This
is the day that … MARY
BOSANQUET
was born in 1739 in England. (Some writers give the date of her birth as
12 September).
Her interest in the Christian faith
began when she was only six years of age, through a Methodist maid employed by her
parents.
Eventually she was to become one of
John Wesley’s most faithful co-workers, her house being used for class meetings
and an orphanage.
“People threw dirt at our People as
they left on Sundays,” she wrote, “and they would put their face to the window
and howl like wild beasts …”
But the work continued to
grow. She travelled “far afield to
speak at meetings, in the open air or more usually to meet classes.”
On 12 November, 1781, she married
the godly Rev. John Fletcher, a Church of England clergyman who was very much
in sympathy with the Methodist movement.
Maldwyn Edwards, Methodist minister
and historian, writes that Mary Fletcher’s life was a “pattern of complete
devotion to God in which she never withheld either her time or money or energy. Her incessant work for others, ranging from
her care of children to her visitation of those in greatest need, and her
undiminished zeal in communication “the glad tidings of salvation” may possibly
have been paralleled in early Methodism, but never exceeded.”
This
is the day that … JOHN
HOWARD (no,
not to be confused with the Prime Minister of Australia!) was born in 1726.
“He was a very earnest Christian, a
teetotaller and a vegetarian, whose life was devoted to prison reform” (Dictionary of the Christian Church, page
486).
To appreciate the incredible
changes he made in the prison system one should read of the terrible abuses
that took place in his day.
Born in the vicinity of London into
a wealthy family, he was, however, a sickly child. After school days were completed he worked for a grocer. Orphaned at the age of 17 he found himself
the possessor of “not inconsiderable” riches.
He travelled the Continent, studied
much, and married a widow “nearly twice his age”, when he was 25 (10 November,
1755). She died four years later.
John Howard again devoted himself
to travel, and married again at the age of 32.
A son was born four days before the second Mrs Howard died, on 27 March,
1765.
In 1772 – after more journeying
across Europe – he “became engaged in church affairs.” For a while he attended Bunyan’s Chapel in
Bedford (Bunyan, of course, no longer being the minister. Bunyan died in 1688).
Then he built a meeting-house “to
which he contributed generously” (Twelve
Marvellous Men, by E. Enock, page 55).
In the role of High Sheriff of
Bedford (a civil appointment usually only available to members of the Church of
England) John Howard visited some prisons and saw for himself the inhumane
conditions. Thus began his crusade of prison
reform. “It is said that he spent
30,000 pounds Sterling of his own money in his reforming activities” (Who’s Who in Christian History, page
330).
His influence stretched to prisons
in Europe also … and it was during a visit to Russia that he visited a military
hospital, caught a fever from one of the patients, and died on 20 January,
1790.
“Along with Elizabeth Fry (a devout
Quaker) Howard must be awarded pride of place in the cause of prison reform” (Concise Universal Biography, page 783).
This
is the day that … SADHU
SUNDAR SINGH, “The Apostle of the Bleeding Feet”, was born
in India, in 1889.
Despite the fact that Sundar was
born into a devout Sikh family, a strict religious brotherhood within Hinduism,
his parents sent him to a Christian school.
It was closer than the government school three miles away, and the
education received was excellent.
But Sundar grew to teenage years
with a strange aversion to Christianity … he “hated the Christian teachers, their
school, their Scriptures and their Jesus” (The
Yellow Robe, by Cyril Davey, page 25) – even to the extent of tearing a New
Testament to pieces before his school friends and burning it in the school
courtyard, when he was but 14 years of age.
Then came the vision of the Risen Christ a few days later, and the
“Damascus Road” experience. It was
17-18 December, 1904.
His long hair, a mark of Sikhdom,
he cut off. He told his father that he
had become a Christian – “his father’s wrath was dreadful to see…” he was cast
out of the family … and poisoned! Found
by an Indian Christian, Rev. P. Uppal, Sundar was nursed back to health. On 3 September, 1905 – his 16th
birthday – he was baptised.
In 1910 we find him studying for
ministry in the Anglican Church – until he finds out that upon ordination he
will be expected to stay in one diocese.
So he leaves – and begins an itinerant preaching ministry that takes him
around India and even into Tibet.
The years that followed were filled
with incredible suffering and hardship.
He travelled all over North India, despite heat and cold, plague,
malaria, cholera, facing death more than a dozen times.
Curious tales abound – patting a
leopard as if it were a dog; being
miraculously delivered from a well, the top of which had been locked; the meeting with the 300 year-old hermit who
“told Sundar Christ’s coming was imminent” (Sadhu
Sundar Singh, by J. Lynch Watson, page 66). It is difficult to assess what is true and what was the result of
hallucination “during bouts of fatigue and weariness” (ibid, page 65).
Nor do his books always reveal the
evangelical image given in the Moody Press biography by Cyril Davey.
He was a student of Swedenborg’s
writings … and he speaks of “those in hell who will ultimately be brought to
Heaven …” due to the intercession of the departed saints. On the other hand he speaks of the sacrifice
of Christ “by which we are saved from sin and its consequences”.
He tells the pilgrim bathing in the
‘sacred’ Ganges that “I have already bathed by faith in the blood of Christ and
by His grace have been saved …” (With and
Without Christ, by S.S. Singh, page 32).
In 1920 the Sadhu visited Australia
– unheralded. And three weeks “of
hurriedly arranged meetings gave to thousands the memory of a Presence (Story of Sadhu Sundar Singh, by Harold
Short, page 7).
In 1922 he was happy to be back in
his beloved India. The tour of Western
lands had distressed him. Now, in 1929,
he set out once again to preach in the forbidden land – Tibet.
And there the story finishes … he
was last seen leaving the little town of Kalka … and never seen again. Did the Sadhu reach Tibet and proclaim to
the people the Good News of the gospel?
Or was he set upon by robbers and left to die? Or perhaps an avalanche claimed his life?
One biographer pays the following
tribute to this remarkable servant of Christ – “Coming from the presence of
Sundar Singh, men forget themselves, they forget him – but they think of
Christ!” (The Sadhu, by Streeter and
Appasamy, page xv).
What better tribute could be
offered??
This
is the day that … MARCUS
WHITMAN was
born in Massachusetts, in 1802.
After studying medicine for some
years, he heard Rev. Samuel Parker plead for missionaries to work on America’s
western coast.
So he married Narcissa Prentiss,
who was born on 14 March, 1808, who had heard the same preacher and felt the
same divine call, and off they set on a 2000-mile trek across the Rocky
Mountains to a new world, to take the gospel to the Red Indians. That was in 1836.
They journeyed with a fur trading
caravan and another missionary couple, Rev. Henry Spaulding and his wife. The fact that Narcissa had once been engaged
to Henry Spaulding “was not an ideal situation”(!) (From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, by Ruth Tucker, page 99).
In Oregon the Whitmans established
their mission compound, baby Alice was born … and accidentally drowned in a
nearby river two years later.
Problems with the Red Indians
surfaced. Not to mention problems with
the mission board back on the east coast.
Marcus Whitman found it essential to make a return visit and sort things
out with the home board.
He left, with a companion, on 2
October, 1842, upon what has been described as “one of the most difficult rides
in American history” (Great Women of the
Faith, by E. Deen, page 211).
Hostile Indians and fording flooded rivers nearly cost them their
lives. At one stage, “their food gave
out … and they had to eat their pack mules and dog” (page 212).
Having pacified the mission
leaders, Marcus Whitman returned to Oregon, and Narcissa. But the new settlers who made the 1500-mile
return trip with him brought an epidemic of measles. “In the space of eight weeks nearly half the 400 member tribe (of
Cayuse Indians) suffered painful deaths…” (From
Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, by Ruth Tucker, page 103).
On 29 November, 1847, five angry
Indians attacked the mission station, massacred the Whitmans and 12 others, and
burned the buildings.
Marcus was 45 years of age and his
wife was 39 … “two of the most consecrated, successful and heroic missionaries
ever sent out by any missionary society” (Great
Missionaries, by T. Creegan, page 366).
Born
in Scotland 64 years previously, 1 June, 1793, Lyte began life in an unhappy
home. The father eventually moved out
leaving “a destitute wife.”
In
later life he became a Church of Ireland clergyman … and during the early days
of his first pastorate found himself trying to comfort a dying fellow minister.
“My
blood almost curdled,” writes Lyte, “to hear the dying man declare and prove
(from the Scriptures) that he and I
had been utterly mistaken in the means we had adopted for ourselves and taught
to others. The teachings of St Paul
reveal the false basis of our means of salvation…” (H.F. Lyte, by H. Garland, page 23). Lyte continues: “The poor
man died, I rejoice to say, under the belief that although he had deeply erred,
there was One whose death and sufferings would atone for his sins and fit him
to spend Eternity in the presence of God.”
All
of which led to Lyte’s conversion also, and to an evangelical emphasis in his
preaching.
Six
years later he married Miss Anne Maxwell, on 21 January, 1818, and pastored two
more churches – the latter being for 23 years at Lower Brixham, Devon. It was here he preached his last sermon –
and on the same evening handed his newly written hymn to a “near
relative”.
Abide
with me, fast falls the eventide …
It was prophetic, as well he probably knew, for “life’s little day” was soon to “pass away.”
A
trip to the Continent for health reasons was too late. He died on his way to Nice on 20 November,
1847.
Among
his dying words were these, “Oh, there is nothing terrible in death; Jesus Christ stepped down into the grave
before me…”
This
is the day that … GEORGE
BLAUROCK was
burned to death, in 1529.
An ex-Roman Catholic priest, he had
been converted to Protestantism when he was about 34 years of age.
That same year Conrad Grebel
debated Ulrich Zwingli on the issue of infant baptism. Both were Protestant, but Grebel had become
convinced that baptism was for believers only.
Nothing was resolved by the debate,
except that George Blaurock accepted Grebel’s position and joined the newly
formed Anabaptist movement. As a matter
of fact, he was the first to be re-baptised – having been sprinkled as an
infant he now submitted to believer’s baptism.
(At the time this was performed by pouring, rather than total
immersion.)
There followed “tireless
evangelism” around Switzerland, and clashes with the followers of Zwingli. Eventually Blaurock was arrested (on 8
October, 1525), escaped (on 21 March, 1526), re-arrested (in December, 1526)
and sentenced to death (on 5 January, 1527).
This sentence was, however, altered to a public flogging and exile from
Zurich.
His itinerant preaching ministry
continued until he was arrested again in August, 1529. Death came at the age of 38.
His biographer writes: “George Blaurock was a pioneer
evangelist. His methods were sometimes
crude and his remarks impolite. But he
was sincere, untiring and courageous in spreading the gospel as he understood
it. He was the apostle of the
Anabaptists to the common people.”
This is the day that … SAMUEL
WILBERFORCE was born in Clapham, England,
in 1805.
His
father was William Wilberforce, famous parliamentarian who fought for the
abolition of the slave trade - and won.
