1 February
This
is the day that … ANTHONY NORRIS
GROVES was born in Hampshire, England, in 1795.
He
studied dentistry and surgery, and, in 1816, married his cousin, Mary
Thompson. Mary, alas, was unsaved at
this time, and Anthony’s desire to serve his Saviour on the mission field was
temporarily thwarted.
But
Mary was converted – around the time of the birth of her third child – and she
consented to being a missionary also.
Her husband gave up his theological studies – “ordination of any kind to
preach the gospel is no requirement of Scripture,” he said, and on 6 December,
1829, the Groves’ family were in Baghdad.
By
this time he was identified with the newly born ‘Plymouth Brethren’, but the
“tendency of domination” by their leader, John Nelson Darby, led Groves to
emphasise “the love of Jesus … instead of oneness of judgement in minor things” (Dictionary of the Christian Church, page
440).
Along
with George Mueller, who married Anthony’s sister, he became “a founding father
of the Open Brethren” (Who’s Who in Christian History, page 294). During the three years in Baghdad plague
ravished the city. Thousands died,
including Mrs Groves, as did his baby girl.
In
1835 he is back in England, re-married, and preparing for years of missionary
service in India. “He sailed for
Madras, and thenceforth in many places he ceased not to teach and preach Jesus
Christ” (Twelve Mighty Missionaries,
by E. Enoch, page 37).
In
1852 illness forced his return to England, where he died in the home of George
Mueller on 20 May, 1853.
This
is the day that … ADONIRAM JUDSON
GORDON died in 1895, at the age of
58. Converted at the age of 15, Gordon felt the call to the Christian
ministry. He pastored a Baptist church
in Boston for over 25 years.
His
ministry embraced a strong missionary emphasis, he wrote prolifically on the
Second Coming of Christ, and he advocated ‘faith healing’. He penned The Ministry of Women in
1894, defending women’s right to preach.
This
contemporary fundamentalist also put pen to paper to compose the melody of one
of Christendom’s loveliest hymns, the tune Gordon, which is used to
William Featherston’s words, My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine.
This
is the day that … WILLIAM HOWARD
DOANE was born in New Jersey, USA, in
1832. He was to become one of the leading gospel songwriters of his era,
writing more than 2000 hymn tunes, and numerous cantatas. By the age of 14 he
was conducting the choir of the school he attended. Converted a few years later, he joined the Baptist Church, where
he served as a faithful layman for the rest of his life. For 25 years he was
Sunday-School Superintendent. And during
the week he became President of a large company that made woodworking
machinery.
A
personal friend of blind hymn-writer, Fanny Crosby, she would often ask him for
compose a melody for words she had written.
For example, one evening, whilst visiting the home of Mr Doane, they
spoke together of God’s nearness.
Before retiring Miss Crosby penned the words :
I am
Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it
told Thy love for me…
Next morning she
asked Mr Doane if he would compose the tune, which he did. On the other hand –
sometimes he composed a tune and asked Fanny Crosby to supply the words … In 1869 he mailed her such a tune, and as
she later sat in a New York Mission, the words came to her :
Rescue
the perishing,
Care
for the dying …
On
another occasion Mr Doane composed a melody and played it to Miss Crosby on a
small organ. “Why,” she at once
exclaimed, “that tune says Safe in the arms of Jesus. I’ll see what I can do about it.” (Sankey’s Story of Gospel Hymns, page
263).
Jesus,
keep me near the Cross was also
written by Miss Crosby to Mr Doane’s previously composed melody.
The
melody of Katherine Hankey’s Tell me the old, old story came from Mr
Doane’s pen.
This
Christian businessman gave large sums of money to further the spread of the
gospel, including a music building at Moody Bible Institute. He died on 24
December, 1915.
4 February
This
is the day that … FREDERICK
NICHOLAS CHARRINGTON was born in
London’s East End, in 1850. His father was a wealthy – make that very
wealthy – brewing magnate.
It
was at the age of 20, however, that a friend challenged Fred as to whether or
not he was ‘saved’. The young brewery
heir resented the question, we are told, but promised to read the third chapter
of John’s Gospel.
“He
read the chapter through and in the great mercy and love of God, when he
reached the end he could say he was ‘saved’” (Twelve Marvellous Men, by
E. Enoch, page 30). And he even started
to attend a non-conformist chapel.
His
Christian service commenced, working with slum children in a “ragged school”.
And
he tells of the day, passing the “Rising Sun” Hotel, when he saw a woman
standing at the swinging doors with two or three children dragging at her
skirts, calling to her drunken husband inside, “O Tom, do give me some money,
the children are crying for bread.”
Frederick Charrington records what followed – “The man came through the
doorway. He looked at her for a moment
and then knocked her down into the gutter.
