Dr. James Montgomery Boice was born on July 7, 1938 and, had he lived, would on Sunday still be only 64. Dr. Boice died June 15, 2000, eight weeks after a diagnosis of liver cancer.



It remains edifying and instructive to think of his prodigious accomplishments and exemplary ministry, at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, a pulpit he held for thirty years, at The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, as Chairman of the International Council on Biblical Inerrrancy, as founder of City Center Academy, as author, with composer Dr. Paul S. Jones, of Hymns For A Modern Reformation, and as expository preacher on the Bible Study Hour.



His legacy is of a life well lived, ever mindful of the Great Commission and the daily labors that give it flesh in the world. It's a rich blessing to have his deep mind and generous heart still available to us in his taped preaching on the daily broadcasts of the Bible Study Hour. I've had intermittent contact with the program and with Dr. Boice's teaching through a fair amount of time, and, for the last couple of years, it's been part of the ritual habit of my weekdays, a source of daily instruction and encouragement.



I am deeply in the debt of Dr. Boice for the gift of his learning and ministry. Thinking of him now, I thank God.





Here is what I seem to remember was among Dr. Boice's favorite hymns. AND CAN IT BE THAT I SHOULD GAIN?



Acts 16:26



"Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose."