I am a retired teacher who wrote 7 photocopiable books for Teachers and one book for children Union Jack Colouring Book.
The 7books covered Geography, History (Medieval/ Tudor/ Stuart), Travel and Transport, Myself and Events (this included diaries), Race Against Time Stories (SATS based), Church Dates for Children plus Nature and Seasons (including Sport). These 7 books have been mainly broken into a number of segments.
Challenging the Physical Elements, my Geography book, is complete.
I am a retired teacher who wrote 7 photocopiable books for Teachers and one book for children Union Jack Colouring Book.
The 7books covered Geography, History (Medieval/ Tudor/ Stuart), Travel and Transport, Myself and Events (this included diaries), Race Against Time Stories (SATS based), Church Dates for Children plus Nature and Seasons (including Sport). These 7 books have been mainly broken into a number of segments.
Challenging the Physical Elements, my Geography book, is complete.
Dr. D. James Kennedy. an American evangelist, was dedicated to spreading conservative Christianity through his broadcasts on radio and the outreach programs he established.
On Sunday, 5th September, 1953, he began his Christian life. He heard , on the radio this question from a preacher - *Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and he was to ask you, What right do you have to enter M y heaven?
He was converted to Christ and shortly later into the Gospel ministry.
Dr. Kenny served 47 years as Senior Minister of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (CRPC) in Fort Lauderdale. When he arrived in 1959 his congregation was about 40, it grew to more than 10,000. For 15 years the rocketing growth made it the fastest growing Presbyterian church in America. Decision magazine said it was one of the 5 Great Churches in North America.
Why did it happen? Dr. Kenny in 1960 had a vision for making a global impact after reading Jeremiah 33v3 to a small congregation of 15-20 people.
Call unto me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
He said, You know, I believe we can change the world.
He founded 5 organizations.
It began with Evangelism Explosion (EE) in 1962 - a ministry for training Christians to share their personal faith and lead others to Christ.
Followed by Westminster Academy (1971), D James Kennedy Ministries (1974) and Knox Theological Seminary (1989) Center for Christian Statemanship (1994) (See notes for more data on each)
Evangelist Billy Graham spoke at the dedication of the new CRPC building in 1974. ( Read Dr. Kenny’s dedication prayer - Founding of CRPC)
Dr. Kenny may have died 13 years ago bur he still remains one of the most listened to Christian ministers in the USA. His forthright and rational presentation of the Gospel is heard via television, radio and the Internet throughout the USA and the world.
Tommy was born on 23rd December 1923 on a farm in Grady County, Oklahoma. He was the 7th and youngest son of 13 children.
Aged 13, in 1937, he experienced a Christian conversion at Pentecostal church in Mannford. Aged 15, while milking the cows he began to cry. He fell on his knees praying and asking God what was happening. He said the Lord called him to be an evangelist- overwhelmed he did not know whether to cry or laugh.
Aged about 16 he met future televangelist Oral Roberts - they stayed friends for 70 years.
He dropped out of school and hit the road with E. M. Dillard , a travelling evangelist.In 1941 he met Daisy Washburn and married her on Easter Day, 5th April 1942.
Mr. and Mrs Osborn worked as evangelists for the Pentecostal Church of God denomination in rural Oklahoma . They returned to California as itinerant pastors and evangelists. In 1944 (?) they started Montaville Tabernacle and became pastors. The superintendent came and spoke about his time as a missionary in India -aged 21 & 20 they were hooked. Their trip to India lasted less than a year - they both became ill.
On their return they took over the pastorate at Full Gospel Church in McMinnville (FGCM), Oregano. They prayed and they read the scriptures. In March 1947 they attended a meeting - the subject was ‘Seeing Jesus’. At 6 am Tommy had a vision. He testified that Jesus stood in front of him and his senses overwhelmed. The experience drove home one point home- Jesus was the Lord of his life. Tommy wanted only one thing- ‘the glory of Jesus’.
They first gained public notice as evangelists on the Big Tent Revival circuit in the USA and Canada.
They returned to FGCM. William Branham, Jack Moore and Gordon Lindsay were holding healing meeting. The Osborn’s with the a new vision of the love of Jesus. Branham was a humble man simply doing what Jesus asked him to do - heal the blind, give ears to the deaf, heal the cripple.
They began to hold healing meetings at their church. Miracles began to happen. The missionary flame in the Osborns rose again. They felt they now had the key to reach the lost in foreign lands. They joined Voice of Healing Organization
Between 1950-1964 the couple held large crusades in 40 countries. 10s of 1000s attended the meetings and the ministry was marked by dramatic miracles and healings.
The Osborns used the media- books, media recordings and a magazine called
Faith Digest. They created a vast amount of evangelistic and training material. The couple were very active and by the 1980s had visited 70 nations holding large crusades and reaching millions of people
Tommy and Daisy were married for 53 years.
Daisy died 27th May, 1995, aged 70. Tommy continued to travel/conduct crusades for 15 more years, if his health allowed, and died on 14th February 2013, aged 89, after many years of faithful service.
Tommy and Daisy are interred together at the memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa.
Sources
Healing & Revival
wikipedia
James was an American Reformed Christian theologian, Bible teacher, author and speaker known for his writing on the authority of scripture and the defence of Biblical inerrancy. He was the Senior Minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church (TBC) in Philadelphia from 1968-2000 - 32 years. He was a prodigious world traveller and visited over 30 countries teaching the Bible…
He was a graduate of Harvard University (1960) and Princeton Theological Seminary (1963) and received his doctorate in Theology from the University of Basel in Switzerland (1966).While there he started a Bible study group which eventually developed into the Basel Christian fellowship.
James was an assistant editor of* Christianity Today* before starting at TBC
Under James leadership TBC became a model for ministry in America’s northeastern inner cities. The church offered a range of classes, fellowship groups and specialised outreach ministries to the physically sick, women in crisis and the homeless.Plus a school - City Center Academy. Attendance grew from 350 to 1,200.
He was founder and chairmen of the International Council of Biblical Inerrancy (ICBI) (1977-87). They completed 3 classic,creedal documents
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
" " " " Biblical Hermeneutics
" " " " the Application of theBible to Contemporary issues
He also served on the Board of Bible Study Fellowship. In 1996 he helped develop the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals which brought a number of groups together including Bible Study Hour, God’s World Today Magazine and Philadelphia Conference of Reformation Theology. It is an organization to encourage Christians to rediscover their protestant Reformation roots.
Many of his writings are publicly available or online, and translated into other languages. (See Writings & Expositional commentaries).
James was diagnosed with liver cancer in the spring of 2000 and died on June 15th aged 61.
Theologian, R. C. Sproul, said at James funeral, *No one can possible measure the loss that this represents to those who survive him. Here we had a valiant warrior for the church militant in our age *
Sources
wikipedia
Alliance of Confessing evangelicals ' website
Sister Simone is an American Roman Catholic Religious Sister, lawyer, lobbyist and executive director of NETWORK.She belongs to the Sisters Social Service (SSS). She is known as as an outspoken advocate for social justice.
Sister Simone was born in Santa Monica, California. She was given the first name of Mary after her paternal grandmother. She was the eldest of 4 siblings.
Sister Simone took her religious vows in 1967 (first) and 1973 (final) after joining the SSS in 1964 and adopted the name Simone.
In 1969 she received a B.A from Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles and a doctorate in law from the University of California, Davis in 1977 where she was editor of the UC Davis Law Review.
Positions held
Founder and lead attorney for the Community Law Center in Oakland, California (1978-95) . She practiced family law and worked on the needs of the working poor of her county in Probate Court.
General director of SSS (1995-2000) and saw activities in the USA, Mexico, Taiwan and the Philippines
Executive director of Jericho (2002-4)
Network (2004- )
Informal role with Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)
Took part in religious delegations in Mexico, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon
2010 saw the healthcare reform debate. Sister Simone wrote the ‘nuns’ letter. She was invited by President Obama to the signing ceremony of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Network group were credited for helping to get the law passed. (Read paragraph which starts with* In 2010*)
In 2012 she became one of the main public figures to disagree with the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) hierarchy on the issues of same-sex marriages and abortion. ( Read paragraph which starts * In 2012*)
Pope Francis brought to an abrupt end the Vatican investigation.
The summer of 2012 saw her lead Nuns on the Bus. a 2 week tour across the USA. A small group of nuns travelled on a dedicated bus inside the USA publicizing different issues. The aim was to draw attention to nuns’ work with the poor and to protest against planned cuts.
2013 NETWORK partnered with ‘Faith in Public Life’ to promote the theme of immigration reform.
In 2014 she was the recipient of the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom award in recognition of her advocacy work.
2017 she spoke out against the Republican tax plan , arguing that it would cause wealth inequality to widen.
For over 40 years Sister Simone Campbell has been a champion of those seeking social justice.
Sister Simone Campbell memoir * A Nun on the Bus* was published in 2014.
Sources used
Britannica Online Encyclopedia
wikipedia
James Innell Packer is known by his initials and surname across the world -
J.I. Packer. He must be the most influential English evangelical theologian of the 20th century.
J.I. Packer was born in Twyning, Gloucestershire, England. He went up to Oxford in 1944 and the same year became a Christian following a Oxford Christian Union Meeting at the college.
He won a scholarship to Corpus Christi College at Oxford - B.A. (1948), M.A. (1952) Dr Ph (!955). C.S.Lewis ,of Narnia fame was one of his professors.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones treated me like in the way that I imagine Paul treated Timothy.