Raised
in the evangelical tradition, young Samuel was “not particularly studious”
during his education at Oxford, but set his sights on “holy orders” and was
ordained to the Church of England priesthood in 1829.
He
also “set his sights” on Emily Sargent, a vicar’s daughter (“she was 13 and I
was 15 when I saw her first. And we
never changed our minds!”) They married
in 1828.
One
biographer tells us how he “learned the Epistle to the Ephesians by heart” (19th Century Preachers, by J.
Edwards, page 142).
As
his ministry continued he came under the influence of John Henry Newman and
Edward Pusey, leaders in what was called the “Oxford Movement” (not to be
confused with the Oxford Group movement).
This High Church teaching, with its Romeward emphasis, caused a major
upheaval in 19th century Anglicanism.
Wilberforce
remained loyal to the Church of England, even displaying “a passionate hatred
of Rome” (Dictionary of English Church
History, page 634), whilst many of his friends seceded to the authority of
the Pope.
His
wife died in March, 1841.
He
became Bishop of Oxford on 30 November, 1843, and “so began the most memorable
episcopate of modern times” (ibid).
Controversies
raged about him but “his eloquence and ready wit excelled in reconciling men of
diverse opinions, hence his nickname of ‘Soapy Sam’” (Concise Universal Biography, page 1394).
Moreover
he laboured to quicken the zeal of the clergy.
The whole modern concept of a bishop constantly in touch with his
diocese … instead of sitting silently by sipping unending cups of tea, or
spending time fox hunting … begins with Bishop Samuel Wilberforce.
Dean
Burgon called him “the remodeller of the Episcopate” - one who changed the face
of the role of bishop in the Church of England.
He held firmly to the ‘doctrine’ of
baptismal regeneration and of apostolic succession.
On 19 July, 1873, his life was
suddenly cut short due to a fall from his horse.
This is the day that … JOHN
GOTCH RIDLEY was born in Darling Point, a
suburb of Sydney, Australia, in 1896.
Young
John was given a book by his Bible class teacher – The Life of Hedley Vicars. This New Year gift told of a Christian
soldier and, in his own words, became “one of the moulding influences of my
young manhood” (Milestones of Mercy, page
25).
Three
years later, at the age of 18, he responded to a powerful message on the Second
Coming of Christ, in the Burton Street Baptist Tabernacle, under the ministry
of Rev. William Lamb ... and that same ‘glorious hope’ never left him. In written and spoken word, the return of
our Lord was a constant theme.
Then
there were days in the A.I.F. – and
overseas service. Still a teenager, he
was to be found “in the cold and mud of French
battlefields” during World War I.
Severely wounded - a bullet passed through his neck and tongue (but God
had plans for that tongue to proclaim His gospel) – he was awarded the Military
Cross - Ridley returned to Australia to enter the Baptist ministry.
But
a “shocking nervous breakdown” followed, and we see him travelling the outback
in a horse-drawn wagon doing bush mission work.
After
his marriage to Dorothy Chapman in Sydney on 18 August, 1926, he became an
itinerant evangelist. The hand of the
Lord was obviously upon this young evangelist.
Souls were saved in outback homesteads, open-air meetings, churches …
everywhere!
As
strength returned – and with a loving helpmeet beside him – John G. began his
evangelistic ministry. He became a well
known Convention speaker, both in Australia and overseas, despite continual ill health.
He
wrote fourteen books, richly Christ-honouring, and numerous tracts.
He
assisted in the Everyman’s Welfare work among the troops during World War II,
and with others, founded the Australian Institute of Evangelism, later known as
Ambassadors for Christ.
In
one of his many poems he anticipated his ‘home call’:
I
shall meet them in the Glory …
Those
dear friends I’ve grown to love;
When
we gather ’round the Saviour
In
the happy home above.
David
Brainerd of the back woods;
William
Burns, that flaming heart,
Good
McCheyne and Andrew Bonar,
Men
who loved the better part …
Richard
Baxter, wondrous writer
of
the “Saints’ Eternal Rest”,
Holy
Edwards of New England,
Of
the purest and the best.
C.H.
Spurgeon, prince of preachers,
Strong
his influence to me;
Moody,
Matheson and Moorhouse
-
what a gathering there shall be.
Friends
of mine in life’s long journey,
Though
unworthy of their band,
Yet
I hope to stand among them
When
I reach the golden strand …
On
26 September, 1976, “the tired warrior fell asleep in Jesus”.
This
is the day that …
ST ANSGAR
was born, in AD 801, according to the Schaff-Herzog
Encyclopaedia!
He became known to church
historians as “the Apostle of Scandinavia” – the last of the “rough, fierce,
barbaric” peoples to accept Christianity.
Ansgar was a Frenchman. And in his heart the missionary call
blazed. Despite warnings from
well-meaning friends he set out at the age of 26 to win the savage and cruel
Vikings of Denmark to Christ. These
people had resisted the gospel at a time when the rest of Europe had come under
the influence of Christianity.
But now Ansgar began to preach in
Denmark … and for two years all went well.
But success was short-lived. The
king, who was favourable to Ansgar’s ministry, was dethroned, and both he and
Ansgar were forced to flee.
So to Sweden, where a new field of
service opened up to him. A church was
established. But here, too, there were
problems to overcome. Ansgar was
appointed Bishop of Hamburg … but “the heathen Danes and Vikings invaded
Hamburg and destroyed all his belongings” (Famous
Missionaries, by J. Gilchrist Lawson, page 23).
