This year I’m highlighting some of my favorite people of faith by sharing bits and pieces of some of their quotes, poems or lyrics as a #FridayFaith blog post. This month I’m focusing on Annie Johnson Flint. She lived a very hard but blessed life (1866-1932) and wrote many hymns and poems about her saving faith in Jesus Christ. My first post for the month of January highlights the first few lines of her hymn, He Giveth More Grace:
#FridayFaith #AnnieJohnsonFlint January 7, 2022#FridayFaith #AnnieJohnsonFlint January 14#FridayFaith #AnnieJohnsonFlint January 21#FridayFaith #AnnieJohnsonFlint January 28This month I’m focusing on some of the inspirational writings of John Newton. He was a slave trader back in the 1700’s. Through a series of events, beginning with a life threatening storm at sea, in which he cried out to God for His help, he began his spiritual journey which eventually led to his conversion to Christianity. It was during this time that he began his fight against slave trading. Within a few years he became an Anglican priest, a well known poet, and author of hundreds of hymns, including Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace was first published in 1779, and speaks of the forgiveness, redemption, and mercy found through a relationship with God, and has become one of the most popular hymns in history.
#FridayFaith #JohnNewton February 4 #FridayFaith #JohnNewton February 11 #FridayFaith #JohnNewton February 18 #FridayFaith #JohnNewton February 25Helen Howarth Lemmel was a gifted concert singer, poet, song writer, and vocal music teacher. She wrote more than 500 hymns and poems in her lifetime, and is most well know for writing the hymn, “Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus,” which was first published in 1918, and to this day, continues to hold out a promise of Christ’s help for troubled souls. Lemmel continue writing until her death in 1961 at 97 years of age.
#FridayFaith #HelenHLemmel March 4 #FridayFaith #HelenHLemmel March 11 #FridayFaith #HelenHLemmel March 18Approximately 14 years before her death, Helen H Lemmel was struck with an eye condition that cause her to go blind. It was during this period of her life that her husband, who was a world traveler, abandoned her. In spite of both of these trying circumstances, Helen remained faithful to Jesus and continued to write and sing about Him until her death in 1967 at the age of 97.
#FridayFaith #HelenHLemmel March 25This month I’m featuring some of my favorite quotes from Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis, better known as Saint Augustine. He lived from 354 to 430 and developed what would later become known as systematic Christian theology. He very eloquently spoke of mankind’s need for a relationship with God, and is world renown as a prominent and early defender of the Christian faith.
#FridayFaith #SaintAugustine April 1 #FridayFaith #SaintAugustine April 8 #FridayFaith #SaintAugustine April 15 #FridayFaith #SaintAugustine April 22 #FridayFaith #SaintAugustine April 29Isaac Watts lived in England from 1674 to 1749. At age 7 he was an avid reader and writer, and he was especially talented in writing rhymes and verses. His mastery of language included learning Latin at age 4, Greek at age 9, French at age 10, and Hebrew at age 13. At age 24 he preached his first sermon at Mark Lane Independent Chapel in London, and soon after became their senior pastor. While he held that position up until the end of his life, he is most well known as the author of approximately 600 hymns and the “Father of English hymnody.” His hymns paraphrased the Psalms and also his personal expression of his love for God.
#FridayFaith #IsaacWatts May 6, 2022This is the chorus to “At the Cross,” one of the many hymns written by Isaac Watts. It was published in 1707 and may also be known by its first line “Alas, and did my Savior bleed.” Salvation is the main subject of this hymn and 1 Timothy 2:5-6 describes it well: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
#FridayFaith #IsaacWatts May 13“Joy to the World,” was written by Isaac Watts and is one of my favorite Christmas carols. I found it interesting that Psalm 98 was his inspiration for the writing of “Joy to the World” and that the lyrics are actually about Christ’s return, not His birth. Also, it didn’t become well known as a Christmas carol until years later when it was paired with the melody known as “Antioch” by Lowell Mason, who also changed the tune around a bit by borrowing some arrangements from Handel’s Messiah. Thus, “Joy to the World” as we know it today.
#FridayFaith #IsaacWatts May 20I’m featuring this stanza of the hymn, “The Heavens Declare Thy Glory, Lord, not only because it is yet another great Isaac Watts hymn, but also because it corresponds with my blog this month, titled, The Sun ☀️
#FridayFaith #IsaacWatts May 27This month I’m highlighting some of my favorite quotes of Corrie ten Boom. She lived an exciting, sometimes difficult, fruitful, and blessed life from 1892 to 1983. Highlights of her life include helping the disabled, helping hide persecuted Jews during the Holocaust of World War II, spending time in a concentration camp as a result of being caught of hiding the Jews, writing several books, and traveling worldwide spreading the gospel message of forgiveness, love, hope, and salvation in Jesus Christ.
