Episode | 365 Christian Men

June 9. Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy. Geoffrey volunteered as a chaplain to the British Army when World War I broke out. On this date in 1917, he went into battle to support the soldiers, and he was later awarded the Military Cross.

Wait until you hear how he supported the soldiers.

Geoffrey also wrote poetry with the same outrageous irreverence he pastored his men. He started one poem: “Our Padre were a solemn bloke, We called ’im dismal Jim.” Let’s see what kind of padre he was.

God can turn every act of service you do into a Kingdom win.

When World War I broke out, Geoffrey served as vicar of St. Paul’s Church in a poor parish in Worcester. He called for a replacement and volunteered to serve as an army chaplain.

But while he waited for approval, the army asked him to pastor at a nearby training barracks that would train 10,000 soldiers during the war. And Geoffrey preached to them in the open air.

These thousands—these were men who had only attended because they had been ordered to. These were men who knew they may be going to their deaths. These were men Geoffrey led to the Savior. And he gave them Woodbine Cigarettes.

On December 21, 1915, Geoffrey got assigned to an army unit. “Within four days, he was conducting a Christmas Day service in a village square in France. The rain poured down on 400 soldiers.”

Early on, he worked in a large shed beside a railway, which was turned into a canteen. Soldiers came through in batches on their way to the Front, and they waited in the canteen for their trains, about a twenty-four-hour wait.

He preached to them and wrote home for them and climbed onto a wooden box and sang to them—“Mother Macree” and “The Sunshine of Your Smile.” He helped them pray for those they were leaving behind. And he handed out Woodbine Cigarettes to them.

He also pastored soldiers housed in town, and he was enraged they had to deal with alcohol and sex. He said, “Lord, how angry it makes me—this attack on men in the rear. Better the guns of the Germans than the temptations of the devil.”

Soon Geoffrey’s whole parish was sent into battle, and he knew he had to go with them. But his irreverent joking and open smiling and cigarette passing didn’t mean he was immune to the terror. He said, “Fear came. There was a pain underneath my belt. Of course, I had to go [into battle with them]. It was the parish.”

And every time they went over the top, Geoffrey was with them. He prayed with them, he helped them stay strong, and he handed out Woodbine Cigarettes.

In the dark they crawled through trenches and inched forward toward the enemy. “I whispered some inane remark as I passed by,” Geoffrey said, “and was rewarded with a grin which even darkness could not hide,” and often a soldier muttered, “‘Gaw blyme me if it ain’t the padre!’ Vaguely I felt that this journey was worthwhile.”

One day a soldier named Mayfairy dragged himself off the line. He was low on morale, and here came the chaplain. Oh, brother.

Wary of the silly little parochial God, Mayfairy got ready for the blasted chaplain. Guys like him carried around religion like pretty pink pills right in the middle of this hellish war.

But the chaplain introduced himself as Woodbine Willie, as most of the guys called him, and Mayfairy was stumped. Soon he realized Geoffrey was for real and believed what he said.

When the troops were discussing plans for the following day, a risky offensive on the front line, Geoffrey came in. “I am going over the top with you, boys,” he announced jovially.

The soldiers said he didn’t have to do that.

Mayfairy and a few others said he shouldn’t do that.

“I dare not ask you men to face what I would not,” he said. Recognizing the fear that accompanied such danger, he added, “And I know you would like me to be beside you.”

The following day, alongside the troops, including Mayfairy, Geoffrey rushed into battle. The men fought fiercely, and many were killed or wounded. Geoffrey stooped and spoke to the fallen, prayed with them, offered them cigarettes. Seeing Geoffrey’s resolve, Mayfairy’s heart was further opened to anything the man had to say.

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18 NIV).

What is one practical way—or one unconventional way—you might serve someone today, and in so doing, show the love of God? God can turn every act of service you do into a Kingdom win.

Holman, Bob. Woodbine Willie: An Unsung Hero of World War One. Oxford, England: Lion Hudson, 2013.

Studdert Kennedy, Geoffrey. The Hardest Part. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1919.

Do You Want to Learn More About This Man?

A tablet to his memory lay in the Military Chapel inside Worcester Cathedral.
It is inscribed:
Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy M. C.
A poet: A prophet a passionate seeker after truth: An ardent advocate of Christian
fellowship. Chaplain to H. M. King George V.
Chaplain to the forces.
Rector of S. Edmund King and Martyr in the city of London
Sometime vicar of S. Pauls in this city
Born 27 June 1883. Died 8 March 1929.

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June 8. Adoniram Judson. Judson was on a mission from God. Before he showed up in Burma, a Burmese Bible didn’t exist, and there wasn’t a single known Christ-follower.

By 1837, Judson had completed the Burmese Bible, and there were 1,144 baptized converts. In 1880, there were 7,000 Burmese Christians, 63 churches, a publishing house, and multiple schools.

By the 100th anniversary of his death, Burma had 200,000 Christians who would live forever in the presence of the King. On this date in 1824, he was locked in a Burmese prison. Listen to this story.

A sacrifice now can yield success for eternity.

In Burma, Adoniram and Ann Judson faced unrelenting heat, lousy food, and a population who worshiped idols. Pigs and dogs fought over the trash in the streets. Worse, the missionaries were often sick, and their two children died.

But after six hard years, Moung Nau became the first convert, two more soon followed, the Burmese church was born, and the first-ever prayer meeting was held in November.

But five years later, war broke out with the British, and the Emperor accused all English-speaking foreigners of espionage. Officers tied up Judson and threw him into a dark, filthy room. The story of his “sufferings from fever, excruciating heat, hunger, repeated disappointments, and the cruelty of the keepers is one of the most challenging narratives in the history of missions. . . . For almost two years he was incarcerated in a prison too vile to house animals.”

Judson asked God, “Spare me long enough to put Thy saving Word into the hands of a perishing people.” He survived because early in his confinement, Ann, once again pregnant, sneaked him food. With great courage, she also kept his Bible translation work safe by sewing it into a pillow, and she took it to him.

By the time Judson was released, the church had been destroyed. Ann and the baby she had birthed were ill and soon died.

The loss devastated Judson, and it took him a long time to recover. He lived over a year, “in a retreat in the woods, mourning his wife and child. He even dug his own grave and sat beside it.” Later he said, “If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated suffering.”

Judson’s story reflects the words of the Apostle Peter, “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10 ESV).

“There is no success without sacrifice,” Judson once said. “If you succeed without sacrifice, it is because someone has suffered before you. If you sacrifice without success, it is because someone will succeed after.”

What do you care enough about to sacrifice for? A sacrifice now can yield success for eternity.

Hall, J. Mervin. Judson the Pioneer. Pantianos Classics, 1913.

Reese, Ed. “The Life and Ministry of Adoniram Judson.” TruthfulWords.org, 2020. https://www.truthfulwords.org/biography/judsontw.html

Do You Want to Learn More About This Man?

If you’d like to read a children’s adaptation of Judson’s story to your children or grandchildren, check out Imprisoned in the Golden City by Dave and Neta Jackson, http://www.trailblazerbooks.com/Frame-1.html

Once, in 1820, when the Emperor harshly rejected considering one God and harshly ejected Judson from the palace, he struggled and bartered to get safely off the island. As his little team pushed off from the beach, he said, “I could moralize half an hour on the apt resemblance between the state of our feelings and the sandy, barren surface of this miserable beach. But ’tis idle all. Let the beach and our sorrow go together. Something better will turn up tomorrow.”

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The CMN ministry has trained more than a million leaders in 138 nations, and those leaders are teaching others. CMN also provides the Majoring in Men curriculum, which has been used by more than 8 million men. All this work around the globe is based on a foundational truth: “Manhood and Christlikeness are synonymous.”

If you want to be successful in life, start by being Christlike at home.

In the late 70s, Cole called his employee Tom into his office. Tom had been blessed with intelligence, talent, and the expertise to succeed. And Cole had decided to fire him.

Tom—an executive at the Christian TV station Cole managed—desperately wanted to serve God, but everything he touched turned to failure: Tom had pastored two churches and failed. Failed in a business position. Failed as an associate pastor. And now at the television station, his job was to produce results. And he had failed.

When Tom got fired, he wasn’t surprised. His career had spiraled downward as surely as if it had been flushed. And he didn’t know why.

His spiritual life was no better. For some mysterious reason, prayer had become difficult for him. God didn’t speak to him, didn’t seem to answer his prayers. Now Tom only prayed in public when someone else called upon him to do it.

Cole desperately wanted to help Tom break free from this pattern of failure, but he couldn’t understand the problem. Tom was the son and grandson of two famous ministers—a good man who had dedicated his life to serving God. He should have been successful.

A few days later, Tom invited Cole and his wife Nancy over for dinner. And Tom’s wife Sue served a wonderful meal.

But when Cole complimented her on the meal, Tom said, “It sure is great to have you here for dinner tonight. Now we’ll get a good meal for a change.”

Cole and Nancy exchanged nervous glances and kept eating.

When Sue returned from the kitchen carrying refreshments, Cole complimented her outfit.

