Episode | 365 Christian Men

May 27. Louis Zamperini. Family and friends had little hope for young Louis. He was a thief and a bully—until he joined his high school’s track team. Soon, he became one of southern California’s best high school athletes.

Louis competed at the 1936 Olympic games and was a leading candidate to break the four-minute-mile barrier. He was all set to compete at the 1940 Olympics, but World War II preempted the Olympics that year.

The Army Air Corp beckoned, and Louis served as a bombardier and ran search-and-rescue missions. On this date in 1943, while on a search-and-rescue mission, his plane lost power and crashed into the Pacific. Eight of the eleven crew members died instantly. Louis and two other survivors of the crash drifted for several weeks before heat, dehydration, and near-starvation took the life of one of the survivors.

Two weeks later, the Japanese Navy captured Louis and his single surviving fellow castaway. They had drifted almost 2,000 miles. Louis was held as a prisoner of war for the next 2 years, and he endured brutal conditions until he was liberated in 1945, following the Japanese surrender.

Broken in body and spirit, plagued by post-traumatic stress, Louis became dependent on alcohol. He credits a Billy Graham sermon in 1949 with turning his life around. Louis went on nationwide tours to discuss his conversion, and he started a wilderness camp for troubled youth. In 1950, Louis returned to Japan to meet and forgive many of his former captors, who were now being held as war criminals.

Hate leads to death. If you want to live—forgive. 

WWII hero Louis Zamperini drifted through life, even after he was rescued from 47 days in a lifeboat—lost at sea. As a B-24 bombardier, he’d flown many missions and completed them under fire.

On May 27, 1943, Zamperini and his crew were flying a search-and-rescue mission over the Pacific Ocean. With 11 men on board, 2 engines lost power, and the plane took a nose dive into the sea. Only three survived the plunge—Zamperini, pilot Russell Phillips, and tail gunner Francis McNamara.

McNamara survived 33 days, but somehow Zamperini and Phillips managed to hang on longer. They drank rain water collected in their raft and devoured whatever birds or fish they could capture. Sharks encircled the raft in search of blood. The men’s weight plummeted under 100 pounds.

One day a low-flying gunner riddled the ocean with bullets barely missing Zamperini and Phillips. In desperation Zamperini promised God that if his life was spared, he would seek Him. He was bargaining with God, but didn’t yet know what he was bargaining for.

The men drifted 2,000 miles and were somewhere between Hawaii and the Philippines. Finally, a patrol boat approached—but it was Japanese. They hoisted Zamperini and Phillips into the boat and shipped them to a prison on the mainland.

Prison was brutal. Zamperini was singled out for extra abuse because he’d been a US distance runner and popular Olympic hopeful. One man named Mutsuhiro Watanabe used clubs, belts, his own fists to beat Zamperini mercilessly. He developed murderous thoughts toward Mutsuhiro that filled his mind with hate.

After the war, Zamperini came home to peace and a hero’s welcome, but war still raged in his heart. He drank and lived recklessly. And there were nightmares—horrible nightmares that wouldn’t go away. One night he woke and found himself strangling his beautiful wife Cynthia. He’d thought he was strangling Mutsuhiro. Something had to change. And it did. It wasn’t long before Cynthia told him she wanted a divorce.

Concerned neighbors invited the couple to a Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles. Cynthia attended and received Christ into her heart. Afterwards, she told Louie she no longer wanted a divorce, and she convinced Louie to attend with her.

The first night he stormed out. Incredibly, he agreed to return the next night and nearly left—but then something stopped him. He thought about how God had saved his life. He remembered his promise on the life raft, and a review of his godless years played itself out. He knew he needed Christ, so he turned right around and went to the prayer room.

He later explained, “I dropped to my knees and for the first time in my life truly humbled myself before the Lord. I asked him to forgive me for not having kept the promises I’d made during the war and for my sinful life. I made no excuses. I did not rationalize; I did not blame. He [God] had said, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” so I took him at his word, begged for his pardon, and asked Jesus to come into my life,” (Romans 10:13, NIV).

Louie’s marriage was restored, and the murderous thoughts he’d had were lifted. He wrote Mutsuhiro a letter telling him he forgave him. He even traveled to Japan to face his prison guards (now imprisoned themselves as war-criminals) and forgave them. Zamperini was a new man in Christ, finally able to forgive his captors and experience true joy in the Lord.

Who is God asking you to forgive? Now what step will you take? Hate leads to death. If you want to live—forgive.

Andrews, Evan. “Eight Things You May Not Know about Louis Zamperini.” History Stories. History.com. A&E Television Networks. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-louis-zamperini

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/broken-louie-zamperini/ Ivan Mesa, article, Broken: The Power of Conversion in Louie Zamperini’s Life, October 24, 2014.

https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-louis-zamperini – Evan Andrews, 8 Things You May Not Know About Louis Zamperini, December 17, 2014.

Story read by Blake Mattocks

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

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May 26. Henry J. Heinz. When Henry was very young, he helped his mother make and sell pickles. He sold homemade grated horseradish in clear glass jars so his customers could see that he was not cheating them by adding turnips or wood pulp to his product.

When he was 12, he had his own vegetable plot, which he tended with zeal and skill. Soon, he was selling both his grated horseradish and his surplus garden produce to the local greengrocer. By the time he graduated from high school, he had to hire workers to help him.

