Religious Affections

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Sarah Pierrpont Edwards

This year marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Sarah Pierrpont. Who is Sarah Pierrpont?  One could call her the mother of America.

Sarah Pierrpont Edwards lived from 1710 – 1758.  She was married to one of America’s best (could be argued the best) preacher in it’s history, Jonathan Edwards.  Even though it is Jonathan that is known for his preaching and his leading in the First Great Awakening in American history, we would miss out on an important historical figure if we ignored his wife.  Sarah Pierrpont met Jonathan in 1723, when she was 13 and Jonathan was 20.  They were married on July 18, 1727 when she was 17 years old.  Though this sounds young, it was actually very common during the colonial period for a woman to marry by the time she was 16, so 17 year old Sarah was definitely not too young to be married at this point.

Sarah proved to be a wonderful helpmate to Jonathan, especially considering how difficult it was to live with this kind of man.  He was shy and introverted, lacked any kind of social grace, he would spend 13+ hours in his study and if he was in the middle of intense thoughts, he would not want to be interrupted for dinner.  This does not mean that he did not love her.  Quite the contrary, he loved her with all of his heart.  But he was a man that was called to be a minister of God’s Word and he did not take that calling lightly.  Nor did Sarah want him to.  She was there to help support him in his calling.

Sarah and Jonathan had 11 children, 8 boys & 3 girls.  Although Jonathan would spend some time in manual labor for some exercise, he spent most of his time in his study, so Sarah was responsible for the children and the household duties.  This does not mean that Jonathan was not involved in the life of his children.  Their family would rise early each morning and spend time in the Word of God together and in prayer.  He did not neglect his spiritual responsibility of leading his family to God.  And whenever he went on a trip, he would take one or more of the children with him.  But Sarah gladly accepted the responsibilities of the day to day raising of the kids so her husband could fulfill his calling.

Sarah was a woman who demonstrated her love for God, her husband, and her children.  And what was the result of all this care and devotion to her family?

In 1900, A. E. Winship did a study of the descendants of two different families, one being the Edwards’ family and the other being the family of an unreligious man named Max Jukes.  Here’s what the study revealed:

“Max Jukes, [an] atheist, lived a godless life. He married an ungodly [woman], and from this union there were 310 who died as paupers, 150 were criminals, 7 were murderers, 100 were drunkards, and more than half of the women were prostitutes. His 540 descendants cost the State one and a quarter million dollars [before inflation].

Then there is a record of a great man of God, Jonathan Edwards. He lived at the same time as Max Jukes, but he married a godly [woman]. An investigation was made of 1,394 known descendants of Jonathan Edwards, of which 13 became college presidents, 65 college professors, 3 United States Senators, 30 judges, 100 lawyers, 60 physicians, 75 army and navy officers, 100 preachers and missionaries, 60 authors of prominence, one Vice-President of the United States, 80 public officials in other capacities, 295 college graduates, among whom were governors of states and ministers to foreign countries. Jonathan Edwards’ descendants did not cost the state a penny.  Many large banks, banking houses, and insurance companies have been directed by them. They have been owners or superintendents of large coal mines… of large iron plants and vast oil interests… and silver mines…. There is scarcely any great American industry that has not had one of this family among its chief promoters….”

It is hard not to realize that the Edwards’ family has had a profound impact on the leadership of this country.  Some people explain this to selective breeding in that family.  I think this happens because people hate to think that God has any power over human history, but would rather think that we are in control of our destinies, so of course, eugenics sounds like a better explanation to some people.  Instead, could this not be a fulfillment of God’s promise to His people when He said in Deut. 7:9, “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.”  Both Jonathan and Sarah Edwards loved God and taught their children the joy and delight of loving God.  Because of their love for God, God blessed their family to several generations of descendants after them.  And because of Sarah’s faithful commitment to her family, she literally shaped the future of what would soon be called the United States of America.

Now, I’m not saying through this that women ought to stay home and raise and take care of the family.  My wife is a wonderful, godly woman who helps to support our family in her nursing career.  But she does not desire to put her career above her family.  It is actually the opposite.  She has put her family needs above her career.  She has a desire to take care of her family before she seeks advancement in her career.  It is not whether she works or stays at home, but rather, where her priorities are placed.  My wife has the same priorities as Sarah as she loves and supports her husband and cares for her daughter.  How different would our country be if more women were like Sarah Edwards who did not seek her own needs or her own careers, but instead put her God and her family before herself.  What woman has made more of an impact in the leadership of our nation than Sarah Pierrpont Edwards?  Could it be that feminism is stealing the glorious position that God desires to bestow upon women by convincing them that they need to seek their own above the sake of their families?

For the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Sarah, let us honor the God of this godly woman and thank Him for the faith and strength that He bestowed upon this remarkable woman and all women like her that, through bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, has shaped and will continue to shape this great nation of ours.

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Have you ever really stopped and thought about what life is really all about?  I encourage you to do so today as you watch this video.  We all need to take some time to stop and think about what is really important in life and to evaluate and see if we are living for the best that life has to offer us, or if we are settling for something less.

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^“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, ^inherit the kingdom ^prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And ^the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these ^my brothers, you did it to me.’ ” – (Matt 25:34-40)

We are commanded, by the words of Jesus, to take care of those in need and to share the gospel with the lost.  And we are to take up the call to minister to people, not only in the area in which we live, but all across the world.  Jesus commands us in Acts 1:8 to be witnesses in Jerusalem (our local home town), Judea (the immediate area surrounding our home town), Samaria (other places within our country), and to the ends of the earth.

Of course, there are many hurting people all across the world, but right now, the focus seems to be on Haiti because of the recent earthquake.  They are still suffering from the effects of it.  Of course, most of us just cannot pick up and leave and go help people.  But, if you and your family are looking for ways to somehow minister to Haiti, there are different ways you can help the people over there.  There are a couple of them that my family and I are involved in.

Mississippi Disaster Relief – Buckets of Hope

The Southern Baptist State Convention of Mississippi has a special disaster relief program, as do most of the state conventions, that focuses on responding to disasters, both here at home and around the world.  Right now they are collecting buckets of food to help send over to Haiti which will go to a family who needs it.  If you would like to help in this special project, or would like more information, please go to their website at http://www.mbcb.org/haiti/buckets.aspx.  I also have included the PDF document which gives the details about what food items they are requesting in each bucket.  Click here to download the document.

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The Hands and Feet Project – A Haitian Orphanage

The Hands and Feet Project is an orphanage that was founded and is run by the members of the Christian rock band, Audio Adrenaline.  These men felt called of God to go to Haiti and take up the command to care for the orphans and widows.  This is, as the book of James calls it, true and pure religion.  The RA’s and GA’s at our church and currently raising money to send to this project, especially during this time as they are not only taking care of the orphans there, but also the surrounding community as they are continuing to respond to the recent earthquake.  You can go to http://www.handsandfeetproject.org/home.php to find out more information and to make a special donation to them.

These are a couple great projects to be involved in.  I know that there are many others out there just like these, so take these as suggestions or starting points as you begin to pray and consider where God wants you to be involved in carrying out Acts 1:8.

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The blog at the Gospel Coalition had a post about some ways in which to encourage a missionary.  I wanted to share these ways with you and pray that maybe all of us can find some ways to encourage a missionary that God has placed upon our hearts.  If we cannot be overseas sharing with the lost, we can still be a part of the mission field by supporting someone who is.

What I have included is just the ten items listed.  There is, however, more to this article and I would invite you to check it out by clicking on the link for The Gospel Coalition.

1. Pray for them and let them know that you are doing so frequently.

2. Send “real mail.”

3. Pray for the people the missionaries serve and not only for the missionaries and their families.

4. Recruit others to pray for the missionary’s area of service (city, people group, etc.) or for the missionaries themselves.

5. Go visit them with the purpose of serving and encouraging them in their work.

6. Send them updates and pictures of you and your family (by mail or email).

7. Ask questions about their work.

8. Continue to be a Christian friend and continue to minister to them.

9. Support them financially.

10. Seek to encourage them when they are on stateside assignment.

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New Year’s is a great time to commit to read through the Bible during the next year or at least over the next 2-3 years.  It’s difficult, however, to know where to start and how much to read in order to fulfill that commitment.  Although it goes without saying that we need to spend as much time reading each day as Holy Spirit guides us, it helps to have a prepared guide in leading us in our daily devotion time each day.

Pastor John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minnesota has compiled a reading plan.  Actually, he borrows his plan from the Discipleship Journal reading plan.  The beauty of this plan is that it divides the Bible readings into 25 day readings per month, so it gives you 5 days to catch up just in case you miss a day now and then, and if you’re like me, then that is a great feature.

You can download bookmarks or you can download just a month by month guide provided by Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Justin Taylor also gives a variety of different plans that seek to guide you through the Bible in different ways.  Click here to see his list of reading plans. Don’t get overwhelmed by the variety of different plans available.  The purpose behind all of these plans is to help you find a way to work through the Bible based upon your own personality and based upon how God is currently working in your life right now.

Here are some words of wisdom from Piper as you commit to spend time in God’s Word each day:

“In the year ahead, ask God each day to speak directly to you from the Scripture portions you read. Be expectant, and let your continual exposure to God’s Word reshape your attitudes and behavior as you gain a better understanding of every part of His written testimony to us.”

