This
is the day that … JOHN
BERRIDGE
was born in Nottinghamshire, in 1716.
It was not until his early teens
that he had an encounter with the things of God. When he was coming home from school one day a boy invited young
Berridge into his house “that he might read to him out of the Bible”. The seed was sown, although for nearly 30
years the devil snatched it away or covered it with thorns.
During those wasted years, Berridge
had excelled as a scholar and entered the Church of England ministry. Not until he was in his second parish, at
Everton, at the age of 42, did he come to a saving knowledge of the Lord
Jesus. When he did, his preaching came
alive. “As soon as I preached Jesus
Christ and faith in His blood, then believers were added to the church
continually; then people flocked from
all parts to hear the glorious sound of the Gospel …”
Not only did the vicar of Everton
preach to his own people, but he often rode 100 miles and preached 12 times a
week … which brought him into conflict with the bishop, who told him that it
was against ‘the canons of the church’.
“My lord,” replied Berridge, “I only preach in two seasons.” “Which are they, Mr Berridge?” “In season, and out of season, my lord.”
It is true that Berridge used many
a quaint saying in his pulpit ministry, causing some to label him ‘a
buffoon’; and it is true that strange
physical effects were often evidenced under his preaching. Loud cries and convulsions and trance-like
states would sometimes occur among his listeners. But he never encouraged these demonstrations. And as for his quaint sayings, he
acknowledge that ‘he was born with a fool’s cap on, and a fool’s cap was not so
easily put off as a night cap.’
As Bishop Ryle comments, “Better a
thousand times for men to smile and be converted than to look stiff and grave
and sleepy in their pews, and remain dead in trespasses and sins.”
John Berridge died at Everton on 22
January, 1793.
This
is the day that … JOHN SAMUEL BEWLEY MONSELL was born in 1811, in Ireland.His
father was the Archdeacon of Londonderry, and young John followed in his
footsteps.
He took holy orders in 1834 and
ministered in Surrey and Guildford in England.During the latter ministry he was
accidentally killed whilst watching renovations to his church. A stone fell from the roof and struck him on
the head.
Monsell was a prolific hymn-writer
– about 300 came from his pen.
“We are too distant and reserved in
our praises,” he wrote. “We sing not as
we should sing to Him and of Him who is Chief among 10,000, the Altogether
Lovely.”
Among his best known contributions
to the world of hymnody are … “O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness”
and “Fight the Good Fight with All Thy Might”.
His death occurred on 9 April,
1875.
==============================================
This
is the date that … FRANK
WILLIAM BOREHAM
was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.
It was 1871.
His biographer, T. Howard Crago,
tells the odd story of a gipsy woman who gazed into the child’s face when he
was but four months old and said to the nurse-girl, “Tell his mother to put a
pen in his hand and he’ll never want for a living.” It may well be that the telling of this story by mother to son in
after years inspired F.W.B. to become a best-selling author. His 46 volumes and numerous small booklets
have become collector’s items. Kregal
Publications (USA) have recently republished his “Great Text Series” under the title “Life Verses”.
Warren Wiersbe writes, “Fortunate
is the pastor who gets to know and love the writings of Boreham” (Walking with the Giants, page 153).
At the age of 14 he was to lose his
right foot in a railway accident. Two
years later (with an artificial foot) we find him living and working in London
and attending a non-conformist church where he was converted, and “from now
on,” his biographer tells us, “his interests and activities were to centre
increasingly in Christian things.”
He was baptised, Easter Tuesday
1890, applied for training in Spurgeon’s College (“the last student that
Spurgeon personally selected”) , and after graduation headed ‘down under’ …
first to New Zealand to pastor the Baptist Church at Mosgiel. Other pastorates took him to Hobart
(Tasmania) and Armadale (Victoria).
Nearly 50 books came from his
pen. He also wrote as a regular
Saturday columnist for “The Age” newspaper in Melbourne.
“Thousands
of copies of his books were sold every year.
He was well known on radio.
Christ was always central to his ministry” (20th Century Dictionary of the Christian Church, page
66). He
died in 1959.
====================================================
This
is the day that … JAMES
A. GARFIELD
was converted, in 1850, in Cleveland, Ohio.
His cousin, captain of a canal boat
that sailed to Pittsburgh and back, gave him a job as a deckhand. And on that first trip young Jim fell into
the canal 14 times! And he couldn’t
swim!! He was just 16 years of age –
trying his hand at his first job.
Nevertheless the prayers of a godly
mother, and the mercy of a loving Heavenly Father, combined to keep him safe.
After a six months’ bout of
malaria, and a position as school- teacher … he was confronted with a “revival
meeting” at the local Disciples’ Church.
Although regular in church attendance before this time, on 4 March,
1850, he responded to the preacher’s invitation to accept Christ as his own
personal Saviour.
A few months later he wrote: “When I consider the sequel of my history
thus far I can see the providence of God in a striking manner. Two years ago I had become ripe for ruin. On the canal … ready to drink in every
species of vice … I was taken sick, unable to labour, went to school two terms
… took a school in the winter; and
greatest of all, obeyed the Gospel.
