Meet The Puritans.

On this day (August 24th) in 1662, English Parliament/The Church of England banished the puritans from the churches and schools in England. The decree was known as "The Uniformity Act of 1662" or "The Great Ejection." Puritans didn't let that stop them from preaching God's word. They ended up preaching in fields, barns, or wherever possible. In 1664, The Conventicle Act was passed. This banned all "non-conformists" from preaching in fields or conducting services in secret. In 1665 the Five Mile Act was passed and outlawed puritans from coming within five miles of their former churches or any city or town.

Although Puritans were barred, it didn't silence them. They continued to preach God's word and write many incredible God-exalting books.

The reason for such hostility against the Puritans was for their fervent dedication to God and scripture, that provoked them to speak up about the problems within the Church of England. The church began to become weak on scripture, which led to much compromise in teaching, church leadership, obedience, and truth. Some major goals/focuses of the Puritans were:

1. Dedication to search and study the truths/doctrines of scripture and apply them to their lives. They believed doctrine and life-change went hand in hand.

2. A fascination with the character of God and His work in their lives (but not on the experience itself) to give all glory to God for any work done in one's life. Their high view of God was also evidenced also by their strong reformed theology. (High view of God/Low view of Man.)

3. A passion for love.

"It is unusual today to find books that feed the mind with solid biblical substance and move the heart with affectionate warmth, but the puritans do both. They reason with the mind, confront the conscience, and appeal to the heart. They write out of love for God's Word, love for the glory of God, and love for the souls of readers. They set forth Christ in His loveliness, moving us to yearn to know Him better and live wholly for Him."

-Meet The Puritans (Joel R. Beek & Randall J. Pederson)

4. In the same mind as the Reformers, they sought for change within the church that called for the church to conform to the instruction of Scripture on all matters of doctrine, leadersip, and fellowship.

5. Focused on personal evangelism by proclaiming God's word/the gospel.

There is so much more I can write about these men and women. They were/are my heroes.

(much of the information that i got for this post was summarized from what I read in the book "Meet The Puritans")