John Eliot - Apostle to the Indians

John Eliot – Apostle to the Indians

William Carey set out on his missionary voyage to India in 1792 – a date many call the beginning of the modern missionary movement.  However, there was a foreign missionary a century and a half earlier who was well ahead of his time in the spirit and practice of evangelism.

John Eliot was born to a wealthy family in England in 1604.  Little is known about his early years, but we know he graduated from Cambridge University and came under the influence of famed Puritan preacher Thomas Hooker.  Of the Hookers Eliot later wrote, “When I came to this blessed family, I then saw, and never before, the power of godliness in its lively vigor and efficacy.”

As Anglican leaders put pressure on Puritans, Eliot moved to Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1631 and became pastor of the church there.  There, he married Anne Mumford.  A part of the Massachusetts Bay charter (1628) was the “royall intention and the adventurer’s free profession, the principal ende of this Plantation” was “to wynn the natives of the country to the knowledge and obedience of the onlie true God and Saviour of mankinde.”  Unlike many of his fellow settlers, Eliot was moved by the spiritual ignorance of the natives in his area and the poverty in which they lived – most tribes having been previously decimated by plagues. 

Eliot displayed remarkable patience and piety in his efforts to win the local Algonquin tribes.  He patiently learned the complex language, taking in an Indian boarder in 1646 as a tutor.  The Algonquin language used pictorial symbols in a crude attempt at writing and compressed complex ideas into single lengthy run-on words.  Many colonists figured it would be more efficient to teach the Indians English and then teach them God’s Word.  One fellow pastor even claimed that, in an exorcism, the demons could understand English, Greek, Hebrew, and Latin – but even they could not understand the “barbarous” language of the Indians. 

After two years, Eliot finally felt comfortable preaching in the native tongue.  He chose a small village a few miles north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was on very friendly terms with the Englishmen.  His sermon was well-received and he was invited back.  As he taught, he was presented with some remarkable questions: “If God is all-powerful, why does he not just kill the Devil who makes men to be bad?”  “Was the Devil, or man made first?”  “Might there be something, even a little, to be gained by praying to the Devil?”  “Are all the Indians who died before us doomed to Hell?”  “Where go little children who die go, to Heaven or to Hell?”  and “If God made Hell in one of the six days, why did He make it before Adam had sinned?”  The complexity of these questions helped to convince him of the genuine reception of those who professed faith.

Eliot’s methods would not entirely pass muster among modern missionaries.  He required of his converts that they adopt many English ways.  He received a parcel of land from the Massachusetts authorities and settled the “praying Indians” (as they came to be known) there.  He found donors in England willing to supply money to purchase tools, clothing, and blankets for the families and spinning wheels for the women.  With little direct English assistance, they built a modern town with streets and houses, fenced farms and organized fields.  Often, converts were not allowed to be baptized until they had been properly “civilized.”  Eliot was careful not to push them too hard, and he built a great deal of trust with them.  In time, 14 of these settlements of “praying Indians” were established with over 1,100 Praying Indians and Eliot visited them all, regardless of weather or other impediment, and trained ministers in each.

Eliot’s crowning labor of love was a translation of the Scriptures into the Algonquin language.  The rudimentary system of pictures was not sufficient for the task.  Instead, he taught them the English alphabet (and had to invent a few new characters as well) then used those characters to translate the Bible for them.  This task took him over ten years to complete, with no assurances it would ever even be printed.  Frankly, given his workload, it was amazing he had any time at all to complete the task.

The London Bible society, upon hearing of his completed work, offered to fund the cost of publishing the work – this type of work being the very premises on which the society was founded.  In 1659 printing was begun in Harvard – the first Bible printed in North America.  1,500 Bibles were printed and bound, the earliest example of the translating and printing of the entire Bible as a means of evangelization.  English Bibles would not be printed in North America for another century.

Unfortunately, in 1675, a confederation of Indian Tribes under the leadership of a chief called “King Philip” began a bloody war with the colonists.  Englishmen, suddenly very uneasy at the thought of entire fortified town of Indians near their settlements, began to treat Eliot’s converts with suspicion and downright hostility.  Against Eliot’s vehement protests, many were even forced to move to Deer Island in Boston Harbor, unprotected from the Atlantic winter.  His ready supplies having dried up, Eliot supplied them as best he could, though many perished from the treatment.