They were tumultuous days. Nations invaded and destroyed other
nations. Some of Ansgar’s missionaries
were murdered. But Ansgar did not give
up. Eventually, in AD 847, he led King
Horic of Denmark to Christ … just before the king was murdered. Then King Horic II was won to Christ.
He had planted the seed of the
gospel in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
T.J. Bach, in Vision and Valour (page 24) writes: “For more than 35 years Ansgar manifested the spirit of a
courageous, patient, self-denying missionary.
The political changes taking place in the Scandanavian countries caused
a delay in establishing the Christian Church.”
Eventually, however, some two hundred
years after Ansgar had lit the torch, Christianity became firmly established in
those lands.
Among his writings that have come
down to us is his prayer:
“One miracle I would ask the Lord
to grant me, and that is, by His grace, to make me a holy man …”
He died in Germany on 3 February,
AD 865. His last words were: “Lord, remember me according to Thy great
mercy. God, be merciful to me a sinner
…”
He entered Trinity College, Dublin, intent on following a career in the army – like his father.
Poor
health prevented this, and he migrated to Canada where he became a
school-teacher.
In Ireland, his fiancée had been
accidentally drowned the eve before their wedding. Now, in Canada, his new fiancée, Eliza Roche, took ill and died
shortly before the marriage could take place.
“With failing health and meagre
income … he became greatly depressed” (Companion
to Baptist Hymnal, by W. Reynolds, page 422). And at the age of 67 he was found drowned … “whether suicidal or
accidental” no-one knows (10 August, 1886).
A monument is erected to his memory
in the place he lived and wrote his immortal hymn – in 1855:
What a Friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear;
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer …
This
is the day that … JOHN
MARRIOTT
was born near Lutterworth, England, in 1780.
He was educated at Oxford, ordained
to the Anglican ministry, and became chaplain to a Scottish duke. During this time he became a close friend of
Sir Walter Scott.
In 1808 he became minister in the
parish of Warwickshire, but his wife’s illness made it necessary to move to
Devon.
“He wrote a number of hymns but
modesty prevented his permitting publication of them during his lifetime …” (Companion to the Baptist Hymnal, page
367).
His best known hymn was written in
1813 and published 42 years after his death …
Thou, Whose almighty word
chaos and darkness heard …
John Marriott died on 31 March,
1825.
This
is the day that … ALEXANDER
CAMPBELL
was born in 1788, in Ireland.
His father was a Presbyterian
minister who, due to health reasons, sailed for America on 8 April, 1807.
Eleven months later the family
followed … shipwrecked on the coast of Scotland … and then re-united in New
York on 29 September, 1809.
Leaving the Presbyterian church,
father and son launched “the Christian Association of Washington” with its
basis – “Where the Scriptures speak, we speak;
and where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent.”
A study of the subject of baptism
led them to accept immersion as the proper mode.
For a time they united with the
Baptists … but such issues as “election” and “the law” led to a parting of the
ways.
By 1827 Alexander Campbell was
leader of the “Disciples of Christ” – known in Australia as “Churches of
Christ.”
Not only was Alexander Campbell an
able preacher, but he was not shy of entering into debate with any who dared to
enter the fray. Among them were Robert
Owen, a sceptic, and Bishop Purcell, a Roman Catholic. In this latter debate Alexander Campbell had
no hesitation in identifying Romanism with “the Babylon” of John and “the Man
of Sin” of Paul (Debates that Made
History, by Haley, page 161). Other
debates revolved around the issue of baptism – Campbell holding its utter
necessity if the soul were to be saved.
One writer tells us that Alexander
would preach “from two to two and a half hours without a break”. Even before the Houses of Congress he held
forth on John 3:17 for one and a half hours – in May, 1850 (Apostle of Christian Union, page 10).
His desire to restore the unity of
the church, however, resulted in yet another denomination.
Alexander Campbell died on 4 March,
1866.
This is the day that … WILLIAM
FAREL died in 1565.
He
had already brought the teaching of the Reformers to Geneva (Switzerland) –
even rejoicing to see the Town Council pronounce Protestantism as the official
religion! (21 May, 1536).
And
when he heard that John Calvin, already famous as author of the Institutes of the Christian Religion,
was passing through, Farel confronted the 27 year-old theologian in an inn.
He
demanded that Calvin remain there and lead in the spiritual life of the
city. Calvin replied that he was on his
way to Germany to further his studies.
“May
God curse your studies,” Farel replied vehemently, “if now in her time of need
you refuse to lend your aid to His church.”
Calvin
was struck with terror, as he himself later recorded. He stayed!
And
with Farel at his side they led Geneva in what has been called “Reformed
theology”.
William
Farel outlived Calvin by 15 months – dying at the age of 76.
His
biographer writes: “Those who visited
him in his last illness had a foretaste of Heaven. Christ had been magnified in his body, both by life and by
death…”
This is the day that … JOHN
CHRYSOSTOM died in AD 407.
Actually
he was not called “Chrysostom” until the 7th century (by Isadore of
Seville) – and it is more of a nickname meaning “the golden mouthed”. Such was his eloquence, which still exists
in his 600 written sermons.
“John
of Antioch” is how others describe him – for that is where he was born in AD
347 (the exact date is unknown).
His
Christian mother, Anthusa, influenced him greatly. After her death he entered a monastery, then lived as a hermit
for some time. Eventually he was
ordained a priest (AD 386) and 12 years later, was appointed as Archbishop of
Constantinople – capital of the Eastern Empire. But
he refused to go. So “under orders from
an imperial edict, he was kidnapped, transported to the capital and ordained!”
(Christian History, Volume 44, page
2).
