Christmas Seals were sold for the first time in the United States on December the 8rd 1907. This Week in Christian History for the week of December 8th through the 14h 2013

Einar Holboll, a Danish postal clerk, thought of the idea of adding an extra charitable stamp during Christmas to help fight tuberculosis. 4 million stamps were sold in 1904 bearing the likeness of the Danish Queen and the word Christmas. After six years enough money was raised to build the Christmas Seal Sanatorium in Kolding. Eventually it was decided to put future money into convalescent homes for children.

On December 8th, 1907 Emily Bissell introduced am American Christmas Seal after learning about the Danish stamps. She designed the stamps herself and convinced local post offices to sell them for 1 cent. Although it took a while to catch on, she raised ten times what she had originally been seeking, $300 for the Brandywine Creek sanitarium.

Howard Pyle donated the design of the second stamp. The stamps became a national program administered by the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis and the American Red Cross. Eventually the Red Cross would leave the coalition and all of the money raised went to fight TB.

After World War II Tuberculosis became curable after the discovery of streptomycin. Emily Bissell got to see a cure that she had worked for, as she supported the Christmas Seal program until she died in 1948. It took years after this until the disease was fully in control in America. The organization broadened its scope and is now known as the American Lung Association, although Tb is common in parts of the world and is making a comeback with antibiotic resistant strains appearing.

Over the world there are almost a hundred different organizations that issue Christmas Seals. The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease hold contests among these organizations for the best designs. While many different charity organization issue seals or stamps, only lung disease organizations can officially issue Christmas Seals.

My new book, would you do what they did great Christian leaders from our past is now available to order from Amazon.com here is the link: Would You Do What They Did? - Great Christian Leaders From Our Past      

 

It is also available to order now or shortly from anywhere that sells books. It is a collection of biographies of Martin Luther, Francis of Assisi, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, and Thomas Becket.



Come, tame a wolf, flee from the wrath of the king, feel the horror of impending doom on a ship, and the uncertainty of one’s own salvation with these great heroes of the faith.

I have excepts of the book on my website williamdeanhamilton.net,

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Thomas Becket returned to England after fleeing to France On December the 3rd 1170 This Week in Christian History for the week of December 1-7

Thomas Becket was born on the 21st of December 1118 or1120. He worked his way up as clerk under Archbishop of Canterbury Theobald (the head of the Church of England) to become Archdeacon of Canterbury. He became friends with Henry II and was appointed chancellor. They went on hunting parties together and Henry entrusted Thomas with teaching manners to his son, who stayed for a while in his household.    

As chancellor Thomas went along with Henry no matter what he proposed, including some taxes which were more heavily instituted towards the clergy. Thomas was also complacent when vacancies in the church were left open longer than necessary, and the king pocketed the salaries. Thomas became very rich and generously gave away fortunes to people he wanted political favors from, and also the poor.

When Henry asked Thomas to become the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas told him it wouldn’t be a good idea, but Henry didn’t listen. On becoming the head of the Church of England Thomas changed, and championed the Church’s rights. Henry introduced the Constitutions of the Clarendon and Thomas opposed this greatly. As the pressure grew and Thomas wouldn’t fold, he was accused of false charges.

Thomas fled England and became a monk in France. After six years Henry came to see him and he agreed to come back to England. Because he had stood up to the king, crowds met him and people saw him as a hero. Meanwhile he was not restored property that was his and he was not able to fulfill his duties without money to run the church. He received threats and was offered a few guards as he travelled home.

This was exaggerated to an army as word spread. When this reached Henry, he stated that he wanted to be rid of him. Four knights who overheard this took him to mean that they should kill Thomas. They attacked him in Canterbury’s Cathedral, killing him on the altar. All of Europe was shocked and the pope made the king parade to Thomas’ tomb while being whipped by monks.

 
Thomas’ story is in my new book  Would You Do What They Did? - Great Christian Leaders From Our Past      

It is also available to order now or shortly from anywhere that sells books. It is a collection of biographies of Martin Luther, Francis of Assisi, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, and Thomas Becket.

Come, tame a wolf, flee from the wrath of the king, feel the horror of impending doom on a ship, and the uncertainty of one’s own salvation with these great heroes of the faith.

I have excepts of the book on my website williamdeanhamilton.net,

 Thank you for reading.

Would You Do What They Did? Great Christian Leaders From Our Past Book T...

The Franciscan Order was officially authorized On November the 29th 1223 - This Week in Christian History for the week of November the 24th through the 30th 2013

Francis of Assisi, who is recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church, was born in either 1181 or1182, the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. When he was young he dreamed of becoming a knight and winning battles, or perhaps of becoming a poet. During a foray as a squire he had a mysterious dream and left to go back home. This helped to distance him from his father, who had invested a lot in his equipment.

He would eventually leave his rich lifestyle and try and help those in need and restore old churches that were in disrepair. He was inspired by the scriptures that speak of Jesus sending out the disciples without any money to preach the Gospel. He began to get followers, although he was only trying to be a better Christian.

Eventually the new order of monks became officially recognized through publication of Regula Bullata by Pope Honorius III. This formally authorized the Regula Prima, as the rule for the organization and administration of the Franciscan order.