In 1949 he entered Wycliffe Hall, Oxford to study theology. He was ordained a deacon (1952), and a priest (1953) in the Church of England, in which he became recognized as a leader in the evangelical movement. He started off as a curate in Birmingham but he soon became the Librarian of Latimer House, Oxford (1961/2) and then principal (1962-9). In 1970 he became principal at Tyndale Hall Bristol and then Associate Principle of Trinity College, Bristol (1971-9).
In 1978 he signed the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which affirmed a conservative position on Biblical Inerrancy.
!979 he moved to Vancouver, Canada. where he eventually became at Regent College the first Sangoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology. In 1996 he was named as Regent College Board of Governor’s Professor of Theology until his retirement.
He served as the general editor of the * Revised Standard Version of the Bible* RSVB) and theological editor of the study Bible version.
Knowing God (1973) was a Christian best seller considered by many as the definitive classic evangelical book of the 20th century -sold over 1 million copies in North America alone.
In Finishing Our Course with Joy (2013) he offers us a model of what it means to grow in grace and grow older gracefully.
Over the years he trained, face to face, and continues to train through his many books, countless leaders of the church.
J.I.Packer is associated with St. John’s Vancouver Anglican church and since 2009 has been the theologian emeritus of the Anglican Church in North America, He was involved with Texts for Common Prayer (2013) and
general editor of the task force which wrote *To be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism *(2014)
He is in favour of the ecumenical movement but not at the cost of abandoning orthodox Protestant doctrine i.
On 27th June 2014 he was awarded the St. Cuthbert’s Cross for his* unparalleled contribution to Anglican and Global Christianity * by retiring Archbishop Robert Duncan.
Aged 89 he was diagnosed with macular degeneration which meant he could no longer preach, write or travel - a disease which had started in his left eye 10 years earlier.
J.I. Packer is England’s and Canada’s greatest living theologian.
On 26th July 2020 he will be 94.
Sources used
wikipedia
Christianity - interview with Krish Kandish in 2015
monergism.com
Christian News
Merrill Unger was a Biblical commentator, scholar, archaeologist and theologian.
He was well known as a Biblical archaeologist and encyclopedist.
( See notes for definitions)
Early in his career he was identified as a Baptist, but later attended the Independent Fundamentalist Churches of America.
Education
He began his college education at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky bu transfered to the Evangelical Theological College - later Dallas Seminary. His Th. D dissertation was published as Biblical Demonology (1952) . His Th.M thesis was published as The Baptizing of the Holy Spirit (1953). His Ph.D dissertation was published as Israel and the Arameans of Damascus (1957)
Professional Life
He served at Buffalo and New York as a pastor. He taught for a year at Gordon college. From 1948-1967 he was professor of O.T. Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He then became professor emeritus.
In retirement he led Bible conferences and wrote on O.T. , theological and practical topics. He published Demonology in the World Today (1971. Merrill in his life time wrote more than 40 books.
Personal Life
On retiring due to health concerns and loss of his first wife he returned to Maryland. With Pearl, his second wife, they bought ’ Birdhaven’. Merrill died in 1980.
I have included information about Biblical archaeologist and encyclopedism.
Sources
wikipedia
Biblio.co.uk
William was born in Kentucky near Burksville. His family were so poor he wore his winter coat in the classroom because he had no shirt.
At an early age he heard a voice say Do not drink or smoke or defile your body in any way, for when you are older I’ll have work for you to do. This frightened him so much he ran away as fast as he could.
He struggled with what to do. His brother Edward died and he began to seek Him. He was seriously ill in hospital when he heard the same voice say 3 times I called you would not go. William replied, if you let me live I’ll preach the gospel.
The next day he felt better. After he left hospital he looked for a church. He found a disciple church which believed in the baptism of the Spirit. He was anointed and instantly healed.
He was now on fire. For 6 months he cried out for baptism of the Holy Spirit. God’s presence came upon him in a mighty way. He felt called to preach and to heal. Aged 24 he began to hold tent meetings. Many people were converted.
He had visions about the rise of Nazism, Facism and Communism.
He built an independent Baptist church in Jeffersonville, Indiana. These were happy years, he got married and they had 2 children
Things started to go wrong. He turned down the chance to become a travelling evangelist withe Pentecostals. The church began to fail. Tragically his wife and one of their daughters were killed in the Ohio River flood of 1937.
He worked as a game warden and a logger and occasionally preached. He married Meda and they had 3 children.
7th May, 1946 he had a visitation from an angel . He was told he was a seer prophet in 2 ways - he would be able to detect illness and to see sins in their life they need to repent of.
