CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHIES h-H

These Christians who once walked on this earth like we do today lived lives filled with the same struggles that we do today. Our world has so few examples of living the Christian life. Here are examples from the past on how to live a deeper Christian life in these latter days.

ABOUT HARRIET BEECHER STOWE

The seventh child of the famous Beecher clan, Harriet Beecher Stowe grew up in the intellectually and religiously intense household of her father, the Rev. Lyman Beecher, and her siblings, including her older sister Catherine Beecher. Each of her seven brothers joined the ministry. It would be through her writing that Harriet Beecher Stowe participated in the moral conversations of the day.

After finishing her education at her sister's school in Hartford, Connecticut, Harriet Beecher Stowe stayed at the female seminary to teach. In 1832, the Beechers moved to Cincinnati. There Catharine opened another school in which Harriet taught, and both sisters joined the city's intelligentsia by attending meetings of the Semi-Colon Club and contributing their writing to gift books and local periodicals. In 1836 Harriet Beecher met and married Calvin Ellis Stowe, a professor of Biblical literature inclined toward periods of insanity and alcoholism. Within seven years Harriet Beecher Stowe had birthed five children. Viewing her role as a wife and mother as a higher calling, she struggled to keep her idealism and her marriage intact. To support her growing family, she earned money by publishing her short stories and running a small school in her home.

The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, a law enabling the capture and re-enslavement of escaped slaves, provoked cries of protest from abolitionists. Condemning slavery as a moral and spiritual wrong, Harriet Beecher Stowe's father and brothers preached against the act from their pulpits, and Harriet endeavored to write a parable which, like those in the Bible, would inspire its readers to turn from sin. In 1851 to 1852 she published Uncle Tom's Cabin in installments in the abolitionist newspaper the National Era; later in 1852 the story appeared as a complete volume. An instant bestseller, Uncle Tom's Cabin told of the faithful slave Tom whose cruel master beats him to death and of George and Eliza Harris who flee their bondage in Kentucky, hoping to reach Canada before the slave-catchers find them.

Harriet Beecher Stowe became an immediate celebrity in the wake of Uncle Tom's publication, inspiring the awe of abolitionists and the ire of those who defended the South's "peculiar institution." Translated into dozens of languages and adapted for performance on the stage, her novel had an immeasurable effect on the consciences of her audience and served as a focal point for the intensifying debate over slavery. Upon meeting the book's author, President Lincoln commented, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war."

In the following years she continued to write, publishing a rejoinder to claims that Uncle Tom exaggerated the plight of slaves, a second antislavery novel featuring a more rebellious hero than "Tom," religious essays and poems, and biographies. She died in Hartford in 1896.

Source: librarycompany.org/women/portraits/stowe.htm

QUOTES BY HARRIET BEECHER STOWE

WHICH HAS COST ME TEARS AND STRUGGLES  

"I long to put the experience of fifty years at once into your young lives, to give you at once the key to that treasure chamber every gem of which has cost me tears and struggles and prayers, but you must work for these inward treasures yourselves."   

- Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) American Christian Writer

MANY A HUMBLE SOUL WILL BE AMAZED

"Many a humble soul will be amazed to find that the seed it sowed in weakness, in the dust of daily life, has blossomed into immortal flowers under the eye of the Lord."

- Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) American Christian Writer

THERE ARE IN THIS WORLD BLESSED SOULS 

“There are in this world blessed souls, whose sorrows all spring up into joys for others; whose earthly hopes, laid in the grave with many tears, are the seed from which spring healing flowers and balm for the desolate and the distressed.”  

- Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) American Christian Writer

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE BOOKS AND SERMONS 

• Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896: Agnes of Sorrento (HTML and page images at Virginia)
• Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896: The American Woman's Home, or, Principles of Domestic Science, also by Catharine Esther Beecher (Gutenberg text)
• Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896, contrib.: An Autobiography of the Rev. Josiah Henson ("Uncle Tom"), From 1789 to 1881 (revised and enlarged edition; London, ON: Schuyler, Smith, and Co., 1881), by Josiah Henson, ed. by John Lobb, also contrib. by George Sturge, S. Morley, Wendell Phillips, and John Greenleaf Whittier (illustrated HTML and TEI at UNC)
• Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896: Betty's Bright Idea; also, Deacon Pitkin's Farm, and The First Christmas of New England (Gutenberg text)
• Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896, contrib.: A Budget of Christmas Tales, by Charles Dickens and Others (New York: Christian Herald, c1895), also contrib. by Charles Dickens, Margaret E. Sangster, Mrs. W. H. Corning, Irving Bacheller, Julia Schayer, Hezekiah Butterworth, Cornelia Redmond, Mrs. Molesworth, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, C. H. Mead, Herbert W. Collingwood, and Juliana Horatia Ewing (Gutenberg text, illustrated HTML, and page images)
• Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896: The Christian Slave: A Drama Founded Upon a Portion of Uncle Tom's Cabin (Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1855)

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Stowe%2C%20Harriet%20Beecher%2C%201811%2D1896

Photo Credit: wordsworth-editions.com/book-author/stowe-harriet-beecher/

ABOUT HARRY IRONSIDE

Henry Allan "Harry" Ironside (October 14, 1876 – January 15, 1951) was a Canadian-American Bible teacher, preacher, theologian, pastor, and author who pastored Moody Church in Chicago from 1929 to 1948.

Ironside was born in Toronto, Ontario, to John and Sophia (Stafford) Ironside, who were both active in the Plymouth Brethren. At birth, Harry was thought to be dead, so the attending nurses focused their attention on Sophia, who was dangerously ill. Only when a pulse was detected in Harry, 40 minutes later, was an attempt made to resuscitate the infant. When Harry was two years old, his father, John, died of typhoid, at the age of 27. From a very early age, Ironside showed a strong interest in evangelical Christianity and was active in the Salvation Army as a teenager before later joining the "Grant" section of the Plymouth Brethren.

The family then moved to Los Angeles, California, on December 12, 1886, and finding no Sunday school there for him to attend, Harry started his own at age 11. Gathering old burlap bags, Harry and his childhood friends sewed them together, producing a burlap tent that could accommodate up to 100 people. Unable to find an adult teacher, Ironside himself did the teaching, with attendance averaging 60 children—and a few adults—each week.

In 1888, well-known evangelist Dwight L. Moody preached at a campaign in Los Angeles, with meetings held at Hazard's Pavilion,[1][2] (later known as "Temple Pavilion") which could seat up to 4,000. This inspired Ironside, who hoped to also be able to preach to such crowds one day. In 1889, after a visit from evangelist Donald Munro, Ironside became convinced that he was not "born again", and so gave up preaching at his Sunday school, spending the next six months wrestling with this spiritual problem. After an evening of prayer, in February 1890, Ironside, at age 13, received Christ. As he is quoted as saying years later, "I rested on the Word of God and confessed Christ as my Savior." Ironside then returned to preaching, winning his first convert. Though he was taunted at school, he was undeterred from his mission to win souls. Later that year, his mother remarried, to William D. Watson. Ironside graduated from the eighth grade, began working as a part-time cobbler, and decided he had enough education (he never attended school again, which he later regretted).