Henry went to a top-notch business college, financed completely from his vegetable sales. After he graduated, he joined the growing canned-goods food industry.

That business did well until a combination of bumper crops and bank failures resulted in bankruptcy. Henry then started the Heinz Food company, which eventually grew into a national company known for quality organic production, a family-type working atmosphere, health and other benefits for his workers, and innovative advertising.

On this date in 1909, Henry convened the first board meeting of HJ Heinz & Co. By 2012, the company was an international success that employed around 32,000 people in more than 6 countries. Into the second decade of the century, Heinz embraces goals, which call for action toward ending poverty and protecting the planet.

Through Christ, in success and in failure, we can act with integrity.

Thirty-one-year-old Henry J. Heinz lay ill. His business bankrupt. How would he meet the final payday for his faithful employees, never mind Christmas presents for his wife and two children?

For a hard worker who’d been honing his entrepreneurial skills since he was eight, this failure was devastating. He’d brought all his Christian principles into his business dealings and had never known a day without work—suddenly helpless.

When he was 8, Heinz sold the surplus produce from his mother’s garden. By 16, his business had grown to employ three women, and he delivered to Pittsburgh grocers three times a week in his own wagon. By 28, he’d formed Heinz, Noble and Company and expanded their operational facilities into St. Louis and Chicago.

As usual, Heinz obsessed over ways to make this expansion efficient. In 1875, he contracted with an Illinois farm to buy all the cucumbers and cabbage they produced. It was a good plan. If only that year hadn’t produced a bumper crop.

Suddenly the cost of the vegetables they’d contracted to buy far exceeded their cash on hand. Failing banks meant no money to borrow to meet their commitment. They couldn’t bottle or sell the product fast enough, either.

By October of that year, Heinz was struggling to meet his financial commitments and avoid bankruptcy. In November, he wrote in his diary, “I have two thousand dollars to meet tomorrow, and not a penny to meet it with.”

By December, the end had come. He met the final payday with money borrowed from his wife—money she had brought into the marriage, but which he kept in an account for her.

But that same Christmas, he received an inspiring gift. With no money for material things, Heinz’s mother wrote him a card, a reminder of Christ’s faithfulness and a prayer of blessing on his efforts to provide for his family. She ended her note reminding him that his life in Christ was the most important thing.

Heinz painstakingly noted every penny he owed and to whom, determined to repay them because it was the right thing to do in the sight of God. By February, he was ready to start again. With borrowed money, he embarked on a new quest—F. And J. Heinz Company. Then he did what he had always done—he worked hard and trusted God.

Heinz lived out the Apostle Paul’s instructions: “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father,” (Colossians 3:17, NASB).

And his business thrived, in spite of the previous failure because people recognized Henry Heinz’s integrity as a businessman.

It took several years, but Henry Heinz paid off every creditor of his failed company even though he was not legally bound to do so. And he led the newly formed H. J. Heinz and Company into a worldwide, multi-million-dollar business known for taking care of creditors, customers, and employees.

Henry Heinz defined his success by the way he treated people, so even in his failure he found success by living a life pleasing to Christ.

In what ways do your business principles reflect what you believe about Christ? Through Christ, in success and in failure, we can act with integrity.

“Henry J. Heinz Biography: Success Story of Heinz Ketchup Empire.” Astrum People. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://astrumpeople.com/henry-j-heinz-biography/.

E.D. McCafferty. Henry J. Heinz, a biography (New York: Bartlett Orr Press, 1923) 81. On google books:

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

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May 25. Xu Yonghai. Dr. Xu is a Chinese evangelical and psychiatrist who shares the gospel with everyone he meets. He is a social activist in a place where activism can be hazardous to one’s health. He is an “unlicensed” preacher in a place where all religious activity (Christian and other) is controlled by the government.

Dr. Xu has been arrested three times. On this date in 1997, Dr. Xu was arrested for “smearing the government” in an article he had written about the growth of Christianity. For that, he spent two years in a labor camp. Because of another article that he wrote in 2003, he was arrested again. This article was about how the government treated Christians in southern China. They charged him with “leaking state secrets.” He was sentenced to two years in prison. In 2014, he was detained for one month because he was running a house church.

Dr. Xu his fellow believers persist in the face of persecution; they explain that their predecessors faced much harsher punishments, including life imprisonment. Here is his story.

Rejoicing in suffering means more than just bearing it.

In 1997, Xu Yonghai wrote an article about house churches for Chinese Christians. And it cost him two years in prison. He did two years of hard labor. He served two years with no trial. Mandated by police authority, not the judicial system, this was the “labor re-education” system in action.

When he was released—undeterred, he continued his work for the Lord. He had a respectable job as a doctor, and in everything he did, he demonstrated unusual love and concern for others.

But in 2003, he faced another two-year sentence, and he was once again thrust into isolation from his brothers and sisters in Christ.

In prison, the police placed Xu Yonghai in one room for work during the day and a different room for sleep at night. Both rooms were designed to reduce his contact with other prisoners. And the rooms came equipped with nasty insults, physical assault, sparse meals, and heavy labor.

The work started at six in the morning and often continued until 8 or 9 at night, sometimes even later. But even this pain was nothing compared to the pain of missing his wife. That was unbearable.

