365 Christian Men | 365 Christian Men

April 28. Christmas Evans. It was 1766 in Wales. Evans got his first name—you guessed it—because he was born Christmas day. And—once he was old enough to help on a farm—he probably didn’t get teased about his name, since it’s said he stood seven feet tall. He taught himself to read Welsh and English. With the help of a tutor, he mastered Latin. Finally, he tackled Hebrew and Greek. And he preached throughout Wales.

One particular Sunday afternoon, when he was listening to a powerful preacher, Evans had an “aha moment.” In his mind, he saw that the kind of preaching his people would get the most from was drama—as in comedies and tragedies.

He traveled thousands of miles up and down Wales, uniting the churches and seeing to practical needs of the people, and everywhere he went, he preached with brilliant analogies and emotion that helped the people understand the Scripture.

Evans came to be known as one of the three most powerful preachers in Wales. On this date in 1838, at the age of 72, in his 53rd year of ministry, Evans journeyed into South Wales on his final preaching tour. Today’s story gives us a look into Evan’s character when he was away from the pulpit.

Lying may get you attention, but honesty earns respect.

When Welsh minister Christmas Evans needed his horse sold, he hired a local businessman to sell the animal at the local fair. So the businessman, with horse in tow, went to the fair and hoped to get a good price for it, even though the horse was old and not in the best of shape.

But Evans had confidence the businessman would be able to sell the horse, no matter how poor its condition. There had to be someone out there who would want to take care of a kind and pleasant horse—despite its shortcomings.

But after the businessman had been gone a while, Evans decided to go one down to the fair himself and check up on how the sale was proceeding. At the fair, Evans quickly found the businessman, and at that moment he was in the middle of haggling with an interested customer.

Eager to meet the interested customer, Evans joined the businessman and his prospect.

“Is this your horse, Mr. Evans?” the customer asked.

“Certainly, it is!” Evans answered.

“What is his age, sir?”

“Twenty-three years,” he said.

The customer’s eyes widened, and he quickly turned to the businessman. The neighborhood of his eyes and brows looked as if a storm had just rolled in. “But this man tells me he is only fifteen.”

Evans looked at the businessman, who gulped noticeably. “He is certainly twenty-three,” Evans said.

Sweat appeared along the businessman’s hairline and trickled toward one ear.

Evans said, “He has been with me these twenty years, and he was three years old when I bought him.”

The customer nodded. “Is he safe-footed?”

“Well, he is very far from that.” Evans shrugged. “Indeed, that is the reason why I want to part with him.”

The businessman’s eyes widened, and he shot Evans a nasty glare. “Please go into the house, Mr. Evans, and stop there.” The businessman’s voice was low. “I never shall dispose of the horse while you are present.”

But Evans wouldn’t be deterred. Didn’t the businessman know Christmas was a man of God? What kind of Christian man would he be if he were dishonest in his business dealings? Surely the customer would have to know what kind of horse he would be getting. Evans continued to answer the customer’s questions too honestly for the businessman’s comfort.

Evans and the customer continued to talk, and the businessman continued to shake his head and mutter.

And the customer bought the horse at a price that allowed Evans and the business to make a profit and to make the afternoon’s work worthwhile. The customer had been so honored by Evans’s honesty, that he couldn’t help but honor him back.

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices,” (Colossians 3: 9, NIV).

When have you felt rewarded, either internally or externally, because you chose to be honest? Lying may get you attention, but honesty earns respect.

Vaughn, John. Life Stories of Remarkable Preachers. London: James B. Knapp; Passmore & Alabaster, 1892. Excerpted in “Christmas Evans: The One Eyed Preacher of Wales.” Wholesome Words: Christian Biographies. Wholesomewords.org. Accessed August 4, 2020. https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bevans3.html

Phillips, David. Memoir of the Life, Labors, and Extensive Usefulness of the Rev. Christmas Evans; A Distinguished Minister of the Baptist Denomination in Wales. Extracted from the Welsh Memoir. New York: M.W. Dodd, Brick Church Chapel, 1843. Internet Archive. Web. 11 Mar. 2019.

Hood, Edwin Paxton. Christmas Evans, the Preacher of Wild Wales: His Country, His Times, and His Contemporaries. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1881. Internet Archive. Web. 11 Mar. 2019.

Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20William_Roos_-_Christmas_Evans_(1835).20jpgAccessed March 11, 2019.

Story read by Peter R Warren, https://www.peterwarrenministries.com/
Story written by Toni M Babcock https://www.facebook.com/toni.babcock.1

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April 27. Louie Giglio. Louie has pastored churches, launched the careers of well-known worship leaders, and written best-selling books. He is best known for the Passion Movement, which includes an annual conference for young people aged 18 to 25.

The first Passion Conference was held in 1997 with about 2,000 university students. In 2019, more than 40,000 young people and leaders attended the Passion Conference, and they collected $400,000 to fund a bible translation for deaf people around the globe.