But Tom said, “You know, my wife’s from Arkansas—she only wore shoes because you’re here.”

Sue blushed deeply and averted her eyes, but Tom wouldn’t let up. As the meal went on, Tom’s cruel jokes revealed that Sue had come from a vastly different background.

Tom had been raised in the church, and Sue had had a promiscuous mother, who had dragged her from town to town. As a teenager, Sue had turned over her life to Jesus, but like a lot of people, she had never had any formal Bible education.

But Tom had graduated from seminary, and Sue’s lack of Bible knowledge frequently embarrassed him, especially at church.

Cole watched this husband verbally shred his wife, and the reason for Tom’s repeated failures became clear.

Tom should have taken the time to teach his wife, but instead, he mocked her. And now God was not answering Tom’s prayers because Tom’s lack of respect for his wife had become a blockage between him and God. God wasn’t working through Tom to touch others, and as a result, Tom was trying to do everything in his own strength, which repeatedly led to failure. And with every failure, Tom’s faith in God died a little more.

This was a sobering lesson for Cole, one that would become a key element of his message to men all around the world. It taught them that without respect for their wives, they would not experience the blessings of God within their marriages and families.

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers” (1 Peter 3:7 NIV).

Are you treating your wife with the respect and kindness she deserves? If you want to be successful in life, start by being Christlike at home.

Cole, Edwin. Maximized Manhood: A Guide to Family Survival. Resolute Books, 1982.

Cole, Edwin Louis. Winners Are Not Those Who Never Fail But Those Who Never Quit. Albury Publishing, 1995.

“Strong men create strong families that in turn create strong churches.”
~Edwin Louis Cole“Manhood and Christlikeness are synonymous.”
~Edwin Louis Cole

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June 6. George Matheson. Matheson became blind when he was twenty, but within five years, he had earned a bachelor of divinity degree.

His sisters learned Latin, Greek, and Hebrew so they would be able to help him study, and he went on to pastor and to write. On this date in 1881, Matheson wrote the lyrics of “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go,” a song still being sung today—more than 130 years later.

In God’s hands, even despair can be an effective tool.

Alone in his study, Matheson recalled the happy clamor of the day’s wedding and the smell of fresh flowers. He sat in silence and thought about his day. His closest sister had just been married and launched a new chapter with the love of her life.

He was truly happy for her. But this was the sister who had selflessly helped Matheson since he was a child—and as his vision declined to blindness. And as his influence as a pastor grew, she had helped him by overseeing the day-to-day needs of his ministry. Her sudden absence would hit him hard. It would impact every area of his daily life.

In his parsonage that night, Matheson prayed, and the first words of that painful prayer became the lyrics of the Christian hymn “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go.”

Rising from the well-worn sofa, Matheson felt his way toward his desk, where his hands quickly found his slate and stylus. This writing tool for the blind had captured his inspired sermons for years now. Scanning the surface of the desk again for a sheet of paper, he found one and sat to write.

He carved into the Braille paper the words that grew out of his prayer: “O love that will not let me go. I rest my weary soul in thee.”

He stilled his hands and leaned back into his chair and let this truth sink in. Of course. The truth was plain. Matheson knew he was not alone. God had always been with him, and God was with him now.

All at once, another poetic line effortlessly entered his mind, followed by another, then another. Matheson leaned forward, his hands raced and carved into the page, catching up with his thoughts.

Matheson described the event: “Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life.

“I had the impression of having it dictated to me by some inward voice rather than of working it out myself. I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes, and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. I have no natural gift of rhythm. All the other verses I have ever written are manufactured articles; this came like a dayspring from on high.”

And this writing became a hymn that would comfort God’s people for generations.

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 43:5 NIV).

Is life overwhelming you today? In God’s hands, even despair can be an effective tool.

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/blind-matheson-penned-immortal-hymn-11630603.html.

Ryden, Ernest Edwin. The Story of Christian Hymnody. Rock Island: Augustana Press, 1959.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

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June 5. Winfred Boniface. Boniface was a pastor in charge of a parish and other pastors. That’s why he was called a bishop.

About 250 years before Boniface, a group of ferocious pagans conquered the western part of the Roman Empire—equal to today’s France, Belgium, and West Germany.

They were named Franks after the Germanic/Norse word for the javelin, the Franks’ favorite weapon, along with the throwing ax.

These were not people you would want to mess with. These were the kind of people Boniface had to face in today’s story.

Idolatry can enslave, but God can set the people free.

With satisfaction, Bishop Boniface surveyed the crowd and leaned down to sharpen his ax. The noise of the iron blade against the grinding stones drew attention, and he hid a smile as more people joined the onlookers.

