You know who you are
Naming the Heroes
Think 18th century through today...who are your heroes? Why? What was the lasting effect or consequence of their actions? How do they change you?
Tags: heroes+imn
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike Weaver on -
My heroes are:
Col. Joshua Chamberlain, leader of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry during the battle of Gettysburg. Chamberlain exemplifies for me a man of courage, excellence, faith, and care for the men under his leadership.
All of the pastors who stood against the Nazis in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, Dietrich Bonhoeffer being a key leader, but not the only one. They serve as examples for me of commitment to Christ despite the costs and forces against them that took some of their lives.
Lance Armstrong and the professional cyclists who endure the three weeks of the Tour of France. He and they are examples of endurance, determination, focus, discipline, and teamwork.
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Permalink Reply by terry timm on -
martin luther king jr - his leadership and dream was catalytic and changed the landscape of race relations in our nation.
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Permalink Reply by Barry Odom on -
one of my heroes was somebody I met later in life... my grandfather, Hugh Odom. He was in the 101st Airborne and jumped into Normandy. I loved hearing him talk about how he felt looking out over the land and jumping into the darkness. He was an uneducated teenager, son of a sharecropper, from Enigma, GA. On the ground he charged a machine gun position that had his platoon pinned down and was awarded the Bronze Star. Cool guy.
Bonhoeffer would be another. Jackie Robinson... can't relate but I try and imagine how much crap he must have taken from people and the other players and still kept his cool. I love that his tombstone says, "A life is only important in its impact on others."
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Permalink Reply by innov8r on -
My first hero was my Mom. She raised two boys by herself in the sixties and seventies. We traveled around in a Studebaker. She worked at the little daily newspaper, "The Boomerang" in Laramie Wyoming. She taught us to love an adventure. Erwin McManus taught me to use Jesus and adventure in the same sentence. Here's to all the adventurers!
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Permalink Reply by derek webster on -
My heroes include thinkers like Francis Schaeffer who combined rare genius with the willingness to act (in his case, the legacy of L'Abri in the early days) and action figures who leapt sometimes without thinking. So here are my top 5 from the 18th century to today: Schaeffer, Chesterton,the Wesley boys, the McManus boys, Kierkegaard, Zacharias and Lewis. To this list, I would include men and women who acted boldly and fearlessly; daring to paint a bullseye on their metaphorical chest for heading into the unknown future. Though they aren't known as great thinkers per say, I would include men like Borden of Yale, Billy Graham, Shackleton, Warren/Hybels, Carey, Spurgeon, Mueller, Elliot, David Cho, Moody and Oncken. Finally, though it sounds a little bit naiive, I'm a huge fan of anyone willing to risk everything to reach others with the Gospel. Many church planters I personally know would be in this category. Wish I could be more succinct in my listing, but I receive inspiration nearly everywhere I turn.
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Permalink Reply by Alicia McDonald on -
C.S. Lewis, he made me re-think everything I thought I knew about Jesus through the character of Aslan, not even as a child, but in university! The boys from "Palm Beach" who died to reach the Waodoni with the Gospel, and their families who continued on their work with the faith that God did have a plan and a purpose. I also agree with Derek with those who step out to plant churches in order to reach those in our midst. And of course my mom... She has dealt with a lot of stuff between my siblings and my dad, and has continued to carry on with an inner strength and grace like no other I've seen.
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Permalink Reply by Michael on -
Hi
Two of my heroes are
Ord Wingate
he is credited with unifying the ethos of the Israeli defence force in the members of the Hagganah during the second world war whilst stationed in Israel and Egypt.
He modeled night raids and deep patrols into Arab areas to head off terrorists as well as nurturing the leaders of the fledgling Israeli (to be) community. A man of courage and vision.
Many British officers turned a blind eye to what he was doing but others didn't, His character flaws ( unaccepting of racism, mediocrity and British superiority to other races), led to a posting to the Far East under Mountbatton where he made his mark on History as the creator and leader of the Chindits against the Japanese.
He felt though, that he had failed in his primary calling to the Jewish people and as an ardent Zionist (and Christian) he longed to go back but was killed in Burma where he was operating (now a general) with his Chindits.
A man of passion and commitment though like us all with character flaws, a forward thinker and activist in getting things done and leading others to do the same.
Charlotte Grey
The second is Charlotte Grey a woman who knowing the risks involved went back behind enemy lines in the 2nd WW and operated with SOE (the UK Big sister of OSS which became the CIA) in occupied France.
Fulfilling her role in setting up the D day landings and that period of the war. Now a motion picture.
Immense courage and tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds, she faced death and capture every day never knowing when "her run" would end. A life marked with a love and compassion for the French people and an intense core of the rightness of her actions out waying all the risk.
Would be I be remembered for the same type of character and life fruits and that I left a legacy of people whom I encouraged and brought into their own in the same way.
MickmacNZ
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Permalink Reply by Melanie P. Flora on -
Michael,
Was Ord Wingate the model for one of the primary British military characters from the historical fiction "ZION" series written by Brock and Bodie Thoene?