Since 2007, the Passion Movement has donated more than $18 million to more than 70 partner ministries around the world. All this activity got its start when an adult cared enough to teach a boy that—with God—even one boy can do great things. Here’s how it happened.

Don’t give the enemy a seat at your table; remove the chair.

Mesmerized middle-schoolers leaned in hard toward the man in the front of the chapel. With his whole body and the whole range of his voice, he transported the kids to a battle in the Middle East, where a teenaged shepherd stepped up to battle a giant. A giant with a massive sword. A giant all the soldiers were afraid to fight.

In the pews, kids’ eyes grew wide.

The speaker told them the King warned the kid not to try to fight the giant. He’d get killed.

But the boy said, “When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth.

“When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it, and killed it.… The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

In the pews, kids’ mouths gaped open.

The speaker whirled his imaginary slingshot around and around his head, and he cut it loose. He cast an imaginary stone. And the rock hit the God-mocking giant smack in the forehead. And … he … fell … down … dead.

The man’s eyes blazed, and he pointed at the campers. “You can slay the giants in your life, too!”

In the audience, fourteen-year-old Louie Giglio felt as if the man were pointing right at him.

Later, Louie and his buddies went out and each found five killer rocks, like David had. They wanted to consecrate their rocks to God at the next night’s service and prove they had what it took to be like David—to be giant slayers, too.

Then somewhere between middle-school and full-maturity, Louie found out who his giant actually was—and who was the only one who could bring that giant down. Louie couldn’t do it.

His giant-slayer was Jesus.

On the job, Louie had come under a lot of pressure. He felt like he was being attacked. People at work got more and more critical, and the idea that a conspiracy was afoot got a toehold. The giant in his head whispered everyone was against him, and that creepy voice was sounding louder than God’s.

Louie got so obsessed with this idea, he texted a long-and-miserable message to a friend.

And his friend texted back with a short-and-wise one: “Don’t give the enemy a seat at your table.”

Nine words. Nine words that Louie never forgot. Nine words that shaped the rest of his life.

Louie realized he had to shift his focus from whatever giant was holding him back—to Jesus Christ, who had already defeated Louie’s spiritual enemies on the cross.

Knowing this made it possible for Louie to shift his thinking in a big way. Since Jesus had “prepared a table” for Louie—the giant he was obsessed with had no business poisoning the table-talk.

Then in 1995 at a conference on worship, Louie heard a speaker named John Piper. It was the message he had been waiting to hear—about not worshiping God for the sake of worshiping but for spreading the fame of Jesus.

It was exactly what David had done when he’d faced Goliath and shouted, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel … this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the LORD saves, for the battle is the LORD’S,” (1 Samuel 17: 45, 47, CSB).

David had glorified God and lit a passion for him among the armies of Israel. It was the same kind of passion Louie wanted to ignite in others.

During the break, Louie spotted Piper seated alone in the cafeteria about to enjoy a forkful of green beans. Louie approached unannounced.

“Dr. Piper, I hate to interfere with your meal, but I want you to know I haven’t heard five people in my life speak the way you did.”

Piper’s reply was simple. “Well, why don’t you be one, and then there will be six.”

Why couldn’t he be one? Why couldn’t he inspire everybody to give glory to God?

That question grew into a spiritual mandate and sparked a student movement called Passion, which spread around the world.

Whose renown are you fighting for? Don’t give the enemy a seat at your table; remove the chair.

Wyatt, Tim. “Louie Giglio: The Passion Founder Says He is No Longer Relevant.” Premier Christianity. Accessed August 3, 2020 https://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2020/March-2020/Louie-Giglio-The-Passion-founder-says-he-s-no-longer-relevant

https://www.louiegiglio.com/Babout/

https://www.desiringgod.org/bauthors/blouie-giglio Video, John Piper interviews Louie Giglio, part one, June 29th, 2011

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZihrWebHpcc Lift 2018 Session 1 Louie Giglio, published August 8, 2018.

https://jamesriver.online/sermon/dont-give-a-seat/ posted by Louie Giglio April 15, 2018 on James River Church guest speaker page

Story read by Daniel Carpenter
Story written by Toni M Babcock,https://www.facebook.com/toni.babcock.1

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April 26. Charles Swindoll. Chuck is a former US Marine, an evangelical Christian pastor, an author, and an educator. He has pastored from the East Coast to the West Coast and has written more than 70 books. Chuck founded Insight for Living and a radio program with that name, which air on more than 2000 stations and in 15 languages. In 1994, he became the president of Dallas Theological Seminary.

None of Chuck’s accomplishments could be called easy. He once said, “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” In today’s story, we get to see Chuck in action facing off with a great opportunity.

Tough conditions can smother a guy, or they can break his stubborn will.

Chuck Swindoll had survived Marine Corps boot camp. He’d just finished his advanced-infantry training—and he got his first tour-of-duty orders: San Francisco.

Not bad for a young, newly married man. Who could complain about going to beautiful California? Not Chuck.

Chuck and his wife got to California and got all settled and go several months in their new digs—when unexpected new orders arrived. Destination: Okinawa.

