Biography Basics

B. R. Lakin

2010-03-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

Bascom Ray Lakin, Baptist Preacher
Born: January 5, 1901 near Fort Gay, West Virginia
Died: March 15, 1984 in Lynchburg, Virginia

Born to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lakin in a farmhouse on Big Hurricane Creek, B. R. Lakin had been asked for from the Lord by a praying mother, who asked God for a "preacher man". He attended a one-room schoolhouse only through fourth grade, but later in life attended Moody Bible Institute while pastoring several churches.

Lakin became a Christian by accepting Jesus Christ as his Saviour in 1919, at a revival that was being held by J.C. Simphins in a country Baptist church. Within a week he had preached his first sermon. During the 1920s he served as circuit-riding preacher, riding a mule to country churches near the forks of the Big Sandy River, through the mountains and foothills of rural West Virginia and Kentucky. His first pastorate was Evangel Baptist Church at Greenbriar Creek, where he was paid $7 a month. He eventually assisted for two years at the Cadle Tabernacle in Indianapolis, Indiana, and upon E. Howard Cadle's death, became the Senior Pastor for the nest twelve years, continuing the long running daily radio program, “Nation’s Family Prayer Period".

B.R. Lakin was married to the former Violet Crabtree on August 30, 1922. They only had one son, William. William passed away on March 27, 1955 as the result of a car accident. William Lakin was survived by his wife and son. B.R. Lakins grandson, Ronald, assisted him throughout the rest of his ministry.

In 1952, Dr. Lakin resigned as pastor of Cadle Tabernacle to go into full-time evangelism, which he continued in until just before his death in 1984. Although he referred to himself as "just a country preacher", he traveled fifty thousand miles each year and preached to an average of four thousand people per week. He was a staff evangelist for Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Lakin's sermons were a combination of wit, Bible teaching, and a strong Gospel appeal.

Sermons by B.R. Lakin can still be heard, on websites such as this.

R.G. Lee

2008-11-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

Robert Green Lee, Baptist Preacher

Born: November 11th, 1886 in South Carolina

Died: July 20, 1978, in Memphis, Tennessee

Born in a little log cabin in South Carolina, Robert was the fifth child of David and Sarah Lee. His parents were loving Christians, who raised their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Robert was saved in 1898 at church, and although still a young boy he always remembered the choir singing: "Out of my bondage, sorrow and night, Jesus I come, Jesus I come."

At the age of 21 he went to work on the Panama Canal and upon returning enrolled at Furman University. He was very scholarly, and so excelled that he was offered the chair of Latin at Furman. While many of his peers pressured him to accept the position, Roberts stayed true to God's call on his life as a preacher. His wife commented, "That's good! God never meant for you to dig around Latin roots. He meant for you to be a preacher."

So, preach he did. His first pastorate was at Edgefield, South Carolina. This was followed by pastorates at First Baptist Church of Chester, South Carolina; First Baptist Church of New Orleans, Louisiana; Citadel Square Baptist Church of Charleston, South Carolina and finally Bellevue Baptist Church of Memphis, Tennessee.

He served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention an unprecedented three terms. In his resignation address, Robert Lee stated his firm stand on the Word of God: "You can count on me until my tongue is silent in the grave and until my hand can no longer wield a pen to keep my unalterable stand for the Bible as the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God - giving rebuke to and standing in opposition to all enemies of the Bible, even as I have done for 50 years."

"Pay Day Someday" remains his most famous sermon and was first preached as a devotion on a Wednesday night. Here is an excerpt:

Did God mean what He said, Or was He playing a prank on royalty? Did pay-day come? "Pay-day—Someday" is written in the constitution of God's universe. The retributive providence of God is a reality as certainly as the laws of gravitation are a reality. And to Ahab and Jezebel, pay-day came as certainly as night follows day, because sin carries in itself the seed of its own fatal penalty.

...The fathers sow the wind and the children reap the whirlwind. One generation labors to scatter tares, and the next generation reaps tares and retribution immeasurable. To the individual who goes not the direction God points, a terrible pay-day comes. To the nation which forgets God, pay-day will come in the awful realization of the truth that the "nations which forget God shall be turned into hell." When nations trample on the principles of the Almighty, the result is that the world is beaten with many stripes. We have seen nations slide into Gehenna—and the smoke of their torment has gone up before our eyes day and night. To the home that has no room for the Christ, death and grave clothes are certain. "Ichabod" will be written about the church that soft-pedals on unpleasant truth or that stands not unwaveringly for "the faith once delivered"—and it will acknowledge its retribution in that it will become "a drifting sepulchre manned by a frozen crew."

