Sermons & Devotionals by John Bjorlie

Then said Great-Heart to Mr. Valiant-for-Truth: "Thou hast worthily behaved thyself. Let me see thy sword." So he showed it to him. When he had taken it in his hand and looked thereon a while, he said, "Ha! it is a right Jerusalem blade." -- The Pilgrim's Progress Sir Robert Anderson (1841-1918) was... Read More

August Van Ryn (1890-1982) wrote of his birth, "My arrival in Haarlem (Netherlands) on May 15, 1890, created no particular sensation (unless it was one of dismay, for already there were seven Van Ryns ahead of me--with five more to come after). So my birth was nothing special to others, though it wa... Read More

His mother penned this in her Bible, "July 22, 1840. This day delivered of a son, Caleb Jason. The Lord have mercy on my son." At seventeen, a defiant Caleb Jason Baker (1840-1918) left Sussex, England for America. But the God who hears and answers prayers is not stymied by the distance from Hailsha... Read More

An overseer "must be...given to hospitality" (1 Timothy 3:2). "Use hospitality one to another without grudging" (1 Peter 4:9). "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers" (Heb. 13:2). After reading such verses, have you ever moaned and muttered, "Why don't we do more to serve one another?" Perhaps the... Read More

The letter, sent from abroad, was simply addressed to: R. C. Chapman University of Love England Robert Cleaver Chapman (1803-1902) was so renowned for his wisdom and compassion, that the postal service knew where to deliver that letter. Robert was born into a wealthy English family. His mother tutor... Read More

Charles Frederick Hogg (1859-1943) used his outstanding gifts to raise the standards among the Lord's servants and the church in general. Born into a godly family in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the year that revival swept the country, he was converted at the age of nineteen. Soon he was preaching ... Read More

Donald Munro (1839-1908) was born in the county Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. His parents, James and Hannah Munro, held the "old Puritan theology of the highlands that conversion is a necessity, the new birth a work of the Spirit in the soul, and the gospel the means used to effect it." T... Read More

Edmund Hamer Broadbent (1861-1945) was the tidy-looking English gentleman with a bookish side who discovered ways of slipping into and out of countries that others just assumed were "closed doors." He was not a big man, and his pleasant, easygoing manner would not have conjured in your mind the pict... Read More

Scores of remarkable missionary stories in this century have been full of drama. We wonder, while so many have laid down their lives in China, Russia, the Congo and elsewhere, how is it that the muffled footsteps by that stretch of sand on the Curaray River still reverberate around us. It happened o... Read More

Frederick William Grant (1834-1902) was born into a God-fearing Anglican home in the Putney district of London, England. Presumably in his teenage years he became a believer while privately reading the Bible. He went on to King's College School, in order to be groomed for a position in the British d... Read More

Anthony Norris Groves (1795-1853), "the father of faith missions," deeply influenced the founders of the China Inland Mission, the North Africa Mission, and particularly his own brother-in-law, George Muller. Anthony was the only son in a family of six. His mother was gentle and talented. His father... Read More

Harold St. John (1876-1957) preferred to have his name pronounced sin-jun, feeling that the title of "saint" was too superior sounding. But if anyone wanted an example of saintliness, they could have pointed in Harold St. John's direction. His father had a government position as the treasurer of Sar... Read More

James George Deck (1807-1884) was born at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, where his father, John Deck, was postmaster. Their godly Huguenot heritage was carried forward in Mrs. Deck's piety. She "never punished her children without first praying with them." Every evening she set aside one hour a... Read More

Joseph Barnes Watson (1884-1955) came from the sheep-herding hills and marshy flats of Cumberland, England. There, in the village of Wigton, the gospel entered the home of John and Jane Watson. Their marriage was another proof that opposites attract. Jane was a calm, cautious homemaker, while John h... Read More

The cheer that brightened the simple English cottage where he was born fled early for Leonard Sheldrake (1885-1952). He was six, his sister eight, and his brothers four and two when tuberculosis claimed their mother. Never a strong child, he once overheard a neighboring housewife remark, "Poor laddi... Read More

Roy Littleproud was born in Forest, Ontario, on February 21, 1889. His parents were both Christians, meeting with those gathered to the Name of the Lord Jesus in that place. Under these circumstances he grew to young manhood, knowing the atmosphere of a home where Christ was recognized as Lord. In l... Read More

Some books will not go away. They may not be bestsellers, but once a print run is exhausted, the book is soon being requested. They have a lasting appeal, they say something no one else is saying, or they say what everyone else is saying, only better. Leonard Verduin's 1964 book, The Reformers and t... Read More

As a youth, Donald was "as proud as a peacock, and as empty as a drum," and yet he "said" prayers night and morning, for fear that God would smite him if he didn't. Then one day while Ross was walking alone among the mountain heather, returning home after visiting a dying brother, he saw the light o... Read More

We are often told that right doctrine should have a practical effect. Henry William Soltau (1805-1875) lived to show us how that is done. He was the second son of George Soltau, a prosperous merchant of England's port city Plymouth. His father was a godly Anglican, and an energetic civic leader. He ... Read More

The Englishman, Thomas Newberry (1811-1901) could thank God for a mother and older sister who were both spiritually atuned and able to communicate the gospel clearly. Through their consistent Christian testimony, he was tutored in the holy Scriptures from childhood. At an early age he was born again... Read More