Litany of the Led

In the summer of 2007 I wrote an article for our denominational Light and Life magazine entitled "Litany of the Led." It included the names of 66 persons throughout church history who have served God by following His will and allowing countless others to follow their example. Frankly, I don't think we can have enough role models in life.

Here is a reprint of that original article, and every week for the next year or so I'll be posting the biography that I wrote for each of these saints, a brief biography that appeared on our denominational web site a year ago.

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Peter. Andrew. James. John. Philip. Bartholomew. Thomas. Matthew. James, son of Alphaeus. Thaddaeus. Simon the zealot. Stephen. Paul. Ignatius. Polycarp. Justin Martyr. Perpetua and Felicitas. Anthony. Athanasius. Basil the Great. Ambrose. John Chrysostom. Augustine. Patrick. Benedict.

Gregory the Great. Bede the Venerable. Bernard of Clairvaux. Thomas Becket. Dominic. Francis of Assisi. Thomas Aquinas. Bonaventure. Catherine of Siena. William of Ockham. John Wycliffe. John Hus.

Martin Luther. Ulrich Zwingli. John Calvin. Thomas More. Ignatius of Loyola. Francis Xavier. Thomas Cranmer. George Fox. John Bunyan. George Whitefield. John and Charles Wesley.

William Wilberforce. Charles Finney. John Henry Newman. Phoebe Palmer. D. L. Moody. Benjamin Titus Roberts. William and Catherine Booth. William Seymour. Alexandr Sozhenitsyn. Karl Barth. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. C. S. Lewis. Martin Luther King, Jr. Jim Elliott. Mother Teresa. Pope John Paul II. Billy Graham.

The litany of those who have had the courage to enter areas of service that may not be immediately compatible with their particular stage of life is endless. Whether leaving their nets with their father on the sea-shore or responding to the needs of the poorest of the poor in the streets of Calcutta, men and women from the time of Christ have abandoned all to follow Him and proclaim His message of hope and grace and joy to the world. When in their own strength they were tempted to go another direction they have trusted God to provide, trusted the Spirit to lead, and because of their faithfulness we are able to stand strong in faith today. We did not get here by accident. We do not go forward alone.

Many other names can be added to this list. Can yours?