Dan Greenfield

Category: Church History

  • Godly Soil

          William Baker describes Midway, GA, where his father, the godly Presbyterian pastor Rev. Daniel Baker (1791-1857), arose from: They were a race, the chief culture of whose heart, conscience, and understanding, was at the family altar, and in the closet; was in the Sabbath sanctuary, that central…

  • Ecclesiastical Separation in the 18th Century

    While thumbing through volume four of the Works of Augustus Toplady (1740-1778, author of the hymn, “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me”), he related the following: That excellent man the late Rev. Mr, Joseph Hart, made it his inviolable rule, not to let an Arian, an Arminian, or any unsound…

  • Snatched out of the very jaws of the devil!

    (The following is an extract from a letter of George Whitefield, 1714-1770) For many years, from one end of the large London fair to the other, booths of all kinds have been erected for performers, clowns, players, puppet shows, and such like. With a heart bleeding with compassion for so…

  • Sin Has a Thousand Treach’rous Arts

    Sin has a thousand treach’rous arts To practise on the mind; With flatt’ring looks she tempts our hearts, But leaves a sting behind. With names of virtue she deceives The aged and the young; And while the heedless wretch believes, She makes his fetters strong. She pleads for all the…

  • Pastoral Theology

    Over twenty years ago I was given the biography of Robert T. Ketcham, Portrait of Obedience. Ketcham’s life has been a great encouragement and example to me over the years. In the front flyleaf of my Bible I have written Ketcham’s pastoral theology which was given on page 252 of the…

  • Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 127:3-5

    I don’t like the way Spurgeon often spiritualizes the OT (probably the result of his reading the OT in light of the NT). However, I’ve never read anything unorthodox from him; I just don’t care for his exegetical method all the time. That said, Spurgeon says some great thing about…

  • The Burden of Your Heart

    I’d like to share a series of posts that draw lessons from a godly man that lived during the Second Great Awakening. Harlan Page (1791-1834) was a carpenter who worked on houses (they called them “house joiners” then) who devoted himself to witnessing to the lost around him and encouraging…

  • Conversion

    “Any theory of conversion that encourages a sinner to think himself born of God, on account of something that he has felt or done, or ‘made up his mind’ to do, while he is still an utter stranger to the ‘plague of his own heart,’ is clearly contrary to the…

  • For the Anniversary Day of One’s Conversion

    Known to us as “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” Charles Wesley wrote this commemorating the day he “began to live.” You can read a helpful introduction to this great hymn on pages 107-108 of John R. Tyson’s Charles Wesley: A Reader. 1. Glory to God, and praise and love…

  • O Lord, Look Down From Heaven, Behold

    O Lord, look down from Heaven, behold And let Thy pity waken: How few are we within Thy fold, Thy saints by men forsaken! True faith seems quenched on every hand, Men suffer not Thy Word to stand; Dark times have us o’ertaken. With fraud which they themselves invent Thy…

  • Looking at the Cross

    Tonight we’ll sing this hymn by John Newton, to the tune Prospect: In evil long I took delight, Unaw’d by shame or fear, Till a new object struck my sight, And stopp’d my wild career. I saw one hanging on a tree, In agonies and blood, Who fix’d his languid…

  • First Baptist Church Galeton, PA

    Actually, these are pictures of the old meeting place of First Baptist Church, Galeton, PA. What’s the significance of this old church building for me? One of the men who continues to have a great impact on my life and ministry is Robert T. Ketcham. Here in this building, February…

  • The Importance of Doctrinal Preaching

    I have been casually reading through The Connecticut Evangelical Magazine (c. 1800), which primarily related testimonies, news, articles, and hymns revolving around the Second Great Awakening. The following short article helps us see something of the character and concern of this time, and is instructive for us today. According to the accounts which…

  • A Good Reminder About Government

    The context of this quote is a discussion about Israel’s desire for a king… It is easy to forget that “we the people” in the long run must always pay for whatever the government does for us. Only fools suppose that by committing a matter to the government, they can…

  • Your Last Days on Earth

    I know, not a very “Chrismasy” title, but remember the Preacher’s advice in Ecclesiastes 7:2, 4— It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every man, And the living takes it to heart. The…

  • Pastor John E. Ashbrook

    Orwell Bible Church knew Pastor Ashbrook well, as he has been at our services many times. This morning he went to be with the Lord. Some time ago my friend Andy Rupert wrote a great article surveying Ashbrook’s life and ministry. I’d encourage you to read it!

  • Characteristics of An Awakening

    Here’s a typical account of a “revival” or as they were also often called, an “awakening” in 1798-1799– In the whole season, nothing noisy or tumultuous has been discovered, no outcries or swoonings, and none who have been disposed to relate their own experiences in conferences and public meetings; nor have the evening exercises ever been…

  • George Whitefield

    I’ve read a number of biographies of the 18th century preacher George Whitefield (Dallimore’s being the best), as well as his Journals. Whenever I’ve read him or about him, I’ve always been challenged to do more for Christ, and to pray more urgently for God to use His Word in…

  • Example of Contentment

    The person who would do great things well, must practice daily on little ones; and she who would have the assistance of the Almighty in important acts, must be daily and hourly accustomed to consult His will in the minor affairs of life. –Emily Judson (3rd wife of missionary Adoniram…

  • The Missionary’s Motto

    The motto of every missionary, whether preacher, printer, or schoolmaster, ought to be ‘Devoted for life.’ –Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma (1788-1850), quoted in To the Golden Shore, p. 409.