He longed to continue his daily practice of reading and studying the Bible, but in prison, it was hard to get one. In November, he wrote to his wife to send a copy of the Bible to him in prison, the police told him, “In prison you can’t read the Bible.”

“Why?” he asked.

“The Code of Conduct for Prisoners stipulates: ‘You cannot practice and spread cults.’”

“Christianity is not a cult,” Xu Yonghai said. “The Bible is legal here. If you won’t let my wife send me one, once I’m released from prison I’ll have to tell people that Chinese prisons didn’t even let me read the Bible.”

“I have to consult higher authorities,” the guard said.

It took a few months for the guard to consult the higher authorities. In February, the guard returned and gave Xu permission to ask for the Bible from home. “Don’t preach it to others, though,” he said.

So Xu Yonghai got a Bible and read it often to receive comfort from the Word. He had heard of many other brothers and sisters imprisoned for their faith, who had believed they could not read the Bible and could not receive that comfort, but he didn’t want to lose hope without a fight. One of the passages that especially strengthened him was this:

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed,” (1 Peter 4:12–13, NIV).

The daily reassurance from the Word gave Xu Yonghai hope in his suffering and allowed him to remember the joy of Christ all the way until his release.

Today how can you renew your hope in Christ? Rejoicing in suffering means more than just bearing it.

“Wife of Chinese Christian Prisoner Appeals to Christians around the World.” Asia News. Asianews.it. December 10, 2003. http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Wife-of-Chinese-Christian-prisoner-appeals-to-Christians-around-the-world-144.html

Yu, Katrina. “Chinese Christian Churches Targeted in Religious Crackdown.” SBS News. Updated January 8. 2017.https://www.sbs.com.au/news/chinese-christian-churches-targeted-in-religious-crackdown

Yina, Li. “My First Wedding Anniversary with My Husband.” A Hundred Schools of Thought Contend, 2 May 2006, https://blog.boxun.com/hero/201310/xuyonghai/14_1.shtml

Yina, Li. “My Husband Xu Yonghai.” A Hundred Schools of Thought Contend, 29 Jan. 2004,
https://blog.boxun.com/hero/201309/xuyonghai/34_1.shtml

Yonghai, Xu. “By Fighting for It, I Read the Bible in Prison.” A Hundred Schools of Thought Contend, 16 March 2006 https://blog.boxun.com/hero/201309/xuyonghai/91_1.shtml

Story read by Joel Carpenter

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May 24. Søren Kierkegaard. The problem began with Søren’s father. Once when Dad was a shepherd boy hard at work in the harsh weather, he cursed God, and even when he was grown, he was convinced that—because of that curse—all seven of his children would die before they reached the age of 34. This might explain why Søren wrote so prolifically before his 34th birthday. He published close to 40 works, including poetry, fiction, philosophical treatises, theological pieces, social critiques, and works that defy labelling.

In many ways, he was like the ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates. Neither philosopher was satisfied with traditional answers to moral questions, and both pushed people to think for themselves and to take responsibility for what they believed and how they lived in the light of that belief. Both philosophers drew criticism from the establishment.

The main question that occupied Søren was how to “become a Christian in Christendom.” On this date in 1855, he published one of his final works: The Instant: On Beginnings, which addresses the idea of becoming one’s true self. Here’s his story.

Battling the enemy’s lies demands that every man examine what he believes.

And the air was thick with lies during the mid-1800s—Søren Kierkegaard’s time. Denmark’s church faced a deadly enemy.

It wasn’t anything loud or violent; it was a lie nobody questioned. People just accepted it.

This enemy-lie taught that a person could be born into Christianity. If your parents were Christians, then automatically you were, too.

But the philosopher Kierkegaard knew that God had sent had His Son to pay the price for sin—to ransom people who entrusted their lives to Him. But the gift of salvation was not a birthright of anyone; it could be had only through faith.

In 1855, Kierkegaard realized it was his duty to fight the lie. With nothing but a pen and a mindset of self-examination, Kierkegaard strode into battle.

In the middle of this battle, Søren’s brother Peter visited. He was a theologian of the Danish church, and he thought Søren was as eccentric as ever: his light hair high above his forehead, his thin frame supported on legs of uneven lengths, and his eyes with a “quiet glow of love.”

Søren paced his apartment thoughtfully, where a few different rooms were heated and lit at once, and a pen and paper lay in each area to allow him to capture a thought any moment it took shape.

Feeling sympathy and respect for his brother, while at the same time disagreeing with what Soren wrote, Peter casually suggested Søren travel a while and take a break.

Soren rested his gaze on his well-meaning brother and responded bluntly: “Is this the time to travel?”

Seeing the determination and conviction behind this question, Peter realized that “to some extent [Søren] was justified in saying this…it must have appeared to be a counsel to flee from battle.” Peter left, unsettled, and Søren went back to writing.

In the next few months Søren managed to write, edit, and publish 64 articles, which spoke out against commonly accepted state Christendom.

But the exhaustion and stress of Søren’s task overwhelmed his body, and he passed away from illness in the late fall of 1855.

When Peter spoke at the funeral, he looked out at the great crowd and recognized the impact his brother’s writing had. There were those whom his brother had brought to spiritual awakening, those who began to wrestle with what they really believed, those who had learned to test and weigh commonly accepted practices against God’s Word, and even those who realized that what they possessed was not true faith. In each of these people, Søren Kierkegaard had asked only what he had asked of himself: to examine and test what he presumed to know and believe.