William immediately started his healing ministry. He started in St. Louis and it would eventually spread all over the USA. Jack Moore took William to several churches across the USA. Gordon Lindsay became his campaign manager. The meetings were so dramatic they began the magazine and organization named The Voice of Healing. F.F. Bosworth joined them.
These meetings kicked off the healing revival that began in 1947 and continued throughout the 1950s. William was the first and best known but A.A. Allen, Jack Coe and Oral Roberts played their part. William took international trips abroad.
In 1955 things started to go wrong again. William lived an extremely simple life but the IRS settlement showed he owed $40,000 in back taxes.
By 1957 an exhausted William refused to do large meetings. Some of his teaching was being regarded as heretical., In the last years of his life he ministered in Arizona to support his family
In 1965 William died 5 days after a fatal, head on collision, on 24th December.
I have included a definition of Voice of Healing Revival
Sources used
A Man Sent by God
Healing and Revival Press
Evangelical times
Believe the Sign
wikipedia
Gregory K. Beale, also known as G.K. Beale was born in Dallas, Texas, USA
He studied at Southern Methodist University, Dallas Theological Seminary and the University of Cambridge.
He worked at Grove City College (1980-4), Gordon- Conewll Theological Seminary (1984- 2000), Wheaton College (2000-10). Currently he is Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary (2010+).
He is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Gregory has made a number of contributions to conservative biblical hermeneutics especially in the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament.
He served as the president of the evangelical Theological Society in 2004.
2013 he was elected to be the first occupant of the J. Gresham Machen Chair of New Testament by the Westminster Theological Society.
Definitions
hermeneutics -the science of interpretation, especially of scripture
the branch of theology that deals with the principles and methodology of exegesis
exegesis - explanation or critical interpretation of the text
Francis Jane Crosby caught a cold when she was just 6 weeks old, she had inflamed eyes. Their usual doctor was unavailable. The stand-in doctor unwittingly prescribed a hot mustard poultice - Fanny was blinded for life. Sometime later she said she had forgiven the man and that on her death the first person she would be see would be her saviour, Jesus.
Fanny’s father died when she was 10 months old. Her mother , Mercy, remarried.
Her grandmother Eunice became Fanny’s eyes, she described to her the wonderful colours of nature and everything she was missing. She patiently taught how to memorize parts of both the O.T. and N.T. of the Bible.
At the age of 8 she wrote her a poem about her blindness (See notes)
Aged 15 she entered the New York Institute for the Blind (NYIB. She was there for 7 years as a pupil and 11 as a teacher. She learned to sing and play a number of musical instruments. She became a noted harpist.
Fanny was the first woman to speak before the Senate and the House of Representatives. Her poetry and winning personality resulted in her becoming friends with presidents and staying at the White House. her poems appeared in the Saturday Evening Post and other newspapers and magazines.
She wrote 3 volumes of poetry and 2 of autobiography.
In 1958, aged 38 she married Alexander Van Alstyne, a blind scholarly accomplished musician. He insisted she kept her maiden name; for legal documents she used her husband’s surname. The baby they had died.
20 years after her first poem she wrote Rosalie,the Prairie Flower.
George Frederick Root set it to music. It sold in 10s of 1000s and she earned $3,000 dollars in royalties - a lot of money in those days.
In 1864 William Bradbury suggested she should devote her talent to writing hymns. She never wrote another secular song. She eventually wrote between 5,500 and 9,000 hymns. using many pseudonyms -( as many as 200, according to some sources) these were employed to preserve her modesty . Her husband wrote many of the tunes to accompany her words…
In 1868 musician Doane knocked on her door - in 45 minutes he was to catch a train. He hummed a tune - the result - Safe in the arms of Jesus.
Fanny began a second career in her 40s. She worked in the Bowery distict slums of New York City.
In 1875 she visited William Doane. Enjoying the sunset the hymn *I am thine o Lord *was born.
Fanny and Alexander became estranged, apart, but stayed married.
Alexander died in 1902. Fanny died in 1915 aged 94 in Bridgeport. Near her grave is Bing Crosby’s -one of descendants.
When Fanny had a session of writing she always started with a prayer. It seemed that without a prayer the words would not flow. A hymnal without her hymns is considered incomplete.
Her blindness the good Lord, in his infinite mercy, by this means consecrated me to the work that I am permitted to do
Sources used
Christianity Today
Britannia Online Encyclopedia
Henry was an Anglican clergyman who is recognized as one of the foremost Protestant missions strategists of the 19th century. He was an outstanding administrator who served as the honorary secretary of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) (1841-73) for 32 years
Henry was born into a leading evangelical Anglican family. His grandfather Henry Venn (1725-97) was an outstanding pastor evangelist. His father John Venn (1759-1813) was also a pastor who presided over the formation of the CMS (1799) and helped found the *Christian Observer * (1802).
