Facing The Giants - A Novel Order Printed Copy

Author: Eric Wilson
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About the Book

"Facing the Giants" follows the story of a high school football coach who must overcome personal and professional challenges in order to lead his team to victory. Through faith and perseverance, he learns valuable lessons about love, forgiveness, and the power of believing in oneself.

C.T. Studd

“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” - C.T. Studd Charles Thomas Studd ("C.T. Studd") was born in England in 1860, the son of wealthy Edward Studd, who had made a fortune in India. Charles Studd liked sports just like most young men. He had a passion for cricket because it was the most popular sport in England at the time. His older brother Kynaston Studd, was a member of the Cambridge cricket team and well known. C.T., however, wasn't a great athlete but determined to master the sport. He would practice for hours, using a mirror to help him adjust his swing. He kept away from any harmful habits that may diminish his cricket ability. Soon he began to master the sport and became the captain of his high school cricket team. In 1879, when Studd entered Trinity College of Cambridge University, his popularity as a cricket star took off. He became what others have referred to as "the Michael Jordan of cricket," a household name throughout Great Britain. He soon became the captain of the Cambridge cricket team, an idol to students and legend in his time. and he had a particular passion for cricket, the most popular sport in England at the time. Studd was claimed then, and today as the greatest player to have ever played the game. But that is just a footnote compared to what has really marked C.T. Studd's life in history. C.T. was saved in 1878 at the age of 18 by the confrontation of a pastor, who really questioned him as to his personal relationship with Christ. Both his brothers gave their lives to Christ the same day that he did. His passion for Christ diminished as his cricket career grew in college and soon he was hardened to spiritual things. However, in November 1883, his younger brother George got very sick and was dying. As C.T. watched in horror and grief at the suffering of his brother, he reflected, "Now what is all the popularity of the world to George? What is all the fame and flattering? What is it worth to possess the riches of the world, when a man comes to face Eternity?" With a surprising turn, God miraculously healed George and C.T. was so dramatically changed through the event that he consecrated himself to the Lord's work. The things of this world were not worthy of his life, Studd would begin to invest himself in the eternal. C.T. was part of a small group of Christian men at Cambridge, mostly athletes, who were beginning to devote themselves to prayer and the evangelization of the world. Starting at their campus they began sharing their faith openly and telling all of the salvation found in Jesus Christ. Many were being won because of Studd's influence among other collegians. During this time, an influential missionary Hudson Taylor began to challenge the students of England to join him in reaching the millions of lost in China. His high calling and deep passion for China, captured the hearts of these young men at Cambridge, and there was discussion of joining Hudson's mission agency and pioneering to the unreached parts of China with the gospel. Despite a promising career in cricket and the life of comfort he had grown up in C.T. determined to follow God's heart for the world and join Him in reaching China. Studd's decision to go to China influenced the other seven men at Cambridge to live for God's glory and devote themselves to China also. From the rowing team at Trinity, Stanley Smith, Montague Beauchamp, and William Cassels joined. Two students, Dixon Hoste and Arthur Polhill-Turner, were officers who also left a promising career in the military to join Studd. And from C.T. Studd's own cricket team came Cecil Polhill-Turner. Studd faces opposition as well. His father, Edward passed away, causing the family to pressure C.T. not to leave his widowed mother at such a time. His older brother tried to talk him out of going and C.T. simply quoted Micah 7:6, "a man's enemies are the men of his own house." Before going to China, Hudson organized a tour of the college campuses in England, allowing the "Cambridge Seven," as they came to be known, to share their testimonies, and challenge students to consecrate their lives to the glory of God. Through these months traveling and speaking, God drew people to faith in Christ and awakened the church to His global cause. In the last meeting of the tour, C.T. Studd urged students saying, "Are you living for the day or are you living for life eternal? Are you going to care for the opinion of men here, or for the opinion of God? The opinion of men won't avail us much when we get before the judgment throne. But the opinion of God will. Had we not, then, better take His word and implicitly obey it?" Authenticity marked the power of the message of these seven that were on their way to the unreached. C.T. Studd admitted, "Had I cared for the comments of people, I should never have been a missionary." After calling students to obey the Great Commission, the Cambridge Seven, left for China, arriving in Shanghai on March 18, 1885. C.T. Studd had inherited a fortune from the death of his father Edward but gave most of it away, keeping only £3400 pounds. Keeping that only until his wife, Priscilla Livingstone Stewart said, "Charlie, what did the Lord tell the rich young man to do?" "Sell all." "Well then, we will start clear with the Lord at our wedding." And they gave the rest away to missions work. Studd would return to England and America occasionally because of ill health and challenge students to give their lives to the Great Commission. During the beginnings of the Student Volunteer Movement, in 1896 -1897, his brother J.E.K. Studd spoke at Cornell University, having a deep impact on the future point man for the SVM, John R. Mott. Mott walked in late for the meeting and heard J.K. Studd quote, "Young man, are you seeking great things for yourself? Seek them not! Seek first the Kingdom of God!" Mott gathered the courage to meet with him the next day and later said that the meeting with Studd was the "decisive hour of his life". Mott went on to become one of the greatest missions mobilizers in world history. C.T. Studd's work impacted China, India and Africa. Upon the last days of his life he reflected in his life's work saying, "As I believe I am now nearing my departure from this world, I have but a few things to rejoice in; they are these: That God called me to China and I went in spite of utmost opposition from all my loved ones. That I joyfully acted as Christ told that rich young man to act. That I deliberately at the call of God, when alone on the Bibby liner in 1910, gave up my life for this work, which was to be henceforth not for the Sudan only, but for the whole unevangelized World. My only joys therefore are that when God has given me a work to do, I have not refused it." One night in July,1931, C.T. Studd went to be with His Lord. The last word he spoke was "Hallelujah"! By Claude Hickman