Just then I looked up and saw my name, ‘Charrington’, in huge gilt
letters on the top of the public house” (Biography, by G. Thorne, page
21). That savage blow of the drunken fool not only knocked the wife into the
gutter – “but”, wrote Charrington, “it knocked me out of the brewery business”
(page 22). He confronted his father …
renounced his heirship of over a million pounds … and then threw himself into
Christian work.
A
hall seating 4000 people was erected, from whence Frederick Charrington and his
team of helpers engaged in “a continuous campaign against drunkenness and other
vices … enforced by intensely earnest evangelical preaching.”
Shortly before his death (2 January, 1936)
this remarkable man of God said, “I was born to a great inheritance worth
nearly a million of money, but it was defiled;
I was born again to a greater inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled
and that fadeth not away….” (I Peter 1:4).
This
is the day that … DWIGHT LYMAN
MOODY was born in 1837, in Massachusetts, USA. It has been estimated that before he died - 62 years later – “one
million people were converted to Jesus Christ” as the result of his ministry (Hall
of Fame, by E. Towns, page 133).
His
father died when he was but 4 years of age … and after the age of 13 there was
to be no more schooling. In the back
room of his uncle’s shoe store in Boston this 16 year-old lad was led to Christ
by Edward Kimball, his Sunday-School teacher.
Then
came days of YMCA work - the “C” meant “Christian” in those days - the building
up of a remarkable Sunday-School … ministering in the Civil War to soldiers of
both sides … and his association with Ira D. Sankey. Together Moody and Sankey became the world’s best-known
evangelistic team on both sides of the Atlantic.
This
semi-literate preacher founded the Chicago Bible Institute (today known as the
Moody Bible Institute) - a mighty publishing house that is still to the
forefront in issuing evangelical literature - and Bible conferences in his
hometown. World famous speakers were
invited to speak (like Campbell Morgan) and, alas, some not so evangelical
(like Henry Drummond).
Moody
died on 22 December, 1899. “If this is
death, there is no valley …” his friends heard him say. “This is glorious, I have been within the
gates, and I saw the children. Earth is
receding; Heaven approaching. God is calling me! Hallelujah!”
=====================================================
This is the day that … LUDWIG
INGWER NOMMENSEN was born on an island off the coast of Denmark. It was 1834. Bishop Stephen Neill, in his History of Christian
Missions, describes Nommensen as “one of the most powerful missionaries of whom
we have record anywhere” (page 348)!
And another tells us, “Nommensen may have been one of the most
successful missionaries ever to preach the gospel” (Ambassadors for Christ, ed
by J. Woodbridge, page 146).
Conversion
took place at the age of 12. And on
Christmas Eve, 1861, he sailed for Sumatra.
The Batak people among whom he ministered were involved in spirit
worship. Nommensen’s preaching soon
brought him into life-threatening situations …
“We will cut your legs off and throw you into the river,” he was warned.
On
another occasion he was to be ‘sacrificed to the ghosts’, but he walked through
the midst of the furious mob in such a way that none dared lay a hand upon him
(Woodbridge, page 148). He continued to gain their confidence, healing their
sick, playing his violin and telling them the stories of the Bible. On 27 August, 1865, the first converts were
baptised. By 1876 there were 2000 Batak
believers. And he had translated the
New Testament into their language.
The
Church continued to grow. By the time
he died, 23 May, 1918, the Church he had planted had grown to 180,000, with 34
ministers and 800 teacher-preachers. Ludwig Nommensen’s name may be forgotten
upon Earth, but his name shines brightly in God’s Hall of Fame.
This
is the day that … SAVONAROLA’S
‘Bonfire of Vanities’ took place in Florence, in 1497. Although a Roman Catholic
prior of the Dominican Order, Girolamo Savonarola lashed out at the evils
within his church. Warren Wiersbe
describes him as “one of the greatest preachers of all time”! (Wycliffe
Handbook of Preaching and Preachers, page 167).
Prophet-like,
Savonarola denounced the “worldliness of the clergy and the corruption of the
ruling class.” Lorenzo Medici was not
amused!
From his cathedral
pulpit he commanded that a massive pyramid be erected in the Piazza – 60 feet
high and 240 feet in circumference.
Into this structure were brought mirrors and rouge pots, beauty lotions
and wigs, masquerade costumes, playing cards and dice, books on occult
practices, immodest paintings – done by some of the greatest artists of the
age. Filled with the ‘vanities’ of this
world the Venetian ambassador offered to buy it for a vast sum. Savonarola refused.
“On Shrove Tuesday,
7 February, 1497, the guards advanced with their flaming torches, the silver
trumpets sounded, the bells in the tower began to peal and the pile of vanities
was set on fire.”
This Italian
reformer has been called “a trail blazer for John Calvin.” Eventually he was
excommunicated and burned at the stake at the age of 46 (on 23 May, 1498).
Who’s Who in Christian History (Tyndale House) notes that Savonarola was
characterised by religious zeal and personal piety – “and seems to have
believed in justification by faith…”
8
February
This is the day that …
JAMES ALEXANDER HALDANE died. It
was 1851. James Haldane, along with his brother Robert, left an indelible mark
upon Christianity in Scotland.
Born in Dundee in
1768, orphaned at the age of 6, educated at Edinburgh University, young James
joined the navy. After four voyages to
India and China, he was appointed captain of “The Melville Castle”.
It was during this
period that “he commenced to read the Scriptures from a sense of propriety
rather than any concern about his soul” (Cyclopaedia of Modern Religious
Biographies, page 241). He sought out a Dr
Bogue, a pastor in the vicinity of Portsmouth, and requested that he might
partake of the Lord’s Supper … and resigned from the navy. That was 1794.
Sometime in the next
two or three years he found the salvation for which so long he had sought, and
after a couple of years itinerant preaching he was ordained to the
Congregational ministry in Edinburgh.
From 1801 until his death “he counted it his privilege for nearly 50
years to preach the Gospel …” in the Tabernacle, Edinburgh’s largest
church. During this period both he and his famous brother “embraced
Baptist principles” (Dictionary of the Christian Church, page 447).
This
is the day that … The Riot Erupted
in Alexandria, in the year 356.
Athanasius,
hero of the Arian controversy some 20 years before and now Bishop of
Alexandria, suddenly found his church surrounded by 5000 soldiers. As doors
were being smashed the bishop “calmly turned to his assistant and bade him read
Psalm 136”. As the church was
desecrated by the mob, Athanasius was “successfully bundled out of the church
into a side street”.
The
Arians installed their own bishop, but Athanasius, fleeing into the desert,
still found ways in which he could minister to his flock. For six years he suffered exile (wearing a
worn-out sheepskin coat that once had belonged to St Anthony!) and then came
his return to Alexandria…
Athanasius
has been called “the Father of Orthodoxy”, because of his staunch adherence to
the doctrine of Christ being of ‘the same essence’ as the Father. Arians denied this.
The
Dictionary of the Christian Church says “almost single-handedly
Athanasius saved the church from pagan intellectualism.” He was hounded through five exiles (the
incident mentioned above being his third!) over a period of 17 years.
He
died in Alexandria in 373, in his late seventies.
This
is the day that … JOHN SUNG was converted, in 1927. The place was Union
Theological Seminary, New York – a hot-bed of liberal theology. But this young Chinese student (then 26
years of age), attended an evangelistic campaign at nearby Calvary Baptist
Church. “He expected to hear an eloquent
and learned preacher, but instead the speaker was a 15 year-old girl!”
And
when the Gospel was faithfully proclaimed and Christ exalted, Sung
confessed: “My soul’s thirst was
somewhat slaked.”
Whilst
his fellow students scoffed at evangelical Christianity, John Sung began to
study the Scriptures as never before.
Now he discovered that Christ did rise from the dead – contrary
to the affirmations of his lecturers, and that salvation was through faith in
Him.
“He
absented himself from lectures and spent time in prayer. Day after day went by this way. Then, on the evening of 10 February, light
broke on his darkened soul. He forgot
it was midnight and awakened his fellow students with his shouts of
‘Hallelujah!’”
The
authorities at Union Theological Seminary were quite sure he had suffered a
mental breakdown. They had him committed
to the psychopathic ward of Bloomingdale Hospital. It became his new theological college. Here he spent six months unlearning the heresies of Fosdick and
Coffin, his previous lecturers, and six months of drinking deep in the Word of
God.
In
1928 he sailed back to China, where he was instrumental in leading a great
evangelistic movement. In the next 15
years (before his death at the age of 42) “he shook the church in China and
South-East Asia. His converts were
numbered in tens of thousands.”
John
R.W. Stott – who writes the Foreword to one of John Sung’s biographies – says
that he was “the greatest evangelist China has even known.”
This
is the day that … ALEXANDER
MACLAREN was born in 1826, in Glasgow, the son of a Scottish merchant. For
45 years he would occupy the pulpit of Union Chapel, Manchester, England, and
earn the title, “The Prince of Expositors”.
His 11 volumes – of 1,500 sermons through the whole Bible – adorn my
library shelves.
He
was baptised on profession of faith at the age of 11. His first sermon was preached six years later. After training for the Baptist ministry, he
commenced his first pastorate in 1846, and 10 years later he married his
cousin, Marion Maclaren. For 65 years
he was a faithful minister of the Word of God.
Hearken
to his biographers – “He never let a day pass without translating a chapter of
the Old Testament and a chapter of the New Testament from the original
languages. In the summer months he
would stroll with a book for miles…” (Biography, by D. Williamson, page
33).