During the days, young Ironside worked full-time at a photography studio, and at night he preached at Salvation Army meetings, becoming known as the "boy preacher". At age 16, he left the photography business and became a preacher full-time with the Salvation Army. Commissioned a Lieutenant in the Salvation Army, Ironside was soon preaching over 500 sermons a year around Southern California. At 18, the grueling schedule had taken its toll on his health, and Ironside resigned from the Salvation Army, entering the Beulah Rest Home to recuperate.

In 1896, at 20, he moved to San Francisco, becoming associated again with the Plymouth Brethren. While there, he began helping at British evangelist Henry Varley's meetings and there met pianist Helen Schofield, daughter of a Presbyterian pastor in Oakland, California. The two soon married. In 1898, Ironside's mother died, and less than a year later, Harry and Helen's first son, Edmund Henry was born. In 1900, the family moved across the bay to Oakland, where Harry resumed a nightly preaching schedule. They resided there until 1929.

In 1903, Ironside accepted his first East Coast preaching invitation, but on returning, the family only had enough funds to make it as far as Salt Lake City, Utah, where he spent the next ten days doing street preaching. Just as the last of their money for a hotel ran out, they received an anonymous envelope with $15, enough to return to Oakland. In 1905, a second son, John Schofield Ironside, was born.

During this time, Ironside also began his career as a writer, publishing several Bible commentary pamphlets. In 1914, he rented a storefront and established the Western Book and Tract Company, which operated successfully until the depression in the late 1920s. From 1916 to 1929, Ironside preached almost 7,000 sermons to over 1.25 million listeners. In 1918, he was associated with evangelist George McPherson; and in 1924, Ironside began preaching under the direction of the Moody Bible Institute. In 1926, he was invited to a full-time faculty position at the Dallas Theological Seminary, which he turned down, although he was frequently a visiting lecturer there from 1925 to 1943.

After preaching a series of sermons at the Moody Church in Chicago, he was invited in 1929 to serve a trial year as pastor. The following year he became the official pastor, and he served there until 1948. Almost every Sunday he preached at Moody Church, with the 4,000-seat auditorium filled to capacity. Nevertheless, he continued to preach in other US cities as well; and in 1932, he began traveling abroad. In 1938, Ironside toured England, Scotland and Ireland, preaching 142 times to crowds of upwards of 2,000. In 1942, he also became president of the missionary organization, Africa Inland Mission. In 1935, Ironside preached the funeral of Billy Sunday at Moody Church.

In 1930, Wheaton College presented Ironside with an honorary Doctorate of Letters degree, and in 1942 Bob Jones University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. n 2011, Bob Jones University renamed a residence hall that formerly honored Bibb Graves after Ironside.[5] Bob Jones, Jr., wrote that although Ironside was considered a dignified man, when one got to know him, "he had a terrific sense of humor. Nothing was more fun than to have a good meal in a home somewhere when Dr. Ironside was present. After he was full—he could eat a lot, and he ate faster than any man I ever saw, and his plate would be empty before everyone else got served—he would sit back, push his chair back from the table, and begin to tell funny stories and personal experiences." Never one to ask money for himself, Ironside was skilled at raising money for other evangelical causes and was often asked to take the offering at Bible conferences. He joked that his tombstone would read, "And the beggar died also." 

A few months after he and his wife Helen celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, Helen died on May 1, 1948. Ironside resigned as pastor of Moody Church on May 30 and retired to Winona Lake, Indiana. On October 9, 1949, he married Annie Turner Hightower, of Thomaston, Georgia. He suffered from failing vision, and after surgery to restore it, he set out on November 2, 1950, for a preaching tour of New Zealand, once more among Brethren assemblies, but he died in Cambridge, New Zealand, on January 15, 1951, and was buried in Purewa Cemetery, Auckland.

Theological influence

Along with others such as Cyrus Scofield, he was influential in popularizing dispensationalism among Protestants in North America. Despite his lack of formal education, his tremendous mental capacity, photographic memory and zeal for his beliefs caused him to be called, "the Archbishop of Fundamentalism". 

Ironside was one of the most prolific Christian writers of the 20th Century and published more than 100 books, booklets and pamphlets, a number of which are still in print. He also wrote a number of hymns including "Overshadowed". One editorial reviewer wrote of a 2005 republication that, "Ironside's commentaries are a standard and have stood the test of time."

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_A._Ironside 

QUOTES BY HARRY IRONSIDE

GREATEST MISTAKE ANY CHRISTIAN CAN MAKE  

"The greatest mistake any Christian can make is to substitute his own will for the will of God."  

- Harry Ironside (1876-1951) American Bible Teacher, Theologian 

YOU COULD NOT BE SAVED THROUGH ANY EFFORT OF YOUR OWN

"You could not be saved through any effort of your own, but now that you are saved it is necessary for you to put forward every effort you can to glorify Him."

- Harry Ironside (1876-1951) American Bible Teache

JESUS CHRIST IS THE SOLUTION FOR ETERNITY

"Jesus Christ is not a problem; He is the solution to every problem for life, for death, and for eternity.

