A ROCKY FOUNDATION

  Augustine one of the church fathers wrote an intensely personal autobiography, titled Confessions . Augustine wrote Confessions following his conversion to Christ where he looked back on his life before faith. It is a conversation, a prayer from Augustine to God, confessing his sin and wayward heart. In writing Confessions, Augustine opened the door to his heart so we can see how his journey to faith. One of the most influential people in Augustine’s life was his mother, Monica. She was a pious Christian woman, married to a pagan. In the ancient world, male children would follow the religion of their father, so Monica could not automatically pass on her faith to Augustine. However, she did bring him to church and teach him about her faith. Growing up, Augustine heard his mother sing hymns and pray for him to come to faith. Later in life, he would look back on her dedication to pray for him with gratitude and thanksgiving. Augustine reflects on his mother’s prayers for his s...

         Robert Lewis Dabney (1820-1898) was one of the most influential leaders of the southern Presbyterian Church. He told a story of a worldly attorney who abhorred Christianity and wanted nothing to do with it. After years of ungodly living and scorning of Christians, he grew old and went to live with his sister who was a Christian. Her son was a pastor and she also had a daughter living with her. The pastor had an opportunity to engage the old man in conversation about Christ and even recommend some books for him to read. Sometime later, his health deteriorated and the old attorney requested to confess his faith in Christ publicly. The nephew was eager to get the full story and wondered if their conversations had been instrumental in turning the callused man's heart to Christ. But as the story unfolded he discovered that it was not his words or even the books that he recommended that changed the attorney’s attitude towards Christianity. It was the go...

  Thomas Chisholm (1866-1960) was born in the tiny town of Franklin, KY. When he was 27, he attended a revival service led by Dr. H. C. Morrison and gave his heart to Christ. He was never in good health. During his lifetime he wrote over 1200 poems. In 1923, he sent a batch of poems to William Runyan, a musician who served at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. One of the poems impressed Runyan so much that he set it to music. He published it privately, little knowing it would become one of the most beloved hymns of the 20th century.   The hymn is known as “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”Runyan said "this particular poem held such an appeal that I prayed most earnestly that my tune might carry over its message in a worthy way, and the subsequent history of its use indicates that God answered prayer. Late in his life, Thomas penned these words of personal testimony: My income has not been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years which has followed me until ...