Another
biography tells of “Mr Maclaren’s fastidiousness in the choice of words. He resolutely sought to fit the proper word
in sense and sound to his idea.” But
because he refused to read his sermons it sometimes resulted in “a pause so
long that hearers got the impression he had broken down!” One old Scotswoman sympathised with
Maclaren’s awkward pauses, saying that she wished she could be in the pulpit
beside him “to whisper in his lug” (Biography, by J. Carlisle, page 50).
Twice
he served as President of the Baptist Union, before his death on 5 May, 1910.
This
is the day that … COTTON MATHER
was born in 1663, in Boston, USA. He was to become a leading Congregational
minister, the most celebrated New England writer of his day, and one of the
founders of Yale University.
His
scientific papers won him “a coveted election to the Royal Society of London in
1713” – indeed his studies in inoculation “may be said to mark the beginning of
preventive medicine in the Western world” (Who’s Who in Christian History,
page 461). Altogether he wrote about 450 books!
These
days, however, he is remembered mainly for the role he played in the infamous
Salem witch trials when a group of neurotic (or play-acting) teenage girls
began accusing various folk in the community of being witches. As a result 20 were hung and about 200
imprisoned. And Cotton Mather wrote in defence of these sorry proceedings.
An
interesting comment in his diary reveals something of the Puritan zeal in those
far-off days. He tells us how the Lord
helped him preach for three hours at a young people’s meeting – despite the
fact he only had one hour for preparation.
“And a good day it was!” he adds (Prophets of the Soul, by J.
Gray, page 25).
Cotton
Mather died on 13 February – the day after his 65th birthday – in
1728.
This
is the day that … ORANGE SCOTT was
born, in 1800. The eldest of eight children, he grew up in Vermont, USA, in an
“extremely poor family.” He had little
schooling, 13 months in all! Nor did
he have any “Sunday” clothes … so he never went to church.
But
at the age of 21 he attended a camp meeting, was converted, and joined the
Methodist Episcopal Church. (In America
the Methodists had ‘bishops’, hence the word ‘episcopal’ in the name of the
denomination.)
Before
long Orange Scott was “a successful revival preacher.” Then he took a pastorate
which gave him time to study – “his grammar and spelling book lay on the table
beside his Bible and commentary.”
But
then came the clash … for Scott believed in the abolition of slavery. The Methodist Episcopal Church opposed
him. At their general conference they
even accused him of being “a reckless incendiary” or a “mental incompetent”!
Orange
Scott eventually severed all connections with his church (though not until 8
November, 1842) – and with some like-minded friends began publishing “The True
Wesleyan”, a magazine that was truer to Wesley’s teachings than the church from
which he had withdrawn.
On
31 May, 1843, Scott presided over the formation of a new denomination – the
“Wesleyan Methodist Connection”, as it was at first called. Today the Wesleyan Church continues to hold
high the banner of holiness, evangelism and missions.
Evangelical,
Arminian in theology, and gracious in demeanour, Wesleyans everywhere thank God
for the courage and wisdom of Orange Scott. He died on 31 July, 1847 – at the
age of 47.
“Let
all our ministers and people keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
perfectness, and there is nothing to fear!”
Such are given as being among his dying words.
This
is the day that … LUTHER BURGESS
BRIDGERS was born in North Carolina, in 1884. His family attended the local
Methodist church where Luther’s father taught a Sunday-School class. The family moved to Georgia … and by the age
of 17 Luther had begun preaching. Whilst studying at Asbury College he met
Sarah Veatch and married her.
Then
came invitations to conduct ‘revival’ services.
In
1910 – at the age of 26 – we find him in Kentucky conducting a two week series
of evangelistic services. Just at the
close of those meetings a long distance phone call came in the dead of night …
“a disastrous fire had taken the lives of his wife and three sons.”
And
Luther Bridgers wrote a Gospel song …
There’s
within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low:
“Fear not, I am with thee, peace be
still,
In all
of life’s ebb and flow”
Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus –
Sweetest
name I know –
Fills
my every longing,
Keeps
me singing as I go.
At the age of 30 he
was appointed General Evangelist for his denomination – and married Aline
Winburn. He died at the age of 64 on 27
May, 1948.
This
is the day that. …. REVIVAL
commenced IN CAMBUSLANG, on the outskirts of Glasgow, in the year
1742.
“On
Monday, 15 February, and again on Tuesday and Wednesday, a band of intercessors
gathered at the manse,” writes John Shearer in his exciting book Old Time
Revivals (page 33). The minister of
the Parish Church was Rev. William McCulloch. There had already been a touch of
revival the year previous, when Whitefield came a-preaching. But now it broke out afresh under this
humble, godly minister.
“For
12 weeks he preached daily to stricken people.
The life of the community was transformed. Drunkenness and blasphemy ceased. Faults were confessed … restitution was eagerly made. Family worship was revived” (page 34).
And
it all began with “a band of intercessors …”
“If
My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray…”
(II Chronicles 7:14).
This
is the day that … PHILIP
MELANCHTHON was born in 1497 in Brettan, Germany. Both colleague and
companion of the impetuous Martin Luther, the gentle and scholarly spirit of
Melanchthon did much to keep the Reformation true to its theological moorings.
It
was he who drew up the “Confession of
Augsburg”, a modified version now being the creed of the Lutheran faith, and it
was his commentary on Romans that was held in such high regard that it soon
found its way on to the Romish index of banned books.
This
commentary, with its ‘divisions and arrangements, became the stereo-typed method
followed by all Protestant writers on doctrine’ (Cyclopaedia of Modern
Religious Biographies, page 336).
One
writer describes Melanchthon as being the only Reformer “who had the scraggy
look of an intellectual” (Bamber Gascoigne, in The Christians, page
167).
After
Luther’s death, he became the acknowledged leader of the Lutheran cause, dying
14 years later, on 19 April, 1560.
This
is the day that … DR THOMAS BRAY died, in 1730 in England.
Born
74 years before, he had become a “country parson”, and written a four-volume
“Catechetical Lectures”. This brought
him to the attention of the Bishop of London, who asked him to go as his
commissary (representative) to Maryland, USA. So in 1700 Thomas Bray sailed to
the New World – and “sold his own dearly loved library of books in order to pay
for the voyage!” (Pioneers of the Kingdom, Volume 2, page 29).
In
preparation for this venture he had also founded the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, an organisation devoted to opening libraries in colonial
plantations. “Thousands of volumes were
contributed to parochial collections” (Dictionary of American Religious
Biography, page 63).
In
America he founded the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts (SPG), which played a major role in American missions.
Returning
to England in 1706, he ministered at St Botolph Without, London, until his
death.
The
Dictionary of English Church History states that Dr Bray “was a vigorous
and humorous writer and a parish priest of exemplary devotion. He deserves an honoured place in the history
of the Church of England for his efforts on behalf of education and of
missions” (pages 66-7).
This
is the day that … HENRY MARTYN
was born in Cornwall, in 1781. After theological studies at Cambridge he was
appointed curate to the godly Charles Simeon.
And from thence he sailed forth to India as chaplain to the East India
Company (1805).
Within
five years he had completed his translation of the New Testament. His journal tells of the joy he found in
this work – “What a source of perpetual delight have I in the precious Book of
God! Oh, that my heart were more
spiritual, to keep pace with my understanding…” (Memoirs of H. Martin, compiled by J. Sargent, 1848, page
241).
References
there are also to his “beloved Lydia”… although Sargent actually suppressed her
name in the first edition of his aforementioned best-seller. The call of God upon his life meant that he
must say “Farewell” to the one he had hoped to wed.
References
there are also to the fellowship he enjoyed with William Carey and Anglican
clergyman David Brown (of Jamieson, Fawcett and Brown Commentary fame … and
with whom Carey did not enjoy sweet fellowship!) (Carey, by S. Pearce Carey, page
145).
After
a decade of evangelical ministry in various parts of India, Henry Martyn
proceeded to Persia and there took up the task of translation anew. By 1812 his Persian New Testament was ready
for the printers. But our missionary did not live to see his work in
print. For on 16 October, 1812, in
northern Turkey, on his way home with high hopes of meeting again his Lydia,
Henry Martyn died, at the age of 31.
This
is the day that …CHARLES
CLERMONT-GAMMEAU was born in France,
in 1846. The story commences in 1868 when a German medical missionary named
Klein discovered an inscribed stone “four feet high, two feet wide and 14
inches thick” in the village of Dhibon (Dibon, Joshua 13:9), in Moab. Recognising its value, although unable to
decipher the writing, Klein offered to purchase the stone. But the German Consul also heard of the find
and wanted to buy it.
Then
a young Frenchman, Charles Clermont-Gammeau, hired a local Arab to go and
examine the stone. The poor copy of the
inscription this fellow brought back was enough to convince Clermont-Gammeau of
the stone’s historical value. Now he sent Ya’qub Karavaca, an Arab, and two
companions to make a ‘squeeze’ of the inscription, by pressing wet paper on the
stone and peeling it off when it was dry.
But
the Bedouins who owned the stone caused trouble. A fight broke out.
“One
of Karavaca’s companions was speared in the leg, but the other, as he fled,
snatched the still wet squeeze off the stone and stuffed it inside his tunic…”
(Diggings, January, 1995).
Suffice
to say it is to Clermont-Gammeau we are indebted for the ‘Moabite Stone’ – now
in the Louvre Museum in Paris –and the translation that speaks of Mesha, king
of Moab rebelling against Omri, king of Israel … just as the Bible says it
did! (II Kings 3:4-5).
Once
again the spade had vindicated the Book of books.
