Second Semester Begins
We are excited about the second semester of classes that started on January 21st. Dr. Wayne Scott, of Faith Baptist Church in Morristown, IN preached in the opening chapel service and he brought a fine message on “New Beginnings.” Dr. Scott has taught Christian Counseling, Hebrew History, and Life of Christ at Heritage now for two decades.
The semester began with a challenge to us to faithfully serve the Lord in this upcoming semester and year.
What a privilege it is to serve the King of Kings!
Praying and Waiting
On February 1st, the preacher bowed his head and prayed for God to help in their need. He had been praying for 90 straight days. The year was 1846, and the man of God was George Müller. He was no stranger to asking God for seemingly impossible answers to prayer.
In 1835, the Lord had burdened Müller with the care for the orphans of Bristol, England. At that time, George Müller was not yet 30 years old. Many thought him too inexperienced, but the young preacher determined to pray and trust God.
The next year, in a rented house, Müller opened his first orphan home for 30 girls. One phrase from the Bible seemed to focus his trust in God: Psalm 81:10 “open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.”
It was now over 9 years later. The one house had grown into four rented row houses on Wilson Street in Bristol. The orphans now numbered 130, and with so many children here, there arose complaints from the neighbors.
George Müller realized that he needed to erect a purpose built orphanage out in the country.
In his narrative (prayer journal) on February 2, 1846, Müller wrote that he had heard of 7 acres of ground just north of Bristol at a place called Ashley Downs. The next day he went out to see the property, and wrote later: “it is the most desirable of all that I have seen.” The land was for sale for £200 (about $41,000 today) an acre.
Not wasting any time, George Müller went to see the owner at his home on February 4th. The owner was out, and so the preacher went to the man’s business. He was not there either. Sensing that God was working, George Müller waited until the following morning to meet with the land owner.
That night, that land owner was awakened at 3:00 a.m., and he lay for 2 hours thinking on the sale of the land. The owner finally determined if the land was desired for an orphanage, he would sell it for £120 (about $25,000) an acre.
That next morning, the 7 acres at Ashley Downs was sold. Instead of paying in today’s terms: a total of $287,000, George Müller bought the land for $175,000.
Waiting on God to work one night had saved over $100,000.
George Müller kept praying, and without any campaign or charity drive, the money continued to come in for the orphanage. Three years later, Orphan House #1 opened in 1849 with 300 orphans, and with many others on the waiting list. Prayer immediately began for Orphan House #2.
By the time George Müller turned 65 years old, through prayer, God had supplied five giant orphan houses, with the ability to house 2,050 orphans.
George Müller believed God when he said “open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.”
A Glimpse of Love that Influenced a Nation
Sallie Devine walked into the store to have her shoes repaired. She watched the young man who mended her shoes, and soon they became friends. Sallie invited the young man to visit her Baptist church in their hometown of Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
John accepted Sallie’s invitation and went to hear the minister, Pastor Everett Jones. Pastor Jones had been physically persecuted as a preacher.
John became greatly convicted by the messages, and eventually he was saved. Shortly afterwards he was called to preach. Before John moved to Virginia, the girl that had invited him to attend that Baptist church, became his wife, Mrs. Sallie Devine Leland.
John Leland arrived in Virginia just as the nation started its quest for political freedom in the Revolutionary War. He began to travel and preach, and in time he founded two thriving churches. During his early ministry, he and other Baptists were persecuted in Virginia. (Lewis Little in his book Imprisoned Preachers and Religious Liberty in Virginia lists 70 preachers that were persecuted). Yet John Leland continued to preach, and during the 15 years that he ministered in Virginia, he baptized 700 converts. Leland also became a leading patriotic citizen in the area around Orange County, Virginia.
Yet his greatest contribution to America lay ahead.
After the successful completion of the Revolutionary War, America struggled to construct a proper form of government for the nation. When the Constitution was offered for ratification, John Leland and other Baptists saw the flaw. There was no guarantee for religious freedom.
James Madison, the father of the Constitution, was seeking election in Leland’s district of Orange County. Many wanted John Leland to run for office to oppose the Constitution, based on its lack of individual rights. Some of Leland’s biographers again credit Sallie with influencing her husband in this area.
Preacher John Leland and James Madison met and discussed the need of protection for individual rights, specifically the freedom to worship. James Madison, since his college days at Princeton, had been an advocate for the persecuted Baptists, and he understood their desire of “separation of church (denomination) and state.”
After this earnest discussion, which took place outside under an oak tree, James Madison became convinced and promised to champion the addition of religious liberty and other freedoms to the Constitution. An historical marker now stands near that place.
John Leland withdrew from the election, and James Madison went on the next year to introduce the famous Bill of Rights, upon which the court’s interpretation has generated so much controversy over the past fifty years. (Armstrong, O.K. & Marjorie. The Indomitable Baptists. New York: Doubleday & Co. 1967 p. 4–16)
Where would we be today without the Bill of Rights, which was greatly influenced by a Baptist preacher, that was influenced by a godly lady named, Sallie?