Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
family photo Sunday
The latest picture of our new grandbaby - Sophia - I will post a slideshow of all our grandkids later this week.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Ben Franklin and George Whitefield
There are hundreds of books available to read on the internet at dailylit.com. Many of these books are out of print and all are out of copyright. As I read this book, I was surprised to read Ben Franklin's first hand account of the effect that the Church of England preacher and evangelists to the colonies, George Whitefield, had on him. I knew that Mr. Whitefield spent many years in Savannah, Ga. but I did not realize he also preached in Pennsylvania and other New England colonies.
Trivia: Did you know that Ben Franklin was the President of Pennsylvania from 1785-1788 - after the Revolutionary War and until the U.S. Constititution was ratified?
Excerpt from "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin"
In 1739 arrived among us from Ireland the Reverend Mr. Whitefield, who had made himself remarkable there as an itinerant preacher. He was at first permitted to preach in some of our churches; but the clergy, taking a dislike to him, soon refus'd him their pulpits, and he was oblig'd to preach in the fields. The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers, and how much they admir'd and respected him, notwithstanding his common abuse of them, by assuring them that they were naturally half beasts and half devils. It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants.
From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street.
And it being found inconvenient to assemble in the open air, subject to its inclemencies, the building of a house to meet in was no sooner propos'd, and persons appointed to receive contributions, but sufficient sums were soon receiv'd to procure the ground and erect the building, which was one hundred feet long and seventy broad, about the size of Westminster Hall; and the work was carried on with such spirit as to be finished in a much shorter time than could have been expected. Both house and ground were vested in trustees, expressly for the use of any preacher of any religious persuasion who might desire to say something to the people at Philadelphia; the design in building not being to accommodate any particular sect, but the inhabitants in general; so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service.
Mr. Whitefield, in leaving us, went preaching all the way thro' the colonies to Georgia. The settlement of that province had lately been begun, but, instead of being made with hardy, industrious husbandmen, accustomed to labor, the only people fit for such an enterprise, it was with families of broken shop-keepers and other insolvent debtors, many of indolent and idle habits, taken out of the jails, who, being set down in the woods, unqualified for clearing land, and unable to endure the hardships of a new settlement, perished in numbers, leaving many helpless children unprovided for. The sight of their miserable situation inspir'd the benevolent heart of Mr. Whitefield with the idea of building an Orphan House there, in which they might be supported and educated. Returning northward, he preach'd up this charity, and made large collections, for his eloquence had a wonderful power over the hearts and purses of his hearers, of which I myself was an instance.
I did not disapprove of the design, but, as Georgia was then destitute of materials and workmen, and it was proposed to send them from Philadelphia at a great expense, I thought it would have been better to have built the house here, and brought the children to it. This I advis'd; but he was resolute in his first project, rejected my counsel, and I therefore refus'd to contribute. I happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collection, and I silently resolved he should get nothing from me, I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the coppers. Another stroke of his oratory made me asham'd of that, and determin'd me to give the silver; and he finish'd so admirably, that I empty'd my pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all.
At this sermon there was also one of our club, who, being of my sentiments respecting the building in Georgia, and suspecting a collection might be intended, had, by precaution, emptied his pockets before he came from home. Towards the conclusion of the discourse, however, he felt a strong desire to give, and apply'd to a neighbour, who stood near him, to borrow some money for the purpose. The application was unfortunately [made] to perhaps the only man in the company who had the firmness not to be affected by the preacher. His answer was, "At any other time, Friend Hopkinson, I would lend to thee freely; but not now, for thee seems to be out of thy right senses."
Some of Mr. Whitefield's enemies affected to suppose that he would apply these collections to his own private emolument; but I who was intimately acquainted with him (being employed in printing his Sermons and Journals, etc.), never had the least suspicion of his integrity, but am to this day decidedly of opinion that he was in all his conduct a perfectly honest man, and methinks my testimony in his favour ought to have the more weight, as we had no religious connection. He us'd, indeed, sometimes to pray for my conversion, but never had the satisfaction of believing that his prayers were heard. Ours was a mere civil friendship, sincere on both sides, and lasted to his death.
The last time I saw Mr. Whitefield was in London, when he consulted me about his Orphan House concern, and his purpose of appropriating it to the establishment of a college.
He had a loud and clear voice, and articulated his words and sentences so perfectly, that he might be heard and understood at a great distance, especially as his auditories, however numerous, observ'd the most exact silence. He preach'd one evening from the top of the Court-house steps, which are in the middle of Market-street, and on the west side of Second-street, which crosses it at right angles. Both streets were fill'd with his hearers to a considerable distance. Being among the hindmost in Market-street, I had the curiosity to learn how far he could be heard, by retiring backwards down the street towards the river; and I found his voice distinct till I came near Front-street, when some noise in that street obscur'd it. Imagining then a semi-circle, of which my distance should be the radius, and that it were fill'd with auditors, to each of whom I allow'd two square feet, I computed that he might well be heard by more than thirty thousand. This reconcil'd me to the newspaper accounts of his having preach'd to twenty-five thousand people in the fields, and to the antient histories of generals haranguing whole armies, of which I had sometimes doubted.
By hearing him often, I came to distinguish easily between sermons newly compos'd, and those which he had often preach'd in the course of his travels. His delivery of the latter was so improv'd by frequent repetitions that every accent, every emphasis, every modulation of voice, was so perfectly well turn'd and well plac'd, that, without being interested in the subject, one could not help being pleas'd with the discourse; a pleasure of much the same kind with that receiv'd from an excellent piece of musick. This is an advantage itinerant preachers have over those who are stationary, as the latter can not well improve their delivery of a sermon by so many rehearsals.
His writing and printing from time to time gave great advantage to his enemies; unguarded expressions, and even erroneous opinions, delivered in preaching, might have been afterwards explain'd or qualifi'd by supposing others that might have accompani'd them, or they might have been deny'd; but litera scripta monet. Critics attack'd his writings violently, and with so much appearance of reason as to diminish the number of his votaries and prevent their encrease; so that I am of opinion if he had never written any thing, he would have left behind him a much more numerous and important sect, and his reputation might in that case have been still growing, even after his death, as there being nothing of his writing on which to found a censure and give him a lower character, his proselytes would be left at liberty to feign for him as great a variety of excellence as their enthusiastic admiration might wish him to have possessed.
Trivia: Did you know that Ben Franklin was the President of Pennsylvania from 1785-1788 - after the Revolutionary War and until the U.S. Constititution was ratified?
Excerpt from "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin"
In 1739 arrived among us from Ireland the Reverend Mr. Whitefield, who had made himself remarkable there as an itinerant preacher. He was at first permitted to preach in some of our churches; but the clergy, taking a dislike to him, soon refus'd him their pulpits, and he was oblig'd to preach in the fields. The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers, and how much they admir'd and respected him, notwithstanding his common abuse of them, by assuring them that they were naturally half beasts and half devils. It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants.
From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street.
And it being found inconvenient to assemble in the open air, subject to its inclemencies, the building of a house to meet in was no sooner propos'd, and persons appointed to receive contributions, but sufficient sums were soon receiv'd to procure the ground and erect the building, which was one hundred feet long and seventy broad, about the size of Westminster Hall; and the work was carried on with such spirit as to be finished in a much shorter time than could have been expected. Both house and ground were vested in trustees, expressly for the use of any preacher of any religious persuasion who might desire to say something to the people at Philadelphia; the design in building not being to accommodate any particular sect, but the inhabitants in general; so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service.