Education
He matriculated at Queen’s College, Cambridge (1796). He graduated with a B,A. (1818). He was elected a Fellow of his college (1819) . He graduated with an M.A, (1821) and B,D. (1828)
He was ordained deacon of Ely (1819) and priest (1820). He became curate of St. Dunstan- in -the-West (1820-4). He became a proctor, a lecturer, a teacher. In 1826 he moved o Kingston upon Hull.
In 1829 he married Martha. They had 11 unusually happy years together. She died in 1839 leaving Henry to look after their 3 young children.
He then accepted the living of St. John’s, Holloway and was here for 12 years.
He became a canon at St. Paul’s Cathedral. He resigned from St. John’s in 1846 and devoted himself, now aged 45, to CMS. He had become a member in 1820.
In 1838/9 he had suffered a near fatal heart disease. He spurned medical advice to lead a quiet life, he learned to pace himself. His 6,000 official letters in the CMS archives and the 230 items in his biography bare testimony to his capacity for disciplined work.
Henry was a mission theorist. He expound the basic principles of indigenous Christian missions. A church was seen as indigenous when it was self-propagating, self-financing and self governing. Henry developed his theory of missions in a series of pamphlets and policy statements written in the years 1846-65.
He saw the CMS grow. In 1841 there were 107 European and 9 African and Asian missionaries. By 1873 there were 230 European and 148 African and Asian missionaries. During those 32 years 498 were clergy.
Henry was twice appointed to Royal commissions to represent this tradition (1864 and 1867).
Henry’s father had founded Christian Observer . He had regularly contributed
articles. In 1869 he 'temporarily assumed editorship. Through the magazine he pronounce vigorously on various theological issues before the church.
Henry Venn, at his funeral, was remember for his warm hospitality and irrepressible humour.
Brief History of CMS included
Sources used
Dictionary of African Christian Biography
CMS
wikipedia
Gregory A. Boyd has been listed as one of the top 20 most influential Christians of the 20th century.
As a child he went to a Roman Catholic school where he was taught by nuns. In his testimony he thinks the nuns tagged him as ’ a demon child’.
In June, shortly after his 17th birthday, he went to a revival meeting. A young female student, after her sermon, did a timid altar call. *I rushed forward, It was then that I finally surrendered my life to Christ. *
Degrees
He received from the University of Minnesota a B.A. (1979). From Yale Divinity School he received his M. Div. (1982). From Princeton Theological Seminary he received his Ph,D (1988)
For 16 years he was professor of theology at Bethel University there he received the Teaching Excellence Award and Campus Leadership Award.
In 1992 he co-founded Woodlands Hills Church (WHC, an evangelical mega church in St Paul’s Minnesota. He is senior pastor there and weekly speaks to 1000s .
In 2000 he founded Christus Victor Ministries (CMV) , a non profit organization that promotes his writing and speaking ministry outside WHC
Greg is an internationally recognized theologian, preacher, teacher, apologist and author. He has authored or co-authored 22 books and numerous academic articles. His best selling book is Letters from a Sceptic.
He has appeared on the front page of The New York Times. He has been heard on the radio and seen on the television.
His main vision is to help the Church become the Kingdom of outrageous loving servants God called it be, and for non-believers to discover the transforming power of Jesus Christ.
In 2010 Greg was listed as one of the 20 most influential * living* scholars.
I have include part of Greg’s testimony - page 1 school, page 10 conviction
(For full testimony go - reknew.org/ 2007/12/testimony/Greg Bond)
Sources used
REKNEW
The work of the People
wikipedia
Granville Oral Roberts was born in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, USA. He was a Choctaw American Charismatic Christian televangelist ordained in both the Pentecostal Holiness and United Methodist churches. He is recognized as the godfather of the charismatic movement and was one of the most recognized preachers in the USA at the height of his fame. He founded the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (OREA) and University (ORU).
He was the fifth and youngest child of Revd. Ellis Melvin and Claudia Priscilla Roberts. He was of Cherokee descent. He began life in poverty and nearly died of tuberculosis aged 17. He a conversion experience in 1935
He studied for 4 years, 2 at Oklahoma Baptist University, 2 at Phillips University.
In 1938 he married Evelyn Lutman Fahnestock -they were married for 66 years.
He left college without a degree and became a travelling faith healer. He made a name for himself by using a mobile tent which sat 3,000 on metal folding chairs.
(TIME magazine 1972)
Oral spent 12 years as a pastor in several towns in the South and built up his own organization, the Pentecostal Holiness Church (PHC).
1947 was a turning point. He read *I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth * 3 John v 2 .
