“Very good. I grew up hearing of him, now I feel I know him.”

To read of those who followed the heart of God to reach “the nations” with the Gospel and blessing of Jesus Christ gives hope and inspiration.

I vaguely remember hearing his name, but didn’t know anything about him until I read the magazine. He really was an amazing person and accomplished a lot. I have to remember that there aren’t many people like him, and I just have to be faithful in my own “small corner.”

When I was a teenager, I met Dr. Jones and he autographed a copy of his pamphlet “How to Pray” during our visit. He is one of my spiritual heroes.

In 1967, my last (Sr.) year at Luther Theol. Seminary St. Paul, MN, I vividly remember the President, Dr. Al Rogness, at our morning chapel, introducing and welcoming E. Stanley Jones as our speaker for the day. Jones was white-haired, about 5’6” or 7” tall and came bounding out wearing a big smile and filled with joy and enthusiasm. The chapel was filled that day with our seminarian classmates, about 300 of us, all sitting on the edges of our folding metal chairs, all eager to be fed the Good News/Word. And boy did he feed us! It was the most memorable chapel service (daily) of my three years there

I met E. Stanley Jones only one time as/ when he returned to the states. We met at the Memorial Methodist church which used to be on Fredrick Ave. in Baltimore MD. This is not to far from the cemetery where ESJ is buried. I served in the Baltimore Washington Conference for 32 years as a pastor and enjoyed my work and ministry; and served as well when Bishop Mathews was serving there. The 7 churches I served were so important to me and my family. Now I have been in SC since 2002 and served several churches here as well. I have several books by ESJ… The Unshakable Kingdom and the unchanging person, …The song of ascents… Selections from ESJ –Christ and Human Need. Oh how thankful we need to be as we think of the man who made the witness to others about his faith AND who saw the bigness of the Great Mystery and made his effort to try to speak to others of different faith paths or different languages and/ or no faith at all. We all serve ONE who cannot ever be capture by words or ideas that seem to always come up short. But We need to be Moved by the Grace of GOD who works thru all of us and shows no partiality. ESJ saw the big picture and played his part to let Love and Grace .be the guiding path of the kingdom or domain of GOD in the Jesus event. Shalom to all and may this ONE continue to be the Great Mystery that captures your time and energy. – Henry Schwarzmann

My Grandmother Edith Minnie Brett was born in India and told me that she came to Christ after listening to Dr Stanley Jones speak at an evangelical tent meeting in Lucknow. She was a young girl at the time and said that her life was completely changed after her conversion. When she married Her husband was a Superintendent on the Railways. She had a strong Christian belief which she shared with others throughout her life. She was a wonderful Grandmother and sadly died at the age of 92.

Hi!

My name is Andres and I am writing this from the city of Cordoba, in Argentina. My father lend me “Vida Victoriosa” (Victorious Living) by E. Stanley Jones and it was such a blessing. This book is an old 1943 Spanish edition which you can see here:

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Both my father and I were greatly touch by the message, the devotions and the inspiring stories. Now we have written some books for the Spanish Christian Church around the globe, and most of them we give away for free, and they get thousands of downloads every day. (http://editorialimagen.com/)

I was looking for this title online so I could download it and read it on my Kindle device, but did not find it in Spanish. I had the idea of scanning the old book and make an ebook so other people could benefit from the excellent reading, but I found your site and wanted to ask you first:

Is it ok with you if I scan the book, make it reflowable text and create an ebook to give away for free? I can give you the files so you can also offer it on your site if you agree (I visited the Documents section but it says “Document deleted by owner”).

If I cannot do this, I hope you may be able to offer this excellent book in Spanish sometime in the future.

May God bless you and prosper you in every way!

Andres Reina

The first book I read of E. Stanley Jones’ after being saved in 1965 was his autobiography A Song of Ascents, and then, a couple of years later, when I was dating my future husband, a native of Hyderabad, India, I found the most enlightening book, Along the Indian Road.

During that time, Dr. Jones came to speak at Calvary Temple, my church in Denver. After having read his book on India, I could not wait to hear what he had to say. My sister in-law who had just arrived from India as a medical intern was with me. So often I wish I had a cassette copy of that teaching so I could go back and hear specifically what he said that so encouraged me.

What I remember about that evening was Dr. Jones’ quiet presence. He was not in a hurry to give his message but seemed to relish the silence somehow, and so all of us became quiet and waited along with him. To this day, I have never been in such a gathering. It was like we were all in a holy place with which he was well-acquainted – his ashram. I came away somehow comforted and filled. Of all the great speakers I heard, E. Stanley Jones remains the most memorable.