I hope you all have a great year spent in experiencing God personally and powerfully in your life.

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Every year, there is always the controversial discussion about the focus on Santa Claus during the Christmas season.  It does seem that he attracts undeserved attention when that attention should be placed upon Christ.  But is Santa Claus really all that bad?

Santa Claus is actually a modernized version of a historical person named Saint Nicholas of Myra.  Here was a man who knew what it meant to live the gospel.  There are, of course, several different legends concerning this man, but there is little doubt that there is truth about this man who would sacrificially give from his wealth to help the poor and the downtrodden of his day.  He grew up in a wealthy family and his parents were very generous people who loved to help others for the sake of Christ.  As far as what is historically accepted, Nicholas has gained the reputation of secretly giving to the poor by placing coins in the shoes of people who left them outside for him.  Of course, now we leave out our stockings on Christmas Eve for him to come and fill.  The point of all this is that this man truly understood the gospel.  He knew that God had blessed him with wealth so he could be an instrument of God to help those who were poor.

In Matthew 25, as Jesus is teaching about the final judgment, He shows us the marks of the true believer.  All of those people He received into heaven are those who showed their love for God by showing love for their fellow man.  He tells them that they visited Him in prison, fed Him when He was hungry, clothed Him when He was naked and so forth.  He explains that whenever they did that for the least of people, they were doing it to Him.  The book of James also tells us that the true religion is defined by our caring for the widow and the orphan, or in other words, helping those who cannot help themselves (James 1:27).  This is the life of St. Nicholas.  This is the wonderful beauty of Santa Claus.

I know and agree that there is much commercialization to Santa Claus that seems to steal attention from the true meaning of Christmas, which is Christ Himself.  But that’s not Santa Claus’s fault.  He lived his life to bring honor and glory to Christ through the loving care of the poor.  Why should we let the secular world corrupt this wonderful man?  I believe that we have a wonderful opportunity to allow Santa to once again bring glory to Christ through the giving that he does each year.  We can teach our children that Santa gives to us because he wants us to remember the greatest gift that was given over 2000 years ago.  And Santa wants us to learn how to give to those who are less fortunate than we are because that is one of the best ways that we can show our love for God and for others.  Jesus came and saved us so we could make a difference in the lives of others.  This is the great teaching of Santa as he brings his gifts to children every Christmas Eve night.  I plead with you, don’t shut Santa out.  Rather, bring him back to the place in which he desired in the beginning, as a humble servant that sought only to glorify Christ.

If used properly, Santa Claus can help teach children about the love and grace of God, our heavenly Father who has lavished such wonderful gifts upon us.

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On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on indulgences.  Indulgences were religious relics, such as the straw from Jesus’ manger that one could buy from the church and earn a temporary relief from purgatory, either for themselves or for a loved one who has already died.  This practice had been adopted by the church to replace the act of penance in the lives of their members.  No longer did they have to pray or go to confessions, they could just buy an indulgence and earn the forgiveness of their sin.  The church benefited from this practice, because it brought in a great source of income that they could use for their own personal advancement.  In fact, to help raise funds to renovate St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Johanne Tetzel, a Dominican priest, began selling indulgences in Germany.  He promoted the sales of the indulgences by playing on the spiritual needs of the people, offering them a false hope of forgiveness if they would only purchase some indulgences to help the building project.  Martin Luther, of course, saw this as a great violation of the Gospel.  Salvation and forgiveness is not earned by buying indulgences or helping the church out with “building projects.”  Salvation came by grace through faith alone.  Martin Luther’s theology was based upon Paul’s words in Romans 1:17 – “The righteous shall live by faith.”  The righteous does not live by buying indulgences or earning God’s grace through works of the law.  If there was any place for earning God’s grace, it would not be grace, because grace is unmerited favor.  We would gain the glory from our own salvation if we could somehow work hard enough to gain it.  As a result of the abuses that Martin Luther saw happening in his homeland of Germany, he reacted to the church by placing his Ninety-five theses on indulgences on the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany.  These Theses are seen to be the official beginning of the Protestant Reformation.  Martin Luther’s protestations led others around Europe to rise up and speak against the abuses and the theological errors of the Catholic church.  If you belong to a church that is not a part of the Catholic church, it is all because of what God had done through the work of men like Martin Luther.  We need to thank God for men like these who are willing to stand up for the purity of the gospel.

It is important to note that Luther did not want to leave the Catholic church, but rather reform the church.  The tension between him and the other church leaders, however, were too high and he was forced to leave the Catholic church.

To view a list of the 95 these, click here.

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