Saved By The Letter M

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Scripture

For consider your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.

 ~1 Corinthians 1:26-27, LSB

Quote

“God chooses the unlikely so that the glory may be to Him alone.”

~Charles Spurgeon

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The story has been told of Queen Victoria; after hearing a moving message on the above text, she has been reported to have said, “I was saved by the letter M: the scripture says not MANY, it does not say not ANY.” God does call and use common ordinary people. Joseph was a slave; David was a lowly shepherd; Amos was a migrant worker; Hosea was a baker; Elijah was a hermit and Mary the mother of Jesus was a peasant. There are those like Moses and Solomon who were raised in royalty but they are the exception, not the rule.

John Bunyan was born in 1628 near Bedford, England. His father was a tinker, he repaired pots and pans and things made of metal. It was an humble trade and John was raised in poverty with little education. When Bunyan was 16, his mother and sister died within a month of each other and his daddy remarried after one month of mourning. Thus it is not hard to imagine what sort of person Bunyan became: he was a rebel, a prodigal who could curse and swear with the worse of them. He never attended church and was known to blaspheme. He joined Cromwell’s New Model Army and fought in the English civil war. It was during the war that he began thinking deeper spiritual thoughts. After the war he began reading and this eventually lead to his conversion.

The rest of his story is even more fascinating than the beginning. John would battle depression his entire life and would spend much of his time in jail or prison. He did have a wife and children and he supported them by making shoe laces while he was in prison. He wrote 60 books in 60 years and became one of Englands most famous authors. His allegory PILGRIMS PROGRESS became a best seller, second only to the Bible. Pilgrims Progress sold over 100,000 copies in the first ten years of print. He did write other allegories including THE HOLY WAR, which I have put on my wish list. I would also like to read his book THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. He was not a hyper-calvinist. He even mentions free will and sovereignty in the same sentence which got him in trouble with Richard Baxter.

The incredibe thing to me is that he did most of his work in jail with very little to work with and he was self-educated which was very rare among Puritans who, by the way, founded Harvard University in 1636. Most Puritan writers were highly educated. This plus Bunyans extreme poverty makes his life story intriguing.

  • Hawaiian Shirt Day August 9: loudest shirt {most color} wins a $25 Cracker Barrel gift card.
  • Don’t forget to pray for someone today other than yourself.
  • Outdoor Church Sunday September 6 @ 8:00
  • Hamburger and Hotdog supper Wednesday night September 16. Originally had this for the 9th but we decided to use the pavilion and so maybe the weather will be cooler by the 16th.
  • October 28 is our Bill Smith Jambalaya Supper and our November Wednesday night meal falls on Veterans Day and we are having a stew and Joe is going to have us a video of our veterans at the round table.
  • Unfortunately, our little cool spell ends today and here at 83 James Road, we got less than .20 of rain during all those pop up storms. I have never seen so many black clouds without rain. Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.

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