Great Men and their Godly Moms

Never underestimate your influence, Mom!  Tim Challies shares precious stories of godly mothers, many of whom lived at the margins of society or struggled with weakness. These simple Christian mothers shaped the men who changed the world, and so can you!   Come meet these women and learn their secrets to raising children who honor and glorify God.

Today's Resource: Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms

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This month's featured resource: Pilgrim's Progress in Today's English

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:15):
Please enjoy this encore edition of equip with Chris Brooks. Well,
hey there friends, welcome to another exciting edition of equip
with Chris Brooks. I'm absolutely thrilled that you've joined us today.
Why don't you do me a favor? Strap on your
seat belt. We're going to navigate through the contours of culture,
as always, with the lens of the biblical worldview. But

(00:38):
before we do that, let me remind you. This is
the day that the Lord has made. He has given
it as a gift so that you and I can
rejoice and be glad in it. So let's do just that.
Let's follow the words of the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice
in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Those
are the words of Scripture, and I greet you with
them every day, but especially on this day, as we

(01:00):
enter into a weekend in which we, in a special way,
get a chance to celebrate. Moms, today, I want to
say thank you. Thank you to moms who consider the
calling of motherhood high and holy. Thank you to moms
who have committed to a life of surrender to Christ

(01:20):
and self-sacrifice on behalf of children that the Lord has
entrusted to your care. Thank you to moms who, through
the ups and downs of their own struggles and weaknesses,
trusted in the grace of God to carry you through
each and every stage. And thank you especially to moms
who are finding themselves in the latter part of their

(01:43):
season of mothering, but still keeping their eyes on Jesus Christ,
the author and the finisher of our faith. Thank you
for being faithful. I want to give a very special
thank you to my mom, Pat Brooks, and to my wife, Jodi.
You know, I've been blessed to be surrounded by some
incredible moms, you know, by the way, my mother in

(02:04):
law Betty, as well. These are good and godly women
who love Jesus, who taught me much not only through
the words of Scripture that they share with me, but
also through the way they've modeled. Faithfulness to Christ before me.
It was my mom growing up that was really. Uh,
just a role model for me in generosity, in the

(02:28):
way that she cared deeply for those who are often
overlooked in our community. I remember Sunday after Sunday after
going to church, my mom dropping off food at people's houses, uh,
delivering clothes to those who needed it. It was just
a constant outpouring of generosity. And, uh, man, you talk

(02:48):
about speaking a sermon without words. That was, uh, that
was my mom's life. And then to see firsthand have
a front row seat to my wife doing that for
our children. And, uh, man, the amount of self-sacrifice and
the demands that come along with motherhood, God has shaped
something beautiful in her heart for our children. I'm grateful.

(03:09):
Grateful for my amazing mother in law as well. So
big shout out! I'm also sensitive today to those of
you who go into this weekend with a heavy heart.
Maybe you're a mom who has a child that you
miss dearly who's not here anymore. I know that pain.
My wife knows that pain. Uh, maybe you are a, um,

(03:33):
a child who has a mom who's not here, and
you aren't able to celebrate her and her value to
your life as you would like to in a real,
tangible way. Just know that we're here to pray with
you and for you, and that the grace of God
extends to you as well. Today, I want to have
a really important conversation about the ministry of motherhood in

(03:56):
a historic way that maybe you've not considered before. The
value of moms who have shaped great and godly men
because they were godly women, godly moms. Tim Challies has
written a new book and I love that. Uh, Tim,
for those of you who may not know, is the
husband of Eileen. Uh, he is the father of two

(04:19):
girls in their teens and one son who's waiting for
him in heaven. He worships and serves as an elder
at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario. I'm sorry. Toronto, Canada. Rather.
He's a writer, a blogger, and a book reviewer. His
new book that we want to talk about today is
simply entitled Devoted Great Men and Their Godly Moms. Tim.

(04:41):
How are you, brother?

S2 (04:43):
I'm doing well. Thanks for asking.

S1 (04:45):
Thanks for joining us today, man. Uh, I look at
the list of these names of great men, uh, men
that I've admired over the years John Newton, Hudson Taylor, J.
Gresham Meacham, John Piper, Charles Spurgeon, Augustine, D.L. Moody, Timothy,
and more. I mean, uh, these are some great names.

(05:07):
And yet I, uh, with some sense of shame. Don't
know much about their moms, or didn't know much until
I picked up your book. So I want to say
thanks for bringing to life some really good and godly women.
But before we do that, I want to talk about
this whole relationship because you highlighted in your introduction, Tim,

(05:29):
that so often the narrative that we're given in particular
concerning boys is that boys need their dads, that boys
need an attentive, active father who is going to model
for them godliness. And and as you say, masculinity and
display patterns of love and respect in marriage and teach
them necessary skills, all those great things, if they're going

(05:52):
to grow into the type of men that God calls
them to be. And that's true, Tim. But that's not
the only relationship they need, is it?

