Hi Readers,
Still talking on SELFLESS LOVE, there is a man i want to introduce you who spent his life and serving and blessing others with the little he has,
INTRODUCING TO YOU:
George Müller (German – born
as: Johann Georg Ferdinand Müller) (27 September 1805 – 10 March 1898),
a Christian evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol,
England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life. He was well known for providing
an education to the children under his care, to the point where he was accused
of raising the poor above their natural station in life. He also established
117 schools which offered Christian education to over 120,000 children, many of
them being orphans.
His name is
frequently mis-spelt as "Mueller", particularly in the US. Whilst
"Mueller" is an anglicised version of "Müller", George
Müller never changed his name from the German spelling and always took care to
place the two dots over the letter "u" to form the umlaut. When asked
by his nephew, Edward Groves, what difference this made to the pronunciation,
Müller pronounced his name as though it was spelt "Meller".
Müller was born
in Kroppenstaedt (now Kroppenstedt), a village near Halberstadt in the Kingdom
of Prussia. In 1810, the Müller family moved to nearby Heimersleben, where
Müller's father was appointed a collector of taxes. He had an older brother,
Friedrich Johann Wilhelm (1803 – 7 Oct 1838) and, after his widowed father
remarried, a half-brother, Franz (b 1822). His early life was not marked by
righteousness – on the contrary, he was a thief, a liar and a gambler. By the
age of 10, Müller was
stealing government money from his father. While his mother was dying, he, at
14 years of age, was playing cards with friends and drinking. Müller's father
hoped to provide him with a religious education that would allow him to take a
lucrative position as a clergyman in the state church. He studied divinity in
the University of Halle, and there met a fellow student (Beta) who invited him
to a Christian prayer meeting. There he was welcomed, and he began regularly
reading the Bible and discussing Christianity with the others who attended the
meetings. After seeing a man praying to God on his knees, he was convinced of
his need for salvation. As soon as he got home he went to his bed where he
knelt and prayed. He asked God to help him in his life and to bless him
wherever he went and to forgive him of his sins. He immediately stopped
drinking, stealing and lying, and began hoping to become a missionary. He began
preaching regularly in nearby churches and continued meeting with the other
churches.
Early work:
In 1828, Müller
offered to work with Jews in England through the London Society for Promoting
Christianity Amongst the Jews, and arrived in London on 19 March 1829. By
mid-May, he fell ill, and did not think that he would survive. He was sent to
Teignmouth to recuperate and, whilst there, met Henry Craik, who became his lifelong
friend. Müller returned to London in September, but after ten days started to
feel unwell again, blaming it on being confined to his house because of his
studies. He asked the Society to send him out to preach but received no reply.
By the end of November he became doubtful whether the Society was the right
place for him and on 12 December made the decision to leave but to wait for a
month before writing.
Müller returned
to Exmouth on 31 December for a short holiday and preached at various meetings
whilst there. He wrote to the Society in early January, requesting that they
might consider allowing him to remain with them if they would allow him
"to labour in regard to time and place as the Lord might direct me".
This they refused to do at a meeting on 27 January 1830, communicating this to
Müller in writing, and thus bringing to an end his association with the
Society. He moved from Exmouth to Teignmouth and preached several times for
Craik, which led to a number of the congregation asking him to stay and be the
minister of the chapel of Ebenezer Chapel in Shaldon, Devon, on a salary of £55
per annum. On 7 October 1830, he married Mary Groves, the sister of Anthony
Norris Groves. At the end of October, he renounced his regular salary,
believing that the practice could lead to church members giving out of duty,
not desire.
He also
eliminated the renting of church pews, arguing that it gave unfair prestige to
the rich (based primarily on James 2:1-9). Müller moved to Bristol on 25 May
1832 to begin working at Bethesda Chapel. Along with Henry Craik, he continued
preaching there until his death, even while devoted to his other ministries. In
1834, he founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad, with
the goal of aiding Christian schools and missionaries; distributing the Bible
and Christian tracts; and providing Day-schools, Sunday-schools and
Adult-schools, all upon a Scriptural foundation. By the end of February 1835,
there were five Day-schools – two for boys and three for girls. Not receiving
government support and only accepting unsolicited gifts, this organisation
received and disbursed £1,381,171 ( approximately $2,718,844 USD) – around £90
million in today's terms – by the time of Müller's death, primarily using the
money for supporting the orphanages and distributing about 285,407 Bibles,
1,459,506 New
Testaments, and 244,351 other religious texts, which were translated into
twenty other languages. The money was also used to support other "faith
missionaries" around the world, such as Hudson Taylor. The work continues
to this day.
Orphanages:
The work of
Müller and his wife with orphans began in 1836 with the preparation of their
own rented home at 6 Wilson Street, Bristol for the accommodation of thirty girls.
Soon after, three more houses in Wilson Street were furnished, not only for girls
but also for boys and younger children, eventually increasing the capacity for children
who could be cared for to 130. In 1845, as growth continued, the neighbours
complained about the noise and disruption to the public utilities, so Müller
decided that a separate building designed to house 300 children was necessary,
and in 1849, at Ashley Down, Bristol, that home opened.
The architect
commissioned to draw up the plans asked if
he might do so gratuitously.[17] By 26 May 1870, 1,722 children were being
accommodated in five homes, although there was room for 2,050 (No 1 House – 300,
No 2 House – 400, Nos 3, 4 and 5 – 450 each). By the following year, there were
280 orphans in No 1 House, 356 in No 2, 450 in Nos 3 and 4, and 309 in No 5 House.
Through all
this, Müller never made requests for financial support, nor did he go into
debt, even though the five homes cost over £100,000 to build. Many times, he
received unsolicited food donations only hours before they were needed to feed
the children, further strengthening his faith in God. For example, on one
well-documented occasion, they gave thanks for breakfast when all the children
were sitting at the table, even though there was nothing to eat in the house.
As they finished praying, the baker knocked on the door with sufficient fresh
bread to feed everyone, and the milkman gave them plenty of fresh milk because
his cart broke down in front of the orphanage.
receipt form
issued by George Müller Although he never asked any person (only God) for
anything, Müller asked those who did support his work to give a name and
address in order that a receipt might be given. The receipts were printed with
a request that the receipt be kept until the next annual report was issued, in
order that the donor might confirm the amount reported with the amount given.
The wording in the image reads: "Owing to the great increase of my work, I
have found it necessary to authorize two of my assistants (Mr. Lawford and Mr.
Wright) to sign receipts for donations, if needful, in my stead.-Donors are
requested, kindly to keep the receipts and to compare them with the
"Supplement" to the Report, which records every donation received, so
that they may be satisfied that their donations have been properly applied.-The
"Supplement" is sent with the Report to every Donor who
furnishes me with his or her
name and
address.-I would earnestly request all Donors (even those who feel it right to
give anonymously) to put it in my power to acknowledge their donations at the
time they come to hand; and should any Donor, after having done this, not
receive a printed receipt within a week, they would much oblige me by giving me
information at once.
This interval
must, of course, be extended in the case of Donors who send from places out of
the United Kingdom. George Müller". Every single gift was recorded,
whether a single farthing, £3,000 or an old teaspoon. Accounting records were scrupulously
kept and made available for scrutiny.
Every morning
after breakfast there was a time of Bible reading and prayer, and every child
was given a Bible upon leaving the orphanage, together with a tin trunk
containing two changes of clothing. The children were dressed well and educated
– Müller even employed a schools inspector to maintain high standards. In fact,
many claimed that nearby factories and mines were unable to obtain enough
workers because of his efforts in securing apprenticeships, professional
training, and domestic service positions for the children old enough to leave
the orphanage.
Evangelism
On 26 March 1875,
at the age of 70 and after the death of his first wife in 1870 and his marriage
to Susannah Grace Sanger in 1871, Müller and Susannah began a 17 year period of
missionary travel:
Müller always expected to pay for their fares and
accommodation from the unsolicited gifts given for his own use. However, if
someone offered to pay his hotel bill en route, Müller recorded this amount in
his accounts. He travelled over 200,000 miles, an incredible achievement for
pre-aviation times. His language abilities allowed him to preach in English,
French, and German, and his sermons were translated into the host languages
when he was unable to use English, French or German. In 1892, he returned to
England, where he died on 10 March 1898 in New Orphan House No 3.
