Category Archives: Church History

A Page from the Past

June 14, 2012 By in Church History, Missions

“Lord’s day, August 25. –Preached in the forenoon from Luke xv. 3-7. There being a multitude of white people present, I made an address to them at the close of my discourse to the Indians; but could not so much as keep the [whites] orderly. Scores of them kept walking and gazing about, and behaved more indecently than any Indians I ever addressed. A view of their abusive conduct so sank my spirits, that I could scarcely go on in my work.

In the afternoon discoursed from Revelation iii.20. The Indians behaved seriously, though many others were vain. Afterwards baptized twenty-five of the Indians, fifteen adults and ten children. Most of the adults I hope are really renewed; and there was not one of them but what I entertained some hopes of in that respect… Continue reading →

The Conversion of Grimshaw

May 29, 2012 By in Church History, Gospel

The young Anglican curate William Grimshaw, a graduate of Cambridge, was unconverted, though in the ministry. Faith Cook, in William Grimshaw of Haworth narrates God’s gracious change of this man into a faithful servant of Christ (abridged here):

“…two incidents occurred at this time, both designed to lead the curate… out of his spiritual darkness. The first showed Grimshaw where his thinking was leading him astray. An itinerant preacher often passed that way and frequently rebuked Grimshaw for his legalistic views of salvation. ‘Mr. Grimshaw he would say, ‘you are a Jew. You are no believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are building on the sand.’ Continue reading →

Maggie Paton

May 16, 2012 By in Book Reviews, Church History

Maggie Paton (1841 – 1905) is one of my best friends, despite the fact that we have never met and she has been dead for more than a century. My mother gave me her Letters and Sketches from the New Hebrides just before I was married, and I have taken it with me everywhere we have lived, loaned it out to people, and read it again and again.

One of the things I love about the book is the story. Continue reading →

Liberalism, Botox, and Lady Folly

April 12, 2012 By in Church History, Current Issues

“On Sunday morning, 21 May 1922, Harry Emerson Fosdick mounted the pulpit of the First Prsebyterian Church of New York to preach the most famous sermon of his career, “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” Described by Fosdick as a “plea for good will,” the sermon fell like a bombshell on the Presbyterian Church and set in motion a series of explosions that would rock the church until well into the next decade. Continue reading →

A Warning for American Evangelicalism

January 31, 2012 By in Church History, Islam

This quote contains not only an explanation of Islams’ roots, but also one reason for its rapid spread – a church grown decadent, “lured from its goal”:

“Muhammed of course was not a Nestorian Christian, but if the conclusions reached…in this volume, are generally accepted, it means that we must not look for Muhummad’s inspirational ideas in some hidden corner, but in the midst of the daily religious thought and practice of the great Nestorian church. Continue reading →