Robert Robinson

Robert Robinson

Robert Robinson, the author of the hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, was born in 1735, and lost his father at age 8.  His widowed mother struggled and eventually apprenticed him to a barber, hoping to give him a profession to sustain him.  Robert was prone to read more than practice his trade, however, and had a difficult time.  Without a father’s guidance, he fell into bad company and did some things he was later very ashamed of.

He was shaken by the words of a fortune-telling gypsy his group was making fun of, and rethought the direction of his life.  Seeking direction, he went to hear the great evangelist George Whitfield, who preached that day on the words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:7, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”  Whitfield’s words bothered him greatly for over three years before he came to peace with God, and a saving faith at age 20.  Two years later, he wrote his famous hymn.

Robert became a Methodist, and pastored a church three years after his salvation.  “Prone to wander”, he later became a Baptist where he authored a detailed history of Baptists in England.  He switched from there to an Independent church, and later to a Congregationalist pulpit. 

Robert, later in his life, became close friends with a popular Unitarian pastor named Joseph Priestly.  He was accused of converting to Unitarianism, which holds to the doctrine that Jesus was not fully Divine.  This was very likely a false charge, but there is little doubt he was influenced and confused by Priestly and his teaching.

In his confusion and subsequent depression, there is a widely-told story that Robinson was in a stagecoach with an elderly lady who began humming the tune to that hymn.  She stopped and asked him if he knew what she was humming.  Robert replied, “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then.”  The woman thought on his words then replied, “Sir, the ‘streams of mercy’ are still flowing.”  He was touched, and restored by the woman’s words – ministered to by the words of his own hymn.

The word ‘Ebenezer’ is unusual to us.  It refers specifically to the stone in I Samuel 7:12, “Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it ‘Ebenezer’, saying ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.” (NASB)

The words of the hymn are different in different hymnals.  I believe the below to be the original text:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I'll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I've come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I'll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/come-thou-fount-of-every-blessing/

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/did-robert-robinson-wander-as-he-feared-11630313.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Robinson_(Baptist)

Polycarp

One of our very early church fathers, Polycarp, was the Bishop of Smyrna (modern-day Izmir in Turkey) in the second century.  Born around AD 70, tradition tells us he was personally discipled by the Apostle John and was appointed by the Apostles as leader of the church in Smyrna – one of the cities noted in Revelation Chapter 2. 

Not much is known about Polycarp’s ministry, other than it being long and fruitful.  It is known that he was a fierce opponent of heretical teaching, including Marcionism and Gnosticism.  Some letters from him to the church in Philippi survive, instructing them to persevere in the faith and some practicalities in how to avoid financial dishonesty in the church. 

Bishop Polycarp is most noted for his death.  At the very old age of 86, during one of the Roman persecutions, some friends encouraged him to flee.  He reluctantly fled to an estate outside the city.  While in hiding, he claimed to have received a vision.  He did not reveal the details of the vision, but simply declared to his friends, “I must be burned alive.”  When the Romans caught up to him, he went willingly.

During his trial, the Roman Proconsul conducting the trial felt sorry for him because of his advanced age.  Polycarp was offered immunity if he would just speak the words, “Caesar is Lord” and offer a pinch of incense to a statue of Caesar.  Polycarp responded, “Eighty-six years I have served Him and he has never done me wrong.  How, then, can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”  Polycarp’s refusal greatly angered the official, and he condemned the elderly Bishop to be burned at the stake.  Polycarp replied, “Come, do what you will.  Why do you delay?”  When the soldiers carrying out the execution moved to nail the bindings in his hands to the stake he refused, stating that God would give him the strength to remain in the fire.

Polycarp died while praying aloud.  The early accounts of his death indicate that many people who witnessed his death came to faith.

Packer, J.I., 131 Christians Everyone Should Know, Holman Publishing, 2000.

https://www.polycarp.net/

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

Joseph Scriven was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1819.  In 1842 he graduated from Trinity College in Dublin.  The following year his fiancée accidentally drowned a few hours before their wedding.  In grief, he moved to Canada, in a little town called Port Hope, Ontario, where he tutored children and tried to live a quiet life of charity and Christian witness.  It was said that a person would be hard-pressed to find a person in the vicinity of Port Hope who had not had a conversation with Mr Scriven about his soul.  He seemed eccentric to many people, but was also very given to perform charitable works – often cutting firewood for widows or delivering milk for the elderly crippled with rheumatism.  He gave much of his clothes and money away to those in need – a practice he kept up with his entire life.