He exercised a remarkable ministry,
strong in his denunciation of sin “until the Empress banished him because, she
said, he had insulted her.” His sermon
on “The Vices of Women” led to her
deposing him from office … and his flight.
However, an earthquake shook Constantinople
(and damaged her bedroom!) – and Eudoxia begged John to return. The truce was only temporary.
Back in Constantinople again John
Chrysostom once more lifts up his voice in criticism of the ruling party. “Again Herodias raves,” he cried, “again she
dances, again she demands John’s head put on a charger.” (The Early Church, by H. Chadwick, page 190).
And once more into exile.
“He was forced to march barefooted
through the hot sand and bare-headed under the blazing sun. He died on the way …” (The Church in History, by B. Kuiper, page 46).
One delightful story concerning his
ministry is that the congregation often “pushed and shoved their way to the
front to hear him better”. Not only
that, but they would “clap and stamp their feet whilst he was preaching”. So he delivered a stirring sermon condemning
this as being “irreverent, disgraceful and dishonouring to God”.
The response was rather
discouraging. When he had concluded
this sermon, the congregation applauded him wildly!
F.F. Bruce speaks of him as “a
great expositor of Scripture as well as a great preacher; the most valuable of his works are his Homilies on various books of the Bible
where he displays much sound exegetical insight” (The Spreading Flame, page 330).
This
is the day that … ANTOINETTE
BROWN was
ordained to the Christian ministry in America in 1853 … the first woman to be
thus ‘honoured’. The place was the
First Congregational Church, Wayne County, New York.
Luther Lee, a Wesleyan Methodist,
preached the ordination sermon on Galatians 3:28. The charge was given by Rev. Gerrit Smith, a Presbyterian.
Antoinette Brown had graduated from
Oberlin College – “the first co-educational college in the world” – many of the
students being converts of the evangelist, Charles G. Finney.
Finney had been her Professor of
Theology – “often putting names in a hat, drawing one out and asking that
student to extemporise for as long as possible on the subject at hand”! Antoinette Brown found that such teaching
methods sharpened her mind and skill as an orator.
After pastoring in Congregational
churches for 15 years, she finally joined the Unitarians in 1878 … a ‘church’ that denies the deity of Christ and
other fundamental doctrines.
Antoinette Brown died on 5
November, 1921, at the age of 96.
This
is the day that … JAMES
CASH PENNEY
was born in 1875 in Missouri, USA, son of a Primitive Baptist preacher.
At the age of 27 he had opened his
first store, the Golden Rule Store, in Wyoming. And it was so named because he was committed to building his
business “on bedrock Christian ethics”.
And build he did. Five years later he owned three stores,
then, by 1912, he had 34 stores with sales of over $2 million.
“From 1917 to 1929 the business
exploded, growing to nearly 1400 stores nationwide” (More Than Conquerors, Moody Press, page 342).
In the stock market crash of 1929
he lost $40 million. There followed a
time of failed health and convalescence in a sanatorium. Here he experienced a “spiritual renewal” –
at the age of 56 – and once more began his climb up the business ladder. The J.C. Penney Company began to flourish
once more.
“For many years anyone who used
tobacco and liquor was discharged” (page 342).
Today some 1400 J.C. Penney stores
are spread across the United States, and in 1990 sales topped $18 million.
When he died at the age of 95 the New York Times commented that Penney’s
adherence to the Golden Rule had “aroused scepticism in a mercenary age” … but
the success of his business “put the lie to the cynics”.
17 September
This
is the day that … TOMMIE
TITCOMBE
was born in Wiltshire, England, in 1881.
It was at the age of 21 that he and
some friends took shelter from a rainstorm by entering a Salvation Army
hall. A meeting was in progress. Conviction of sin entered … and a few days
later Tommie “was saved for time and eternity,” to use his own words.
Four years later – and now living
in Canada – Tommie heard an S.I.M. missionary recently returned from
Nigeria. Again the sword of the Spirit
did its work, and by 1908 he was in the ‘dark continent’, ‘the white man’s
grave’ as it was then known, ready to preach the gospel.
He became a pioneer missionary to
the Yogba people … and the obstacles and blessings that came his way are
recounted in Tread Upon the Lion, by
S. de la Haye.
Another volume, A Flame of Fire, by J. Hunter, tells of
the birth of S.I.M. and the early men and women of God who ventured forth …
The story of Tommie Titcombe
surrounded by “witch doctors gesticulating, posturing and gyrating, and the mob
shrieking and roaring” (page 149) develops into an incredible saga.
“I pushed my way to the centre of
the ring,” wrote Tommie, “and saw to my utter astonishment a woman rigid in the
air. Her feet were some two feet off
the earth and as she came toward me gravitation had no power over her … All I said was: ‘Lord, Thou hast said in Thy Name we shall cast out demons. Lord, deliver this girl’. Immediately she dropped to the ground. I picked her up and carried her into the
first hut …” (pages 150-151).
Before his death he had the joy of
seeing thousands of Yagba people in Nigeria turn to Christ.
Raymond J. Davis, S.I.M. General
Director, tells of visiting Tommie just prior to his death. “He grasped my hand. ‘Ray,’ he said, ‘I’ve told you many times
that long ago God gave me Psalm 91 as my special portion of Scripture. There are 33 promises in that Psalm and God
has fulfilled every one of them for me, most of them many times’. He lay back on his pillow … opened his eyes
a bit and said, ‘I’ll see you up there …’.”
Tommie Titcombe died in Toronto,
Canada, on 29 May, 1968.
This is the day that … THE
MARECHALE was born, in 1858.
