-
The Life And Ministry Of Samuel Oldacre
He was a sound, experimental preacher, a gospel lover and walker, of a kind, generous disposition, and acceptable and useful to many churches in the neighbourhood where he resided. The following particulars are copied from a memorandum written with his own hand: "It pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb to call me by his grace when I was between 17 and 18 years of age, after a very shameful and wicked act in one of my frolics, as I used to call them, which I forbear to name from its repulsive nature, which brought no small disgrace upon me. The first Sabbath after this occurrence I remained in the house all day till evening, shame keeping me in. I then ventured to…
-
The Life And Ministry Of Richard Healy
It is not needful to give any account of the Lord's early dealings with our departed brother, as he was enabled to fulfil a long-felt desire to do so himself, which will be found in the "Gospel Standard" for Feb. and March, 1866, headed, "I will Sing of Mercy and Judgment." But a few circumstances relating to him may interest those who have read those pieces, and who felt soul union with him. For some years previous to his marriage, he conducted a farm at A., for his grandfather, in which he probably might have remained the tenant ultimately, had not the grace of God been made manifest in his soul, causing a separating change in all things which affected his future life, and bringing…
-
The Life And Testimony Of Elizabeth Beardsall
Elizabeth Ann Beardsall, of Woolsthorpe died April 13th, 1867. She was born at Nottingham, Jan. 18th, 1845. Her parents removed to Grantham, and she then attended with them at Castlegate Chapel. They left Grantham in 1861, and she then went to reside with an aunt, at Nottingham, and attended at the room in Thurland Street. In February, 1866, a way opened for her to go to Bradford, Yorkshire. She went on the 15th, and on the 19th I received a letter from her, from which the following is an extract: "'Dear Mother, I have found a chapel, just the right one. It is a very nice one, and there is an excellent minister. A Mr. Vaughan preaches twice on a Lord's day, and in the…
-
The Life And Ministry Of John Collis
When about ten years old, his father enlisted into the army, and soon afterwards his mother died, when John went to live with an uncle, who treated him with great unkindness, his food being of the commonest kind. The treatment he met with was the means of driving him away from his uncle's, to seek a home elsewhere. Being of a gay and lively disposition and under no restraint, he ran into great lengths of sin and folly, the remembrance of which gave him much distress, and made him feel greatly ashamed through life. His companions were of the most debased kind. One incident will show their character. They went one Lord's day to a place of worship, the pews of which were very high-backed,…
-
The Salvation Testimony Of Don Fortner
In May of 2019, the New Focus Conference was held at Gornal Baptist Church, Robert Street, in Dudley, West Midlands, England. Among the speakers was Don Fortner. He prefaced his sermon with a personal testimony on how the Lord brought his soul to a saving knowledge of Christ. Unknown to me at the time, my wife recorded the two minute testimony, for which I am forever grateful; not only to have a record of his testimony in his own voice, but to know that my grandfather, Jewell Smith, was the preacher under whom the Lord was pleased to open his understanding to the grace of God. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has not only put me into the ministry, but has been pleased…
-
James Petigru Boyce (1827-1888): The Forgotten Baptist
When Christian conversation comes round to the topic of Systematic and Historical Theology, everybody seems to have a favourite. The first major theological book I ever owned on the subject was Berkof’s Systematic Theology given to me by my mother almost forty-five years ago. His Historical Theology soon followed. I then read Sheldon, Fisher, Bicknell, Gibson, Griffith Thomas, Dagg, the Hodges, Bavinck, Dabney, Shedd and others whose names I have long forgotten. I never forgot Berkof and still turn to him regularly for guidance. In recent years, however, he has received some earnest competition. In 1998, during a visit to a Founders’ Conference in Mansfield, Texas, I was given a copy of J. P. Boyce’s Abstract of Systematic Theology. When I confessed my ignorance of…