- Harry Ironside (1876-1951) American Bible Teacher

HARRY IRONSIDE BOOKS BAND SERMONS

• Notes on the Prophecy and Lamentations of Jeremiah "The Weeping Prophet" (1928)
• Notes on the Minor Prophets (1909, 472 p
• Notes on the Book of Proverbs (1908, 494 pp) 
• The Only Two Religions, and Other Gospel Papers (1912, 104 pp)
• Holiness, the False and the True (1900, 152 pp)
• The Mormon's Mistake, or, What is the Gospel? (13 pp)
• The Holy Trinity (17 pp)
• Addresses on the Gospel of Luke (1947, 721 pp) 
• Notes on the Book of Esther (20 - Treasury Library (Vallance)) (1921, 124 pp)
• Addresses on the Song of Solomon (1933, 135 pp)
• Addresses on the First and Second Epistles of Thessalonians (1946, 119 pp)
• The Only Two Religions and Other Gospel Papers (53 - Treasury of Truth (Loizeaux))
• Lectures on the Epistle to the Colossians (182 pp)
• Expository Notes on the Epistle of James (1947, 63 pp) 
• Holiness, The False and the True (79 - Treasury of Truth (Loizeaux)) (89 pp) 
• Outline of the Book of Daniel the Prophet 
• Expository Notes on Ezekiel the Prophet (1949, 348 pp)
• The Revelation of Jesus Christ
• Expository Notes on the Gospel of Mark (1948, 247 pp) 
• Expository Messages on the Epistle to the Galatians (1941, 233 pp)
• Lectures on Daniel the Prophet (1920, 253 pp) 
• Lectures on the Book of Acts (1943, 649 pp)
• Notes on the Book of Proverbs (1907, 509 pp) 
• Notes on the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (1913, 225 pp)
• Setting the Stage for the Last Act of the Great World Drama "The Times of the Gentiles" (138 - Treasury of Truth (Loizeaux)) (34 pp)
• Expository Notes on the Prophet Isaiah (1952, 378 pp)
• Addresses on the Book of Joshua (1950, 140 pp)
• Lectures on the Book of Revelation (1930, 368 pp) 
• The Mission of the Holy Spirit (143 - Treasury of Truth (Loizeaux)) (66 pp)
• Great Words of the Gospel (1944, 126 pp)
• Practical Expository Addresses on the Epistle to the Ephesians (1937, 341 pp)
• Addresses on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (1939, 288 pp)
• Looking Backward Over a Third of a Century of Prophetic Fulfilment (167)
• The Only Two Religions and Other Gospel Papers (99 pp)
• Praying in the Holy Spirit (65 pp)
• Removing Mountains (27 - Helps For Young Christians (Vallance)) (16 pp)
• The Holy Trinity (1941, 13 pp)
• The Mysteries of God (128 pp)
• The Tramp who Became a Deacon (16 pp)
• The Levitical Offerings (1929, 60 pp)
• Studies on Book One of the Psalms (1952, 254 pp)
• The Stone that will Fall from Heaven (19 pp)
• The Eternal Security of the Believer (1954, 47 pp)
• The Oxford Group Movement; Is it Scriptural? (34 pp)
• The Mission of the Holy Spirit and Praying in the Holy Spirit (1957, 130 pp)
• Miscellaneous Papers - 1 (1945, 459 pp)
• Miscellaneous Papers - 2 (1945, 414 pp)
• Help for the Needy Soul (123 pp)
• Four Golden Hours at Kingsway Hall, London (117 pp)
• Studies in the Epistle to the Hebrews also Lectures on the Epistle to Titus (1932)
• The Four Hundred Silent Years (From Malachi to Matthew) (1914, 110 pp) 
• Death and Afterward (1924, 41 pp)
• Adders' Eggs and Spider's Webs, or Human Theories vs Divine Revelation (1924, 31 pp)
• Illustrations of Bible Truth (1945, 119 pp)
• Sailing with Paul; Simple Papers for Young Christians (78 pp)
• Divine Healing - Is it in the Atonement? (8 pp)
• The Daily Sacrifice (1948, 375 pp) 1
• Random Reminiscences From Fifty Years of Ministry (1939, 167 pp)
• Things Seen and Heard In Bible Lands (1936, 170 pp)
• The Unchanging Christ and Other Sermons (1938, 162 pp)
• Letters to a Roman Catholic Priest (50 pp)
• The Continual Burnt Offering; Daily Meditations on the Word of God (1943, 373 pp)
• "Charge That To My Account" and Other Gospel Papers (1931, 127 pp) 
• Poems and Hymns (1962, 32 pp)
• Except Ye Repent (1937, 189 pp)
• Dr. Ironside's Bible: Notes and Quotes from the Margins (1955, 189 pp) 
• A Life Laid Down: A Brief Memoir of Fannie M. Arthur (1917, 97 pp)
• Who will be Saved in the Coming Period of Judgement (16 pp)
• What's the Answer? 362 Answers to Bible Questions (165 pp)
• Holiness, the False and the True (1947, 142 pp)
• Addresses on the First Epistle to the Corinthians (1938, 562 pp)
• Apostolic Faith Missions and the so called Second Pentecost (19 pp)
• Addresses on the Gospel of John (890 pp)
• Expository Notes on the Gospel of Matthew (1948, 407 pp) 
• Notes on the Minor Prophets (1909, 464 pp)
• Timothy Titus and Philemon (1947, 282 pp) 
• Addresses on the Epistles of John and an Exposition of the Epistle of Jude (1931)
• Expository Notes on the Epistles of Peter (1947, 101 pp)
• Notes on the Epistle to the Philippians (1922, 126 pp)
• Lectures on the Epistle to the Romans (1928, 176 pp)
• Baptism: What Saith the Scripture? (1918, 51 pp) 
• The Great Parenthesis (1943, 133 pp)
• The Best of H.A. Ironside (1981, 284 pp) 
• The Lamp of Prophecy or Signs of the Times (1940, 159 pp) 

Source: brethrenarchive.org/people/harry-a-ironside/

Photo Credit: moodymedia.org/authors/authors/harry-ironside/

ABOUT HENRY ALFORD 

HENRY ALFORD (1810-1871), English divine and scholar, was born in London on the 7th of October 1810. He came of a Somersetshire family, which had given five consecutive generations of clergymen to the Anglican church. Alford's early years were passed with his widowed father, who was curate of Steeple Ashton in Wiltshire. He was an extremely precocious lad, and before he was ten had written several Latin odes, a history of the Jews and a series of homiletic outlines. After a peripatetic school course he went up to Cambridge in 1827 as a scholar of Trinity. In 1832 he was 34th wrangler and 8th classic, and in 1834 was made fellow of Trinity. He had already taken orders, and in 1835 began his eighteen years' tenure of the vicarage of Wymeswold in Leicestershire, from which seclusion the twicerepeated offer of a colonial bishopric failed to draw him. He was Hulsean lecturer at Cambridge in 1841-1842, and steadily built up a reputation as scholar and preacher, which would have been enhanced but for his discursive ramblings in the fields of minor poetry and magazine editing. In September 1853 Alford removed to Quebec Chapel, London, where he had a large and cultured congregation. In March 1857 Viscount Palmerston advanced him to the deanery of Canterbury, where, till his death on the 12th of January 1871, he lived the same strenuous and diversified life that had always characterized him. 

The inscription on his tomb, chosen by himself, is "Diversorium Viatoris Hierosolymam Proficiscentis." Alford was a not inconsiderable artist, as his picture-book, The Riviera (1870), shows, and he had abundant musical and mechanical talent. Besides editing the works of John Donne, he published several volumes of his own verse, The School of the Heart (1835), The Abbot of Muchelnaye (1841), and a number of hymns, the best-known of which are "Forward! be our watchword," "Come, ye thankful people, come," and "Ten thousand times ten thousand." He translated the Odyssey, wrote a wellknown manual of idiom, A Plea for the Queen's English (1863), and was the first editor of the Contemporary Review (1866-1870). His chief fame, however, rests upon his monumental edition of the New Testament in Greek (4 vols.), which occupied him from 1841 to 1861. In this work he first brought before English students a careful collation of the readings of the chief MSS. and the researches of the ripest continental scholarship of his day. Philological rather than theological in character, it marked an epochal change from the old homiletic commentary, and though more recent research, patristic and papyral, has largely changed the method of New Testament exegesis, Alford's work is still a quarry where the student can dig with a good deal of profit.

His Life, written by his widow, appeared in 1873 (Rivington).

(A. J. G.)

QUOTES BY HENRY ALFORD 

NO ACCOUNTING FOR THE IGNORANCE OF UNBELIEF

"There is no accounting for the ignorance of unbelief, as any minister of Christ knows by painful experience."

- Henry Alford (1810–1871) English Churchman, Theologian, Scholar

HENRY ALFORD  BOOKS AND SERMONS 

• Alford, Henry, 1810-1871: A Plea for The Queen's English: Stray Notes on Speaking and Spelling (10th thousand; London: Strahan; Cambridge: Deighton, Bell and Co., 1866)
  • multiple formats at archive.org
  • multiple formats at Google
• Alford, Henry, 1810-1871: The Queen's English: A Manual of Idiom and Usage (third edition; London: Strahan and Co.; Cambridge: Deighton, Bell and Co., 1870) (multiple formats at archive.org)
• Alford, Henry, 1810-1871: The Queen's English: A Manual of Idiom and Usage (seventh edition; London: G. Bell and Sons, 1888) (multiple formats at archive.org)
• Alford, Henry, 1810-1871: The Queen's English: Stray Notes on Speaking and Spelling (London: Strahan and Co.; Cambridge: Deighton, Bell and Co., 1864) 
• Alford, Henry, 1810-1871, contrib.: The Works of John Donne, Dean of St. Paul's, 1621-1631; With a Memoir of His Life (6 volumes; London: J. W. Parker, 1839), by John Donne

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Alford%2C%20Henry%2C%201810%2D1871

Photo Credit: prabook.com/web/henry.alford/3725230

ABOUT HENRY J. MOORHOUSE

HENRY MOORHOUSE, or as he was more familiarly called, "HARRY MOORHOUSE, the English Evangelist, " was born in the city of Manchester. When very young he was sent to jail on more than one occasion, afterwards joining the army and trying the life of a soldier, being bought off by his father at considerable cost.