...Paul Lawrence Dunbar showed wisdom as great as the wisdom of Churchill and a knowledge of Nature's laws as great as Emerson's knowledge when he wrote the autobiography of many individual sinners in these poetic and potent words:
This is the price I pay—

Just for one riotous day—

Years of regret and of grief,

And sorrow without relief.
Suffer it I will, my friend,

Suffer it until the end,

Until the grave shall give relief.

Small was the thing I bought,

Small was the thing at best,

Small was the debt, I thought,

But, O God!—the interest.

All these statements are but verification of Bible truth: Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him (Prov. 26:27). Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them (Prov. 1:31, 32). Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same (Job 4:8). For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind (Hos. 8:7).

...When I was pastor of the First Baptist Church of New Orleans, all that I preached and taught was sent out over the radio. In my "fan mail" I received letters from a young man who called himself "Chief of the Kangaroo Court." Many nasty, critical things he said. Sometimes he wrote a nice line—and a nice line was, in all the vulgar things he wrote, like a gardenia in a garbage can. One day I received a telephone call from a nurse in the Charity Hospital of New Orleans. It was about this fellow who so often dipped his pen in slop, who seldom thrust his pen into nectar. She said: "Pastor, there is a young man down here whose name we do not know, who will not tell us his name. All he will tell us is that he is chief of the Kangaroo Court. He is going to die. He says that you are the only preacher in New Orleans that he has ever heard—and he has never seen you. He wants to see you. Will you come down?" "Yes," I replied. And I quit what I was doing and hurried down to the hospital.

The young nurse met me at the entrance to the charity ward and took me in. A glance around showed me cots on the north side, cots on the south side, beds on the east side and beds on the west side—and clusters of cots in the center of the huge ward. In a place by itself, somewhat removed from all other cots and beds, was a bed on which lay a young man about nineteen or twenty years of age—big of frame, though the ravages of disease had brought a slenderness. The nurse, with little ado, introduced me to the young man, saying: "This, sir, is the Chief of the Kangaroo Court."

I found myself looking into two of the wildest, wierdest eyes I have ever seen. As kindly as I could, I spoke, saying "Hello." "Howdy do?" he answered in a voice that was a discourteous and furious snarl—more like the voice of a mad wolf than the voice of a rational man. "Is there something, I can do for you?" I asked as kindly as I could speak.

"No. Nothing! Not a thing. Nothin' 'tall!—unless you throw my body to the buzzards when I am dead—if the buzzards will have it!" he said, with half a shout and with a sort of fierce resentment that made me wonder why he had ever sent for me.

Then his voice lost some of the snarl—and he spoke again. "I sent for you, sir, because I want you to tell these young fellows here something for me. I sent for you because I know you go up and down the land and talk to many young people. And I want you to tell 'em, and tell 'em every chance you get, that the Devil pays only in counterfeit money."

Oh! I wish I could tell all men and women and all boys and girls everywhere to believe the truth that Satan always pays in counterfeit money, that all his pearls are paste pearls, that the nectar he offers is poisoned through and through. Oh, that men would learn thetruth and be warned by the truth that if they eat the Devil's corn, he will choke them with the cob.

...But what about Ahab? Did pay-day come for him? Yes. Consider how. Three years went by. Ahab was still king. And I dare say that during those three years Jezebel had reminded him that they were eating herbs out of Naboth's vineyard. I can hear her say something like this as they sat at the king's table: "Ahab, help yourself to these herbs. I thought Elijah said the dogs were going to lick your blood. I guess his dogs lost their noses and lost the trail." But I think that during those three years, Ahab never heard a dog bark that he did not jump.

...And the only way I know for any man or woman on earth to escape the sinner's pay-day on earth and the sinner's hell beyond—making sure of the Christian's pay-day on earth and the Christian's heaven beyond the Christian's pay-day— is through Christ Jesus, who took the sinner's place upon the Cross, becoming for all sinners all that God must judge, that sinners through faith in Christ Jesus might become all that God cannot judge. Read the entire sermon here: link

Fanny J. Crosby

2008-11-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

Frances Jane Van Alstyne, "Fanny Crosby", Hymnist
Born: March 24, 1820 in Southeast, New York
Died: February 12, 1915, buried in Bridgeport, Connecticut

Born to John and Mercy Crosby, as a baby Fanny lost her sight due to scarring; in her words, "When I was six weeks old a slight cold caused inflammation of the eyes. Our usual doctor was away from home, so a stranger was called in. He recommended the use of hot poultices, which practically destroyed my sight. When this sad calamity became known, the unfortunate man thought it best to leave the neighbourhood, and we never heard of him again."

John Crosby fell ill, and died just a few months later, and while Mercy worked as a maid, Fanny was raised by her grandmother, Eunice. She patiently taught Fanny the Bible, and the importance of prayer. When Fanny was discouraged that she wasn't like other children, she learned to pray and trust God to help her. At the age of only eight, she wrote this poem, displaying her healthy attitude toward her blindness:
Oh, what a happy child I am, although I cannot see!
I am resolved that in this world contented I will be!
How many blessings I enjoy that other people don't!
To weep or sigh because I'm blind, I cannot, and I won't.

Although "religious" from childhood, it was not until the age of thirty-one that she accepted Christ as her personal Saviour. One night she dreamed of a dying friend, who asked her "Will you meet me in heaven?" She began earnestly seeking for answers, and shortly thereafter, gives this account of November 20, 1850 :"I arose and went forward alone. After prayer the congregation began to sing the grand old consecration hymn of Dr. Isaac Watts: ("At the Cross/Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed?")...And when they reached the third line of the last verse: 'Here, Lord, I give myself away; 'Tis all that I can do.' I surrendered myself to the Saviour, and my very soul was flooded with celestial light."

On March 5, 1858, Fanny married Alexander van Alystyne, but wrote hymns using her maiden name and many other pen names. She wrote over 8,000 hymns by her own count, including such wonderful standards as "All the Way My Savior Leads Me", "Blessed Assurance", "Draw me Nearer", "He Hideth My Soul", "I Am Thine, O Lord", "Meet Me There", "My Savior First of All", "Near the Cross", "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour", "Praise Him, Praise Him", "Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It", "Rescue the Perishing", "Safe in the Arms of Jesus", "Take the World, But Give Me Jesus", "Tell Me the Story of Jesus", and "To God Be the Glory".

William B. Bradbury, another famous hymnist, encouraged Fanny to write hymns. "I am surprised beyond measure," he said, "and as long as I have a publishing house, you will always have work." When he died, in 1868, his last words to her were, "Take up my life-work where I lay it down." At his funeral the frst hymn they worked on together was sung, "We Are Going":
We are going, we are going,
To a home beyond the skies,
Where the fields are robed in beauty,
And the sunlight never dies...

Many of Fanny's hymns were used by the evangelistic team of D.L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey. Mr. Sankey himself lost his sight towards the end of his life, and he often visited with Fanny. Fanny died at the age of 95, but always had a positive attitude towards her own blindness: "If I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind...for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Saviour."
When my lifework is ended and I cross the swelling tide,
When the bright and glorious morning I shall see,
I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side,
And His smile will be the first to welcome me.

Hear Her Hymns link

H.A. Ironside

2008-10-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

Henry (Harry) Allen Ironside, Bible Teacher and Preacher
Born: October 14, 1876 in Toronto, Canada
Died: January 15, 1951 in Cambridge, New Zealand

H.A. Ironside's parents were both tremendous soul-winners, identified with the Plymouth Brethren. Harry was thought to be dead at birth, and lay cast aside for some forty minutes while his critically ill mother was attended to. However, a nurse detected a heartbeat, and he was placed into a hot bath, which saved his little life. Raised to read the Bible, he was memorizing Scripture from the age of three, and by the age of fourteen, he had read the Bible through fourteen times.

At the age of eleven he singlehandedly started at Sunday School in his neighborhood, organizing girls together to sew burlap bags into a giant tent big enough to hold 100 people. With no preacher available, this young boy took on the responsability, preaching and teaching a crowd of sixty adults and children. One day, visiting evangelist Donald Munro said to him "Well, well, Harry lad, how you have grown! And are you born again yet, my boy?" His Uncle Allan piped up in defense, "Oh, Harry preaches himself, now." Munro replied, "You are preaching, and yet you don't know that you're born again! Go and get your Bible, lad."

