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Legacies of Light Volume One: Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith
The word of God is filled with biography--one character after another, parading across the stage of redemptive history. It's quite obvious that God loves to teach lasting lessons through the lives of individuals. With that in mind, Stephen has undertaken a special biographical series, illustrating biblical truths through the lives of contemporary believers; men and women who provide for us a wonderful legacy of light.
189 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 17, 2019
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8 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Davey
139 books13 followersEmphasizing expositional preaching, Stephen Davey is an influential pastor, professor, and author living with his wife, Marsha, in Cary, North Carolina. Serving as pastor-teacher at Colonial Baptist Church since founding it in 1985, his pulpit ministry is extending around the globe through the media/radio ministry, Wisdom for the Heart.
Stephen is also president and founder of Shepherds Theological Seminary, where he serves as professor of Biblical Exposition and Pastoral Theology. He and Marsha have four grown children and three grandchildren.
Stephen is also president and founder of Shepherds Theological Seminary, where he serves as professor of Biblical Exposition and Pastoral Theology. He and Marsha have four grown children and three grandchildren.
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June 11, 2025
Legacies of Light: Volume 1 by Dr. Stephen Davey is a fantastic little volume that not only describes the transformative work of God in the lives of sixteen famous Christians, but also the personal conviction and duty we have as Christians to share the gospel and resist the trappings of modern culture. This is a book that showcases God’s amazing faithfulness, creativity, and intent to use anyone who is willing to forsake the world and follow Christ. Despite its simple style and occasional editing blunder, I so enjoyed reading the stories of notable believers (many of whom I knew little about!) and reflecting on my own responsibility to follow God’s call in my life.
This volume includes the “legacies of light” in the lives of sixteen Christians, some well-known and others not, who made significant impacts for the kingdom of God through missions, ministry, and prayer. Legacies of Light includes the stories of David and Svea Flood, Amy Carmichael, A.W. Tozer, Susanna Wesley, Oswald Chambers, Adoniram Judson, Fanny Crosby, Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, Hudson Taylor, John Newton, Charles Spurgeon, George Müller, William Cowper, Katharina Luther, E.V. Hill and S.M. Lockridge, and Viggo Olsen. Throughout each chapter, Davey has included one or more Bible passages that parallel the life of each saint and illustrate an applicable truth for modern-day Christians to understand. Davey provides a multitude of awesome pictures of God’s faithfulness in tragedy, His omniscience in creating plans for our lives, and His ability to bring good out of what we would consider the end.
Legacies of Light is an incredibly encouraging book, one that looks at historical persons through a modern lens but, most importantly, a biblical one. Christians will come away from this book encouraged that their legacy may not be apparent in their own lifetime, but that God will use them in mighty ways if they are willing to turn their backs on the world and give themselves entirely over to Christ. There are plenty of horrific stories in the book, some that gave me chills and made me totally reevaluate my perception of famous Christians, and I especially enjoyed the passages on famous women of the faith (being a woman myself). Davey’s excellent selection of verses, poems, quotes, hymns, and sermons is yet another excellent complement to his content. One of my favorite things about Legacies of Light is that it showcases the fact that there’s nothing new under the sun: the things that the famous saints struggled with are the same thing we struggle with, and the same God who used them is the one who will use us.
Davey includes so many excellent messages for Christians, especially those who may be doubting God’s call on their lives or worrying that they are not doing enough for God’s kingdom. Through the examples of these modern heroes of the faith, Davey illustrates that you’re never so far gone that God can’t use you anymore, that elements of God’s character will be revealed in anyone who is genuinely serving Him, that true Christianity will always put believers in conflict with the prevalent culture. Indeed, Davey gives dozens of examples of famous missionaries like Adoniram Judson and Hudson Taylor enduring some truly unfathomable tragedies, while others, like Charles Spurgeon and Oswald Chambers, endure the backlash that inevitably comes with faithful service to God. When telling the stories of those we might consider stiff and inflexible, Davey is conversational, personal, and affable, even humorously progressive at times, which makes reading these quick chapters a sheer joy.
Davey also doesn’t gloss over some of the pricklier sides of our Christian heroes: Tozer’s neglect of his family, Wesley’s inflexibility, Newton’s dealings in slave trade, and lots of examples of these great men and women of God falling victim to the classic struggles of humanity, like pride and stubbornness. Davey addresses some traditionally taboo subjects as well, like Cowper’s suicidal tendencies and Judson’s depression, which allows these people to be seen not only for the great things they accomplished in Christ’s name, but for the struggles that made them like us. Perhaps some of the most surprising passages are the ones in which we see supposedly Christian leaders (especially those who represent the church) actively working against God’s purposes, refusing to support missionaries and pastors simply because of their own pride and blindness. Davey does a good job of avoiding glorifying any of his subjects for their sins, which is a great complement to one of his overarching points: that God uses common, fallen people in whom to work, and His greatness is even more remarkable because his vessels are so weak.
Legacies of Light is characterized by an informal, conversational style of writing. Occasionally, the prose is a bit twee, more suited towards a public speaker than an author. Some other technical issues also take the quality of the book down a notch — editing errors, unclear wording, disorganized sentence structure, confusing ordering of events, etc. Still, the strength of the book is its content. Davey writes in an anecdotal style, filled with simple, easy-to-read lessons and constant analogies from the Bible. He never allows the book to be exclusively biographical though; he frequently pauses for Biblical exposition and application, which is why Legacies of Light is so powerful. The parallels that Davey chooses for each chapter are insightful and interesting, always providing an unusual complement to the lessons to be taken from each saint’s life. Susanna Wesley, for example, gets an unexpected parallel with Bathsheba, and Fanny Crosby with the blind man healed by Jesus. Many chapters are split evenly between biography and application, while others spend more time recounting the life of the subject and highlighting a few verses that were meaningful in that person’s journey.
