Jun 3, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Nathaniel Williams was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1784. He was raised as a Unitarian, so he did not believe in the deity of Christ, and thus he was not a child of God. When still a young man, he was employed on one of his uncle’s ships which was sailing to...
May 27, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
John Gano was one of the Baptist pastors who fought for liberty in more ways than one. He was a chaplain in the Continental Army during the war for Independence, and prior to that he suffered for religious liberty while pastoring in North Carolina. John Gano was...
May 14, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
On Easter, April 3rd 1594, seven Dutch Anabaptists, praying and studying God’s Word at Aldgate, in London were arrested for their worship. It was said that they were “licentious and fanatical sectaries, whose excesses afforded a plausible pretext for...
May 6, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
John Bates was born in Bugbrook, Northamption, England in 1805. When he was twenty-two and living in London he was converted to Christ. On December 25, 1829 he was baptized in the Eagle Street Chapel by the pastor and Baptist historian Joseph Ivimey. After serving as...
Apr 29, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
With only a few exceptions, Baptists were the only religious “denomination” or people who were firmly interested in – and dying for – independence from England. It was their hope that independence would also mean freedom to worship according to the...
Apr 22, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Life often has its shipwrecks, but just because we loose one ship, it doesn’t mean that we won’t reach port. Thomas Spurgeon, son of Charles, pastored in Australia for a few years and told this story. James Voller and his family set sail from England, called to become...
Apr 15, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
This historical vignette will be different from my usual, because it deals with an extra-biblical Baptist organization – the sort of thing I usually shun or ignore. But this is slightly different, because it was not designed to usurp the authority of Christ or His...
Apr 8, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
The colony of Virginia was settled by Loyalist Englishmen – men faithful to King James and to the Church of England. Their first charter, dated on this day in 1606, said in part, “We do specially ordaine, charge and require (the residents of Virginia) that they...
Apr 1, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
William and Joseph Murphy were brothers, growing up in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Like their neighbors, they were raised as Anglicans, but unlike many of their neighbors they were wild and troublesome young people. They were known as “the Murphy boys”...
Mar 25, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
This little vignette is about two men who were double Baptists. On this day in 1828, a baby boy named Edward was born into the family of Pastor Edward Baptist. Edward Baptist Sr., was one of the leading pastors in Virginia at the turn of the nineteenth century. In...
Mar 18, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Samuel Straughan was born on a Virginia farm in 1783. His formal education was minimal, but the Lord blessed his mind nonetheless. He loved church and was fond of reading sermons and religious journals, earning, as a child, the nickname, “the preacher.”...
Mar 11, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
On this day in 1639, six men were arraigned before the general court in Boston charged with establishing a Baptist church in Weymouth a few miles to the south. They were found guilty and were punished with various fines, disenfranchisement and banishment. Of course...
Mar 5, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Caleb Blood was born in Massachusetts in 1754. As a young man, while attending a dance, he came under great conviction for his sin. The voice of God seemed to say, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” Under the direction of the Holy Spirit Caleb repented before...
Feb 26, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Joseph Reese was born in 1732 to a couple who had emigrated from Wales to Delware and eventually to South Carolina. Mr. & Mrs. Reese were among the first pioneers to settle in the area known as the Congarees. Joseph was raised in the Anglican church, but by the...
Feb 19, 2016 | This Sunday in Baptist History
Robert Hall passed into the presence of his Saviour on this day in 1831. Shortly after his birth in 1764, it was predicted that he would never amount to anything. As the youngest of fourteen children, his ability to speak and walk was far slower than any of his...
