1833 HT: Dan Graves No man fought harder to abolish slavery than William Wilberforce. A member of Parliament, he introduced antislavery measures year after year for 40 years until he retired in 1825. On this day July 26, 1833, as he lay dying, word was brought him that the bill to outlaw slavery everywhere in the British…
Here’s this week’s inspirational delve into the past by Paul James-Griffiths of Christian Heritage Edinburgh. Paul writes, “Having put in the foundation for Scotland’s vision for world mission during the last few weeks, we are now in a position to write a series about key individual enablers and missionaries. For the next few weeks we will focus…
1605 HT: Christian History Institute John Welsh, first University of Edinburgh graduate ordained to ministry, served as a Presbyterian minister at Selkirk, Kirkcudbright, and Ayr, Scotland. Revival broke out while he was at Ayr. He held the last position for five years. In those years his faithful witness and prayer saw the transformation of the…
1680 HT: Dan Graves A company of English dragoons surprised and surrounded a Scottish preacher and a small band of armed men on this day July 22, 1680. Deciding to fight to the death, their leader, Richard Cameron, prayed “Lord, spare the green and take the ripe.” The skirmish took place at Ayrsmoss and sprang out of…
1944 HT: Christian History Institute On this day, 21 July, 1944, Deitrich Bonhoeffer learned from a radio broadcast that a plot to kill Hitler had failed. Although he was already in prison, the Lutheran pastor knew he would be implicated because he had earlier worked with the plotters to bring about the assassination. In light of the…
Here’s this week’s inspirational delve into the past by Paul James-Griffiths of Christian Heritage Edinburgh. Paul writes, “Before I write about individual missionaries who went abroad from Scotland, I must mention about Dr Chalmers, whose sharp mind was mightily used by God for the purpose of shaping a Christian worldview in the evangelical Scottish movement of the…
180 HT: Dan Graves Vigellius Saturninus, the proconsul (Roman administrator) of North Africa in 180 A.D., spoke generously. “You can have the forgiveness of our Lord the Emperor if only you return to your senses,” he said. Speratus, one of twelve Christians who faced him, replied for the rest. “We have never done evil; we…
Here’s this week’s inspirational delve into the past by Paul James-Griffiths of Christian Heritage Edinburgh. This week he looks at how prayer was vital in the cause of the world mission from Scotland. The person particularly connected with the prayer movement that prepared the way for world mission was Revd Dr John Erskine. The famous English revival…
1739 HT: DIANA SEVERANCE David Brainerd lived only 29 years but the account of those years inspired many to follow Christ. Some, like William Carey and Henry Martyn, followed his footsteps onto the mission field. At the age of seven David began to seek the Lord. His journal shows that he struggled greatly in coming…
1924 HT: Dan Graves “I need your help, Eric.” Evangelist D. P. Thompson was urgent. “Not many men come out to the meetings. I think they would come if they knew you were going to speak.” Eric Liddell did not like to speak in public. He was shy. But he did not say anything to…