It was like being gut-punched.

Chuck considered it “the most God-awful letter.” He’d be separated from his new wife. He’d be separated from his new home. He’d be separated from the peace of mind he’d counted on. A 16-month-long separation.

The first thing he did was make sure the orders were addressed to him. Then he—and his wife—cried.

Chuck’s trip was 17-days on a troopship to Japan and then on to Okinawa. Along the way, Chuck struggled to accept this path God had chosen. But Chuck had plenty of time to read a book his brother had given him—a book about missionaries who’d died in the line of duty. The book helped. For the first time since he’d been ordered to Japan, Chuck stopped resisting. By the time he arrived, he thought there might be a plan in this.

In Okinawa, Chuck lived in a hut with 47 other Marines. These heroic and selfless men had endured super-demanding training needed to do what was necessary to protect the free world. They were putting their lives on the line; they were brothers.

But, like ugly weather, the general atmosphere of crude talk, loose sex, cynicism, and ridicule bombarded him. To know what it was like, Chuck said, “ … just think of a pack of hungry junkyard dogs that have been teased until they’re snarling and foaming at the mouth. Add an endless stream of profanity, subtract all moral restraint, multiply by tropical heat and humidity, divide it by 365 days a year.” He was ready to serve with these guys, but it was tough. He hadn’t yet realized that God had called him to serve them.

Even so, God did not abandon Chuck or his bunkmates. “It was late on a Sunday evening,” Chuck said. “I was on one of those rickety old Oriental buses as it weaved and bobbed its way back to the base. Everyone else around me was in a drunken stupor or snoring …” Sitting in the back of the bus, Chuck used a flashlight as he thumbed through his bible. And he struck oil—the oil of the Spirit in the letter to the believers at Philippi.

“I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,” (Philippians 3: 10, NLT).

“I thought, ‘That’s it … that is everything in one grand statement. I want to know Him … ’” Chuck said.

If Chuck were to experience God’s life-giving power, why shouldn’t he experience his suffering, as well? God made it clear that “suffering” was a whole-package deal—shooting, missing his wife, crawling through bug-infested tunnels, crude language, bombs, and guys who talked trash. God’s life-giving power was a whole-package deal, too. God was ready to help with any part of the suffering. Chuck just had to ask.

Chuck’s heart softened toward Okinawa and especially toward his fellow Marines. He felt compassion for them. He got to know them. And he befriended them. They were men created in the image of God, they were Marines, they were heroes, and they were all in this mess together.

“‘In the same way I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born,’ says the Lord,” (Isaiah 66: 9, NCV).

Struggling to accept the path God has chosen? Is there a stubbornness that needs to be surrendered? Tough conditions can smother a guy, or it can break his stubborn will.

https://www.insight.org/resources/daily-devotional/individual/the-turning-point-part-two

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Steps-Forward-Two-Back/dp/0553273345

Story read by Chuck Stecker

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April 25. Hudson Taylor. On this date in 1851, God called Hudson to be a missionary to China, and he went.

He concentrated his efforts on the interior of China and founded the China Inland Mission. The missionaries did not get salaries; they could not appeal for funds; and they would all adopt Chinese dress. To meet the tremendous need for missionaries to the interior, Taylor adopted another radical strategy: he allowed unmarried women to serve.

The mission included medical care, translation work, and gospel preaching, and it came at great personal expense. Hudson’s own health suffered, his wife died at the age of thirty-three, and four of his eight children died before reaching the age of ten.

In spite of the toll it took on him, Hudson’s vision and work inspired thousands to take up the call to “bring the Christian message to the vast and unknown interior of China.”

Between Mainland China and the Korean peninsula is the northern part of East China Sea—the Yellow Sea, and on the western edge of it, a funnel-shaped inlet pokes into the mainland. That’s where—in today’s story—Hudson Taylor got drenched. Here’s what happened.

When Christ said, “Come,” you came. When he says “Go,” what will you do?

Soaking wet, Hudson struggled in the fishing boat, and finally collapsed on its rough bottom. Next to him lay the lifeless body. Shouting in Chinese, a group of angry fishermen stood over Hudson. One of them threw something wet at him, and it thumped his head.

They snickered loudly and shouted, “Foreign devil forgot his hair!”

And a black fake-braid splashed into the puddle around him.

This is how it happened: A brisk wind blew the Chinese junk ship quickly along the waters bound for the city of Ningpo. Rather than going below to his cabin, Hudson had remained on the deck to enjoy the night air.

Traveling like this seemed like luxury after the arduous journey by foot he had made alone to the coast of Shanghai from the inland villages. He sat on a large coil of rope to rest his blistered feet. Nearby was another passenger, and Hudson introduced himself. The passenger was surprised to meet a foreigner, as Hudson appeared to be a fellow Chinese. The passenger had visited England and was happy to speak with an Englishman again. They talked until late. Hudson said, “I had drawn him into earnest converse about his soul’s salvation. The man listened with attention, and was even moved to tears.” They promised to talk more the next morning.