Thus by the providence of God I am what I am … I thank Him.” (Quoted in How Great Christians met Christ, by J.
Hefley, page 127).
In 1881 James A. Garfield became
the 20th President of the United States, a position he held for only
seven months, when he was assassinated.
His dying words, on 19 September, 1881, were – “God’s will be done,
doctor. I am ready to go if my time has
come” (ibid, page 128).
This
is the day that … KING
JAMES I
died, in 1625.
It was during the reign of this
“wisest fool in Christendom”, as he is called by historians, that this Scottish-born
king of England granted permission for an ‘authorised’ version of the Bible.
In 1604, at the Hampton Court
Conference, the Puritan, Dr John Reynolds (or Rainolds) broached the
subject. The king was not happy with
the Geneva Version with its anti-Catholic notes, which had been the “Bible of
the people” for about half a century.
Thus it was that 54 men were
nominated for the task … although we only know of 47 who actually took part –
and in 1611 the “Authorised Version”, or “King James Version” was printed, and
this has remained a firm favourite with millions of Christians for over 350
years.
It has been well said that to have
the name of King James I on the frontispiece of the Scriptures is ‘a
blasphemous joke’. This was the king
who persecuted Puritans and Presbyterians, was a “notable exponent of the
Divine Right of Kings,’ and caused thousands of Christians to leave England
seeking religious liberty. “He created
the most openly homosexual and drunken court in England’s long history!” … was
“headstrong and haughty” … “at odds with nearly everyone during his reign” …
“never popular or highly respected”…
And among the translators was
“Richard Thomson, the fat-bellied Arminian who, they said, went to bed drunk
each night…” (The Men Behind the KJV,
by G. Paine, page 155).
Ah, yes, there are some curious
moments in church history!
This
is the day that … MICHAELANGELO
BUONARROTI
was born, in 1475. He has well been described as “a genius in nearly every
medium of art.”
When ordered by Pope Julius II to
paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Michaelangelo is said to have replied,
“I am a sculptor; painting is not my
trade.” And sculptor he was. His figures of Moses and David and the Pieta
remain unsurpassed. But painter he also
was, despite his protests to the contrary!
At school he had done poorly, says
his biographer, “always drawing pictures.
And he drew them on the walls at home too. So he was beaten and beaten again. But the artist remained unbroken…”
And those who have gazed upon the
frescoed ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and have seen the 10,000 square feet
covered with hosts of Biblical scenes will realise that he merits a place in
our book (even if his theology was not evangelical!). His depiction of The Last
Judgment is “not only the largest painting in the world, but an expression
of superhuman force and terror.”
In his 60’s his friendship with
Vittoria Calonna inspired him to write magnificent poetry. At the age of 70 he was appointed chief
architect for the building of St Peter’s Church. For 50 years it had lain uncompleted. Whilst Michaelangelo did not live to see it completed, it was
under his impetus the work recommenced, the great dome being his architectural
design.
He died on 18 February, 1564.
This is
the day that … AMY CARMICHAEL met Pearl-eyes, in 1901.
Born on 16 December, 1867, into an
Irish Presbyterian home, Amy was truly converted in a Wesleyan Methodist school
at the age of 16.
The next crisis in her life was
nearly three years later when she attended a holiness convention in
Glasgow. Here she made a full surrender
to her Lord. And in 1893 (3 March, at
the age of 26) we find her sailing for Japan, the first missionary sent out by
the Keswick Convention (UK). Two years
later – after health problems – we find her in India. And there she remained for 56 years without a furlough!
On this day (some books say 6
March), she met Preena (or Pearl-eyes) – a seven year-old girl who had escaped
from one of the temples where she had been sold by her parents to work as a
‘temple prostitute’. A righteously
angry Amy Carmichael began her crusade against this infamous practice. By 1923 she was running 30 nurseries to care
for these young girls.
In 1945 a missionary statesman
visited her headquarters at Dohnavur and wrote: “The number of children about to be dedicated to Hindu gods who
were rescued by Miss Carmichael now runs into several thousands… There are now over 800 children in her three
homes…”
Amy experienced a serious fall in
1931. “For nearly 20 years she scarcely
left her room, and for the last two and a half years of her life she could not
get out of bed at all.” (God’s Madcap, by Nancy Robbins, page 93).
Her longing for the Lord to take her home was fulfilled on 18 January,
1951.
This
is the day that … WILLIAM
TENNENT JNR died
in 1777. His father had founded the famous “Log College”, the first
Presbyterian theological institution in America. (It was later to develop into Princeton University).
Here William Jnr and his three brothers
were trained for the ministry (despite official opposition), and the curious
stories concerning this pastor make fascinating reading. For example, there is the time he ‘died’-
and three days later, whilst brother Gilbert was arguing with the doctor that
it was about time he was buried, William Jnr suddenly regained
consciousness. But he had to learn to
read and write all over again!
On another occasion he awoke in the
middle of the night “to discover that several toes of his foot had been cut off
as if by some sharp instrument…” The missing digits were nowhere to be
found. William Jnr was convinced that
the devil himself was responsible.
Others have suggested rats … or even an accident during sleepwalking.
