1 January
This is the day that … JAMES ROWE was born in Devonshire, England, in
1865.
After his family migrated to America some twenty-five years later, James
Rowe became a railroad employee and married Blanche Clapper.
By 1896 he had turned
his hand to writing hymns. “Poetry,”
said his daughter in one of her letters, “came easy to him.”
“He delighted in
composing extemporaneously a poem of some length as he spoke to an assembled
audience. By his own record he wrote
more than 19,000 hymns”! (Songs of
Glory by W.J. Reynolds, page 126).
Not only gospel songs flowed from his pen, but also “humorous verse for
greeting cards.”
In a letter dated 23 May, 1955, James Rowe’s daughter wrote: “Howard E.
Smith was a little man whose hands were so knotted with arthritis that you
would wonder how he could use them at all, much less play the piano, but he
could and did.” She goes on to describe
how her father paced to and fro around the room composing the words of his
best-known gospel song whilst Howard E. Smith, the local church organist, set
them to music. The result?
I was sinking deep in sin,
Far from the peaceful shore;
Very
deeply stained within,
Sinking to rise no more;
But the Master of the sea
Heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me …
Now
safe am I.
Other gospel songs written by James Rowe
include:
Be like Jesus … this my song,
In the home and in the throng…
And the grand old Elim chorus…
I walk with the King ...Hallelujah!
I walk with the King, praise His name…
James Rowe went Home to walk the golden street with his King on 10
November, 1933, in Vermont, USA.
====================================================
2 January
This is the day that … RACHEL SAINT was born in
Pennsylvania, , in 1914.
It was 42 years later that
her brother, Nate Saint, piloted a Piper aircraft with four other missionaries
aboard, onto a small clearing in the Ecuadorian jungle. Their aim was to befriend and evangelise the
Auca Indians. But on 8 January, 1956,
the massacre took place that shocked Christendom. The five missionaries were
speared to death.
However, Nate`s sister, Rachel, made contact with a run-away Auca woman
named Dayuma. As a skilled linguist working with Wycliffe Bible Translators,
Rachel learned the Auca language, translated the Gospel of Mark into that
tongue and saw Dayuma converted. This remarkable convert later appeared as a
guest on the platform of Billy Graham`s 1957 Madison Square Garden Crusade, New
York.
By 1958 Rachel and Dayuma
were in Ecuador joining forces with two other widows of the Auca massacre ready
to carry on the ministry their husbands had commenced.
With the assistance of
Gospel Recordings, another missionary organisation, Rachel Saint produced
messages in the native tongue. This was
followed by a friendly confrontation with these people who had killed her
husband. Conversions took place as the Gospel was preached to them. Six of those who had taken part in the
massacre were among the converts. One of
them, Kimo, even became pastor of the church that was established….
Rachel Saint died on 11 November, in Quito, Ecuador at the age of 80… but
another ‘Saint’ carries on the same missionary task. Steve Saint now serves the Lord as his
parents had done among native tribes in this same Ecuadorian jungle.
(References: Christianity
Today, December, 1994; Evangel,
March, 1996)
3 J
anuary
This is the day that … CLARA SWAIN arrived in India, in 1870. She
had graduated from the Women’s Medical College of Philadelphia the previous
year, at the age of 35.
She had responded to the call of a missionary in India … a ‘lady
physician’ was urgently needed. Clara
Swain responded and became “the first woman missionary doctor in the world.”
In northwest India she soon
found herself deluged with patients - 100 in the first six weeks. Within three months she had opened a
dispensary and begun a medical class with fourteen native girls. A need for a women’s hospital soon became
obvious. Nearby a Moslem prince had 42
acres containing wells and gardens and a large house. Dr Swain made a timid appeal that this land
might be purchased, to which the prince replied, “Take it! Take it!
I give it to you with much pleasure.”
On 4 January, 1874, the first women’s hospital in the Orient was opened.
Three thousand patients passed through the doors during the first twelve
months.
In 1885, whilst treating the wife of the Rajah of Rajputana, Clara Swain
accepted a royal invitation to become court physician. This position she occupied for ten years.
During all her 25 years in India she treated thousands of patients and
“considered herself primarily an evangelist”.
She was there to bear witness to the One who was able to heal the
sin-sick soul.
Clara Swain died back in her hometown of Castile, New York, in 1910,
where she had been born 76 years previously.
(Reference: Guardians of the Great Commission, by Ruth
Tucker)
4 January
This is the day that … JAMES USHER, or Ussher as it
sometimes appears, was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1581.
In the years that followed he was to become Primate of the Church of
Ireland and a friend of the Puritan party within the Church. At the same time he remained a staunch
Royalist, something the Puritans did not always
appreciate!
He is best remembered for his chronology of the Bible, once found in the
margin of the King James Version.
Whilst much of this was helpful, his claim that the Creation took place
in 4004 BC is hardly taken seriously today.
