John Charles Pollock (1924–2012)

This book includes much of the information in Pollock’s book “On Fire for God: Great Missionary Pioneers”. I found the newer sections very interesting and encouraging, but I stopped reading when I realised I was listening to previous material. A Fistful of Heroes contains biographies of a broader scope than On Fire For God, so it is a better book. It’s twice as long as well. Pollock is a great biographer, but these books do focus on Christians from Britain (and a few from America) in show more the 18th to 20th centuries. It would be interesting to read about Christians from other times and places. show less

The Apostle masterfully combines careful adherence to biblical text, detailed research, and a storyteller's gift to create a book equally relevant for both casual readers fascinated by Paul's life and serious biblical scholars. Pollock begins his fast-movig narrative with Stephen's death and follows Paul through his conversion, missionary journeys, and eventual execution. Many will enjoy it simply as a satisfying and insightful true-life story, although maps and a study guide allow for show more deeper exploration. show less

Paul is someone I've spent time on and off studying. His writing to Timothy is something I've always wanted to understand more thoroughly, so a history of who Paul was became very helpful for me. Pollock does a good job of weaving history, archaeology, Biblical text, and third-hand accounts into a good overview of who Paul was and how significant his impact was on the early church.

A Foreign Devil in China is the biography of Nelson Bell, an American physician who served 25 years as a missionary doctor in China. It is a well-written and easy-to-read story covering his early years as a child in Virginia, his mission service, which ended with the outbreak of World War II, and his subsequent years as a physician and church leader when he returned to America.

For me, two things stood out about Bell's life. One was his absolute love of God, nurtured through a lifetime of show more devotional reading of the Bible and prayer, and without which he truly felt he could do no good thing. His close walk with God also led to his abiding trust in God's presence and will in every circumstance. And serving as a missionary doctor in China in the first half of the 20th century gave him a multitude of trials and tribulations.

The other thing that stood out, which was also connected to Bell's walk with his Savior and dependence on God's revealed word, was the idea that everything was theological. The words in the Bible mattered, and they had much to say to nearly every situation of life. It is a message that continues to ring true today. Bell lived during the time of the Fundamentalist/Modernist controversy and he was a Fundamentalist in every good way that word and time can be understood. And in that lived theology his was a life that many could do well to emulate today. show less