January 3

1813 - James Calvart was Born in Pikering, England.

Calvart was a Wesleyan missionary to Fiji. He probably did more than any other person in seeing the Fiji Islands change from paganism to Christianity. He labored nearly thirty years, 1838 to 1866, in this difficult field.

Let us pray for missionaries today. May God give us some Judsons, Livingstones, and some Calvarts. Maybe, dear mother, you are rocking a Calvart today.

Somewhere I heard the story of a church that had gone an entire year without a public profession of faith. At the end of the year the board called the aged pastor on the carpet and said, "Pastor, we feel that you should resign. Not one person has come forward professing faith in Christ this year."

The pastor said, "Yes, you are right, but there was one - wee Bobby Moffat." The pastor resigned in failure, and perhaps should have, except that wee Bobby Moffat became one of the great missionaries of his day. You may have in your lap today a wee Bobby Moffat. In your Sunday school class Sunday there may be a wee Bobby Moffat. Pray that God will give us some faithful missionaries.

1852 - Charles Wagner was Born in Wildersdiller, Lorraine, Germany.

Wagner was a French protestant clergyman.

1878 - William Solomon Hottell was Born in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania.

He wrote Sunday school literature for forty-six years for the Union Gospel Press of Cleveland, Ohio. He spent sixty-five years in the ministry, and, it is said, had no formal education.

Perhaps few people influence our churches as much as those who write literature. Pray today that God will keep them faithful to the Word of God and to the Son of God. Be sure to see to it that the literature in your church is checked carefully and that it is still faithful to the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, the deity of Christ, and the fundamental doctrines of the faith.

1884 - E. Stanley Jones was Born in Clarksville, Maryland.