Passing the Alhambra Circus in Manchester, where Richard Weaver was preaching, hearing a noise within, and thinking a fight was going on, Henry buttoned his coat and rushed in, ready for the fray. As he entered he was arrested by one word—"JESUS. " The glorious Name shot from the preacher's lips went home as a bullet and as balm to the heart of the wanderer. His early childhood, reckless career, and awful danger rose vividly before his vision, the "Glorious Gospel" (2 Cor. 4. 4) message went home to his heart, and he who had entered to fight remained to praise and pray.

Thus suddenly and soundly converted to God, he entered heartily into the service of his new Master. His first services were chiefly in the open air, at local and national gatherings, and in special places of concourse. From morning till evening his joy was to spend his time distributing tracts, speaking personally with individuals wherever he got an opportunity, or crying aloud in the street or market-place, urging multitudes to "flee from the wrath to come."

Like the apostle of old, he had visions of God. Upon one occasion he saw in his sleep three young men in Manchester, each strangely attired in a white jacket, on which were the words legibly written, "These men are going to Hell!" The place appeared to be near the infirmary, and before them was a deep burning lake of fire, unperceived by them. Henry called aloud for them to stop, but they took no heed, until he fell down upon his knees and cried to God, saying, "Lord, it is not by might, nor by power, but by Thy Spirit." The men then turned back in haste, having discovered their danger. This dream was on Friday night; and on the Sunday evening following, when Henry was preaching in the Alhambra Circus, those three identical young men came into the place, and before the meeting closed they were all on their knees crying out for mercy, and were brought to accept the Lord Jesus Christ and the pardon of their sins.

The revival stream, which had begun to flow in 1854, was in full tide in 1860, when Moorhouse was converted. Thus he was early brought into touch with the enthusiastic spirits—RICHARD WEAVER, from the coalpit, whose style he largely followed; JOHN HAMBLETON, the converted actor; EDWARD USHER, a dockyard labourer; Wm. CARTER, the converted sweep; HENRY VARLEY, a butcher, and afterwards valiant champion for the truth; REGINALD RADCLIFFE, the Liverpool lawyer; BROWNLOW NORTH, the man of wealth and fashion; JOSHUA POOLE, better known as "Fiddler Joss;" J. DENHAM SMITH, a devout expositor; C. H. SPURGEON, of the Metropolitan Tabernacle; H. GRATTAN GUINNESS, of the "Regions Beyond, " and many others. D. L. MOODY and IRA D. SANKEY afterwards became his special friends.

Henry's special call to devote all his time to the work of the Lord came through an enthusiast, known as "the hatless preacher." One evening when Henry was engaged in crying his wares as auctioneer of "Notions," and rapping for bids, the hatless man suddenly appeared before him, and cried aloud, "Thou oughtest to have thy Bible in thy hand out amongst the people, and not that hammer for the devil, " and immediately departed. That short, terrible, speech was like a thunderbolt falling on Henry, and the words gave a harder blow than he could stand. He at once dropped the auctioneer's hammer, went to Liverpool, sought out Hambleton, and entered with him on an evangelistic tour through the provinces. Since that date Henry laboured in the special work of evangelising without a fixed salary, or human promise of support. A trio consisting of John Hambleton, the preacher; Edward Usher, the singer; and Henry Moorhouse, the young and fervid disciple, attended the tercentenary of William Shakespeare at Stratford-on-Avon. They bore aloft textboards bearing the words, "Christ for Me! Praise the Lord! Mercy's Free!" and created no small stir, with fruit which shall abound in "that Day."

The stories concerning the visits of these heroes to race meetings, haunts of vice, sinners in the slums; their theatre services, sometimes fourteen theatres were filled in London on one Sunday night; visits to public executions, then not uncommon; labours amongst Romanists in many parts of Ireland, and "labours more abundant" are told in "Buds, Blossoms, and Fruits of the Revival. "* Through incessant labours in Britain, Henry Moorhouse, never strong at the best, began to show signs of sadly needing rest and change. Hence he set out for the United States, arriving in Philadelphia in 1868. His welcome was so hearty, and his ministry so appreciated, that he paid five visits in the following ten years. How he became "the man who moved the man who moved the world" is best told in D. L. MOODY'S own words: "In 1867, when I was preaching in Dublin, at the close of the service a young man, who did not look over seventeen, though he was older, came up to me and said he would like to go back to America with me, and preach the Gospel. I thought he could not preach it, and I said I was undecided when I could go back. He asked me if I would write to him, as I did not know whether I wanted him or not. After I arrived at Chicago I got a letter saying he had just arrived in New York, and he would come and preach. I wrote him a cold letter, asking him to call on me if he came West. A few days after I got a letter stating he would be in Chicago next Thursday. I didn't know what to do with him. I said to the officers of the Church, 'There is a man coming from England, and he wants to preach. I am going to be absent Thursday and Friday. If you will let him preach on those days I will be back on Saturday and take him off your hands.' They did not care about his preaching, being a stranger; but at my request they let him preach. On my return on Saturday I was anxious to hear how the people liked him, and I asked my wife how that young Englishman got along. How did they like him? She said they liked him very much. 'He preaches a little different from what you do. He tells the people God loves them. I think you will like him.' I said he was wrong. I thought I could not like a man who preached contrary to what I was preaching. I went down on Saturday night to hear him, but I had made up my mind not to like him, because he preached different from me."

After graphically describing the six nights on John 3. 16, Moody concludes: "In closing up that seventh sermon, he said, 'For seven nights I have been trying to tell you how much God loves you, but this poor stammering tongue of mine will not let me. If I could ascend Jacob's ladder and ask Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Almighty, to tell me how much love God the Father has for this poor lost world, all that Gabriel could say would be, that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever beliveth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. "' I have never forgotten those nights. I have preached a different Gospel since, and I have had more power with God and man since then. " Ever after he was a close, personal friend and helper of Messrs. Moody and Sankey. Fleming H. Revell, the, American Publisher, who died in 1931, was present at these services, and confirms the story as here stated.

During the last few years of his life he found work something akin to that of his early days in preaching and selling Scriptures from a Bible carriage. In two years he sold over 150,000 Bibles and Testaments, and gave away millions of books and tracts.

In 1876 his service was evidently closing, his last year of labour was one of much suffering, the doctors said his heart was twice the size it ought to be, yet he was ever bright and happy. Near the end he said, "If it were the Lord's will to raise me up again, I should like to preach from the text 'God so loved the world.' " On 28th December, 1880, in his fortieth year, he passed Home to receive the "Well done, " and to enter into "the joy of his Lord. "

The two veterans, Richard Weaver and Henry Moorhouse, lie not far from each other in Ardwick Cemetery, Manchester. John 3:16 is engraved on the memorial to Moorhouse.