But dawn, the ship was nearing the large city of Sung-kai. Already noisy crowds of customers and merchants were bustling on the shoreline. Hudson was still below deck when he heard a loud splash and screams coming from above.

He rushed up top. Passengers and crewmen peered over the deck and shouted the man’s name. It was his friend from last night in the water! Not wasting a second, Hudson dove overboard into the murky sea. The waves were now high. A strong wind had come up, and the ship was moving fast away from the spot where his friend went under.

Again and again, Hudson plunged under-water, looking, feeling, but he found nothing. His hope surged when he caught sight of a nearby fishing boat with a dragnet hung over the side. Hudson swam over quickly and shouted, “Come! Come and drag over this spot, a man is drowning just here!”

But the fishermen glanced at him, said it wasn’t convenient, and turned their backs.

Dumbfounded, Hudson swam closer and shouted louder, “Don’t talk of convenience! A man is drowning, I tell you!”

The men looked up. “We are busy fishing. We cannot come.”

“Never mind your fishing! I will give you more money than many a day’s fishing will bring, only come. Come at once!”

The fishermen finally came over and looked down at Hudson in the water. “How much money will you give us?”

“Come or it will be too late! I will give you five dollars.”

But they wanted twenty, and only after Hudson offered all the money he had, did the fishermen slowly let the net down where his friend had gone under. They drew his body out of the water and deposited him on the fishing boat.

Hudson couldn’t revive the man and collapsed on the deck. Beside Hudson lay his Chinese braid, the one the fishermen had flung at him. It had come unwoven from his hair in the water and must have gotten swept up in the net with man.

Hudson shook his head. He couldn’t even persuade a couple of fishermen to save a drowning man. How could he convince “congregations of Christians rejoicing in their own security, while millions perish for lack of knowledge” to come to China and help?

But there was that silly braid. It reminded him of He whose “minute care counts the very hairs of our heads. … As His servant, it was mine to obey and to follow Him, to go and do the work.”

He squeezed the sea out of the braid and stood to face the fishermen.

After this event, Hudson prayed earnestly for God to “thrust forth labourers” and for the “deepening of the spiritual life of the Church, so that men should be unable to stay home.”

Hudson said, “The Lord Jesus commands me, commands you, my brother, and you, my sister, ‘Go.’ Shall we say to Him, ‘No it is not convenient? Shall we tell Him that we are busy fishing and cannot go? Or are engaged in other more interesting pursuits? Ere long we ‘must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body.'”

Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15 ESV).

Everyone one of us has a call on us; are we listening? Hudson said, “God isn’t looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him.”

When Christ said, “Come,” you came. When he says “Go,” what will you do?

“Fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission.” Accessed August 24, 2020.

https://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/slogans.htm

Taylor, J. Hudson. The Autobiography of Hudson Taylor Missionary to China. GHL Publishing.

Tucker, Ruth A. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 1983.

Story read by Peter R Warren, https://www.peterwarrenministries.com/

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April 24. Bruce Porter. Pastor. Firefighter. Chaplain. Bruce has done it all. His position as Moral Leadership Officer with the Civil Air Patrol has taken him to the sites of numerous disasters, in the US and around the world.

Bruce is also an author and an inspirational speaker who has traveled to more than 40 countries to share the gospel.

Ignore big questions, and faith crumbles. Wrestle hard with God, and faith grows.

In the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Bruce Porter stared at the vast starry heavens, a sob stuck in his throat. He built a campfire in his backyard and sat next to it. “Lord, you’re going to have to explain these things to me because I don’t get it.” The wallet-sized photo of God in his mind didn’t match the horrors he’d witnessed.

For years, Bruce had served those reeling from tragedy. He’d stood next to Rachel Scott’s mother as the Columbine High School massacre had unfolded, and she discovered her daughter had been shot. He’d wept with firefighters at Ground Zero, as they searched for the living among rumble caused by terrorists on 9–11. He’d prayed with grieving police officers after Erfurt, Germany’s 2002 secondary-school shooting.

Bruce believed the gospel traveled “with least resistance over the golden wire of compassion.” So he took the love of Christ into trauma, sorrow, and calamity. Sometimes he spoke at rallies or brought monetary gifts. Always he walked among the hurting. He listened. Prayed. Showed them they were not alone.

But Bruce’s recent trip to Beslan, Russia destroyed him. He’d seen little bloody handprints around school walls, put there by children who’d tried to jump out windows to escape the terror.

The Christian community of Beslan traditionally celebrated the first day of primary school by dressing in their best clothes and taking small gifts to the teachers. But that horrific day, September 1, 2004, Chechen Islamic Terrorists, in full military gear, roared into the school lot and took more than a thousand children, parents, and teachers captive. Throughout the school the terrorists placed bombs. Husbands and sons were murdered, while wives and sisters were forced to watch. Women and girls endured unthinkable abuse.

After a three-day siege, the newspaper reported 350 dead. But Bruce saw the mass grave. There were at least 500.