He resigned from PHC to found OREA. He conducted evangelistic and faith healing crusades across the USA and around the world, claiming he could raise the dead. Through the years he held over 300 crusades on 6 continents and personally laid hands on more than 2 million people. At its peak he was leader of a $120 million a year organization, employing 2,300 people
In 1963 he founded OTU in Tulsa.First students arrived in 1965. Prayer Tower opened in 1967
Oral was a pioneer televangelist. The radio in 1947, the television in 1954
Golden Eagle Broadcasting was founded in 1996. By 1957 The Abundant Life reached 80% of the USA.
In 1977 Oral had a vision of a 900 foot Jesus to build a hospital. The City of Faith Medical and research Center opened in 1981. Losing money it closed in 1989. Today the orthopedic Hospital of Oklahoma operates on the site.
Oral fund raising was controversial. In 1987 he announced to a televison audience that God would ‘call him home’ - he would die - if he did not raise enough money. Jerry Collins as a result denoted $1.3 million.
Oral died of complications from pneumonia, in 2009 aged 91, He had semi-retired and was living in Newport Beach, California.
Oral was one of the most well known American religious leaders of the 20 th century.His preaching emphasized seed-faith His ministries reached millions of followers world wide. According to one authority his ministry’s influence was second only to that of Bill Graham.
Source
wikipedia
New York Times
Robert was born at 14 Dublin Street, Edinburgh, on 21st May 1813. He died at the young age of 29, during an epidemic of typhus. but he left a massive legacy in Dundee, Scotland.
He was educated at the University of Edinburgh and at the Divinity Hall of his native city. He spent a year in the parish of Larbert and Dunipace, near Falkirk. He then served as minister at St. Peter’s Church (1836-43) until he died.
In 1838 it was suggested, due to poor health, he should have a break So In 1839 with two senior ministers he went to Palestine. The reportNarrative of a Visit to the Holy Land and Mission of Inquiry to the Jews led to the establlshment of missions to Jews by the Church of Scotland.
While he was in Palestine a great revival broke out in his homeland and swept through Scotland. In his absence William Chalmers Burns, with his powerful preaching, had ran the church. Robert rejoiced in an other man’s work.
Robert exercised a remarkable fruitful ministry in Dundee while in constant demand to minister in other places.
In 1843 Robert prepared his congregation for the coming Disruption. he died before it happened. (See History for explanation of disruption)
Robert was a preacher, pastor, poet and a man of letters. He was also a man of deep piety and a man of prayer He will always be remembered as a man of prayer.
Heroes of the Faith is a beautiful piece of writing. The sexton tells the visitor as he walks him around the church t o -Sit down here. Now put your elbows on the table. Now let the tears flow.Put your elbows on the pulpit. Put your face in your hands. Now let the tears flow. That was the way Mr McCheyne used to do it. (See writing by Albert Hull)
Robert’s frail body was laid to rest at the North West corner of St. Peter’s burying ground. On the day of his burial, business was suspended.
His friend Andrew Alexander Bonar edited Robert’s biography and some of his manuscripts. *The Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray M’chyne
went into many editions. It has had a lasting influence on Evangelical Christianity worldwide.
Farewell we say to one of Scotland’s brightest warriors, until the day dawn and the shadows flee away Albert Hull
Sources used
Banner of Truth UK
Free Church of Scotland
wikipedia
Delman having graduated with BA (1995), M.Div. (1998)- the year he was also ordained, MPhil (2002) and Ph,D (2006) has been honoured by many magazines since.
In 2008, TAAP honoured him as one of the 20 to watch
In 2012 The Root named him as one of of their 100 African American achievers and influencers
In 2013 The American Civil liberties Union honoured him for his commitment to advancing civil rights and liberties for all
In 2013 the Ebony magazine selected Delman as one of their *Power 100 *
Delman has been the senior pastor at Mt. Ennon Baptist Church since 2004. It is a megachurch located in Clinton, Maryland. In these 16 years the congregation has grown to nearly 10,000. October 2009 Outreach magazine named Mt. Ennon as one of the fastest growing congregations in the USA. It has grown so fast because Delman has initiated and revitalized ministries, expanded the church’s ministry campus and land holdings, and incorporated the Mt. Ennon Development Corporation.
Delman is founder of the New Abolition Campaign . He is founder and president of the Black Church Center for Justice and Equality. (BCC). He is a board member of the Parents Television Council and the National Action Network. He is a member also of other organizations.
He’s had a number of a large number of articles, plus sermons published. ( See* Career* and published articles)
His ministry, messages, and social activism spans a variety of media platforms. He has appeared on and been profiled in the national media. He is featured in the documentary The New Black.
Rev, Dr. Delman L, Coates obviously lives an extremely busy, rewarding life serving our Lord. He is obviously a man to watch. Where will the magazines place him in 2020?
