Steven J Lawson

John Knox: Fearless Faith - Biography Steven J Lawson Revised edition

Commendation Quotes: ... Take a deep breath as you turn the first page; this story may leave you breathless; but you will almost certainly feel spiritually fitter by the end! Sinclair B. Ferguson (Associate Preacher, St Peter's Free Church, Dundee) Review Quotes: Steve Lawson's hallmark is passion for the gospel. It spills over into a contagious enthusiasm for others who share his passion. Of all the preachers in church history Dr Lawson has read and studied perhaps none has stirred him more than John Knox. In these pages he celebrates the five hundredth anniversary of the Scottish Reformer's birth by a vivid retelling of the story of his life and ministry and by applying some of the most important lessons of his remarkable life and ministry. Take a deep breath as you turn the first page; this story may leave you breathless; but you will almost certainly feel spiritually fitter by the end! Sinclair B. Ferguson (Associate Preacher, St Peter's Free Church, Dundee) Review Quotes: ...of all the preachers in church history Dr Lawson has read and studied perhaps none has stirred him more than John Knox. In these pages he celebrates the five hundredth anniversary of the Scottish Reformer's birth by a vivid retelling of the story of his life and ministry and by applying some of the most important lessons of his remarkable life and ministry. Take a deep breath as you turn the first page; this story may leave you breathless; but you will almost certainly feel spiritually fitter by the end! Sinclair B. Ferguson (Associate Preacher, St Peter's Free Church, Dundee) Review Quotes: This is a little gem of a book... outlines Knox's contribution in a clear, lucid style, giving the narrative an engaging manner. What is particularly noteworthy is the way Lawson is able to introduce significant aspects of Knox's thinking on various issues in an easy to absorb elegance. This is an excellent production and I thoroughly recommend it both to the general reader and to the student who is looking for an introduction to Knox's life and faith. Bruce Ritchie (Lecturer in Church History, Highland Theological College, Dingwall, Scotland) Review Quotes: Steven Lawson has written an excellent popular introduction to the life and achievements of John Knox. Indeed one can sense the fire of Knox's own faith burning in these pages. Outside of his native Scotland, Knox has been overshadowed by other giants of the Reformation, such as Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin. I trust, however, that this biography will bring Knox to life for a new generation of readers, enabling them to appreciate the man's true greatness, and his eminent services to the Reformation of the 16th century. Nick Needham (Lecturer in Church History, Highland Theological College, Dingwall, Scotland) Dr Steven Lawson is exactly the church history writer the church needs today. John Knox is exactly the church history figure the church needs today. And here we have them both together. Read this book, and pray for a measure of the passion for the gospel you will read about in these pages. Stephen J. Nichols (President, Reformation Bible College, CAO Ligonier Ministries, Sanford, Florida) Readers of Stephen Lawson's biography will gain an understanding of why Knox has retained his position in the history of the Scottish Church down through the generations. This is a popular history, characterized by passion, quoting throughout the words of Knox himself, and written in the tradition of Knox's own History of the Reformation of Religion in Scotland. John R. MacIntosh (Edinburgh Theological Seminary, Edinburgh, Scotland) It was 'fearless faith' that enabled a man from an unlikely backdrop to transform a Church and a nation. When John Knox came on the scene in the mid 16th century darkness, ignorance and corruption prevailed in Scotland. Satan had, through subtlety, deprived the Church of the spiritual weapons potent to destroy the kingdom of darkness. Knox, emboldened by a vision of the majesty of God and full of zeal for the glory of Christ, used the mighty weapon of the preached Word to remake the Church and the nation. He succeeded under God to see a Church founded on God's Word and cleansed by God's Spirit. Steven Lawson here relates the story with a similar passion to have that same preached Word restore the Church in our day. May many catch that vision as a result! John J Murray (Minister of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Glasgow, and author of John Knox: A Bitesize Biography) John Knox was an international Christian, shaped under God by events both in his own native Scotland and in continental Europe. He would lay the basis for the Reformation of the Scottish Church through restoring its biblical foundation and roots. In Scotland and beyond we are building on Knox's work, and he deserves recognition and study for that reason alone. But more than that, his story is needed because such reformation is needed continuously. Knox's life is a model of Bible-based and God-focused religion; his legacy to instill in us that there is no substitute for the Word of God in the life of the people of God. This is a great story, told well; it is the biography of one spiritual giant written by another, and is a reminder of what God can do with one human life dedicated to his service. Iain D. Campbell (Minister, Point Free Church of Scotland, Isle of Lewis) This is a little gem of a book... outlines Knox's contribution in a clear, lucid style, giving the narrative an engaging manner. What is particularly noteworthy is the way Lawson is able to introduce significant aspects of Knox's thinking on various issues in an easy to absorb elegance. This is an excellent production and I thoroughly recommend it both to the general reader and to the student who is looking for an introduction to Knox's life and faith. Bruce Ritchie (Lecturer in Church History, Highland Theological College, Dingwall, Scotland) Commendation Quotes: ...writes with characteristic verve and passion and captures the aroma of Christ in the lives of his subjects... Dr Lawson helps us catch the vision and passion of this 'lion' in the pulpit. Liam Goligher (Senior Minister, Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Steven Lawson, himself a bold preacher, has given us a biography of Knox that inspires similar courage. In this day of jellyfish, may God use this book to raise up more Christians like Knox! Joel R. Beeke (President and Professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan) ... Lawson has captured the essence and main contours of Knox's vital ministry-no easy task. Read and ponder, and then pray that God would raise up again such thunderers of the Bible as Knox-yes, in Scotland, and to the ends of the earth. Michael A. G. Haykin (Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky) ... Take a deep breath as you turn the first page; this story may leave you breathless; but you will almost certainly feel spiritually fitter by the end! Sinclair B. Ferguson (Associate Preacher, St Peter's Free Church, Dundee)

Contributor Bio:  Lawson, Steven J Steven J. Lawson is the senior pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including the Long Line of Godly Men series. He also serves as Professor of Preaching at The Master's Seminary and a Teaching Fellow at Ligonier Ministries and Visiting Professor in the Doctor of Ministry program at Ligonier Academy.