John Hambleton, in relating his farewell interview with Henry, aptly summed up his life: “Calling to see him on Monday last, before he left us, I grasped his arms, as his face betokened that the enemy death was doing his last work, and said, ‘Harry, we shall soon meet up yonder.’ He replied, while gasping for breath, ‘Sure, sure, sure I’ How plainly visible is the work of God in putting into such a little frail vessel as our brother such a treasure, showing us all that the excellency of the power is of God.”

Henry’s last letter aptly summed up his own life. “Ask prayer for me to suffer for Christ better than ever I preached for Him; I ONLY WANT TO GLORIFY HIM.” 

* "John Hambleton, the Converted Actor. " 2d. net (2Jd. each, or 5 for l/-,p.f.).

Source: brethrenarchive.org/people/henry-moorhouse/

QUOTES BY HENRY J. MOORHOUSE

LOADED DOWN BY BURDENS OF HIS MINSTRY

Henry Moorhouse, the 19th-century English evangelist, was feeling loaded down with the burdens of his ministry. Then the Lord gave him a tender reminder of His care. 

When he came home one day, his young daughter, Minnie, whose legs were paralyzed, was sitting in her wheelchair. He was going to take a package upstairs to his wife when his daughter asked if she could carry it. Moorhouse said, "Minnie dear, how can you possibly carry the package? You cannot even carry yourself." 

With a smile on her face, Minnie said, "I know, Papa. But if you will give me the package, I will hold it while you carry me." 

Moorhouse saw this as a picture of his relationship to God and the burdens of ministry he was carrying. But praise God, he could proceed with confidence, knowing that the Lord was carrying him. 

Almighty God, who promised to carry Israel (Isa. 46:4), is the One who can carry us. Even though we must fulfill our responsibilities, we have the assurance of His never-failing support. We need not sink beneath the weight of our burdens in this life. 

HENRY J. MOORHOUSE BOOKS AND SERMONS

HENRY MOORHOUSE The English Evangelist, Rev John Macpherson – PDF Book)

RECOLLECTIONS OF HENRY MOORHOUSE, Evangelist by Geo. C. Needham (PDF Book)

• Recollections of Henry Moorhouse, Evangelist by George Carter Needham (1840-1902) (1881, 230 pp) 2
• Ruth, the Moabitess; Gleanings from the Book of Ruth and Other Bible Readings (1881, 126 pp) 2
• Henry Moorhouse, the English Evangelist by John Macpherson (1881, 170 pp)

ARTICLES

• Christ Our Friend. (MATT., XI. 19. )
• Saved By His Blood.
• The Christian Worker's Power For Service.
• The Lord's Jewels.
• The Prodigal's Losses.

Photo Credit: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Lyman_Morehouse_(from_LCCN2005678064).jpg

ABOUT HENRY WARD BEECHER

Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God's love, and his 1875 adultery trial. His rhetorical focus on Christ's love has influenced mainstream Christianity to this day.[citation needed]

Beecher was the son of Lyman Beecher, a Calvinist minister who became one of the best-known evangelists of his era. Several of his brothers and sisters became well-known educators and activists, most notably Harriet Beecher Stowe, who achieved worldwide fame with her abolitionist novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Henry Ward Beecher graduated from Amherst College in 1834 and Lane Theological Seminary in 1837 before serving as a minister in Indianapolis and Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

In 1847, Beecher became the first pastor of the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York. He soon acquired fame on the lecture circuit for his novel oratorical style in which he employed humor, dialect, and slang. Over the course of his ministry, he developed a theology emphasizing God's love above all else. He also grew interested in social reform, particularly the abolitionist movement. In the years leading up to the Civil War, he raised money to purchase slaves from captivity and to send rifles—nicknamed "Beecher's Bibles"—to abolitionists fighting in Kansas. He toured Europe during the Civil War, speaking in support of the Union.

After the war, Beecher supported social reform causes such as women's suffrage and temperance. He also championed Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, stating that it was not incompatible with Christian beliefs.He was widely rumored to be an adulterer, and in 1872 the Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly published a story about his affair with Elizabeth Richards Tilton, the wife of his friend and former co-worker Theodore Tilton. In 1874, Tilton filed charges for "criminal conversation" against Beecher. The subsequent trial resulted in a hung jury and was one of the most widely reported trials of the century.

After the death of his father in 1863, Beecher was unquestionably "the most famous preacher in the nation". Beecher's long career in the public spotlight led biographer Debby Applegate to call her biography of him The Most Famous Man in America. 

Early ministry

On August 3, 1837, Beecher married Eunice Bullard, and the two proceeded to the small, impoverished town of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where Beecher had been offered a post as a minister of the First Presbyterian Church.He received his first national publicity when he became involved in the break between "New School" and "Old School" Presbyterianism, which were split over questions of original sin and the slavery issue; Henry's father Lyman was a leading proponent of the New School. Because of Henry's adherence to the New School position, the Old School-dominated presbytery declined to install him as the pastor, and the resulting controversy split the western Presbyterian Church into rival synods.

In the course of his preaching, Henry Ward Beecher came to reject his father Lyman's theology, which "combined the old belief that 'human fate was preordained by God's plan' with a faith in the capacity of rational men and women to purge society of its sinful ways". Henry instead preached a "Gospel of Love" that emphasized God's absolute love rather than human sinfulness, and doubted the existence of Hell. He also rejected his father's prohibitions against various leisure activities as distractions from a holy life, stating instead that "Man was made for enjoyment".

Death

On March 6, 1887, Beecher suffered a stroke and died in his sleep on March 8. Still a widely popular figure, he was mourned in newspapers and sermons across the country. Henry Ward Beecher is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ward_Beecher

QUOTES BY HENRY WARD BEECHER

TROUBLES AND WORRRIES OF THIS LIFE

"The little troubles and worries of life may be as stumbling blocks in our way, or we may make them stepping-stones to a nobler character and to Heaven. Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things."

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar

GOD WEIGHS OUT TO US EVERY TRIAL  

"No physician ever weighed out medicine to his patients with half so much care and exactness as God weighs out to us every trial. Not one grain too much does He ever permit to be put in the scale."  

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar 

GOD IS SHAPING US FOR HIGHER THINGS

"We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things."

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar

IF HE IS LIVE AS A CHRISTIAN MAN

"A man may be outwardly successful all his life long, and die hollow and worthless as a puff-ball; and he may be externally defeated all his life long, and die in the royalty of a kingdom established within him.  A man’s true estate of power and riches, is to be in himself; not in his dwelling, or position, or external relations, but in his own essential character.  That is the realm in which he is to live, if he is to live as a Christian man."

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar

IMMORTAL FLOWERS UNDER THE EYES OF THE LORD  

"Many a humble soul will be amazed to find that the seed it sowed in weakness, in the dust of daily life, has blossomed into immortal flowers under the eye of the Lord."  

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar 

SOMEONE WHO SINGS IN AFFLICTION

"Ice on trees will bend many a branch to the point of breaking.  Similarly, I see a great many people bowed down and crushed by their afflictions.  Yet every now and then I meet someone who sings in affliction, and then I thank God for my own circumstance as well as his.  There is never a song more beautiful than that which is sung in the night.  You may remember the story of a woman who, when her only child died, looked toward heaven as with the face of an angel and said, “I give you joy, my sweet child.”  That solitary, simple sentence has stayed with me for many years, often energizing and comforting me. "

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar 

SPEAK PAINFUL TRUTH LOVING WORDS

"It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is friendship."