For that matter, he went so far as to state that the world was created
on 23 October, 4004 BC ... 9:00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time!! One wit commented that closer to that the
good Primate was not willing to go …
On his deathbed he prayed, “God be merciful unto me, a sinner.” It was 21 March, 1656.
=====================================================
5 January
This is the day that … some folk observe as SAINT SIMEON
STYLITES Day.
This character … for such he must be called … spent 36 years atop a
pillar in the middle of the desert.
Somewhere between Syria and Cilicia.
Pilgrims flocked to see and hear this ‘holy’ man. After all, he had built this 60 feet high
pillar to escape the temptations of the world.
Even to the extent of having a wall around its base to keep women from
getting too close!
On record is the spectator who counted St Simeon practised 1,244
obeisances in one day. And he watched St
Simeon pray all night with his hands raised.
To punish the “flesh” (although he had his theology somewhat amiss), he
even “fed maggots on his self-inflicted wounds which he kept open for that
purpose”! (The Saints, by E.
Simon, Penguin Books, page 83.)
And again … “He died at 69; his
dead body was discovered by some brave soul who climbed the pole to see how
things were going. The corpse of Simeon
was covered with lice, vermin, ulcers…”, but that's enough! (History of the
New Testament Church, page 197).
Thousands attended his funeral, celebrated by a torch-lit procession
through the streets of Antioch. The base
of his pillar can still be seen to this day.
It’s a shame someone didn’t tell him what Paul meant by “the flesh”…
6
January
This is the day that … CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON was converted.
He was 15 years of age, and a snowstorm had prevented him from attending
his usual place of worship. So, in his
own words … “I turned down a side street and came to a little Primitive
Methodist chapel” (C.H. Spurgeon Autobiography, Volume 1, page 87).
About fifteen people were present, but the minister had been “snowed
in”. “A thin looking man, a shoemaker or
tailor or something like that, went up into the pulpit to preach”, Spurgeon
continues. And his next comment is
somewhat shocking, but is a reminder that God oft-times uses the things that
are “foolish” to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). “It is well that preachers be instructed,” he
writes, “but this man was really stupid.”!
Nevertheless the preacher’s text was Isaiah 45:22: “Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends
of the earth.” And in the course of the
sermon that followed … if it could be called a sermon … the preacher espied the
young Spurgeon and exhorted him personally, “Young man, look to Jesus Christ!”
“I saw at once the way of salvation,” Spurgeon writes. “I had been waiting to do fifty things, but
when I heard that word ‘Look!’ what a charming word it seemed to me. Oh! I looked until I could have looked my
eyes away.” From that day forward
Spurgeon’s desire was to share the Good News of the gospel with others. And before his death 42 years later (31
January, 1892) he would see thousands of men and women, boys and girls, enter
the Kingdom of God as a result of his ministry.
But was it 6 January, when this conversion took place? Such is the date Spurgeon himself gives. But a recent biography (Spurgeon, Prince
of Preachers, by Lewis Drummond, page 129) casts doubts on Spurgeon’s
memory concerning this date. Drummond
examines the meteorological records of London for that day and discovers that
it was “bright and sunny” … No snowstorm!!
But the following Sunday was as Spurgeon describes.
Dr Drummond offers a further fifteen pages of evidence casting doubt on 6
January being the date of Spurgeon’s conversion.
But whatever the date, he has no doubts concerning the reality of the
work of grace that took place in the life of that remarkable teenager.
7 January
This is the day that … THOMAS DE WITT TALMAGE was born
in New Jersey, USA, the youngest of eleven children. It was 1832.
Converted at the age of 18,
he entered the Christian ministry soon afterwards. Three of his brothers did likewise.
Maybe he was not the
greatest of American preachers, but certainly one of the most popular. At one stage his sermons appeared weekly in
3,500 newspapers across America and Europe.
Spurgeon praised his ministry by saying, “His sermons take hold of my
inmost soul. The Lord is with this
mighty man….” Indeed he was.
After 13 years of ministering to various
congregations, he accepted a call to the Central Presbyterian Church of
Brooklyn, New York, with its 19 (!!) members.
That was 1869. (Christian Hall of Fame,
by E. Towns, page 118). Talmage packed
the building for the following 25 years … rebuilding it bigger and bigger after
it was destroyed by fire … twice!
The fruit of his labour was the winning of thousands to Christ. “In one year alone 6000 professed
conversion” (Profiles in Evangelism,
by F. Barlow, page 181).
Alexander Gammie, in his great book, Preachers I have Heard, tells
of listening to the mighty Talmage … “The largest hall in the city was packed
to overflowing. With fervent and
dramatic power he poured forth a torrent of oratory, piling up adjectives,
heaping metaphor upon metaphor, using a big brush to paint glowing word
pictures in vivid colours, now declaiming with tremendous vigour and next
moment, on a tender note, touching deep chords of emotion” (page 72).
Despite all this, the Presbyterian Synod tried him for “buffoonery in the
pulpit” (he was acquitted!); foes
accused him of being responsible for the death of his first wife (she was
drowned during a boating accident); and
the church fires were apparently the result of arson.
Talmage attacked the modern theology that was rearing its ugly head, he
lashed out at atheistic lecturers, and he exalted Christ. “The thread of
atonement ran all through his preaching.
Christ to him was central and the Cross was cardinal.” (C. Macartney, in the Foreword to 500
Selected Sermons, by T. De Witt Talmage.)
Perhaps his pulpit
style would be too flowery for this present generation. But, believe me, he is worth reading.
Talmage went to his
Eternal Reward on 12 April, 1902.
8 January
This is the day that … ADA HABERSHON was born in London, England, to “earnest, uncompromising
parents”. It was 1861.
As a schoolgirl she sat
under the ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and in 1884 found herself
helping in the Moody/Sankey meetings, when that American duo arrived in England.
“On several occasions she sang with Mr Sankey”! (The Romance of Sacred Song, by D.
Beattie, page 61).
Whilst not being able to testify to a specific date for her conversion,
she knew that she had passed “from death unto life”, and sought to lead
others to that life-changing experience.
Her first hymn was written in 1901 at the suggestion of Charles M.
Alexander, and in the following twelve months 200 Gospel songs flowed from her
pen. From that time on, until her death
seventeen years later, there came a steady stream of over 1000 Gospel
songs. Charles Alexander, famous for the
Alexander Hymn Book, once described her as the “best Gospel song-writer in the
world.” He continued, “She was an invalid all the time, but those
who suffer best know how to touch the heart.
Miss Habershon is well read, too;
she has the Bible in her head as well as in her heart, and all her songs
have a Scriptural foundation.”
Among those great hymns is …
I’m pressing on
the upward way,
New
heights I’m climbing every day,
Still
praying as I onward bound,
“Lord,
plant my feet on Higher Ground!”
Also from her pen came such Gospel songs as: He will hold me fast and
Come to the
Saviour, make no delay.
Besides her hymn writing Miss Habershon also penned some helpful volumes
… The Study of Types, Outline Studies on the Tabernacle, Studies
in the Parables .. and others.
This remarkable Bible student/hymn writer was called Home on 1 February,
1918.
9 January
This is the day that … ‘something’ happened to SAMUEL
LOGAN BRENGLE, in 1885. Maybe some will
quibble over the terminology, whether you call it the ‘Baptism with the Holy
Spirit’ or ‘Entire Sanctification’ or ‘Second Blessing’, but he was transformed
into one of the most zealous evangelists the Salvation Army has ever known.
Already famous as an eloquent Methodist circuit-ridin’ preacher, on that
day Brengle laid his all on the altar.
“Lord,” he prayed, “I want to be an eloquent preacher, but if by
stammering and stuttering I can bring greater glory to Thee than by eloquence …
then let me stammer and stutter.” (S.L.
Brengle, by C. Hall, page 49). And
he meant it! “So hungrily does he yearn
for complete cleansing and holiness,” his biographer continues, “that the very
vehicle of his destiny is thrown upon the altar.”
Then he met General Booth … and joined the Salvation Army. On page 74 of this inspiring biography we
find him blacking the boots of his fellow
cadets. One page 191 we see him
promoted to the rank of Commissioner!
There came from his pen some powerful volumes, calling the reader to
Holiness and Soul-winning.
As a faithful soldier of Jesus Christ, Samuel Logan Brengle “was Promoted to Glory” (as the Salvationists delight to describe it), on 20 May, 1936. In his final message written for the War Cry he had stated, “Go forward where He leads in glad obedience and in willing self-denial, and you will find with me that ‘at evening time it shall be light’. Hallelujah!” (S.L. Brengle, by W. Clark, page 147).
10 January
This is the day that … JAMES LESLEY STARKEY was murdered … shot by Arabs … at the age of 48. It was 1938.
During six strenuous seasons of archaeological digging Starkey had grown
a beard and the Arabs mistook him for a Jew.
Despite this untimely tragedy, the excavations he made at the Biblical
city of Lachish continue to excite Bible scholars and confirm the historicity
of the Book.
The famous “Lachish Letters”, twenty-one ostraca inscribed in Hebrew, are
dated just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (587
BC). Letter No. 4 contains striking
confirmation of Jeremiah 34:7, where both Lachish and Azekah are mentioned as
the last outposts to fall to the invaders.
Letter No. 3 likewise uses many Biblical names. Some scholars consider the mention of ‘the prophet’
to be a reference to Jeremiah himself.
One writer suggests that the “Lachish Letters” are an uninspired
supplement to the Book of Jeremiah, because of the background information they
supply to that portion of God’s Word.
(References: Archaeology and
the Old Testament, by M. Unger, pages 284-28;
The Bible and Archaeology, by J.A. Thompson, pages 150-151.)
11 January
This is the day that … WILLIAM WILLIAMS “trod the verge of Jordan and
landed safe on Canaan’s side”. It was
1791.