#CorrieTenBoom #FridayFaith June 3#CorrieTenBoom #You FridayFaith June 10The world and the people who are of it, will invariably disappoint and distress us. Nor can we count on our own self serving human nature. Don’t look to them. Don’t look within. Look to Him! Some good reminders to always keep our focus on Jesus.
#CorrieTenBoom #FridayFaith June 17 One of our great obstacles toward victory is not realizing who our enemy actually is. Corrie ten Boom so eloquently put it this way.
#FridayFaith #CorrieTenBoom June 24Charles Wesley (1707 – 1788) was born in England and became an extemporaneous preacher and a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. While known as one of the founding leaders of the English Methodist movement he held on to his Anglican roots and affiliation with The Church of England his entire life. In 1739, on the one year anniversary of his conversion to faith in Christ, he wrote an 18 stanza hymn which later was shortened to 5 stanzas by his older brother, John Wesley, and which we know today as “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.” 🎶
#FridayFaith #CharlesWesley July 1Charles Wesley originally published this hymn as “Hymn for Easter Day” in 1739. Originally consisting of 11 stanzas, it was later reduced to 6 stanzas with the addition of “Alleluia!” to each of the lines. Today it is affectionally known as “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.”
#FridayFaith #CharlesWesley July 8Today’s #FridayFaith, is also a bit of #ChristmasInJuly.🎄 Charles Wesley’s 1739 original “Hymn for Christmas-Day” began with the opening line “Hark how all the Welkin rings”. This was later changed to the familiar “Hark! the Herald Angels sing” by George Whitefield in 1754. A second change made in a 1782 music publication, with the repetition of the opening line “Hark! the Herald Angels sing, Glory to the newborn king,” as the refrain, as it is commonly sung today. #FridayFaith #CharlesWesley July 15Charles Wesley came to a saving relationship with Christ in 1738 and soon after wrote in his journal, “I began a hymn upon my conversion.” Which hymn he wrote is not certain, but many historians believe it was this one titled, “And Can It Be That I Should Gain?”
#FridayFaith #CharlesWesley July 22After Charles Wesley’s conversion to faith in Christ, he spent most of his time either preaching and/or writing about Jesus. “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” was reportedly written early in his ministry. He was an itinerant preacher that incited revival in some people and outrage in others. He retired from itinerant preaching in 1756 but continued his ministry, including the writing of hymns and poems up until his death in 1788.
#FridayFaith #CharlesWesley July 29For the month of August, I’m featuring a few of the amazing lyrics written by the extraordinary Fanny Cosby. Francis Jane “Fanny” Crosby (1820-1915), was an American mission worker, poet, and prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs in her lifetime. Although blind since the age of 6 weeks, she was a remarkable woman who saw the important issues in life more clearly than most people with eyesight. She spent her life helping others, particularly the poor and destitute, and writing about her Savior. “To God Be the Glory” is just one of her beautiful hymns. The first stanza both glorifies God and tells of His perfect plan of salvation.
#ToGodBeTheGlory #FannyCrosby August 5, 2022While Fanny Crosby was visiting a friend in 1873, her friend sat at her piano as she played a new composition of her own as Fanny listened. As she finished playing, Fanny clapped her hands and exclaimed, “Why, that says, ‘Blessed Assurance!’“ Fanny quickly composed the words to the beautiful hymn we know today as “Blessed Assurance.”
#BlessedAssurance #FannyCrosby August 12, 2022Fanny Crosby, blind since the age of six weeks, knew a great many portions of the Bible by heart, and had committed to memory the first four books of the Old Testament, and also the four Gospels before she was ten years of age. What a heart she had for God! “Praise Him, Praise Him” written in 1869, is just one of the over 8000 hymns she wrote in her lifetime to glorify and praise of God.
#FannyCrosby #PraiseHimPraiseHim #FridayFaith August 19At the age of 60, Fanny Crosby embarked on a new career. Despite her fame as a hymn writer, she chose to live and work in lower Manhattan, in near poverty, ministering to the needy in local rescue missions. It was there she spent the bulk of her senior years, day after day, rescuing the perishing, much like the hymn she wrote years before, in 1869, titled “Rescue the Perishing.”