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5, ESV).

When you examine your heart in light of what the bible says are you living out your faith? Battling the enemy’s lies demands that every man examine what he believes.

McDonald, William. “Søren Kierkegaard.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. SEP. Updated Nov. 10, 2017 https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kierkegaard/

Kirmmse, Bruce. Encounters with Kierkegaard: A Life as Seen by His Contemporaries. Princeton University Press, 1996.

Storm, Dan. “Articles from The Fatherland.” D. Anthony Storm’s Commentary on Kierkegaard, http://sorenkierkegaard.org/the-moment.html

Storm, Dan. “The Moment.” D. Anthony Storm’s Commentary on Kierkegaard,
http://sorenkierkegaard.org/the-moment.html

Story read by Daniel Carpenter

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May 23. Samuel Cathy. Samuel founded Chick Fil A— one of the top-earning restaurant chains in America. It pulled in “more than $9 billion in revenue in 2017, marking 50 consecutive years of sales growth.” And of those proceeds, in 2017 and 2018 alone, “$14.65 million was awarded in scholarships to Team Members, and $1.23 million was donated to charities.”

On this date in 1946, Samuel opened his first 24-hour diner. Here’s his story.

Obeying God can be tough, but it’s not optional.

Samuel Cathy, founder of Chick Fil A, was a man who stuck to his convictions, a man who wasn’t afraid to work hard, a man who lived according to his favorite Bible verse: “A good name is more desirable than great riches” (Proverbs 22:1, NIV).

In May 1946, Cathy and his brother Ben opened the Dwarf Grill—a 24-hour diner. Wisely, the diner was situated near the Ford assembly plant and the Atlanta airport, and the brothers quickly built a regular following. But with only two men operating a 24-hour business—alternating 12-hour shifts at the grill—they soon got exhausted.

The diner—with its four tables and ten stools at the counter—was a small business. And to survive financially, it had to operate every day of the week.

But Cathy decided to close the diner on Sundays—a day that normally earned restaurants 20 percent of their weekly revenue. “I was in the habit of going to Sunday School and church and being with my family,” he said. “I didn’t want to be robbed of that.”

Cathy took the Fourth Commandment seriously: “‘Honor the Lord’s Day and keep it holy.’ It’s a special day that the Lord has given Man.”

For Cathy, Sundays served as more than just a day of rest. After serving food all week in his diner, on Sundays he poured himself into the young people at church and fed them with God’s Word, a practice he continued for the next 50 years.

Dwarf Grill soon expanded into multiple franchises, and Cathy remained firm in his conviction that all his restaurants remain closed on Sundays.

In 1967, when he opened the first Chick Fil A, his practice of closing on Sundays was met with resistance: “Shopping malls are normally open on Sunday, and there are a few instances in which we were denied to go in there because of the fact we’re closed on Sunday. You don’t earn much money like that.”

Cathy said, “You have to make up your mind who you’re going to please. It’s a silent witness to the Lord when people go into shopping malls, and everyone is bustling, and you see that Chick-fil-A is closed.”

It could have ended in financial ruin, but God had other plans. Chick Fil A skyrocketed to success. Years later, when reflecting on his decision to close on Sundays, Cathy reflected, “God has blessed us for this. When people say, ‘Look how much money you lose by being closed on Sunday,’ I answer, ‘You’re wrong, because we generate more sales in six days than our competition does in seven.’”

God is still blessing Chick Fil A today.

“Remember to observe the Sabbath as a holy day. Six days a week are for your daily duties and your regular work, but the seventh day is a day of Sabbath rest before the Lord your God. On that day you are to do no work of any kind, nor shall your son, daughter, or slaves—whether men or women—or your cattle or your house guests,” (Exodus 20:8-10, TLB).

In which areas of your life is the Lord calling you to obey Him? Obeying God can be tough, but it’s not optional.

Daszkowski, Dan. “The Story of S. Truett Cathy: From One Tiny Restaurant to a $1.6 Billion Chick-fil-A Empire.” The Balance Small Business. Thebalancesmb.com. Updated July 26, 2019.
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/s-truett-cathy-bio-chick-fil-a-story-1350972.

Hoffower, Hilary. “Meet the Cathys, Heirs to the Chick-fil-A Empire . . .” Business Insider. Businessinsider.com. March 14, 2019. https://www.businessinsider.com/cathy-family-chick-fil-a-fortune-net-worth-lifestyle-photos-2019-3.

https://billygraham.org/story/a-conversation-with-truett-cathy/

https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1126&context=neje

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/08/the-world-according-to-chick-fil-a-founder-truett-cathy/?utm_term=.11e7f01f7d6e

https://thechickenwire.chick-fil-a.com/Press-Room

Story read by Blake Mattocks

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May 22. John Wycliffe. Wycliffe was a Protestant long before there were Protestants. The Protestant Reformation is a 16th century phenomenon, but Wycliffe lived in the 14th century.

Two-hundred years before Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the castle door, Wycliffe wrote and circulated 18 Theses, including outright challenges to the Catholic church’s authority. (Wycliff said their authority was second to the Scriptures.)

