Saturday, April 28, 2012

A Year With Whitefield: Scott's Snapshot


Since late April 2011, I started on volume 1 of Dallimore's Whitefield, and finished the appendices in volume 2 a week ago. It was an emotional 50 week ride. I've read barely any biographies at book length, this one knocked it out of the park. Even with the the occasional fallback in confusing the chronology from my slower pace, I learned so much about this forgotten man of God. Some say he was the Billy Graham of the 18th century. It's sad that the recounting of his life and times are not conversationally in vogue. In going upstream, I'd like to share with you a bio sketch of George Whitefield's life and preaching ministry that I comprised for a portion of my final term paper in Homiletics. There is also a portion specifically on his work in the summer of 1742 in Cambuslang, Scotland.

GEORGE WHITEFIELD

George Whitefield (1714-1770) is one of the greatest preachers in the history of the church. Dr. Squintum, as some ridiculed him, was the founder of Methodism. He was the first of the Holy Club at Oxford to be converted and to preach the gospel as a Christian. He stormed the fields of England, Whales, Ireland and America with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was not a perfect man, but a godly one. And in God’s hands was used mightily.

Memoirs and Ministries

George Whitefield was born December 1714 in Gloucester, England at his parents work, the Bell Inn. George was the youngest of seven children. As an infant he contracted measles; this seems to be the reason for his squint/cross-eye that would follow him in future portraits. George’s father died when he was two and his mother would not remarry until he was almost eight. As a boy he attended St. Mary de Crypt school where he learned his grammar and loved to perform plays; sometimes even mimicking girls in their clothing. He read many plays and by sixteen was reading the Greek New Testament. At eighteen he would attend Oxford College as a book boy for a senior student. Around September 1733 he joined the Holy Club where he would first meet his lifelong companions: John and Charles Wesley. In this group, George recounts practicing extreme spiritual discipline but never actually knowing Christ.

Whitefield’s conversion came when he was twenty in 1735. It appears that a book by the Scotsman Henry Scougal led Whitefield to Christ when it confronted him of his spiritual emptiness. During this time Whitefield became bed-ridden after fasting for six or seven weeks with the Holy Club. He had gotten so weak and sick that he could no longer walk up a flight of stairs. While recovering he cried to God: “I thirst! I thirst!” and then he came to trust Christ as Saviour.

Whitefield within the next year would be ordained as a deacon into the ministry of the Anglican Church. He would stress the same kind of conversion he now knew to all: one of the heart and the mind. His preaching of the new birth would be central to his ministry. To begin his ministry, Whitefield returned and preached his first sermon in Gloucester, at St Mary de Crypt; the same town he was born in and where he grew up and went to school. Whitefield continued to preach but the Anglican clergy in England did not like his stress on the new birth. He would soon be ousted from many parishes where he itinerantly preached. During this time Whitefield was soaking himself in Puritan literature. One of which was Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the whole Bible; which he would keep close by into his old age. His mind was being transformed from an early conversion through the use of his puritan forefathers and their depth of spirituality.

Before he was ordained as an Anglican priest, Whitefield would make his first trip to America in February-December in 1738. Whitefield would make twelve more journeys to America; cumulating in 732 days traveling about 70,000 miles at sea.

Whitefield wanted to get married originally to Elizabeth Delamotte from England, but she denied his proposal of marriage. This broke Whitefield and it took him years to get over her. He instead married Elizabeth James on November 14, 1741. Their only son, John, would die at four months. She would go on to have four miscarriages and nearly die herself in 1746. Elizabeth would die August 8, 1768, two years before Whitefield. Dallimore states that their marriage was “tolerably happy”, and that Whitefield did appear to miss her months later. It was not nearly as bad as John Wesley’s marriage, but unfortunately not as kindled as Charles’.

Much of his labours were towards his Orphan House, named Bethesda, in Georgia. The Orphan House would be a constant battle for Whitefield his whole life. From first founding it in 1740, to collecting money on his evangelistic journeys, to the constant debt of its maintenance, to staffing dilemmas, to communication delays. Whitefield was stressed and in a consistent sweat over the Orphan House being out of reach across the Atlantic. Yet it speaks to many the necessity he saw in providing for orphans.

Just five miles south-east of Glasgow sits the town of Cambuslang in Scotland. When Whitefield went there in the summer of 1742 he preached in a natural amphitheater to over 30,000 people; 3,000 who took the communion. Cambuslang, at that time, was known for the affect the communion services had had on God’s people. The pastors in the local towns before Whitefield’s arrival were preaching on regeneration. He came alongside the Scottish ministers and assisted them. One Monday, Pastor Alexander Webster and he preached and there was a great commotion of the people. Whitefield in his Letters writes on August 27: “Though it rained much, there was a great awakening… A very great and serious concern was visible throughout the whole solemnity. The Lord’s people went home much refreshed”. Whitefield after the meeting at Cambuslang on Monday August 16, preached from thursday August 19 to thursday August 26 in seven towns twenty six times: “I never preached with so much apparent success before”.