William Williams stands foremost among Welsh hymn writers. But he was more than that.
Ordained a deacon in the Established Church in 1740, he later became a
friend of George Whitefield and the Calvinistic Methodists. The result was that the Bishop refused to
ordain him to full ‘holy orders’.
So he became an itinerant preacher.
All of Wales became his parish as he travelled “95,000 miles in the next
43 years” (Gospel in Hymns by A. Bailey, page 108). Time and time again he was attacked by
mobs. At Cardinganshire they beat him
“within an inch of his life” … but Williams continued preaching and singing the
Gospel.
Church historians refer to him as “the sweet singer of Wales,” and of the
800 hymns he wrote many are still on the lips of worshippers to this day. Most well-known is :
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through
this barren land …
12 January
This is the day that … SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX entered the Presence of the
Lord, in the year 1153.
He has been described as
“certainly the most prominent figure of medieval times” (Hymns and Hymn
Writers, by J. Brownlie, page 41).
Harold O. Brown speaks of Bernard … “Although he never sought high
office, from his monastery he advised kings and popes and was virtually the
uncrowned ruler of Europe. The ability
of one man without political office or power to change history solely by his
teaching and example is without parallel until the sixteenth century, when Martin
Luther would once again transform Europe from his pulpit.” (Great Leaders of the Christian Church, Moody
Press, page 134).
Protestants, of course, would not agree with all his teachings. His emphasis on the place of Mary, the mother
of our Lord, is often quite unscriptural.
But he did take up his pen against Abelard and his heretical teachings
concerning the atonement. And he denied
the Doctrine of Immaculate Conception (i.e. that Mary was born without sin),
although it was to later become an official teaching of the Church of
Rome. (Dates with Destiny, page
75).
Whether he wrote the hymns once attributed to him is no longer certain …
Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts, and Jesus, the very thought of Thee, with sweetness
fills my breast, but it can be safely said that these sentiments reflect
the desires of his heart.
13 January
This is the day that … ALEXANDER WHYTE was born in
Kirriemuir, Scotland. It was 1836.
His mother never dreamed
that her son would one day be acclaimed as “the greatest Scottish preacher of
his generation” (Master Preachers, by H. Calkins). He was to become “the most widely respected
and influential minister in Scotland. He
was elected Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland Assembly, and became principal
of New College, Edinburgh” (Biography,
by K. Triggs, page 7).
Reared by a single mother
who skimped to get food for her son, and who prayed for him, young Alexander
left school at the age of 10 and worked in a shoemaker’s shop. He began to attend the Presbyterian Church
and later wrote… “The first text I ever heard a sermon from was that text in
Zechariah, ‘Is not this a brand plucked
from the burning?’ ‘It is I, Lord,’ my
young heart answered” (Triggs, page 10).
By the age of 26 he had graduated from Aberdeen University … with Honours
(!) …Then followed theological training and ordination to the Presbyterian
ministry at the age of 30. In 1870 he
became assistant minister at Free St John’s Church, Glasgow, and there he
continued to exercise a remarkable ministry for the next 50 years.
He married Jane Barbour when he was 45 years of age … and they had 8
children. In 1892 (at the age of 56) he
forsook his earlier Calvinistic doctrines for mysticism … due to a study of
William Law’s writings. When his close friend, Robertson Smith, wrote an
article for the Encyclopaedia Britannica that denied the Mosaic
authorship of the Pentateuch, Whyte came to his defence in the ensuing heresy
trial. And he even befriended Abdul Baha
Abbas, leader of the Bahai cult, during
his visit to Scotland in 1913 (Triggs, page 83).
“He could not endure controversies with individuals,” wrote W. Robertson
Nicholl. And, adds Warren Weirsbe, “He
would go to almost any length to build bridges, even if he had to build them on
sinking sand … but he was a great preacher and a great soul-winner in spite of
his theological excesses” (Walking with the Giants, page 94).
An interesting piece of trivia is the fact that Dr Joseph Bell was a
member of Whyte’s congregation ... he even treated him in 1909 when the
preacher had his first heart attack … and it was this same Joseph Bell who was
used as a model for Sherlock Holmes in A. Conan Doyle’s famous books (God
& Sherlock Holmes, by Dr W. Wall, page 8).
Dr Whyte died on Wednesday, 5 January.
Earlier that day his wife had asked if there was anything he
required. “A draught of life” he
replied, so she read to him Psalm Ninety-one (Biography, by G.F.
Barbour, page 641).
14 January
This is the day that … ROWLAND HUGH PRITCHARD (also spelt Prichard) was born
in Bala, Wales. It was 1811.
From his earliest days music was the main interest of his life. And even before he was twenty years of age he
had composed many melodies, including the one found in most hymnals to this
day. Even during his last illness … in
1887… he was still jotting down tunes that came to him.
During his lifetime he was a choir conductor in the local church, and he
published a book of his own original tunes.
