CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHIES L-l

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 JOHN OF KRONSTADT

Saint John of Kronstadt, born as Ivan Ilyitch Sergieff, the son of poor peasant folk, was born on the 19th of October 1829 in the little village of Soura, in the province of Arkhangelsk in the far north of Russia. His parents, poor and simple though they were, took great pains with his education, both spiritual and temporal. From school, where he had gone to the top of his class, he went to the seminary. From there he was sent in 1851, at government expense, to the Theological Academy of Saint Petersburg. While he was there his father died, and it was with great thankfulness to God that he accepted the post of registrar.

Having considered becoming a monk, and going to eastern Siberia as a missionary, he came to the conclusion that there were many people around him as unenlightened as any pagan, and he decided to work for their salvation, after a dream in answer to prayer, in which he saw himself officiating in some unknown cathedral.

Soon after completing his studies he married Elisabeth, daughter of the Archpriest K. P. Nevitzki, and he was ordained priest in December 1855. Appointed as assistant priest at Saint Andrew's Cathedral, Kronstadt, when he entered it for the first time he recognized it as the church he had seen in his dream; and there, first as curate, and afterwards as rector, he served throughout the fifty-three years of his ministry. Cherishing a lofty ideal of the priestly vocation, he continued nightly to study and pray that he might perfect himself in it, while during the day he devoted himself to the many poor of his parish.

Father John, whose predecessors, apparently, had hardly even dared to penetrate the worst parts of the town, spent much of his time there, striving to heal bodies and souls alike, attracting to himself first the children, and then, through them, their parents. Often he found no time to eat until the late evening, and even then he would sometimes be summoned out again, and not return before the small hours; he gave away his own shoes, he gave away the housekeeping money: his wife gradually accustomed herself to it, and finally became something like his keeper.

In 1857 he was invited to teach the scripture in the municipal school at Kronstadt, and he accepted with joy, for he loved children, and always took great pains with them. When his fame had spread and he was constantly visiting Saint Petersburg, then to his own, his colleagues and pupils great regret, he was forced to abandon his teaching post.

Another object of Father John's concern and labor was the removal of the widespread poverty that afflicted Kronstadt. At first he gave these beggars money for food and shelter, but he soon came to see that this was not merely useless, but positively harmful. In 1868 he conceived the idea of founding a House of Industry, comprising a number of workshops, a dormitory, a refectory, a dispensary, and a primary school. He formed a committee, and appealed for funds. His appeal was answered by rich and poor from all over Russia, and the House of Industry was founded in 1873. Father John administered a total of over $25,000 a year in numerous charities, half of it in Kronstadt.

There is an attractive power in the personality of Father John of Kronstadt, in his portrait, the magnetism of his writings, and in his diary My Life in Christ. There is a peaceful and consoling quality in the notes of his diary, not to mention the very subjects of his talks, which spiritually exalt, uplift, and strengthen.

- Source: ccel.org/ccel/kronstadt

QUOTES BY JOHN OF KRONSTADT

BENEFICIAL TO THE MAN WHO INTERCEDES  

"Prayer for others is very beneficial to the man himself who prays; it purifies the heart, strengthens faith and hope in God, and arouses love for God and our neighbor."  

- John of Kronstadt (1829–1909) Russian Orthodox Archpriest 

WEARIED AND OPPRESED BY LONLINESS  

"When you are praying alone, and your spirit is dejected, and you are wearied and oppressed by your loneliness, remember then, as always, that God the Trinity looks upon you with eyes brighter than the sun; also all the angels, your own Guardian Angel, and all the Saints of God." 

- John of Kronstadt (1829–1909) Russian Orthodox Archpriest 

THE LORD, BEFORE HIS INCARNATION

“The Lord, before His Incarnation, let mankind experience all the bitterness of sin, all their powerlessness to eradicate it; and when all longed for a Deliverer, then He appeared, the most wise, all-powerful Physician and Helper. When men hungered and thirsted after righteousness, as it grew weaker, then the everlasting righteousness came.” 

- John of Kronstadt (1829–1909) Russian Orthodox Archpriest 

HOW WILL IT BE FOR US IN THE FUTURE

"How will it be with us in the future life, when everything that has gratified us in this world: riches, honors, food and drink, dress, beautifully furnished dwellings, and all attractive objects-how will it be, I say, when all these things leave us-when they will all seem to us a dream, and when works of faith and virtue, of abstinence, purity, meekness, humility, mercy, patience, obedience, and others will be required of us?"

- John of Kronstadt (1829–1909) Russian Orthodox Archpriest 

PROVED  AND REVEALED IN ADVERSITY

"Our faith, trust, and love are proved and revealed in adversities, that is, in difficult and grievous outward and inward circumstances, during sickness, sorrow, and privations."

- John of Kronstadt (1829–1909) Russian Orthodox Archpriest  

IT IS NECASSARY FOR A CHRISTIAN TO FAST

"It is necessary for a Christian to fast, in order to clear his mind, to rouse and develop his feelings, and to stimulate his will to useful activity. These three human capabilities we darken and stifle above all by ‘surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life’ (Lk. 21:34).

- John of Kronstadt (1829–1909) Russian Orthodox Archpriest 

EVIL AND FAULTS ARE CORRECTED BY GOOD

"Evil and faults are corrected by good, by love, kindness, meekness, humility, and patience."

- John of Kronstadt (1829–1909) Russian Orthodox Archpriest 

JOHN OF KRONSTADT BOOKS AND SERMONS

My Life in Christ, or Moments of Spiritual Serenity and Contemplation, of Reverent Feeling, of Earnest Self-Amendment, and of Peace in God - by John of Kronstadt

Spiritual counsels of Father John Kronstadt by John of Kronstadt, Saint

Counsels on the Christian Priesthood: selected passages from My life in Christ by John of Kronstadt

Photo Credit: Prabook.com/web/john.of_kronstadt/3778804

ABOUT JOHN R. RICE

John R. Rice was born in Cooke County, Texas, on December 11, 1895, the son of William H. And Sally Elizabeth LaPrade Rice. Educated at Decatur Baptist College and Baylor University, he did graduate work at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the University of Chicago.

On September 27, 1921, he was married to Lloys McClure Cooke. Six daughters were born of that union, all of whom, with their husbands, labored in full-time Christian service.

Although Dr. Rice served as pastor of Baptist churches in Dallas and Shamrock, Texas (plus starting about a dozen others from his successful independent crusades), his primary work was as an evangelist. He had been a friend and peer of Billy and Ma Sunday, Bob Jones, Sr., W. B. Riley, Homer Rodeheaver, H. A. Ironside, Robert G. Lee, Harry Rimmer, and other leaders of that era. He held huge city-wide crusades in Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, Seattle and numerous other key metropolitan centers.

Called by his biographer “The 20th Century’s Mightiest Pen,” Dr. Rice authored more than 200 books and booklets circulating in excess of 60 million copies before his death, about a dozen of which were translated into at least 35 foreign languages. His sermon booklet, “What Must I Do Be Saved?” had been distributed in over 32 million copies in English alone, 81 million in Japanese, and nearly 2 million in Spanish.

In 1934 he launched the Sword Of The Lord which, by the time of his death, had become the largest independent religious weekly in the world with subscribers in every state of the union and more than 100 foreign countries. Thousands of preachers read it regularly, and it undoubtedly had the greatest impact upon the fundamentalist movement of any publication in the 20th century.

Source: christianhof.org/rice/

Personality

Rice was an exceptionally hard worker who rarely took vacations. He once estimated that he had been away from home for thirty years of his forty-five year ministry. His book Home, Courtship, Marriage and Children was written almost entirely on the road, one chapter dictated on a train between Chicago and Albany, most of another while waiting for a plane at LaGuardia. A daughter who took a semester out of college to play the piano for Rice in two large revivals was there also pressed into service taking his dictation and typing the manuscript of the final chapters of the book. He claimed that woodworking was his hobby, but although he had all the necessary tools, he never had the time to use them. A brick room behind his house intended for woodworking was eventually used for storage. 

Rice was gracious with praise and commanded the loyalty of his staff. He had a sometimes corny sense of humor—such as asking service station attendants, "Do you know where I could buy some gasoline?" or walking by a table filled with his own books and remarking to potential buyers, "I have read these books and find them to be sound." He liked dogs, horses, and children. Once he was discovered after a service playing hopscotch. He wrote texts and picked out melodic lines for dozens of simple gospel songs, mostly about revival and soulwinning. He was extremely frugal; there was never a hint of scandal about his personal life, and the testimonies of his six daughters were a credit to his ministry. Once on a car trip from Dallas to Chicago, Rice prayed, "Lord, help me to find someone I can win." He then missed a turn in Oklahoma and drove fifty miles out of the way. At a gas station where he stopped to ask directions, he led the attendant to Christ. Still upset about the unplanned detour, his daughters giggled at him, reminding him of his earlier prayer. 

At 81, with a hearing aid, suffering from arthritis, and aware that his memory was "not quick as it was years ago," Rice still managed to be at the office most mornings at 6:30. In 1978, he had a heart attack, then a second, more serious one in April 1980. He died of a stroke on December 29. The staff counted 22,923 letters that had come to Rice between the beginning of his writing ministry and his death, each reporting that the writer had found Christ through Rice's books or booklets or through a sermon published in The Sword of the Lord. 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Rice_(pastor)

QUOTES BY  JOHN R. RICE

HIS BROKENHEARTED CRY FROM THE CROSS

"His brokenhearted cry on the cross, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,' shows God's heart toward sinners."  

- John R. Rice (1895–1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

YOU CAN NEVER REALLY ENJOY CHRISTMAS UNTIL

"You can never truly enjoy Christmas until you can look up into the Father's face and tell him you have received his Christmas gift."

- John R. Rice (1895–1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

YOU CAN'T WIN EVERYBODY TO THE LORD

"You can't win everybody to the Lord, but you can always win somebody."

- John R. Rice (1895– 1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

THAT SIN WHICH FIRST CAME BETWEEN YOU AND GOD

"Christian, that sin which first came between you and God is bad, but that is not the last step in the progress of sin. The most guilty part in this quadruple sin is to hide it, deny it, ignore it, refust to confess it, refuse to repent of it! "

- John R. Rice (1895– 1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

 LET NO PREACHER IN A LITTLE CHURCH THINK

"Let no preacher in a little church think that he has no audience for his message. An unseen audience of multitudes compass him about! Let no Christian who sins in the dark think that he is unobserved. He is compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses! Assuredly in Heaven they know what goes on on earth."

- John R. Rice (1895– 1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

AND THEN THE DEAR LORD WILL TAKE US TO A NEW EARTH

"And then the dear Lord will take us to the new earth, surrounded by the new Heaven, and the holy New Jerusalem will come down from God out of Heaven. Then we will have an end of pain and sorrow and crying and death. All these, thank God, will be forever done! And then God Himself will wipe away our tears."

- John R. Rice (1895– 1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

WHAT KIND OF CHRISTIAN ARE YOU?

"What kind of Christian are you? Did you ever lose a job, or lose a night's sleep, or lose a friend for God? If your Christianity never costs you a dollar, never cost you a friend, never cost any tears or broken heart, then can you really say that you love the Lord very much? To be a really good Christian is going to cost you."

- John R. Rice (1895– 1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

MANY A CHRISTIAN WOMAN HAS WEPT AS SHE TOLD ME

"Many a Christian woman has wept as she told me how earnestly she prayed, how diligently she attended the house of God, how eagerly she did church work, and God seemed not to hear her prayers about an unsaved husband or son or daughter! It is a remarkable fact that in nearly every congregation of Christians are godly women, women who pray, who read their Bibles, who live lives more or less separated from worldliness in general, and yet who cannot get their prayers answered for the conversion of their loved ones. "Why? Why?" the cry comes. The answer is not found in the public church services. The answer is not found if you watch such good women singing in the choir, teaching in the Sunday School, attending Bible conferences, giving money to the poor. No, no! Our sins and hindered prayer are primarily home-sins. The sins of Christians which hinder their prayers and stop Heaven, and shut the ears of God and grieve Him till He turns His dear face away from His own born-again children, are not most often the sins of the tavern, nor of the dance floor, nor of the theatre. They are not the public sins so much as the private sins. They are not the sins in the church so much as in the homes!"

- John R. Rice (1895– 1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

IT IS FAR BEST FOR A CHRISTIAN NEVER

"It is far best for the Christian never to see some things, so he will never want them. The old-fashioned Christian who will not have playing cards in his house will never learn to gamble with them. One who never sees, in movies and night clubs or elsewhere, half-clothed girls, drinking, smoking, gambling, petting, making love to many men, is likely to miss being led into that kind of life by these sirens of sin. It is the Devil's game to make people think it necessary for people to "know the ways of the world." 

- John R. Rice (1895– 1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

ANY TIME A CHRISTIAN IS CONSCIOUS OF HIS SIN 

"Any time a Christian is conscious of his sin, judges the sin and takes sides against it with a penitent heart, then he has a perfect right to trust the Lord for instant, complete forgiveness and for perfect cleansing." 

- John R. Rice (1895– 1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

THE SAVIOUR SAID HE WAS GOING TO PREPARE US A PLACE 

"The Saviour said He was going to prepare us a place. How wonderful it will be is beyond human computation. Remember that in six days Christ made the heavens and earth and all that in them is.... If He made so many wonders in six days, then what beauties and marvels He has surely prepared during these 1900 years in which He has been preparing our mansions in the Father's House!"

- John R. Rice (1895– 1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

A HEART TO BRING IN THE LOST SHEEP

"I want no Christmas without a burden for lost souls, a message for sinners, a heart to bring in the lost sheep so dear to the Shepherd, the sinning souls for whom Christ died."

- John R. Rice (1895– 1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

ALL THAT GO TO HELL PAY THEIR WAY 

“Those who go to Heaven ride on a pass and enter into blessings that they never earned, but all who go to hell pay their own way.”  

- John R. Rice (1895– 1980) Baptist Evangelist and Pastor

 JOHN R. RICE BOOKS AND SERMONS

John R. Rice Sermons - Sermon Index 

What Will Happen When Jesus Comes? by John R Rice

Sunday or Sabbath by John R Rice

What Must I Do to Be Saved by John R Rice

Count Your Blessings by John R Rice

The Second Coming of Christ in Daniel by John R Rice

Ho, Israel, Repent! by John R Rice

The Soul-Winner's Fire by John R Rice

Is God a Dirty Bully? by John R. Rice

Compel Them to Come in by John R. Rice

I Love Christmas by John R. Rice

Bible Lessons on the Book of Revelation by John R Rice

When a Christian Sins by John R. Rice

We Can Have Revival Now by John R. Rice

Crossing the Deadline by John R. Rice

Seven Secrets of a Happy, Prosperous Christian Life

Spectators at the Cross by John R. Rice

The Woman Thou Gavest Me by John R. Rice

Verbal Inspiration of the Bible by John R. Rice

Healing in Answer to Prayer by John R. Rice

Thank You for Loving Me by John R. Rice

How Jesus, Our Pattern, Was Filled with the Holy Spirit by John R. Rice

Photo Credit: findagrave.com/memorial/41692890/john-r-rice

ABOUT JOHN WESELY

In late 1735, a ship made its way to the New World from England. On board was a young Anglican minister, John Wesley, who had been invited to serve as a pastor to British colonists in Savannah, Georgia. When the weather went sour, the ship found itself in serious trouble. Wesley, also chaplain of the vessel, feared for his life.

But he noticed that the group of German Moravians, who were on their way to preach to American Indians, were not afraid at all. In fact, throughout the storm, they sang calmly. When the trip ended, he asked the Moravian leader about his serenity, and the Moravian responded with a question: Did he, Wesley, have faith in Christ? Wesley said he did, but later reflected, "I fear they were vain words."

In fact, Wesley was confused by the experience, but his perplexity was to lead to a period of soul searching and finally to one of the most famous and consequential conversions in church history.

Religious upbringing

Wesley was born into a strong Anglican home: his father, Samuel, was priest, and his mother, Susanna, taught religion and morals faithfully to her 19 children.

Wesley attended Oxford, proved to be a fine scholar, and was soon ordained into the Anglican ministry. At Oxford, he joined a society (founded by his brother Charles) whose members took vows to lead holy lives, take Communion once a week, pray daily, and visit prisons regularly. In addition, they spent three hours every afternoon studying the Bible and other devotional material.

From this "holy club" (as fellow students mockingly called it), Wesley sailed to Georgia to pastor. His experience proved to be a failure. A woman he courted in Savannah married another man. When he tried to enforce the disciplines of the "holy club" on his church, the congregation rebelled. A bitter Wesley returned to England.

Heart strangely warmed

After speaking with another Moravian, Peter Boehler, Wesley concluded that he lacked saving faith. Though he continued to try to be good, he remained frustrated. "I was indeed fighting continually, but not conquering. … I fell and rose, and fell again."

On May 24, 1738, he had an experience that changed everything. He described the event in his journal:

"In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

Meanwhile, another former member of the "holy club," George Whitefield, was having remarkable success as a preacher, especially in the industrial city of Bristol. Hundreds of working-class poor, oppressed by industrializing England and neglected by the church, were experiencing emotional conversions under his fiery preaching. So many were responding that Whitefield desperately needed help.

Wesley accepted Whitefield's plea hesitantly. He distrusted Whitefield's dramatic style; he questioned the propriety of Whitefield's outdoor preaching (a radical innovation for the day); he felt uncomfortable with the emotional reactions even his own preaching elicited. But the orderly Wesley soon warmed to the new method of ministry.

With his organizational skills, Wesley quickly became the new leader of the movement. But Whitefield was a firm Calvinist, whereas Wesley couldn't swallow the doctrine of predestination. Furthermore, Wesley argued (against Reformed doctrine) that Christians could enjoy entire sanctification in this life: loving God and their neighbors, meekness and lowliness of heart, abstaining from all appearance of evil, and doing all for the glory of God. In the end, the two preachers parted ways.

From "Methodists" to Methodism

Wesley did not intend to found a new denomination, but historical circumstances and his organizational genius conspired against his desire to remain in the Church of England.

Wesley's followers first met in private home "societies." When these societies became too large for members to care for one another, Wesley organized "classes," each with 11 members and a leader. Classes met weekly to pray, read the Bible, discuss their spiritual lives, and to collect money for charity. Men and women met separately, but anyone could become a class leader.

The moral and spiritual fervor of the meetings is expressed in one of Wesley's most famous aphorisms: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."

The movement grew rapidly, as did its critics, who called Wesley and his followers "Methodists," a label they wore proudly. It got worse than name calling at times: Methodists were frequently met with violence as paid ruffians broke up meetings and threatened Wesley's life.

Though Wesley scheduled his itinerant preaching so it wouldn't disrupt local Anglican services, the bishop of Bristol still objected. Wesley responded, "The world is my parish"—a phrase that later became a slogan of Methodist missionaries. Wesley, in fact, never slowed down, and during his ministry he traveled over 4,000 miles annually, preaching some 40,000 sermons in his lifetime.

A few Anglican priests, such as his hymn-writing brother Charles, joined these Methodists, but the bulk of the preaching burden rested on John. He was eventually forced to employ lay preachers, who were not allowed to serve Communion but merely served to complement the ordained ministry of the Church of England.

Wesley then organized his followers into a "connection," and a number of societies into a "circuit" under the leadership of a "superintendent." Periodic meetings of Methodist clergy and lay preachers eventually evolved into the "annual conference," where those who were to serve each circuit were appointed, usually for three-year terms.

In 1787, Wesley was required to register his lay preachers as non-Anglicans. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the American Revolution isolated Yankee Methodists from their Anglican connections. To support the American movement, Wesley independently ordained two lay preachers and appointed Thomas Coke as superintendent. With these and other actions, Methodism gradually moved out of the Church of England—though Wesley himself remained an Anglican until his death.

An indication of his organizational genius, we know exactly how many followers Wesley had when he died: 294 preachers, 71,668 British members, 19 missionaries (5 in mission stations), and 43,265 American members with 198 preachers. Today Methodists number about 30 million worldwide.

Source: christianitytoday.com/history/people/denominationalfounders/john-wesley.html

QUOTES BY JOHN WESELY

THE FIRST PRIORITY OF MY LIFE

"The first priority of my life is to be holy, and the second goal of my life is to be a scholar."

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

EVEN IN THE GREATEST AFFLICTIONS  

“Even in the greatest afflictions, we ought to testify to God, that, in receiving them from his hand, we feel pleasure in the midst of the pain, from being afflicted by Him who loves us, and whom we love.” 

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

HAVE AN EYE ON GOD IN EVERY WORD YOU SING  

"Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven." 

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

ALL THINGS TO YOUR PLEASURE AND DISPOSAL  

"Lord, I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will. Let be employed by You or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low by You. Let me have all things, let me have nothing, I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am Yours. So be it. Amen." 

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

AS NO GOOD IS DONE, OR SPOKEN

"As no good is done, or spoken, or thought by any man without the assistance of God, working in and with those that believe in him, so there is no evil done, or spoken, or thought without the assistance of the devil, who worketh with strong though secret power in the children of unbelief. All the works of our evil nature are the work of the devil."

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

BETWEEN WHICH WE DIVIDED OUR HEART

"We scarce conceive how easy it is to rob God of his due, in our friendship with the most virtuous persons, until they are torn from us by death. But if this loss produce lasting sorrow, that is a clear proof that we had before two treasures, between which we divided our heart."

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

FAITH WHEREBY THE SPRIRITUAL MAN DISCERNETH GOD    

"Faith is the divine evidence whereby the spiritual man discerneth God, and the things of God."  

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

LITTLE OPENING AND THE DEVIL

"As the most dangerous winds may enter at little openings, so the devil never enters more dangerously than by little unobserved incidents, which seem to be nothing, yet insensibly open the heart to great temptations."

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

GOD ENTRUSTED YOU WITH MONEY  

“Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you, how dare you, defraud the Lord, by applying it to any other purpose?”   

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

WHETHER ALL THEIR THOUGHTS ARE PURE  

"There is no faithfulness like that which ought to be between a guide of souls and the person directed by him. They ought continually to regard each other in God, and closely to examine themselves, whether all their thoughts are pure, and all their words directed with Christian discretion. Other affairs are only the things of men; but these are peculiarly the things of God."  

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

HAVE YOU ANY DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER?  

"Bear up the hands that hang down, by faith and prayer; support the tottering knees. Have you any days of fasting and prayer? Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down." 

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

CONTENT WITH OFFERING THEM TO GOD  

"We are to bear with those we cannot amend, and to be content with offering them to God. This is true resignation. And since He has borne our infirmities, we may well bear those of each other for His sake."  

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

AS WE SHALL LOVE HIM IN ETERNITY

"The best means of resisting the devil is, to destroy whatever of the world remains in us, in order to raise for God, upon its ruins, a building all of love. Then shall we begin, in this fleeting life, to love God as we shall love him in eternity."

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

LIVING HOPE INCORRUPTIBLE AND UNDEILED

"A Methodist (Christian) is one who loves the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength. God is the joy of his heart, and the desire of his soul, which is continually crying, 'Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth whom I desire besides thee.' My God and my all! 'Thou art the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.' He is therefore happy in God; yea, always happy, as having in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life, and over-flowing his soul with peace and joy. Perfect love living now cast out fear, he rejoices evermore. Yea, his joy is full, and all his bones cry out, 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten me again unto a living hope of an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, reserved in heaven for me."

- John Wesley (1703-1791) English Cleric and Minister

JOHN WESELY BOOKS AND SERMONS

• Wesley, John, 1703-1791, contrib.: The Christian's Manual: A Treatise on Christian Perfection, With Directions for Obtaining That State (New York: Carlton and Porter, ca. 1824), by Timothy Merritt (page images at HathiTrust)
• Wesley, John, 1703-1791: A Collection of Hymns, for the Use of the People Called Methodists (HTML at CCEL)
• Wesley, John, 1703-1791: Explanatory Notes Upon the Bible (multiple formats at CCEL)
• Wesley, John, 1703-1791: Hymns and Sacred Poems (fourth edition; Bristol, UK: Printed by F. Farley, 1743), also by Charles Wesley (multiple formats at archive.org)
• Wesley, John, 1703-1791: The Journal of John Wesley (multiple formats at CCEL)
• Wesley, John, 1703-1791, contrib.: Pictures of Slavery in Church and State: Including Personal Reminiscences, Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes, etc. etc.; With an Appendix, Containing the Views of John Wesley and Richard Watson on Slavery. (second edition; Philadelphia: The author, 1857), by John Dixon Long, also contrib. by Richard Watson (HTML and TEI at UNC)
• Wesley, John, 1703-1791: A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (multiple formats at CCEL)
• Wesley, John, 1703-1791, ed.: The Saints' Everlasting Rest: or, A Treatise of the Blessed State of the Saints in Their Enjoyment of God in Glory ("extracted from the works of Mr. Richard Baxter"; New York: E. Cooper and J. Wilson, 1806), by Richard Baxter
  • multiple formats at archive.org
• Wesley, John, 1703-1791: The Sermons of John Wesley (from the 1872 edition), ed. by Thomas Jackson, contrib. by Ryan N. Danker (HTML at nnu.edu)
• Wesley, John, 1703-1791: Sermons on Several Occasions (multiple formats with commentary at CCEL)

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Wesley%2C%20John%2C%201703%2D1791

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

ABOUT JONATHAN EDWARDS

Edwards was born in East Windsor, Connecticut, the son of Timothy Edwards and grandson of the famed Solomon Stoddard. From birth he was set aside for the ministry, and at an early age he resolved to be great in the cause of Christianity. Following his education at Yale College, Edwards served briefly at pastorates in New York City and Bolton, Connecticut, and then moved to Northampton, Massachusetts, where he served with his grandfather and, upon Stoddard’s death in 1729, as senior pastor of the First Congregational Church. In his years at Northampton Edwards began producing the philosophical and theological works that would make him early America’s most eminent Christian philosopher. His intellectual leadership during the Great Awakening of the 1740s succeeded in rearticulating historic Calvinist theology within the categories of the “New Learning” championed by John Locke and Isaac Newton.

Following his dismissal from the Northampton congregation in 1750 over the issue of Communion and church membership, Edwards accepted a call to a Native American mission in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1758. During these years, he completed many of his famous theological treatises including Freedom of the Will (1754) and Original Sin (1758). Edwards’s prodigious scholarship, however, did not come at the expense of his missionary activity with the Mohawk Indians. As evangelist and Native American school reformer, he worked tirelessly to meet the religious and educational needs of Native Americans and, by his example as much as by his words, established the foundation for Calvinist (“Edwardsian”) missions in the nineteenth and twentieth century.

In 1758 Edwards reluctantly accepted an appointment as president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton College). He died of a smallpox inoculation, however, before serving his new appointment.

As minister, theologian, and missionary, Edwards has exercised profound influence not only on the thought, culture, and literary life of his own time but on American society to the present. He is a window into a critical period in American history and was a shaper of spiritual life in America. When historians seek a person who represents the Puritan, intellectual strain in the American character, they turn almost universally to Edwards.

Harry S. Stout, “Edwards, Jonathan,” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 195.

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/e-f/edwards-jonathan-1703-1758/

QUOTES BY JONATHAN EDWARDS

YOU CONTRIBUTE NOTHING TO YOUR SALVATION

"You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary."

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) Theologian and Philosopher 

THE SUREST WAY TO KNOW OUR GOLD 

"The surest way to know our gold is to look upon it and examine it in God's furnace, where he tries it that we may see what it is. If we have a mind to know whether a building stands strong or no, we must look upon it when the wind blows. If we would know whether a staff be strong, or a rotten, broken reed, we must observe it when it is leaned on and weight is borne upon it. If we would weigh ourselves justly we must weigh ourselves in God's scales that he makes use of to weigh us."

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist

SOME TALK OF IT AS UNREASONABLE

"Some talk of it as an unreasonable thing to fright persons to heaven, but I think it is a reasonable thing to endeavor to fright persons away from hell. They stand upon its brink, and are just ready to fall into it, and are senseless of their danger. Is it not a reasonable thing to fright a person out of a house of fire? Or is it not the duty of a parent to warn their child running toward the edge of a cliff?"

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist 

LOOK UPON IT WHEN THE WIND BLOWS  

"The surest way to know our gold is to look upon it and examine it in God's furnace, where he tries it that we may see what it is. If we have a mind to know whether a building stands strong or no, we must look upon it when the wind blows. If we would know whether a staff be strong, or a rotten, broken reed, we must observe it when it is leaned on and weight is borne upon it. If we would weigh ourselves justly we must weigh ourselves in God's scales that he makes use of to weigh us."  

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist, Preacher

THE SATISFACTION OF CHRIST IS TO SET US FROM SLAVERY

"By Christ's purchasing redemption, two things are intended: his satisfaction and his merit; the one pays our debt, and so satisfies; the other procures our title, and so merits. The satisfaction of Christ is to free us from misery; the merit of Christ is to purchase happiness for us."

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist, Preacher

GOD'S OWN SPIRIT DWELLING IN OUR HEARTS

"The true spirit of prayer is no other than God's own Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the saints. And as this spirit comes from God, so doth it naturally tend to God in holy breathings and pantings. It naturally leads to God, to converse with him by prayer."

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist 

JESUS CHRIST IS ONLY PRICE PAID

"Jesus Christ is both the only price and sacrifice by which eternal redemption is obtained for believers"

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist 

IF IT WERE THE LAST HOUR OF MY LIFE  

"Resolved, never to do anything which I would be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life."  

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist

RESOLVE TO LIVE WITH ALL THY MIGHT  

"Resolved to live with all my might while I do live, and as I shall wish I had done ten thousand ages hence."  

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist 

WE MUST BE CONTENT TO TRAVEL UPHILL  

"The way to Heaven is ascending; we must be content to travel uphill, though it be hard and tiresome, and contrary to the natural bias of our flesh." 

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist

THE ONLY HAPPINESS WHICH OUR SOULS CAN BE SATISFIED

"God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean."

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist 

LOVE IS THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE  

"Love is the sum of all virtue, and love disposes us to good." 

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist

FALSE BOLDNESS COMES FROM PRIDE

"There is a false boldness for Christ that only comes from pride. A man may rashly expose himself to the world's dislike and even deliberately provoke its displeasure, and yet do so out of pride. . . .True boldness for Christ transcends all, it is indifferent to the displeasure of either friends or foes. Boldness enables Christians to forsake all rather than Christ, and to prefer to offend all rather than to offend Him."   

- Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) American Revivalist

BOOKS BY JONATHAN EDWARDS

Edwards, Jonathan. The Works of Jonathan Edwards. 26 vols. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1957-2008.

The Works of Jonathan Edwards. 2 vols. Carlisle, PA; Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1974.

Christian Charity, or The Duty of Charity to the Poor, Explained and Enforced. 1732.

An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement. Boston: n.p., 1747.

Charity and Its Fruits. 1749.

A Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World. 1749.

A Dissertation on the Nature of Virtue. 1749.

Life and Diary of the Rev. David Brainerd. 1749.

A Careful and Strict Enquiry Into the Prevailing Modern Notions of That Freedom of the Will Which is Supposed to Be Essential to Moral Agency, Virtue and Vice, Reward and Punishment, Praise and Blame. 1754.

A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections. 1754.

Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God. 1758.

A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God. 1758.

The Great Christian Doctrine of Original Sin Defended; Evidences of its Truth Produced, and Arguments to the Contrary Answered. Boston: n.p., 1758.

Some Thoughts Concerning the Revival of Religion in New England. 1758.

A History of the Work of Redemption [Unpublished sermons, 1739]. New York: The American Tract Society, 1774 [edited by John Erskine].

Haykin, Michael A. G. (ed.). “A Sweet Flame”: Piety in the Letters of Jonathan Edwards. Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2007.

Hopkins, Samuel (ed.). Memoirs of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, President of the College of New Jersey. London: J. Black, 1815.

Kimnach, Wilson H., Kenneth P. Minkema and Douglas A. Sweeney (eds.). The Sermons of Jonathan Edwards: A Reader. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.

Smith, John E., Harry S. Stout and Kenneth P. Minkema (eds.). A Jonathan Edwards Reader. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.

Source: britannica.com/biography/Jonathan-Edwards

ABOUT JOSEPH ADDISON

Joseph Addison, born at Milston near Amesbury, Wiltshire, on May 1st. 1672, was the son of the Rev. Lancelot Addison, sometime Dean of Lichfield, and author of Devotional Poems, etc. 1699. Addison was educated at Charterhouse, and at Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating B.A. 1691 and M.A. 1693. Although intended for the Church, he gave himself to the study of law and politics, and soon attained through powerful influences to some important posts. He was successively a Commissioner of Appeals, an Under Secretary of State, Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Chief Secretary for Ireland. He married in 1716 the Dowager Countess of Warwick and died at Holland House, Kensington, 17th June, 1719. Addison is most widely known through his contributions to the Spectator, Tatler, Guardian and Freeholder. To the first of these he contributed his hymns. His Cato, a tragedy, is well known and highly esteemed.

Addison's hymn in 'Spiritual Songs' is No. 297. "When all Thy mercies, O my God". This hymn is included in all the editions of the Little Flock Hymn Book from 1856-1978. There was a controversy about this hymn. Claims were made for other two men for the authorship. The main evidence is in favour of Addison. This evidence is available in Julian's Hymnology.

Addison wrote an essay on "Gratitude". In the essay he wrote the following. "If gratitude is due from man to man, how much more from man to his Maker? The Supreme Being does not only shower upon us those bounties which proceed more immediately from His hand, but even those benefits which are conveyed to us by others. Every blessing we enjoy, by what means soever it may be derived upon us is the gift of Him Who is the great Author of good, and the Father of mercies. The essay closes with:

When all Thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love, and praise

Source: stempublishing.com/hymns/biographies/addison.html

DEATH OF JOSEPH ADDSION

The later part of Addison's life was not without its troubles. In 1716, he married Charlotte, Dowager Countess of Warwick, after working for a time as a tutor for her son. He then lived at Bilton Hall in Warwickshire.[12] His political career continued, and he served as Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1717 to 1718. His political newspaper The Freeholder was much criticised. His wife was arrogant and imperious; his stepson, Edward Rich, was an unfriendly rake. Addison's shyness in public limited his effectiveness as a member of Parliament. He eventually fell out with Steele over the Peerage Bill.

In 1718, Addison was forced to resign as Secretary of State because of his poor health, but he remained an MP until his death at Holland House, London, on 17 June 1719 (aged 47). He was buried in Westminster Abbey. After his death, an apocryphal story circulated that Addison, on his deathbed, had sent for his wastrel stepson to witness how a Christian man meets death.

On 6 April 1808, Middletown, a town in upstate New York, was renamed Addison in his honour. Addison Road in West Kensington was also named after him.

- Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Addison

QUOTES BY JOSEPH ADDISON

A GOOD APPENDIX TO ART OF LIVING AND DYING

"It would be a good appendix to the Art of Living and Dying, if any one would write the Art of Growing Old, and teach men to resign their pretensions to the pleasures and gallantries of youth, in proportion to the alteration they find in themselves by the approach of age and infirmities. The infirmities of this stage of life would be much fewer, if we did not affect those which attend the more vigorous and active part of our days; but, instead of studying to be wiser, or being contented with our present follies, the ambition of many of us is also to be the same sort of fools we formerly have been."

- Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright and Politician 

MAN IS SUBJECT TO INNUMERABLE PAINS AND SORROWS

"Man is subject to innumerable pains and sorrows by the very condition of humanity, and yet, as if nature had not sown evils enough in life, we are continually adding grief to grief, and aggravating the common calamity by our cruel treatment of one another."

- Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright and Politician 

JOSEPH ADDISON BOOKS BAND SERMONS 

The best biography of Addison is Peter Smithers, The Life of Joseph Addison (1954; 2d ed. 1968). Addison was much admired by the Victorians, and there is a long biographical essay in Thomas Babington Macaulay, 

Essays: Critical and Miscellaneous (1843). 

Bonamy Dobrée, Essays in Biography, 1680-1726 (1925). An invaluable guide to Addison's intellectual milieu is Alexandre Beljame, Men of Letters and the English Public in the Eighteenth Century: 1660-1744 (1881; 2d ed. 1897; trans. 1948). 

Photo Credit: artwarefineart.com/gallery/portrait-joseph-addison-1672-%E2%80%93-1719-english-essayist-poet-playwright-and-politician

ABOUT KEITH GREEN

When musician Keith Green died in a plane crash on July 28, 1982, the world lost a special man whose heart was aflame with the Gospel message. Before his untimely end, Green took the world on his seven-year spiritual journey. He held back nothing and was consumed with loving Christ and the church.

On October 21, 1953, Keith Green was born into musical talent. His maternal grandfather was a songwriter and his mother studied voice at Carnegie Hall. By five years old, Green played the ukulele and began formal music lessons. He was writing his own music by age 9. Two years later, Green signed with Decca Records. Time magazine called Green a “pre-pubescent dreamboat” who “croons in a voice trembling with conviction.” He was the youngest member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and played on The Jack Benny Show and The Joey Bishop Show. Green was on the cusp of pop music success until he was displaced by another budding teen idol, Donny Osmond.

After a troubled youth, he married singer/songwriter Melody Steiner in 1973. They struggled to financially and spiritually sought after the meaning of life. Growing up in the drug-induced, anti-establishment ‘60s era led them both to reject organized religion and dabble in eastern mysticism.

Green discovered Christ in the mid-70s. As he attended church and delved deeper into the Bible, Green was increasingly troubled by the hypocrisy of Christians. He longed to reach people through his music and drive them back to holiness. With vocals like Cat Stevens and the piano talent of Elton John, Green recorded his first album in 1977, For Him Who Has Ears to Hear on Sparrow Records. The album, produced by Bill Maxwell, was a commercial success. It later earned the No. 5 spot in CCM’s Greatest Albums in Christian Music. Hits like “Your Love Broke Through” (co-written by friend Randy Stonehill) and “You Put This Love in My Heart” encapsulated Green’s relationship with Jesus. It also had 2nd Chapter of Acts’ “Easter Song.” That same year the Greens started Last Days Ministries with a newsletter that reached 22,000 people.

No Compromise came in November of 1978. “Asleep in the Light,” a radio hit, drove home Green’s conviction for the hypocrites in the church. Penning his most confrontational lyrics, he sang: “Jesus rose from the dead / And you can’t even get out of bed.” Green also mourned the lost souls he encountered in Los Angeles in “How Can They Live Without Jesus.”

Green released So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt in 1980. The title track is a light-hearted view of the little things that become obstacles in the Christian walk. He also sang the worshipful “Oh Lord You’re Beautiful” and an ode to laying down his possessions in “Pledge My Head to Heaven.” Green refused to let money be an obstacle in spreading the gospel. His third album sold 200,000 copies, and most of his albums were given away at concerts.

The last album Green ever co-produced was 1982’s Songs for the Shepherd. Stepping away from convicting the wayward Christian, Songs for the Shepherd was 12 tracks of praise and worship to God including “How Majestic Is Thy Name” and “You Are the One.” The eerily titled “Until the Final Day” showed a weary but faithful Green crying out for God’s strength. The “final day” came all too soon when he and two of his young children lost their lives just three months after its release.

Maxwell produced and released two posthumous albums, The Prodigal Son and Jesus Commands Us to Go. In 2001, Green was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame along with Jesus rocker Larry Norman. His wife actively maintains Last Day Ministries. Melody wrote her husband’s biography in 1989 from his journal entries. It was appropriately titled “No Compromise.” It revealed the meaning Green found in his life, which he summed up as: “I repent of ever having recorded one single song, and ever having performed one concert, if my music, and more importantly, my life has not provoked you into Godly jealousy or to sell out more completely to Jesus!"

Courtesy of Last Day Ministries

Source: .bn.com/keith-green

QUOTES BY KEITH GREEN

I'D RATHER HAVE PEOPLE HATE ME 

"I'd rather have people hate me with the knowledge that I tried to save them."

 Keith Green (1953-1982) American Christian Singer, Songwriter 

IF YOU'RE NOT ESTATIC ABOUT GOD NOW!    

"If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing Him, sharing His cares and His burdens, weeping and rejoicing with Him, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence? You'd be bored to tears in heaven, if you're not ecstatic about God now!"

- Keith Green (1953-1982) American Christian Singer, Songwriter

THE MAIN THING GOD HAS SHOWN ME

“The main thing that God has shown me through it all is this: I’m not called to be a prophet, I’m called to be a Christian—a servant of the living God! That is the highest calling that anyone can realize. And the most beautiful thing has happened in my heart. My whole goal in life has completely changed—the only thing that I want to achieve is to have the Lord tell me when I stand before Him, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant!’... To be a Christian, to live up to that wonderful word—that is my only goal.” 

- Keith Green (1953-1982) American Christian Singer, Songwriter 

“I’ve met people who were always grumbling, ‘I could be doing this, and I could be doing that.’ Listen, nobody does God a favor. Nobody has “given up” anything for God. Nothing! Everything you’ve given up is a piece of junk, a clod on the ground compared to what God has given to you. You haven’t given up anything! There is no greater privilege or calling than serving the Creator of the universe.”  

- Keith Green (1953-1982) American Christian Singer, Songwriter 

KEITH GREEN BOOKS AND SERMONS

Induction (posthumous), Gospel Music Hall of Fame, 2001.

For Him Who Has Ears To Hear , Sparrow, 1977.

No Compromise , Sparrow, 1978.

So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt , Pretty Good, 1980.

The Keith Green Collection , Sparrow, 1981.

Songs for the Shepherd , Pretty Good, 1982.

The Prodigal Son , Pretty Good, 1983.

Jesus Commands Us to Go , Pretty Good, 1984.

Because of You--Songs of Testimony , Sparrow, 1998.

Here I Am, Send Me--Songs of Evangelism , Sparrow, 1998.

Oh Lord, You're Beautiful--Songs of Worship , Sparrow, 1998.

Make My Life a Prayer to You--Songs of Devotion , Sparrow, 1998.

Books

• Baker, Paul, Contemporary Christian Music: Where It Came From, Where It Is, Where It's Going, Crossway Books, 1985.
• Brothers, Jeffrey L., Hot Hits--Christian Hit Radio, CCM Books, 1999.
• Green, Melody, and David Hazard, No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green, Harvest House, 2002.
• Howard, Jay R., and John M. Streck, Apostles of Rock, University of Kentucky Press, 1999.

Online

• CCM Magazine, http://www.ccmcom.com (March 27, 2002).
• "Christian Music Pioneers Inducted," Christianity Today, http://www.christianitytoday.com/archives/fullstory.asp?Id=1780 (March 27, 2002).
• Last Days Ministries, http://www.lastdaysministries.org (April 25, 2002).
• Sparrow Records, http://www.sparrowrecords.com (April 25, 2002).

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

ABOUT LANCELOT ADDISON 

Reverend Lancelot Addison (1632 - April 20, 1703) was born at Crosby Ravensworth in Westmorland. He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford.Rev. Addison worked at Tangier as a chaplain for seven years and upon his return he wrote "West Barbary, or a Short Narrative of the Revolutions of the Kingdoms of Fex and Morocco" (1671).In 1670 he was appointed royal chaplain or Chaplain in Ordinary to the King, shortly thereafter Rector of Milston, Wilts, and Prebendary in the Cathedral of Salisbury. In 1683 became Dean of Lichfield, and in 1684 Archdeacon of Coventry.Among his other works was "The Present State of the Jews" (1675), a detailed study of the Jewish population of the Barbary Coast in the seventeenth century; their customs, and their religious behavior. Scholars have pointed out that part of Addison's book simply repeats material found in the English translation of Johannes Buxtorf's work, The Jewish Synagogue, or an Historical Narration of the State of the Jewes (Synagoga Judaica, London, 1657).He died in 1703 leaving three sons: poet Joseph Addison, scholar Lancelot Addison, and Gulston Addison, who became Governor of Madras.Rev. Addison was buried in Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire.

His (Joseph Addison's) father was the Reverend Lancelot Addison, who, though eclipsed by his more celebrated son, made some figure in the world, and occupies with credit, two folio pages in the Biographia Britannica. Lancelot was sent up, as a poor scholar, from Westmoreland to Queen's College, Oxford, in the time of the Commonwealth, made some progress in learning, became, like most of his fellow-students, a violent Royalist, lampooned the heads of the University, and was forced to ask pardon on his bended knees. When he had left college, he earned a humble subsistence by reading the liturgy of the fallen Church to the families of those sturdy squires whose manor-houses were scattered over the Wild of Sussex. After the Restoration, his loyalty was rewarded with the post of chaplain to the garrison of Dunkirk. When Dunkirk was sold to France, he lost his employment. But Tangier had been ceded by Portugal to England as part of the marriage portion of the Infanta Catherine; and to Tangier Lancelot Addison was sent. A more miserable situation can hardly be conceived. It was difficult to say whether the unfortunate settlers were more tormented by the heats or by the rains, by the soldiers within the wall or by the Moors without it. One advantage the chaplain had. He enjoyed an excellent opportunity of studying the history and manners of Jews and Mahometans and of this opportunity he appears to have made excellent use. On his return to England, after some years of banishment, he published an interesting volume on the Polity and Religion of Barbary, and another on the Hebrew Customs and the State of Rabbinical Learning. He rose to eminence in his profession, and became one of the royal chaplains, a Doctor of Divinity, Archdeacon of Salisbury, and Dean of Lichfield. It is said that he would have been made a bishop after the Revolution, if he had not given offence to the Government by strenuously opposing, in the Convocation of 1689, the liberal policy of William and Tillotson.

Source: greatchristianlibrary.blogspot.com/2009/08/addison-lancelot-1632-1703-reverend_22.html

QUOTES BY LANCELOT ADDISON 

BOOKS BY LANCELOT ADDISON 

• Addison, Lancelot, 1632-1703: The Christians daily sacrifice duly offer'd, or, A practical discourse teaching the right performance of prayer by Lancelot Addison. (London : Printed for Robert Clavel, 1698) (HTML at EEBO TCP)
• Addison, Lancelot, 1632-1703: The Christian's manual in three parts ... / by L. Addison ... (London : Printed for W. Crooke ..., 1691) (HTML at EEBO TCP)
• Addison, Lancelot, 1632-1703: Christos autotheos, or, An historical account of the heresie denying the Godhead of Christ (London : Printed by Tho. Hodgkin for Robert Clavell ..., 1696) (HTML at EEBO TCP)
• Addison, Lancelot, 1632-1703: An introduction to the sacrament, or, A short, plain, and safe way to the communion table being an instruction for the worthy receiving of the Lords Supper / collected for and familiarly addressed to every particular communicant. (London : Printed for William Crooke ..., 1682) (HTML at EEBO TCP)
• Addison, Lancelot, 1632-1703: The life and death of Mahumed, the author of the Turkish religion being an account of his tribe, parents, birth, name, education, marriages, filthiness of life, Alcoran, first proselytes, wars, doctrines, miracles, advancement, &c. / by L. Addison ... author of The present state of the Jews. (London : Printed for William Crooke ..., 1679) (HTML at EEBO TCP)
• Addison, Lancelot, 1632-1703: A modest plea for the clergy; wherein is briefly considered, the original, antiquity, necessity. Together with the spurious and genuine occasions of their present contempt. Honor sacerdotii, firmamentum potentiae. (London, Printed for William Crook, 1677) (page images at HathiTrust)
• Addison, Lancelot, 1632-1703: A modest plea for the clergy wherein is briefly considered, the original, antiquity, necessity : together with the spurious and genuine occasions of their present contempt. (London : Printed for William Crook ..., 1677) 

Source: onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Addison%2C%20Lancelot%2C%201632%2D1703

Photo Credit: npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp71102/lancelot-addison

ABOUT LEGH RICHMOND

Legh Richmond (1772–1827) was a Church of England clergyman and writer. He is noted for tracts, narratives of conversion that innovated in the relation of stories of the poor and female subjects, and which were subsequently much imitated. He was also known for an influential collection of letters to his children, powerfully stating an evangelical attitude to childhood of the period, and by misprision sometimes taken as models for parental conversation and family life, for example by novelists, against Richmond's practice.

He was born on 29 January 1772, in Liverpool, the son of Henry Richmond, physician and academic, and his wife Catherine Atherton. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, was ordained deacon in June 1797 and took his MA in July of the same year. On 24 July 1797, two days after marrying Mary Chambers, he was appointed to the joint curacies of St. Mary's Church, Brading and St. John the Baptist Church, Yaverland on the Isle of Wight. He was ordained priest in February 1798. 

Richmond was powerfully influenced by William Wilberforce's Practical View of Christianity, and took a prominent interest in the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Church Missionary Society, the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews and similar institutions.

In 1805 Richmond became assistant-chaplain to the Lock Hospital, London, for a short period. Later that year he was appointed rector of Turvey, Bedfordshire, as successor to Erasmus Middleton. The patron, Sarah Fuller, consulted Ambrose Serle; who recommended Richmond. He remained at Turvey for the rest of his life. He began taking pupils at the rectory, two being Charles Longuet Higgins and Walter Augustus Shirley, while teaching his own sons, but was not effectual and passed tuition on to his curates. 

Richmond was instrumental in unmasking the imposter Ann Moore, the "fasting woman" of Tutbury, in 1813. In 1814 he was appointed  chaplain to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767–1820), father of Queen Victoria. 

Richmond died on 8 May 1827.[4] His funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Thomas Fry of Emberton, a close friend. 

Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Legh_Richmond#:~:text=Legh%20Richmond%20(1772%E2%80%931827),which%20were%20subsequently%20much%20imitated.

QUOTES BY LEGH RICHMOND

ENGAGE IN NO PURSUIT IN WHICH YOU CANNOT LOOK UP UNTO GOD

“Engage in no pursuit in which you cannot look up unto God, and say, 'Bless me in this, my Father!”

- Legh Richmond (1772–1827)  Church of England Clergyman and Writer 

BOOKS BY LEGH RICHMOND

Richmond, Legh, 1772-1827: Annals of the Poor (new edition, enlarged, with sketch of the author; New York: J. and H. G. Langley, 1841), contrib. by John Ayre (page images at HathiTrust)

Richmond, Legh, 1772-1827: Annals of the Poor: Containing The Dairyman's Daughter (With Considerable Additions), The Negro Servant, and the Young Cottager (New Haven: Whiting and Tiffany, 1815)

"Negro Servant" section; HTML and TEI with commentary at UNC

African Servant (The), The Cottage Conversation, and A Visit to the Infirmary
Beauties of the Rev. Legh Richmond: selections from his writings
Dairyman's Daughter (The)
Domestic Portraiture; or, The Successful Application of Religious Principle in the Education of a Family, Exemplified in the Memoirs of Three of the Deceased Children of the Rev. Legh Richmond; Introduction by Edward Bickersteth; Compiled by his friend from Thomas Fry
Fathers of the English Church (The); or, A Selection from the Writings of the Reformers and Early Protestant Divines of the Church of England
Memoir of Hannah Sinclair
Memoir of Wilberforce Richmond, Second Son of the Rev. Legh Richmond, Drawn Chiefly from Domestic Portraiture
Rev. Legh Richmond's Letters and Counsels to His Children (The): Selected from His Memoir and "Domestic Portraiture."
Statement of Facts (A), Relative to the Supposed Abstinence of Ann Moore, of Tutbury, Staffordshire; and a Narrative of the Circumstances Which Led to the Recent Detection of the Imposture
Young Cottager (The) 

Photo Credit: findagrave.com/memorial/110192382/legh-richmond