The idea of Roman emperors beating up on Christians is nothing new and, until Constantine, almost expected. One instance occurred on September 22, 286 (the traditional date) when Co-Emperor Maximian executed over 6,000 of his own Roman soldiers because they refused to worship Roman gods and denounce Jesus Christ. Known as the Theban Legion, because they were Coptic Christians from …
While it had been founded earlier in April of 1944, the National Religious Broadcasters Association was officially ratified in Chicago on September 21, 1944. The NARB is a diverse group theologically within Christianity dedicated to spreading the gospel.
On September 20, 1921 hymn music writer William J. Kirkpatrick died at his Philadelphia, PA home. The former Civil War veteran was a life-long student of hymns and wrote the music for “We Have Heard the Joyful Sound – Jesus Saves, Jesus Saves!”, “He Hideth My Soul”, “Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It”, and “’Tis So Sweet to Trust …
Missionary Super Star Hudson Taylor believed people from foreign nations would best be open to hearing the Gospel if missionaries adapted to the native peoples’ culture. Hudson, his family and 16 other families set sail from England on September 19, 1853 for China and would form the China Inland Mission 12 years later. The organization is still in operation but …
The Pentecostal movement in Chile saw continued growth from seeds planted as early as 1910. It eventually grew away from the Methodist churches which began the Protestantism in this very Roman Catholic country. One culmination of the Pentecostal movement’s influence occurred at the annual Te Deum Day service which celebrates Chile’s independence from Spain. On September 18, 1975, for the …
Some of the first Reformed church leaders to come to the English American colonies were Presbyterians who started congregations as early as the late 1600s. As the denomination grew along the eastern US seaboard, it was decided the local congregations (known as presbyteries) needed to become more coordinated with each other by forming a synod of the local presbyteries. On …
Surely one of the darkest stains of misusing the name of Christ was the Spanish Inquisition that took place during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Used as a way to force Jews and others to recant their faith and accept Christ, the Inquisition would see over 2,000 people burned at the stake and even more …
In the midst of the English Civil War, on September 15, 1648 the British Parliament approves both the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. The Puritan-controlled Parliament had passed the Westminster Confession of Faith some two years before.
In just 24 days, on September 14, 1741, George Frederick Handel completed his best-known work The Messiah. Having already suffered a stroke when he began, Handel credits drinking a lot of coffee for creating an almost error-free manuscript of 259 pages of music. They don’t call it “The Halleluiah Chorus” for nothing.
Roger Williams, who founded the first Baptist church in the American colonies, is banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for several infractions on September 13, 1635. His primary offense is his strong belief in the separation of church and state – which the Founding Fathers will implement in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights some 150 years later. …