Despite these hardships, the Praying Indians remained loyal to John Eliot and many even joined in the war against King Philip, forming a scouting company and rendered valuable service to the English.  In the final battle, it was a Praying Indian who fired the shot which killed the rebel King Philip.

Although the English were victorious against the Indians, this incident was a blow to John Eliot’s work from which it was never able to recover.  He continued to minister to those who remained until his death in 1690 at the age of 84.  Sporadic villages of these Praying Indians continued up into the 18^th century.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/missionaries/john-eliot.html

https://www.americanheritage.com/apostle-indians

https://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/john-eliot.html

Easter celebrations around the world

 

Easter celebrations around the world

Easter has sadly become a largely secular holiday though, like Christmas, it is certainly rooted in a wonderful event in the Christian faith.

In the United States, it is common to see Easter bunnies and Easter eggs.  Jelly beans and chocolates abound.  Egg hunts and grassy baskets abound.  These traditions, very loosely based on the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, have taken on many forms around the globe.

In the Greek island of Corfu, earthenware pots are thrown out of upper-story windows and smashed onto the streets.  They believe this tradition started by copying a similar tradition in Venice, where new Christians threw possessions onto the street to symbolize throwing old things away and beginning their life anew.

Another Greek tradition is with red-dyed eggs.  Following midnight mass, each person cracks their egg against another person’s egg.  The ‘last egg standing’ is the winner and is supposed to have good luck that year.

In Poland, Ukraine, and a few other East European countries people throw buckets of water on each other the Monday after Easter, a celebration they call “wet Monday.”  This is to commemorate the baptism of a Polish prince over 1,500 years ago and the introduction of Christianity to that region.

In Scandinavia, on Easter children dress up and walk along the street asking people for candy and chocolates.  Sometimes, the children will exchange the candy for artwork they have spent time drawing. 

In some parts of Spain, Easter festivities take place beginning on the Thursday before Easter.  At night, some dress up in skeleton costumes and reenact scenes from the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.  The skeletons supposedly represent death.

In Australia, in 1991, a campaign ensued to replace the Easter bunny with the Easter bilby (a small Aussie marsupial).  Australia has a great problem with rabbits, which are considered pests and destroy crops.  Chocolate makers who make chocolate bilbies donate profits to help endangered animals.

As in Australia, in New Zealand fall is coming on when Easter is celebrated.  Because of the temperature change, many New Zealanders enjoy the season’s first hot cross buns on Easter Sunday.

Vanuatu, a Pacific Island nation north of Australia, makes Easter a national holiday – from Good Friday through Easter Monday.  On Easter morning, there is a traditional sunrise service – which must be absolutely beautiful in that area of the world.

In Ethiopia, Christian churches celebrate what they call ‘Faskia’ – which is the 55 days leading up to Easter Sunday.  This is a bigger holiday than Christmas.  People spend the 55 days fasting from meat and animal products.  The night before Easter is a somber, reflective vigil, but Easter morning breaks out in dancing and festive music.

In the Philippines, Easter is a major holiday.  Two processions happen: first the men walk through town, following an image of Jesus risen from the dead.  Second, the women walk through town following an image of Mary, mother of Jesus, wearing a black veil.  The two groups meet at the church to show Jesus comforting his mother after He was raised from the dead.  Then, young girls dressed as angels remove the veil from Mary’s face and the people celebrate His rising!

In southern France, a very unique thing happens on Easter in the small town of Bessieres.  The people of the town get together and crack over 15,000 eggs to make one giant omelet which is served with bread to visitors.  According to tradition, Napoleon traveled through there with his army and was served omelets by the residents.  Being his first taste of an omelet, the emperor stayed an extra day and had the town cook a single, giant omelet to feed his entire army.

In Bermuda, kites are flown on Good Friday.  Many years ago, a teacher wanted to illustrate to his students Christ ascending into Heaven.  He took the children outside and set a kite aloft, decorated with the face of Jesus. 