Obviously, his ideas got him in trouble with the Catholic Church, and on this date in 1377, Pope Gregory XI issued 5 public decrees against Wycliffe denouncing his 18 Theses as “erroneous and dangerous to Church and State.”

Wycliffe pointed out that Moses learned God’s law in his own language (Hebrew), and the Apostles learned it in their own language (Greek). Even the contemporary very rich could read it in Latin. But ordinary people had no translation they could read. Wycliffe set out to change that, and directed the production of Bibles handwritten in Middle English—at least fifty years before the invention of the Gutenberg printing press. Here’s his story.

Flattery means nothing to a man determined to obey God.

John Wycliffe spent most of his life standing up against the church’s hypocrisy. Over the decades, he had seen friars take advantage of the poor, kidnap young people and force them into ministry, and call preaching the gospel outside of religious places heresy.

John had just finished a work calling for the Bible to be translated into English. Regular people had been starved of the Word of God. He would spend his life making sure God’s Word was spread to the people! To make the Word easy to send out, and to make sure the most people possible could read it, John packaged the New Testament in small portions. It had a been a huge, important project.

But now, John could barely move and was confined to his bed. Whatever sickness had struck him had hit him hard with paralysis, and he had to rely on others for help. After so much division in the church and so much fighting, was he now going to be taken away? Surely, his work wasn’t finished.

The rest of the Bible needed to be translated into English, and someone had to keep exposing the hypocrisy of the friars. As he lay there with nothing but his thoughts, he overheard his helpers say that visitors had arrived at Oxford, coming to wait on him.

The door opened, and eight men appeared: four senators from the city and four friars, each from different orders within the church.

John’s eyes wandered to meet their glances, but he was unable to sit himself up to greet them, and so remained stretched out on the bed. The friars approached and offered him their good wishes and flattery. Only months ago, they called him a heretic and wanted the Pope to punish him. Now, they offered sympathy in his plight, even daring to hope he’d recover.

John stayed silent and allowed them to speak.

The longer the friars stayed, the more critical their speech became. Sympathy turned into judgment. They reminded him how wrong he had been in his sermons and writings, how his views on Scripture and the Holy Orders had been contrary to the truth the friars taught.

With pouty lips, and shaking heads, they looked down on him—in every sense of the word.

His illness was so severe—surely John knew he was dying—they hinted. Heavily. So it would be wise for him to confess his sins against them, to recant all that talk about letting regular people read the Bible.

John stayed silent.

When they finished, he raised his hand. He was weak and barely lifted it off the bed. Servants hurried to him, and in a soft voice he asked if they might put some pillows behind his back and sit him up, so he could face his visitors.

The friars watched expectantly, doubtless wondering if their flowery speech had done the trick. But when John sat up, he eyed each of them, and his voice boomed. “I shall not die, but live, and yet declare the evil deeds of the friars.”

The friars’ mouths dropped open. They were supposed to get a confession, not defiance.

But God was not done with John Wycliffe, and he would recover enough to finish his work.

Dumbstruck, the offended—and disappointed–friars hurried out of the room. Whatever rebuttal they’d planned had been preempted.

In the end, John Wycliffe did recover enough to resume his work, and his recovery allowed him to work on one of God’s biggest plans for his life: translating the Bible into English.

“For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people,” (1 Peter 2:15, NIV).

What can you do to make sure you stay on the right path—the path of God’s plan for your life? Flattery means nothing to a man determined to obey God.

“John Wycliffe.” English Bible History. Greatsite.com. Accessed August 10, 2020.
https://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/john-wycliffe

Murray, Thomas. The Life of John Wycliffe. Edinburg: John Boyd, 1829. Internet Archive. Web. 21 Jan. 2019.
https://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/john-wycliffe.html

Story read by Chuck Stecker

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May 21. William Farel. Farel was a man of intense courage, boldness, and fearlessness, and he eventually became a significant figure in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. He started out as a pro-Reform Catholic preacher, but the Catholic efforts were too slow for Farel. He moved from France to Switzerland, where he encountered many leaders of the Reformation, including Martin Luther.

In Switzerland, Farel traveled from town to town and spread Protestant ideas. Sometimes he was successful; other times, not so much. While in Geneva, he was beaten and shot at, and Genevan authorities kicked him out of the city several times. Because of widespread immorality in Geneva, one Easter Sunday, Farel refused to serve Communion.

But he persevered in reaching out to the people, and on this date in 1536, Farel brought the Reformation to Geneva. Together with John Calvin, another Frenchman, Farel continued to work in Geneva until both of them were expelled in 1538. Here’s his story.

Any truth worth believing is a truth worth defending.

William Farel was a wanted man, and—under a false name—he was hiding in Switzerland. Quietly, one person at a time, he told the truth about Jesus, and helped people connect with the all-powerful Savior.

Eventually, Farel took his own name back and went public. He had taken the tower; next he would take the town. “He ascended the pulpit and openly preached Jesus Christ to the astonished multitude.”

The bold, ginger-bearded preacher had one passion: teaching the Word of God in a way ordinary people could understand.

But the local religious leaders feared his teaching, saying, “If this man continues preaching, it is all over for our Church!” And they set themselves against him.

