Recommended Biography: "Agape Leadership: Lessons in spiritual leadership from the life of R.C. Chapman"
You've probably never heard of R.C. Chapman (left). I hadn't either until one of my mentors and friends Russell Sutherland gave me his short biography, "Agape Leadership," a few weeks ago.
Described by Charles Spurgeon as "the Saintliest man I ever knew," Chapman, who was born in 1803 and died 99 years later in 1902, was a hero of the faith. He was a pastor/elder, teacher, evangelist, hymn-writer, missionary... so much that lasted; and his life was like clay in God's hands.
If you don't mind me dropping some names for the sake of context, and if it means anything to you: -Chapman urged John Darby (a Brethren stalwart) not to disassociate himself from J.N. Newton. In other words, he was there to try to inject grace into the first major split of, sadly, many hurt-filled splits in the Brethren movement. (Someone correct me if this was not the first split.) Chapman was still greatly respected by both men afterwards. -Chapman also encouraged the great Hudson Taylor to go to China before the latter had ever set foot on the mission field, and was one of the first "referees" of the China Inland Mission, the mission organization Taylor later founded. -Chapman sent two of his young mentees to work with Anthony Norris Groves ("father of faith missions") in India.
Little knowing these big names, though, the people of Chapman's day knew him instead for the little things he did; like giving to the poor, going to the train station without money and trusting God to provide a ticket (He did... on more than one occasion), having an open home, getting up early and cleaning his guests' shoes/boots, and giving to the poor.
Perhaps the main lesson I took from Chapman's life was this: Although God used him to accomplish so much, Chapman was lost to the world for hours every day. What was he doing? Spending time in prayer and Bible study. Convicting, isn't it?
I want to give my copy of "Agape Leadership" to the first person who asks me for it (I hope someone does!). Everyone else: the ISBN number of the book is 0936083050 and can be found on Amazon here. (Copies are available today (March 24, 2006) for as little as $2.55 used.)
Meanwhile, as I seek to pray more (I'm just beginning to taste what prayer is) and encourage others to do the same, I thought I'd finish with these quotes from Chapman's biography. Enjoy.
"Because the Lord's servant is 'continually ministering to others, he must be receiving fresh supplies from the God of all grace through all channels. Meditation on the Word and prayer should occupy the chief part of his time.' On most days [Chapman] read and meditated on God's Word for several hours..."
"...This time of study and fellowship with God was the source of his spiritual strength as well as his personal knowledge of God's will. He also made prayer his constant business. He spoke to God about everything that was on his heart and would pray anytime, regardless of what activity he was doing." (p. 64)
Chapman: "It is well for a child of God to pray for himself, but a more excellent thing to pray for others. God honours the spirit of intercession." (p. 70)
"With no desire to become an old man who mourned lost opportunities or looked back at what might have been, Chapman determined to live for Christ as long as he was able. In his later years, he accomplished that goal through fervent, intercessory prayer. Considering intercession to be 'my chief business now,' he spent much time in prayer, and requests came to him from around the world." (p. 71)