In some ways, Legacies of Light is arguing for the opposite of the pervasive, detrimental prosperity gospel — this is the “hardship gospel,” the one that guarantees difficulty and suffering instead of comfort, but which is so much more encouraging and inspiring because it’s real, based on the promises God gives us. Legacies of Light: Volume 1 is an outstanding tool of practical encouragement for Christians, and I would recommend it to any who might be worrying that they are too sinful, discouraged, or unremarkable for God to use for His purposes. I’ll be keeping an eye out for Legacies of Light: Volume 2, coming out later this year!
This volume includes the “legacies of light” in the lives of sixteen Christians, some well-known and others not, who made significant impacts for the kingdom of God through missions, ministry, and prayer. Legacies of Light includes the stories of David and Svea Flood, Amy Carmichael, A.W. Tozer, Susanna Wesley, Oswald Chambers, Adoniram Judson, Fanny Crosby, Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, Hudson Taylor, John Newton, Charles Spurgeon, George Müller, William Cowper, Katharina Luther, E.V. Hill and S.M. Lockridge, and Viggo Olsen. Throughout each chapter, Davey has included one or more Bible passages that parallel the life of each saint and illustrate an applicable truth for modern-day Christians to understand. Davey provides a multitude of awesome pictures of God’s faithfulness in tragedy, His omniscience in creating plans for our lives, and His ability to bring good out of what we would consider the end.
Legacies of Light is an incredibly encouraging book, one that looks at historical persons through a modern lens but, most importantly, a biblical one. Christians will come away from this book encouraged that their legacy may not be apparent in their own lifetime, but that God will use them in mighty ways if they are willing to turn their backs on the world and give themselves entirely over to Christ. There are plenty of horrific stories in the book, some that gave me chills and made me totally reevaluate my perception of famous Christians, and I especially enjoyed the passages on famous women of the faith (being a woman myself). Davey’s excellent selection of verses, poems, quotes, hymns, and sermons is yet another excellent complement to his content. One of my favorite things about Legacies of Light is that it showcases the fact that there’s nothing new under the sun: the things that the famous saints struggled with are the same thing we struggle with, and the same God who used them is the one who will use us.
Davey includes so many excellent messages for Christians, especially those who may be doubting God’s call on their lives or worrying that they are not doing enough for God’s kingdom. Through the examples of these modern heroes of the faith, Davey illustrates that you’re never so far gone that God can’t use you anymore, that elements of God’s character will be revealed in anyone who is genuinely serving Him, that true Christianity will always put believers in conflict with the prevalent culture. Indeed, Davey gives dozens of examples of famous missionaries like Adoniram Judson and Hudson Taylor enduring some truly unfathomable tragedies, while others, like Charles Spurgeon and Oswald Chambers, endure the backlash that inevitably comes with faithful service to God. When telling the stories of those we might consider stiff and inflexible, Davey is conversational, personal, and affable, even humorously progressive at times, which makes reading these quick chapters a sheer joy.
Davey also doesn’t gloss over some of the pricklier sides of our Christian heroes: Tozer’s neglect of his family, Wesley’s inflexibility, Newton’s dealings in slave trade, and lots of examples of these great men and women of God falling victim to the classic struggles of humanity, like pride and stubbornness. Davey addresses some traditionally taboo subjects as well, like Cowper’s suicidal tendencies and Judson’s depression, which allows these people to be seen not only for the great things they accomplished in Christ’s name, but for the struggles that made them like us. Perhaps some of the most surprising passages are the ones in which we see supposedly Christian leaders (especially those who represent the church) actively working against God’s purposes, refusing to support missionaries and pastors simply because of their own pride and blindness. Davey does a good job of avoiding glorifying any of his subjects for their sins, which is a great complement to one of his overarching points: that God uses common, fallen people in whom to work, and His greatness is even more remarkable because his vessels are so weak.
Legacies of Light is characterized by an informal, conversational style of writing. Occasionally, the prose is a bit twee, more suited towards a public speaker than an author. Some other technical issues also take the quality of the book down a notch — editing errors, unclear wording, disorganized sentence structure, confusing ordering of events, etc. Still, the strength of the book is its content. Davey writes in an anecdotal style, filled with simple, easy-to-read lessons and constant analogies from the Bible. He never allows the book to be exclusively biographical though; he frequently pauses for Biblical exposition and application, which is why Legacies of Light is so powerful. The parallels that Davey chooses for each chapter are insightful and interesting, always providing an unusual complement to the lessons to be taken from each saint’s life. Susanna Wesley, for example, gets an unexpected parallel with Bathsheba, and Fanny Crosby with the blind man healed by Jesus. Many chapters are split evenly between biography and application, while others spend more time recounting the life of the subject and highlighting a few verses that were meaningful in that person’s journey.
In some ways, Legacies of Light is arguing for the opposite of the pervasive, detrimental prosperity gospel — this is the “hardship gospel,” the one that guarantees difficulty and suffering instead of comfort, but which is so much more encouraging and inspiring because it’s real, based on the promises God gives us. Legacies of Light: Volume 1 is an outstanding tool of practical encouragement for Christians, and I would recommend it to any who might be worrying that they are too sinful, discouraged, or unremarkable for God to use for His purposes. I’ll be keeping an eye out for Legacies of Light: Volume 2, coming out later this year!
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