ABOUT OSWALD CHAMBERS (1874 -- 1917)
Oswald Chambers was born July 24, 1874, in Aberdeen, Scotland, and during his teenage years he was converted while walking home after a service conducted by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. His father, a Baptism minister, immediately attempted to lead him in the right way. After his conversion, and before he felt called to preach, Chambers studied Art at Kensington Art School and the fine arts and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. After he accepted the call to preach, he studied theology at Dundoon College.
After an initial period of spiritual "dryness" Chambers found a radiant reality in his relationship with Christ. With his new-found spiritual life, he conducted a Bible Teaching Ministry from 1906 to 1910 in the U.S., the U.K., and in Japan. On one of his trips to America he met Gertrude Hobbs, and in 1910 he and Gertrude were married. He affectionately called her "Biddy". On May 24, 1913, their daughter Kathleen was born.
In 1915 Chambers felt that he should help in the World War I effort. He became a YMCA Chaplain, and in October of 1915 he sailed for Zeitoun, Egypt, near Cairo, where he ministered to military troops. While there, Chambers' appendix ruptured. Though he suffered extreme pain for three days, he did not seek medical aid and refused to take a hospital bed that he felt was more needed for soldiers. Had he sought medical aid sooner, perhaps his life would have been spared. Finally, surgery was performed but, following the operation, Chambers died there in Egypt on November 15, 1917.
Perhaps many are unaware of the fact that Oswald Chambers actually wrote only one book: "Baffled To Fight Better." But his wife, Biddy, had been a court stenographer and was very adept at taking dictation at a rapid rate. Thus, she recorded much of Chambers' teachings as he spoke in public, and after his demise she spent the remaining 30 years of her life compiling the more than 30 books bearing Oswald Chambers' name as the author.
"My Utmost For His Highest" is the best-known of those books, and it has been in continuous print in the United States since 1935. It is among the top-ten religious best-sellers, and with millions of copies in print it has become a Christian Classic.
Oswald Chambers was born July 24, 1874, in Aberdeen, Scotland, and during his teenage years he was converted while walking home after a service conducted by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. His father, a Baptism minister, immediately attempted to lead him in the right way. After his conversion, and before he felt called to preach, Chambers studied Art at Kensington Art School and the fine arts and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. After he accepted the call to preach, he studied theology at Dundoon College.
After an initial period of spiritual "dryness" Chambers found a radiant reality in his relationship with Christ. With his new-found spiritual life, he conducted a Bible Teaching Ministry from 1906 to 1910 in the U.S., the U.K., and in Japan. On one of his trips to America he met Gertrude Hobbs, and in 1910 he and Gertrude were married. He affectionately called her "Biddy". On May 24, 1913, their daughter Kathleen was born.
In 1915 Chambers felt that he should help in the World War I effort. He became a YMCA Chaplain, and in October of 1915 he sailed for Zeitoun, Egypt, near Cairo, where he ministered to military troops. While there, Chambers' appendix ruptured. Though he suffered extreme pain for three days, he did not seek medical aid and refused to take a hospital bed that he felt was more needed for soldiers. Had he sought medical aid sooner, perhaps his life would have been spared. Finally, surgery was performed but, following the operation, Chambers died there in Egypt on November 15, 1917.
Perhaps many are unaware of the fact that Oswald Chambers actually wrote only one book: "Baffled To Fight Better." But his wife, Biddy, had been a court stenographer and was very adept at taking dictation at a rapid rate. Thus, she recorded much of Chambers' teachings as he spoke in public, and after his demise she spent the remaining 30 years of her life compiling the more than 30 books bearing Oswald Chambers' name as the author.
"My Utmost For His Highest" is the best-known of those books, and it has been in continuous print in the United States since 1935. It is among the top-ten religious best-sellers, and with millions of copies in print it has become a Christian Classic.
