Posted on 08/20/2016 6:01:32 AM PDT by kindred
300,000 miles on horseback, from the Atlantic to the Appalachians, from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, for 45 years, he spread the Gospel.
This was Francis Asbury, Methodist Circuit riding preacher who was born AUGUST 20, 1745.
In 1771, John Wesley sent Francis Asbury, age of 26, to minister in America.
When the Revolution began, Asbury was the only Methodist Anglican minister to remain as he refused to return with other Anglican ministers to England, stating:
"I can by no means agree to leave such a field for gathering souls to Christ as we have in America."
Francis Asbury preached over 16,000 sermons in churches, town squares and court houses, addressing everyone he met, from travelers to workers in the fields to laborers in tobacco houses.
He rode an average of 6,000 miles a year.
Francis Asbury's leadership resulted in the Methodist Church in America growing from 1,200 people to 214,000 with 700 ordained minsters.
Prior to the Revolution, the Anglican Church had ministers in most colonies, with it being the official established state church in:
Virginia in 1609; New York in 1693; Maryland in 1702; South Carolina in 1706; North Carolina in 1730; and Georgia in 1758.
As the King of England was the head of the Anglican Church, when the Revolution began, Anglican pastors faced a crisis of conscience, having to choose between allegiance to the state or siding with American independence.
On July 9, 1776, patriots in New York pulled down the statue of King George.
In 1777, British General Howe invaded Philadelphia and imprisoned Rev. Jacob Duche', the Anglican chaplain of the Continental Congress, and undoubtedly pressured him to abandon the American cause.
Several American colonies made it an act of treason for pastors to continued saying public prayers for the King.
In 1784, 81-year-old John Wesley appointed Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke to oversee the Methodist revival movement in the America.
In 1784, Rev. Samuel Seabury of Connecticut sought consecration as an Anglican bishop but could not take the Oath of Supremacy to the King.
Bishops in Scotland agreed to consecrate Seabury and in 1785, Bishop Seabury began ordaining ministers in Connecticut, leading to the beginning of Episcopal Church in America.
In 1785, Francis Asbury separated the Methodist revival movement away from the Anglican-Episcopal Church to form its own denomination - the Methodist Episcopal Church.
This had tremendous political impact in Virginia as the Anglican Church had been the officially established state church since the colony's founding charter in 1606.
In 1786, with Americans having just fought a war of independence from the King, the Virginia Assembly was faced with the decision of whether they should replace the established Anglican Church with the new Episcopal Church, or to disestablish it altogether and not have an official state church in Virginia.
With Francis Asbury having separated the Methodist movement from the Anglican-Episcopal Church, there were not enough Episcopal members in the Virginia legislature to vote for that church to be the established church.
In 1786, Virginia officially disestablished the Anglican-Episcopal Church, thereby allowing other denominations to be treated equally.
In 1786, Rev. William Smith of Maryland and Rev. William White of Philadelphia proposed a revised Book of Common Prayer where references to the King were replaced with references to Congress.
Britain passed the Consecration of Bishops Abroad Act of 1786 which allowed Anglican Archbishops to consecrated in 1787 American Bishops Samuel Provoost of New York, who served as the first chaplain of the U.S. Senate; and William White of Philadelphia, who served as the second chaplain of the U.S. Senate.
In 1789, Episcopal clergy met in Philadelphia to ratify the initial constitution of the Episcopal Church in America. Nearly one-fourth of all U.S. Presidents were Episcopalian, more than any other denomination, followed by Presbyterian.
The fourth Episcopal bishop in America, and the first in Virginia, was Bishop James Madison, cousin of fellow Virginian James Madison, the fourth U.S. President.
Thus the Revolution resulted in the Anglican Church giving birth to the Episcopal Church which gave birth to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
During the previous two centuries Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Puritans, Pilgrims, Separatists, Quakers, and Baptists went through their own experiences of separation from the Anglican Church.
Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury befriended Richard Bassett, a signer of the U.S. Constitution.
Richard Bassett converted to being a Methodist, freed his slaves, paid them as hired labor and rode joyfully with them to revival meetings.
Shortly after being sworn in as the first President, George Washington was visited in New York on May 19, 1789, by the first two Methodist Bishops in America, Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke, who delivered the message:
"We...express to you...our sincere congratulations, on your appointment to the presidentship of these States.
We...place as full a confidence in your wisdom and integrity, for the preservation of those civil and religious liberties which have been transmitted to us by the Providence of GOD...
Dependence on the Great Governor of the Universe which you have repeatedly expressed, acknowledging Him the source of every blessing, and particularly of the most excellent Constitution of these States, which is at present the admiration of the world..."
Bishop Asbury continued:
"We enjoy a holy expectation that you will always prove a faithful and impartial patron of genuine, vital religion - the grand end of our creation and present probationary existence...
We promise you our fervent prayers to the Throne of Grace, that GOD Almighty may endue you with all the graces and gifts of his Holy Spirit, that may enable you to fill up your important station to His glory."
On May 29, 1789, President Washington wrote a reply:
"To the Bishops of the Methodist-Episcopal Church...
I return to you...my thanks for the demonstrations of affection and the expressions of joy...on my late appointment.
It shall still be my endeavor...to contribute...towards the preservation of the civil and religious liberties of the American people...
I hope, by the assistance of Divine Providence, not altogether to disappoint the confidence which you have been pleased to repose in me...in acknowledgments of homage to the Great Governor of the Universe..."
Washington continued:
"I trust the people of every denomination...will have every occasion to be convinced that I shall always strive to prove a faithful and impartial patron of genuine, vital religion...
I take in the kindest part the promise you make of presenting your prayers at the Throne of Grace for me, and that I likewise implore the Divine benediction on yourselves and your religious community."
In 1799, Francis Asbury ordained the first African-American Methodist minister, Richard Allen, and dedicated the first African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Francis Asbury's carriage driver was "Black Harry" Hosier. Though illiterate, Hosier listened to Francis Asbury's sermons and memorized long passages of Scripture.
"Black Harry" Hosier became one of the country's most popular preachers, drawing crowds in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Boston, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Delaware, Baltimore and New York.
Hosier rejected slavery, lifted up the common working man, and charged audiences "that they must be holy."
Hosier's popularity gave birth to the name "Hoosier" being used to refer to persons of humble birth who firmly held Bible values, as the settlers who crossed the Ohio River to the Indiana shore.
President Calvin Coolidge unveiled an Equestrian Statue of Francis Asbury in Washington, D.C., 1924, stating:
"Francis Asbury, the first American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church...made a tremendous contribution..."
Coolidge continued:
"Our government rests upon religion. It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberty, and for the rights of mankind.
Unless the people believe in these principles they cannot believe in our government...
Calling the people to righteousness (was) a direct preparation for self-government. It was for a continuation of this work that Francis Asbury was raised up..."
Coolidge added:
"The government of a country never gets ahead of the religion of a country.
There is no way by which we can substitute the authority of law for the virtue of man...
Real reforms which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of our religious convictions, or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, humanity, charity - these cannot be legislated into being. They are the result of a Divine Grace..."
Coolidge continued about Francis Asbury:
"Frontier mothers must have brought their children to him to receive his blessings!
It is more than probable that Nancy Hanks, the mother of Lincoln, had heard him in her youth.
Adams and Jefferson must have known him, and Jackson must have seen in him a flaming spirit as unconquerable as his own...
He is entitled to rank as one of the builders of our nation.
On the foundation of a religious civilization which he sought to build, our country has enjoyed greater blessing of liberty and prosperity than was ever before the lot of man.
These cannot continue if we neglect the work which he did."
Coolidge concluded:
"We cannot depend on the government to do the work of religion.
I do not see how anyone could recount the story of this early Bishop without feeling a renewed faith in our own country."
The power of genuine Christianity was displayed no more effectively than in the early years of Methodism. It remained a force for the conversion of souls to God for nearly 200 years until the scourge of leftists came into
the fold and corrupted its soul.
Today Methodism is less than a shell of its former Christian mission. It is a derelict, drunk on its once great power, offering a thin gruel of corrupted institutionalism instead of the ministry of Christ.
Yes, it is sad and unfortunate.