Mr. Whitefield, in leaving us, went preaching all the way thro' the colonies to Georgia. The settlement of that province had lately been begun, but, instead of being made with hardy, industrious husbandmen, accustomed to labor, the only people fit for such an enterprise, it was with families of broken shop-keepers and other insolvent debtors, many of indolent and idle habits, taken out of the jails, who, being set down in the woods, unqualified for clearing land, and unable to endure the hardships of a new settlement, perished in numbers, leaving many helpless children unprovided for. The sight of their miserable situation inspir'd the benevolent heart of Mr. Whitefield with the idea of building an Orphan House there, in which they might be supported and educated. Returning northward, he preach'd up this charity, and made large collections, for his eloquence had a wonderful power over the hearts and purses of his hearers, of which I myself was an instance.
I did not disapprove of the design, but, as Georgia was then destitute of materials and workmen, and it was proposed to send them from Philadelphia at a great expense, I thought it would have been better to have built the house here, and brought the children to it. This I advis'd; but he was resolute in his first project, rejected my counsel, and I therefore refus'd to contribute. I happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collection, and I silently resolved he should get nothing from me, I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the coppers. Another stroke of his oratory made me asham'd of that, and determin'd me to give the silver; and he finish'd so admirably, that I empty'd my pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all.
At this sermon there was also one of our club, who, being of my sentiments respecting the building in Georgia, and suspecting a collection might be intended, had, by precaution, emptied his pockets before he came from home. Towards the conclusion of the discourse, however, he felt a strong desire to give, and apply'd to a neighbour, who stood near him, to borrow some money for the purpose. The application was unfortunately [made] to perhaps the only man in the company who had the firmness not to be affected by the preacher. His answer was, "At any other time, Friend Hopkinson, I would lend to thee freely; but not now, for thee seems to be out of thy right senses."
Some of Mr. Whitefield's enemies affected to suppose that he would apply these collections to his own private emolument; but I who was intimately acquainted with him (being employed in printing his Sermons and Journals, etc.), never had the least suspicion of his integrity, but am to this day decidedly of opinion that he was in all his conduct a perfectly honest man, and methinks my testimony in his favour ought to have the more weight, as we had no religious connection. He us'd, indeed, sometimes to pray for my conversion, but never had the satisfaction of believing that his prayers were heard. Ours was a mere civil friendship, sincere on both sides, and lasted to his death.
The last time I saw Mr. Whitefield was in London, when he consulted me about his Orphan House concern, and his purpose of appropriating it to the establishment of a college.
He had a loud and clear voice, and articulated his words and sentences so perfectly, that he might be heard and understood at a great distance, especially as his auditories, however numerous, observ'd the most exact silence. He preach'd one evening from the top of the Court-house steps, which are in the middle of Market-street, and on the west side of Second-street, which crosses it at right angles. Both streets were fill'd with his hearers to a considerable distance. Being among the hindmost in Market-street, I had the curiosity to learn how far he could be heard, by retiring backwards down the street towards the river; and I found his voice distinct till I came near Front-street, when some noise in that street obscur'd it. Imagining then a semi-circle, of which my distance should be the radius, and that it were fill'd with auditors, to each of whom I allow'd two square feet, I computed that he might well be heard by more than thirty thousand. This reconcil'd me to the newspaper accounts of his having preach'd to twenty-five thousand people in the fields, and to the antient histories of generals haranguing whole armies, of which I had sometimes doubted.
By hearing him often, I came to distinguish easily between sermons newly compos'd, and those which he had often preach'd in the course of his travels. His delivery of the latter was so improv'd by frequent repetitions that every accent, every emphasis, every modulation of voice, was so perfectly well turn'd and well plac'd, that, without being interested in the subject, one could not help being pleas'd with the discourse; a pleasure of much the same kind with that receiv'd from an excellent piece of musick. This is an advantage itinerant preachers have over those who are stationary, as the latter can not well improve their delivery of a sermon by so many rehearsals.