He died in New Jersey at the age of
72.
This
is the day that … PHOEBE
PALMER KNAPP
was born in New York City, in 1839. She was obviously named after – but not to
be confused with – Phoebe Palmer, preacher of entire sanctification around the
mid-19th century.
Phoebe married Joseph Fairfield
Knapp when she was only 16, and he founded the Metropolitan Life Assurance
Company. They were members of the Methodist Church.
When her husband died in 1891, Mrs
Knapp inherited $50,000 – most of which was distributed to “religious and
charitable causes”. Her son, Joseph,
headed up the Collier’s Publishing Company.
The important thing is that she
wrote hymn tunes.
In 1873 she composed a melody and
played it to fellow Church member, and hymn writer extraordinaire, Fanny
Crosby. After listening to the tune
played “two or three times”, the blind hymnist wrote the words …
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
It is still sung to Phoebe Knapp’s
tune, called Assurance.
By the time of her death (10 July,
1908) about 500 tunes had been composed by Mrs Knapp, including Open the Gates of the Temple.
This
is the day that … JOHN
NEWTON was
converted, in 1748.
The ‘Greyhound’ had been at
sea for 20 months when the storm hit.
The cry: “She’s sinking!”
awakened 23 year-old John Newton. He
joined the other sailors “bailing with buckets”, until “unfit to do more, the
captain placed him at the helm where he steered the ‘Greyhound’ through
mountainous seas.” When the storm
subsided the battered vessel drifted helplessly for four weeks, and eventually
reached an island off the coast of Donegal.
But during that storm a spiritual
experience had taken place in Newton’s heart.
For that day he cried out to his mother’s God … “and the Lord heard me”.
In The Works of John Newton (a 919 page volume containing his letters,
hymns and sermons, etc., published in 1834, just 27 years after his death), we
have his own testimony: “The 10th
… is a day much to be remembered by me, and I have never suffered it to pass
wholly unnoticed since the year 1748.
On that day the Lord sent from on high and delivered me out of deep
waters… About this time I began to know
that there is a God who hears and answers prayer.”
The rest of the story is well known
… his marriage to Mary Catlett … his job as a tide surveyor for the City of
London … his ordination in the Church of England (1764), followed by a 16 year
ministry at Olney. Here he befriended
the mentally unstable William Cowper, and together they produced some of
Christendom’s greatest hymns – 68 by Cowper and 280 by Newton. His most well known is Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.
In 1780 he commenced a 28 year
ministry at St Mary Woolnoth in London, and there he was buried in 1807.
Hold it … that’s not the end of the
story, for in 1893 the bodies of both himself and his wife were removed to the
Olney Church yard and re-interred there!
This is the day that … HENRY
DRUMMOND died, in 1897. Professor
Henry Drummond was no friend of Fundamentalism.
In
Moody’s early Northfield Bible Conferences he had invited Drummond to
speak. “But later he refused to have
him back! Moody was not ashamed to take
a stand for theological truth. Drummond
was one of the most effective public speakers of the era, and to cancel him
from the Northfield program took genuine courage” (History of Fundamentalism, by E. Dollar, page 80).
Although
coming from a godly Presbyterian home and trained “in an evangelical family”,
and despite the fact that he was tremendously impressed by Moody and Sankey,
yet he became a leading Liberal theologian, Professor in the Free Church of
Scotland, and an ardent defender of the evolutionary hypothesis.
R.E.
Day, in his excellent biography of Moody, Bush
Aglow, says that “Drummond was one of the vanguard of men, amiable,
attractive, to whom no-one could deny the name Christian, who nevertheless
helped write ‘Ichabod’ over 20th century Zion” (page 207).
Why,
then, include him? Because he wrote a
small book that has become a classic in Christian literature – The Greatest Thing in the World, a study
of I Corinthians 13. “So long as time
shall last, The Greatest Thing in the
World will be a high peak on the skyline of devotional literature” (ibid,
page 209).
When
Drummond died at the age of 46 years, on 11 March, 1897, Moody “cried like a
child. ‘He was the most Christ-like man
I ever met. I never saw a fault in
him,’ he said over and over through his sobs” (Moody without Sankey, by J. Pollock, page 258).
(It
is to be noted that the Henry Drummond of this article is not to be confused
with Henry Drummond (1780-1860), who was founder of the Catholic Apostolic, or
Irvingite, Church).
This is the day that … LADY
HESTER LUCY STANHOPE was born in 1776, in
London.
To
this most remarkable lady goes the honour of being “the first person who ever
intentionally excavated an ancient artefact in the Holy Land. In this sense she might be considered the
first Biblical archaeologist …” (Biblical
Archaeological Review, July, 1984, page 69). It was not that she was motivated by a desire to vindicate the
Scriptures, however, but rather by the lure of the 300 million gold coins in
the ruins of the ancient Philistine city of Askelon.
Following
the death of her ‘beloved uncle’ William Pitt, England’s Prime Minister, she
embarked on a journey to Greece and from thence to the Holy Land, never to see
her native shores again. It was 1810 …
and her next 20 years would be spent living among the Arabs – “and exerting a
remarkable influence over them” (Schaff-Herzog
Encyclopaedia, Volume 4, page 2235).
