April 28

T.T. Martin was born on this day in 1862 in Mississippi, where his father was a preacher and college professor. Although he wanted to become a lawyer, the Lord saved his soul and called him to preach the gospel. After attending seminary in Louisville, he began his...

April 21

I will add to the note we had last week about the history of black people in early Baptist churches. On this day in 1867, in its official records, we read: “The Baptist Church of Christ at Kiokee met and proceeded to the ordination of Brother Billy Harriss, colored,...

April 14

Thomas Paul was a “free black man” from New Hampshire. He was born in 1773 and born again sixteen years later. At the age of eighteen he was ordained to the gospel ministry. In those days there were very few black churches, and those were primarily in the south. But...

April 7

The Metropolitan Tabernacle in London was the place of C.H. Spurgeon’s great ministry. But long before that, Benjamin Keach was their pastor, ordained to that work in 1668. After his passing, John Gill led the congregation for fifty-one years. On this day in 1773,...

March 31

I have shared this story before, but I like it, even though it may leave some of you ladies shaking your heads. Abraham Marshall, son of Daniel Marshall, had been pastoring the Baptist church at Kiokee Georgia for eight years, when he decided that it was God’s will to...

March 24

The length of a person’s life is not as important as what he or she does with that life. Grover Comstock, the son of a Baptist pastor, was born on this day in 1809. He was not born again until 1831 when the Lord blessed the city of Rochester, New York, with a powerful...

March 17

Elisha Andrews was born in Connecticut, on September 29, 1768. After his family moved to Vermont, he ended up in New York, where the Lord saved him. He was baptized by Elder Joseph Cornell, after which he united with the Baptist church in Galway. Then soon after that,...

The best known, early American Baptist historian is Isaac Backus.  In the early 19th century he wrote “Church History of New England from 1620-1804” and some other notable books. Prior to Backus, another man, planned to become a Baptist historian, but, while gathering...

March 3

When Elisha Abbott, returned to this country from his ministry among the Karen tribe in Burma, his wife had just died and he was in very poor health. He knew that if he was going to be able to continue his mission work, he would need someone to help him, so he visited...

February 25

On this day in 1775, Thomas Scrivner was born. When in Madison County, Kentucky, the Lord redeemed him, he followed the Lord in baptism and joined the Tates Creek Baptist Church. He and his family moved around somewhat after that, before settling near Glasgow,...

Jeremiah Bell Jeter died on this day in 1880. During his life he was a Baptist pastor, a Baptist leader, the editor of a Christian magazine and the author of several books. My source stated that J. B. Jeter was not an outstanding pulpit orator, but his ministry was...

My library includes the seventeen volume set of Alexander McLaren’s “Expositions of Holy Scriptures.” That set contains messages from Genesis to Revelation. Many of them have been a great blessing to me. Most of Brother McLaren’s ministry was spent at the Union...

February 4

In February 1755, George Whitefield, preached in New Bern, North Carolina. He later wrote that his hearers were totally indifferent. His time there appeared to be wasted, but it did give him fuel to pray that God would miraculously intercede on the city’s behalf. It...

January 28

You have heard me speak of Shubal Stearns several times. That man was born on this day in 1745. He was raised in the Congregational religion, but he was saved through the influence of the one-eyed, Anglican Methodist, George Whitefield. Eventually he came to...

January 21

On this day in 1788, four ministers met together at the Baptist church in Northamptonshire, England, for a day of prayer and fasting.  They shared a longing for God’s glory in themselves, in their ministries and throughout the world.  John Ryland, recorded the events...