Today Methodism is less than a shell of its former Christian mission. It is a derelict, drunk on its once great power, offering a thin gruel of corrupted institutionalism instead of the ministry of Christ.
the same can be said about any modern religion; horizontal centering on the congregation, rather than the vertical focus on the Deity...nowhere is this more evident than in the modern Catholic Church, with its social club atmosphere and laity dressed for the beach...
Second Methodist ping of the day (this is unusual; I promise.)
>>The power of genuine Christianity was displayed no more effectively than in the early years of Methodism. It remained a force for the conversion of souls to God for nearly 200 years until the scourge of leftists came into
the fold and corrupted its soul.
>>Today Methodism is less than a shell of its former Christian mission. It is a derelict, drunk on its once great power, offering a thin gruel of corrupted institutionalism instead of the ministry of Christ.
I often think about exactly what you said. The “Method” of Methodism is the most powerful way to follow Christ. It is the reason for the Methodist revival.
But, the Arminian theology made it too weak to withstand the onslaught of 20th century Progressivism.
I left the UMC for political and theological reasons, but I look to the orthopraxy of the Methodists, especially the pre-UMC Methodists, and wish that I could find a Methodist Reformed Church.
I have struggled to find a church that is at the root of the church in which I was raised - filled with the Spirit, disciplined by Christ, saved by his blood, and in service to the world.
Sadly I have found bits and pieces but not the whole scriptural church. I am of the opinion it cannot exist as an institution.
The power of early Methodism was its resistance to Anglicization. It refused to be defined as an institution. the modern UMC has gone over to the dark side. It does not resemble Wesleyanism or even the church of my childhood where my father pastored.
We may not see another Asbury or Charles and John in our lifetime. The restoration of the true church of Christ will require just such men.
>>The power of early Methodism was its resistance to Anglicization.
I find that ability to resist in a confessing Reformed church. But, they don’t pursue personal holiness much. So, you end up with a church that fights the cultural influence pretty well, but the people inside just go through the motions.
>>I have struggled to find a church that is at the root of the church in which I was raised - filled with the Spirit, disciplined by Christ, saved by his blood, and in service to the world.
That’s my struggle too. If you find it, let me know!!
One of the fatal flaws of Methodism is organization as an episcopacy, another is deemphasizing priesthood of the believer. A third theological sinker is paedobaptism which tends to make adherents think they are saved and placed in the family of God by it, and thereby never pursue a real salvation based on faith alone in Christ and His Blood alone.
What I have found is that many old-line Methodists have migrated to the independent fundamental Baptist milieu, or to the Darbyite/Plymouth type Open Brethren, neither of which entertain the Protestant denominational flaws. in each of these I have been soundly instructed in true New Testament Biblical doctrine since my assured new life in Christ by God's grace through His faithfulness to save; that is, since 1971 at the age of 34.
I have regularly attended one or the other of these assemblies, depending on my place of residence through the years, and greatly benefitted from association with them.
Let me encourage you to entertain the possibility of becoming a constituent of such a nearby autonomous and spiritually alive assembly of Christians. I think you may be pleasantly surprised with the reality of their commitment to Jesus and His Word, Work, and Worship.
BTW, I'm also a Methodist preacher's kid, a PK. (Hmmm. As an aside, I just noticed a quirk of fact. Actually, I was the first-born of a young Methodist minister and his wife, a coveted place in birth order. But when I went to Syracuse, I joined a premier fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha. Is that just a serendipitous coincidence, or what?)
Cheers!
>>One of the fatal flaws of Methodism is organization as an episcopacy, another is deemphasizing priesthood of the believer. A third theological sinker is paedobaptism which tends to make adherents think they are saved and placed in the family of God by it, and thereby never pursue a real salvation based on faith alone in Christ and His Blood alone.
I know that you’re a Methodist PK, but I have to disagree with your statement that they don’t emphasize the priesthood of all believers. It’s one of the cornerstones of Methodism and one of the things I miss now that I’ve left the UMC.
I do agree about the episcopacy. But, the opposite form of church government is bad too. IN fact, all church government is flawed because of the humans involved. The Presbyterian form is the most biblical and it doesn’t work well because of the humans involved.