In 1855, when Joseph was about 35 years old, he got word that his mother was ill.  He was unable to visit, but penned a poem he called “Pray Without Ceasing” and sent it to her.  Unbeknown to him, his mother gave the poem to a friend who published it and set it to music.  It was published as “Author Unknown” under the title from the first line of the poem: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”

Joseph fell in love again, but again was taken by tragedy in 1860 when his intended, Miss Eliza Catherine Roche, died of Tuberculosis just prior to the wedding.

A short time prior to his death in 1896, a friend was sitting with him and came upon a copy of the hymn and read it to him.  Joseph said to him in amazement, “That’s the poem I wrote for my mother years ago!”  He had never intended it to go beyond her.

Shortly after then, Joseph passed away.  He was buried next to his lost love, Eliza, with his feet facing her so that at the Resurrection they would arise facing each other.

What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry, Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear.

All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?  Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged; Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful, Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior still, our refuge, Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake Thee?  Take it to the Lord in prayer.

In His arms He’ll take and shield thee; Thou wilt find a solace there.

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_M._Scriven

https://www.stempublishing.com/hymns/biographies/scriven.html

David Livingstone

David Livingston

David Livingston was born in Scotland in 1813.  He was born in a building housing the families of workers of a cotton mill.  He grew, as expected, to work in that same cotton mill – often working 14 hour shifts as a child – but found time to study theology and science on weekends and evenings as he could find the time.  A faithful Congregationalist, he was moved as a young man by an appeal for medical missionaries.  He added medicine to the list of subjects he was studying.

At first he thought to go to China as a missionary, and was accepted by the London Missionary Society for this work.  The Opium Wars of 1839-1842 put an end to that dream, and he was persuaded by the great British Missionary Robert Moffatt to consider Africa as a mission field.  He accepted the call and arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1841 at age 28 to support Rev Moffatt.  Within four years, David married his mentor’s daughter, Mary Moffatt.  They eventually had six children.  David grew restless tending mission stations on the coast, and developed a vision for exploring Africa, desiring to open “God’s Highway” – a planned 1,500 mile route to the interior of Africa to bring “Christianity and civilization” to unreached peoples.  During the course of his missions work, he traveled East to West across Africa, then back again, crossing the Kalahari Desert each way as well.  He was the first recorded European to find Lake Ngami and the beautiful Victoria Falls, which he named for his beloved Queen.

During his trips into the interior of Africa, Dr Livingston was exposed to the slave trade at its source, and was greatly burdened by it.  He wrote of the “inefficient” slave economy, desiring to replace it with the “efficient” economy of capitalism.  He hoped that developing a commercial economy would expose the slave trade to the world and cut off the slave trade at its source.

Dr Livingston spent the next 15 years exploring Africa, keeping detailed notes as to the geography, peoples, and landmarks he saw.  He was very faithful to report his detailed notes to his mission board and eventually returned home to a hero’s welcome in England, finding that the Society publishing the results of his exploration had turned him into a celebrity.  He published a book detailing his mission exploits, and made enough money from that book to fund the rest of his missions work.

He returned to Africa under the sponsorship of the Royal Geographic Society, with the stated desire of solving what was then one of the great mysteries of the world, finding the source of the Nile River.  Practically, he had hoped that this would inspire other British explorers and businessmen to follow his footsteps and begin to open up Africa to commercial and missions work and begin the construction of his “God’s Highway.”  It was during this trip that the extreme hardship resulted in the death of his wife, among many others in his entourage.

It was during this last journey that Dr Livingstone disappeared from the public eye.  Nothing was heard from him for two years – and his disappearance added to his mystique.  It was later learned that David had fallen gravely ill during that time.  In 1871, the New York Herald sent journalist Henry Stanley with instructions to locate Dr Livingstone and tell his story.  Stanley located him in the interior of Africa in October of that year, uttering the famous line (which he admitted to having rehearsed prior to meeting him), “Dr Livingston, I presume?”  Stanley brought food, supplies, and medicines, which had the effect of saving the life of David who was still very ill.