More than 700 children and adults were wounded, more than the hospital could house. To assess wounds and prioritize medical care, the wounded were placed on the grass outside and sprayed with garden hoses. Bruce had walked among the traumatized community bringing aid, comfort, and his tears.

But now, back home, the memories assaulted Bruce. Memories he couldn’t share. If he told anyone but God, he would wound—as he’d been wounded. But Bruce couldn’t ignore his questions. For faith to survive, he had to find solid footing. Only God could help him.

Bruce breathed a Psalm. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars,  which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8: 3, NIV).

The stars were his cathedral. Here he would be brutally honest. Bruce was offended at God and figured he should tell God right away. As with human relationships, it was better to keep a short account.

Bruce sobbed his pain. “Why is there evil?” he cried. He talked with God about horrors he could tell no one else. Spewed frustration. Anger. If God was good, and God was love, why did he allow little kids to be slaughtered, imploding buildings to crush people, or young Rachel to be brutally murdered? He couldn’t reconcile it.

The honesty brought tremendous healing.

Bruce had several sessions next to that campfire. God helped him process pain, anger, and questions. And God showed him when he needed to rest from serving, and when he was ready to continue.

Eventually Bruce found peace in the belief that nothing happened in the universe that surprised God. Nothing happened God couldn’t redeem. While God did not author sin, He had a purpose in everything.

Bruce couldn’t control anything. God was the ultimate authority. Trusting God is in control of the world became Bruce’s way to live without fear.

What hard questions do you need to wrestle through with God? Ignore big questions, and faith crumbles. Wrestle hard with God, and faith grows.

Amazon Editorial Review: About the Author.” 9/11 Target: A Ground Zero Responder Speaks on Tyranny, Deception, and Christian Liberty. Accessed August 3, 2020 https: //www.amazon.com/11-Target-Responder-Deception-Christian/dp/1530161770

Based on an interview with Bruce Porter.

Story read by Blake Mattocks

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?

For more, read Bruce’s books, The Martyrs Torch: The Message of the Columbine Massacre, and Destroying the Shadow Agenda: A Christian Manifesto.

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April 23. Sam Walton. Walton opened his first retail store in 1945. Not a Wal-Mart or a Sam’s Club. It was the first Ben Franklin, which grew to a 15-store franchise.

If Ben Franklin executives had agreed to Walton’s proposals to open big retail stores in small rural areas, the Wal-Mart chain would probably not exist. Walton left the Franklin chain and created his own empire, built on the managerial principle that retail prosperity requires close links among suppliers, shareholders, and employees. He opened his first Wal-Mart store in 1962 and on this date in 1977, Illinois became the tenth state to have a Wal-Mart store. Throughout this journey, Walton made a lot of choices. Today’s story is about Sam when all the choosing is about done.

The choices we make today yield the consequences we face tomorrow.

Seventy-four-year-old Sam Walton lay in bed fighting for his life. “I blew it,” he thought, and he sighed clear down to the footboard of his hospital bed. In the background, a cardiac monitor beeped mostly rhythmically.

It had only been weeks since President George W. Bush, Sr. flew to Walton’s home and presented him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Walton’s career accomplishments ranked high, but now, alone with his thoughts, Walton came face to face with his own mortality.

For more than a week, Sam had been in the hospital, surrounded by whirring machines and conscientious nurses. It mattered little to any of them that this titan of business had founded the Walmart retail chain and expanded it to become one of the largest companies and employers in history.

Without warning, illness had reduced Walton to the human-and-humble state of completely relying on others. Suddenly, the treasured moments his family and friends stopped in to offer a smile, a hug, or a prayer—these were more valuable than anything else he ever accomplished in life.

In the chilling stillness when he was alone, Walton thought about the steep price he’d paid to be one of the world’s wealthiest men.

He hardly knew his youngest son, had spent a lifetime neglecting his own family, and was privately in a marriage with a woman who’d stayed with him out of principle. How had he let this tragedy happen?

On April 5, 1992, medical staff called Sam’s family. It didn’t look like Sam was going to make it. This would be Walton’s last day in the hospital, and his final day on Earth.

As closest family filed solemnly into his room, Sam’s friends and business associates gathered prayerfully in the waiting room nearby. Hospital staff silently made their way in and out of the room, intently monitoring Sam’s declining condition. His family held hands and prayed, and the tempo of the beeping heart monitor slowed. Stuttered.

The room fell silent.

Everyone gathered around his hospital bed.

Sam struggled to whisper his last three words, “I blew it.”

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8: 36, NIV).

Take a moment to prayerfully check your calendar, and your schedule will tell you your priorities. The choices we make today yield the consequences we face tomorrow.

Story read by Chuck Stecker
Story written by John Mandeville, https://www.johnmandeville.com/

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April 22. David Mentzer. If you do an internet search for the name David Mentzer, you may or may not find the subject of today’s story. But there’s at least one young man in Colorado who knows the kind of man David Mentzer is. Here’s their story.

When we use our skills to do good for others, everyday work brings us joy.