No matter how Easter is celebrated, it is important to remember the reason for the season.  Easter is a celebration of a risen Savior, a resurrected Lord.  The proper symbol of Easter is not a man dead on a cross, but an empty tomb, singing angels, and rejoicing disciples.  Easter is hope – a confident assurance in a Savior who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world, as well as for MY sins…and for yours.

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-different-ways-easter-is-celebrated-around-the-world.html

https://www.wycliffe.org/blog/featured/how-easter-is-celebrated-in-countries-around-the-world

https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/how-countries-around-the-world-celebrate-easter

Lott Cary

Lott Cary was born a slave on a plantation in Charles City County, Virginia (southeast of Richmond), in 1780.  His situation was such that his extended family lived together.  His family attended a Baptist church and feared the Lord greatly.  Later in his life, Lott remembered his grandmother Mahala as the one who greatly shaped his faith.

When he was twenty-four years old, Lott’s owner sent him to Richmond to work in a tobacco warehouse.  While there, he began drinking and behaving in ways he was not proud of later.  After two or three years, he began to feel conviction of his sin and was converted in the First Baptist Church after hearing a sermon about Nicodemus.  He was baptized there and, intensely curious about the story of Nicodemus, made arrangements to learn to read so he could study the story himself.

His faith affected his work ethic, his work at the warehouse thrived, and he was promoted to supervisor of the warehouse.  He was often tipped by tobacco buyers and he was allowed to keep and sell extra tobacco.  This money was diligently saved and Lott soon had enough to purchase freedom for himself and his young family.  The warehouse kept him on as a salaried employee.

Lott Cary felt the call to preach and began preaching to slaves around the Richmond area.  People of all races who attended his sermons called them among the most moving they had ever heard.

Feeling an increasing call to go to Africa as a missionary, in 1815 Lott worked with other ministers to form a Baptist society for African missions.  The Society saw the state of Liberia as a starting point for missions to the entire continent of Africa.  They raised funds for a number of years and in 1821 Cary left as co-lead of a team to establish a mission in Monrovia, Liberia, where a number of freed blacks had resettled.  Intending to preach, Cary found himself enmeshed in the political climate and in the practical matters of government – even to matters of training local doctors and to the self-defense of the small city from large bands of bandits and rebels.  All of these duties were performed while he was active as the pastor of several churches in the city.

In 1826, Lott Cary was the acting governor of Liberia but was unfortunately killed with seven other people in an explosion when he was helping to prepare cartridges for the colony’s defense.

His untimely death left a great hole to fill, but because of his efforts in his day, Liberia remains a free nation and the National Missionary Baptist Convention continues to send missionaries around the world.  There is also a large missions organization headquartered in Lanham, MD, named after him which sends multicultural teams into parts of Africa on a short-term basis for purposes of evangelism, health, anti-human trafficking, and disaster response.

https://mbcpathway.com/2021/02/25/lott-cary-former-slave-becomes-first-baptist-missionary-to-africa/

https://www.imb.org/2018/08/28/missionaries-you-should-know-lott-cary/

http://lottcarey.org/

The Mockery of Methodism

The Mockery of Methodism

In 1843, the great Methodist movement was shaking the foundations of Great Britain.  John Wesley traveled the country on horseback, living modestly, worshiping devoutly, and preaching fiercely.  His mannerisms and his teaching engendered both praise and ridicule.  The following circumstance is recorded in Wesley’s personal journal.

On Monday, October 31^st, Wesley and his companions entered the city of Newcastle.  That Wednesday an advertisement was published for a comedic play that Friday which was scheduled which stated that there would be an added portion to the play, a ‘farce,’ which they called “Trick Upon Trick, or Methodism Displayed” intended as open mockery to Wesley and his work.

That Friday, Moot Hall in Newcastle was packed to the max.  They literally had to construct seats on the edges of the stage to handle the overflow.  The crowd was estimated to be 1,500 people.