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar 

WHAT THE MOTHER SINGS IN THE CRADLE

"What the mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin."

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar

NO SUCH THINGS AS WHITE LIES  

"There is no such thing as white lies; a lie is as black as a coal pit, and twice as foul."  

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar 

I NEVER KNEW HOW TO WORSHIP

"I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love."

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar

BEAUTIFUL THINGS THAT GOD MAKES 

 
"In all ranks of life the human heart yearns for the beautiful; and the beautiful things that God makes are his gift to all alike."  

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar 

ALL MEN ARE TEMPTED  

"All men are tempted. There is no man that lives that can't be broken down, provided it is the right temptation, put in the right spot."  

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar  

WHAT WE GIVE UP MAKES US RICHER  

"In this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich."  

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar 

TOMORROW HAS TWO HANDLES

"Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith."

- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar

THE STRENGTH OF A MAN CONSISTS

“The strength of a man consists in finding out the way in which God is going, and going in that way too.” 

~ Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American Clergyman and Scholar  

HENRY WARD BEECHER BOOKS AND SERMONS

• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: The Beecher Trial: A Review of the Evidence (page images at MOA)
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: Eyes and Ears (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1862) (page images at MOA)
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: Freedom and War: Discourses on Topics Suggested by the Times (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1863) (page images at MOA)
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: Lectures to Young Men on Various Important Subjects (1853) (searchable page images at Google)
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: Lectures to Young Men on Various Important Subjects (New York: J. C. Derby, 1856) (searchable page images at Google)
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: Life Thoughts, Gathered from the Extemporaneous Discourses of Henry Ward Beecher (Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1858) (page images at MOA)
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: Life Thoughts, Gathered from the Extemporaneous Discourses of Henry Ward Beecher (Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1859) (page images at MOA)
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: Morning and Evening Exercises, ed. by Lyman Abbott (page images at MOA)
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: New Star Papers: or, Views and Experiences of Religious Subjects (page images at MOA)
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: Norwood: or, Village Life in New England (New York: C. Scribner and Co., 1868)
  • HTML with commentary at merrycoz.org
  • multiple formats at Google
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: Notes From Plymouth Pulpit: A Collection of Memorable Passages From the Discourses of Henry Ward Beecher (New York: Derby and Jackson, 1859), ed. by Augusta Moore (page images at MOA)
• Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887: The Overture of Angels (New York: J. B. Ford and Co., 1870)

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Beecher%2C%20Henry%20Ward%2C%201813%2D1887

Photo Credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ward_Beecher

ABOUT HORATIOUS BONAR

Horatius Bonar has justifiably been called Scotland's chief hymn-writer, his hymns numbering some 600. Although many never gained popularity, some have become an integral part of our goodly heritage of hymns today. Perhaps his best known one is "I heard the voice of Jesus say…" which he called The Voice from Galilee.

Not long before he died he said, "Please don't write a biography of me". He knew his time had come, and also knew that many people would be interested in his life. But his life's ministry had been centred on the glory of Christ, and he didn't want anything to stand in the way of that. Because of this we have only a brief outline of his life and ministry. He was, however, a prolific writer. His written works fill 47 volumes, a total of some 12,000 pages!

Life and Ministry

Horatius Bonar was born in Edinburgh on 19th December, 1808, the sixth son of James Bonar, Solicitor of Excise, who died when the lad was twelve. His saintly mother (Marjory Maitland) and his elder brother James were then influential in bringing him to salvation in his teens. Others moulded his character and his thinking while he was a student at Edinburgh University. Dr Thomas Chalmers, born in Anstruther, scientist and theologian, energetic in promoting the gospel among the poor, was one of his tutors. Edward Irving's lectures in Edinburgh quickened his interest in prophetical matters. Bonar and his brother Andrew developed a strong friendship with Robert Murray McCheyne of Dundee.¹

His first public post was assistant minister in Leith, where for three and a half years his work among the youth of that poor and rough seaport was greatly blessed. He began his hymn writing there, for in his extensive Sunday School work he saw that the children needed something suitable to sing. Then in 1837, aged 29, he was appointed minister in the border town of Kelso. He stayed there for almost thirty years.

In 1843, he married Jane Catherine², daughter of Robert Lundie of Kelso. They had their fair share of joys and sorrows. Out of their family of nine children, five died in childhood. 1843 was also the year of "The Great Disruption" when the Free Church of Scotland was formed out of the evangelical movement in the established Church of Scotland. Bonar's heart and soul were in that movement and his ministry followed, partly due to the earlier influence of Chalmers but also because he had seen at first hand how the established church, with its politically appointed ministers, was failing to lead the nation towards God and arouse faith in Christ.

He was a typical nineteenth century Scottish scholar, well taught in the classics, serious and studious. His life was marked by piety and his ministry by deep earnestness, at times solemnising. He said, "Laughter and gaiety belong to a fallen world. They are too superficial to have a place among the holy and too hollow to be known among the truly happy". But he did have a good sense of humour and was very fond of children. Indeed some time after the five of his own had died, he was delighted when his widowed daughter and her five children came to live with him. It was said of him that he was always praying, that he was always preaching, that he was always visiting, that he was always writing.

In 1866, he came to the Chalmers Memorial Church, Edinburgh (Chalmers had died in 1847), where he continued until 1887 when he was in his 80th year. His wife who had been his faithful helper all through his ministry died on 3rd December, 1884 at the age of 63. For his own last 15 months he suffered from a protracted illness until he went home to heaven on 31st July, 1889. His body rests in the rather gloomy and neglected Canongate Cemetery, off the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. The words on his gravestone are becoming worn out, but his record is on high and he can be perhaps more appropriately remembered when we turn to one of his hymns and sing it.

- Source: believersmagazine.com/bm.php?i=20141103

QUOTES BY HORATIOUS BONAR

HALFHEARTED CHRISTIANITY WILL ONLY DISHONOR GOD

"If you are Christians, be consistent. Be Christians out and out; Christians every hour, in every part. Beware of halfhearted discipleship, of compromise with evil, of conformity to the world, of trying to serve two masters – to walk in two ways, the narrow and the broad, at once. It will not do. Halfhearted Christianity will only dishonor God, while it makes you miserable.” 

- Horatius Bonar (1808- 1889) Scottish Minister and Hymn Writer  

SEEK CONFORMITY TO HIM WHO HAS FORGIVEN YOUR TRESSPASSES 

"Free and warm reception into the divine favor is the strongest of all motives in leading a man to seek conformity to Him who has thus freely forgiven him all trespasses."  

- Horatius Bonar (1808- 1889) Scottish Minister and Hymn Writer 

HOW FAST WE LEARN IN A DAY OF SORROW!

"How fast we learn in a day of sorrow! Scripture shines out in a new effulgence; every verse seems to contain a sunbeam, every promise stands out in illuminated splendor; things hard to be understood become in a moment plain."

- Horatius Bonar (1808- 1889) Scottish Minister and Hymn Writer 

BE STRONG IN THE GRACE THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS

“Be Strong In The Grace That Is In Christ Jesus It was this grace or free love which first began with you, and with which you began. It was this which you at first 'apprehended,' or rather, which 'apprehended' you; and your special character is that of men who 'know the grace of God' (Col. 1:6); who have 'tasted that the Lord is gracious' (1 Pet. 2:3); men on whom God has had compassion (Rom. 9:15); men to whom He has shown His forgiving love. Such is your name.” 