S2 (06:01):
No, not at all. And, you know, there's the world
as maybe we would want it to be. And then
there's the world as it actually is. And so there's
many young men growing up in the world without a father,
without a father figure, and fully dependent on mum as
a solo parent. But then there's also the reality that
both parents are called to raise both children, both kinds
of children, both girls and boys alike. And so a

(06:23):
father has great influence on daughters, and a mother can
have great influence on sons. And societally, at least maybe traditionally,
there's been some fear of boys who are close to
their mom. Some concern that a boy who's close to
his mom is there might be something wrong with him,
or there's something we should be suspicious of in that relationship.

(06:44):
And yet, what I try to draw out in this
book is that there are some truly great men in
the history of Christianity who would say that their greatest
spiritual mentor was their mother. And so trying to take
some of the the shame out of what can be
such a good and holy and true and pure relationship.

S1 (07:00):
You know, you have highlighted that there's been such a
shift in our culture and maybe we're prisoners to the moment.
Maybe some aspects of this sense of suspicion about a
boy who's too attached to his mom has always been there.
But you highlight that there is something redemptive when you

(07:22):
have a mom who is who loves the Word of God,
who is shaped by the words of Scripture, who, um,
has a commitment to prayer and, and waits, uh, for
the salvation which is promised to us from the Lord.
I love these quotes, though. You quote a few great

(07:42):
preachers and theologians. You say one of history's greatest preachers
would say with affection, I am sure that in my
early youth, no teaching ever made such an impression upon
my mind as the instruction of my mother. Talk about
the role of godly women in catechism in the home

(08:04):
for sons.

S2 (08:06):
Yeah, well, for most children, especially traditionally, but also today
as well, nobody will have a greater influence upon young
children than their mother. There are exceptions, of course, but
generally any child's first teacher will be his mother. The
person who spends the greatest amount of time with him
will be his mother. And so mothers have this great,

(08:26):
great influence from the very beginning, and we hope that
they're using that influence not just to teach and train
their kids and, and how to walk and how to
behave in this world, but also in the things of
the Lord. And so if catechesis or catechism is just
teaching children what they need to know about Scripture and
about life as it is, then yeah, mom is usually

(08:48):
the very first teacher, and the first teacher is the
one who makes the biggest difference right there, setting the patterns.
Or they're laying down those lessons that when a child's
worldview is shaped, it's shaped by those earliest lessons. So
you cannot overestimate a mother's importance.

S1 (09:04):
Tim. I'm sure for a guy like you who is
a thinker, who is, uh, who traffics in, in the, uh,
in the world of ideas and thoughts, there is no
shortage of topics that you would like to write about.
What compelled you to say, let me put pen to
paper and, uh. Yeah. Write this book devoted.

S2 (09:29):
Mhm. Well, I love reading biographies. One of my favorite
things to do is sit down with a good biography
of some key figure in history, some key figure in
the church, and just learn about their life. And you
really learn history through people. It's one good way to
learn the history of the world is to hone hone
in on those key people. And as I was reading biographies,
I one day it occurred to me I was beginning

(09:51):
to see this theme, that there were many Christian men
for whom they would say the greatest spiritual influence, at
least in my younger days, was my mother. They would
talk about a spiritual mentor being their mother. And as
I started picking up on this theme, well, that's where
I contrasted it with what I often hear about boys
who rely on their mother, or young men who are

(10:12):
very close to their mother. And I realized, no, there
is this theme in church history that often mom is
the main influence over some of these great men or
people who go on to become great men. And so
I started looking more closely for that theme. I started
writing to church historians asking for other examples, and in
the end, just decided to write up this small series

(10:32):
of thematic biographies, just pointing to that relationship.

S1 (10:37):
Maybe today there's a mom that you would like to
express your appreciation for. I'd love to hear from you.
This is appropriate a day to do it. 87756. Seven five.
That's 877548 36. 75. Or maybe, just maybe, your heart
is heavy today, and you need the comfort of the

(10:59):
spirit to comfort you in a day where you're missing
a mom. Even as we talk about and celebrate the
important role of mothers in the lives of men of
great renown in church history. [phone]. Tim, before we go
to break, quick question. You say this that we've often

(11:21):
heard the phrase behind every great man there is a
great woman. But you say that's sometimes true, but what
is often true is before that the great woman is
before him. What do you mean by that?

