Nicholas Byfield was a Calvinistic, Puritan minister. Here he speaks of compassion as being a proof of our spiritual state, citing bible passages about generosity, watering other peoples, aiding those needing warmth, visiting orphans and widows. These qualities in us prove that we are true neighbors and good Samaritans
Are you following religious leaders who point to other spiritual metrics at the expense of the biblical ones?
#chistian #puritans #calvinist #biblical #colossians #presbyterian
John McDowell, Presbyterian preacher, noted that oppression often looks quite respectable: lawsuits designed not to win justice but to exhaust the other party into surrender. One might say this still happens. Yet mention “oppression” in church and people gasp—as if the Bible itself hadn’t brought it up first. The question, then, is awkwardly simple: are we defending justice, or merely protecting our profits?
Matthew Anderson, a Presbyterian pastor, arrived in a new town hungry and weary, asking where he might find food. He was told the town had no place for anyone without work—the very reason he had come. He later reflected on 1 John 3:17: if we have plenty yet shut our hearts to a brother in need, how does God’s love dwell in us? The danger is explaining compassion while need stands before us.
William Swan Plumer, a big Presbyterian voice in the 1800s, told pastors something quite shocking: better to be fooled by a few freeloaders than accidentally send away someone truly desperate.
Today we’ve flipped it—terrified of helping the wrong person, so we help… practically no one at all. Brilliant system, really!
Albert Barnes, Presbyterian expositor, reads James and addresses the wealthy with sober gravity. Let every rich man ask how his estate was gained. What we applaud as success may summon heaven’s displeasure. This life is probation, not indulgence. Self-examination is not class warfare; it is Christian duty. Will you search your ways before the Lord?
John Livingston Nevius, a Presbyterian missionary in China, observed that Chinese hearers judged Christianity partly by Western conduct. The Opium Wars—forcing opium trade at gunpoint—undermined gospel credibility and hindered evangelism. Nevius asks us to consider whether tolerated injustices today likewise weaken Christian witness.
What are you supporting?
#evangelism #presbyterian
Edward Leigh, a member of the Westminster Assembly, warns that “pinching pennies” from mercy doesn’t protect your household—it invites trouble. Citing Proverbs 11, he says hoarding multiplies burdens, while generosity lightens them. It’s almost comic: the tighter the grip, the fuller the calendar. How might mercy actually free you?
Greg Johnson
Gay Curmudgeon
Rev Peter W Nimmo