Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Helen Howarth Lemmel

Helen Lemmel was born in 1863 in England, the daughter of a minister who emigrated to America when she was a child.  She was a very gifted musically and her parents paid for music teachers as often as they could.  She eventually returned to Europe as a young woman to study music in Germany where she earned a reputation as a brilliant singer.

In Europe, Helen married a wealthy European and the two came to America where they traveled widely throughout the United States, especially in the Midwest.  Helen sang in various churches – often singing hymns she wrote herself.  She later taught voice in the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and later at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.  She was involved in some of the musical worship of Evangelist Billy Sunday and wrote many songs and hymns for adults and children.  She even authored a Christian book for children which was widely read in her day.

In her middle-age years, Helen was diagnosed with a disease which ended up making her permanently blind.  As a result of this her husband abandoned her, leaving her destitute.  It was in dealing with this dual tragedy that a friend brought and read to her a tract written by a missionary.  This little tract contained a statement which had a profound impact on her.  It read, “So then, turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.”  Helen wrote the words to her hymn Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus that same week, stating that the words were “dictated by the Holy Spirit.”  It was first published in 1918 under the title “Heavenly Vision” and has been a staple in Christian hymnals ever since.

Helen continued to write songs of praise and worship, often calling friends over at odd hours to write down the words for her when they would come to her mind.  In her later years, numerous visitors would tell of her joy and enthusiasm.  Though in a sparse apartment and living off of government and charitable assistance Helen, when asked how she was doing, would reply, “I’m doing well in the things that count.”  She had a small plastic keyboard by her bed.  There she would play, sing, and pray.  She was known to say, “One day God is going to bless me with a great heavenly keyboard.  I can hardly wait!”

Helen died in Seattle, Washington, on November 1^st, 1961, just 13 days short of her 98^th birthday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=682yRGibD1U

http://chrisfieldblog.com/2008/11/14/blind-helen-howarth-lemmel-turns-our-eyes

https://womenofchristianity.com/turn-your-eyes-upon-jesus-by-helen-lemmel-hymn-story/

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

Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler

In the year 1577, a six-year-old boy in Germany stared into the sky at a comet, prominently visible in the night sky.  This, along with a lunar eclipse three years later produced a deep love for astronomy in young Johannes Kepler. 

Kepler was a sickly child, and unhappy.  He nearly died from contracting smallpox at an early age.  His father was a mercenary soldier and was away from home for most of his son’s early years.  Eventually, Johannes was sent to live with his grandfather who was a godly man and a great influence on the boy.  His grandfather noticed an academic ability in the boy and sent him to school, where he soon excelled academically.

Against his recently-returned father’s wishes, Johannes accepted a scholarship to a major university.  His studies included Latin, Greek, the Bible, mathematics, and astronomy, where he studied the recent theory of a sun-centered solar system advocated for by Copernicus and became a fierce advocate.  His intention was to study to become a minister, but when he was offered a position as a mathematics and astronomy teacher he realized it as God’s leading and accepted the position.

Kepler’s goal was to glorify God through his mathematical and astronomical studies.  His scientific notes are riddled with prayers of praise to God.  Kepler believed that the more the orderliness of God’s creation was studied by Christians, the more they would be driven to deeper and deeper worship of the Creator.  He often wrote, “O God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after thee.”  He realized that the Scripture even called the heathen to look upon Creation to discover the Creator – why not more so those who follow God every day?

Kepler believed firmly that since there was a Creator of order, there was a precision and orderliness to the universe which could be explained mathematically if one would diligently search it out.  With that as a foundation, Kepler studied and eventually proved Copernicus’ theories – and even improved on them by discovering the paths of the planets were not perfectly circular, but more elliptical.  He established laws for planetary velocity and for the relationship between orbital periods and the distances of planets from the sun.  His three laws for planetary motion have formed the basis for our understanding of the solar system.

Kepler also undertook a study of what affects the alignment of the planets and the phases of the moon had on the earth.  With their limited knowledge, scientists were unsure which events on earth were affected by events in the heavens and which were not.  Today we understand that the positioning of the moon affects things like seasons and tides, but not in areas which today we would consign to the practice of astrology.  Kepler studied these affects from a scientific perspective and wrote about his research, effectively separating the scientific from the superstitious. 

Johannes Kepler lived a tough life.  Having born the trials of his childhood, as an adult he buried his first wife and lost three of his six children in their childhood.  A stubborn Calvinist, he refused to bow to the doctrinal bent of the day, simply stating “I am a Christian” when asked to summarize his faith.  Such conviction often led to persecution and forced relocation.  Since he supported the theories of Copernicus, many prominent scientists of his day shunned him and would not promote his work.  It was not until late in his life and after his death that his work was recognized as the genius that it was.

Despite all this, Kepler remained humble.  His desire was to “Let my name perish if only the name of God the Father is thereby elevated.”  He was willing to put aside his own plans for his life and say later, “I had the intention of becoming a theologian…but now I see how God is, by my endeavors, also glorified in astronomy, for ‘the heavens declare the glory of God.’”

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/kepler-the-heavens-declare-gods-glory-11630018.html

https://answersingenesis.org/creation-scientists/profiles/johannes-kepler/

https://www.icr.org/article/science-man-god-johann-kepler

Amanda Smith, Evangelist

Mrs Amanda Smith

Amanda Smith was born in 1837, to a slave family in Baltimore County, Maryland, the oldest of thirteen children of two godly parents.  Her father, Samuel Berry, was well-trusted by his owners and when their master passed away, his widow allowed Samuel to work to pay for his freedom.  She allowed him in his trips to the city to sell the farm’s goods to also sell his own material.  He was known to often stay up late in the night making brooms, placemats, and other household items to sell.  He purchased his freedom, then continued to work to purchase each of his family members’ freedom.  Once freedom for the family was secured, the family moved to Pennsylvania, in the Lancaster County area and managed a farm.

Her parents were avid readers, and encouraged all the children to read and become educated.  Samuel, despite his very busy schedule, read from the Bible daily to his children.  The children were invited to attend a school which was five miles away, but the school was structured in a way that the white children were given their lessons first and, only if there was time remaining, were the black children allowed to be taught.  This proved to be not worth the effort, and they abandoned the idea of attending this school – instead opting to teach themselves with newspapers and Scripture.  Amanda estimates she received only about three months of formal schooling in her entire life.  Despite this, she learned from her parents and together with her siblings.

Sam Berry’s farm became a stop on the Underground Railroad.  In those days, harboring a runaway slave was a crime – even in northern states.  As a black family, they were watched very closely.  Amanda notes that her father would often work a full day on the farm, come home to eat his dinner at night, sleep about two hours, then disappear around midnight leading a few runaways to the next stop, about fifteen miles away, return home and, after about an hour of sleep, work another full day on the farm.

As a young woman, Amanda was hired by a local doctor and his wife to help take care of their children.  The family was very kind and they often invited her to church, and it was under their influence that Amanda found faith in Christ.  Her heart was especially moved by a visiting missionary who told of God’s work in many places around the world.

In 1854, Amanda married.  Her husband was killed in 1863 in combat in the Civil War.  She remarried, and her second husband died of illness in 1869.  Between her two husbands, she had five children – four of whom died very young.

After her second husband died, Amanda tried preaching.  A member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, there was initial resistance to a woman preaching, but she persisted and won many to Christ.  She became a popular speaker – eventually having doors opened for her across the United States, especially in the South.

The call to foreign missions beckoned, though, and when she got the chance to travel to England to work with churches, she jumped at the opportunity.  After a year in England, she spent two years in India where she was fondly remembered for many years after her departure.  Eight years in western Africa followed, where she was very active not only in preaching and ministering but in the Temperance movement – as active in Africa as it was in the United States.  In Africa, she adopted two orphaned children.

A man named Bishop Thoburn, Methodist Missionary in India, who served closely with Amanda during her time in India wrote the Introduction to her autobiography, An Autobiography: The Story of the Lord’s Dealings with Mrs. Amanda Smith, The Colored Evangelist.  In the Introduction, he wrote of a few of his experiences with Amanda – we will recount two below: 

First, he wrote of his first meeting of Amanda Smith, at a Camp Meeting near Cincinnati, while home on a furlough from India, where he served.  Many were scheduled to speak, including Bishop Thoburn and Amanda Smith.  He confessed that the meeting was not very successful and that a general feeling of depression had descended on the leaders of the meeting as they met to plan the next few days.  To top it all off it began to rain, adding to the feelings of gloom.  As they prayed, he was startled to hear singing.  He looked up and saw Amanda, kneeling with hands spread out in prayer, singing what he called “a triumphant song” which changed the course of their prayer and the meeting.  This left a very marked impression on Bishop Thoburn.