For six month Harry wrestled with this problem, giving up his teaching until it would be resolved. One night Proverbs 1:24-32 came to his mind, and after midnight, he fell on his knees and said, "Lord, save me."In his own words:"I rested on the Word of God and confessed Christ as my Saviour."

H.A. Ironside was a man of varied ministries: author of dozens of books and Bible studies, street preacher, Salvation Army Captian, itinerant preacher with the Plymouth Brethren, worldwdide Bible Conference teacher, and he even pastored the Moody Memorial Church in Chicago for over eighteen years; all of this and more, accomplished with no more than an eighth grade education, secularly speaking.

Quotes from H.A. Ironside:
"If lips and life do not agree, the testimony will not amount to much."

"If what they are saying about you is true, mend your ways. If it isn't true, forget it, and go on and serve the Lord."

"It is well to remember that reading books about the Bible is a very different thing to searching the Word for oneself."

“One who gives himself preeminently to the Word, neglecting prayer, will become heady and doctrinal—likely to quarrel about ‘points,’ and be occupied with theoretical Christianity to the hurt of his soul and the irritation of the brethren. On the other hand, one who gives himself to much prayer while neglecting the Word is likely to become exceedingly introspective, mystical, and sometime fanatical. But he who reads the Word of God reverently and humbly, seeking to know the will of God, and then gives himself to prayer, confessing and judging what the Scriptures have condemned in his ways, words and thoughts, will have his soul drawn out in worship also, and thus grow both in grace and knowledge, becoming a well-rounded follower of Christ.”

Hear H.A. Ironside link

P.P. Bliss

2008-10-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

Philip Paul Bliss, Hymnist and Singer
Born: July 9, 1838 in Rome, Pennsylvania
Died: December 29, 1876 near Ashtabula, Ohio

Born to devout Methodist parents, Philip Bliss was raised in a daily atmosphere of prayer and praise. While a boy, Philip had little formal education, but was taught from the Bible by his mother. Mr. Bliss wrote many of our most beloved hymns, including "Almost Persuaded", "Dare To Be a Daniel", "Hallelujah, ’Tis Done!", "Hallelujah! What a Savior", "Jesus Loves Even Me", "Let the Lower Lights Be Burning", "Look and Live", "My Redeemer", "Once for All", "The Light of the World Is Jesus", "Whosoever Will", and "Wonderful Words of Life". He wrote the tune for Horatio Spafford's well-known hymn, "It Is Well with My Soul".

Philip Bliss was a contemporary of D.L. Moody, who wrote often to Mr. Bliss, insisting that he drop everything else and sing the Gospel. They eventually worked together, as evangelist and singer, holding meetings across America. They were asked to come to England, and made plans to do so in the future; however, God had other plans for the singer. After visiting his mother for Christmas, he took a train with his wife, Lucy, heading for Chicago, but died when the train broke through the trestle bridge across the Ashtabula River, fell seventy feet, and then caught fire. He escaped the wreck, but upon returing for his wife, perished with her in the flames. Found in his belongings after the Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster were the lyrics to "My Redeemer", the tune was added by James McGranahan.

According to Ira Sankey, when Mr. Sankey and D.L. Moody began their work in England, Philip Bliss' song, "Jesus Loves Even Me," became popular, and "more than any other hymn, it became the keynote of our meetings." "Jesus Loves Even Me" was written after Philip Bliss heard the chorus, "Oh, How I Love Jesus". "I have sung long enough of my poor love to Christ," said Mr. Bliss, "and now I will sing of his love for me." Ira Sankey tells of a dying girl who asked, "Don't you remember one Thursday when you were teaching us to sing "I am so glad that Jesus loves me", and don't you remember how you told us that if we only gave our hearts to him, he would love us? And I gave mine to him." According to Ira Sankey, "What that little dying girl said to me helped to cheer me on more than anything I had done before, because she, was my first convert."

Another well-known hymn is the invitational, "Almost Persuaded". Philip Bliss was inspired to pen the words for this hymn after he listened to a sermon which closed with the words, "He who is almost persuaded is almost saved, but to be almost saved is to be entirely lost."

Hear His Hymns link