The Top Ten List
By Jay Rogers
Published April 10, 2008
Christian Leaders of Massachusetts
On the following pages are listed the top ten Christian leaders in Massachusetts history. Literally hundreds of names could have been included. No doubt, there are more than a few glaring omissions. Ever since the first English Pilgrims and Puritans settled here in the 1620s and ’30s, Massachusetts has led the nation in producing Christian leaders from all walks of life. Ministers, authors, statesmen, sports heroes and business people have professed their faith in Jesus Christ, sometimes in the face of ridicule, but often as a testimony to their success.
As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, Boston is “the hub of the solar system.” The Puritans believed that Massachusetts was literally the “New Jerusalem.” The names New Hampshire, New Haven, New England speak of the mandate of the New Testament to build the city of God on earth. The names of towns, rivers and places echo biblical names and doctrines. Even the city of Boston, originally named Tremont for the three hills the city was built upon, alludes to the Trinity. It was a city built upon the foundation of God.
While few today would think of New England’s citizens as being God’s chosen people, when we look at our great achievement and culture, it is obvious that there is a special calling for the region. Here is only a brief representation of the Christian leaders of four centuries. As the growing number of Christian students and local churches attest, it may not be long before we will see a new generation of Christian leaders who will build “the city of God” on the foundation laid by its founders.
- 1. William Bradford: Governor of Plymouth Colony (1590-1657)
- 2. John Winthrop: Governor of Massachusetts (1587-1649)
- 3. Anne Bradstreet: America's first poet (1612-1672)
- 4. Jonathan Edwards: The First Great Awakening (1703-1758)
- 5. George Whitefield: The First Transatlantic Evangelist (1714-1770)
- 6. Phillis Wheatley: Forerunner of American Abolitionism (1753-1784)
- 7. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution (1722-1803)
- 8. John Quincy Adams: America's Evangelist President (1767-1848)
- 9. Dwight Lyman Moody: America's Greatest Evangelist (April 21, 1855)
- 10. Billy Sunday Draws 70,000 to Boston Revival (November 12, 1916)
Forerunner - Home » The Boston Awakening
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Abortion Clinic 911 Calls (DVD)
Exposes the Dangers of Abortion to Women!
These shocking eyewitness accounts expose the dangers of abortion not only to unborn children, but to the health and lives women as well. An antidote to the smokescreens of the liberal media, these short clips show what really happens in and around abortion clinics.
Although the content is emotionally gut-wrenching, these videos have been used in church seminars and small groups to educate Christians on the abortion issue and to lead people toward a pro-life position. Contains 2 hours and 40 minutes of materials that can be shown separately.
Watch these pro-life videos on-line.
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Dr. Francis Schaeffer - A Christian Manifesto (DVD)
That Swiss Hermit Strikes Again!
Dr. Schaeffer, who was one of the most influential Christian thinkers in the twentieth century, shows that secular humanism has displaced the Judeo-Christian consensus that once defined our nation’s moral boundaries. Law, education, and medicine have all been reshaped for the worse as a consequence. America’s dominant worldview changed, Schaeffer charges, when Christians weren’t looking.
Schaeffer lists two reasons for evangelical indifference: a false concept of spirituality and fear. He calls on believers to stand against the tyranny and moral chaos that come when humanism reigns-and warns that believers may, at some point, be forced to make the hard choice between obeying God or Caesar. A Christian Manifesto is a thought-provoking and bracing Christian analysis of American culture and the obligation Christians have to engage the culture with the claims of Christ.
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Why Creeds and Confessions? (Book)
High Quality Paperback — 219 pages
Foundations in Biblical Orthodoxy
Driving down a country road sometime, you might see a church with a sign proudly proclaiming: “No book but the Bible — No creed but Christ.” The problem with this statement is that the word creed (from the Latin: credo) simply means “belief.” All Christians have beliefs, regardless of whether they are written.
Yet a single book containing the actual texts of the most important creeds of the early Church will not often be found. Out of the multitude of works on the evangelical Christian book market today, those dealing with the creeds of the Church are scarce.
Why Creeds and Confessions? provides a foundation of biblical orthodoxy as a defense against the false and truly heretical doctrines advanced by the spirit of this age.
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Frank Schaeffer Will You Please Shut Up! (Book)
High Quality Paperback — 200 pages
A Reasonable Response to Christian Postmodernism
Includes a response to the book Christian Jihad by Colonel V. Doner
The title of this book is a misnomer. In reality, I am not trying to get anyone to shut up, but rather to provoke a discussion. This book is a warning about the philosophy of “Christian postmodernism” and the threat that it poses not only to Christian orthodoxy, but to the peace and prosperity our culture as well. The purpose is to equip the reader with some basic principles that can be used to refute their arguments.
Part 1 is a response to some of the recent writings by Frank Schaeffer, the son of the late Francis Schaeffer. This was originally written as a defense against Frank’s attacks on pro-life street activism – a movement that his father helped bring into being through his books, A Christian Manifesto, How Should We Then Live? and Whatever Happened to the Human Race? These works have impacted literally hundreds of thousands of Christian activists.
Part 2 is a response to Colonel Doner and his book, Christian Jihad: Neo-Fundamentalists and the Polarization of America. Doner was one of the key architects of the Christian Right that emerged in the 1980s, who now represents the disillusionment and defection many Christian activists experienced in the 1990s and 2000s. There is still great hope for America to be reformed according to biblical principles. As a new generation is emerging, it is important to recognize the mistakes that Christian activists have made in the past even while holding to a vision for the future.
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Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism (DVD)
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Just what is Calvinism?
Does this teaching make man a deterministic robot and God the author of sin? What about free will? If the church accepts Calvinism, won’t evangelism be stifled, perhaps even extinguished? How can we balance God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility? What are the differences between historic Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism? Why did men like Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, Whitefield, Edwards and a host of renowned Protestant evangelists embrace the teaching of predestination and election and deny free will theology?
This is the first video documentary that answers these and other related questions. Hosted by Eric Holmberg, this fascinating three-part, four-hour presentation is detailed enough so as to not gloss over the controversy. At the same time, it is broken up into ten “Sunday-school-sized” sections to make the rich content manageable and accessible for the average viewer.
Running Time: 257 minutes
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