Stanley stayed with David for five months before returning to New York to publish the stories he had recorded.  Livingstone refused Stanley’s pleas to accompany him, insisting on the missions work yet to be done.  It was less than 2 years later, that Dr David Livingstone was found dead, kneeling by his cot in the posture of prayer.  His friends arranged for his body to be brought back to England, where he was buried in Westminster Abbey after an arduous nine-month journey, but they first removed his heart and buried them in Africa, in present-day Zambia.

David Livingstone came to Africa when it was called the “Dark Continent” or “The White Man’s Graveyard”.  Contemporary maps of Africa had large blank spots marked “unexplored”.  He suffered many hardships, including the death of his wife, desertion by many friends and fellow missionaries, his own illnesses, opposition from slave traders which sometimes physically threatened him, and the ever-present dangers of Africa – he was mauled by a lion once, which permanently damaged his left arm.  Despite this, he redrew the map of Africa, helped to expose the horrors of the slave trade for what it was in his day, and established many missions works in the interior of Africa.

His tombstone in Westminster Abbey reads, “Brought by faithful hands over land and sea, David Livingstone: missionary, traveler, philanthropist. For 30 years his life was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelize the native races, to explore the undiscovered secrets, and to abolish the slave trade.”  One present-day author likened him to a mixture of Mother Teresa, Neil Armstrong, and Abraham Lincoln.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/missionaries/david-livingstone.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Livingstone/The-Zambezi-expedition

Rock of Ages

Augustus Toplady

Augustus Toplady is best known today as the writer of the hymn “Rock of Ages.”  He was born in 1740 in Farnham, England.  His father was a Major in the Royal Marines and died in wartime service when his only son was still an infant.  Augustus’ widowed mother enrolled him in a private school and later moved to Ireland.

An intelligent and energetic boy, he preached sermons at the age of 12, began writing hymns at age 14, and listened to a Wesleyan sermon at age 16, solidifying his call to Christ’s service.

Despite his foundation in the Arminian theology of Wesleyanism, Augustus switched his allegiance to Calvinism and exchanged a number of fiery letters, both public and private, with John Wesley arguing the point.  Wesley eventually wrote him off, declaring him intractable.  Toplady wrote, “Wesley is guilty of satanic shamelessness, of acting the ignoble part of a lurking, shy assassin.” 

Despite his rancor toward Wesley’s theology, Augustus had a fruitful ministry.  He was known to pray, “God, keep me from being a mere scholar.”  His true love, however, seemed to be writing hymns.  He died of tuberculosis at the young age of 37, but in his day had published over 800 hymns in numerous hymnals.  “Rock of Ages” is rumored to have been inspired by his seeking shelter under a rock overhang during a particularly violent storm in 1776, about 2 years before he died.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me;  Let me hide myself in thee.

Let the water and the blood; From thy wounded side which flowed;

Be of sin the double cure.  Save from wrath and make me pure

Could my tears forever flow?  Could my zeal no languor know?

These for sin could not atone; Thou must save and thou alone.

In my hand no price I bring.  Simply to the cross I cling.

While I draw this fleeting breath.  When my eyes shall close in death.

When I rise to worlds unknown; And behold thee on thy throne.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me; Let me hide myself in thee!

Unknowingly to him, Toplady's most famous hymn is amazingly similar to words in a hymnal preface published by John Wesley nearly 30 years before, “O Rock of Salvation, Rock struck and cleft for me, let those two streams of blood and water which gushed from thy side, bring down pardon and holiness into my soul.”

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

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/hymn-writer-augustus-toplady-11630290.html

https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-rock-of-ages-cleft-for-me

Toyohiko Kagawa

Toyohiko Kagawa

Toyohiko Kagawa was born in 1888, the son of a wealthy businessman and a concubine.  Both parents died when he was four years old and the young boy bounced between relatives who didn’t seem to actually want him.  His childhood was very lonely. 

As a teenager, he took some English classes through some Presbyterian missionaries and was converted to Christianity.  His conversion resulted in his extended Buddhist family disowning him and his having to move in with the missionary families.  As a young man, he enrolled in Tokyo Presbyterian college and later in a local Seminary.  He went to Princeton University for further studies from 1914-1916.  His theological studies, while beneficial, left a bad taste in his mouth.  He was turned off by all the discussion and debate over theological fine points and the relatively minor discussion over how to apply those doctrines, and the Christian faith in general, to a struggling world – pointing often to the parable of the Good Samaritan.

He returned to Japan, in the city of Kobe, and moved into a 6x6-foot shack in order to minister to the poor there.  Japan at the time was going through an internal struggle with its attempt to adopt Capitalism as an economic system, and the poor ended up suffering greatly.  As a result of being immersed in this suffering, Toyohiko advocated a form of Socialism based on Christian principles – an alternative to State-run Socialism, Capitalism, and Communism he called “Brotherhood Economics.”

Toyohiko was a driving force in organizing labor strikes and forming the first labor unions in Japan.  For these activities, he was arrested twice: in 1921 and in 1922.  During his time in prison, he wrote two novels, the second of which detailed his life among the destitute of Kobe.

In 1923, a devastating earthquake hit Tokyo, leveling much of the city.  He moved there, sensing an opportunity to minister to those affected.  From here, he advocated for universal male suffrage in Japan, which he succeeded in achieving, and made great strides in universal female suffrage.

With the rise of militarism in Japan in the 1930s, Toyohiko advocated for Pacifism.  After Japan invaded China, he gave a speech in China where he apologized on behalf of the Japanese people for the invasion.  This led to his arrest in 1940.  He was released in early 1941, and he traveled to the United States to advocate for peace.  He spent the duration of World War 2 in the United States, returning to Japan soon after its defeat, then achieving his long-held goal of universal women’s suffrage.  He continued to write on social issues, receiving a nomination for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947 and in 1948 and later a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 and 1955.  All this time, he continued to evangelize the forgotten poor of Japan.  He established hospitals, schools, credit unions and churches.

Though evangelism was the primary impetus for his works, he is better known as a Christian social reformer.  Toyohiko died in 1960, at age 71, of heart failure.  His final words were from his deathbed, “Please do your best for world peace and the church in Japan.”

Quotes:

[to Emperor Hirohito in 1946] “Whosoever will be great among you…shall be the servant of all.  A ruler’s sovereignty, Your Majest, is in the hearts of the people.  Only by service to others can a man, or nation, be godlike.”

“I read that in a book that a man called Christ went about doing good.  It is very disconcerting to me that I am so easily satisfied with just ‘going about’.”

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

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/toyohiko-kagawa-japanese-original-11630620.html

http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/143.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kagawa-Toyohiko

He Lives!

He Lives!

What is the true evidence of our risen Savior?  There are many books on Christian Apologetics that give great evidences for the resurrection of Jesus – and those books are valuable.  The ultimate evidence, however, lies in a changed life.

Alfred Ackley was the younger brother of Bentley Ackley, pianist for Homer Rodheaver, song leader for the Billy Sunday campaigns ongoing in the first couple decades of the 20^th Century.  Alfred initially studied music himself, before turning to the study of Scripture and becoming a pastor.

Alfred was at a pastorate in California when two events in two days absolutely incensed him.  The day before Easter, in 1932, Alfred was witnessing to a Jewish man who resisted the faith saying, “Why should I worship a dead Jew?”  Alfred pondered this question all night, and was up early the next morning preparing to go to Easter services.  While getting ready, the radio was on and Alfred heard the preacher on the radio say, “Good morning – it’s Easter!  You know, folks, it really doesn’t make any difference to me if Christ be risen or not.  The main thing is, His truth goes marching on!”

Hearing this preacher, Alfred shouted, “It’s a lie!”  His wife came running into the room, exclaiming “Why are you shouting so early in the morning?”  Flustered, Alfred said, “Did you hear what that good-for-nothing preacher just said?”  That evening, Alfred continued to grouse over what he had heard until his wife had to tell him to do something with his anger.

Alfred went into his study that Easter evening and re-read the resurrection story from Mark’s Gospel.  As he read, he began to write, and ended up composing a song.

I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today.

I know that He is living, whatever men may say.

I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,

And just the time I need Him, He’s always near.

He lives!  He lives!  Christ Jesus lives today!

He walks with me and talks with me, along life’s narrow way!

He lives!  He lives!  Salvation to impart!

You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart!

In all the world around me I see His loving care;

And tho’ my heart grows weary, I never will despair.

I know that He is leading thro’ all the stormy blast.

The day of His appearing will come at last.

Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, life up your voice and sing.

Eternal Hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King.

The hope of all who see Him, the help of all who find.

None other is so loving, so good and kind.

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

https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-he-lives