Seven years before his death he began working (he was 70 years of age at
the time!) as a loom-tender’s assistant at the Welsh Flannel Manufacturing
Company. And when death came the head of
the firm paid his funeral expenses.
Rowland Pritchard lives on in his grand tune, Hyfrydol, to which
we usually sing the words Come, Thou long expected Jesus or I will
sing the wondrous story or Jesus, what a Friend for sinners.
15 January
This is the day that … J. EDWIN ORR was born in Belfast, Northern
Ireland, in 1912. More than that, it was
the day he was converted in 1921 ... and the day he married Ivy Carlson in
1937! She was a Norwegian lass he had
met in South Africa. But there’s more … for
it was on this same day Edwin Orr was ordained to the Baptist ministry in 1940
… and became an Air Force chaplain on … you guessed it … 15 January, 1943!!
How does one describe this man of God?
Missionary? Author? Historian?
Evangelist? Bible Teacher? Hymn Writer?
All are true!
His missionary travels around the world were recorded in a series of
fascinating books. All Your Need
tells of his remarkable ‘1000 miles of miracles’ throughout Australia. Times of Refreshing is the story of
his meetings throughout Canada. Prove
Me Now documents his travels in Russia.
One biographer says, “Edwin Orr suddenly became a sought after
evangelist on three continents, and was so overwhelmed with opportunities to
preach that every single day was filled with engagements. He preached more than 1000 times in a single
year, sometimes to crowds of five or ten thousand people” (Edwin Orr, by Newman Watts, page
25). And that was in 1935, when he was
still in his early twenties!!
His hymn, sung to the melody of the ‘Maori’s Farewell’ is sung around the
world :
Search me, O God,
And know my heart today…
In the Foreword to his
book, Full Surrender, Billy Graham writes of Dr Orr as “one of the
greatest authorities on the history of religious revivals in the Protestant
world … I know of no man who has a greater passion for world-wide revival and a
greater love for the souls of men” (page 5).
James Edwin Orr died on 22 April, 1987.
16 January
This is the day that … some churches
observe as SAINT ANTONY’S DAY (deceased 356).
It
was Athanasius (295-373) who wrote the biography of this ‘founder of Christian
monasticism’. He was born in Egypt, and
after his parents died he adopted a hermit-like existence.
After 15 years of living in a
tomb (“fighting off demons and wild beasts”) he moved to an old fort – “and for
20 years saw not another living person”.
Now his fame began to
spread; such a lifestyle was regarded as
a sign of holiness! Disciples began to
gather around him. So for the last 45
years of his life he organised and taught his followers. Monasticism was born.
His constant spiritual warfare
with demons may have resulted from poor diet and an austere life-style. He tells of encounters with “a strange
creature, half horse, half man” and “a little man with horns on his head and
goat’s feet,” to mention but a few.
He sought martyrdom during a
period of persecution in Alexandria, but no-one was brave enough to slay this
‘holy’ man. So he went back to his
desert … and demons … and disciples, where he died at the age of 105.
18 January
This is day that … ANDREW MURRAY “fell asleep in
Jesus”
in 1917, at the
age of 89 years.
Andrew Murray is a name well known in evangelical
circles. His books are still to be found
in Christian bookshops, and are regarded as spiritual classics.
Born in South Africa in 1828, he became a minister of
the Dutch Reformed Church. His ministry
took him around the globe, where he spoke at large meetings on the deeper
life. The Keswick platform was often
graced by his presence.
Of his last moments his daughter, Emmie, records: “He stroked my hair and then relapsed into
unconsciousness. After a while he revived
and said, ‘God is worthy of trust.’ I knelt there till 5 o’clock and then
retired, leaving him to the care of the nurse.
During the day … he passed away peacefully into the presence of the
Lord.”
19 January
This is the day that …MEL TROTTER was converted, in
1897. On that day he staggered into the
Pacific Garden Mission so drunk that he didn’t even know his own name.
His father had been an
alcoholic bar tender. Mel followed in
those footsteps. He couldn’t keep a
job. He committed burglary … and was
hospitalised to help him overcome his craving, but to no avail.
A good woman – Lottie Fisher –
married him (23 April, 1891), and over the dead body of their first baby he
swore to his wife he would never touch liquor again. “Two hours after the funeral he staggered
home … drunk.”
But at the age of 27 he went
to the Mission Hall, and when Harry Monroe called for a response to the Gospel
Mel Trotter raised his hand. Christ laid
hold of his life and changed it.
He became an evangelist and a
mission leader, and was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry in 1905.
He preached at Moody’s
Northfield Bible Conference 28 times; he
appeared on the platform of Billy Sunday’s revival meetings; he spoke in 54 YMCA camps during World War I.
His biographer tells us that
Mel Trotter was “responsible for thousands finding Christ…”
He died in 1940, at the age of
70.
20 January
This is the day that … JOHN HOWARD died, in 1790.
Born in Hackney, near London,
in 1726, his life-story is almost stranger than fiction.