Sources used
Meet Our Pastor/ mt Ennon Baptist Church
wikipedia
Time in 2004 named Warren as one of the *leader who mattered most
Time in 2005 named him as one of the *100 Most influential People in the World *
U.S. News and World Report 2005 named him as one of America’s Top 25 leaders
Newsweek in 2006 named him one of 15 people who make America Great
Richard Duane Warren is an American Baptist evangelical Christian pastor and author. He has a B.A., M.D., and DrM.
In November 1973, aged 19, he and a friend skipped classes to drive 350 miles to hear W.A. Criswell preach. Rick waited to shake Crisell’s hand. Instead Crisell I feel led to lay hands on you and pray for you. He was then called to full time ministry.
Rick founded Saddleback Valley Community Church in 1980 when he was just 26 years of age. To many he is Papa Rick - a voice of wisdom, hope, encouragement and vision.
Saddleback , which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention in Lake Forest, California. is the sixth largest megachurch in the USA and regularly has nearly 20,000 people in attendance each week
Rick has published a number of Christian books. *The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life *. The second book sold 30 million copies .
What followed was the Purpose Driven Network, a global alliance of pastors from more than 160 countries and 100s of denominations who have been trained to be purpose driven churches.
Following a trip to Rwanda he changed his trajectory. God gave him a vision for the PEACE plan - a mission to fight the 5 giants of spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, poverty, pandemic disease and illiteracy. that has devastated the lives of people around the world.
During the 2008 presidential elections Warren hosted the Civil Forum with John MvCain and Barack Obama. Warren gave the invocation at the presidential inauguration in January 2009.
Rick and Kay, his wife, consider it is their life’s work to empower local churches and local leaders to create sustainable change that gives voice to the voiceless and help to the helpless.
Sources used
Saddleback church
wikipedia
Deborah in i2018 became the Executive Director of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (IM4HI).
IN4HI is a Californian organization that connects clergy and people of faith to the work of social justice.
From 2009 until 2018 she served as the Program Director for the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. In that role she built up the immigrant Justice program of the organization, engaging dozens of congregations in Northern California to become Sanctuary congregations to respond to the wave of migrant youth and families and the detention and deportation crisis.
Deborah has worked at the intersection of faith and social justice in many areas for over 25 years. She has consistently sought to strengthen the voice and role of faith communities in today’s social movements.
She has been part of the founding, development and running of numerous organizations:-
Women for Genuine Security
Network for Religion and Justice for API- LGBTQ people
Institute for Leadership Development and Study of Pacific Asian North
American Religion
Pilgrimages to Manzanar and the Sacramento River Delta
Her work has been recognized as innovative and impactful. In 2019 she received the Yuri Kochiyama Impact Award from Advancing Justice -Asian Law Caucus. She has received recognition from other organizations.
Deborah sees the task of IM4HI to make the criminal justice system more just and the immigration system more fair and humane.
Sources used
Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
Gleason was a biblical scholar, theologian, educator and author.
He was born in Norwell, Massachusetts and became a Christian at a young age through the influence of his mother, Elizabeth.
He received an LL.B from Suffolk Law School in 1939 and the same year admitted to the Massachusetts bar. Gleason Archer Sr. was the founder of the school.
He attended both Harvard University (BA.,M.A., PhD) and Princeton Theological Seminary (BD).
His first pastoral role was at Park Street Church in Boston (!945-8). He then became Professor of Biblical Languages at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena (1948-65) He then served as Professor of Old Testament and Semitics at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois (1965-86). He became an emeritus faculty member in (1989-91). The reminder of his life was spent researching, writing and lecturing.
At Princeton he studied Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic. He taught languages at Suffolk University in Boston. Some have estimated that he spoke about 30 languages which must have helped when he was translating.
He was also an assistant pastor at Park Street church in Boston and assistant dean of the Boston Evening School of the Bible. In the Netherlands he was the visiting Professor of the Old Testament at Tyndale Theological Seminary.
In 1971 he was one of the 50 original translators of the New American Standard Bible (NASB). He also worked on the New International Version (NIV) in (1978).
A number of summers were spent translating. His family went with him on these trips which took him to Scotland, Greece, Spain and Belgium.
Gleason did a great deal of other translations, wrote a number of books and had many articles published in magazines. ( See para. 5 of Memorials and Books)
He was the 57th charter member of the Evangelical Theological Society - joined 28th February 1950- president in 1986.
Gleason passed into the presence of the Lord on 27th April 2004, aged 87. He was buried beside his wife Sandra at the Willow Lawn cemetery in Mundelein, Illinois.
Sources
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
wikipedia
Amazon
Robert was an American Baptist minister and relief worker. He is best known as the founder of the international charity organizations Samaritan’s Purse (1970) and the World Vision International founded 20 years earlier (1950
Robert was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He went to Pasadena Nazarene college and studied for the ministry. For 3 years (1937-1940) he spent his time working as an evangelist across California. 1940 ordained minister and became involved with the Los Angeles branch of WW11 era ’ Youth for Christ’ movement.