S2 (11:35):
Yeah. Well, you know that phrase that we often want
to draw attention to? The fact that very few men
become all they are without the assistance of a good woman.
But we're usually talking about a man's wife. And I
simply wanted to show that often the great woman in
a man's life is the one who got him there
through his mother. And so, um, yeah, I think that

(11:56):
the saying is true, but often we look to somebody
who's by his side, not somebody who gave birth to him.
So again, just trying to draw attention to this joyful
reality that God uses moms in the lives of boys
in the lives of men, and through them really just
shapes nations, shapes the world, shapes the church.

S1 (12:15):
We're going to come back in just a moment from
this short break with Tim, and we're going to talk
about some of these, uh, awesome mothers that God used
to shave great men for his purposes. But as John
Newton and Hudson Taylor and J. Gresham Meacham and John
Piper and Charles Spurgeon and Augustine and D.L. Moody have

(12:35):
in common, well, you'd be surprised they have moms who
love the Word of God, who pray for them, who
are held within their heart, a deep faith and trust
in Jesus. And we're going to celebrate that today. Why
don't you do me a favor and visit our website today?
Because I would love for you to consider ordering a

(12:57):
copy of this book. Like Tim, I love biographies and
for those of you who love biographies as well, uh,
this is going to be a great addition to your library. Also,
it's a wonderful book for those who lead and teach women. Uh,
I would encourage you to grab a copy of this book,

(13:17):
and let's celebrate the ministry of Motherhood. You can find
out ordering information at our website. Equip radio Dot to
quit Radio.com. Click on Program Details and you'll have all
that you need to order your copy of Devoted Great
Men and their Godly Moms. Listen, friends don't go anywhere.

(13:37):
We're going to come back right after this break and
go through some great stories that will shape your heart.
There's much more to come. Next up on equip with
Chris Brooks. Are you struggling in your spiritual journey? Does

(14:00):
the path seem confusing? Pilgrim's progress in today's English might
be exactly what you need. This modern version of John
Bunyan's classical allegory illustrates the challenges, temptations, and victories every
believer experiences, all in language that you can easily understand
and apply to your life. Request your copy with the

(14:21):
gift of any amount. To support equip this month, call
888644 4144 or visit Equip Radio.com. Chris Brooks here, reminding
you that today's program is pre-recorded and we won't be
taking your calls. Welcome back to equip with Chris Brooks.

(14:44):
So grateful for those of you who support the program.
Thank you for your prayerful and financial partnership. We're here
because of God's grace and your generosity, and so I'm
grateful for that. If you have been blessed through the programs,
the guest and the topics, the resources. We love for
you to stand with us today. Can you consider giving

(15:04):
your one time most generous gift today? Dial the number
888644 4144. That's 888644 4144. Will be careful to say
thank you. Like for Kimberly in Alabama. Thank you so much,
Scott and Georgia. I appreciate your partnership. And Joseph in

(15:26):
Mount Prospect, Illinois could not say thank you enough. So
I appreciate you guys. If you can again stand with us,
your most generous gift. If you wouldn't mind, call the
number now 888644 4144. Well, Tim is my guest today
and Tim has written a great book called devoted, Great Man,

(15:47):
and they're Godly Moms. One of the great men that
you write about is John Newton and his mom, Elizabeth Newton.
Tell us a little bit about John for those who
may not know. The enormous way God used him and
his mom, Elizabeth.

S2 (16:04):
Well, John Newton is known best, of course, for writing
the hymn amazing Grace, and that was a narrative of
his conversion. And in that way, a narrative of everybody's
conversion as he talked about amazing Grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like him, like you and
like me. And he had lived a really wretched life
where he had been involved in the slave trade. He

(16:25):
had been involved in things that caused great shame to
him as he looked back on them later in life.
He had lived a completely dissolute life. Um, and yet
at some point God reached out to him and saved him.
And as he looked back on his life later on,
he realized that he had never been able to escape
the very early teaching of his mother. And so when
he was very young, his mother was a sick person.

(16:48):
She was often in bed, often unable to do much
more than draw her young son into into bed, and
teach and train him there and then. She died when
he was still very young. And yet he would always
say that her early prayers and that early foundation she
laid set the trajectory, the theological trajectory. So we always
knew it was true. His conscience was never quite seared

(17:10):
because of the teaching of his mother that she drew
from the word. And so he always looked back with
great joy and great affection to his mom.

S1 (17:18):
You know, you think about how many, um, women that
may be listening to us right now that may have
similar afflictions within their body, maybe feeling that that hinders
them and in such a way that it renders them ineffective.
I find her story so encouraging that we can, on
the one hand, have weak bodies, but that doesn't mean

(17:41):
we have to have weak faith. We can have weak
bodies and a strong faith, can't we, Tim?

S2 (17:47):
We sure can. In fact, the Bible often seems to
relate the two that in our weakness is when we're
particularly strong, and God often uses the very weak things
of this world to do great things. And that's exactly
what we see in the life of John Newton, that
his mom, though weak, had a strong faith. And also
she had so little time with him. Um, as you

(18:07):
and I know, Chris, we don't always get all the
time we think we ought to have or should have
to to raise our children. And the same can be
true on the other side. Not every parent has as
long as they wish they would have before they're called
to go home. And so I think in that life,
we see that a very short investment of gospel strength can, uh,
can reap dividends in the end. And so her confidence

(18:29):
was in, in the gospel and, uh, yeah, in time,
God was, uh, good to his promises there.

S1 (18:35):
I'm always impressed with, uh, moms and maybe parents more broadly, Tim,
that are very, uh, attentive and sensitive to the spiritual
insights that a child might have, the move of the
spirit in the life of a child. I'm surprised at
times how how? Um, unperceptive I am. You know, I'll

(18:59):
give you an example. Our youngest son, Judah, uh, pretty
much from an early age, has said he wanted to
be a pastor. Now he's he's only eight, but he's, uh, said,
you know, dad, I want to be a pastor. And, um. And, man,
my wife really took hold of that. I think I
dismissed it pretty early as something of. Well, I'm a pastor.

(19:22):
He sees his dad pastoring. Uh, maybe that's what it is,
but I think she picked up pretty early on the
fact that the spirit is moving in his life in
a unique way and has helped to cultivate that, um, uh,
that to say, what encouragement do you give to moms, um,

(19:42):
maybe even the parents more broadly about being sensitive to
the spiritual insights that your children may have or be
b displaying or the move of the spirit in their lives.

S2 (19:54):
Well, God does call us to have a childlike faith.
That's not the same as saying a childish or immature faith.
But there is something endearing about children where they simply
believe that's. That's why it's so important to teach children
when they're young, before they become skeptical, before life starts
to to harden them, they start to be exposed to
other things. They're young and we can they're eager to learn.

(20:17):
We can lay those good foundations. But then I think
they also can be in tune with what, uh, they're
sensing in themselves that sense of calling that who can
explain it, and yet who can deny it at the
same time that some people do feel a particular burden
toward ministry or toward other callings in life. And so, yeah,
there's no reason not to embrace that and embrace it

(20:38):
as you would anything else a child says on the
one hand with very open hand, but on the other hand,
just to let that child express that and to, um,
do your absolute best to The fan into flame. That
that little spark.

S1 (20:52):
Let's go to the phone lines. Dave is listening in Clearwater, Florida.
Hey Dave, thank you so much for listening to equip.
How can we pray for you today, brother?

S3 (21:02):
Oh, thank you for accepting my call, Chris. I listen
to you guys and it's it's such an excellent service
to have, uh, my mother, uh. You're welcome. Thank you. Uh,
my mother passed away when I was in medical school,
and I became a believer in high school. And it
was all because of her that my life changed. Uh,

(21:23):
my father didn't become a believer until years later. We
were Orthodox Christians, uh, originally from Ethiopia. But there was
a revival going on at that time. And, um, my
mother started, you know, to take us to church. And, uh,
I just remember being in high school and, you know,

(21:45):
becoming a believer. And my life changed since then. I mean,
I became a good student and was able to get
a scholarship to, you know, an Ivy League college here
in the United States. So I just wanted to pay
tribute to what she's done. I know she's listening up
in heaven, but I mean, for folks out there, please

(22:06):
appreciate your mothers. And, uh, you know, they are just
such great servants of the Lord.

S1 (22:13):
Yes. Well, first off, your your call encourages me on
two levels. I am blessed to be married into an
Ethiopian family as well.

S4 (22:21):
And, uh. Oh, nice.

S1 (22:22):
I'm grateful for my mother, Birtukan and my mother in law. And, uh,
she's such an encouragement to to our lives. But I
have met a lot of Ethiopians that, um, maybe have
been born into a culture of Christianity, but apart from
a personal relationship with Christ. And, uh, I'm grateful that

(22:43):
your mom saw the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus.
And so I want to pray for you today, and
I want to pray for our listeners as you have shared. Father,
thank you for Dave, and I thank you for a
mom who was wise enough to teach her son the scriptures,
who brought him to hear the Word of God. And Lord,

(23:06):
thank you for the redeeming work of your grace, and
that has brought him to salvation. Thank you for revealing
the goodness and the glorious salvation that is found in
Christ alone, and the finished work of the cross. And Lord,
I thank you that even today he can celebrate a
mom who put her full trust and faith in you.

