298 HT: Dan Graves The merry-making was at its height that July, 298. The troops in North Africa celebrated Emperor Maximian’s birthday with feasting and drinking. As usual, there were sacrifices to the emperor, who was ranked with the gods. But not everyone was in a party mood. Marcellus, a centurion (officer over a hundred…
1882 HT: Dan Graves Never mind that father had forbidden it. Father was far away. Nine year old Titus Coan was going sledding with a friend on a frozen pond. Out onto the ice he whizzed. It broke. Titus could not find the bottom and rose to the surface, screaming for help. His friend was…
1846 HT: Dan Graves In accord with the Redeemer’s command and assured of His presence, we are going forth to those lands where Satan has established his dark domain. I know that suffering awaits me. But to bear the Redeemer’s yoke is an honor to one who has felt the Redeemer’s love.” Those words were from…
1888 HT: Christian History Institute Andrew Bonar was a minister in the Free Church of Scotland and a leader of Christian revival in Scotland. Among his friends was revivalist Robert Murray McCheyne, whose biography he wrote. He wrote other books, including Christ and His Church in the Book of Psalms and The Gospel Pointing to the Person of…
1731 HT: Christianity.com God… …moves in a mysterious wayHis wonders to perform;He plants His footsteps in the seaAnd rides upon the storm. William Cowper, who wrote that hymn, was born in England on this day, November 26, l73l. His life was full of personal anguish. At five, his mother died, and Cowper, a timid and sensitive…
John Knox was the fiery reformer of Scotland. His last day of life on earth was on this day Monday, 24 November, 1572, dying peacefully near midnight. Three close friends sat by his bed. Knox entrusted the care of his wife to one of them. Later that day he asked another one to read the fifteenth chapter…
1873 HT: Christian History Institute During a revival in Newark, New Jersey, Etta Campbell wrote a hymn of warning and appeal for lost souls titled “Jesus of Nazareth Passeth By.” It became a favorite in Great Britain, thanks to Dwight L. Moody’s songleader Ira Sankey who sang it there. The evangelistic team began a series…
Here is the latest inspirational and informative article on influential Scots in Church History and Missions by Paul James-Griffiths of Christian Heritage Edinburgh. Paul writes, “Today’s article is about another Scottish pioneering missionary to China called John Ross. His impact, like William Chalmers Burns before him, was significant. I hope that as you read this article…
1839 HT:Dan Graves John Williams encountered hostility when he landed on Erromanga, New Hebrides (Vanuatu) on this day, November 20, 1839. He tried to dash back to his ship, but he wasn’t quick enough. Swift-footed natives captured him. The missionary who had hoped to feast them with the Gospel became their feast instead. When the inhabitants of scattered…
1738 HT: Christian History Institute James Gardiner was a valiant Scots soldier. After a wild youth, he converted to Christianity in 1719 (he was thirty-one at the time) and showed many evidences of earnest faith. Philip Doddridge, a Puritan pastor, educator, and author, was so impressed he wrote a life of Gardiner. Seven years after…