His writing and printing from time to time gave great advantage to his enemies; unguarded expressions, and even erroneous opinions, delivered in preaching, might have been afterwards explain'd or qualifi'd by supposing others that might have accompani'd them, or they might have been deny'd; but litera scripta monet. Critics attack'd his writings violently, and with so much appearance of reason as to diminish the number of his votaries and prevent their encrease; so that I am of opinion if he had never written any thing, he would have left behind him a much more numerous and important sect, and his reputation might in that case have been still growing, even after his death, as there being nothing of his writing on which to found a censure and give him a lower character, his proselytes would be left at liberty to feign for him as great a variety of excellence as their enthusiastic admiration might wish him to have possessed.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Florida leads the way
Way to go Florida! The only state in the Union that is bold enough to do it. The state of Florida is considering allowing drivers to purchase a license plate that reads "I Believe" and has a cross with stained-glass windows pictured on the plate. The procedes from the sale of this plate would go to children of soldiers and police whose parents have died. I am sure the ACLU will be all over this...read more at this link
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Beck interviews Joel Rosenberg
I don't usually advertise for talk shows on my blog, but I thought some of you might be interested in tuning in to Glenn Beck at CNN Friday night, April 25th. Glenn has been interviewing Joel Rosenberg this week and will feature him in a one hour special tomorrow night. It will be broadcast three times - at 7pm, 9pm and midnight EST. Joel Rosenberg is the author of a series of novels that are very close to reality. His latest release is Dead Heat. He also has a very good blog that I will be adding to my sidebar JoelRosenberg.blogspot.com I really enjoyed reading his blog posted Tuesday about Senator Clinton and her remarks this week about "obliterating" Iran. I was also listening to Rush Limbaugh at lunch Tuesday as he was discussing her remarks. By the way, Joel is an evangelical Christian from an Orthodox Jewish background.
Monday, April 21, 2008
sinking of the Titanic
I have always been fascinated with the story of the sinking of the Titanic. I remember as a child watching on television the black & white movie from 1958 "A Night To Remember" and how scary this movie was to me. This month is the anniversary of the sinking of that ship which took place on April 14, 1912. Last week, I read an Associated Press article about a theory that the builders in their haste may have used inferior metals for the rivets - read more at this link Also, you will find off the beaten path in Orlando a neat attraction - Titanic, The Experience. My wife and I spent a few hours there reading the history of the ship and visiting the replicas of the some of the rooms that were inside the Titanic. The guide also takes you inside a room that has a solid sheet of ice "wall" so you can touch and feel how cold it was in the waters when the Titanic sank.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
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Saturday, April 19, 2008
rewards of parenting
We were blessed to hear our oldest son Josh preach at his "home" church for the Sunday AM and PM services on March 30th. Josh was born in 1978 in Jacksonville a few months after my wife and I moved to Florida and joined Victory Baptist Church. Josh grew up in the church and graduated from Victory Christian Academy. He received his preacher boys degree at Bob Jones University. A year after graduation from BJU, he returned to Victory Christian Academy as a coach, Bible teacher, and Athletic Director for three years. He is presently the Assistant Pastor at Hope Baptist Church in Hanover, PA. So it was extra special for us to see him return to Victory and fill the pulpit for the first time.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
from the web
Here are some recent links to articles, news, photos, videos, etc. from the internet that I would like to share with everyone . . . . . . Eat This, Not That! Top Swaps for those who are watching what they eat - for whatever reason. This link provides comparisons with foods that we eat all the time, such as a Big Mac vs a Whopper. It might help us all decide what to eat and enjoy and still cut back on some of those calories . . . . . Did you know we might have 4.3 BILLION barrels of oil that can be recovered from Montana and North Dakota? Things that make you go hmmm . . . . . . Navy SEAL MA2 Michael Monsoor was awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor in early April. He gave his life for his fellow SEALS by falling on a live hand grenade in Iraq Read the news story or View the photo gallery or watch the video clip . . . . . . My favorite political cartoonists in Gary Varvel who draws for the Indy Star newspaper. I have a link to his Varvblog on the sidebar, but just in case you missed it, here is one of his latest . . . . . . Last week, I listened to a radio interview by Glenn Beck with Joel Rosenberg, the author of "Dead Heat." Rosenberg has written a series of six "end time" novels (which I have not read) but this radio interview piqued my interest. I read on his website - joelrosenberg.com - that the first novel in the series, "The Last Jihad," begins with the reader in the cockpit of a hijacked plane on a kamikaze mission in an American city, and this book was written nine months before 9/11/2001.
