1661 HT: Dan Graves At the close of his defense to the Scottish Parliament, James Guthrie said, “…My conscience I cannot submit to you. But this old crazy body and mortal flesh I do submit, to do with it whatsoever you will, whether by death, or banishment, or imprisonment, or anything else; only I beg…
339 HT: Dan Graves Suppose you are a survivor of an outlawed organization whose origins go back to around 1700, seventy-six years before America became an independent nation. “Tell the story of your people,” you are urged. The problem is, your people were an illegal group. In fact, the government tried to exterminate them! Their…
1593 HT: Dan Graves John Penry wept for Wales. In Elizabeth’s England, there were far too few pastors assigned to teach the Welsh, and of those, many were absentees from their flocks or little better than rogues. Penry wrote Equity of a Humble Supplication in Behalf of the Country of Wales that Some Order May Be…
1663 HT: Dan Graves When Jospeh Alleine‘s older brother Edward died, Joseph underwent a spiritual crisis, what he would call a “thorough conversion.” Edward had been studying for the ministry and Joseph pleaded with his father to be allowed to take his place. His father agreed and Joseph headed off to school. The young man…
1700 HT: Stagger and Reel Today, we celebrate the birth of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, born on May 26, 1700. A pivotal figure in the history of the Moravian Church, Zinzendorf’s life was marked by profound devotion to Christ and an unyielding passion for mission work. Known for his famous quote, “I have loved…
1738 HT: Dan Graves John Wesley was almost in despair. He did not have the faith to continue to preach. When death stared him in the face, he was fearful and found little comfort in his religion. To Peter Böhler, a Moravian friend, he confessed his growing misery and decision to give up the…
1874 HT: www.christianity.com “What work are you in?” The man asking the question had just introduced himself to Ira B. Sankey as Dwight L. Moody. Sankey replied that he worked for the Internal Revenue Service. “Well, you’ll just have to give it up,” said Moody. Sankey was in Chicago to attend a convention. He had…
1808 HT: Dan Graves Personal tragedy sometimes forces us to take a closer look at our lives. At least that’s how it was for Jacob Albright. RIDING ALONG a Pennsylvania turnpike, Jacob Albright encountered a group of road workers. They recognized him as a traveling evangelist, called him filthy names, and hurled stones at him.…
1569 HT: Dan Graves How many Anabaptists died during the sixteenth century persecution in Europe? No one knows for sure. What is certain is that at least 1,500 were cruelly tortured and killed. For the most part these were peaceful citizens who did not believe in war and who became the forerunners of today’s Mennonites…
1556 HT: Dan Graves John Knox’s Vision for Reformation When Knox first preached, his sermons consisted largely of fulminations against Roman Catholic practices. They gave his listeners something to protest against, but nothing to put in place of that which they were asked to discard. In 1556, after a visit to Geneva, Knox began to…