Some of his books are on my shelf: A Song of Ascents, Conversion, The Divine Yes, The Christ of the Mount, and Victory Through Surrender. On my computer I have just downloaded a PDF version of Christ of the Indian Road provided by Boston University. His biography on the website is inspiring. I am keeping it in my journal.

My husband and I spent two months earlier this year traveling to seven cities in South India to reunite with family and friends. I had not been there in 25 years although my husband regularly went back. Being in India again reminded me of what E. Stanley Jones wrote in Along the Indian Road that truly foreshadowed my own experience in many ways. His conviction resonates with me still.

“I came to India out of a very conservative training. There were no doubts because I had closed out all problems. I had a closed mind, closed upon the fact of the satisfying Christ within. If walls shut out other things, they also shut within one this precious Fact.

But as the first disconcerting years of a missionary went by and my contacts with educated non-Christians became more intimate, my walls began to be assailed. They even crumbled before the revelation of such truth as this in the Hindu Scriptures: ‘You are to be like the sandalwood tree, which when smitten by the ax pours its perfume upon the ax that smites it.’ Was that not loving one’s enemies and doing good to them that despitefully use one? But this came out of Hinduism. How could I relate my never-before-heard-of newness in Christ to this fact of evident truth and beauty found elsewhere?

I studied the sacred books of other faiths, afraid of finding goodness and truth there. To find it would destroy my inward position. I had my back to the wall for several years. Only my experience of Christ held me steady amid the swirl of mental conflict. Then one day I inwardly let go. I would follow where truth would lead me. I could feel myself turning pale as I did so. Where would it land me? I was letting go securities that had been satisfying for an uncharted sea. But after some time, when I looked back, I found that I came out not two inches away from where I went in. The great securities of my faith were intact. But now I held them because they held me. . . .”

My Hindu husband brought his mother to live with us in 1992 after her husband passed away. It was a joy having such an accepting mother-in-law. She died last year at the age of 96. E. Stanley Jones’ words have made a huge impact on my witness to my Hindu family and friends. I wish I could thank him personally for encouraging me to persevere and love, no matter what.

This is a brief story that my father Reverend Mariano Isla, a minister of the Methodist Church in Cuba. He told me about E. Stanley Jones visiting our country. I don’t remember the exact year that his visit took place, but I think it was in the early 50’s. When this outstanding missionary visited our country he was accompanied by a United Nations translator undoubtedly he was a professional one, but when our pastor Rev. Angel E. Fuster interpreted Stanley Jones Sermons Jones asked him to do the job for the rest of his to Cuba.

I am 66 years old. Growing up a copy of Abundant Living was always around at my grandmother’s – usually on the back of the commode. When my grandmother went to the nursing home I somehow ended up with the little moron, soft back book with its edges warped by moisture. I found my grandfather’s name, John Dosher, inside. John was my father’s father; John had died when my father was very young. All I knew was that John was a good man and a deacon in the Baptist church. I read “Abundant Living” and it changed my life. It was not theology but real relationship. My grandfather left me a precious inheritance. I find it no coincidence that this book survived a new marriage, three moves, and years on the back of the commode. God plans for us.

When growing up in India, I was first introduced to the ministry of Stanley Jones through my father. He was a surgeon too (like me), and whilst in medical school, had attended a talk by Stanley Jones which apparently went by the title: “Christianism and Communism.” My father was at the verge of joining the underground (violent) Andhra communist movement – and his encounter with brother Jones’ occurred as he was going to a communist meeting; instead, the title of Br. Jones’ talk intrigued him – and he made the fateful decision to attend Br. Jones instead!

Throughout his career in the Indian Navy as a naval surgeon, my father never forgot the debt he owed Stanley Jones – and I first heard the Gospel from my Father … and of how Br. Jones introduced him to Jesus!

When I was a little older, but even whilst still in high school, I became an ardent admirer of E. Stanley Jones myself – I had stumbled upon his book, “The Way” and it was so full, of Br. Jones’ love for Jesus and of the timelessness of His message, that throughout the many decades following, the book has always been at my elbow (I’m 56 now). Whenever possible, I also give a copy of the book away as a present to friends. An aside – as a young lad of no more than 14, I was overcome by fear of the dark and of the powers of darkness. I followed, step by step, Br. Jones’ instructions in “The Way” – “Steps out of Fear” … and was delivered completely by Christ.

I am now a trauma and general surgeon in Canada (Saskatoon).  I will always be grateful to E. Stanley Jones – and he will be one of the first people I’ll search out to meet, when we get to Heaven.