She
was the second child of William and Catherine Booth … and she, too, was named
Catherine (but usually called Katie).
At
the age of 22, she would introduce the Salvation Army (of which her father was
the “General”) into France.
Within
a week she was ”sworn at, jeered at, and pelted with stones and mud …” But her
incredible tenacity and sincerity of purpose gradually won through. They nicknamed her “La Capitaine” at first …
and then “The Maréchale” (the Field-Marshall).
Under
her remarkable leadership – ever in the forefront of the battle for souls – the
Maréchale planted the Salvation Army also in Switzerland, Belgium and Holland.
On
8 February, 1887, she married Arthur Clibborn (the “Hallelujah Quaker” had been
his nickname when he first joined the Salvation Army!) – and the couple were
known as the “Booth-Clibborns”. Ten
children were to be born in the next 15 years.
Then came the clash of personalities – General Booth laying down certain laws … to be implicitly obeyed … and Katie and her husband refusing to do so. It is a sad story …
On 10 January, 1902, the Booth-Clibbons resigned from the Salvation Army. Ten years later, when her father lay dying – and blind – she was allowed into his room “on condition that she would not say who she was” (The Heavenly Witch, by C. Scott, page 217).
On 20 February, 1939, she was widowed, and on 9 May, 1955, she herself was ‘promoted to Glory’.
Despite her severance from the Army’s ranks over half a century earlier she never slowed up in her quest for souls.
Her fare to Australia (in 1936) was paid for by Dame Violet Wills, a member of the tobacco family … although Dame Violet was ironically, a campaigner against smoking.
After meeting the Maréchale John Ridley wrote:
I trace thy fervent feet
to many a haunt of Hell;
And hear thy voice so sweet
The gospel message tell;
And sinners in their shame
And women of ill fame
Will ever bless thy name,
La Maréchale.
(The Passion for Christ, page 72).
19 September
This is the day that … GEORGE CADBURY was born in 1839, in Birmingham, England.
At the age of 22, he, along with brother Richard, took over his father’s cocoa business.
In this Quaker family, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and Foxe’s Book of Martyrs had been standard ‘Sabbath reading’. And, of course, the Bible.
Thus it was that working conditions were improved, even a half-holiday was granted on Saturdays … in an age when such things were unheard of.
Eventually, as their cocoa refining experiments revolutionised the business, George even began a daily worship service in the factory. Attended by a few at first, there came the day when “visiting ministers spoke of the impressive sight of a great crowd of worshippers led in praise by 3000 women’s voices, the girls dressed in pure white overalls ready for the day’s work” (Yarns on Christian Torchbearers, page 45).
To improve living conditions for his workers George Cadbury built three villages on the outskirts of Birmingham. His factory, on the River Bourn, was called the “Bournville Works”.
A pension scheme was introduced for his employees long before parliament thought of such an idea.
Here was a Christian businessman and philanthropist who loved people … for, as his biographer says: “He had caught the secret of love from Christ, his Lord and Saviour” (Life of George Cadbury, page 277).
==============================================
20 September
This is the date that … JOHN COLERIDGE PATTESON was speared to death, in 1871.
He was born in London on 1 April, 1827, to devout parents. Educated at Eton, he was elected captain of the College cricket team. But because it was the custom to sing ‘bawdy songs’ at the Eton Eleven’s annual dinner, he resigned in protest. The team saw that he was right, asked him to remain as captain, and forsook their foolish and evil practice.
Eventually he was ordained to the Church of England ministry (on 14 September, 1853), and turned his eyes to the need of missionaries in the South Seas. In 1855 he sailed for Melanesia.
He writes to his father concerning a school he established: “I have the jolliest little fellows – about seven of them – fellows scarcely too big to take on my knee and talk to about God and Heaven and Jesus Christ…”
In 1861 he was consecrated as the first Bishop of Melanesia.
It was on a visit to the island of Nukapu that his martyrdom took place. Hostile natives killed him – “in revenge for five natives who had recently died at the hands of white men…” traders who had no interest in the things of God.
Bishop Patteson died at the age of 44.
21 September
This is the day that … GIRALAMO SAVONAROLA was born in Florence, Italy, in 1452.
At the age of 21, he left home secretly to join a Dominican monastery.
His first sermons in St Marcos, Florence, resulted in ridicule and shame. “The disappointed thousands went away murmuring at the incompetence” of the preacher (Savonarola, by Rev. W. Rule, 1855, page 22).
For the next six years he retreated from the pulpit to master the art of preaching … and to study the Scriptures.
When he stood again in St Marcos, it was like a newborn John the Baptist, thundering out the Word of the Lord and calling sinners to repentance. “Tears ran profusely, mourners beat upon their breasts, crying to God for mercy; the church echoed and re-echoed with their sobs” (Prophets in Evangelism¸ by F. Barlow, page 159).
And among those whose sins he
lashed was the infamous Medici – Lorenzo the Magnificent, Prince of
Florence! And even the Pope “who,
though claiming to be head of the Church, was living openly in sin” came in for
a powerful rebuke from this Italian ‘prophet’ (Yarns on Christian Pioneers, by E. Hayes, page 15).
Pope Alexander VI – one of the
Borgia family – was denounced as “a heretic and an infidel”. Bear in mind that Savonarola was himself a
Roman Catholic. But corruption and sin
were rampant … and Savonarola attacked both clergy and civic leaders.
His great bonfire in the city plaza
– 7 February, 1497 – saw the destruction of “lewd books, obscene pictures, carnival
costumes, playing cards, dice, false hair, books on astrology and witchcraft –
indeed anything that reeked of sinful living”.