Days later, from a pulpit in a neighboring town, a local monk shouted to the villagers—about Farel, “It is the devil himself, who preaches by the mouth of this minister, and all those who listen to him will be damned!” Convenient for the monk, Farel had missed that sermon.

Then the monk rushed from the scene, focused on his next item of church business: it was his job to accept the donation of a few barrels of the best wine in Switzerland—on behalf of his religious community.

But when he got there, the monk unexpectedly came upon Farel.

“Did you preach against me at Noville, saying that the Devil spoke through me?” asked Farel.

The monk leaned in, and whispered that he had.

Calmly, Farel asked whether the friar believed it was possible for the devil to preach the gospel, and if the people who heard it could somehow be damned for listening.

Flustered, the friar raised his voice and said that notion was absurd.

Farel got louder. “Then why have you publicly spoken against me in such terms?…I would rather die than teach false doctrine to the poor people whom Christ has redeemed by his blood.”

The friar said he’d heard Farel was a heretic who led people astray. And he turned to walk away.

But Farel wasn’t done and followed him. Their argument went longer, their voices grew louder, and the crowd around them got bigger.

Farel gestured toward the monk. “You see this fine father,” Farel said to the crowd. “He has said from the pulpit that I preach nothing but lies, and that you will perish if you listen to me.”

Now, the monk got furious, denied he’d ever spoken a word against Farel. In a fit of rage, he whipped the hat off his head and stomped on it. With each fevered step, dirt and debris flew.

Right about then, a Roman magistrate arrived and hauled the two preachers off to jail. Causing a disturbance. A hearing at the Castle court was scheduled.

When Farel arrived in court, the friar was already standing before the judges. The Court asked Farel was asked to speak about the friar’s accusations.

“Let him make good his charges,” Farel said, “or if he cannot, let the people hear the gospel.”

The friar fell to his knees, before the Court and Farel, and begged forgiveness for his slanderous words.

“My friend and brother,” Farel said, “do not ask forgiveness of me, for I am a poor sinner like other men…ask pardon of our Savior.” Then Farel begged the Court to show mercy. The gospel had been defended, and this was all Farel really wanted—for the people of French Switzerland to have the Word of God.

“Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3, ASV).

How is God leading you to speak the truth of his Word in love, even if it brings conflict? Any truth worth believing is a truth worth defending.

The Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica. “Guillaume Farel: French Religious Leader.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopediabritannica.com. Accessed August 10, 2020.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Guillaume-Farel

“William Farel.” Five Minutes in Church History. Ligonier Ministries. Accessed August 10, 2020.
https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/william-farel/

https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp?file=99797.qna&category=th&page=questions&site=iiim

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

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

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May 20. Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatius’s early life followed a predictable pattern for boys born in wealthy, noble families. He started as a page and then a knight—both soldier and diplomat. On this date in 1521, while he was serving as soldier, he was severely injured by a cannonball. He almost died; his legs were damaged, and his career as a knight was decidedly over.

In Ignatius’s second career, he embarked on pilgrimages, lived as a beggar, and often spent up to 7 hours a day in prayer. Being orderly and diligent, Ignatius recorded the way he practiced Christianity in a document called “Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola,” which includes meditations, contemplations, and prayers. He practices these disciplines long before he became a priest, and he thought of them as helps for all believers, helps for the necessary change of heart.

Eventually, with like-minded believers, Ignatius founded a religious order known as Jesuits. Here’s how he got started.

What you’re living for may not be what you were created to do.

For 28-year-old Ignatius, cannon fire rang in his ears, the shouts of war echoed in his mind, and the vision of his useless torso and legs bound to a bed challenged his manhood.

He’d been a nobleman. He’d been a hot-headed gambler. He’d been a bon vivant—that’s French for high life of the party. And he’d never been shy about using his sword. He’d been Captain of the Spanish Artillery.

When the French attacked the Spanish town Pamplona, their fortifications weren’t finished yet, and the military outpost was weak. The Spanish officers wanted to retreat. But Ignatius wanted everyone to stay and defend the place until the reinforcements arrived.

Ignatius said, “…to shun the common peril is the nature of cowards; to perish in the universal ruin is the mischance of brave men. I should deem [a man] worthy of immortal glory if he had died of his fidelity.”

Since Ignatius wasn’t in charge, most of the Spanish troops did retreat, but Ignatius and the men he commanded ran into the citadel and fought fiercely. Ignatius stood on the wall. That would be the wall that the French were bombarding with cannon fire.

One cannon-strike drove a stray bit of castle through Ignatius’s left leg, and the cannonball shattered his left. He fell. His men fell. Pamplona fell.

And Ignatius became a prisoner of war.

But his wounds were severe, and the French admired his guts. So they treated him “with all honour for fifteen days.” And they administered the Last Rites.

When he gave up his helmet, sword, and shield, the French even carried him home to his family castle to recover.

But fever ravaged him, and he needed surgery. The leg would never fully heal—a limp was guaranteed.

It was a miracle Ignatius even survived the siege, let alone his injuries. But as his slow recovery lingered, it wasn’t the pain or the suffering that kept his mind dis-eased. His life had been dedicated to the chivalry of knighthood. How could he gain honor and glory in battle when he lay crippled in bed?

No, he would not let glory escape him! He was a soldier of the King. He’d remember his duty. No injury would keep him from battle!

He’d refocus on things that mattered. The knighthood. Being a soldier. Fighting for life and love.