Almost
6 feet tall, dazzlingly blonde and totally fearless, “she dressed like an emir,
ruled despotically, practised astrology, and preached a creed compounded of
Bible and Koran. She was eccentric to
the verge of insanity” (ibid).
But
in Askelon (I Samuel 6:17), in April, 1815, Lady Stanhope and her travelling
companion, Dr Charles Meryon, excavated a Greco-Roman marble statue, seven feet
tall. Controversy follows about what
happened next. Lady Stanhope demanded
that “half a dozen stout fellows break it into a thousand pieces”- despite Dr
Meryon’s protests to the contrary.
Some
have accused her of expecting to find buried treasure hidden inside the
statue. Others claim that her act of
apparent vandalism “distinguished herself from the archaeological plunderers of
her time”. Lord Elgin, for example, was
helping himself to marble from the Greek Parthenon and shipping it to
England. “An intense public outcry had
ensued.” Lord Byron was condemning the
“genteel plunder of his own countrymen who roamed the Mediterranean…”
In
Turkish dress Lady Hester claimed to be ‘Queen of the Desert’ – and in later
years, after meeting the eccentric apocalyptic preacher, Richard Brothers, she
decided that she was chosen to be Queen of Jerusalem!
Lady
Stanhope’s biographer speaks of this ‘living legend’ in Syria and Lebanon
as “the despair of consuls and
admiration of Turks. She was maddening,
wonderful, admirable and deplorable … her remarkable story combines triumph,
pathos and comedy with high adventure” (Queen
of the Desert, by J.G. Hughes, published by McMillan, 1967).
She died in Lebanon at the age of 63, on 23 June, 1839, and
her tomb can be seen in a Greek Catholic monastery called Deir Makallas.
This is the day that … CHARLES ELMER COWMAN was born in Illinois, USA, in 1868. As ‘a small boy’ he
walked to the mourner’s bench on the final evening of a local ‘revival
meeting’. Many in the community
regarded that ‘revival’ as a failure – only one response to the Gospel call,
and that ‘a small boy’.
But
Charles E. Cowman meant business with God.
At
the age of 21 he married Lettie, his childhood sweetheart, and on 22 February,
1901, they were arriving in Japan to proclaim the old, old story.
From
these small beginnings grew the Oriental Missionary Society (now OMS
International), a great evangelical force that continues in the tradition begun
by the Cowmans. Mrs Cowman is also known for her daily devotional book, Streams in the Desert, compiled during
her husband’s final illness. More than
three million copies have been sold in the English language alone.
Charles
E. Cowman died on 23 September, 1924.
“I have no regret that my life is slipping away,” he told his missionary
friend and colleague, E.A. Kilbourne, “because of what I have done for my
heathen brothers. I am glad, oh, so
glad …”
This is the day that … the ULSTER REVIVAL broke out in 1859.
James
McQuilkan had been converted three years previously when a visiting English
lady, Mrs Colville, had witnessed to him.
Reading George Mueller’s autobiography had fired his prayer life … and
on 14 March, 1859, the Presbyterian minister at Ahoghill invited McQuilkan and
his friends to organise a prayer meeting.
The church was crowded, we are told … and hundreds more gathered outside
‘in the chilling rain’ … on their knees in the mud!
Edwin
Orr describes this as “the first outbreak of mass conviction of sin to occur
anywhere in the British Isles during the mid-19th century …” “This revival made a greater impact
spiritually on Ireland than anything else known since the days of St Patrick …”
Churches
were packed … sinners were converted.
Statistics show that crime was reduced significantly. Colin Whittaker, member of the executive
council of the Assemblies of God, in his book Great Revivals (page 78), makes the interesting observation that
although “amazing physical manifestations occurred,” the principle one being
that people were often physically prostrated, “these prostrations were very
different from some current phenomena of people falling down when prayed for in
healing meetings …”
This is the day that … WILLIAM MITCHELL RAMSAY was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1851. At the age of 25, “with only enough money to
pay his debts”, his physician advised him to travel abroad for health reasons (New Archaeological Discoveries, by C.
Cobern, page 413).
For
several years he rambled around Europe, paying expenses by teaching and writing
for the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
By 1880 – with a grant from the British
Museum – we find him in Turkey (Asia Minor in apostolic times), seeking to
trace the history of Roman institutions in that country.
He
tells us that at this time he had no interest in confirming the historicity of
the “Acts of the Apostles” – on the contrary, “he considered the time lost
which he had to spend in copying Christian inscriptions” (ibid, page 413).
But
a discovery confirming Luke’s accuracy in Acts 14:5-6 led to his “first change
in judgement”. The writer of Acts had
been accurate in his description of these ancient towns. More discoveries followed. Again, Luke was proved to be an accurate
historian. The accusations of the Bible
critics were demolished one by one.
By
the time he wrote his book, The Bearing
of Recent Discoveries on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament, (1915),
Sir William Ramsay was able to say:
“Luke’s history is unsurpassed in respect to its trustworthiness.”