Müller prayed
about everything and expected each prayer to be answered. One example was when
one of the orphan house's boiler stopped working; Müller needed to have it
fixed. Now this was a problem, because the boiler was bricked up and the
weather was worsening with each day. So he prayed for two things; firstly that
the workers he had hired would have a mind to work throughout the night, and
secondly that the weather would let up. On the Tuesday before the work was due
to commence, a bitter north wind still blew but in the morning, before the
workmen arrived, a southerly wind began to blow and it was so mild that no
fires were needed to heat the buildings. That evening, the foreman of the
contracted company attended the site to see how he might speed things along,
and instructed the men to report back first thing in the morning to make an
early resumption of work. The team leader stated that they would prefer to work
through the night. The job was done in 30 hours. In 1862, it was discovered
that one of the drains was blocked. Being some 11 feet underground, workmen
were unable to find the blockage despite several attempts. Müller prayed about
the situation and the workman at once found the site of the problem.
Strong gales in
Bristol on Saturday 14 January 1865 caused considerable damage in the area and
over twenty holes were opened in the roofs. Around 20 windows were also broken
and two frames damaged by falling slates. The glazier and slater normally
employed had already committed their staff to other work so nothing could be
done until the Monday. Had the winds continued, with heavy rain, the damage to
the orphanage would have been much greater. After much prayer, the wind stopped
in the afternoon and no rain fell until Wednesday, by which time most of the damage
had been repaired. Once, while crossing the Atlantic on the SS Sardinian in
August 1877, his ship ran into thick fog. He explained to the captain that he
needed to be in Quebec by the following afternoon, but Captain Joseph E Dutton
(later known as "Holy Joe") said that he was slowing the ship down
for safety and Müller's appointment would have to be missed. Müller asked to
use the chartroom to pray for the lifting of the fog. The captain followed him
down, claiming it would be a waste of time. After Müller prayed, the captain
started to pray, but Müller stopped him; partly because of the captain's
unbelief, but mainly because he believed the prayer had already been answered.
When the two men went back to the bridge, they found the fog had lifted. The
captain became a Christian shortly afterwards. Müller's faith in God
strengthened day by day and he spent hours in daily prayer and Bible reading. –
indeed, it was his practice, in later years, to read through the entire Bible
four times a year.
Theology
The theology
that guided George Müller's work is not widely known, but was shaped by an
experience in his mid twenties when he "came to prize the Bible alone as [his]
standard of judgement".
He records in
his Narratives that "That the word of God alone is our standard of
judgment in spiritual things; that it can be explained only by the Holy Spirit;
and that in our day, as well as in former times, he is the teacher of his people.
The office of the Holy Spirit I had not experimentally understood before that
time. Indeed, of the office of each of the blessed persons, in what is commonly
called the Trinity, I had no experimental apprehension. I had not before seen
from the Scriptures that the Father chose us before the foundation of the
world; that in him that wonderful plan of our redemption originated, and that
he also appointed all the means by which it was to be brought about. Further,
that the Son, to save us, had fulfilled the law, to satisfy its demands, and
with it also the holiness of God; that he had borne the punishment due to our
sins, and had thus satisfied the justice of God. And, further, that the Holy
Spirit alone can teach us about our state by nature, show us the need of a Saviour,
enable us to believe in Christ, explain to us the Scriptures, help us in
preaching, etc. It was my beginning to understand this latter point in
particular which had a great effect on me; for the Lord enabled me to put it to
the test of experience, by laying aside commentaries, and almost every other
book, and simply reading the word of God and studying it. The result of this
was, that the first evening that I shut myself into my room, to give myself to
prayer and meditation over the Scriptures, I learned more in a few hours than I
had done during a period of several months previously. But the particular
difference was, that I received real strength for my soul in doing so. I
now began to try by the test of the Scriptures the things which I had learned
and seen, and found that only those principles which
stood the test
were really of value."