He asked his caregivers for something to read. A good, chivalrous romance. Surely, that would keep his mind occupied. But the only books they had were like Life of Christ by a monk named Ludolph and Lives of the Saints.

Ignatius was perplexed and perturbed. Here he was, recovering in a great castle, but there were no stories of knights? He’d go mad without something to do. Reluctantly, he decided the books at hand were better than staring at walls.

Turned out, he found the true stories…enjoyable. Inspiring, even.

When he lay in that peaceful place between wakefulness and dreaming, he thought of his duties as a soldier, his quest for glory and love—all this was the pinnacle of his career. His joy disappeared. He felt empty. Dead inside.

But when he thought of Christ, the stories were just as glorious. Joy washed over him, and his whole self was bathed in peace. And the deep peace never left.

He compared what he’d read to his life. His years as a knight. Did he really want to spend his life fighting? After the initial high of a win, there was nothing.

All the war and its glory had been a waste.

But the saints served for the glory of Christ and not their own…that felt like true purpose! A heart-fire ignited within Ignatius, and as he recovered, he changed his routine. He’d no longer wish for his old life.

He’d make a new one. A life loyal to Christ. One night, he pledged himself—for the rest of his life—to be Christ’s servant.

“For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory,” (2 Corinthians 3:10, NIV).

What things that bring you glory are related to Christ? What you’re living for may not be what you were created to do.

https://www.academia.edu/25277002/The_Spiritual_Exercises_of_St_Ignatius_of_Loyola
Ryan, Edward A. “St. Ignatius of Loyola: Spanish Saint.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encycloperdiabritannica.com. Updated July 27, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/St-Ignatius-of-Loyola

“The Society of Jesus.” Immaculate Conception Church. Accessed August 10, 2020.
https://jesuitchurch.net/the-society-of-jesus

Treacy, Rev. Gerald C. Ignatius Loyola, The Soldier Saint. New York: Paulist Press, 1942. Internet Archive. Web. 5 Feb. 2019.

Thompson, Francis. Saint Ignatius Loyola. London: Burns, Oates, & Washbourne, 1910. Internet Archive. Web. 5 Feb. 2019.

Story read by Daniel Carpenter

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May 19. Colonel Jeffrey Williams. In 1993, Jeffrey graduated first in the class at US Naval Test Pilot School, Class 103. Three years later, he was selected to be an astronaut.

On this date in 2000, the STS-101 Mission began, and Jeffrey Williams was the Flight Engineer and Lead Spacewalker. This was the third shuttle mission for building the space station. The goal of the ten-day mission was to move and install more than 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies. On this trip, Jeffrey walked in space for 7 hours.

As of this writing in 2020, Jeffrey has spent 534 days in space. In 2019, he was inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame. Here’s his story.

Opportunities are easily missed. Keep your eyes open.

For six weeks, Astronaut Jeffrey Williams had been orbiting Earth. Working aboard the International Space Station (ISS) was a dream come true for a man who thoroughly enjoyed God’s creation.

But being an astronaut on the ISS got lonely. For weeks, there was only Jeffrey and Cosmonaut Pavel. One May morning, the loneliness and sameness weighed heavy. God had given him this awesome opportunity, but Jeffrey felt—forgotten.

Every day he got to talk to Anne-Marie, his wife. But being physically separated from his family was weird. Tough. He was having an adventure, sure. But they were going on with their lives down there. He told Anne-Marie what he was thinking, and she said she’d pray for him.

That was good. But it felt like God had forgotten him.

After the call, he floated to where his work was stationed. And he passed by a window where he had a camera set to take pictures of Earth. He had time to snap a few photos for NASA.

He looked down on Earth—snowy mountain peaks surrounded by gleaming water. The Aleutian Islands off the tip of the Alaskan peninsula. He snapped photos, but something was wrong.

A giant plume of smoke billowed from the mountain peak. And this was no ordinary mountain fire. The mountain was a volcano—Cleveland Volcano—and it was erupting!

The station was already passing the area, and by the time Jeffrey called Pavel to see the volcano, it was out of sight.

Jeffrey called Houston and reported the eruption, and the excitement stirred. No one on Earth knew about it, and as scientists, they were excited. Jeffrey sent pictures for confirmation, and Houston notified the Alaskan Observatory. But the Observatory thought it was a prank.

Ninety tension-filled minutes passed Before the station flew over the volcano again. This time Jeffrey saw no smoke. Now, like liquid fire, streaks of red and gold lava surged down the sides of the volcano.

Jeffrey’s body pumped adrenalin, and he was pumped. Even NASA was giddy about the discovery. Jeffrey was probably the only person on—or above—Earth who had seen the Cleveland Volcano erupt.

God had heard his wife’s prayer. And He hadn’t forgotten Jeffrey. Think of the immensity of the universe. Think of the grandeur. Think of one man being in the exact right spot at the exact right time to see one mountain peak so far away. Pavel was right there, and he didn’t get to see it.

Likewise, having a down day was a pretty small moment in Jeffrey’s life. But the Creator of the immense-and-grand universe cared about Jeffrey, cared about how he felt, cared that he knew his Creator hadn’t forgotten him.

“He takes care of us continually in the little things,” Jeffrey said.

“Ah, Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you,” (Jeremiah 32:17, NIV).