Once
again the sledge-hammer attacks of the critics had been smashed by the spade of
the archaeologist.
This is the day that … NEBUCHADNEZZAR, King of Babylon, launched his second attack against
Jerusalem, in 597 BC! That may sound hard to swallow, but the National Geographic Magazine (December,
1960 issue), assures me that it is so. And R.T. Boyd in A Pictorial Guide to Biblical Archaeology also gives 16 March, 597
BC as the date (page 153). And the footnote on II Kings 24:11 in the N.I.V.
Study Bible states the same: …………
16 March, 597 BC it was!
Jehoiachin, King of Judah, was taken into exile with about
10,000 of his people. All this is
confirmed by an archaeological discovery of cuneiform tablets. One of them – popularly called the
Babylonian Chronicle – tells of Nebuchadnezzar’s attack, the capture of
Jehoiachin and how Nebuchadnezzar “appointed a king of his own choice” to rule
in Judah – just as the Scripture says he did (II Kings 24:16,17).
And
this tablet gives the date – “the second day of the month Adar”, which
corresponds to 16 March on the Christian calendar!
Once
again the spade of the archaeologist confirmed the inspired record.
17 March
This is the day that … some people observe as ST PATRICK’S DAY.
As
Archdeacon T.C. Hammond, staunch Protestant churchman of a past generation,
said, “Every Christian who loves the Bible can look back with thankfulness to
this intrepid missionary and revere his memory” (From Slave to Saint, page 11).
Despite
the fact that the Roman Catholic Church has laid claim to this man of God as
one of theirs, no distinctive Roman teachings are found in his writings. Neither the Mass, nor Purgatory, is
mentioned. For that matter the Roman
Church was not established in Ireland and Scotland until about two centuries
after his death.It is interesting to note the contrast between writings of Patrick
with his 340 quotations from 46 Bible books with that of Pope Gregory the Great
– “liberally peppered with superstitious, unscriptural doctrines and legendary
stories” (The Battle of the Celtic
Church, by Peter Trumper, page 7).
Patrick
was born about 372, probably near Glasgow.
At the age of 16 he was captured by Irish pirates and there, on a hill
side, his conversion took place. “The
Lord opened the understanding of my unbelief.”
He later wrote, “that, late as it was, I might remember my faults and
turn to the Lord my God with all my heart” (70
Great Christians, by G. Hanks, page 64).
There
follows his escape back to Britain, 14 years of monastic life in Gaul, and a
night vision that bade him return and preach the gospel in Ireland. So it was that in 432, Patrick returned.
The
legend of him driving out all the snakes from that island is that which
typifies “his triumph of good over evil” (68
Saints of the Anglican Calendar, by S. Harton, page 132).
It
is claimed that Patrick established 365 churches and baptised 12,000
people. He trained missionaries who
went forth to Scotland, Europe, “and even Iceland” (Famous Missionaries, by J. Gilchrist Lawson, page 12). And his book, Confessions, remains as
a testimony to his faithful Christian service.
Patrick
died about 465. And you can see his
“tooth” in the National Museum in Dublin!
(Maypoles, Martyrs and Mayhem, published
1994, page 75).
This is the day that … CHARLOTTE ELLIOTT was born in Clapham, England. The year was 1789. But
despite her grandfather, father and brother being ministers of an evangelical
persuasion, Miss Elliott showed little interest in spiritual things during the
early years of her life.
“She
had lived a carefree life, gained popularity as a portrait artist, and a writer
of humorous verse,” says one biographer.
But
then, in 1822, when she had become a rebellious 33 year-old invalid, a
well-known Swiss evangelist, Dr Caesar Malan, was invited to visit the Elliott
home. And when she “gave vent to one of
her typical emotional outbursts, condemning God and His cruelty to her, and
criticising her brother … sister … and father, for lack of sympathy” the family
was highly embarrassed (Living Stories of Favourite Hymns, page
72). But Dr Malan confronted her with
her need of Christ.
The
story is told that when he asked if she was a Christian, Charlotte was at first
aghast. However, the sword of the
Spirit had done its work, and she later apologised to Dr Malan for her
resentful response. “I want to be
saved,” she said, “I want to come to Jesus:
but I don’t know how.” “Why not come just as you are?” replied the
famous Swiss preacher. And she did!
About
12 years later she penned a hymn based on Dr Malan’s unforgettable reply, which
had left an indelible impression:
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bid’st me come to Thee,
O, Lamb of God, I come.
Her clergyman brother had apparently been involved in organising a bazaar to raise money for a church project. Miss Elliott, too ill to be of any practical help, wrote this hymn as her contribution, and as A.E. Bailey comments: “The sale of this hymn aided the cause more than any bazaar.” It was published in 1834, when her collected poems were issued under the title The Invalid’s Hymn Book, which included 112 from her pen, and became one of the most widely used evangelistic hymns the world has ever known.
Her brother later wrote: “In the course of a long ministry I hope I have been permitted to see some fruit of my labours, but I feel far more has been done by a single hymn of my sister’s.”
Charlotte
Elliott died on 22 September, 1871, at the age of 82.
This is the day that … DAVID
LIVINGSTONE was born in Scotland, in
1813.