The Venetian Ambassador offered him
20,000 gold ducats for his pile of ‘vanities’ heaped so high in a tiered
pyramid. But Savonarola burned the lot!
The death of Lorenzo, and the
invasion of France (destruction of the city averted by Savonarola’s
face-to-face encounter with the French king), led to this remarkable preacher
being the uncrowned ruler of Florence.
It became a stronghold of
puritanism … though not in doctrine!
By 1490 the tide of popular opinion
was turning against him. Pope Alexander
VI ex-communicated him (13 May, 1497).
He was accused of heresy.
A biographer records an interesting
incident as Savonarola was led through the crowd to the place of his
martyrdom. Some “broke through the
police lines and slashed at his bare legs and feet with their knives and
daggers …” But a poor old woman offered
him a crust of bread. “Take and eat,
Blessed Father Girolamo,” she said. He
smiled, “Thank you, my daughter, but I need no food now. I have so little way to go. In a moment I will be in the mansions on
high having sup with my Lord and Saviour” (A
Crown of Fire, by P. van Paassen, page 313).
So it was, on 23 May, 1498, at the
age of 46, he was hung and burned in the Plaza. During these final hours, the Bishop had said: “I declare thee separated from the church
militant and triumphant.” To which
Savonarola replied: “From the church
militant, yes; but from the church
triumphant, no; that is not yours to
do!”
Luther spoke of Savonarola as “a
pioneer of the Reformation” and another writer adds that this Dominican priest
“seems to have believed in justification by faith” (Who’s Who in Christian History, page 608).
Born in Clapham, England (18 March,
1789), she achieved some fame as the writer of frivolous verse and a portrait
artist. But by the age of 30 she was a
bed-ridden invalid.
The visit of Swiss evangelist Cesar
Malan led her to a knowledge of sins forgiven.
And from that turning point in her life came the hymn, Just as I am,
without one plea – although it was not written until 14 years after her conversion
experience.
Charlotte Elliott died at the age
of 82 and is still regarded as “one of the finest of all English women hymn
writers”.
==============================================
Much of his early schooling came
from his mother – he “irregularly attended rural schools” – but eventually he
was to become president of Ohio University (1839-1843).
He had actually been licensed to preach
by the Presbyterian Church (1829), but never accepted a pastorate.
“He took pride in the fact that he
spoke extemporaneously, later declaring he had preached more than 3000 sermons
without a single note…” (Dictionary of Christianity in America, page 688).
His fame lies in the famous “Readers”
he published (from 1836-1857) “which sold an astronomical 122 million
copies (!!), and helped shape the 19th century American Mind.”
These “Readers” were used in
public schools and majored on “industry, honesty and loyalty; as well as warning against strong
drink.”
==============================================
The place was Reading, England, and the home in which young Charles was reared was one of ‘affluence’.
It
was during his education at Cambridge University that he was wonderfully
converted through the reading of a sermon on the subject of the scapegoat
(Leviticus 16).
Despite
the fact that “he found no Christian fellowship at the university”, young
Simeon’s Bible became his constant companion.
Three years later, in 1782, he was ordained as a Church of England
deacon and appointed minister of Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, the following
year.
And
there it was he ministered over the next 50 years.
“Highly
unpopular at first on account of his message and manner, scorned and abused for
many years, he carried on regardless of men’s opinions, until in the end he
became perhaps the best known and best respected name in Cambridge” (C. Simeon, by H.E. Hopkins).
Opposition there certainly was!
“The pew holders locked the doors
of their pews to prevent visitors from using them. So Simeon placed benches in the aisles, but the church officers
threw the benches into the church yard.
Simeon started a Sunday evening service to reach needy sinners, but the
officers locked the church doors!” (Victorious
Christians, by W. Wiersbe, page 62).
One Anglican historian writes that
Charles Simeon introduced the singing of hymns into Anglican services … for
which the Prayer Book makes no provision (apart from Psalms, Canticles and Veni
Creator). “In singing hymns
evangelicals (like Simeon) were no doubt acting illegally, as, it would seem,
we all are today” (Through the Ages,
by F.E. Barker, page 277).
Before his death on 13 November,
1836, he also played a major role in establishing the British and Foreign Bible
Society, the Church Missionary Society, and the London Jews Society. He has been described as “the most famous
evangelical clergyman” the Church of England ever produced (Who’s Who in Christian History, page
625).
This
is the day that … CLELAND
BOYD McAFEE
was born in Montana, USA, in 1866.
Thirty-five years later, whilst
pastoring the First Presbyterian Church in Chicago, Illinois, he wrote a hymn,
words and music - “the choir learned it
on the Saturday night,” his daughter later recorded – and they went to the
McAfee home and sang it under the stars outside the quarantined house …”
And the hymn?
There is a place of quiet rest,
near to the heart of God,
A place where sin cannot molest,
near to the heart of God…
Cleland B. McAfee is described as
“an eminent theologian, a brilliant speaker, author of numerous books, and
honoured by his denomination to serve as Moderator of the General Assembly …
yet today, Dr McAfee is best remembered for this one simple, unassuming,
devotional hymn” (101 More Hymn Stories,
by K. Osbeck).
Dr McAfee died on 4 February, 1944.
This
is the day that … WILSON
CARLILE
died, in 1942.
His favourite toy as a child, he
tells us, was Joey Billy, a wooden doll that he played with until “arms and
legs and hair had been lost.” But, adds
Carlile, “Joey Billy taught me to love poor, disreputable, broken things.”