Returning from a continental
tour in 1742, his ship was captured by a French man-of-war. Then followed imprisonment “in a filthy
dungeon” before returning home to England, where he was nursed back to health
by his landlady, whom he later married.
After her death a few years
later, Howard remarried. His second wife
died, leaving him with an only child who, in 1777, was committed to “an asylum
as a hopeless lunatic.”
Motivated by his Christian
faith, John Howard launched a crusade against the inhumanity of the penal
system.
His death took place in Russia
when he “was overtaken by a fever, caught during a visit to a young lady who
had requested his Christian counsel and prayers.”
He has often been referred to
as the “Apostle of Prison Reform.”
21 January
This is the day that … THOMAS JONATHAN
JACKSON was born in Virginia, USA, in 1824.
At the age of 18 he entered
West Point Academy to train for a future military career. And it was here a fellow cadet witnessed to
him concerning his need of a Saviour.
The word spoken bore fruit. “He
immediately became a man of the Bible,” says one biographer.
There also followed 10 years
of “brilliant teaching” in his role of
professor at Virginia’s Military Academy.
And it was at the age of 27 he joined the Lexington Presbyterian Church
(22 November, 1851). Two years later he
married Eleanor Junkin … who died 14 months later. And in 1857 he wed again, Mary Morrison from
South Carolina.
With the outbreak of the Civil
War, Jackson left home to fight for the Southern cause. He soon was promoted to Lieutenant General …
and his resoluteness of purpose soon earned him the nickname, “Stonewall”.
Letters to his wife from the
battlefield reveal his steadfastness to his God. “While we were near Winchester, it pleased
our ever merciful Heavenly Father to visit my command with the rich outpouring
of His Holy Spirit,” he wrote on 5 December, 1862. “There were probably more than 100 (soldiers)
enquiring concerning the way of life…”
One delightful story tells
“his men saw him stumbling and falling over rocks and trees. They almost thought he had had too much to
drink. That was not the problem. He was praying with his eyes closed as he
walked” (Christian History, Issue 33).
After accidentally being shot
by his own men, “Stonewall” Jackson died on Sunday, 10 May, 1863.
22 January
This is the day
that … NORMAN CLAYTON was born in 1903
in Brooklyn, New York.
He was converted at the age of six in the south Brooklyn Gospel Church … and was church organist by the age of 12.
In
1942 he was working with Jack Wyrtzen’s Word of Life organization, and the same
year wrote his most popular gospel song, words and music:
Jesus, my, Lord will love me forever,
From Him no power of evil can sever;
He gave His life to ransom my soul,
Now I belong to Him…
Many
will recall the Norman Clayton chorus introduced at the Hyman Appelman campaign
…
He holds my hand,
Jesus holds my
hand.
Safely to Heaven He
leads the way,
He is my Keeper
from day to day…
According to Kenneth Osbeck,
Norman Clayton “tells how it is his usual practice to write the music first
before the words,” and that “he feels it is vitally important that every song
he writes be biblically based” (101 More Hymn Stories, page 204).
=====================================================
23 January
This is the day that … ALFRED MIDLANE was born on the
Isle of Wight, off the coast of England, in 1825. His father died three months before he was
born.
He became a businessman in
Newport, Isle of Wight, for 50 years, first working as a printer … then entering
the hardware business.
We are told that he was
writing religious verse at the age of nine.
However, his first hymn was written when he was 17 years of age, and
from then on a steady stream of hymns and poems issued from his pen.
His biographer tells us “he
never took out a copyright for any of his hymns, and never derived any monetary
benefit from them” (Who Wrote our Hymns, by C. Knapp, page 201).
A curious story is told
concerning the writing of what is probably his most well-known composition. He had mused over it during the day, and that
evening when the family had retired, he set to work to commit it to paper. Time stole on … and early next morning “his
wife found him ‘unconscious’ (or asleep?) over his finished work” :
There’s a Friend for little
children
Above the bright blue sky,
A Friend that never changes,
Whose love will never die …
Another well-known Gospel song
is –
Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Thy mighty arm make bare …
He has been
described as the “poet preacher of the ‘Strict Brethren’” (Methodist Hymn Book, Illustrated, by
J. Telford, page 447).
24 January
This is the day that … JOHN MASON NEALE was born in 1818.
He has been described as “one
of the most prolific and certainly one of the greatest hymn writers the Church
of England has ever produced.” Another writer describes him as “the most
learned hymnologist … of his time.”
“A brilliant scholar,” a third
biographer informs us, “Neale had a knowledge of 20 languages; he authored books on church architecture,
church history, etc.; he translated many
hymns from the Latin and more from the Greek than any other hymnologist, and he
wrote some hymns of his own.”.
His parents gave him an evangelical upbringing but in later life, at Cambridge, he became High Church in his sympathies.
After taking ‘holy orders’ at the age of 23,
he ministered at Crawley, in Sussex, for six weeks … and left “for health
reasons”.
