Stephen Hopkins

Hopkins was the second oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence. Only Ben Franklin was older.

Hopkins spent most of his adult life in public service. He was responsible for one of the first antislavery laws in the USA.

Hopkins' advanced age shows in his shaky signature. He had a form of palsy. His incessant shaking made it hard for him to write.

As he signed the Declaration, he spoke courageously. "My hand trembles, but my heart does not!"

www.john316marshall.com

Popular posts from this blog

The Day I Skipped School

Here's the whole story, as best I can remember. It was the Fall of 1959. I was in the second grade in Illmo, which is now part of Scott City, in southeast Missouri. I decided not to board the bus one morning, and went instead to a nearby playground. One of our church members—Dad was Pastor at FBC Illmo—had called Dad to alert him about my status. I have no doubt this was an unselfish effort to try to save me from a life of crime, which I guess in a way is what it did. As I was walking down the sidewalk, I noticed a car had pulled beside me, and was going very slowly, staying right next to me. I finally looked, and immediately recognized our blue and white 1957 Chevy. Grandpa had bought a more expensive, black model that had the three stripes on the front of the fenders, but Dad, who was always quite cheap, had the cheaper model. Dad had me lie down in the back seat. He knelt down in the front seat, and spanked me very effectively. He then took me to school and told my teac
Read more

New Prayer Focus

What do ex-Pastors do? I for the first time in 45 years have to answer this question. I miss preaching regularly to the same Sunday crowd, to people I know and serve. I miss sermon preparation. My spiritual gift of teaching still gnaws at me. I miss the huge intercessory prayer ministry I had as a Pastor. My prayer life has dwindled to a mere shadow of its former self. I knew I spent a lot of time praying for others, I just had no idea how huge a percentage of my prayer time was taken up with it. This former Pastor is having to find a new way of organizing prayer. I plan to go back for a while to the overly simplistic acronym ACTS. ADORATION. I will take time to praise God for who and what He is, His traits. This comes before acknowledging what He does for us. He is holy, love, just, faithful, etc. CONFESSION. In the first of his 95 theses, Luther said repentance is the essence of the Christian life. We always have sins we need to repent of. THANKSGIVING. We thank God
Read more

Dad’s Smile

Of my dad's many positive traits, one of my favorites was his smile. He must have been born with it. He couldn't not smile. One time a newspaper photographer came to take pictures of vandalism at his church; he wanted Dad in a photo but couldn't get him to not smile (no kidding). I often bragged on his smile, but he seemed impervious to how wonderful a gift it was. He would compliment me on my natural scowl. He said it helped make me a better preacher. I never understood how having a tough looking face made one a better pulpiteer. Dementia stole his smile. I hated that. I'm glad he has it back now. I have literally spent decades trying to develop and maintain on my face a smile like Dad's. It is a hard assignment to complete. I guess you have it or you don't. I don't, but in his honor I will keep trying. "To be like Dad" was always a worthy goal in my life. I miss him. I already dread Fathers Day. www.john316marshall.com
Read more