Monday, April 14, 2008
usher recruitment video
We watched this video at the men's night during our Community Outreach Week at Berean Baptist Church with Tom Farrell. It was very funny! I understand that our youth pastor, Shawn Kook, produced/directed this video. I was hoping someone would post this on youtube so others could watch it. Enjoy!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
family photo Sunday
My sister Deborah had a birthday this week (April 12th) and I found this cute photo from a long, long time ago with Deborah, cousin Jerry and Timmy. We were such cute kids! Happy Birthday, sis!
By the way, in junior high I changed my name to "Tim" because I was tired of hearing people say to me, "Hey Timmy, Where's Lassie?"
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
signs along the journey
Who would've thunk it? There's a place named after me and my dad in Georgia! I found this sign along I-85 South on our way home from SC.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
Natalie, Meredith and Brielle enjoyed the beach in Florida
Even though it is was cold and windy, we all enjoyed the visit to Fernandina Beach, Florida, on Monday after the wedding. It is hard to believe the weather could change from 83 degrees "warm and beautiful" for the wedding day and then to about 60 degrees "cold and windy" the next day.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
family photo Sunday
Our fourth granddaughter, Sophia Martha, was born on Weds., April 2nd, right on time. She weighed 7 lbs 6 1/2 ounces. Congrats to Leah and Stephen.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Friday, April 04, 2008
behind the scenes at the wedding
Before Brandon and Rachel's wedding ceremony, I took my photos while the wedding photographer was working. So here are some of my "behind the scenes photos." I am working on a slideshow and will post the link as soon as possible.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Natalie's Contemplation
It was a big event and her first wedding - our oldest granddaughter, Natalie, was to be one of two flower girls. As you can see from these photos, the rehearsal was fun but on Saturday afternoon, the reality began to sink in. But Natalie did a great job, including posing for the real photographer.
Natalie and Haley were the two flower girls, and Caleb was the ring-bearer
The rehearsal on Friday night was a lot of fun
"What have I gotten myself into??"
Great-grandma Baggett tries to encourage Natalie
Natalie and Haley were the two flower girls, and Caleb was the ring-bearer
The rehearsal on Friday night was a lot of fun
"What have I gotten myself into??"
Great-grandma Baggett tries to encourage Natalie
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
welcome to the world
Leah gave birth to "Sophia Martha" this morning at 1:34AM (CST) - right on time! The baby girl weighed 7 lbs 6 1/2 ounces at birth and was 19 1/2 inches long. Mommy and Daddy are doing fine. Stephen arrived back in town last night after driving two days from Florida. They went to the hospital at midnight. (Sorry no photos yet)
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
wedding news
We returned late last night from Florida and I finally made it to bed at 1:45 AM. I was very sleepy this afternoon at work. It seemed that we were busy with the wedding activities from Thursday morning until we left to return home on Monday night, but the wedding ceremony itself only lasted about 40 mins. It was a fun time with the family and friends and it seems we had one or two "parties" every day (food, food, and more food.)
I have not uploaded my photos yet, so I will share a couple of other bloggers with you who have posted photos. Yes, the wedding "made the news" in the blog world!
Click to view: Leah's "Nap Time Sanctuary" blog
Click to view: Carrie Bennett's "A Little Lamb's Thoughts"
I have not uploaded my photos yet, so I will share a couple of other bloggers with you who have posted photos. Yes, the wedding "made the news" in the blog world!
Click to view: Leah's "Nap Time Sanctuary" blog
Click to view: Carrie Bennett's "A Little Lamb's Thoughts"
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