Müller also
wrote of how he came to believe in the doctrines of election, particular
redemption, and final persevering grace while staying in Teignmouth, Devon in
1829.[32] George Müller was a founding member of the Plymouth Brethren
movement. Doctrinal differences arose in the 1840s and Müller was determined to
determine the truth by the "infallible standard of the Holy Spirit". At
the time, he and Craik were pastors of the Bethesda and Gideon fellowships in
Bristol. Membership at Gideon was open to all believers, while only believers
who had been baptised could claim full membership of Bethesda, although all
believers were welcome at Communion. Müller consulted Robert C Chapman on the
issue of accepting unbaptised believers, and Chapman stated that distinction
should be made between unbaptised believers who "walked disorderly"
and those who lived according to the Bible.[34] Müller and Craik independently
contemplated the issue and decided that unbaptised believers, who otherwise
lived according to Scriptural principles, should not be denied membership. Dissension
arose at Gideon regarding the presence of unbelievers at Communion and the view
held by some that pews were private property, and eventually Müller and Craik
withdrew from this fellowship on 19 April 1840, concentrating thereafter on the
Bethesda Chapel. John Nelson Darby and Benjamin Wills Newton became opposed
concerning certain matters or doctrine and a discussion was held in Plymouth on
5 December 1845. A document entitled The Principles of Open Brethren stated:
"Certain tracts issued by Mr Newton were judged to contain error regarding
the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the question arose whether it was
sufficient to exclude from fellowship those who held the erroneous teaching, or
whether all who belonged to a gathering where the error was tolerated were to
be put outside the pale, even if they themselves had not embraced it. One
party, led by Mr Darby, took the latter view. Others, in particular the
Bethesda
Church, in which
Messrs Müller and Craik ministered, refused to admit any who were convicted of
holding the evil doctrine themselves, but did not exclude those who came from
Mr Newton's meeting. The exclusive party thereupon declined to have any further
fellowship with members of the Bethesda Church or others like-minded. The latter
soon came to received the title of 'Open Brethren'. The more exclusive side of
the brethren movement became known as the Exclusive Brethren and was led by
Darby.[38] Darby called on Müller in July 1849 to discuss the split, but Müller
had many prior engagements and could only receive Darby for 10 minutes. It was
impossible to fully discuss the problem in such a short time, and the two men
never met again. Though the pre-tribulational rapture doctrine gained momentum
as a result of the literature of the Brethren movement, Müller's church was
wary of such teachings. George Müller held to a Post Tribulation Rapture
doctrine along with others such as Benjamin Wills Newton and Samuel Prideaux
Tregelles, and said that "scripture declares plainly that the Lord Jesus
will not come until the Apostasy shall have taken place, and the man of sin
shall have been revealed..." Müller wrote frequently about the stewardship
of money and the non-reliance on earthly riches, and how God would bless the
man who kept to these principles, and felt that laying his own experiences bare
would prove the truth of his claims. His personal income, from unsolicited
gifts (he refused any kind of salary) rose from £151 in 1831 to more than
£2,000 in 1870. However, he retained only around £300 a year for himself and
his family, the rest he gave away. William Henry Harding said, 'The world, dull
of understanding, has even yet not really grasped the mighty principle upon
which he [Müller] acted, but is inclined to think of him merely as a nice old gentleman
who loved children, a sort of glorified guardian of the poor, who with the
passing of the years may safely be spoken of, in the language of newspaper
headlines, as a "prophet of philanthropy." To describe him thus,
however, is to degrade his memory, is to miss the high spiritual aim and the
wonderful spiritual lesson of his life. It is because the carnal mind is
incapable of apprehending spiritual truth that the world regards the orphan
Houses only with the languid interest of mere humanitarianism, and remains
oblivious of their extraordinary witness to the faithfulness of God.
The George
Müller Charitable Trust
After his life,
his work was continued by The George Müller Foundation, which was renamed The George
Müller Charitable Trust on 1 March 2009. The Trust maintains the key principle
of seeking money through prayer alone – it actively shuns fund-raising
activities. The charity works together with local churches in the Bristol area
to enable them to reach out and care for their communities, especially
children, young people and families with physical, emotional, social or
spiritual needs; and encourages giving to support mission, social care, relief
and development work across the world.[44] From 1986 to September 2010, it also
provided residential care for the elderly in Tilsley House, Weston-super-Mare.
The Trust continued to maintain a sheltered accommodation unit for the elderly in
Tranquil House, next-door to Tilsley House, until it was closed in 2012.
A small museum is maintained by the Trust at its
headquarters in Cotham Park, Bristol. Records of all children who passed
through the orphanage are held and may be inspected by relatives for a modest
fee
His Quotes:
"The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety"
"To learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings"
AND FINALLY:
This is a man who out of all challenges, still endeavored to make his life a blessing to all generations,
THE QUESTION IS:
WHAT WILL YOU BE REMEMBERED FOR IN THIS VERY LITTLE TIME YOU HAVE TO SPEND ON EARTH?
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