There were two men:

In the mountain town Evergreen, Colorado, David Mentzer ran a Subaru Repair Shop. It was bright yellow, and he was in business to make money. That’s why they call it business.

And Stephen, a young intern, survived on a budget as threadbare as his socks.

Now Stephen’s sixteen-year-old Subaru Forester suffered a blown head gasket, a broken ozone sensor, and a bad catalytic converter. And that was just the big stuff.

He couldn’t afford a new car, but how was he supposed to pay for repairs? At 200,000 miles, was the car even worth it?

When Stephen called David and told him the car was burning oil, leaking coolant, and losing power, David said, “Bring it in.”

His confidence gave Stephen hope for an option besides a life of hoofing it to work.

Meanwhile, as David worked, he was thinking about—joy. Some Christian friends he’d met with had said happiness was different than joy, and David leaned over the engine and was thinking about what joy meant in everyday life.

Soon, Stephen pulled onto the asphalt lot in front of David’s shop, found him, and announced the patient had arrived.

David led Stephen outside and told him to drive his Subaru onto the blue lift. David mostly worked—year-round—in the open. A whiff of car fumes, oil, and grease mingled with the scents of pine, juniper, and fresh mountain air. When the old green Subaru was in position, David whipped out a flashlight and shined it on the Forester’s underbelly. Hmm. This was not good.

After a thorough diagnosis, David said if he fixed the most important stuff, the car could go another 100,000 miles. He quoted a reasonable price, and Stephen said he could manage that much. But there were a lot of issues that had to be left unattended. David knew it would be safer and the car would last longer if Stephen would tend to them all. But the young man just didn’t have the money.

Then David spent the better part of eleven days working on that Forester. As he worked, he thought about his own daughter and he thought about Stephen and he thought about what God wanted him to do. What if his daughter were on the road in that car? David repaired that car like he would for his own daughter. Gone were the weak hoses, corroded wiring, and worn belts.

When Stephen came back to pick up his car, David went over the repairs on the invoice—the head gasket, the water pump, the timing belt—and all the rest they’d talked about. But everything was fixed. Even the cracked windshield. “You can drive her anywhere now,” David said. “Take her to California if you want.”

But the bill was the amount Stephen had agreed to pay. Stunned, Stephen tried to express appreciation, but David interrupted.

“When I worked on your car, I wasn’t doing anything differently than I do every day,” David said, “but I felt the joy of the Lord.”

“Don’t be misled; remember that you can’t ignore God and get away with it: a man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows!” (Galatians 6: 7, NLB).

David coached the young man through proper maintenance of his vehicle—just as he would with his own daughter.

“Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith,” (Galatians 6: 10, NIV).

What skill could you use to do good for someone in your circle of influence? When we use our skills to do good for others, everyday work brings us joy.

David Mentzer is a generous auto mechanic, who lives 365.

“What Happened on April 22.” On This Day. Onthisday.com. Accessed August 2, 2020. https://www.onthisday.com/day/april/22

Story based on information in an interview with Stephen Moldenhauer, on-line reviews of Intec Automotive, and a conversation with David.

Story read by Nathan Walker

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April 21. Chuck Norris. That Chuck is competitive might be the understatement of a couple of centuries. From powerboat competitions to famous fights on television, Chuck and his martial arts expertise are legendary.

But Chuck has a contemplative side, too. He writes screenplays and books, and he supports charities such as Make-A-Wish Foundation and the United Way.

Norris describes himself as a shy kid in school who never excelled at anything. Just goes to show what God can do with a man who trusts Him. On this date in 1993, the first episode of Walker, Texas Ranger aired on CBS. The show followed a number of Chuck’s box-office movie hits and lasted for 8 years.

When we put our faith on the line, God shows up.

It’s been said, “Before the boogie man goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris,” and “the only time Chuck Norris uses a stunt double is in crying scenes.”

The real Norris is strong and powerful—because he believes God.

Norris served in the Air Force, was a World Champion in Karate, and has starred in several films and TV. And of course, he and Bruce Lee have a legendary fight in The Way of the Dragon. Throughout all his success, he has consistently stuck to his faith—even when it could cost him a lot.

Chuck Norris is best known for the TV show, Walker, Texas Ranger which ran from 1993 to 2001. It was a highly-rated and much-loved show. Chuck played a Texas Ranger, who used his martial arts skills and peaceful demeanor on the screen to fight for justice.

“When I started the show,” Chuck said, “the producers wanted the plot to be a bit more risqué. I told them I didn’t do that in the movies, and I don’t want to do it now. Let’s keep the show family friendly.” Chuck took a risk, and it paid off. Walker, Texas Ranger became a show that families could watch together, and it had a long run.

“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe,” (Proverbs 29: 25, NIV).

In the fifth season, when Chuck’s wife Gena asked him, “Why don’t you do a faith-based episode?” he called the CBS higher-ups and asked.

The answer was a resounding NO. “We have Touched by an Angel and Highway to Heaven. We don’t need to have that kind of stuff on an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.”