(23:29):
Not in our works for salvation, not in our cultural
inheritance or our family heritage, but in Christ alone. Uh Lord,
we thank you for the gift of salvation. Lord, for
many who are listening, who maybe have forgotten to appreciate
their moms like they should. May Dave's call and may

(23:49):
this conversation be an encouragement to them. In Jesus name, Amen. Tim,
when you hear David share his story, what comes to
your heart?

S2 (24:01):
Oh, just the the joy of having a mother, the
joy of being able to express things to our mothers.
And I was affected a long time ago by an
article by the old Presbyterian preacher J.R. Miller, who talked
about how we go to funerals and lay flowers on
people's coffins. And he said, the kindness we do after
people have died, maybe we ought to consider doing before

(24:23):
people have died. We say all sorts of nice things
about them once they're already gone. Why don't we make
sure we say those things before they're gone? Just lift
their drooping heads a little and and strengthen their spines
a little bit. And what's a long and weary life,
and especially by the time we get close to the
end of our race, we've often suffered deeply and are
feeling ground down. So why not speak some of that

(24:44):
kindness that you would perhaps save for a funeral speech?
And why don't you say those things now, while the
person still alive to hear it.

S1 (24:52):
So use some of that flower money. Today is the
wisdom of Tim Challies.

S4 (24:57):
There you go. Exactly.

S1 (24:59):
I want to encourage you to do so. Hey, maybe
you've not yet thought of a great Mother's Day gift
for for mom or or way of expressing your appreciation
for her. How about expect something beautiful? It's a great
book by Laura Booz. I would encourage you to consider
getting a copy, and you can use it for yourself,
but you can certainly encourage the moms, in particular the

(25:21):
new moms in your life. Wouldn't it be awesome if
you placed in their hand these great biographical sketches that
Tim has put together of these amazing women from church history?
We're going to talk when we come back about more
about devoted great men and their godly moms. You can

(25:41):
order a copy and find out ordering information at our website.
Equip radio.org. Uh, but what is the power of a
praying mom? I think Amelia Taylor has something to say
to us about that. If you've never heard that name before,
you're going to be extraordinarily blessed. On the other side
of this break, don't go anywhere. Much more to come.

(26:04):
Next up on equip with Chris Brooks. Chris Brooks here
reminding you that today's program is pre-recorded. While we won't
be taking calls, we do want to connect with you
on social media. Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks.

(26:31):
Tim Challenge is my guest today. We're having a great
conversation about his book, Devoted Great Men and Their Godly Moms. Tim,
you included Looted here about 10 or 11 stories. But
how many could you have done if you just had
the time and you wanted to be exhaustive? Tim, how
many godly women shaped the lives of great men who

(26:56):
were their sons?

S2 (26:58):
Yeah, I definitely had some more. Um, and I didn't
have to look all that hard to find these ones.
So I think if I were to really scrape through
history and put out feelers to more historians, I would
have come up with even more. And there were others
who didn't quite meet the criteria of the most formative
spiritual influence. But there were definitely some others, like the

(27:21):
Wesley brothers, where their mom was a very formative figure,
even if not the most formative. So, um, honestly, in
most cases, you'd find mom played a very key role
in the life of her son.

S1 (27:33):
I want you to talk about the power of a
praying mom. I think one of the great gifts that
God has given me to this day, is a mom
who faithfully prays for me and has done so through
seasons of my life that have been hard, that have
been difficult, seasons where there have been crises of faith.

(27:56):
My mom has remained on that wall, and now I
see her doing that for my children, my brother's children
as well, her, her grandchildren. She really has become what
I call our CIO chief intercessory officer for our family.
I say that affectionately to her, but talk about what

(28:16):
we can learn from the life of Amelia Taylor.

S2 (28:21):
Sure. Yeah, you might be describing my mom in the
same way as the Chief Intercession Officer. She served that
way with my family and now with the with my
kids and many other grandkids as well. So great. Um,
and I think that was one of the absolutely predominant
themes I noticed is praying moms. And there's just something
about moms in prayer that is so, so special and

(28:44):
just seems so prominent to the life of many moms.
And that was certainly the case for Hudson Taylor. Taylor
being the great missionary to China and, um, in his
younger years, he was not interested in the gospel. He
was not interested in mission work. He was interested in
money and interested in power and wanting to climb up
through the world that way. And he was starting to

(29:05):
get into a life that his conscience, what his parents
had taught him was starting to, uh, to speak to
him a little bit and call him away from it.
He was becoming miserable, and his mom saw that he
was young at the time, 16 or so years old,
and she just decided she would make this a matter
of special prayer. She befriended her son, she talked to
her son. But as much as anything, she prayed. And
over time, she became burdened that God was really calling

(29:27):
her even more to just bear down in prayer. And
there was a time of separation where she was on
vacation and he was away, and she just prayed and
prayed and prayed. When they got back together, he together,
he came up to her and she already knew what
he was going to say, which is that the Lord
had saved him in that time. So her prayers made
all the difference in the life of her son.