After WW11 he went to with the Youth for Christ movement to China. H e was very successful with youth rallies and evangelical campaigns. It was evident that the grace of God was powerful upon his life. It was heady stuff for a young evangelist.
H e was just as successful in Korea. He rose at 6.30 am, worked through the day and preached at 7.30 pm. In a single day he would speak to 4-6,000 people and see 100s committed to Christ.
He witnessed the destruction of hospitals, schools. churches and homes. While there,in 1950, he met Tens Hoelkeboer. She presented him with a battered and abandoned child and asked, What are you going to do about her? Robert gave her his last 5 dollars and agreed to pay the same amount monthly.
Deeply affected a compassion and concern for orphans burned powerfully through him. He founded World Vision International (WVI) in 1950. An organization that focused on the physical needs of the poor in third world nations. Between 1955-64 he became one of the top 10 . He resigned from WVI in 1967.
In 1970 he founded Samaritan’s Purse which was modelled on the early WVI.
Robert died in 1978 from leukemia, four days after a last family reunion.
Today WVI is active in nearly 100 countries, with revenue through grants, product and foreign donations of $2 billion (2017).
Today Samaritan’s Purse, now headed by Billy Graham’s son Franklin through its Operation Christmas Child has delivered 135 million shoe boxes with gifts for needy children is ranked number 4 in the world of charity.
Sources used
*Man of Vision
* written by his daughter Marilee
World Vision International
Spirit of Grace Ministries
wikipedia
Frederick Fyvie Bruce, usually referred to as F. F. Bruce, is known world wide as the ‘Dean of Evangelical Scholarship’.
F.F. Bruce was born in Elgin, Moray, Scotland .His father was a Christian Plymouth Brethren preacher. He was educated at the University of Aberdeen, Gonvilla and Caius, College Cambridge and the University of Vienna.
F.F. Bruce was in Christian fellowship at various places during his life , but his primary commitment was to the Open brethren among whom he grew up.
He began his career by teaching Greek at the Universities of Edinburgh and Leeds. He then became Head of the Department of Biblical History and Literature at the University of Sheffield in 1947. In 1959 he moved to Manchester University to become Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis. There he stayed until he retired from teaching in 1978.
F.F. Bruce wrote over 40 books and served as editor of both the The Evangelical and Palestine Exploration Quarterly.
His first book New Testament Documents: Are they Reliable? (1943) was voted in 2006, by Christianity Today , as one of the top 50 books ‘which have shaped evangelicals.’*
He was a scholar on the life of Paul the apostle and wrote several studies. Paul: Apostle of the Free Spirit, in the USA Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, is the best known. He wrote commentaries on many of the books in the New Testament. He also wrote popular works on the Bible.
J.I. Packer said - No Christian was ever more free of narrow bigotry , prejudice and eccentricity in the views he held and the way he held them; no man did more to demonstrate how evangelical faith and total academic integrity may walk hand in hand.
F.F. Bruce, a British biblical scholar, who supported the historical reliability of the N.T., was one of the most influential evangelical scholars of the second half of the 20th century.
Bruce was an American scholar, Bible translator and textual critic, He was for many years the professor of Princeton Theological Seminary(PTS). He served on the board of the American Bible Society and United Bible Societies.
At Princeton Theological Seminary he gained a ThB (1938), M.A. (1940), PhD (1942). His PhD. was for Studies in Greek Gospel Lectionary (Greg. 303)
On 11 th April 1939 he was ordained in the United Presbyterian Church of North America - now Presbyterian Church (USA)
In 1944 he married Isobel Elizabeth Mackay and he was promoted to Assistant Professor. 1948 Associate professor. 1954 Full Professor. 10 years later he was named George L. Collard Professor of New Testament Language and Literature.
In the 1970s he became president of a number of Societies.
In England he was the visiting fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge(1974) and Wolfson College. Oxford (1979).
In 1978 he had been elected corresponding fellow of the British academy- the highest distinction for a non resident of the U.K…
An eminent authority on translating the New Testament from the original Greek he was best known for directing 30 scholars for over 10 years on the new Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible. Archaic language was removed/eliminated. In 1990 this replaced RSV of 1952.
In 1984,aged 70, after 46 years teaching at PTS he retired as Professor Emeritus.
He continued to receive honorary doctorates after his retirement. He continued to write for many years, his last book was published in 2006.
Shortly after his 93rd birthday Bruce died - 13th February 2007. He died in Princeton, New Jersey.
Bruce was one of the most influential new testament scholars of the 20th century.
Sources
Theopedia
Princeton Alumni Weekly
wikipedia