87 year old John Stott gave his final address at this summer’s Keswick conference. I was sad to hear that the grand old man had received criticism through the letters page of Church Times newspaper. Stott of course has had his faults over the years like every other church leader. But the worldwide church in the last half century is deeply indebted to him. He did much to shape what has been good about evangelicalism in the 20th century. His humility, his careful scholarship, his statesmanship and winsomeness have done much to commend contemporary evangelicalism to an increasingly sceptical post-war generation.
I’ve read many of his books and heard his sermons both in audio and in the flesh. I recall him giving a lecture one evening and at there was rapturous applause. Smiling, Stott raised his hands upwards ‘to Him,’ to God alone be the glory. It was the mark of his ministry, a labour of love for God alone. We should be thankful to God for John Stott, for Stott was indeed God’s gift to the church.
