Dr Paul Allen

Rev. Jonathan Edwards, a leader of the Great Awakening, is still remembered for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) When Jonathan Edwards was turning thirteen and ready to go off to college, his father had a difficult decision to make. Jonathan's father, Timothy Edwards, was an alumnus of Harvard.  But, his alma mater was already showing signs of drifting away from its original commitment to orthodoxy. In those days they called it "latitudinarianism," as in professors were granted "latitude" in their commitment to the Westminster Standards . No, Harvard would not do for young Jonathan. Instead, Timothy chose the up-start college then known simply as the College of Connecticut. It would soon be renamed Yale University .  Yale was born in 1701, two years prior to the birth of Jonathan Edwards. Its original charter declared: WHEREAS several well disposed, and Publick spirited Persons of their sincere...

It may come as surprise that when Yale University was founded on this day, October 16, 1701, it was by Congregationalist ministers Image via Wikipedia  unhappy with the growing liberalism at Harvard. It wasn't called Yale then, of course, but rather the Collegiate School . The ministers donated forty books and declared their objective, that "Youth may be instructed in the Arts and Sciences who through the blessing of God may be fitted for Publick employment both in Church and Civil State." The huge campus of today, with over one hundred buildings was not conceived. In fact, the first classes were held in the residence of Rev. Abraham Pierson , its first rector. Not until 1745 was the school moved to New Haven and renamed Yale. The name change was in honor of Elihu Yale, a successful merchant who made a donation of goods valued at $2,800. This was equivalent to the annual income of about fourteen medical doctors. The purpose of the renamed school was "To plant ...

Image via Wikipedia David Brainerd lived only 29 years but the account of those years inspired many to follow Christ . Some, like William Carey and Henry Martyn , followed his footsteps onto the mission field. At the age of seven David began to seek the Lord. His journal shows that he struggled greatly in coming to Christ. To replace self-righteous works by faith seemed to him very difficult to do. He found it hard to prefer God 's glory over his own salvation. Exceedingly scrupulous, depressive, and tubercular his physical health might well have aggravated his spiritual struggles. David Brainerd found peace at last. It began with an utter sense of lostness. "One morning while I was walking in a solitary place (as usual) and came near a thick bunch of hazels, I felt at once unusually lost and at the greatest stand and felt that all my contrivances and projections respecting my deliverance and salvation were brought to a final issue."  From Friday morning throug...