=====================================================
This
is the day that … HELEN AMELIA
SUNDAY died, in 1957.
Helen
Amelia Thompson had been born 88 years previous. She grew up in Chicago, gave her heart to Christ at the age of
12, and went on to become leader of a Christian Endeavour Society in the local
Presbyterian Church.
It
was at a C.E. social she met Billy Sunday – she was 17 at the time, and he was
six years older. Two years later,
during which time Billy also was converted – they were married. And for the next 47 years she followed her
husband, as he stormed across America leading multitudes to Christ.
“And
Mrs Billy Sunday became “Ma” Sunday to the nation. “Ma” ran the gamut of usefulness during the ever expanding and
ever increasing evangelistic campaigns,” says her biographer. “She looked after many of the details so
essential to the handling of great crowds.
When the meetings were held under canvas, even the strength of the
supporting ropes bore the scrutiny of her watchful eyes” (Remarkable ‘Ma’
Sunday, by O. Overnyer, page 13).
An
unsympathetic writer concerning these halcyon days confesses: “Mrs Sunday was hard-headed and
hard-working, and she demanded as much from every member of the team as she
gave herself. She could always be
counted on to help out in any task … they were all glad she kept a more
business-like eye on the complex enterprise than her husband” (Billy Sunday
Was His Real Name, by W. McCloughlin, pages 77-78).
After
her husband’s death in 1935, she found a fruitful ministry still awaited
her. Invitations poured in for her to
speak, and this 67 year-old widow set off on what would eventually be a million
miles of speaking for the Lord. In her
84th year she shared in the 25th anniversary celebration
of HCJB, “The Voice of the Andes”. In 1955 Youth for Christ International
observed a special “Ma Sunday Day”, when she had the opportunity to address
some 5000 young people.
Until
her death in 1957, “and in a more subdued manner, ‘Ma’ Sunday carried on from where her bounding, founding Billy
left off… (Remarkable ‘Ma’ Sunday,
page 4).
This
is the day that … JAMES STALKER was born, in 1848.This Scottish pulpit giant was
ordained by the United Free Church, later becoming Professor of Church History
in their college in Aberdeen.
The
1873 Moody and Sankey mission to Scotland had played a major role in his
evangelistic outlook – and “the evangelical glow of those early days remained
with Stalker ever after”. During his lifetime he became more widely known in
America than any other Scottish preacher.
His
books, Life of Christ, and Life of Paul, made his name famous.
The
story concerning Professor Stalker (often repeated in books of illustrations!),
comes from his ministry at St Matthew’s, Glasgow. It was his invaluable custom to begin the service with a prayer
of thanksgiving. But this particular
day was ‘wet and foggy, Glasgow at its worst!’
Everyone in the congregation was feeling miserable … and wondered what
he would do that morning. Stalker, we
are told, mounted the pulpit stairs and prayed – “in his quick, abrupt
way: ‘We thank Thee, O Lord, that every
day is not like this…’”
Professor
Stalker died in 1927, at the age of 79.
This
is the day that … JAMES RUSSELL
LOWELL was born, in 1819.
He
is described as “a poet, essayist, publicist, humorist, scholar and
diplomatist” (Cyclopaedia of English Literature, Volume 3, page
799). None of the books consulted tell
me whether he professed to be a Christian – or not!
His
father was a Unitarian clergyman in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and young James
received a thorough education at Harvard University. But during his last year a spurned love led him to drastic
action. “There was no measure to
Lowell’s bitterness and rage. We have
his miserable confession that he put a loaded pistol to his head but was too
cowardly to fire.” (ibid, page 800).
Later he married Maria White, and after her death nine years later (in
1853) he remarried.
During
this time he was active in literary pursuits – even being appointed Professor
of Modern Language at Harvard. Numerous
books and articles flowed from his brilliant pen – one of them being a protest
at the United States war with Mexico in 1845.
It was a poem of 90 lines called, “The Present Crisis”. Garret Horder converted this poem into a
hymn (about 1896), by piecing together 16 of Lowell’s lines. And the result is still found in many
hymnals –
Once
to every man and nation
Comes
the moment to decide,
In the
strife of truth with falsehood,
For the
good or evil side;
Through
each choice God, speaking to us ,
Offers
each the bloom or blight,
Then
the man or nation chooses
For
that darkness or that light….
James Russell Lowell died on 12 August, 1891.
This
is the day that … BARTHOLEMEW
ZEIGENBALG dies, in 1719.
He
was a pioneer Protestant missionary to India, and the first to translate the
Scriptures into an Indian language … some 80 years before the more famous
William Carey. This young German had been converted at the age of 17, and fired
with Christian zeal by the Pietist movement within the Lutheran Church.
On
9 July, 1706, at the age of 22, he was in India encountering opposition both
from Roman Catholicism and ungodly merchants.