As the comedians began the first act of farce, the newly constructed seats collapsed, the supports giving way “like a rotten stick.”  It took some time, but order was restored and the play went on.  During the second act, the more expensive seats, the ‘shilling seats’ also cracked and sank down several inches.  This caused a mild panic and a number of people ran for the door and did not return.  Once order was restored, they continued the play.

When the third act began, the entire stage suddenly sank six inches.  The actors retreated to the back and had to be coaxed back onto the stage.  Near the end of the third act, the cheaper ‘sixpenny seats’ collapsed to the ground without warning.  More people fled the hall.

With only 200-300 people remaining in the hall a man named Mr Este, who was playing the irreverent Methodist in the farce, announced to those remaining that the cast was resolved to continue the production.  Literally as he was speaking, the stage suddenly sank six more inches, sending Mr Este fleeing to the safety of the back and the few remaining patrons to the door.

Wesley was careful to note that not a single person was injured - a fact he attributed directly to the mercy of God.  He concluded the account in his journal with a wry statement: “Which is most surprising – that those players acted this farce the next week – or that some hundreds of people came again to see it?”

https://ccel.org/ccel/wesley/journal/journal.vi.v.xvi.html

 

 

 

Fifty-Seven Cents

57 Cents

The Temple Baptist Church of Philadelphia today has a seating capacity of 3,300 people.  The church is the origin of Temple University and the Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Temple Baptist was a growing church in 1886 under the leadership of their pastor, Dr. Russell Conwell who is well known for his sermon entitled ‘Acres of Diamonds.’  Dr Conwell was walking to church one Sunday morning when he came across a young, shabbily-dressed girl, alone on the street, crying.  When he stopped and asked her what the matter was, she told him that she couldn’t go to Sunday School because the classrooms were full.  Dr Conwell learned her name was Hattie May Wiatt and that she lived in one of the city’s run-down tenements. 

Demand for the children’s’ classes was significant, and the church at the time had no choice but to turn many children away once classroom space was full, but his heart went out to this particular girl.  He picked her up, escorted her into the church personally, and walked her to a class she could be a part of.  As they walked to class, the Pastor told her, “someday we’re going to have a building big enough for all the little children who want to come hear about Jesus.”

Two years later, Pastor Conwell officiated Hattie May’s funeral after a sudden illness.  Her heartbroken mother handed him a small, worn-out purse she said had belonged to her daughter.  The pastor opened the purse to find 57 pennies (no small savings for a girl from a poor family at that time) and a scribbled note which read, “This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday School.”

Dr Conwell took those pennies and the note back to his church and issued a challenge to build.  He auctioned off the pennies one-by-one and immediately raised over $250 – enough to buy a nearby house which was the church’s first expansion.  For many years, Sunday School classes for children were held there and later, the first classes of Temple University.   As the building program took off, some members of the church formed what the called the “Wiatt Mite Society” with the goal of making Hattie May’s little offering grow as much as possible.  They raised a great deal of money, in large and small donations, toward the expansion of their church building and other needs of the church and eventual University.

Later, when the church was ready to build a new campus, the church leadership was negotiating with the bank to finance the purchase of the land.  Knowing the story of Hattie May, the banker offered the land, worth ten thousand dollars, to the church for a down-payment of fifty-seven cents.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/57-varieties-of-truth/

https://www.truthorfiction.com/hattiemaywiatt/

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

Edward Mote was born in 1797 in London to unbelieving parents who pretty much let him go his own way, giving him little in the way of spiritual or moral direction.  He said of his younger years, “So ignorant was I that I did not know that there was a God.”  As a teenager, he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker who introduced Edward to the Gospel.  He responded to the Gospel, was saved, and was baptized when he was 18 years old. 

He worked in the business of cabinetry until he was 50 years of age, then entered the ministry.  He became the pastor of the local Baptist church in Horsham, West Sussex for the last 26 years of his life.  He was loved by his congregation and was offered the church parsonage as a gift.  He declined, saying he would rather have the pulpit, “and when I cease to preach Christ, then turn me out of that.”

Edward wrote some songs for his little church to use in worship.  One day, he had a thought in his head to write a hymn on the ‘gracious experience of a Christian.’  He wrote a chorus based on the Parable of the Builders and used as a chorus “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”  That day he wrote the first few verses.