S1 (29:46):
You know, it's so interesting, though, when you reflect on
on her life, what you have to come away with
is that, um, our children need our faithful intercession and
that that is a great ministry. And again, I think
so often one that's underappreciated when we think about the

(30:07):
impact that we can have on the world and on
the next generation. Imagine if we had just a generation
of women moms in particular, who committed themselves to being
faithful in prayer, uh, at our churches. Tim, what a
difference that would make in our culture.

S2 (30:27):
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. We make all the difference and we
don't have any sense. I think we have to get
to heaven and see the Lord face to face before
we fully understand the difference prayer makes. So we know
from reading Scripture. Yes, it makes a difference, but I
don't think we have the first inkling as to how
big a difference it makes, just how much the Lord

(30:48):
uses those prayers, how much all of history is answers
to prayer. What God does is answers to prayer. And
so we certainly can't commit ourselves too much to prayer.
And many moms can and will make that a special
calling just to intercede day by day for the Lord.
And what a sweet gift to be able to give
your kids to say there's never been a day where

(31:09):
you've since you've been alive, where I haven't prayed for
you or there's barely been a day or before you're
up every morning. I'm already praying for you. Such sweet
things a mom can say.

S1 (31:18):
Yeah, it is so. It's so great to be able
to have that person in your life. And I just
want to say there's a lot of maybe grandparents, grandmothers
who are listening to us right now, who maybe have
reached a season of your life where you say, I'm
not as active as I used to be. Um, maybe
you're wondering what type of support can I really provide? Uh, listen,

(31:39):
grandmas and, uh, and mothers, the commitment that you make
to praying for your children and grandchildren is an enormous
benefit to them. Uh, if you would like for us
to pray for you, maybe a heavy heart today over
a mom not being here. Or maybe you want to
celebrate a mom for her godly influence in your life.

(32:02):
Dial this number 8775675. That's 877548 3675. Uh, Tim, there's
a controversy that I've never quite understood. And the controversy
is over the question. Uh, should women learn doctrine and
should they grow in their knowledge and understanding of doctrine?

(32:24):
To me, it's a no brainer. Every child of God
needs to understand the doctrines of the faith. Uh, the
doctrines of grace, if you will help me to understand
how this played itself out in the life of many Mitchum.

S2 (32:43):
Yeah, so I can't believe anybody would ever, ever say
such a thing. And yet I've heard it, too, that
there's something distinctly masculine about doctrine or that women ought
not to be exposed to it or something. That's baffling
to me. Women should know their doctrine every bit as
much as a man should. Women should be taught, can
be taught, can learn, can teach, and so on. So, um,

(33:06):
all Christians are responsible to know the doctrine given to
us in Scripture. And Gresham Machen's mother was one of
those people who knew her doctrine well and who then taught,
instructed her children in it, not just when they were
young children, though certainly that was part of it. But
all throughout life she was a theological sounding board for

(33:26):
her son. And in that particular case, he never married.
He remained a lifelong bachelor who was very, um, very
close to his mom, who really appreciated his mom. They
retained a strong bond, but there were times in his
life when he was battling with certain theological ideas and
having to make decisions, and he could rely on his
mom to help him in that time, because she knew

(33:48):
her doctrine even better than than he did, or at
least as well. And so she was in every bit
his equal intellectually. And that was a great, great help
to him.

S1 (33:57):
Say a little bit about his life, for those who
may not know. What an incredible theologian and man he was.
Can you share just a little bit about his life?

S2 (34:08):
Sure. So he lived at the time when theological liberalism
was being introduced into the church. Liberalism, of course, trying
to pull out the miracles in Scripture, the inspiration of Scripture,
and so on. And he was really on the front
lines of battling against that, holding to what at the
time would have been fundamentalism, that that word has taken

(34:30):
on perhaps different meaning now, but are we going to
go liberal? Are we going to introduce new doctrines, or
are we going to hold firm to the fundamentals? And
he was very much at the front lines of saying, no,
we need to hold to these fundamentals of Scripture and
not waver. And so he was really used his his
main work being Christianity and liberalism, which if you read
it today is still very, very much worth reading and

(34:54):
pertains so, so clearly to many of today's issues, though
it's a 100 years later.