Yet Webster goes more in depth commenting on the day in his diary:
"During the time of divine worship, solemn, profound reverence overspread every countenance. They hear as for eternity, and not knowing but the next moment they must account to their great Judge. Thousands melt into tears. Many cry out in the bitterness of their soul."

During the last five years of his ministry, just before Elizabeth died, Whitefield took on Cornelius Winter as his personal assistant. Winter gives an excellent summary of what was typical of Whitefield’s sermon preparation in the last years of his ministry. He states:
"I never knew him engaged in the composition of a sermon…I never met with anything like the form of a skeleton of a sermon among his papers… nor did he ever give me any idea of the importance of being habituated to the planning of a sermon… I believe he knew nothing about such a kind of exercise… [h]e was accustomed to have Clarke’s Bible, Matthew Henry’s Comment, and Cruden’s Concordance within reach…"

One wonders if this extempore and excessive reading approach was typical of Whitefield. And if so, was it this manner of sermon preparation that the later C. H. Spurgeon sought to emulate from one of his favourite preachers? Whitefield would continue ministry in England, Ireland, Whales, and New England until his death. In 1770, he went to New England on his last missionary journey. His strength had been dwindling from his overexertion since 1761. Although he started to regain momentum while there, preaching upwards of three times a week again, it was short lived. He died September 30, 1770 in the middle of the night in Newburyport, Massachusetts.


Resources consulted, including Dallimore:
Dallimore, Arnold A. George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the 
  Eighteenth-Century Revival. Vol. 1. Illinois: Cornerstone Books, 1970. 

________________. George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the 
  Eighteenth-Century Revival. Vol. 2. Illinois: Cornerstone Books, 1979. 

Haykin, Michael A. G., ed. The Revived Puritan: The Spirituality of George Whitefield. Dundas, 
 Ontario: Joshua Press, 2000. 

Macfarlan, D. The Revivals of the Eighteenth Century: Particularly at Cambuslang
 Edinburgh: John Johnstone, n.d. 

Tyerman, L. The Life of the Rev. George Whitefield. 2 Vols. 2nd ed. London: 
 Hodder and Stroughton, 1890. 

Whitefield, George. George Whitefield’s Journals. 1756. Reprint with additions, London: 
 Banner of Truth, 1965. 

Whitefield, George. Letters of George Whitefield: For the Period 1734-1742. 2 Vols. 1771. 
 Reprint, Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Banner of Truth Trust, 1976. 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Bye Bye TBS: Toronto Baptist Seminary Graduation


Graduation Ceremony 
8:00pm April 27 2012 
130 Gerrard Street East

All welcome - come cheer us on 
and eat the refreshments

The Angel of Death

Paul, my student president at TBS for the past two years, is always talking about this old country twanger Hank Williams Sr. It just so happened that I got a duo-gold album of Hank from my friend Dano for Christmas. I've since listened to Hank's duo-gold about 7x.  Hank is twangy and old-school but he's got some heart-tuggers. The original white man blues. One of his best on the duo-gold album I'd say is his The Angel of Death. Here's Hank:


In the great book of John you're warned of the day
When you'll be laid beneath the cold clay
The angel of death will come from the sky
And claim your poor soul when the time comes to die

When the angel of death comes down after you
Can you smile and say that you have been true
Can you truthfully say with your dying breath
That you're ready to meet the angel of death

When the lights all grow dim and the dark shadows creep
And then your loved ones are gathered to weep
Can you face them and say with your dying breath
That you're ready to meet the angel of death

When the angel of death comes down after you
Can you smile and say that you have been true
Can you truthfully say with your dying breath
That you're ready to meet the angel of death

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Mormons: Christian Information Seminar in Toronto


As part of Grace Fellowship Church (Don Mills) “Continue the Increase” ministry, New City Baptist Church is pleased to host an information session on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Michael Plato, a member of New City, and professor of culture studies at Seneca College, will teach this 3-hour session. Mike spent two years producing a documentary for PBS on the LDS church and his knowledge is extensive.

There will be three 50 minutes talks with coffee breaks in between. We’ll be looking first at the history of Joseph Smith and the Mormons, followed by their doctrines and writings, and concluding with some very practical Christian approaches to speaking to Mormons about the gospel.

Date: Saturday, April 21st, 8:30am - 11:30am

Location: 41 Britain St., Toronto, ON

Cost: Free!

Parking: Paid parking - city parking lot at Sherbourne and Richmond. If you are taking the TCC, just take the Queen street car to Sherbourne, then walk south half a block to Britain Street.

