Grace and Other Beautiful Things

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6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Today is Thursday, November 12th, the 317th day of 2020. There are 49 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

1035: Death of Canute the Great, of Denmark. The sometimes ruthless king considered himself a Christian and had restored churches and monasteries throughout his kingdom and built several new ones.

1459: University of Basel, Switzerland, chartered.

1660: John Bunyan is arrested for unlicensed preaching and sentenced to prison. During his various incarcerations, he will pen Pilgrim’s Progess and Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, the greatest Puritan spiritual autobiography.

1704: Forty-two year old Matthew Henry writes in his journal that he means to prepare a commentary on the entire Scripture. A couple days later he adds, “I set about it, that I may endeavour something and spend my time to some good purpose and let the Lord make what use he pleaseth of me.” He will complete most of the project before his death in 1714. Friends will put it into final form and publish it.

1836: Death of Charles Simeon, one of the Church of England’s most famous evangelical clergyman (this date is in dispute with some historians claiming it took place on November 13th).

1879: Amanda Smith, African-American evangelist, arrives in Bombay, India.

1886: Death in Shanghai of Huang Guangcai, who had been the first Chinese deacon and the first Chinese clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church in China.