Thanks for the invite, but I’ve tried the “autonomous and spiritually alive” churches. The idea of one pastor interpreting the bible and declaring what is true and right because he has the Holy Spirit is great in theory, but once again, there is the human factor that ruins churches. I want accountability in a pastor and I want it in someone who isn’t working with him inside the church. It’s too easy to line up a couple elder and deacon Yes-Men.
My experience has been that churches suck. But they are better than no church. A person has to maintain their own relationship with Christ.
Your dilemma is one I have also faced. On the one hand, I reject one of the "T"s (Two officers) in the acronym "B-A-P-T-I-S-T" that says the polity of the local church comprises an assembly with only two offices: (1) the Pastor, who is the elder, the bishop, and the teacher, the ultimate authority, all rolled into one; and (2) the deacon(s) who, like those in the prototype Jerusalem church, are assigned responsibility for the welfare of the constituents, their supported missionaries, and the physical property.
What this does is to torpedo any effort of true discipling; that is, to raising the spiritual maturity of new babes in Christ through the infancy, trainable childhood, and responsible young adult stages such that as many elders can be indoctrinated as possible, that would be equivalently taken as authoritative in the Scriptures as, or even beyond, the Pastor (whose task is really only to raise up such elders), which is the Great Commission put into practice.
Unhappily, that simply is not taking place in most pastored Baptist (with a capital "B"), all of whom are supposed to exhibit no differentiation in equality before the Lord, not a two-class episcopacy. In practice, most "Pastors" fear that the richly spiritually mature believer might attempt to undercut the pastor's supposedly unshared authority.
Yet, such an independent Baptist assembly does preach the unvarnished non-Calvin-TULIP gospel of salvation by faith alone in Jesus Lord and Christ alone, with Scripture alone investing genuine authority in the preacher who declares its inerrant Biblical Truths. For them, Eternal life is a gift from which there is no going back through the power of Christ's Blood to cleanse one of all unrighteousness forever, and exercise of church discipline the corrector of blatant disregard of Scriptural behavior. <[> Baptist's doctrine stays quite distant from the modern Methodist's Quadrilateral (not A Wesleyan approach, any more than the "losing your salvation" feature of Arminianism --which does not come from Jacob Arminius), and rests on eternal life through believing in the Christ of the Bible and possession of the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide.
A fundamental Baptist will also stand strongly on the King James Authorized Version of the Bible where English is the common language, and its Masoretic Hebrew and Textus Receptus Greek texts as its only and supreme authority for doctrine and practice of The Faith. Baptists in general are very strongly oriented toward foreign missionary projects and local door-to-door evangelism.
The "Plymouth Brethren" are also strong on Sola Scriptura, sole fide, eternal security, and foreign evangelism, but not so much on excluding Bible versions in English or in other languages that are not translated from the historical Masoretic and Received Text foundations.
It is for this last failure to "touch not the unclean thing" of questionable modern translations that irks and perplexes me.
However, on a theoretically basis their typical doctrine supports and affirms the growth of the new-born spiritual babe into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, not derailed by the attempts of the Wicked One to blunt one's testimony.
However, practically they have preferred secondary methods of evangelism, rather than the Scriptural plan that Jesus illustrated by commanding the personally supervised teaching and application of the Christian life.
It is this area in which both Baptists and Darbyites, and other assemblies like them, need to be reintroduced to Biblical methods of effective implementation of the new, born-again, life.
If you cannot give up the clergy/laity model, as well as the overarching denominational external and powerful control of the local Christian assembly, you are going to be out of luck, no matter how comfortable it seems for the moment, IMHO.
In this world, you're going to have to make some compromises in the organizational implementation of Christ's commands. I trust that the Lord will lead you through your peregrinations. It's taken me a long time to learn this, and I believe I'm giving you some wise advice. But again, you must decide your own path.
I've resolved the disparity by--for the time--choosing the commitment to effective personal Biblical discipleship above the KJV-only preference.
Be brave. Find or be a discipler. Make more disciples.
(from the desk of the registered agent of Happy Heralds, Inc., click here)
Thanks. If I ever get past my lack of trust for churches, I’ll give what you said some consideration in choosing a new church.
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:34,35 AV).
It would be very interesting to hear how you make out. There is a good place for you, I'm sure. Francis Schaeffer emphasized that this love between true disciples is simply not accessible to or for worldlings, no matter how religious they are.
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