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The fairytale princess in the tower, being rescued by her knight in shining armour, evokes images of “happily ever after”, with all the sweet and colourful imagery of a children’s book.
But not every damsel in distress wants to be rescued. Some damsels devote the whole of their life to distress, no matter how hard their [...]

Thomas Binney was born on April 30, 1798, at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. The author of Great Modern Preachers (1875) (a curious volume where the author’s name is nowhere mentioned), Thomas Binney is described as “one of the greatest non-conformist preachers of these 40 years …” (page 81).
For 40 years he pastored the King’s Weigh House [...]

Joseph Henry Gilmore was born in Boston, Massachusetts USA, in 1834. At the age of 28 he was ordained to the Baptist ministry, later becoming professor of “logic, rhetoric and English literature” at the University of Rochester, New York.
It was when he was 28 – speaking at a mid-week meeting on Psalm 23 – [...]

Susan and I know that we have much yet to learn about creating a godly family which produces “godly seed” for future generations. We both came from Christian homes, but our parents had failings and were impacted by the limitations of their own parents.
While we may not make as good a model family as we [...]

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, was born in London on April 28, 1801. He was to become the “outstanding Christian layman of the 19th century,” writes JC Pollock in his magnificent biography of this man of God.
Born into aristocracy, young Lord Ashley had his course in life moulded by a godly housekeeper, Maria [...]

Anne Ross Cousin was born on April 27, 1824, in Hull, England. Her father, Dr David Ross Cundell of Leith, who was a surgeon in the British Army and served at the Battle of Waterloo, died when she was only three years old.
Anne proved to be a highly gifted lady and became an expert [...]

Marcus Dods Jnr died, on April 26, 1909. He was born on April 11, 1834 at Belford, Northumberland in Scotland, where his father, Marcus Dods (senior) was a Scottish Church (Presbyterian) minister.
Young Marcus was trained at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University, and followed in his father’s footsteps, pastoring, and later teaching in New College, [...]

Robinson Crusoe was published, on April 25, 1719.
Based loosely on the real life adventures of one Alexander Selkirk, Daniel Defoe penned this best seller, which became one of the world’s greatest adventure stories – at the age of 54, in poor health and confined to this bedroom.
In today’s reprints much of the religious element [...]

Augustine was baptised by Bishop Ambrose of Milan, on April 24, in the year 387AD. It was Easter Sunday. “Augustine of Hippo … is one of the central pillars on which our entire Western civilisation is built…” (Christian History Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 3). His “massive intellect” shaped Western theology (Latourette). His “significance in [...]

Pundita Sarasvati Ramabai Dongre was born in the forests of Southwest India to Brahmin parents. It was April 23, 1858. By the age of 12 years she had committed to memory 18,000 verses from the Hindu scriptures (Famous Missionaries, Famous Missionaries, by J.C. Lawson, page 53).
When she was 16 famine struck and the family [...]