- Horatius Bonar (1808- 1889) Scottish Minister and Hymn Writer 

HORATIOUS BONAR BOOKS AND SERMONS

Horatius Bonar Sermons - Sermon Index 

Behold the Man - Horatius Bonar Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Takes a refreshing look at the sufficiency of Jesus Christ for man's need as a sinner condemned by the Law of God. By who He is and what He does, Jesus Christ has provided a full and complete salvation for those who trust in Him.

• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889, contrib.: British Children in Canadian Homes (1879), by Ellen Agnes Bilbrough (multiple formats at archive.org)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: The Everlasting Righteousness (HTML at jude3.net)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: Follow the Lamb (HTML at jude3.net)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: God's Way of Holiness (HTML at jude3.net)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: God's Way of Peace: A Book for the Anxious (multiple formats with commentary at CCEL)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: The Rent Veil (multiple formats at CCEL)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889, ed.: The Bible hymn-book. (New York, R. Carter & Bros., 1860) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: The Bible hymn-book / (New York : Robert Carter and Brothers, 1853) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: Catechisms of the Scottish reformation / (London : J. Nisbet, 1866) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: Days and nights in the East; or, Illustrations of Bible scenes, (New York, Dodd & Mead, Publishers, [1865?]) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: The desert of Sinai: (New York, R. Carter & brothers, 1857) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: Does God care for our great cities? : the question and the answer from the book of Jonah ; a word for the Paris mission / (London : James Nisbet, 1880) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: Earth's morning ... (New York : R. Carter and bros., 1875) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Bonar, Horatius, 1808-1889: God's way of peace: a book for the anxious. (New York, R. Carter & Bros., 1870) (page images at HathiTrust)

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Bonar%2C%20Horatius%2C%201808%2D1889

Photo Credit: hymnologyarchive.com/horatius-bonar

ABOUT HUDSON TAYLOR

Taylor, James Hudson (1832-1905) Founder and director of the China Inland Mission (CIM) Born at Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, Hudson Taylor sensed by the time he was 17 that God was calling him to China. He prepared himself by reading books on China, analyzing the Chinese Gospel of Luke, and studying medicine. Four years of his first term of service (1853-1860) in southeast China was under a Chinese evangelization society, founded under the inspiration of Karl Gützlaff. In 1858 in Ningpo (Ningbo) he married Maria Dyer, who was a faithful helpmate until her death in 1870.

Although forced to return to England in 1860 because of poor health, Taylor had a continuing concern for the millions of Chinese living in provinces where no missionary had every gone. In 1865 he summed up his growing vision in China’s Spiritual Need and Claims. The same year, with great faith but limited financial resources, he founded the China Inland Mission. Its goal was to present the gospel to all the provinces of China. Beginning in 1866 with a group of twenty-two missionaries, including the Taylors, the mission grew rapidly in numbers and outreach. By the time of Taylor’s death in 1905, the CIM was an international body with 825 missionaries living in all eighteen provinces of China, more than 300 stations of work, more than 500 local Chinese helpers, and 25,000 Christian converts. Taylor stamped his own philosophy of life and work on the CIM: sole dependence on God financially, with no guaranteed salary; close identification with the Chinese in their way of life; administration based in China itself rather than in Great Britain; an evangelical, nondenominational faith; and an emphasis upon diffusing the gospel as widely as possible through all of China. The last led him to encourage single women to live in the interior of China, a step widely criticized by other mission societies.

With heavy administrative responsibilities, Taylor spent as much time out of China as in, traveling to manyTaylorH2_1865 countries to make China’s needs known and to recruit new missionaries. Although often absent from China, Taylor kept in close touch with his many missionaries, and where possible, continued to engage in missionary activity. He played a prominent part at the General Missionary Conferences in Shanghai in 1877 and 1890. He retired from administration 1901, died in Changsha, Hunan, in 1905, and was buried in Chen-chiang (Zhenjiang), Kiangsu (Jiangsu).

Ralph R. Covell, “Taylor, James Hudson,” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 657-658.

This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Source: bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/t-u-v/taylor-j-hudson-1832-1905/

QUOTES BY HUDSON TAYLOR

TO EVERY TOILING, HEAVY-LADEN SINNER 

"To every toiling, heavy-laden sinner, Jesus says, Come to me and rest. But there are many toiling, heavy-laden believers, too. For them this same invitation is meant. Note well the words of Jesus, if you are heavy-laden with your service, and do not mistake it. It is not, Go, labor on, as perhaps you imagine. On the contrary, it is stop, turn back, Come to me and rest. Never, never did Christ send a heavy laden one to work; never, never did He send a hungry one, a weary one, a sick or sorrowing one, away on any service. For such the Bible only says, Come, come, come."     

- Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China 

BEING AND ANXIOUS AND THE LORD'S WILL 

"I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient."

- Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China

BRANCH OF THE VINE DOES NOT WORRY  

"The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil, and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No; it rests in union and communion with the vine; and at the right time, and in the right way, is the right fruit found on it. Let us so abide in the Lord Jesus."  

- Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China 

THE SPIRIT OF THE INCARNATION AND THE CROSS

“The missionary spirit is the spirit of Jesus, the spirit of the incarnation and the cross.”

- Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China 

THREEFOLD JOY OF THE LORD

"It is the consciousness of the threefold joy of the Lord, His joy in ransoming us, His joy in dwelling within us as our Saviour and Power for fruit bearing and His joy in possessing us, as His Bride and His delight; it is the consciousness of this joy which is our real strength. Our joy in Him may be a fluctuating thing: His joy in us knows no change."

- Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China

BECAUSE THEY RECKONED ON HIS POWER  

"Many Christians estimate difficulties in the light of their own resources, and thus attempt little and often fail in the little they attempt. All God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His power and presence with them."  

- Hudson Taylor

LET US SO ABIDE IN THE LORD JESUS

"The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil, and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No; it rests in union and communion with the vine; and at the right time, and in the right way, is the right fruit found on it. Let us so abide in the Lord Jesus."

- Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China 

GOD'S WORK DONE IN GOD'S WAY 

"God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply."

-  Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China 

DO ALL WE CAN UNDER GOD'S EYE  

"As our Father makes many a flower to bloom unseen in the lonely desert, [let us] do all that we can do, as under God's eye, though no other eye ever take note of it."  

- Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China 

THE SPIRIT'S POWER

"Since the days of Pentecost, has the whole church ever put aside every other work and waited upon Him for ten days, that the Spirit's power might be manifested? We give too much attention to method and machinery and resources, and too little to the source of power."

- Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China

WHO HAS GOD THE FATHER

"What is a Christian? The richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father."

- Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China

IN FASTING WE LEARN 

"In Shansi I found Chinese Christians who were accustomed to spend time in fasting and prayer. They recognized that this fasting, which so many dislike, which requires faith in God, since it makes one feel weak and poorly, is really a Divinely appointed means of grace. Perhaps the greatest hindrance to our work is our own imagined strength; and in fasting we learn what poor, weak creatures we are-dependent on a meal of meat for the little strength which we are so apt to lean upon."

- Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China 

DO HIS WORK THROUGH ME  

"I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help Him to do His work through me." 