What are some little things you’ve noticed in God’s creation? How might they remind you of how much God cares for you? Opportunities are easily missed. Keep your eyes open.

Institute for Creation Research. “NASA Astronaut Colonel Jeffrey Williams.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 25 Feb. 2015. Web. 31 Aug. 2019.

Jeffrey Williams. “Above All the Earth.” Acts & Facts. Institute for Creation Research. 27 Feb. 2015. Web. 31 Aug. 2019.

Story read by Chuck Stecker

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May 18. Thomas Chalmers. In the very early 1800s, Chalmers was a prolific writer on a variety of topics: economics, theology, social work, and astronomy, to name just a few. He obtained his divinity degree at the age of 19, was licensed to preach at the age of 20, and was ordained at the age of 22. But ministry was not his passion, at least, not yet. He loved mathematics, philosophy, economics, and science, and took every opportunity to learn and teach those subjects.

Unfortunately, that did not make the church happy. Nor the university. So Chalmers considered launching a political career, and he began writing economic literature.

But when he began researching evidence for Christianity, his life took an unexpected turn. He became a committed evangelical, and with his usual enthusiasm, Chalmers threw himself into ministry in earnest: preaching, organizing Bible societies and charities, and building chapels. He continued to write. His most notable work of this time includes a defense of the compatibility of science and religion. He also began a campaign of poor relief.

Eventually, he retired from active ministry to become a full-time professor of moral philosophy. As always, he continued to write, but his topic now was the application of Christian principles and ethics within the field of economics. Chalmers moved on from teaching philosophy to teaching theology, but when he joined a group of ministers who seceded, “en masse,” from the state church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland, he lost his position as Chair of the Theology Department. On this date in 1843, Chalmers was elected as the moderator of the newly formed church’s first assembly.

The love of God can transform indifferent men into compassionate warriors.

When members of his congregation passed him on the street, Thomas Chalmers offered them a smile and a brief greeting, and he quickly moved on. When he managed to visit the sick, he offered small talk rather than prayer. And on Sundays he preached very short sermons he’d prepared that morning.

It was 1813 in Kilmany—a small town in southern Scotland—and Thomas Chalmers had only one thing on his mind: mathematics. Chalmers loved mathematics.

But after publicly criticizing the full Professor, Chalmers lost his job as Assistant Professor of Mathematics at St. Andrews University. And he began to scheme to get his professorship back.

Soon, he discovered the previous assistant professor had once been a minister. So, to win favor with the university, Chalmers got himself ordained as the minister of nearby Kilmany. He was willing to endure anything for his dream, and the job of minister provided an easy paycheck.

For the next seven years, Chalmers spent every weekday studying and teaching at St. Andrews, and he passed onto a neighbor the job of overseeing any urgent church business. Chalmers was desperate to preserve his own time, so he squeezed his annual visit to all the members of his congregation into a few weeks. He was efficient. But as a result of his Christ-less Christianity, the townspeople despised Chalmers, and his church was poorly attended.

Meanwhile, Chalmers sacrificed his body and soul to pursue his dream. Math was his food, his drink, his reason to be alive. Rest was unnecessary—until a severe illness casts its dark shadow over him.

For four months, death lurked by his bedside, waiting to snatch his soul. In fear and weakness, Chalmers cried out to God.

That’s when a terrible realization struck him. He had been living without God. All his earthly achievements were nothing compared to the priceless value of faith. In his lust for power and position, he had not once cared about his parishioners’ eternal destiny, whether they were bound for heaven or not.

The conviction that came was like a hot coal burning on his chest. He forced himself out of bed, washed, and dressed himself. Then he visited all the sick, the dying, and the bereaved in the town. He wept with parents who had lost a child. Held the hand of a boy dying from tuberculosis. Prayed passionately for a terminally ill, yet hardhearted gentleman, that his heart might open to the love of Jesus.

After this he decided to visit all 800 of Kilmany’s citizens. Chalmers gave every family as much time as he could. He listened to their needs, prayed, shared encouragement from the Bible, and implored them all to receive Jesus as their Savior. It took Chalmers a year to visit everyone.

He did all of this while still recovering from his own sickness. Sometimes the visits took a heavy toll on his body. But still he pressed on, trusting in God’s power alone. “O God, give me wisdom and truth. Direct me how to do good. May the power of Christ rest upon me,” he prayed

God worked powerfully through Chalmers, and each time he visited someone, even if just for a short time, it was as if light flooded their understanding and comfort poured into their souls.

The love of God had transformed Chalmers from an indifferent minister into a compassionate servant of the people. He would never be the same.

“If anyone is in Christ [joined to Him by faith], he is a new creature [reborn]; the old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come [a new life]” (2 Corinthians 5:17, AMP).

Who can you show compassion to today? The love of God can transform indifferent men into compassionate warriors.

“Thomas Chalmers, 1780-1847.” The History of Economic Thought. Accessed August 9, 2020.
https://www.hetwebsite.net/het/profiles/chalmers.htm

Hanna, William. Memoirs Of The Life And Writings Of Thomas Chalmers. Palala Press, 2015
https://archive.is/20130416004703/http://new.studylight.org/enc/bri/view.cgi?n=32532
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40081/40081-h/40081-h.html

Story read by Daniel Carpenter

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