I am a convert to Christ from Hindu traditions. I committed my life to share life with the Hindus. I joined a Christian religious college for training in 1963. It was a typical western college. I was disillusioned with Christianity. At that time one person told me that this college is not suitable for converts coming from Hindu tradition. We needed a Christian Ashram to give training. I happened to come across the book Christ of the Indian Road. This book made great impact in my mind. I set it as my life goal to start a Christian ashram to share Christ with the Hindus. In 1990 I started the Ashram project in Thanjavur. I completed my doctoral studies in the area of mission in USA in 1994. The name of my ashram is Karunaiyananthar Ashram. Karunaiyananthar is the indigenous name for Christ given by a local Christian poet. I wanted to visit the Sat Tal Ashram for a long time. Finally, few years back I went to attend the summer program at Sat Tal. Dr. Stanley Jones inspired me and gave me ideas to start a Christian Ashram. I thank God for Dr. Jones who brought a paradigm shift in Christian mission in India.

My mother and father, Helen and Golden Thompson, must have attended one of E. Stanley Jones’ Ashrams that summer of 1940 when Wendel was 4 years old. His mother and father who was pastor of the Hildreth Memorial Evangelical church in Le Mars, Iowa sought a summer retreat that would give them renewal that they found in the Ashram.

Mother had been telling Wendel about the man at the Ashram who had no arms but could swim, paint, write, and feed himself.

Wendel: That was naughty of Jesus not to give him any arms, wasn’t it?”

E. Stanley Jones had been invited to speak at Westmar College, Le Mars, Iowa. My folks invited him to our home for supper during his stay. I was a college freshman thinking about studying for the ministry. My father was a minister and my grandfather also. But I wasn’t sure about the ministry, so I asked our guest what advice he would give me. “Get out of it if you can” was the answer. I majored in English and went on to a career in statistics, never having felt I had missed God’s calling, but finding God’s call on my life in other ways than the ministry.

As a young man growing up in the Methodist Church, I had a dear pastor at our little country church named Harry Reeves. He was a very dear man and spiritual mentor to our entire family. Prior to his passing, he shared a copy of E. Stanley Jones’ “Christian Maturity” with my mom and added his personal inscription to make it a very personal gift, indeed. It was treasured by my mom for the remainder of her life.

In 2012, she passed away and is now with my dad and Harry Reeves in paradise. My sister, Carol, found among my mom’s many books that copy of “Christian Maturity” and was kind enough to gift it to me.

How precious is this book! It has become one of my most prized possessions as it is very special to me on so many different levels. I read it daily as I will do for the remainder of my life. I’ve garnered so much value from my daily reading. Dr. Jones no doubt is happy to see me sharing abundantly the wisdom and inspiration gained from that reading. I found additional copies and sent one to each of my adult children.

Most recently, while reading page 338 about the translation of St. Paul’s message on love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 from “love is…” to “I am…” as a way of measuring our personal maturity, I was profoundly struck by the brilliance of that idea. As I do workshops in personal effectiveness, I think like a “workshop guy” and decided to leverage that wonderful idea into a useful tool for measuring personal maturity as evidenced by our ability to consistently enjoy the dividends of maturity; namely, our ability to be kind, patient, etc. in our daily walk.

Great ideas, inspiration, challenging thoughts when realized are best leveraged by passing them on. It is my intent to continue to share abundantly and thereby enhance the value of the wisdom of E. Stanley Jones’ written works.

Thank you so much for keeping the message of this dear brother in Christ and Father in missions alive. He is one of my greatest heroes because of his values and his love for God, but it was his passion for people of every kind that has earmarked my life for purpose for the past 35 years in full time ministry — 31 of them in overseas missions to those who as of yet do not fully understand how very much Jesus loves them.

It is my prayer that my life is an open vessel of that love, grace, mercy, humor and blessing to all… Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Pagan, Buddhist, Shamanist, Communist, Atheist… as well as well and truly lost Christian. He is our only Way Home.

We enter 2014 with grateful hearts for the many blessings and friends God has sent our way. This will be a banner year for the E. Stanley Jones Foundation with the release of two new editions of the inspired writings of E. Stanley Jones. If my Grandfather were with us today, he would be on Facebook and using all forms of social media to proclaim Jesus is Lord!  Conveying this simple, life-changing truth is the essence of our work at the E. Stanley Jones Foundation.

This fall you will see new versions of Abundant Living and Victorious Living, each of which sold a million copies, and achieved that status during the Great Depression. Why? Because people were searching for answers, real truth which would make a difference in their lives. We believe persons today are still in need of the real truth of Jesus. “I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).” Please partner with us by contributing to this vital effort. Just visit our donate page and any gift you make will be put to immediate use to share the Good News of Jesus. Who would not want to be a part of that!

In 1938, Time Magazine reported that E. Stanley Jones was the “world’s greatest Christian missionary.” Wherever he went, Jones preached on the theme, “Jesus is Lord.” God used him mightily. When people would ask him, “What is your faith?” he would put up three fingers… “Jesus is Lord.”

Near the end of his life he wrote a book called “The Divine Yes.” On one occasion he said, “I would like to go out with a resounding YES on my lips, for Jesus is the YES!”

While recovering from a stroke he said, “I do not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. I am ready to be healed. I am ready not to be healed. God will either heal me or give me power to show the victory. I belong to the unshakable kingdom and the unchanging Person. I haven’t had a blue hour since this happened…victory, victory, victory! I will not bear it but use it. I have preached victory in Jesus for over 60 years and now I will demonstrate it in my own body and continue to love and praise him in the process!”

E. Stanley Jones died on January 25, 1973. A close friend said, “Till the end he never ceased diverting attention from himself to his Lord.” What a way to live. What a way to die.

I post a lot of E. Stanley Jones quotes. I know he’s not Jesus, but it seems he knew Jesus very well. It’s amazing to think he was good friends with Gandhi so much so that Gandhi gives him the rights to his biography. Then a few years later a young preacher from the segregated south named MLK picks it up and is so inspired that they begin the process of non-violent protest. There is something in his writing that gets to me, that Jesus is up to something all the time, in and through us.

E. Stanley Jones is one of my heroes. I feel blessed now to be living in a town (Wilmore, Kentucky) with two great libraries (Asbury University and Asbury Seminary) with E. Stanley Jones collections of his writings, etc. At the seminary there is E. Stanley Jones School of Missions where my daughter is finishing her Ph.D. in missiology/intercultural relations. Jones was a student at Asbury College around 1904. His writings consistently focus on Christ and the Kingdom. I am pleased to see a renewal of interest in his books several of which are now reprinted. His writings are recommended reading.

I wanted to share with you a piece I wrote a week or so ago about Brother Stanley. I write a weekly (Sunday) devotional piece for the Opelika-Auburn News, a daily newspaper, and this article has had a great response. I wanted you to know this not so you might admire my writing, but to give you more evidence that your marvelous work in making E. Stanley Jones’ messages available is a work the Spirit is blessing and will continue to bless. I salute you for all you have done to let this generation get to know and love Brother Stanley.

I was talking with Elton Trueblood one day, sitting at his feet to learn from his mentoring, when he casually used the phrase, “my friend Samuel Johnson.” I interrupted him and reminded him that Samuel Johnson was a contemporary of John Wesley. He smiled and said, “Walter, that is the great value of books. When we read and digest the writings of people like Samuel Johnson, they become our friends through their writing.” I loved the idea and embraced it for my own and now I call many “ancient” writers my friends! What you are doing is giving thousands of people the great privilege of becoming “friends” of Brother Stanley.

I hope this will be a small bit of encouragement to you in your marvelous ministry.

Modern readers find Victory Through Surrender, written by E. Stanley Jones in 1966, as fresh and compelling as ever. Here are some of their descriptions:

• “This book changed my life and confirmed the need to surrender all to God.”
• “I read this book for a small group that I am with… incredibly amazing.”
• “Wow, give up our selfish ambition and we win! This is an excellent idea.”
• “Wonderful words of wisdom and instruction. Over the top in life directions.”
• “Victory Through Surrender is my favorite book written by Brother Stanley. It did indeed change my life at my lowest point, bringing me to my highest point!”

I have been a missionary for 30 years and E. Stanley Jones remains my number one read. His books both inspire me and give me hope, and his voice is timeless. He does not have a ‘dated’ way of speaking. My personal favorite is ‘The Christ of the Indian Road.’ In fact, I quote from it in my second (yet to be published) book, ‘Written on My Heart.”

I am sharing E. Stanley Jones’ talks with friends here and in Japan — especially to one who is extremely discouraged. Jones’ talks on the un-surrendered self as the problem, and self-surrender to Christ as the solution and needed next step continue to be encouraged me.

Having been an avid reader, for over 40 years, of such saints as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, T. Austin Sparks, Thomas A Kempis, Oswald Chambers, etc., it wasn’t until this past year that I ‘discovered’ E. Stanley Jones. His spiritually practical insights have encouraged me toward a more intimate and powerfully personal partnership with our God and my fellowman.