Then there was time for study
in Madeira, Spain, where he pored over musty volumes of hymns penned centuries
earlier.
At 28 years of age we find him
as warden of an elderly men’s home. His
chapel services “with liturgies at variance with the Anglican tradition” caused
the local bishop to forbid him to continue “debasing the minds of these poor
people with his spiritual haberdasheries!”
He was accused – and probably rightly so – of ‘Romish practices.’
For the next 14 years he not
only had a verbal war with his bishop, but opposition from many people who
lived in East Grinstead, Sussex. He was
charged with misappropriating funds.
Arson was attempted on his home.
A riot at a funeral he was conducting necessitated police intervention …
In the midst of all this he
continued his translation of ancient hymns: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and
Jerusalem the Golden were originally written in Latin in the 12th
century. Art thou weary was
written in Greek in the 8th century.
A glimpse of the names of hymn
writers in the rear of most hymn-books will reveal a surprising number of
Neale’s contributions.
Among his own compositions
were Good King Wenceslas and Good Christian men, Rejoice!
He died on 6 August, 1866, at
the age of 48.
25 January
This is the day that … in 1825, EDWARD
HENRY BICKERSTETH was born in London, England, his father being an Anglican
clergyman.
Following in his footsteps,
young Edward took ‘holy orders’ in 1848, became a curate, then rector, then
vicar, and eventually Bishop of Exeter (1885-1900).
And also like his father, he
wrote poetry and hymns. Still sung by
modern day congregations is :
Till He come, Oh, let the words
Linger on the trembling chords …
usually used at the
celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
In August, 1875, Edward
Bickersteth was called to the bedside of a dying relative, Archdeacon Hill, of
Liverpool. The text, Isaiah 26:3, was
read, and in a few minutes a poem had been hastily written to comfort the dying
man. Later it was set to music. It was said to have been a favourite of Queen
Victoria. And when Bishop Bickersteth
travelled the Far East he heard this hymn being sung in Japanese and Chinese.
Without doubt it is one of the
loveliest hymns the Church possesses.
Notice how each first line is a question – the second line the
answer. Ponder the words :
Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows
surging round?
On Jesus’ bosom nought but calm is
found.
Peace, perfect peace, our future all
unknown?
Jesus we know, and He is on the
throne.
Hallelujah!
26 January
This is the day that … SAMUEL GOBAT was born in 1799,
in Switzerland.
After theological training in
Basel, and mastering Arabic and other Middle Eastern languages, he was sent by
the Church Missionary Society (Church of England) to pioneer missionary work in
Abyssinia.
“The account of his voyages
down and across the Red Sea (in 1830) in open Arab vessels crowded with
pilgrims, with only polluted water to drink, and sometimes none at all, and he
himself suffering from ophthalmia and dysentery … is painful reading.”
But after two unfruitful years
in that difficult field, he and his companions were expelled by the authorities
… because “of the intrigue of French (Roman Catholic) priests.”
In 1839 we find Gobat in
Malta, superintending the translation of the Scriptures into Arabic. And on 5 July, 1846, he was consecrated as
the second Bishop of Jerusalem.
The official history of the
Church Missionary Society, titled One Hundred Years, records how Bishop
Gobat and the C.M.S. were vigorously assailed at this time by High Churchmen
for presuming to preach Christ to Orientals …”
Despite opposition, Gobat gave
an evangelical lead to the Church of England in the Holy Land, establishing
schools and churches.
He died in Jerusalem on 11 May,
1879.
27 January
This is the day that … the Right Hon.
SIR ROBERT MATHESON, Privy Councillor, LLD, late Registrar for Ireland,
died in 1926.
Apart from his testimony in Twice
Born Men, compiled by Hy Pickering, I have never heard of this gentleman. Nor, I suspect, have any who may read
this. But his testimony is so remarkable
it bears re-telling.
“In 1873 our family went for a
holiday to Scotland…” he tells us. They
visited Lanark Old Abbey … and wandered around looking at the ancient gravestones. He tripped “and was thrown to the ground by a
small grave stone concealed by grass… I
felt a strong desire to see what it was that had caused my fall …” Clearing away the grass, “I saw to my
astonishment and horror my own name – Robert Matheson! I could not fail to see that it was a direct
message from God to me. I felt the
letters of the inscription with my hand, so as to make sure it was real…”
The thought that he, too, like
his namesake, would one day meet his Maker, led Robert Matheson to read the
Bible and come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
“Many years have elapsed since
that memorable night,” he writes. “… I
have passed through many trials and many difficulties in my earthly journey …
but God has been faithful, and soon I shall be in the Saviour’s presence to see
the King in His beauty…”
28 January
This is the day that … SABINE
BARING-GOULD was born in Exeter, in 1834.
By 1864 we find him a Church
of England clergyman … and thus he continued until his death on 2 January,
1924.
In
1867 he had rescued a mill-girl named Grace Taylor from drowning, fallen in
love with her, paid for her education, and married her in 1868.