Francis didn’t believe in property as all of our possessions are ultimately God’s. While other order’s practiced individual poverty, the Franciscan order was the first that also didn’t have community property. Francis was also instrumental in starting a sister organization of woman called the Poor Clares.

After Francis’ death disputes arose about what direction the order should take, especially about the lack of community property. Eventually the order split into three main groups, although there are other groups, some even outside the Catholic Church. Some have even tried to follow Francis’ ideals outside of a religious institution, and these people are known as the Third Order of Francis. The Franciscan order grew in popularity and is still an important order today.

The life of Francis of Assisi is detailed in my new book Would You Do What They Did? - Great Christian Leaders From Our Past
It is also currently available at Barnes and nobles and should be available to order now or shortly from anywhere that sells books. The book is about Thomas Becket, Martin Luther, John Wesley and Francis of Assisi and is written in creative nonfiction style, I have excepts of the book here on my website williamdeanhamilton.net

Thank you for reading.

Dawn on Lake Tiberias And Other Stories

Free ebook from the author of this blog Dawn on Lake Tiberias And Other Stories. Biographies and stories about historical Christian in creative nonfiction style.



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Bio of C.S. Lewis who died on November the 22th 1963. - This Week in Christian History for the week of November the 17th through the 23th

 

Clive Stapes Lewis was born in Belfast Ireland on the 29^th of November 1898. His childhood was filled with books; he especially liked the ones with talking animals. His mother died of cancer when he was young and he suffered from health problems. He eventually had to go away to a health resort and attended school there.

While he was a Christian when he was younger, he became an atheist and became interested in the occult and nature. He read about old Icelandic myths and he experimented with different forms of writing like epic poetry. C. S.was accepted into University College at Oxford and underwent a mild culture shock. He met Yeats while there, and was astounded that his English companions didn’t appreciate his work.

C. S. served in the English army during WWI. He had made a pact with one of his fellow servicemen that if either one died the other would take care of their family, which C.S. did after the man died. C. S. was wounded and returned to his studies after he was discharged. He began to embrace Christianity, partially from the influence of his friend J. R. R. Tolkien, and partially from the works of George MacDonald. He adopted the Church of England, which disappointed Tolkien who wanted him to become Catholic.  

He met Joy Davidman and married her in a civil ceremony, which was probably a ploy to keep her from being deported. He eventually fell in love with her and they got married in the Church of England. She died and C. S. took care of her two sons.

After he converted to Christianity his books became more popular than the ones before and most of his books were overtly Christian. The Legend of Narnia series, The Screwtape letters, The Abolition of Man, and Mere Christianity are still popular among readers.

C. S. became ill with kidney failure in June of 1961. He recovered by 1963, but then suffered a heart attack. After he was discharged his health never fully recovered and on November 22, 1963 C. S. died. He was buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, and his brother was later buried alongside him.

My new book, would you do what they did great Christian leaders from our past is now available to order from Amazon.com here is the link: Would You Do What They Did? - Great Christian Leaders From Our Past      

It is also available to order now or shortly from anywhere that sells books. It is a collection of biographies of Martin Luther, Francis of Assisi, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, and Thomas Becket.

Come, tame a wolf, flee from the wrath of the king, feel the horror of impending doom on a ship, and the uncertainty of one’s own salvation with these great heroes of the faith.

I have excepts of the book on my website williamdeanhamilton.net,

 Thank you for reading.

 

The Mayflower Compact was signed on November the 11th 1620 - This Week in Christian History for the week of November the 10th through the 16th

In England the only official religion was the Church of England. Puritans wanted to leave England to have religious freedom and were granted the right to settle in the colony of Virginia. The Mayflower left England but had to turn back two times since the ship which it was sailing with leaked. A violent storm broke one of the beams that supported the ship, but it was repaired with a great iron screw.

Partially because of their difficulties they landed well north of their original destination. Since this was outside of any English colony, some of the settlers felt as if they would not be bound by the laws of England, but would be free to pursue their own liberty. William Bradford, the head of the Separatists, drew up the Mayflower Compact and it was signed by most of the adult males on board.

The compact didn’t establish rules or ordinances, but it stated that all would abide by whatever rules were established for the colony. This was also important since not all of the Pilgrims were Separatists; some still belonged to the Church of England. The colonist headed up the coast from where they had landed and established a town where some Native Americans had lived. The Native Americans had almost all died from sickness. The colonists built their houses while living on the ship. They didn’t finish until the next spring, at which time the Mayflower left for England.

 The Mayflower Compact has been seen as an important document in defining the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. While many presidents have declared days of thanksgiving to commemorate the Pilgrims and our heritage, It was Abraham Lincoln who declared an official date for the celebration of Thanksgiving. Some have speculated that he did it to help promote the idea of America as a unified nation.

My new book, would you do what they did great Christian leaders from our past is now available to order from Amazon.com here is the link: Would You Do What They Did? - Great Christian Leaders From Our Past      

It is also available to order now or shortly from anywhere that sells books. It is a collection of biographies of Martin Luther, Francis of Assisi, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, and Thomas Becket.

Come, tame a wolf, flee from the wrath of the king, feel the horror of impending doom on a ship, and the uncertainty of one’s own salvation with these great heroes of the faith.

I have excepts of the book on my website williamdeanhamilton.net,

 Thank you for reading.