But within eight months he was able to converse in the native tongue,
within 10 months of his arrival he was baptising the first five converts, and
on 14 June, 1707, he laid the foundation stone of his church “in spite of
official jeers and opposition.” By 14
August, 1707, he could write that “63 persons gathered for worship and another
to be baptised tomorrow.”
In
1708 opposition had reached its height, and Zeigenbalg was in prison for four
months. But “the converts
multiplied.” In October, 1708, free
from prison, he commenced his translation of the New Testament, a task that was
completed in three years.
When
he died, at the age of 36, he left behind 350 converts, a missionary seminary,
a grammar and lexicon of nearly 60,000 Tamil words, and the entire Bible in
their language. We might add that he brought to India a respect for Christian
missionaries, and an example for others to follow.
On
his deathbed, we are told, he shaded his eyes and cried out: “How is it so bright, as if the sun shone in
my face …”
This
is the day that … AMANDA SMITH died, in 1915. She was born into slavery in Maryland,
USA on 23 January, 1837. At the age of
13 she was converted during a revival at a Methodist Episcopal Church in
Pennsylvania.
Her
own words were that she was “a poor coloured servant girl sitting away back by
the door,” when a young white women entreated her with tears to accept
Christ. “I was the only coloured girl
there, but I went. She knelt beside me
with her arms around me and prayed for me…”
She
married at the age of 17, but her husband, although ‘religious’, turned out to
be a drunkard. He joined the Union Army
during the Civil War and never returned.
She later married James Smith, a deacon in the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, who also became indifferent to things spiritual. But Amanda’s faith kept growing.
A
sermon on holiness by a Presbyterian evangelist, John S. Inskip, was indeed a
“second blessing” to her. Gone were her
fears of ‘white people’. “I would rather be black and fully saved
than white and not saved,” she said.
She
began to preach. Invitations came from
across the United States – and even England.
“In 1876 she was invited to speak at a Keswick Conference”; then to Scotland, India and Burma. She was not, emphasises one biographer, a
feminist or an agitator for women’s ordination. “The thought of ordination never once entered my mind, for I had
received my ordination from Him who said, ‘Ye have not chosen Me, but I have
chosen you …”
Amanda Smith died in a suburb of Chicago, where she
had spent her last years heading up an orphanage for black children. She was 78 years of age.
This
is the day that … SUSANNA WESLEY
wrote to her husband! It was 1712.
It
was during the Rev Samuel Wesley’s absence attending Convocation that his good
wife decided to invite the parishioners to the Epworth rectory for instruction
and prayer. And she did it without
asking the bishop’s permission!
Besides, women did not do such things in the 18th century!
The
curate, Rev. Inman, wrote a letter to Samuel complaining of these gatherings. After all, his morning services were far
out-numbered by the 200(!) who gathered to meet in Susanna’s
kitchen. (“These are Susanna’s figures
– and she was never accurate!” (Susanna, by R.L. Harmon, page 78). She would read a sermon selected from her husband’s
library shelves. Suffice to say,
Samuel’s reply was far from favourable.
Susanna’s
reply reveals something of what he had written, and the wisdom of this
incomparable lady of the rectory.
After
explaining that “the salvation of souls” might be sought, not only in the
pulpit but in “common conversation”, and that she did not think there was “one
man among them who could read a sermon without spelling a good part of it,” and
how the crowd often “begged” her to continue, she closed with this
“piece-de-resistance”…
“If you do, after all, think fit to dissolve this assembly, do not tell me that you desire me to do it, for that will not satisfy my conscience; but send me your positive command, in such full and express terms, as may absolve me from all guilt and punishment for neglecting this opportunity of doing good, when you and I shall appear before the great and awful tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Samuel
relented … and the meetings continued!
This
is the day that … “RABBI” DUNCAN
died, in 1870. He was not really a rabbi, but such was the nickname by which he
became known.
John
Duncan was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1796.
Trained
for the Presbyterian ministry, and licensed to preach on 24 June, 1825, it was
not until the following year that he was converted due to the personal work of
Caesar Malan. For about a decade he ministered in Glasgow, and later became
Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages in New College, Edinburgh.
“His
students did not get much Hebrew instruction, but they were inspired by his
spirit, so eminently godly” (Schaff-Herzog Encyclopaedia, page 673).
But
the years 1841-42 were spent in Budapest, Hungary, as a missionary to the
Jews. Among his converts were Alfred
Edersheim and Adolph Saphir, both of whom became outstanding Presbyterian
theologians.
Biographer
A. Moody-Stuart tells of Duncan’s strong Calvinistic views – “his aversion to
Arminianism was intense” (page 192).
And
the rather quaint story is told of his second marriage. Widowed after the birth of his second
daughter – about 1840 – he remarried a Mrs Torrance some years later. But it nearly misfired. When the cab arrived to take him to the
wedding, he was not to be found. “His
niece found him in bed sound asleep with a Hebrew book in his hand”
(Moody-Stuart, page 118).