The fledgling song stayed on the scratch paper in his pocket for quite some time.  Later, he paid a visit to some congregants of whom the wife was critically ill.  She asked for a song and, as he didn’t have a hymnal to sing from, he pulled the scrap of paper from his pocket and sang it with the couple.  The woman asked for a copy of the song, so Edward hurried home and finished the text.  He then sent the song off to a publisher writing, “As these verses so met the dying woman’s case, so my attention to them was the more arrested.”

In the nearly two centuries since, this song has been a hymn of hope and assurance for the Church, regardless of trial and circumstance.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood
When every earthly prop gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

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

https://hymnary.org/text/my_hope_is_built_on_nothing_less

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martin Luther’s letter, ‘Whether One May Flee From A Deadly Plague’

Martin Luther’s letter, ‘Whether One May Flee From A Deadly Plague’

The year was 1527, well into the time of the nascent Protestant Reformation.  The Black Plague had cropped up in Wittenburg and outlying areas and was ravaging the area.  It was well-known that this disease had killed about half of the entire European continent just a few generations before.

People of means tended to flee the plague.  They often had country homes or relatives in distant lands where they could flee to and wait out the disease.  Those without the means to do so stayed as sheltered as they could within the confines of the city. 

It was against this backdrop that Reverend Doctor Johann Hess, Protestant pastor at Breslau, Germany, wrote to Martin Luther requesting his advice on the question of whether it was sinful for him to flee the plague, or if his Christian duties compelled him to stay.  For the record, Martin Luther and his entire family stayed behind to assist in alleviating the suffering of his flock for the duration of the plague.

Knowing the intent of Rev Hess was to publish the letter for the edification of other ministers, Luther penned an 8-page reply.  The letter is a masterpiece of Biblical wisdom coupled with common sense, and gives us direction not only with the current (comparatively mild) COVID-19 pandemic, but also as an example of Biblical interpretation in light of current events.

Regarding those in the ministry, Luther says that, in principle, they should stay.  “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, but the hireling sees the wolf coming and flees” (John 10:11).  The need for ministers of the Gospel is very real in a situation where people are dying.  In practice, Luther encourages the clergy of the city to gather together and determine how best to meet the spiritual needs of the city in such a circumstance – with some leaving and some staying. 

Regarding those in public office (mayors, judges, etc), they are the fine line between order and anarchy.  As they were appointed by God to their role, they should stay and fulfill their duties unless some provision has been made for their duties to be assumed in their absence.  Likewise, those with a role of service to another (naming domestic servants, parents, and children) should not flee unless provision for their duties is taken over by another.

Finally, faithful Christians not in the above categories must evaluate themselves.  There is no shame in fleeing, provided their leaving does not endanger another or leave the sick without provision or care.  As Christians, we have a stated responsibility to help our neighbors in time of need as if that neighbor were Christ Himself.  We are hypocrites if we say we would help Jesus in time of need, but do nothing to assist a neighbor in a critical time.  Likewise, we dishonor Jesus if we take unneeded risks or avoid routine medical care at such a critical time.  The latter, Luther asserts, moves us from the point of trusting God, to the point of testing God.

Luther points out practical measures such as keeping a distance (i.e. ‘social distancing’), quarantining when sick, and making provision for those in quarantine.  He also circles back to the Spiritual – stating that in such a time people should: 1.) Attend church and listen to the sermon to learn through God’s Word ‘how to live and how to die.’; 2.) Become reconciled with your neighbors and make your heart right with God; and 3.) Those tending the sick should take care not to wait until the last minute to call for the pastor.  Too often, the pastor would arrive to find the person incoherent or past the point of being able to respond to the Gospel.

Luther, thus, lays out his logic for a Biblical response of a minister to a devastating plague.  While he does not say this directly, the full intent of his letter is to pull a person away from focus on self to a focus on the ministry to others: first of all if our position in life demands it, and secondly if there is a real opportunity to show love to our neighbor – love which involves a level of risk in ministering to those in need.

https://blogs.lcms.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Plague-blogLW.pdf