary in China.

His heart's desire was to go and join the people like Hudson Taylor and spread the gospel and see what the Spirit was doing out there.

Every time he applied to different missionary organizations, he was rejected, and they turned him away.

So eventually he quit his job and bought a trade ship that was going to China.