#FannyCrosby #RescueThePerishing #FridayFaith August 26Jonathan Edwards was an American theologian, philosopher and revivalist preacher of reformed theology who lived from 1703-1758. He played a pivotal role in “The First Great Awakening,” which led to the revolution of the Protestant religion in British America and Europe during the mid 18th century.
#JonathanEdwards #FridayFaith September 2, 2022At age 14, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) was already a student at Yale University. At age 17, after a period of distress and subsequent revelation from God, he resolved “to lie low before God, as in the dust; that I might be nothing, and that God might be all, that I might become as a little child.”
#JonathanEdwards #FridayFaith September 9Jonathan Edwards is well known for his many sermons, most notably, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” which he preached in 1741. The preaching of this sermon was the catalyst for what is known as the First Great Awakening.
#JonathanEdwards #FridayFaith September 16In 1727 Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) began preaching at the age of 20 in Northampton, Massachusetts. Edwards was grieved at the spiritual condition of the church and the community. Many made claim of faith but gave no evidence of genuine conversion and were complacent about spiritual things. Edwards began to preach against this spiritual lethargy. His first sermon series was on justification by faith alone, for he feared that many had come to rely upon their own goodness for salvation.
#JonathanEdwards #FridayFaith September 23Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) was considered by many as one of the greatest theological minds to ever step foot on a pulpit. Interestingly, Edwards was not an impressive orator. He delivered his sermons with little animation and by reading the words with his face close to the manuscript as he had poor eyesight. However, it was his sincerity and the content of his messages that God used to bring many to repentance and faith in Christ.
#JonathanEdwards #FridayFaith September 30Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) was a Welsh Protestant minister and medical doctor who was influential in the Calvinist wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London.
#MartynLloydJones #FridayFaith October 7, 2022Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) was well known for his particular style of expository preaching. He would take many months, even years, to expound a single chapter of the Bible verse by verse. His Sunday morning and evening meetings at which he officiated drew crowds of several thousand.
#MartynLloydJones #FridayFaith October 14, 2022Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ (1899–1981) preaching style was set apart by his sound exposition of biblical doctrine and his fire and passion in its delivery. He’s known as a preacher who continued in the Puritan tradition of preaching.
#MartynLloydJones #FridayFaith October 21, 2022Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) was strongly opposed to liberal Christianity, which had become a part of many Christian denominations; and of which he regarded as aberrant.
#FridayFaith #MartynLloydJones October 28, 2022Sinclair Ferguson (1948) is a Scottish theologian well known for his teaching and writings of Reformed Christian systematic theology.
#SinclairFerguson #FridayFaith November 4, 2022Sinclair B. Ferguson (1948) is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow, and a Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.
#SinclairFerguson #FridayFaith November 11, 2022Sinclair Ferguson (1948) retired in 2013 as Senior Minister of First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina, and returned to his native Scotland, where he continues to write about and preach God’s word in churches and conferences.
#SinclairFerguson #FridayFaith November 18, 2022Sinclair Ferguson (1948) retired in 2013 from a large Presbyterian Church in South Carolina. He deliberately returned to a small city in Scotland, to preach the gospel and help revive his now very secular homeland back toward faith in Christ.
#SinclairFerguson #FridayFaith November 25, 2022Thomas O Chisholm (1866-1960) was born in a log cabin in Kentucky, became a teacher at the age of 16, and a Christian at age 27. He wrote over 1200 Christian poems in his lifetime, including “Great is Thy Faithfulness” which he wrote in 1923, and set to music by William Runyan. #FridayFaith #ThomasOChisholm December 2, 2022Thomas O Chisholm (1866-1960) was born in a log cabin in Kentucky, became a teacher at the age of 16, and a Christian at age 27. He wrote over 1200 Christian poems in his lifetime, including “He Was Wounded for Our Transgressions.”
#FridayFaith #ThomasOChisholm December 9, 2022During a particularly trying time in the life (1866-1960) of Thomas O Chisholm, he received an unsolicited and generous gift from a stranger. Soon after he penned The Mercies of God, in celebration of God’s amazing provision.
#FridayFaith #ThomasOChisholm December 16, 2022“It is Jesus” is one of Thomas O Chisholm’s (1866-1960) 800+ poems he wrote during his lifetime, many of which were later set to music, as this one was. Here is the first stanza.
#FridayFaith #ThomasOChisholm December 23, 2022For my last #FridayFaith post of this year, here is the refrain from the #ThomasOChisholm hymn #GreatIsThyFaithfulness which is one of my favorite hymns. May God bless you today and beyond into the coming new year. 🙏🏻 December 30, 2022
Treasure In Jars of Clay 