As
a young medical student his first desire was to serve His Lord in China. But the infamous “Opium War” had closed the
door to that land, and Livingstone turned his eyes to the fever-ridden jungles
and arid sun-burned deserts of Africa.
It
is an epic story of human endurance … the attack by the lion (“which shook me
as a terrier would shake a rat!”); the
tortuous crossing of the Kalahari desert;
the trek across Africa and discovery of “the smoke that thunders!”
(Victoria Falls); the clash with
Portuguese slave traders; the
incredible saga of the Ma Robert, a paddle-steamer that had engines “not
even fit to grind coffee in!”
Read
this story … read of Henry Morton Stanley’s search for the missing missionary –
and that hard-bitten reporter’s testimony after living with Livingstone: “For four months and four days I lived with
Livingstone in the same house, or in the same boat, or in the same tent, and I
never found a fault in him … Each day’s life with him added to my admiration
for him. His gentleness never forsakes
him; his hopefulness never forsakes
him” (How I Found Livingstone, by
H.M. Stanley).
Livingstone
died in Africa – on his knees beside his bed – on 1 May, 1873.
This is the day that … CHARLES
DAVIS TILLMAN was born in Alabama, in
1861. His father was a Methodist
evangelist, and for many years young Charles shared in the services – “a
self-taught singer, pianist and composer.”
In
his teen years he worked as a house painter, a Rawleigh salesman, sang comic
songs to advertise Wizard Oil, and as first tenor in a male quartet.
It
was in August, 1886, that he “personally found the Lord,” as he puts it.
In
later years he travelled with evangelist Sam Jones, “singing for the glory of
God.”
Among
his compositions is the melody for the Gospel song:
Life is like a mountain railroad
with
an engineer that’s brave …
And
it was Tillman who ‘discovered’ the traditional ‘Negro Spiritual’ and published
it for the first time:
’Tis the old-time religion
and it’s good enough for me …
He
died in Atlanta at the age of 82.
This is the day that … CLIVE
STAPLES LEWIS married Joy Davidman, in
1957. He was 59 years of age, an Oxford professor and a ‘confirmed bachelor’,
who had forsaken his ‘determined atheism’ for Christianity over 20 years
previously.
His
Screwtape Letters (1942) and Mere Christianity (1952) had made his
name well known throughout Christendom.
Joy
Davidman was Jewish by birth – and had been associate editor of the Communist New
Masses paper in America. And she
was divorced with two sons. But when
Joy visited England in 1953 a friendship between this unlikely duo had
developed. They had already
corresponded with each other (Joy first wrote to C.S. in 1950 concerning his
books). And by this time her Communist
theories had given way to the certainties of the Christian faith. At the time she was still married to Bill
Gresham.
Back in America Joy’s marriage
disintegrated. Her husband instituted
divorce proceedings. Two years later
she was back in England – and having trouble with the British Home Office,
which refused to renew her visa. She
must leave. But C.S. had a solution …
he would marry her!
Joy
was found to have cancer of the bone – and thus it was in the hospital ward
they were joined as man and wife on 21 March, 1957.
Joy
lived another three years … during which time friendship blossomed into love
“they had never dared to think possible…”
This is the day that … WILLIAM
BELL RILEY was born in 1861. He grew up
on a tobacco farm, was converted at the age of 17, and cherished dreams of
going to law school. But the call to
preach was inescapable.
After
many sleepless nights, he tells us, he knelt between two rows of tobacco on a
Kentucky hillside and cried: “I
will! I will preach! I can do nothing else!”
He
entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and upon graduation commenced
a 45-year pastorate at Minneapolis’ First Baptist Church. During those years membership rose from 585
to 3,600.
He
debated with evolutionists on university campuses. He championed the cause of evangelicalism. Over 60 books came from his pen. Evangelistic campaigns took him around the
world.
His
Bible College, founded in 1902, saw hundreds of ministers and missionaries
trained in its classrooms.
For
his successor as President of Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School
he chose a young man named Billy Graham.
Thus it was, for three and half years after Riley’s death, Billy Graham
headed up the work.
This is the day that … DR
THEODORE LEIGHTON PENNELL died in 1912, at the
age of 45. His conviction was – in his
own words – “a missionary, like a soldier, should obey without question, and go
where he is sent.” And go he did – to
North-west India, on the border of Afghanistan.
He
was 25 years of age at the time – and his widowed mother went with him!
There
in the village of Bannu he erected a hospital – of sorts – and before long “he
was treating as many as 220 patients a day” (Blazing New Trails, by A. Wallace, page 80).
He
also incurred the wrath of the Moslem mullahs, who would often stone him when
he attempted to preach.
Dr
Pennell adopted Indian dress, ate Indian food, and became proficient in their
tongue. Once, during a visit to Lahore,
he attended a service in the Cathedral, only to find that the verger denied him
entrance into the “English” pews. After
nine years in Bannu there were 26 converts.
Fear of Islamic retaliation kept many from placing their faith in the
Lord Jesus.The year 1903 saw him awarded a silver medal by the Indian
Government for medical services rendered, and in 1911 he was awarded a gold one.