Please RSVP by clicking Here.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Summer Theology Courses


Books, Beale, and Biblical Theology: An Interview

Really enjoyed this interview of Gregory Beale by Mark Dever of 9marks. Funny, informative, and encouraging. I listened to this while going for walks to pick up Justine from work. Dever and Beale go through 30+ books with a one line summary of each. Beale gives a little auto-bio and a summary of his of his own works. Here are most of the books he is asked to comment on:

Geerhard Vos - Pauline's Theology
Vos - Biblical Theology (primarily on OT, Rev is a organically developing)
Ed Clowney - Preaching Bib Theo
Carson & Moo - Intro to NT
Ladd - Theology of the NT (alright)
> the presence of the future
Rittervos Paul - Outline of his Theology
Kaiser - Promise Plan of God (a slice of bib theo)
Guthrie - NT Theology (theme based - similar to Ladd - not the best)
Vos - Typos! (survey of NT - not that hard)
NT Theology - Schreiner & Theilman nice
NT Wright great - Climax of the Covenant, NT ppl of God, Resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus & the Victory of God
Salhammer - Intro to OT Theology (a bit idiosyncratic; disagrees with his view on Moses)
Ray Ortland - God's Unfaithful Wife
Sydney Preidanus - Preaching Christ from the OT, Ancient Texts and the Modern
Theilman - Law & the NT
According to Plan - Goldsworthy
Scobie - the ways of our God
Chris Wright - Mission of God
Dennis Johnson - Him we Proclaim
Waltke - OT Theology (BIG - good for cherry picking)
Kostenberger - NT INTRO - cradle, cross, crown

Download it

Friday, April 13, 2012

Greek Parsing Tools

What's that?
You want to parse but you don't have your tools with you on the road?
Get your parse on with this sweet template and grammar abbreviations guide.
What an awesome way to spend a summer day - parsing in the park.
(They're big, but this is the only way to copy the file without blur).





Scott's Top 7s: Places to Take Your Girl in Toronto #1


You might have to take out a loan but the 360 restaurant is excellent. 
She'll never forget it.
It'll be hard to top.

Price: ~$130 

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Scott's Top 7s: Places to Take Your Girl in Toronto #2


Keep the prices down and just go for a walk by the Harbour. 
Get her a special drink somewhere and bring along at least 6 mediocre jokes. 
She'll say you're lame, but you know she digs it.
I recommend not planning the boat tour. 
It seems the staff and boats are unreliable. 
Finding a good place to skip stones is always a worthy endeavor. 
Price: ~$10

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Scott's Top 7s: Places to Take Your Girl in Toronto #3


This is probably the most unique and 
delicious restaurant I've been to in Toronto. 
A great date for any pasta lover. 
Be sure to know your pasta names before you go. 
Have a spin around the restaurant and laugh at the trinkets together.

Price: >$50

Friday, April 6, 2012

They Hung Him on a Cross


Scott's Top 7s: Places to Take Your Girl in Toronto #4


Ballet - if you do this guys, you must really like this girl.
You will hate it, but she'll love you for it.
Wear a nice shirt, and tell her to wear that fancy dress.
May the force be with you: 
to keep you from falling asleep 
and from having nightmares.
Those tights still haunt me.

Price:~$90-150 (depends where you sit)

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Wednesday Giveaway with Koinonia

Gotta love that
Dan Wallace's new testament greek grammar
For some reason is looks really really similar to another Greek grammar...
Enter here:
The Basics of New Testament Syntax
If you win, I'll take it off your hands when you're done.
:D

George Whitefield: An Admonishment on Studying

Therefore, dear sir, make God the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end or all your actions. Study to know him more and more, for the more you know, the more you will love him. Study to know him as he has revealed himself in Christ Jesus, and labour every day to copy after that exemplar. In short, renounce the world in affection, deny yourself, and give your heart to God, and he in return will give you himself.

November 20 1738 from Tullow Bridge

Scott's Top 7s: Places to Take Your Girl in Toronto #5


Free concerts - such as Coldplay. Always keep your eyes open for these ones.
Price: still free. 
She will want a refreshment after though >$5

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

FREE PAGE CXVI ALBUM: B-Sides

Awesome.
They'll email you it.
Click here.

Scott's Top 7s: Places to Take Your Girl in Toronto s #6


Evening stroll through the Distillery District; especially during the Christmas Festival.
Grab a hot chocolate and your partner's hand.

Price: Free to get in -
~$7 for Hot chocolate & a cookie to split
or
~$20 for fries and beer
Recommended - Go early in december to see the Christmas lights!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Sunday, April 1, 2012

TBS Memories In 10 Lines


This month my 3-year undergrad at TBS is coming to a close. Kicking around the rez, the chapel, and the mess-hall has left me with some great memories that you wouldn't necessarily get primarily from just studying on your own. Here are 10 lines that I'll always remember from TBS.

1 - Pong on?
2 - That's garb. Chirps.
3 - All-nighter?
4 - Any announcements, Paul?
5 - Those who endure to the end will be saved.
6 - "What's for dinner Myrtle?" "Dinner! Now eat it."
7 - Yo! Any single female!
8 - Yo, sorry can't come, I have Greek.
9 - I'm a very manly muppet.
10 - (lights off) Somebody pray!

Associations:
1 - Stauff
2 - Bloomer
3 - Benoit & I
4 - Mr. Edwards
5 - Dr. Constant
7 - Stauff
8 - Anyone, all the time 
9 - House 12
10 - Myrtle