Norris challenged them. “Guys, let me do one faith-based episode, and if it’s not the highest rated show of the year, I will never ask again.”

The executive producers allowed Chuck to make an episode in which faith was emphasized. It was called The Neighborhood—the 100th episode of the show. And it was about forgiveness and redemption. The Texas Ranger helped a little girl bring peace to her neighborhood.

As Chuck predicted, it turned out to be the highest rated show of their year.

They say, “Chuck Norris uses pepper spray to spice up his steaks,” and throughout his career, Norris has never taken offense at the jokes. But someone once said, “Chuck Norris’s tears can cure cancer. Too bad he never cries. Ever.”

And Chuck did respond. He said, “There was a man whose tears could cure cancer or any other disease, including the real cause of all diseases—sin. His blood did. His name was Jesus, not Chuck Norris. If your soul needs healing, the prescription you need is not Chuck Norris’s tears; it’s Jesus’ blood.”

What kind of risks do you take to help people get to know Jesus? When we put our faith on the line, God shows up.

Biography.com Editors. “Chuck Norris Biography.” The Biography.com website. A&E Television Networks. Updated August 7, 2019. https://www.biography.com/actor/chuck-norris

https://chuck-norris-jokes.com/

Norris, Chuck, and Abraham, Ken, Against All Odds (Nashville, TN, B and H Books, 2006)

Video interview at Comicpalooza, Houston, TX, May 13, 2017,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhNCLNc0IDg

Norris, Chuck, and Abraham, Ken, Against All Odds (Nashville, TN, B and H Books, 2006)

Story read by Nathan Walker

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April 20. Karl Barth. Karl, like his father before him, was a theologian, and he was serving as a pastor in a small Swiss village when the commentary he had written on the book of Romans attracted international notice.

Even though he did not have a doctoral degree, a university in Germany offered him a teaching position. He accepted and taught in Münster and in Bonn, but was forced to leave Bonn, and all of Germany, because he would not swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler. He returned to Switzerland and took a position at the University of Basel, where he remained until he retired.

Barth was far more than an ivory-tower theologian; he was an activist who championed the cause of oppressed people everywhere. After the end of WWII, he advocated for reconciliation between the German church and churches abroad. He stood in “solidarity” with Christians behind the iron curtain, rejecting the arms race that engulfed the Soviet Union and much of the western world.

At the age of 75, Barth embarked on a speaking tour across America. On this date in 1962, Time magazine featured Barth on their cover, a sure sign that his religious influence had extended into mainstream American culture.

God does not call the world to us; He tells us to go to the world.

In the fall of 1939, an unusually small class of students gathered in a lecture room in Basel, Switzerland. A middle-aged man in spectacles took his regular post at the front of the class and began his lecture—a kind of service, as he called it—on the doctrines of Scripture. But a familiar roar thundered overhead, and all at once the classroom contrasted starkly with the war raging outside.

Without so much as a glance upward, the speaker continued his lecture, outwardly carrying on as if nothing had happened. Inwardly, though, he wrestled. Speaking to the young people in front of him was safe, but they formed only a fraction of the people his words could impact. Karl Barth would not let his reach be contained to a classroom. Jesus ate with sinners and washed the feet of fishermen. Should the saints hide in stained-glass churches or go out and rescue those in need?

“Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.… Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’” (Luke 10: 3, 8–9, ESV).

Barth took hold of this truth, and it drove him to seek opportunities to meet needy people wherever they were.

The days of war reminded him of his early days of pastoring: on Sundays he had stood in the pulpit preaching to a crowd that watched him, he felt, through a pane of glass, but on Mondays he ran to the aid of oppressed millworkers, arming them with practical support based in God’s Word, rejoicing to see the light of recognition dawn on their faces.

Now, again, the time had come to go to war for the souls of men, men who would hardly understand the significance of Jerusalem or the meaning of sanctification, but who thirsted for wisdom and right direction.

Barth “could no longer remain suspended in the clouds above the present evil world,” like many of his disapproving colleagues, when demonstrating faith required him to work and suffer in the imperfection of war. God had provided His living Word that could speak to all men, and Barth, in obedience to conviction, carried that Word into the darkest corners.

In April 1940, at 54 years old, he reported for armed military service, joining fellow soldiers for weeks at a time to keep watch over the city. “I was very, very happy to preach occasionally to these comrades of mine, 95% of whom were non-church-goers.… I learned once again how to write a sermon which is really aimed at a man.”

The friends he made outside of the church were not incapable of understanding truth, but simply craved it in the form of answers to the “real problems of real life.”

Is there a way you can use God’s truth to liberate someone lost in the problems of life? God does not call the world to us; He tells us to go to the world.

Intro:

Zellweger, Barbara. “Biography.” The Center for Barth Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. Accessed August 2, 2020. http://barth.ptsem.edu/karl-barth/biography.

Story:

Busch, Eberhard. Karl Barth: His life from letters and autobiographical texts. Translated by John Bowden, Fortress Press, 1976.

Zellweger, Barbara. “Biography.” The Center for Barth Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary,http://barth.ptsem.edu/karl-barth/biography

Story read by Chuck Stecker

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April 19. Dwight Lyman Moody. Moody’s first job—in a retail shoe store—required him to attend church. He dutifully attended and soon committed his life to the Lord Jesus. Soon, he was on his way to Chicago and owning his own shoe business. His shoe business grew, and so did his interest in providing a Sunday school for the local YMCA.

On this date in 1860, Moody gave up his shoe business to spend more time serving the YMCA. Meanwhile his Sunday school flourished and eventually grew into a church—with Moody as its pastor.

During the Civil War years, as Union troops mobilized at Camp Douglas, Moody ministered to them. From 1861–1865, he served thousands of soldiers, Union and Confederate, on and off the battlefield.

After the war, Moody established schools for men and women, traveled to England and Ireland to hold revival meetings, and completed numerous American tours, always compelled to preach the message of Christ.

In 1879, he founded a seminary for girls, and in 1889, he founded the Chicago Bible Institute, which is now the Moody Bible Institute.

When the Bible Institute was still in the dream stage, Moody shared his vision with his friends. “I tell you what I want, and what I have on my heart,” he said. “I believe we have got to have gap-men to stand between the laity and the ministers; men who are trained to do city mission work. Take men that have the gifts and train them for the work of reaching the people.”

Model Jesus boldly and jumpstart God’s plan.

Night had fallen over the city of Chicago, and DL Moody should have been home hours ago. The streets, usually crowded and noisy with the rumble-clatter of horse-and-carriage traffic, were now eerily quiet. Empty.

Moody picked up his pace. He wanted to get home and sit in front of a fire. So he strode, lost in his thoughts.

Suddenly, a dark figure appeared, and Moody stopped abruptly. The stranger leaned against a near lamppost, and Moody was glad he hadn’t run into the man.

The fellow was long and thin, and Moody reached out and laid a hand on the man’s bony shoulder. “Excuse me, sir, are you a Christian?” Moody asked, as calmly as if he had been asking for directions to Union Station.

The man startled and threw off Moody’s hand and pulled back a fist, ready to let it fly.

Quickly, Moody apologized. “I’m sorry, sir, I thought it was a proper question.”

“Mind your own business!” The man snarled like a bully of a dog.

“Oh! This is my business,” said Moody, again with that same unusual confidence.

The man—obviously puzzled—shrugged, shook his head, and stormed off.

Years before, Moody himself had been on the receiving end of this “business.” When he’d been young and a stranger in a new town, an old gentleman had approached him right out on the street. Out of the Chicago blue.

The calm, confident gentleman told Moody that God loved him. He gave young Moody a coin to buy a sweet and went on to explain the good news of the Gospel. Moody was so captivated, he forgot all about buying the candy.

Moody gave his life to the Lord several years later. But he never forgot the words and actions of love from an old gentleman stranger right out on the street. Moody called him his “good Samaritan.”

And then Moody went into that same “business”—reaching people—whether friends or family or strangers—for Christ.

DL Moody became one of the most famous evangelists in the English-speaking world, and he ended up preaching to thousands. He even started schools to train young people in evangelism and missions.

“I think how that old man lifted a load from me, and I want to lift a load from someone else.”

It was dawn in Chicago. The early morning fog was starting to lift. Already, the streets were starting their bustle of business. DL Moody and his household were also beginning preparations for the day.

When Moody heard a soft knocking at his front door, he supposed it to be the milkman with his dawn delivery and opened the door. But a man stood there—not the milkman—but a man vaguely familiar to Moody stood on the steps.

“It’s me, sir. I met you on the street one night. From what you said to me, I thought it would be alright for me to come to see you.”

It was the leaner on the lamppost! In the daylight, Moody hardly recognized the long-and-thin man.

“Your question has troubled me so much, I haven’t been able to sleep,” the man said. “I wonder if you could pray for me.”

Moody quickly invited the man in, and he let the Lord Jesus take hold of his life that day. A few years, that old man died. Civil War. In those years, the long-and-thin man was busy in the same business as Moody, winning people to Christ. All who were willing to come.

“Imitate me, just as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 NKJV).

“Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49 NKJV).

Who is your business? Ask God to point out someone—a stranger on the street, a co-worker, a family member? Who needs to experience God’s love through you?

In the words of DL Moody, “So let me say, find some work…When you have won one soul to Christ, you will want to win two, and when you get into the luxury of winning souls, it will be a new world to you, and you will not think of going back to the world at all.”

Model Jesus boldly, and jumpstart God’s plan.

Johnson, Ruth I. Christians You Should Know. Chicago: Moody Press, 1960

Moody, Dwight Lyman, edited by McClure, James Baird. D.L. Moody’s Child Stories. Chicago: Rhodes & McClure, 1877

https://bibletruthpublishers.com/d-l-moody/moodys-stories/dwight-l-moody/lub253-41523

https://www.moody.edu/about/our-bold-legacy/d-l-moody/

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