Can Anyone Really Be “Blameless”

When you read the Psalms, do you identify with the psalmist when he claims blamelessness and uprightness and integrity and righteousness? Blamelessness Blessed are those whose way is blameless! (Psalm 119:1) I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. (Psalm 18:23) I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. (Psalm 19:13) Uprightness My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. (Psalm 7:10) The upright shall behold his face. (Psalm 11:7) Let all the upright in heart exult! (Psalm 64:10) Integrity Judge me, O Lord, according to the integrity that is in me. (Psalm 7:8) Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity. (Psalm 26:1) You have upheld me because of my integrity. (Psalm 41:12) Righteousness The Lord upholds the righteous. (Psalm 37:17) He will never permit the righteous to be moved. (Psalm 55:22) The Lord loves the righteous. (Psalm 146:8) Are you among the righteous, the upright, the blameless, and those who walk in integrity? If you are a Christian, you should answer Yes. Imputed Righteousness: Foundation, Not Summation I do not say this simply because in Christ we are counted righteous. The psalmist is not talking only about imputed righteousness. The justification of the ungodly on the basis of Christ alone by faith alone is a precious and magnificent truth. And, to be sure, it was already true for the psalmists in the Old Testament, because Christ’s death counted for them in the mind of God before it happened in history. That’s the point of Romans 3:25. “The psalmists were justified by faith alone. But their faith worked through love.” When Paul wanted to support his teaching about the “justification of the ungodly,” he quoted Psalm 32. God justifies the ungodly . . . just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Romans 4:5–8) But this imputed righteousness, based on Christ alone, is not the sum of what the psalmists refer to when they speak of their blamelessness and uprightness and integrity and righteousness. Forgiveness and imputation are the foundation, but not the summation of Christian righteousness. Justifying Faith Leads to Integrity and Uprightness That is true in the New Testament and the Old. The faith that unites us to Christ and his perfect uprightness is real only if it also produces new attitudes and behaviors in us. Here’s the way Paul put it: “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). The faith that links us to Christ for justification also leads to sanctification. That was true in the Old Testament as well. The psalmists were justified by faith alone. But their faith “worked through love.” It produced blamelessness and uprightness and integrity and righteousness. This was a work of the sanctifying Spirit of God. They knew it was God’s work not their own: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. (Psalm 51:10–12) The same dynamics of justification and sanctification at work in the godly psalmists are at work in Christians today, even though we have the privilege of knowing so much more about how the Lord purchased all this by his blood, and how it is working out in the power of the risen Christ. Psalmists Are Not Legalists Therefore, it is a mistake to read the Psalms and somehow think that these writers were legalists or egomaniacs or naïve when they referred to their blamelessness and uprightness and integrity and righteousness. Along with the psalmists, Christians must be blameless, upright, righteous persons of integrity. Example of Psalm 25 “He is not perfect. He is not without sin. He is not proud. He is the beneficiary of mighty mercy.” Consider Psalm 25 as an example of what this looks like. It is a beautiful psalm of deep humility and longing for God. Four times in these 22 verses David acknowledges his sin. His confession and his sense of need for grace is not just mentioned at the beginning of the psalm and then left behind as he moves on in triumph. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions. (Psalm 25:7) Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. (Psalm 25:8) For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:11) Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. (Psalm 25:18) Since his sins are a constant reality to him, so is the mercy and love and grace and goodness of God. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love. (Psalm 25:6) According to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! (Psalm 25:7) All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love. (Psalm 25:10) Turn to me and be gracious to me. (Psalm 25:16) David knew that if his guilt was to be pardoned, it would not be on the basis of his own virtue, but on the basis of God’s allegiance to his own name: “For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great” (Psalm 25:11). Sinner’s Response to God How then does David describe his response to God? Answer: trusting, waiting, humility, covenant keeping, fearing the Lord, and taking refuge in him. My God, in you I trust. (Psalm 25:2) For you I wait all the day long. (Psalm 25:5, 21) He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. (Psalm 25:9) All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant. (Psalm 25:10) Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. (Psalm 25:12, 14) Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. (Psalm 25:20) Most of us are thrilled with this kind of Psalm. It acknowledges sin. It ascribes mercy and grace to God. The psalmist trusts in that mercy and holds fast to the forgiving God. Integrity and Uprightness Preserve Me But then comes verse 21: “May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you” (Psalm 25:21). What I am arguing is that his appeal to his own integrity and uprightness is not a lapse in humble, faith-filled godliness. I am arguing that this is a proper claim of the godly in every age. This is not pride. This is not self-reliance. This is not legalism. This is not salvation-by-works. This is a godly man, trusting the mercy of God, knowing his sins are forgiven, walking in the power of God’s sanctifying Spirit. He is a man of integrity and uprightness. He is not perfect. He is not without sin. He is not proud. He is the beneficiary of mighty mercy — transforming mercy. It was “for God’s name’s sake” that his great guilt was pardoned (Psalm 25:11). And it is “for God’s name’s sake” that he walks in integrity and uprightness. As Psalm 23:3 says, “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Don’t Stumble over Integrity “The faith that unites us to Christ’s perfect uprightness is real only if it produces new attitudes and behaviors.” We do not need to stumble over these protests of integrity in the Psalms. In both Old and New Testament times, God justifies the ungodly, sanctifies the faithful, and rewards their new Spirit-wrought righteousness. It is not legalism or works-righteousness to say with the psalmist, “You have upheld me because of my integrity” (Psalm 41:12). It is not pride or self-sufficiency to say, “The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight” (Psalm 18:23–24). The New Testament is just as strong that “doing good” in the power of God’s Spirit, from a heart of faith, will be rewarded with eternal life and all the varied benefits that belong to our varied faithfulness. The one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:8–9) Whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord. (Ephesians 6:8) The one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. (Matthew 10:41) Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great. (Luke 6:35) We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10) Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. (Colossians 3:23–24) Trust in the Lord, and Do Good Therefore, when you read in the Psalms that the psalmists offer up their blamelessness and uprightness and integrity and righteousness to God, don’t over-spiritualize it. Don’t treat it as perfectionism. Don’t think of it as legalism. Don’t demean it as a defective part of the “old covenant.” Take it for what it is: a godly man, who knows he is a sinner, pardoned for God’s name’s sake, justified by grace, trusting God’s mercy, depending on God’s Spirit, taking refuge in God’s protection, delighting in God’s beauty, keeping God’s covenant, and therefore walking in integrity and honesty and uprightness. When viewed in this way, the Psalms become precious beyond measure as they help us “trust in the Lord, and do good” (Psalm 37:3). Article by John Piper Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org