The Old Rugged Cross

 The Old Rugged Cross

George Bennard was born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1873.  While very young, the Bennard family moved to Iowa so George’s father could work in the coal pits there.  George’s father passed away when George was only sixteen years old, and George came to faith soon after.  As a young man, George got involved in the growing Salvation Army and served, with his wife, as officers in that organization for a period of time.

Later, George joined the Methodist Episcopal Church as an evangelist.  His preaching emphasized Christian purity and godliness – and used the term “Christian holiness.”  He taught that when personal holiness (as defined in the Bible) was missing from individuals, the church lost the ability to positively impact the culture in which it lived.  George traveled extensively in his evangelistic work but tended to focus mostly in the states of New York and Michigan.

It was in the early twentieth century that the American and European churches were heavily flirting with theological liberalism, which called into question many of the fundamental doctrines of the church and, sadly, led many individuals, churches, and even entire denominations into a spiritual wasteland.  During this time, George himself seems to have been enticed by these doctrines and went through a bit of spiritual turmoil himself in struggling with this.

Rev Bennard spent much time in reflection on the Cross of Christ, and what Peter meant when he spoke of ‘sharing in the sufferings of Christ’ (I Peter 4:13).  In his reflections, he pictured in his mind a picture of the Cross on a distant hill and he resolved personally not to bow to the pressure of liberalism plaguing his church.

During this time of personal reflection, George was conducting a series of revival services and during one particular meeting, he was viciously heckled by a group of teenage boys.  In praying for them that evening in 1915 the words came to him for a song, with a basis on that mental picture of a cross standing on a lonely hill.

On a hill far away, stood an old rugged Cross; The emblem of suff'ring and shame
And I love that old Cross where the dearest and best; For a world of lost sinners was slain
 
Oh, that old rugged Cross so despised by the world; Has a wondrous attraction for me
For the dear Lamb of God, left His Glory above; To bear it to dark Calvary
 
In the old rugged Cross, stain'd with blood so divine; A wondrous beauty I see
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died; To pardon and sanctify me
 
To the old rugged Cross, I will ever be true; Its shame and reproach gladly bear
Then He'll call me some day to my home far away; Where His glory forever I'll share
 
So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross; Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross; And exchange it some day for a crown

This beloved hymn was picked up by Hymie Rodheaver and popularized by him during the Billy Sunday crusades of the early 20^th century, and has been a beloved hymn ever since.  Wikipedia has a list (certainly not a comprehensive list) of performers that have recorded this hymn: Al Green, Andy Griffith, Anne Murray, Brad Paisley, Chet Atkins, George Jones, Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash and June Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Van Shelton, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Gaither Vocal Band, The Statler Brothers, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Alan Jackson, George Beverly Shea, and Ronnie Milsap.

https://christianheritagefellowship.com/george-bennard-and-the-old-rugged-cross/#Introduces%20%E2%80%9CThe%20Old%20Rugged%20Cross%E2%80%9D%20(1913).BK

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Rugged_Cross

 

Nearer, My God, to Thee

Sarah Flower Adams

Sarah was born in 1805, in Essex, England.  She and her sister Eliza were the only children of Benjamin Flower, a Cambridge printer and newspaper editor who was jailed at least once for what he printed.  Both daughters became gifted composers and authors.

After her mother’s death, Sarah’s father moved the family to a rural area where they numbered among their family friends the great author Robert Browning. 

Their father died in 1825, and the two young women moved in with the pastor of their church.  Eliza devoted herself to enriching the musical ministry of her church, composing hymns and playing during the services.  Sarah married an author and civil engineer, and while she wrote some hymns herself, her passions turned to acting.  Moving to the Richmond district of London to be near the larger theaters, she performed in some minor roles, then played Lady Macbeth in 1837, with rave reviews.  Frail health put a stop to her acting career soon after, so she again turned to writing hymns and poetry after moving with her husband again to be near her beloved sister Eliza.

Her Pastor approached the two sisters in 1840, frustrated that he could not find a hymn to work with his upcoming Sunday sermon, taken from the story of Jacob at Bethel – Genesis 28:20-22.  Sarah offered to write the hymn herself if Eliza would write the music.  All week long, she pored over the passage, visualizing Jacob sleeping on the ground with a rock for a pillow while dreaming of a ladder reaching to Heaven.  The following Sunday, South Place Church sang this song for the first time:

Nearer, my God, to Thee,  Nearer to Thee

E’en though it be a cross That raiseth me!

Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, The sun gone down.

Darkness be over me, My rest a stone;

Yet in my dreams I’d be, Nearer, my God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

There let the way appear, Steps unto Heav’n;

All that Thou sendest me, In mercy giv’n;

Angels to beckon me, Nearer, my God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts, Bright with Thy praise,

Out of my stone griefs, Bethel I’ll raise,

So by my woes to be, Nearer, my God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

Or if, on joyful wing Cleaving the sky,

Sun, moon, and stars forgot, Upward I’ll fly,

Still all my song shall me, Nearer, my God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

Eliza died in 1846, after a long bout with Tuberculosis – faithfully attended by her dear sister the entire time.  It was only near the end of Eliza’s life that Sarah began to show signs of the disease herself.  Sarah held on for nearly two years, but finally passed away in 1848 at the age of 43.

One of the survivors of the Titanic, on April 14, 1912, recalled that the band played this hymn as the great ship sank to its icy grave.

Morgan, Robert J., Then Sings My Soul, Nelson Publishing, 2003.

https://www.bartleby.com/294/124.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Fuller_Flower_Adams

James Chisholm

James Chisholm

When we consider the word ‘ecumenical’ it can mean two things.  First, it can mean a sort of ungodly compromise – where those of different Christian faith traditions get together to discover their commonalities and try to merge into one.  While a noble thought, experience shows that the compromises tend to be around the lowest common denominator and, ultimately, the Christian teaching is watered down almost to the point of being unrecognizable.

Second, the word ‘ecumenical’ can mean something much better.  When Christians of many faith traditions gather together for the purpose of propagating the Gospel and shining the light of Christ, often great things can happen.  Samaritan’s Purse is a contemporary example of this kind of cooperation.

James Chisholm is a great example of godly ecumenicalism.  Born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1848 he moved to Virginia to teach and ended up becoming the rector (pastor) of St John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth.  A few years later his wife passed away, leaving him the single father of two young sons.  He was described as unassuming and shy, his physical appearance as pale and frail, and he seemed somewhat awkward around people.

In the Spring of 1855, a Yellow Fever epidemic hit Portsmouth and Norfolk.  People of means fled to the country while the poor stayed behind.  Unfortunately, those who fled included the city’s doctors and clergy.  Reverend Chisholm sent his sons to stay with distant relatives and resolved to stay in Portsmouth.  Several weeks into the epidemic, he wrote:

Shall I regard personal safety alone, and flee with all speed from this atmosphere of poison and death, or shall I look the question of my relations to society, to humanity and to God, full in the face, and decide accordingly?  The question of duty, as a minister of Christ, has determined me to stand in the post to which, I believe, all along the providence of God called me.

James remained, along with a single Catholic priest, to minister to the entire city of 12,000.  Survivors of the plague wrote of his tirelessness in providing the medical care he could, in his surprisingly energetic preaching to the lost of the city – pointing them to the Cross, in patiently staying by the bedside of those who were dying, and even in digging graves for those who lost their fight with the disease.  He seemed like a changed man, tirelessly ministering to his own congregants who stayed behind, as well as those of the other Protestant churches and even some of the Irish-Catholic congregants of the overburdened Priest. 

By that Fall, the disease had run its course through the city and it began to abate.  It was only then that Reverend Chisholm began to show signs of the disease himself.  He was taken to a Naval hospital in Portsmouth where his exhausted body finally gave out.  He was 39 years old, one of over 3,200 victims of the disease.  His funeral was attended by 20 people, from all the different faith traditions of Portsmouth.  The funeral was conducted by a recently-returned Baptist minister.

Reverend James Chisholm is remembered in the Episcopal calendar on the date of his death, September 15^th.  He has a memorial in Cedar Grove Cemetery and was long remembered by all the churches in Portsmouth for his incredible energy and commitment to serving those in need in a critical time.  As he wrote late in the plague, “I trust that I more than ever realize the ‘Eternal God is my refuge, and underneath are the Everlasting Arms.’ I am in His hands to do with me what seemeth Him good.”

Sources:

e-mail from Christian History Institute

https://standingcommissiononliturgyandmusic.org/2010/09/15/september-16-james-chisholm-priest-1855/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Chisholm_(priest)

 

 

 

The Siege of Eger Castle

 

The other September 11^th

In the middle 16^th century, Europe was working through the ramifications of the Protestant Reformation and the social and political turmoil that resulted from that watershed event.  On top of this, Eastern Europe was under threat from the expanding Ottoman Empire.  The Kingdom of Hungary fought some pitched battles against the Ottoman armies of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and the Hungarians were soundly defeated in a series of battles.  It was during these battles that the King of Hungary was killed without a clear successor.

Facing turmoil from within the Kingdom and threats from the Ottomans, fate found Baron Istvan Dobo de Ruszka – a man we will call Dobo – in command of Eger Castle in northern Hungary, the strategic gateway into central Europe.  Political turmoil and previous military defeats kept reinforcements from arriving and Dobo ended up facing the entire combined Ottoman armies, numbering over 60,000 trained soldiers with over 150 siege cannons.  Dobo had roughly 1,500 men defending the castle with less than two dozen medium and small pieces of artillery.  There were also a number of women and children who had taken refuge within the castle walls.  Dobo’s defenders included some trained soldiers and many peasants recruited from the surrounding villages.  The castle was as well-stocked as Dobo could make it to withstand a siege.

It was on September 11^th, 1552, when Suleiman appeared before the castle at Eger and presented his demand for unconditional surrender to Eger Castle.  Dobo read the letter to his men, who answered him enthusiastically that they would never surrender.  They then prayed in the manner of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19 when surrounded by the Assyrians, saying “We expect aid from God only, and not from men.”  Dobo answered with a nighttime surprise raid to steal supplies from the Turks.  Sulieman replied with a full 18 days of cannon fire, with all 120 guns hurling 50-pound balls into the fort and its walls.  They then tried a full assault on the castle and were repulsed.  More cannon fire was absorbed and more assaults were repulsed by the highly-motivated Hungarians under Dobo’s leadership.  At one point, Ottoman cannon fire hit the magazine of the fort and tons of gunpowder exploded, blowing a hole in the castle wall.  The Hungarians stood in the gap and repulsed the attack on the breach in the walls.  They were able to rebuild and reinforce the wall while under fire.  The Hungarians then took to manufacturing their own gunpowder in the basement of the castle.

Dobo and his little army withstood the siege for 38 days.  On the 39^th day, the exhausted Hungarians withstood yet another major assault.  The defenders were down to 700 men and were beginning to fall back when the women sheltered in the castle rushed forward.  Some took weapons from fallen soldiers and fought hand-to-hand on the battlements.  Other women poured boiling oil on the heads of the attackers.  The Ottomans lost over 8,000 soldiers that day alone and retreated in humiliation.

All in all, during the siege, over 12,000 cannon balls landed within the walls of Eger Castle.  Over half of the soldiers in the castle were wounded or killed.  However, their reliance on God’s protection and their own courage kept Hungary in Christian hands for another generation. 

Christian History Institute (via e-mail)

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Eger_(1552)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istv%C3%A1n_Dob%C3%B3

 

 

Michael Faraday

 

Michael Faraday

The great Physicist Albert Einstein kept a picture on the wall of his study of the man he saw as providing the foundation of his own scientific work – Michael Faraday.

Michael Faraday was born in England in a lower-class family in the year 1791.  When he was 14 years old, he was apprenticed to a bookbinder and bookseller.  While working there, he began to take an interest in the books he was working on – especially those of a scientific nature.  His book-binding work led him to interface with a number of people who influenced his scientific mind, including Ada Lovelace who, along with Charles Babbage, are credited with ‘programming’ the first computer; and Jane Marcet, who wrote educational works on Chemistry.

The owner of the book shop saw Michael’s interest in science and set up a small laboratory for him to conduct his own scientific experiments after-hours.  When his seven-year apprenticeship came to an end, Michael applied for and was eventually accepted as an assistant at the eminent Royal Institution, in Westminster, which was dedicated to scientific research.  There, Mr Faraday was able to indulge his scientific curiosity and over his 50+ year residency, rose to a position of great prominence within the Institution.

Michael made great discoveries in the fields Physics and Chemistry: he was the discoverer of Benzene, was instrumental in liquefying gases such as Chlorine, developed different iron alloys, and developed various types of glass used for different optical purposes.

Perhaps his most significant discoveries were in the field of electricity.  Michael made great studies in electrolysis.  He discovered electromagnetic induction – the ability for a current passing through one conductor to induce a current in another.  This, along with similar discoveries, set the foundation for the invention of the electric motor and the invention of transformers and other devices allowing for the long-distance transport of electricity.  He popularized modern electrical terminology such as anode, cathode, electrode, and ion.

Michael Faraday was a devout Christian, belonging to a Fundamentalist offshoot of the Church of Scotland.  This very disciplined church believed strongly in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures and sought to live as close to the pattern of the New Testament church as possible.  He was a deacon in his church, and served in the position of Elder for a few years – the latter roughly equivalent to an Associate Pastor.  Those who knew him spoke of his character as simple, modest, and humble.  He understood that his scientific discoveries would not allow him to ‘find’ God, but he was prompted in his study to better understand the beauty and symmetry of God’s creation.  His favorite Biblical book was Job, because of how Job realized he could not find God by his own reasoning, but only through the Scriptures.  He wrote that a Christian finds his guide for life in the Word of God, and direction through fear through grace and via the Scriptures.

As a very prominent scientist, Michael was able to make the unusual move from the lower-classes to rubbing elbows with the upper-crust of British society.  He was consulted and honored by eminent scientists throughout Europe, and even received recognition from Queen Victoria herself.  Despite this, he lived with his wife in a modest home on the grounds of the Institute and refused many honors, including a Knighthood and Presidency of the Royal Institute, stating that it was against Biblical teaching to pursue worldly reward and that he would rather to remain “plain Mr Faraday to the end.”  Late in his life, when it was hinted to him that he was destined for burial in Westminster Abbey next to Sir Isaac Newton, he urged his family to resist it.  In accordance with his wishes, after his death in 1867, he was given a simple burial in a common cemetery.  Westminster Abbey did erect a plaque in his memory near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton, however.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Faraday#:~:text=Faraday%20was%20a%20devout%20Christian%3B%20his%20Sandemanian%20denomination,was%20located%20at%20Paul%27s%20Alley%20in%20the%20Barbican.

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/michael-faraday-11630518.html

https://www.christiantoday.com.au/news/michael-faraday-his-christian-faith-influenced-his-science.html

http://silas.psfc.mit.edu/Faraday/

 

All Hail the Power of Jesus Name

 

The National Anthem of the Christian Faith

 Edward Perronet lived in the 18^th century, born in England in 1726 and died in 1792.  He came to faith at an early age, due to the influence of his godly parents.  Entering the Anglican ministry, he became associated for many years with John and Charles Wesley.

Edward’s clever wit made him rather popular.  At one point, John Wesley put him on the spot and unexpectedly announced that his friend Edward was going to preach the next sermon.  Edward stood up and proclaimed that he was going to deliver the greatest sermon ever preached.  He opened his Bible to Matthew and read chapters 5, 6, and 7, The Sermon on the Mount, then sat back down.

In the November 1779 issue of The Gospel Magazine, edited by Rock of Ages author Augustus Toplady, a hymn appeared, the author labeled as ‘Anonymous’.  The first verse of the hymn was:

                All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name!  Let angels prostrate fall;

                Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all!

Alongside the hymn appeared a separate poem – the first letter of each line spelled out the name “Edward Perronet”.

This 8-stanza hymn has been called “The National Anthem of the Christian Faith”.  It has been translated into almost every language on the globe where the Christian faith is represented, and is often used to this day in evangelistic work.

Reverend E.P. Scott, late in the 18^th century, traveled to India for purposes of evangelism.  He heard of a tribe of people who had never been reached with the Gospel.  He traveled alone to reach them and, nearing their territory, was suddenly confronted by a band of warriors from the tribe who all pointed their spears at his heart.  Fearing his life was at an end, he pulled out his violin, closed his eyes, and played the tune of this hymn, fully expecting to be martyred at any moment.  When he finished the song, he looked up and saw the warriors, many with tears in their eyes, and all spears lowered.  Reverend Scott had the privilege of spending two years with that tribe and seeing many of them come to faith.