In later life he was to found the
Church Army, an Anglican ministry that centred on helping the outcasts of
society. He was known as “the
archbishop of the gutter”!
Born in Brixton, London on 14
January, 1847, Wilson Carlile was converted
by reading Mackey’s Grace and Truth,
given to him by a Plymouth Brethren aunt.
Later he joined the Church of England, played the organ for Moody and
Sankey during their English tour! was ordained in 1880, and founded the Church
Army in 1882.
He died at the age of 95, and was
buried in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, London.
This is the day that … HENRY
MOORHOUSE was born in 1840, in
Manchester, England.
For
the first 20 years of his life he was constantly in trouble and in prison more
than once. But at the age of 21 “in the
engine room of a warehouse,” a young Christian pointed him to Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is
Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be
saved.”
The
biographer tells of the outcome. Henry
Moorhouse “saw, he believed, he rejoiced, he confessed, and he was ready from
that hour to bear witness for Christ…” Before long he was preaching the gospel,
on street corners and in packed halls.
And he is best remembered as the
“man who moved the man who moved millions.”
In Life of D.L. Moody by his
son, a whole chapter is devoted to the influence of Henry Moorhouse: “Moorhouse taught Moody to draw his sword
(of the Spirit) full length, to fling the scabbard away and enter the battle
with a naked blade” (page 140).
Not only
was there an emphasis on more use of Scripture in Moody’s sermons (“Stop
preaching your own words and preach God’s Word,” Moorhouse had said to him),
there was also a new emphasis on God’s love for the sinner. “Moody’s evangelistic preaching was to take
on a different tenor than that of so much previous revivalistic preaching in
the American tradition.”
Henry
Moorhouse died on 28 December, 1880, at the age of 40. Among his dying words were these: “If it were the Lord’s will to raise me up
again, I should like to preach more on the text, ‘God so loved the
world’.”
He seemed
to pass away, but means employed by the attending physician revived him.
“Why have
you brought me back to such dreadful suffering?” he asked of those at his
bedside, “I was in heaven …”
28 September
This is the day that … FRANCES ELIZABETH CAROLINE WILLARD was born in New York State, in 1839.
Being a
red-headed tomboy, she preferred to be called “Frank”, but the day came when
she outgrew that stage. “Next to being
an angel” she said, “the greatest bestowment of God is to make one a woman!” (Women to Remember, by N. Olsen, page
77).
She
inherited spiritual qualities from her godly parents, was converted in a
Methodist ‘revival’ meeting, and joined the Church six months later – 5 May,
1861. And five years later she
experienced the “second blessing”, being challenged by a holiness preacher,
Phoebe Palmer, to lay all on the altar. “I unconditionally yielded my petty little
jewels and … a conscious emotional presence of Christ held me,” she writes.
There was a temporary association
with D.L. Moody … who invited her to preach at a Sunday afternoon meeting. She also led Bible study groups and women’s
meetings.
But her main claim to fame is her
involvement in the war against the liquor industry!
In 1874, “as if by magic, armies of
women – delicate, cultured, home women – filled the streets of the cities and
towns of Ohio … going to the saloons, singing, praying, preaching with the
rum-sellers with all the eloquence of their mother hearts” (The Beautiful Life of Frances E. Willard,
by A.A. Gordon, page 93).
The movement spread to other
states. And eventually worldwide.
The driving force behind this was
Frances Willard, who became president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union
(W.C.T.U.), in 1879, and continued to give a powerful impetus to the movement
until her death nearly 20 years later.
She campaigned for political issues
and women in the pulpit, for prison reform and labour conditions … but after
her death the W.C.T.U. resorted to just the alcohol issue.
In later years Miss Willard (or
“Aunty Frank” as some of her disciples knew her) “expoused Christian Socialism”
(Dictionary of Christianity in America,
page 1256).
Preaching on the evils of alcohol
without proclaiming the message of the Cross is not the theme of
Scripture. What the sinner needs is not
reformation but regeneration.
Frances Willard died on 17
February, 1898, and 80,000 people filed past her coffin in Willard Hall,
Chicago.
Among her dying words are
these: “Let me go away, let me be in
peace: I am so safe with Him. He has other worlds and I want to go. I have always believed in Christ: He is the incarnation of God” (A.A. Gordon, page 291). She was also heard to say: “How beautiful it is to be with God.”
This is the day that … JEROME died in AD 420, at the age of 89.
Born
in Europe just 300 years after the birth of Christ, Jerome had a good education
and learned several languages.
At
the age of 18 he was baptised and joined the church, probably just to please
his godly parents!
He
writes concerning two things that happened later, causing him to think more
seriously about his commitment. One was
a dream in which he saw Judgment Day, and he heard a voice say: “You are not a Christian.”
History
usually refers to him as Saint Jerome, but one gets the distinct impression
that he was not all that saintly!
He was “controversial,
argumentative and barbed in his attacks on those who opposed him,” writes M.
Tengbom.
Another says: “He was unable to bear rivals … he died
cantankerous and argumentative as ever.”
Another: “Jerome was so objectionable that no-one would live anywhere near
him.”
Eventually Jerome went to live in
Bethlehem … in a cave. It was in this
cave that he translated the Scriptures into Latin, the tongue of the common
(vulgar) people, hence it became known as “the Latin Vulgate version”. The “Latin Vulgate” was the main Bible in
Europe for over 1000 years.
The story is told that one day
while he was translating, a lion entered his cave. It had a thorn stuck in its paw so Jerome pulled it out and the
lion became his pet and lived in the cave with him! Since then, whenever someone has painted Jerome doing his
translation work, a lion has always been included in the painting.