Secondly, he wrote of meeting her in India and being very delighted to have her company.  He spoke of her being fiercely attacked in the local papers and her graceful tact in her responses.  During a particular meeting in Calcutta, he recounted how they had a problem with young men purposely disrupting the open-air preaching by rushing the stage and beating the speaker.  During one such meeting, they saw this group of young men getting ready to rush the podium.  Amanda positioned herself between the speaker and the young men, fell to her knees in prayer, face lifted to Heaven.  The young men stood still, unable to move.  The rest of the meeting passed without incident.

Upon her return to the United States, Amanda settled near Chicago.  She had to be coaxed into it, but eventually wrote the aforementioned autobiography.  She used proceeds from the book and money from a missions organization in England to start the first orphanage for black children in Illinois.

Amanda had to retire, due to failing health, in 1912.  An admirer paid all expenses for her to move to Florida and retire there.  When she died in 1915, a large group of ministers accompanied her casket to the train in Florida.  On March 1, 1915, one of the largest funerals Chicago had ever seen honored her memory.

From her autobiography:

“I often say to people that I have a right to shout more than some folks; I have been bought twice, and set free twice, and so I have a good right to shout.  Hallelujah!

https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/smitham/smith.html

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

https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2006/10/amanda-smith.html

http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/r-s/smith-amanda-berry-1837-1915/

 

 

 

Martin of Tours

The saint we know of today as Martin of Tours was born in the area of present-day Hungary in the early 4^th Century, the son of a Roman Tribune (senior officer). 

At age 10, against the wishes of his parents, Martin began attending a Christian church and began going through the required process to be baptized.

Before he could be baptized, at age 16, Martin was drafted into the Roman army, the result of an edict compelling the sons of veterans to enlist.  He was assigned to a calvary unit as part of the emperor’s official escort.  Martin avoided the temptations of soldiers and held fast to his faith – giving most of his salary to charity.  One example of his charity occurred during a particularly cold winter in Amiens, France, during a bitterly cold winter.  Martin had already given away his spare clothing to those without when he came across a poor man outside the city, shivering from the cold.  Martin felt pity, so he drew his sword and cut his own cloak in half so he had something to give to the man.

That night Martin had a dream where Jesus spoke to him.  In his dream Jesus said, “Martin, who is still preparing for baptism, has clothed me with his own cloak.”  Martin pondered this dream, and to him it incurred both praise and rebuke.  Praise for his unselfish gift to a man who could never repay.  Rebuke in that Martin never completed the ritual of baptism.

Martin appealed to his superiors for release from his service.  This was problematic in that Martin’s unit was, at that time, preparing to go into battle.  Martin was jailed, accused of cowardice.  In response, he volunteered to go with the army, unarmed, into the front lines of the battle.  His superiors were ready to accept his offer, when the opposing force sued for peace and the battle avoided.  Martin’s request for release from service was granted.

Martin became a hermit and settled near Tours, France, under the discipleship of Hilary of Poitiers.  Hilary was an outspoken critic of the Arian heresy plaguing the church and Martin joined him in its rebuke.  He emerged periodically to preach and witness, traveling once to visit his parents to secure their conversion.  His mother found faith during that visit, his father at a later time.  During that particular trip, his biographer records that he was held prisoner by a group of brigands, hoping to get a ransom for him.  Martin won one of his captors to faith, who arranged for his release.

He established a number of monasteries in Western France, traveling back and forth between them to ensure their physical and spiritual health.  His intent was for these monasteries to be hubs of evangelism in their areas.  In the year 371, Martin was asked to come to the city of Tours, ostensibly to pray for a sick woman, where he was abducted and compelled to become bishop of the city.  Though he was reluctant to accept the position (legend says he hid in a barn full of geese, whose squawking gave him away), he immedi Drately embraced the role – influencing the removal of many pagan temples and images.  Martin made a point to make periodic visits to the churches within his jurisdiction, traveling extensively to do so.  He continued his advocacy for the poor, and wrote extensively to try to reduce the oppressive taxation the waning Roman empire began to demand from its middle class.  Martin arranged a system where his churches could act as asylum for those in danger of entering debtor’s slavery.

Today, Martin is widely remembered in France – where numerous churches and monuments have been erected in his honor.

E-mail from Christian History Institute, 11 Nov 2020.

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

 

 

 

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/