Proclaimer Blog
Take heart – God converts the famous too
I'm not one to gloat, but, oh man, we won the Ashes in Australia! A wonderful victory. Those England cricketers are worthy of admiration for achieving what no one has achieved for two decades. However, the Christian in me knows that they need Christ more than glory or fame. And yet, if I am brutally honest with my heart, there is a part of me that thinks that it is all just too difficult; some of them seem just too far away. Of course, I would never say that in public! But I need to be realistic that my theology (where I believe firmly that the arm of the Lord is not too short that it cannot save) is not always matched by my practice or feeling of the moment.
So, I've been encouraged to read today John Pollock's excellent little book, The Cambridge Seven, and in particular the section on the great missionary CT Studd. As you may know, CT was an England cricketer who famously played in that first Ashes test at the Oval (we lost, by the way). WG Grace described him as probably the best cricketer of the day.
CT is immortalised in the inscription found on the urn.
When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;
Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;
And the rest coming home with the urn.
CT was a Christian, but unlike his brothers not a fervent one. Yet during the off season of 1883-4 his life was changed through an encounter with DL Moody the famous US evangelist. CT eventually became a great worker for Christ in China, but not before he determined to take Christ to the entire English cricket team. He took every one of his colleagues to hear Moody and AJ Webbe, AG Steel and captain Ivo Bligh all gave themselves to the Lord.
Imagine. Andrew Strauss. KP. Graeme Swann.
"Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save or his ear dull that it cannot hear" (Isaiah 59.1)
Take heart, preacher and believe that God is able to do great and mighty things through the preaching of his word. Even amongst the famous.