 
- Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) Missionary to China 

LAST WORDS OF HUDSON TAYLOR

Hudson Taylor, founder of China Inland Mission, in the closing months of his life said to a friend, "I am so weak. I can't read my Bible. I can't even pray. I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child and trust."

- Our Daily Bread, January 1, 1994.

HUDSON TAYLOR BOOKS AND SERMONS

Taylor, J. Hudson and China Inland Mission. Hudson Taylor’s Story of His Early Life and the Forming of the China Inland Mission: As Told in “A Retrospect”. Philadelphia: China Inland Mission, 1900-1980.

China’s Spiritual Need and Claims. 7th ed. London: Morgan & Scott, 1887.

Days of Blessing in Inland China being an Account of Meetings Held in the Province of Shan-Si, &c. : With an Introduction. Variation: ATLA Monograph Preservation Program; ATLA Fiche 1986-0533. 2nd ed. London: Morgan & Scott, 1887.

Broomhall, Alfred. Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century: Barbarians at the Gates. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1982.

Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century: Over The Treaty Wall. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1982.

Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century: If I had A Thousand Lives. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1983.

Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century: Survivor’s Pact. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1984.

Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century, Book Five: Refiner’s Fire. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1985.

Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century: Assault On The Nine. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1986.

Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century: It Is Not Death To Die. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1989.

Broomhall, Marshall. Hudson Taylor, the Man Who Believed God. Philadelphia: China Inland Mission, 1929.

Pollock, John Charles. Hudson Taylor and Maria; Pioneers in China. 1st ed. ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.

Taylor, Howard, and Geraldine Taylor [Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor]. A Biography of James Hudson Taylor. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1997.

Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission; the Growth of a Work of God. 4th impression ed. London Philadelphia [etc.]: Morgan & Scott, ltd China Inland Mission, 1920.

Hudson Taylor in Early Years : The Growth of a Soul. London: China inland mission, 1911.

The Spiritual Secret of Hudson Taylor. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 2003.

Photo Credit: omf.org/us/about/our-story/james-hudson-taylor/

ABOUT MAJOR IAN THOMAS

W. Ian Thomas (13 September 1914 – 1 August 2007) was an evangelist, Christian evangelical writer, theological teacher and founder of the Torchbearers Bible schools.

At the age of 12, he was invited to a Bible study group of the Crusaders Christian Youth Movement by a 13 year old lad. The following summer, still 12 years old, he was converted to Christ at a Crusaders' Union camp.

At the age of 15, he felt convinced that he should devote all of his life to the service of the Lord Jesus. He began to preach out in the open air at Hampstead Heath. He was also actively engaged in Sunday School work as well as in the Crusaders' Bible class.

He thought the best thing for him to do was to become a doctor. At the university, Ian became a leader in the Inter-Varsity Fellowship group. He started a slum club down in the East End of London "out of a sheer desire to win souls, to go out and get them. I was a windmill of activity until, at the age of 19, every moment of my day was packed tight with doing things. Thus by the age of 19, I had been reduced to a state of complete exhaustion spiritually, until I felt that there was no point going on."

"Then, one night in November, that year, just at midnight, I got down on my knees before God, and I just wept in sheer despair. I said, 'With all my heart I have wanted to serve Thee. I have tried to my uttermost and I am a hopeless failure.' That night things happened. The Lord seemed to make plain to me that night, through my tears of bitterness: 'You see, for seven years, with utmost sincerity, you have been trying to live for Me, on My behalf, the life that I have been waiting for 7 years to live through you.'" Thomas later reflected: "I got up the next morning to an entirely different Christian life, but I want to emphasize this: I had not received one iota more than I had already had for seven years!"

Major Thomas served in the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium at the outset of World War II and took part in the evacuation at Dunkirk. He would also spend time during the war in France, Italy, and Greece (often times fighting).

When he was not traveling, Major Thomas resided in Estes Park, Colorado, with his wife, Joan Thomas, and his eldest son, Chris Thomas.

Ian Thomas was born in London on 13 September 1914.

He joined the British Army in World War II. He was decorated with the D.S.O. (Distinguished Service Order) for conspicuous gallantry in taking out a German machine gun nest, and the T.D. (Territorial Decoration). When the Germans surrendered at the Battle of Monte Cassino, Major W. Ian Thomas went and took the flag of surrender. 

After his service in the British Army, Ian Thomas was probably best known as a Bible teacher, author, and as the founder of both Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers (based at Capernwray Hall, England) and subsequently Torchbearers International (based in US).

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Ian_Thomas

QUOTES BY MAJOR IAN THOMAS

A MAN COULD HAVE ALL THE MONEY

"A man could have all the money in all the banks in all the world, and be worth nothing so far as God is concerned, if he were still living "to and for himself"!

- Major Ian Thomas (1914-2007) British War Hero, Christian Writer 

THE MEASURE OF A MAN'S WORTH

"The measure of a man's worth is the measure in which he no longer lives "to and for himself," but "to and for Jesus Christ." No more and no less!"

- Major Ian Thomas (1914-2007) British War Hero, Christian Writer 

THE ONE WHO CALLS YOU TO A LIFE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

"The One who calls you to a life of righteousness is the One who by our consent lives that life of righteousness through you!"

- Major Ian Thomas (1914-2007) British War Hero, Christian Writer 

CHRIST DID NOT DIE SIMPLY THAT YOU MIGHT BE SAVED

"Christ did not die simply that you might be saved from a bad conscience, or even to remove the stain of past failure, but to "clear the decks" for divine action."

- Major Ian Thomas (1914-2007) British War Hero, Christian Writer 

BUT NOT LIVE IN THE POWER OF WHO HE IS

"There are those who have a life they never live. They have come to Christ and thanked Him only for what He did, but do not live in the power of who He is."

- Major Ian Thomas (1914-2007) British War Hero, Christian Writer 

TRUE GODLINESS LEAVES THE WORLD CONVINCED 

"True godliness leaves the world convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the only explanation for you, is Jesus Christ to whose eternally unchanging and altogether adequate "I AM!" your heart has learned to say with unshatterable faith, "Thou art!" 

- Major Ian Thomas (1914-2007) British War Hero, Christian Writer 

JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF IS THE FINAL

"Jesus Christ Himself is the final exegesis of all truth. He is all that we need to know about God, and He is all that we need to know about man."

- Major Ian Thomas (1914-2007) British War Hero, Christian Writer  

MAJOR IAN THOMAS BOOKS AND SERMONS

Major Ian Thomas Sermons - Sermon Index 

Listen to freely downloadable audio sermons by the speaker Major Ian Thomas in mp3 format. Evangelical writer, theological teacher and founder of the Torchbearers bible schools. These schools are now world-wide in many countries and provide a teaching base on the person of Christ in the believer and basic Biblical exposition of Bible books.

Among the many books that he wrote, the most influential have been: "The Saving Life Of Christ" , "The mystery of godliness" and "If I perish, I Perish." His burden in ministry was to express and show the indwelling life of Christ in believers and the rest and power that life will have in us as we trust and have faith.

SermonIndex Recommends these books by Major Ian Thomas:

The Indwelling Life of Christ: All of Him in All of Me by Major Ian Thomas

If I Perish, I Perish by Major Ian Thomas

The Mystery of Godliness: Experiencing Christ in Us by Major Ian Thomas

Photo Credit: findagrave.com/memorial/20799573/ian-thomas