1 Sat eve ~N's b'day party 2 Sun 4pm Malkutha Bible mtg 3 Mon (1) 9:30am VT prayer, (2) 8pm ph call (NC in Australia) 5 Wed 1pm lunch (M/KW) - Mississauga 6 Thu (1) 11am mtg (JSh), (2) 1pm funeral (An.; JeNY staying over) 7-8 Fri-Sat w/ boys (~J working Fri and at shower in Oshawa on Sat) 9 Sun (1) Church, (2) poss. lunch (PY/AC) 10 Mon Kids Kapers party (stat. holiday) 10-16 Mon-Sun holiday - Collingwood (GV passed away 14/Apr) 16 Sun baby dedication - Scarborough 21 Fri MVT board mtg 22-24 Sat-Mon Winnipeg ministry trip
MAY
2 Tue 2:40pm med appt 3 Wed 12:30pm l'ship mtg 4 Thu 2:30pm video mtg (Ppls,JBau) 5 Fri time w/ TW; ~Ch dropoff/pickup (~J working) 6 Sat eve special dinner for Som/Saj 9 Tue 3:30pm video mtg (AA) 10 Wed (1) 8:30am Int'l steering mtg, (2) 12:30pm l'ship mtg 11 Thu 11:30am brunch (JMy) - Newmarket 12 Fri 8pm ~J w/ friend (NaG) 13 Sat SL w/ boys 14 Sun (1) Ppls Church, (2) 4pm neighbourhood Bible mtg 15 Mon (1) 9:30am VT prayer, (2) 1:30pm video med appt, (3) 3:30pm hosting ORU students, (4) 5:30pm dinner w/ JY/L + dessert w/ others 16 Tue (1) 11am mtg (KBr), (2) 7:30pm prayer mtg 17 Wed 12:30pm l'ship mtg 18 Thu SL w/ ~Ch 19 Fri 3:15pm ~Co's b'day party 20 Sat ~Co's b'day 22 Mon SL w/ ~J/C/C, Som/S, MG, Mp+ 23 Tue (1) 11am video mtg (Saj/I), (2) 12:15pm ph call (AA) 24 Wed (1) 9am video mtg (SM+), (2) 12:30pm l'ship mtg 25 Thu 3pm video mtg (JSh)
27 Sat (1) 11am Commencement speaker at R. University, (2) ~3pm+ time w/ V/AR+ 29 Mon (1) 9:30am VT prayer, (2) 3pm mtg DerCh - Mississauga 30 Tue (1) 10am ph call (AA), (2) 5:30pm video mtg (IsTan), (3) 8pm neighbourhood prayer mtg
JUNE 1 Thu (1) 11:30am Zoom mtg (LM), (2) 4pm mtg (VS,KBr) 2 Fri (1) 10:30am ph call (PVDW; SL w/ boys; ~J working) 3 Sat SL w/ boys and MG 5 Mon (1) 9:30am VT prayer mtg, (2) 2pm Europe call, (3) 5pm mtg/walk (YM) 6 Tue (1) 11:30am lunch (GD) - St. Jacobs, (2) 4pm mtg (AF) - Cambridge, (3) 7:30pm worship night 9 Fri ~J's b'day 10 Sat North Bay trip 13 Tue 11am mtg (DAy) (~J school trip w/ ~Co | text BD) 14 Wed 9:30am time w/ BD 15 Thu 4:30pm video mtg (Paul T.) 16 Fri (1) 9am video med appt, (2) 15-km run (Prayer Journey "warm-up") 17 Sat Prayer Journey (my own: 50km GTA bike-ride; Jessie's: 5KM) and speaking at GTA after-party 23-25 Fri-Sat poss. SL 26 Mon 2pm Europe monthly call 29 ... July 7 Thu-Fri poss. holiday in Arkansas
JULY ... 7 Thu-Fri poss. holiday in Arkansas ~8-17 SA+ in Toronto; P/H Bell likely visiting too 15 Sat aft+ baptism (Saj; NaB may be coming) 17-21 Mon-Fri Kids Kapers camp 24 Mon 2:45pm med. appt 26 Wed (1) 11am video mtg (SM), (2) 3pm Zoom mtg (SMa,SB), (3) 7pm ~J speaking at Greenhouse/Zoe - UofT downtown 27 Thu 10am video MVT board mtg 31 Mon 3:05pm med. appt July/Aug CCWM board mtg / AGM
AUGUST 2 Wed 11am video mtg (SM+) 6-12 Sun-Fri Cottage w/ O/DN+ and UB/AC - Windermere; plus Muskoka 19 Sat poss. ~J fam beach day - Brighton area 25-29 Fri-Tue MoveIn staff retreat - southern Ontario
2023+ Sep 21 Thu - MVT board mtg Sep 23 Sat poss. date of GV memorial Sep 24 Sun ~Ch's b'day Sep ~26-28 Poss. time in Lushnjë, Albania Sep 29 - Oct 6 MoveIn Europe Conference+ - Durrës, Albania Oct 21 Sat poss./unlikely date of GV memorial Oct 21-27 Dollar-a-Day week Early Nov Poss. fundraising event - Niagara Nov-Jan Poss. time in India - Goa; Philippines - Manila+; Indonesia - Jakarta/Bali; LA/San Diego
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