These Christians Still Speak Words of Wisdom

Somewhere in the course of your day (or night), give a few moments to consider the following observations of some of the most influential evangelical Christians of all time. Three come from letters and one from a journal entry. But all were written on this very day, August 2nd.

From a letter written by John Wesley on August 2, 1776 -- "Use all the ability which God gives, and He will give you more."

On this date in 1946, Christian apologist C. S. Lewis wrote in a letter, "Apologetic work is so dangerous to one's faith. A doctrine never seems dimmer to me than when I have just successfully defended it."

Martyred American missionary Jim Elliot (photo above) had this prayer in his journal entry from August 2, 1948. "Father, teach me the speed of eternity. Synchronize my movements with the speed of Thine Own heart then, hasting or halting, I shall be in good time."

And on this date in 1982, as Presbyterian apologist and key pro-life leader Francis Schaeffer dealt with the cancer that would end his life less than two years later, he wrote in a letter, "There is the constant danger of slipping into the idea that if a person has sufficient faith, he will always be healed. This is clearly not what the Bible teaches."