In 1872 he inherited his
father’s estate, some 3000 acres of land in Devonshire. And here it was he became squire, lord of the
manor, justice of the peace … “and appointed himself rector of the parish” (Gospel
in Hymns, by A. Bailey, page 372).
He wrote “160 volumes” on such
subjects as music, history, folk-lore, biography, novels, theology, and
travel. His 15 volume Lives of the
Saints
was his ‘magnum opus’- and was
banned by the Roman Catholic Church!
His book The Evangelical
Revival, attacks basic doctrines held dear by Bible-believing
Christians. “Evangelicalism,” he writes,
“is a feeder of Rome … and the occasion of infidelity!” (pages 297, 300).
Yet this High Church Anglican
was responsible for some of our best-loved hymns … He tells us Onward Christian soldiers,
marching as to war… was written in less than 15 minutes, for Whitsunday,
1865, when a procession of Sunday-School children marched through the streets
at Horbury Bridge, Yorkshire. (The tune,
incidentally, was composed by Arthur S. Sullivan, of Gilbert and Sullivan
fame.)
Sabine Baring-Gould also wrote,
Now the day is over, night is drawing nigh… in 1867.
William Kelynack writes: “In his early ministry he was
intolerant; his treatment of
nonconformity evoked strong resentment.
But … in his later years he endeavoured to make amends, more especially
to the local Methodists…” (Companion to Methodist School Hymnbook, page
16).
29 January
This is the day that … KATHERINE VON BORA was born, in 1499.
“There is a lot to get used to
in the first year of marriage,” wrote Martin Luther. “One wakes up in the morning and finds a pair
of pigtails on the pillow that were not there before…” Those pigtails belonged
to ex-nun, Katherine Von Bora.
The reformer had engineered
her escape – and that of 11 others – from the Nimbschen Convent, on 4 April,
1522. By 1525 Luther had found husbands
for 11 of them. But Katie was still
eligible. So on 13 June, 1525, 41
year-old Luther married 26 year-old Katherine Von Bora.
She has been called the
“Patron saint of Ministers’ Wives”!
Luther’s love for “Kitty, my
rib”, as he affectionately called her, continued to grow. “When he spoke of Paul’s epistle to the
Galatians, he called it, ‘My Katherine Von Bora’. It was the epistle that was closest to his
heart” (Martin Luther Had a Wife, by W. Peterson, page 35).
Six children were born. Katie outlived her controversial husband by
six years – her dying words being, “I will stick to Christ as a burr to a top
coat”.
She died on 20 December, 1552.
30 January
This is day that … MENNO SIMMONS publicly renounced
his faith from his pulpit - his Roman Catholic faith. It was 1536.
The Anabaptists were in a
mess. Thomas Munzer had led the movement
into fanatical extremes. His so-called
visions led to excesses in behaviour and doctrine.
This was one branch of the
Protestant Reformation surely destined to sink into oblivion, so it
seemed. And the sooner the better!
But, as usual, God had a
man - a man courageous enough to
renounce the “ease and security of his priestly post” (History of
Christianity, by K. Latourette, page 784).
His name was Menno Simmons, and persecution came his way … with a
vengeance! Having been ordained to the
Roman priesthood in 1524, at the age of 28, he became an Anabaptist minister –
though not connected with Munzer’s group – and fled from place to place seeking
refuge, preaching and writing as he went.
His followers became known as
Mennonites (the most numerous of the various Anabaptist groups), and in Canada
and America today a substantial number are still to be found.
Menno Simmons “deserves a
higher rank among the reformers than is often accorded him by writers of Church
History,” says Elgin Moyer (Great Leaders, Moody Press, page 360).
For it was this man who
conserved all that was good in the Anabaptist movement and organised it into a
group of believers still with us to this day.
He died in his own home on 31
January, 1561.
31 January
This is the day that … HESTER ANN ROGERS was born in 1756,
in Cheshire, England.
Her father was a Church of
England clergyman who died when she was nine years of age.
Confirmed – but not converted
– four years later, young Hester continued in spiritual rebellion until Mr
Simpson, the new curate, appeared at their local church. He was – horrors! – a ‘Methodist’! And when he preached on John 6:44 Hester
“wept aloud … ran home … went upstairs” and there, upon her knees, commenced
her pilgrimage to the cross. She
attended Methodist meetings – much to her mother’s disgust – and was soon truly
converted.
On 19 August, 1784, she
married James Rogers – a Methodist preacher – and became a class-leader and
personal worker herself. Her Memoirs
and Letters became ‘best sellers’ in early Methodist circles. Her emphasis on ‘entire sanctification’ did
much to popularise that particular doctrine.
When John Wesley died, Hester
Ann Rogers was at his bedside. “We have
come to rejoice with you,” she - or her husband - said, “you are going to
receive your crown.”
Three years later – on 10
October, 1794 – shortly after giving birth to a son, she too, went to receive
her Heavenly reward.