During
a brief trip home to England his mother took ill in India and died.
On
his return hundreds of Indians gave him a rousing welcome. He recalled that when he first arrived
hardly anyone would even give him a drink of water.
In
March, 1912, he was operating, when he caught the infection himself, and passed
into his Saviour’s presence.
This is the day that … FRANCES
JANE CROSBY was born in 1820, in New
York State. We know her as Fanny
Crosby, or Frances Jane Van
Alstyne. At the age of six weeks a medical
charlatan treated her for an eye infection, and as a result she was blinded for
life!
Fanny’s
father died about a year later.
At
the age of eight her bent for poetry began to reveal itself. She wrote:
Oh what a happy soul am I!
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be …
A godly grandmother introduced her to the Bible … and Fanny managed to memorise large portions of it. But it was not until 1850 that she became assured of her soul’s salvation.
She had a dream one night in the Blind School where she worked, a dream that spoke of death and readiness to meet the Lord. And there was the singing of a hymn by Isaac Watts, at a mission she attended:
Alas and did my
Saviour bleed
And did my Sovereign die
…
She left that meeting assured of sins forgiven.
Thousands of Gospel songs flowed from her pen – sometimes seven or eight in a day.
A Shelter in the Time of Storm, Blessed Assurance, Rescue the Perishing, To God be the Glory, Pass me not O gentle Saviour, He Hideth my Soul and many, many more – about 8000 altogether.
In 1856 (or 1858) she married Alexander Van Alstyne. Their only child died in infancy.
Fanny outlived her husband by 13 years, dying at the grand old age of 94. And then – to paraphrase her own hymn – “she saw Him, face to face!”
25 March
This is the day that … GODFREY THRING was born in a Somerset rectory, in 1823, where his father was the local Church of England clergyman. In 1846 he took ‘holy orders’ and ministered at two Churches during his lifetime. During his first ministry – in the Church in which he had been born – he wrote numerous hymns.
Best known is the last verse of Crown Him with many crowns. The first six verses had been penned by Matthew Bridges – an Anglican who had converted to Roman Catholicism. Godfrey Thring “was not satisfied with six crowns, possibly because seven was the sacred Jewish number …” so he wrote:
Crown Him the Lord of
life,
Who triumphed o’er the grave,
And rose victorious in
the strife
for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing,
Who died, and rose on high,
Who died, eternal life to
bring,
and lives that death may die.
Magnificent! A fitting conclusion to Bridge’s stanzas.
Godfrey Thring died on 13 September, 1903, in Guildford, England.
A memorial window may be seen in All Saints’, Alford, Somerset.
26 March
This is the day that … GEORGE SMITH was born in 1840, in Chelsea, England. He became a bank note engraver with an interest in archaeology. And it was in 1872 that he sat in a small room in the British Museum poring over the recently acquired tablets from Assyria.
Excavated by Hormuzd Rassam was the famous epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Babylonian folk hero who travelled the world facing new and exciting adventures. As George Smith read this difficult cuneiform script he came across the story of Gilgamesh’s meeting with Uta-napishtim, who told him …
Alas! The last piece of the puzzle was missing. One tablet still lay buried in the mounds of greater Nineveh. The “London Daily Telegraph” offered 1000 guineas to the person who would go and find the missing tablet!
George Smith went, and in Mesopotamia he attacked the pile of rubble left by Hormuzd Rassam. It was, as one writer says, like looking for a needle in a haystack! (Gods, Graves and Scholars, by C. Ceram, page 274). But he found it!
Not only did it complete Uta-napishtam’s story … it told of a flood … and a boat and animals … and of birds being sent forth when the boat rested on a mountain.
Here was the Babylonian version of Noah’s Ark. There are some real differences from the Biblical account. But it is obvious that both have a common origin.
As Christians we believe this Babylonian version was handed down by word of mouth, being distorted along the way; whereas the Biblical account, vouched for by the Lord Jesus Himself (Matthew 24:37), is an inspired record of what really happened.
Professor George Smith died at the age of 36.
27 March
This is the day that … GEORGE MATHESON was born, in 1842.
Many a time the story has been told of this Glasgow-born clergyman who was jilted by his fiancée, when she realised that he was going blind. And how, saddened and alone, he penned the immortal hymn:
O Love, that wilt not
let me go,
I rest my weary soul on
Thee …
True … he wrote the hymn. But that was in 1882 – and he was “wholly blind by his 18th year.” Matheson himself tells us that his famous hymn was written on 6 June, 1882 – “the day of my sister’s marriage” – and it may well be that the events of that day evoked sad memories of a romance that came to naught 22 years earlier.
Despite his handicap, George Matheson became a pulpit giant, even being summoned to Balmoral Castle to preach before Queen Victoria.
For 13 years he ministered to crowds of over 2000 at St Bernard’s Church in Edinburgh. He was “one of the outstanding Presbyterian ministers of his day,” says one biographer.
Although another writer points out that Matheson’s book, Aids to the Study of German Theology (1875) tended toward Neo-Heglianism!
He also wrote the moving hymn:
Make me a captive,
Lord,
and then I shall be
free.
