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Devotional

Judgment was tempered with mercy (1847)

Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns—Joel 2:3 (ESV). These words describe the ravages which the...

Events

459

Death of Simeon Stylites, who lived atop a sixty-foot pillar for thirty-six years.

Authority for the date: Thurston, Herbert. “St. Simeon Stylites the Elder.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton C

1192

The Third Crusade ends when Richard Lionheart and Saladin sign an agreement which allows Christians access to the holy city.

Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.

1578

The first Anglican worship service held in Canada is led by Rev. Robert Wolfall at Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island around this date. The service is commemorated on the third of September.

Authority for the date: Anglican Church of Canada’s Prayer Book.

1636

John Brebeuf, Jesuit missionary, baptizes the first Iroquois to become a Christian. The man, a Seneca chief, will later be tortured to death by rival Indians.

Authority for the date: O'Brien, John A. The American Martyrs. New York: Aplleton, Century, Crofts, 1953.

1758

William Romaine preaches a sermon on justification at St. Paul’s Cathedral. He is a notable evangelical within the Anglican tradition.

Authority for the date: Ryle, J.C. Five Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1960.

1784

In Bristol, England, Wesley ordains Thomas Coke to be superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. Wesley has tried in vain for years to get the Church of England to ordain bishops for the Methodists.

Authority for the date: Neal, Gregory S. “Methodist Episcopacy: In Search of Holy Orders.” http://www.revneal.org/Writings/methepisc.htm

1792

A Parisian mob slaughters twenty-five Roman Catholic priests as counter-revolutionaries, beginning a week of “September Massacres” in which 225 priests and hundreds of other people will die.

Authority for the date: historyplex.com/the-september-massacres-summary-significance

1821

Death of Brindabun, an Asian Indian gospel preacher, known for his recitation of Scriptures and powerful prayers.

Authority for the date: Carey, W.H. Oriental Christian Biography. Calcutta: J. Thomas, 1850.

1842

Death of John Ireland, Dean of Westminster. As a public figure he carried the crown at the coronations of English kings George IV and William IV. He published apologetic works and a defence for the remarriage of divorced people. Well-to-do, he expended large sums on charity.

Authority for the date: Britannica.

1857

Francois Coillard sails for Cape Town on the Trafalger. A man of sweet disposition, he gives up scholarly pursuits to win Africans to Christ and will perform such brave feats as risking a hail of bullets to plead for the lives of Christians.

Authority for the date: Davies, Horton. Great South African Christians. Cape Town, New York, Oxford University Press, 1951.

1973

Death of J. R. R. Tolkien, a linguist, novelist, and devout Catholic. He had helped lead C. S. Lewis to Christ and was a member of the literary club The Inklings. Among his writings were the fantasy favorites The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.

1979

Xie Songsan offers the welcome and benediction for the re-opening ceremony at Moore Memorial Church, Shanghai. It had been closed earlier by Chinese communists who interrogated, beat, and imprisoned Xie. The service is presided over by Sun Yanli, another pastor who had suffered brutal treatment from the Communists.

Authority for the date: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity.

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