S1 (35:00):
Yeah. I mean, that battle, you almost just ripped it
right out of today's headlines, right? That battle continues to
rage for us, and we need to listen not only
to great contemporary voices that speak to us, but also
those from history. Speaking of a contemporary voice. Man, I
love that you captured Christopher Ewan's mom in this book. Angela. Ewan. Uh,

(35:26):
Christopher is, uh, someone that I consider a friend of
the program. He's been our guest on several occasions. But
you have classic kind of classified her, categorized her under
the the persevering mom or the perseverance of a godly mother.
Talk a little bit about Christopher and his mom, Angela.

S2 (35:47):
So if you know Christopher at all, and I like you,
I'm glad to call him a friend and really, really
appreciate his unique ministry to the church. But, um, he
often travels around telling his story, and it's one of
great sin that from a young age, he got heavily
immersed in, um, homosexual community, was very active there and
really just giving his life over to his sin, to

(36:09):
the point that his life was really consumed by that sin. Um,
Angela became a Christian. That's his mom. And she decided
that her calling was to persevere in prayer, that she
wouldn't try to nag her son into the kingdom, but
she would pray him into the kingdom. And so, sure,
she presented the gospel to him. But more than anything,
she interceded. Day by day. She just prayed and prayed

(36:32):
and prayed, created a little prayer closet where she would
get on her knees for hours at a time and pray.
And God saw fit to use her. Then, as an example,
what prayer can accomplish and how he responds to those prayers.
And God did reach out and save Christopher, and he's
now developed a wonderful ministry where he teaches people about
holy sexuality. He travels widely, but he's still very close

(36:53):
to his mom. She's still a key part of that ministry.
Key part of his life. And together, they provide such,
such testimony to God's saving work.

S1 (37:02):
Such a testimony. And, you know, one aspect of their
story that really, um, is an encouragement to me, though
one of the hardest seasons of their story is that
there was a season where Chris Christopher shares that he
was pretty mean to his mom and and his parents
rejected them, rejected their love, basically wanted to have nothing

(37:25):
to do with their wisdom, and certainly didn't want to
hear them talking to him about God, about repentance, the
need of salvation, and the finished work of Christ on
the cross. I bring that up because maybe there is
a mom or a parent that's out there that has
a similar story, and maybe you're in that season that

(37:45):
Angelo was in with Christopher. Maybe you're in that season
right now. Uh, be encouraged, uh, that seasons do change,
that the power of God's grace can overcome the grip
of sin and even soften the hardest of hearts. Persevere.
I want to encourage you to persevere. Moms, don't give up.
Don't stop praying. Don't stop trusting God and continue to

(38:10):
hope in Christ. Put your faith fully in him and
I would encourage you to get a copy of the
book devoted. You need these role models examples in your life.
It's certainly an encouragement for us to read their stories
and their testimonies. Devoted great man and their godly moms.
Find out ordering information at our website Radio.com. Well, last

(38:34):
break of the day don't go anywhere. The best is
yet to come. Next up on equipped with Chris Brooks.
For centuries, Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan has helped Christians
navigate life's spiritual struggles. However, the 17th century English can

(38:55):
be challenging for modern readers. That's why I'd like to
sing you Pilgrim's Progress in today's English. Join Christian's journey
as he confronts temptations, doubts and challenges that reflect our
own spiritual battles. Request your copy when you give to support. Equip.
888644 4144 or visit equip radio org. Today's program has

(39:19):
been pre-recorded so our phone lines are not open. Welcome
back to equipped with Chris Brooks. We're praying today for
all of you, especially for those who this month represents
the 1st May that you've had to go through without
your mom being present with you. First relationship we have

(39:41):
in life is with our mothers, and for many of you,
this is a hard year because she's not there. Just
know that you are in our hearts and that we
are praying for you today. Uh, we're talking to Tim
Challies about his book devoted. I would encourage you to
get a copy. And, Tim, you know, I can't let

(40:01):
you go without talking about D.L. Moody. Uh, we, uh,
here appreciate the life of D.L. Moody, the great evangelist who, uh,
some estimate shared the gospel with 100 million people before he, uh,
went on to be with the Lord. But he had
a mom, a hard working mom named Betsey. Can you
talk to us about Betsey's his life.

S2 (40:24):
Yeah. Um, I thought you may wish to go to
this one before we ended up.

S4 (40:29):
For good reason. So, no surprise.

S2 (40:32):
In the life of Betsy, I chose to focus on
the theme of hard work. And I say that because
she suffered a great tragedy. Um, her husband died when
the children were young. Uh, just imagine this. When her
husband died, she was a single mother of nine children,
all of whom were under the age of 14. And

(40:53):
this at a time when there were few safety net,
social safety nets or anything else to rely upon. Um,
her husband had been in debt when he died, and
so the creditors came and took basically everything. She was
left utterly destitute. Um, but rather than give the kids
away or send them off to family, she decided to
keep the family together and do all she could to

(41:14):
provide for them. So there was some help from family
that came in, but largely she just stubbornly refused to
to give up. And she just worked very, very hard
to provide for her family, to keep them together, to
teach them, to train them and to give them opportunity
in life. And the Lord really sanctified that hard work
in the life of her children, and then especially most publicly,

(41:36):
in the life of her son, D.L. Dwight Moody.

S1 (41:40):
Yep, Dwight Lyman Moody. Listen, I just want to say, Tim,
I love that these biographies are so relatable. And I'm
going to end on one that I think is the
most relatable. But before I do that, if you're a
single mom that's out there and maybe you've suffered the
tragedy that, um, that you hear in the story of Betsey, um, Moody.

(42:05):
And you say, man, uh, I am having to provide
for the needs of these children. Um, but I sense
God's grace and help. Just please know that there are
stories like these for those days that feel overwhelming when
you get to the end of them and you wonder
whether or not you can make it. God's grace is sufficient,

(42:27):
and we just simply want to encourage your heart. Look
to him. I pray that you would find encouragement and
support from your local church and from your family as well.
But please know that these stories are captured for our
edification and encouragement as well. All right, we've talked about
hard working moms, moms who pray, those who learn doctrine.

(42:50):
But I love that you give a dedication and tribute
to an ordinary mom. I love that the quiet grace
of the ordinary. Talk a little bit about John Piper's mom,
Ruth Piper.

S2 (43:04):
Sure. Yeah, and there's another connection with Moody, by the way.
Also in William Borden, there's moody connections. So that's it's
all over the place. Um, but, yeah, John Piper, who
many people here would know through his writing ministry, through
his conference ministry and so on. But his mom was
also very hard working, and that's because his dad was
an evangelist and was very often on the road, very

(43:25):
often away. And so his mom had to step in
and do the work of two. And to really fill
up what was lacking when his dad was away. John
Piper's dad was away two thirds of the time, if
you can imagine. Um, and so, as Piper pays tribute
to his mom, he just talks about how she did everything,
how she had to do everything around the house and

(43:45):
in the life of the family. And she was, in
a sense, omnicompetent simply because she had to be. She
had to do all of it. And she was a
she was also, in her own way, a relatively simple
Christian in that she was no theologian. Um, she was
not she didn't have an absolutely expansive knowledge of Christian
doctrine or the Bible. But her faith, though simple, was

(44:07):
very tenacious and very strong. And she to led her
children to the Lord. So a sweet testimony in its
own way.

S1 (44:14):
Yeah, I love that. And and the fact that you
included a mom who. And that's not a derogatory statement there.
The quiet grace of an ordinary mom. I think that
there is something sweet and special about that. And I'll
just simply say this. That there are a lot of
wives of men who are pastors or missionaries or evangelists and, man,

(44:40):
what an extraordinary calling. And often without a lot of accolades,
without a lot of public support. Sometimes the sacrifices are
pretty extensive and the public recognition and support is pretty low.
Let me just say thank you to you as well,
to those wives and moms that are out there who

(45:04):
labor faithfully and not only enable your husband to be
able to do ministry, but are pouring God's grace into
your children as well. Tim, what a gift you've given
to the body. And I just want to say thank you, brother, again,
for being such a faithful steward of the talents that
God has given you to put together this wonderful book,

(45:28):
devoted Great men and their godly moms. Thanks for carving
out a hour to hang out with us today.

S2 (45:36):
Oh, it was my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

S1 (45:38):
God bless you, brother. Listen, I want to encourage all
of you to consider getting a copy of devoted great
men and their godly moms. Again, what is a Augustine
or Hudson Taylor or John Newton have in common with
a John Piper or Timothy, or even a Christopher Ewen?
It was the fact that they were graced by God

(46:01):
to have moms who had an extraordinary influence on their
spiritual lives and later on, their subsequent ministries. And today,
many of you have that testimony as well. I certainly
have that testimony? I am eternally indebted to a mom
who prayed for me, who invested in my ministry at

(46:23):
an early age with Bibles and resources, who has stood
by my side. I am super grateful for miss Pat Brooks.
I'm also grateful for the many, many moms that are
out there loving Jesus and honoring God in particular in
the hard situations and hard places. Know this. It's your

(46:43):
labor of love is not in vain. And even if
you're in a situation where parenting is not feeling good
right now and the wounds are deep, know that God
sees those scars as well, and that his grace is
sufficient and that he is able. Let's believe for miracles
this year, for marital and motherly miracles. Well, until we're

(47:04):
together again next time. Remember, equipped with Chris Brooks is
a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.