J. Vernon McGee

Grace Sight #33 is J. Vernon McGee

In Memoriam

Dr. J. Vernon McGee was a radio Bible teacher whose unique distinctiveness was teaching through the whole Bible in an expository style over a 5 year plan. In the 20th Century many people have listened and learned from his teaching. When I was a teenager I was a frequent radio listener to the teaching of Dr. J. Vernon McGee in Thru the Bible.

Education: Dr. J. Vernon McGee received his ThD. degree from Dallas Theological Seminary.

Pastor:  Dr. J. Vernon McGee was a Presbyterian pastor who led congregations in Decatur, Georgia, Nashville, Tennessee, and Cleburne, Texas. Then he pastored the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles, California (presently located in Glendale) for 21 years from 1949-1970 (Thru the Bible Radio, Dr. J. Vernon McGee).

Thru the Bible Radio: In 1967, Dr. J. Vernon McGee began teaching his 5 year Bible Study in the Thru the Bible Radio program and continued until his death on December 1, 1988. Dr. J. Vernon McGee's teaching continues into the present through the work of Thru the Bible Global.

Mobile App: One can listen daily to Dr. J. Vernon McGee and Thru the Bible teaching by getting their free app that can be downloaded for IOS at the ITunes store or for Android at Google Play store.

Jonathan Edwards' Resolutions

Grace Sight #21 is Jonathan Edwards' Resolutions.

On New Year's Eve we often think of resolutions. When Yahoo News wrote an article on the History of New Year's Resolutions, they highlighted Jonathan Edwards resolutions as part of that history.

The Christian minister Jonathan Edwards wrote his famous resolutions between 1722-1723. Even though they were written in the language of almost 300 years ago, there genuine reliance on God's grace is worthy of consideration as we make any plans for our life. Here is a reading of all 70 of them with the corresponding words written out. If you would like to see them all written out together visit this link.

Maybe this year instead of writing a quick list of resolutions we should listen to this piece of Christian history and take a year to thoughtfully write them like Edwards did. 

---

Photo: The photo in this post is in the public domain because of its age.

John Stott

Grace Sight #9 is John Stott.

In Memoriam

We should not ask, "What is wrong with the world?" for that diagnosis has already been given. Rather, we should ask, "What has happened to the salt and light?" (John Stott)

We have received breaking news that John Stott has went to be with His Lord his morning.  He is being designated a Grace Light posthumously. Christianity Today has written an  obituary for Stott on their website.  A widely acclaimed Christian writer, Dr. Stott has left a tremendous legacy of Biblical teaching that brought to light social applications that challenged the thinking of many Christians. The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity has a detailed biography of John Stott on a section of their website.  Though he lived a long life to age 90, his passing will be mourned by Christians all over the world.

John Stott wrote dozens of Christians books and many were published and promoted by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Press. The following YouTube video is a presentation of the 50th Anniversary in 2008 of Stott's classic Christian book Basic Christianity.  Basic Christianity sold over 2.5 million copies.

For more information about John Stott visit the John Stott Ministries website.    Many tributes will come in for Dr. Stott in the days ahead, but his lasting legacy is that Christians should be salt and light to the world for the time that the sovereign God gives us on earth and that is accomplished through our relationship to the Word of God.  

"God must speak to us before we have any liberty to speak to him. He must disclose to us who he is before we can offer him what we are in acceptable worship. The worship of God is always a response to the Word of God. Scripture wonderfully directs and enriches our worship."

 (John Stott)

Rest in peace, John Stott. 

Photo: The photo in this post is in the Creative Commons of Wikipedia and used with permission of the owner, Langham Partnership

George Whitefield

Grace Sight #3 is George Whitefield.

George Whitefield (1714-1770)

George Whitefield had an extraordinary impact on the people of his times and continues to be revered by Christians today.  A favorite saying from George Whitefield is something he wrote in a letter to James Hervey who was suffering from poor health (Source).

"Fear not your weak body; we are immortal until our work is done."

The above quotation is very meaningful to me because it communicates that we should work for the Lord and that the sovereignty of God over our life is more powerful than anything that the world can do to us.   My paternal Grandfather, Henry Stokes, believed this premise because he was still winning souls to Christ through personal evangelism until his death at age 93.  As he lived through several decades of the season of old age, each time there was a new convert under Grandpa's ministry, he would wonder if his work here on earth was done and if death would knock on his door.  He would carry this thought until he would find the next person in his life that needed Christ.

Steve Lawson gave an excellent message on the life and impact of George Whitefield that provides a helpful insight into a study of Whitefield's life.  Here Lawson answers the question, "Why did God use this man in such an extraordinary way?" by giving 8 distinguishing marks of George Whitefield's life and ministry.

In Dr. Steve Lawson's message above on Whitefield he attributes the following witty statement to George Whitefield:  

"We are all born Arminians, but born-again Calvinists."

Charles Spurgeon mentioned the first part of the above George Whitefield statement in Vol. 2, p. 124 of his Sermons, saying "George Whitefield said, 'We are all born Arminians.' It is grace that turns us into Calvinists."

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones said about Whitefield, "Other men merely existed, Whitefield lived."  The following is Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones' documentary on the life of George Whitefield.

It has been incorrectly stated that Calvinists place little priority on Christian evangelism. Whitefield was the greatest evangelist that England has ever produced and he was a Calvinist.  

Despite their theological differences, George Whitefield was a close friend with John Wesley, the father of Methodism.  The two may have disagreed on the theology of election but they remained respectful to each other according to the following page on the global ministries website of the United Methodist Church.  In fact, John Wesley gave a Funeral Sermon on the Death of the Rev. George Whitefield.   In this sermon, Wesley gives great insight into Whitefield's life saying about Whitefield the following.  

"Have we read or heard of any person since the Apostles, who testified the gospel of the grace of God through so widely extended a space, through so large a part of the habitable world?" (John Wesley)

Whitefield died on July 30, 1770 and is buried under the pulpit of a church he founded in Newbury, Massachusetts.  See some fascinating pictures of that church at "Here I Blog" .

For further study of the life of this genuinely great Christian preacher of the 18th century the Reformed Sermon Archives has a selection of 38 of his sermons available on their site.   Let's follow George Whitefield as he followed Christ.