SPECTATORS IN THE GRANDSTAND

Not only did God leave us the Holy Spirit to walk alongside us during our earthly pilgrimage, He also surrounds us with those who were commended for their faith-a great cloud of witnesses, or as Williams translates Hebrews 11 and 12, a vast crowd of spectators in the grandstands to encourage us in our walk of faith. These are stories of some of these people told by those who knew them best-friends, relatives and, in one case, an enemy-who knew them when they were not wearing their public masks, walking on earth just like us, and who were often misunderstood, ridiculed, persecuted, sometimes killed, and always making mistakes. Yet they persevered and endured, gaining a place in the Hall of Faith._,