Help me to render up my
sword
And I shall conqueror
be.
He died on 28 August, 1906.
28 March
This is the day that … FREDERICK BROTHERTON MEYER died in 1929, at the age of 82. This well-known preacher ministered worldwide, although his pulpit was in London.
Through his 77 books, F.B. Meyer led a multitude of believers into a closer walk with the Lord. Whilst no great pulpit orator, his saintly life gave power to the message.
He befriended Moody and Sankey during their first visit to England. He crusaded for temperance work, for homeless children, and other social problems. He was president of the World Sunday-School Unions, president of Christian Endeavour, and founder of a missionary training college.
Many a time he spoke at Keswick conventions. In 1923 he visited Australia (met in Melbourne by Dr F.W. Boreham), where he preached to crowded meetings.
Alexander Gammie describes him as “a lightweight evangelist”- no pulpit thumping, no raised voice, no wild gestures, no dancing around the platform – but he quietly, yet powerfully, “held aloft a winsome Saviour. Everything was intimate, tender and appealing.”
The day prior to his death he said: “I ought to be in Heaven now. I have settled all my affairs and there is nothing to wait for. I can’t understand it.” And thus he departed to be with Christ, which is far better.
29 March
This is the day that … WINFIELD SCOTT WEEDEN was born in Ohio, in 1847.
Early in life he showed musical ability, later teaching singing in schools, and as song leader and soloist in churches. Various Christian organisations also used his talents in their conventions.
His friend, Judson Van de Venter, launched into full-time evangelistic work, preaching throughout the United States as well as England and Scotland. Winfield Scott Weeden became his associate and soloist.
Billy Graham, in Crusade Hymn Stories, tells of Rev. J. Van de Venter, “who influenced my early preaching”.
Together, the evangelist and the soloist united in giving the church one of the great Gospel songs:
All to Jesus I
surrender,
All to Him I freely
give.
I will ever love and
trust Him,
In His presence daily
live.
I surrender all,
I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Saviour,
I surrender all.
The words were penned by Rev. Van de Venter, the music by Winfield Weeden. They also collaborated on:……….
Sunlight, Sunlight,
in my soul today,
Sunlight, Sunlight, all
along the way;
Since the Saviour found
me, took away my sin,
I have had the sunlight
of His love within.
Winfield Weeden died in New York State on 31 July, 1908. The words, “I surrender all”, are engraved upon his tombstone.
30 March
This is the day that … the saintly SAMUEL RUTHERFORD died, in the year 1661. I know that Protestants do not usually use the word “Saint” for special folk, but if there is one who deserves it more than most others, let me suggest the godly Samuel Rutherford.
Spurgeon spoke of Rutherford’s letters as “the nearest thing to inspiration which can be found in the writings of mere men” (Holy Men of God, by E. Cumming, page 69).
Born in Scotland in 1600, Rutherford was converted some 26 years later – and became a minister of the Gospel.
In 1630 – and again in 1636 – he was tried by an ecclesiastical court for erroneous doctrine and irregularity of church practice. In banishment he wrote the letters that have become a blessing to so many.
The complexities of the history of the church at this time need not concern us here. Suffice to say, the saintly Samuel Rutherford entered into rest on 30 March, 1661.
His letters are still in print – “I am pained, pained with the love of Christ,” he writes. “He hath made me sick and wounded me. Hunger for Christ outrunneth faith … Oh, if they knew His kindness to my soul …” (Life and Letters of Samuel Rutherford, by A. Bowen, page 22).
The hymn, The Sands of Time are Sinking, by Mrs Cousins, is based on some of the best and sweetest parts of Rutherford’s letters.
31 March
This is the day that … RODNEY SMITH was born near Epping Forest, England, in 1860. And he was “born again” in a Primitive Methodist Chapel in Cambridge on 17 November, 1876.
Having been born to gipsy parents, young Rodney had no proper education. But at the age of 17 “this unschooled, unlettered gipsy joined the Salvation Army” (25 June, 1877).
For five years he served them “on street corners and in mission halls”. His evangelistic gift was evident to all who heard him. But on 31 July, 1882, after he was about to move on from a successful mission in Hanley (“I preached every Sunday to crowds of 7000 to 8000 people and every night of the week we had the place crowded” (Autobiography, page 131), the congregation presented him with a watch inscribed: “A memento of esteem and in recognition of his valuable services …” General Bramwell Booth demanded that the watch be returned! He “did not approve of such presentations” (page 133). “So ended my connection with the Salvation Army” (page 139).
Defying his superiors, “Gipsy” Smith launched out on an itinerant evangelistic ministry, which took him to Scotland, America, South Africa, France, Australia (in 1894 and again in 1926). Certainly thousands responded to his preaching and singing of the old-time gospel.
On 2 June, 1938, he aroused some criticism by marrying Mary Alice Shaw. After all, he was a 78-year-old widower … and it was her 27th birthday! His services were always informal … “I’ll be stiff enough when I’m in my coffin!” he once quipped.
On 4 August, 1947, en route to America, “Gipsy” Smith died – after 70 years of world-embracing evangelism.