And
another story of his eccentricities (of which there are many) is that when
asked if he would like another cup of tea – “having drained his cup 14 times,
he replied, ‘No, thank you, I never take more than two cups of tea’” (page 117).
On
his deathbed he said to his biographer, “I have been at the point of
death. But I found that the one great
mysterious death of Calvary was all I needed” (page 151).
This
is the day that … CONSTANTINE
was born (so states Christian History Magazine, No. 27, page 23). But the year? “Probably 272”.
After
the death of Emperor Galerius the battle for the throne began. On the one hand was Constantine; on the other, Maxentius. Their armies clashed at the famous Battle of
Milvian Bridge, 28 October, 312.
According
to two Christian writers, Constantine had a dream on the eve of that battle
which convinced him to adopt a Christian emblem – and wage war with his rival,
trusting in the Christians’ God. Maxentius drowned in the Tiber. Constantine was the new Emperor – and he
professed Christianity.
He
convened the great Council of Nicea … where over 300 bishops gathered to deal
with the Arian heresy.
The
capital of the Roman Empire was moved to Byzantium, and renamed
Constantinople. Clergy were exempted
from taxes, Sunday was set aside as a day of worship … and his dear mother,
Helena, made a trip to the Holy Land, where she found “the true cross” and a
host of other relics.
Oh
… and he had Crispus, his eldest son, executed, and Fausta, his wife for 20
years, drowned in a hot bath! (Miller’s
Church History, page 202).
He
issued coins dedicated to the ‘sun god’ – and he was baptised by an Arian
bishop shortly before his death on 22 May, 337.
This
is the day that … JESSIE
PENN-LEWIS was born in 1861, in
Wales. Her family had moved into an old museum – and in the attic of the old
tower Jessie “taught herself to read the Bible freely” by the age of four. “There were books, books, and more books
everywhere” in the home.
She
received little schooling due to ill health, and was married at the age of 19
(despite her brother warning the fiancé that he would be looking after an
invalid for life). She was converted on
New Year’s Day, 1882, and ministered in the Young Women’s Christian
Association, which – in 1886 – took a vital Christian stand.
In
her preaching and writing there developed a strong holiness theme … which
placed emphasis upon the complete crucifixion of the ‘flesh’. Nevertheless, she was also invited to speak
at the Keswick Convention in 1927 … where the doctrine of holiness is based
more on the new nature ‘counteracting’ the old nature, rather than the
‘crucifixion’ view that she held in common with those of the Wesleyan
tradition.
Her
book, War on the Saints, became a best seller in Christian circles, and
Evan Roberts, who had been so remarkably used in the Welsh Revival (1904) lived
in her home for many years after his health gave way.
Jessie
Penn-Lewis died in London on 15 August, 1927.
This
is the day that … BENJAMIN KEACH was born in North Buckinghamshire, in 1640, in the
days when England was about to be plunged into civil war. Although reared in
the Church of England, he was baptised (by immersion) upon profession of his
faith in Christ at the age of 15, and joined a Baptist Church … walking seven
miles each Lord’s Day to join with the congregation in a neighbouring village.
At
the age of 18 he was “set aside for the work of the ministry,” the church
having recognised his God-given gift in that area. Two years later he married Jane Grove. And he began to preach …
But
by now Oliver Cromwell was dead and Charles II was insisting that all church
services conform to those of the Church of England. Keach refused to do so … but continued his ministry. “Keach was often seized, sometimes whilst preaching, committed to
prison, sometimes bound, sometimes released on bail, and sometimes his life was
threatened” (Benjamin Keach, by
K. Dix, page 11).
In
1664 he printed a small manual – “a Primmer” – which led to his being arrested
and placed in the pillory at Aylesbury.
The charges against him were that he taught believers and not infants
were the proper candidates for baptism, that Christ would reign on earth for
1000 years, and that it was God’s call – not university learning – that made a
man a minister of the Gospel. “Good
people,” he said to the assembled crowd, “I am not ashamed to stand here this
day, with this paper on my head. My
Lord Jesus was not ashamed to suffer on the cross for me…”
In
1664 – at the age of 24 - we find him and his wife, Jane, in Southwark.. Here he pastors the Particular (Calvinistic)
Baptist Church, until his death 36 years later. He had begun his days as a General Baptist (Arminian in
theology), but now was Particular Baptist (i.e. Calvinistic).
His
first wife died at the age of 30, and Keach remarried in 1672.
During
this ministry he “introduced congregational hymn singing! Prior to this Baptists had not sung at all
during worship” (ibid, page 20).
Benjamin
Keach was also a prolific writer – he penned 60 books, plus some 300 hymns.
He
died on 18 July, 1704.