1759 In Everton, England, Anglican evangelical John Berridge preaches outdoors for the first time. His message is one of salvation by grace alone: “Cease from thine own works.” 1901 HT: Dan Graves ON THIS DAY, 14 MAY 1901, the Presbyterian Church in the United States commissioned Althea Brown, an African American, as a missionary. She…
1685 HT: Dan Graves UNDER CHARLES I, Charles II, and James II, staunch Scottish Presbyterians suffered greatly. Many firmly believed no earthly king could be head of the church—as the Stuart kings claimed they were. That role was reserved for Jesus Christ alone. Many Scots (Covenanters) signed a covenant in 1638 denying that the Stuarts…
1886 HT: Dan Graves On this day Monday morning, May 10, 1886, at about five o’clock Anna Katherina Sartorius Barth delivered a son. It was a hard delivery, and the child was ugly. “Karli,” as his parents affectionately called him, was born at home–42 Grellingerstrasse in Basle, with just an aunt attending. Although both parents were born and raised in Basle, they…
1910 HT: Christian Classics Ethereal Library Alexander Maclaren was born in Glasgow on February 11, 1826, and died in Manchester on May 5, 1910. He had been for almost sixty-five years a minister, entirely devoted to his calling. He lived more than almost any of the great preachers of his time between his study, his…
1721 HT: Dan Graves On the west coast of Greenland, in the tundra zone about one hundred and fifty miles south of the arctic circle, a new colony was being built. Europeans had established a presence in Greenland as early as 980 under Eric the Red. Severe winters and the problems of maintaining trade caused…
373 Death of Athanasius in Alexandria, Egypt. More than any other man, he took up the fight for Christ’s divinity in his writings. Five times he had been forced into exile. Slander dogged him. Yet he remained faithful to his vision of an uncreated Christ. He was the first to list the books of the…
1672 HT: Dan Graves “God raised up Mr. Addison and his associates to lash the prevailing vices and ridiculous and profane customs of this country, and to show the excellence of Christ and Christian institutions.” To win such praise from John Wesley, Joseph Addison must have exerted a great influence indeed. God “raised up” Joseph…
1882 HT: Dan Graves MANTANTU DUNDULU was a hero in everyday life and in the kingdom of Christ. Reared by an uncle, who was a tribal chief (the boy’s father was not in the picture for reasons not entirely clear), he fiercely protected his three sisters. In 1881, as a young man of about eleven,…
1872 Frances Ridley Havergal, in Winterdyne, England, writes the words to the hymn “A Worker’s Prayer” aka “Lord, Speak to Me That I May Speak.” One stanza reads, “O teach me, Lord, that I may teach /The precious things Thou dost impart; /And wing my words, that they may reach /The hidden depths of many…
1650 HT: Dan Graves ON THIS DAY, 27 April 1650, a church committee appointed John Flavel to assist Mr. Walplate, the dying minister of Diptford, Devon, England. This marked the beginning of Flavel’s long association with Devon. Realizing that his university education had done little to prepare him for a pastorate, he studied hard on…