DECEMBER 21
WU WEIZUN PRAYED TO BE WORTHY OF CHRIST (2002)
“I have climbed to this pulpit to let you know of your sins, for I am the voice of Christ crying in the desert of this island, and therefore, you must...”
González, Justo L. “Lights in the Darkness.” http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1992/issue35/3532.html.
Trust is proven by action (1819)
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever—Psalm 125:1 (NIV).Whoever be...
Events
1082
Death of Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims, a man of great energy who had acquired considerable influence over the Frankish kingdom.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1406
(probable date) Martyrdom of Juliana of Viazma. Youri, Duke of Smolensk, had tried to seduce her and when he could not, stabbed her husband during a feast and hacked her to death. She became venerated as a saint by the Orthodox Church because of her virtue.
Authority for the date: Dunbar, Agnes Baillie Cuninghame. A Dictionary of Saintly Women.1807
Death in London, England, of John Newton, author of the hymn “Amazing Grace.”
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1856
Death in London of John Harris, a preacher, educator, and author. His most famous book was The Great Teacher: Characteristics of Our Lord's Ministry. He evoked hostile reactions with another book, Mammon, or Covetousness the Sin of the Christian Church. His works were more popular in the United States than in his native Britain.
Authority for the date: Dictionary of National Biography.1896
After fighting against spiritual conviction for months, fifteen-year-old Walter Wilson yields to Christ in Kansas City, Missouri, noticing an immediate change in his own attitudes and behavior. The following year, he will begin holding evangelistic street meetings, eventually becoming a medical doctor and lay evangelist.
Authority for the date: Gangel, Kennth O. Walter L. Wilson. Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1970.1939
Death of Frederick Barnabas Van Eyk, a notable Pentecostal preacher in Australia. He had recently divorced his wife and married a younger woman. Bitten by a tse-tse fly, he refused medical treatment, trusting to faith healing, and died.
Authority for the date: Burgess, Stanley M., et al. New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. Zondervan, 2002.1941
The BBC airs the first play in Dorothy Sayers’ cycle The Man Born to Be King. Before it goes on air, some Christian groups call it blasphemous because an actor is to speak Christ’s lines. However, its reception among Christians will prove generally good.
Authority for the date: Dale, Alzina Stone. Maker and Craftsman; the story of Dorothy L. Sayers. Grand Rapids: Eerdsman, 1978.2002
Death of Wu Weizun, who had followed Christ faithfully in and out of Chinese prison camps at great personal suffering. He was nicknamed “The Chinese Epaphras.”
Authority for the date: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity.