The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce (Volume 3)

What a great book - in my opinion Piper is such a great writer and the subject of his essay this time was one of my personal heroes - William Wilberforce. But this wasn't just a book about the life and ministry of Wilberforce, it was a look at the interaction of three incredible men of God that all lived at the same time in England and how they each endured through extraordinary conditions. The elder statesman was John Newton, well-known today as the author of the hymn "Amazing Grace." Newton, a former slave-trade captain, became an outspoken abolitionist as he pastured a church and ministered to the lives of his parishioners. Piper also brings into the mix another pastor, a contemporary of Wilberforce, Charles Simeon who pastured Trinity Church on the campus of Cambridge for fifty-four years.The primary emphasis of this book is simply to introduce Christians today to some of the great men of the faith from years past - the great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 12. This book is actually Book Three of The Swans are not Silent series and after reading this one, I'm looking forward to diving into the others. But the book is not just biographical in nature - Piper does a great job applying the lessons learned from the lives and struggles of these great men to our own personal spiritual journeys. In this book, specifically, each man had to overcome significant opposition to their faith and the common root of endurance they shared was their deep devotion to God's Word and their unwillingness to compromise their principles for expediency or approval. However, each individual did have opportunities to demonstrate God's grace in their own lives as they worked with those who stood in opposition to them, and in most cases, won them over as brothers-in-Christ by their compassion.Three incredible stories of three god-sized challenges overcome by three humble, but God-centered, men. The book is a great read for almost anyone - a friend struggling with a life issue, a young person wondering how God could use them, or a pastor as he sacrifices to lead and minister to his flock - The Roots of Endurance is a challenging, uplifting and encouraging read and just what the doctor ordered to spur one another one toward love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24).

While not my favorite biography of Newton or Wilberforce, this is a great introduction to each of their lives. The more interested person can dig deeper, but there are some great lessons contained in their lives. It's refreshing as well to see the grace of Christ displayed in long-sufferring, perseverence and endurance in these men's lives.

It was a good book

The way in which these three men engaged their particular historical culture with truth and love is remarkably relevant and timely for our current times! Jesus was the Root of their endurance...and should be for us too. I am very encouraged by the examples of endurance and gospel-centeredness that Piper offers in this book.

What a gem. How we need God to help us to walk in such a relationship with Him to experience what these 3 godly men did as described in this book. Like the author puts it - the long road of endurance and faith is what made our characters in God.

This book is an encouragement for anyone dealing with the challenges of life. This of course means all of us. Valley experiences are a part of living. In this book one can see the value of the Christian faith as these men relied on their Lord and His Word to overcome many things including discouragement, fear, doubt and depression.

John Piper is an excellent author and the book serve me very well. Also Amazon is a very good company I would recommend it to anyone

Not my cup of tea. I had to read this for a masters degree course. I did learn from it but I don't like John Piper's writing style, or should I say preaching.

I was super excited about this book, as I was having a hard time finding a Christian perspective on these men's lives. However it doesn't really look at the individuals involved in a biographical way. The author's clear goal is to hijack their stories to push his theology, not share about the life of these figures. Regardless whether you agree with his theology or not, this book is more propaganda than biography.

facing challenging situation and found it very practical.