Melanie, Peachtree City, GA, US
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Permalink Reply by Michael on
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I don't know as I haven't seen the program. One book to read , Fire in the Night - Wingate of Burma, Ethiopia and Zion. by John bierman and Colin Smith. isbn 033372576 x
A courageous man, loved by his men partly because he led from the front which is core to the IDF today too.
There is a Wingate street in most Israeli towns such is his standing there and when he died they ahd a national memorial for him.
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Permalink Reply by Nicolas Nelson on -
John Perkins is one: after all he's been through, to have forgiven White folks and then spend his considerable energy and talent on racial reconciliation-- after growing up in poverty, to have turned his back on a comfortable middle-class life and spend his life on community development among both rural and urban poor (and living where he ministers)-- that's heroism, in my opinion.
I also have to nominate Major Eric Egland, a counter-terrorism advisor who started his own non-profit group to enable military units in Iraq do the sort of community service necessary to build up the Iraqi people, not just destroy insurgents (with all the collateral damage that alienates the victims of insurgency from us). Egland still works full time for the Pentagon, but stays up nights going the extra mile out of his own conscience... and his "extra mile" ought to be our SOP.
Rolling the clock back a bit, I really look up to John Newton, repentant slaver/English pastor, who wrote my favorite hymn-- and did so in a scheme to rescue one of his friends from depression and suicide. (the lyric-writing collaboration succeeded in giving the man hope, for a time...) Then there's the amazing Maewyn Socket (sp?), aka St. Patrick... he was a slave himself, escaped, then returned to his enslavers and transformed them with his understanding and love for Jesus (and the accompanying power of God!).
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Permalink Reply by Karis Tiberia on -
Since childhood, I have loved to read. As a child, I read many biographies and in addition to my childhood heroes Superman and Supergirl, I was influenced by the lives portrayed in some of the biographies I read.
The first woman is Harriet Tubman, conductor on the Underground Railroad... Here is a portion of her story
Harriet Ross was born into slavery in 1819 or 1820, in Dorchester County, Maryland. Given the names of her two parents, both held in slavery, she was of purely African ancestry. She was raised under harsh conditions, and subjected to whippings even as a small child. At the age of 12 she was seriously injured by a blow to the head, inflicted by a white overseer for refusing to assist in tying up a man who had attempted escape.
At the age of 25, she married John Tubman, a free African American. Five years later, fearing she would be sold South, she made her escape. After freeing herself from slavery, Harriet Tubman returned to Maryland to rescue other members of her family. In all she is believed to have conducted approximately 300 persons to freedom in the North. The tales of her exploits reveal her highly spiritual nature, as well as a grim determination to protect her charges and those who aided them. She always expressed confidence that God would aid her efforts, and threatened to shoot any of her charges who thought to turn back.
She was a woman of courage who helped free people from bondage at great personal risk
The second woman is Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to graduate from medical school. Elizabeth Blackwell graduated first in her class in January, 1849, becoming thereby the first woman to graduate from medical school, the first woman doctor of medicine in the modern era. Although she is not known as a woman of faith, she overcame great odds against her in the pursuit of her dream.
The next woman is Marie Curie, who discovered radium. She became the first woman professor at the Sorbonne and also became the first woman to win a Nobel prize. She was an agnostic.
Next is Helen Keller, who overcame great personal obstacles to become the first deaf and blind person to graduate from college. She graduated magna cum laude from Radcliffe. She went on to become a world famous speaker and writer. She was an advocate of the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a controversial mystic who inpired Swedenborgianism.
I found myself influenced by these women who pursued their dreams with passion or overcame great obstacles to become more than people thought they could become. These women helped lay the groundwork for women to use their strengths and gifts in all arenas of life. Interestingly, except for Harriet Tubman, they were not women of faith in God... they were quite extreme in their expressions of the role of faith in their lives (or lack of it). The pursuit of dreams is not bound to Christ followers.
Yet, my current heroes, as people who have greatly influenced my faith include Corrie Ten Boom, a woman of great courage and faith; Richard Foster, who wrote Celebration of Discipline and taught me about the rich inner life of the believer; Erwin McManus, who writes and speaks in ways that bring people to life and the people I have begun to meet at places like Makers of Fire who bring God to people in new ways and are pursuing their dreams with passion and great faith.
I believe that the lasting effect of their actions was/is to influence people to pursue their dreams, to commit their lives to something larger than themselves, not to mention the tangible impacts of the lives they saved/are saving by their work. They change me by giving me hope and encouragement that one life can make a difference. I also know that for me, being a woman of faith is the most important part of everything I may do and that not only makes a difference for this life, but for the rest of eternity.
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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Baines on -
There are many but one who immediately comes ot mind for this forum is Frank Laubach, who lived an amazing life with God in every moment. It came outof his brokenness and emptying. Just amazing what God can do in a person adn through a person. I have hope because of this.
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