Morgan, Robert J., Then Sings My Soul, Nelson Publishers, 2003.

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/perronets-national-anthem-of-christendom-11630316.html

https://www.christianmusicandhymns.com/2015/03/all-hail-power-of-jesus-name-edward.html

Lemuel Haynes

Lemuel Haynes

Lemuel Haynes was born in Massachusetts in 1753.  A black child, he was abandoned by his parents at about 5 months of age.  He was taken on by a church deacon in a common practice of indentured servitude – he would work for the man until age 21, in return for the deacon’s raising him.  Lemuel became, in all but name, a member of the family.  Lemuel was given the opportunity to attend school, a rare experience for blacks in his day.  He was fascinated especially with the study of theology, especially the contemporary works of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield.  One evening as a boy, while laying outside in a quiet moment, he saw the Aurora Borealis – the Northern Lights – and quietly gave his heart and life to Christ.

In the home in which he was raised, a common Saturday evening practice was to read a sermon out loud.  One evening, when Lemuel was asked to read, he read an especially rousing sermon.  When asked who wrote the sermon, he sheepishly replied that he had written it himself.  From that point on, he was often asked to proofread sermons or preach in a fill-in capacity.

At age 21 he was freed from his servitude and enlisted as a Minuteman in the Continental Army the day after the battles of Lexington and Concord.  He participated in the siege of Boston, and later became one of Ethan Allen’s famed “Green Mountain Boys” and participated in the conquest of Fort Ticonderoga in 1776.  Soon after this, he contracted Typhus, ending his military service.

Lemuel continued his theological studies, was licensed to preach in 1780 and was fully ordained to the ministry in 1785 – the first ordained black minister in the United States.  Over the course of the rest of his life, he pastored churches throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and New York.  Notably, his congregations were either mixed-race or all white, a unique circumstance for that day.  His churches experienced great growth during his tenure.

Lemuel wrote often, on topics theological as well as social.  He was the first African-American published in the United States, and eventually gained an international audience.  Probably his most significant social writing was an essay he wrote as a soldier, inspired by the Declaration of Independence, entitled “Liberty Further Extended.”  In it, he took from Acts 17:26, Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill, “…and He made from one [man], every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation” to demonstrate the equality of all races and point out the shortcoming of the Declaration in not extending that same freedom to existing slaves and indentured servants.  He favored an immediate emancipation rather than the gradual emancipation many of the Founders envisioned.  He pointed out clearly and boldly that slavery was sin, and he pointed out the irony of slaveowners fighting for liberty while denying it to others.

Theologically, he gained great respect when, unknown to him until the last minute, a prominent Universalist preacher was invited to his church to speak.  After a lengthy sermon attempting to demonstrate that salvation was universal (i.e. a loving God wouldn’t condemn anyone to Hell), Lemuel was asked if he wanted to respond.  He stood up and, with no notes or preparation, gave a sermon of his own entitled “Universal Salvation – An Ancient False Doctrine”.  He articulated clearly through the Scriptures and plain logic, without disparaging the previous speaker or even mentioning him by name, the Biblical doctrine of salvation.  Wonderful tact!

Reverend Haynes married a white school teacher named Elizabeth Babbitt.  The couple had ten children, and surviving letters between the siblings speak glowingly of their father and memories of family devotions and prayer.

Lemuel Haynes passed into Glory in 1833, at age 80, in his Congregationalist church in South Granville, New York.  He composed his own epitaph: “Here lies the dust of a poor hell-deserving sinner who ventured into eternity trusting wholly on the merits of Christ for salvation.  In the full belief of the great doctrines he preached while on earth, he invites his children, and all who read this, to trust their eternal interest in the same foundation.”

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Haynes

https://wallbuilders.com/lemuel-haynes/#

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/haynes-lemuel-1753-1833/

https://thefoundingproject.com/lemuel-haynes-african-american-founder/

https://revivedthoughts.com/lemuel-haynes-universal-salvation-an-ancient-false-doctrine/

https://www.facebook.com/museumoftheBible/photos/a.656534441128184/2710890175692590/