He had made a public announcement yesterday, sure to draw a crowd today, and the grating sound was the perfect reminder of his plan. Today he would destroy the Oak of Thor.

The Oak of Thor was huge, and the pagans danced around it and worshiped one idol or another—a ceremony that sometimes involved sacrifices of plants or dogs or cats or the next-door pagan.

Boniface stood and gazed at the men who had gathered. Some looked simply curious, but many stared back with hardened expressions, as if they were daring Boniface to cut the tree down. One man glared and spat on the ground.

But Boniface reminded himself of the Word of the Lord to Joshua: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NIV).

Some ancient fear held these people captive, and Boniface intended to slice through that fear. Many of the people in this Germanic tribe were afraid to convert to Christianity. Their superstitions bound them to incantations, divinations, and sacrifices of grains and vegetables and animals—and sometimes even children.

When Boniface said his God—Jesus—was good, the people believed him well enough. But they were afraid and they reasoned: what good was a God’s love, if in worshiping Him you called down another god’s wrath? Even many of the ones who had chosen faith in Christ couldn’t overcome their fear of the so-called gods, and they sneaked out under cover of night to offer sacrifices before the great oak.

Boniface had to set them free.

He carefully ran his finger across the ax. It was ready, and so was he. A tree could not be allowed to hold a village captive.

Boniface strode into the faux-sacred grove, and as more people arrived, the agitated crowd grew. Around Boniface the excited whispers of the Hessians swirled. They said things like: “He’ll be struck dead the minute he raises that ax of his.… Stop him! He brings the wrath of the gods upon us!… Thor will strike him with lightening! …Leave him be. …The foreigner wields the ax, not you and me. We’ll see if the God of Boniface is as strong as he claims.”

Boniface didn’t doubt the strength of God, and he didn’t fear Thor, but with the mounting emotion of the crowd, he would be glad when this was over. When he stopped in front of the huge oak, he prayed for the strength to bring the tree down. He raised his ax.

The murmuring hushed. An unnatural silence filled the woods. With one last prayer for God’s help, Boniface brought the ax down hard.

Suddenly a blast of wind struck the upper branches of the great tree. People screeched, and the tree popped and crackled, and smaller branches from the top rained down upon him and the surrounding crowd. Boniface covered his face with his arms.

Then, before Boniface could swing again, with a great groan, the oak crashed to the ground.

When the dust settled, the tree lay broken into four large chunks of about equal size. Boniface was shocked. He and most of the people rushed in for a closer look.

The inside of the tree was rotten.

Boniface addressed the stunned crowd. He offered the truth that would set them free from the lies that had kept them enslaved to fear and superstition. This time they listened—and believed.

What bold step can you take to help someone you care about get free from a lie? Idolatry can enslave, but God can set the people free.

DC Talk. Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries. Bethany House Publishers, 2014.

Lansing, Marion Florence, M.A. Mediaeval Builders of the Modern World: Barbarian and Noblehttp://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/browse/spacer.gif. Ginn and Company, 1911 https://archive.org/details/barbariannoble00lansrich

Talbot, C. H. The Anglo-Saxon Missionaries in Germany, Being the Lives of SS. Willibrord, Boniface, Leoba and Lebuin together with the Hodoepericon of St. Willibald and a selection from the correspondence of St. Boniface. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1954.

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June 4. Hans Egede. Egede was a pastor in Norway. Seven hundred years after Eric the Red colonized Greenland, Egede stood staring west. He knew Eric the Red’s colony had survived into the 1400s, but no word of survivors had come to Norway—not for several centuries.

As Egede stood looking toward Greenland, in his spirit, he heard a voice tell him to search them out, to pastor them.

It took him 13 years to get ready. He had one wife, four children, and a year’s worth of provisions. And he set his mind to bring the gospel to Greenland. On this date in 1721, Egede first spotted Greenland from the ship.

Even the walruses know enough to trust God

Blue and white monster icebergs—some as big as a whole town—shifted in the raging water and threatened any ship that dared approach the coast of Greenland.

Through the iceberg maze, the ship called Hope maneuvered. And the ship’s captain got more and more agitated at the icy labyrinth that churned ahead of him. And the captain got more and more agitated under the long strain. And the captain got more and more agitated at the man who had spearheaded the voyage—Hans Egede.

“Storms beat them about, contrary winds drove them back. …The ship rolled and tossed on the mighty waves, and was well-nigh dashed in pieces.”

The sailors cursed and the shipboards moaned and Captain Kitterick stormed into the stateroom where Egede, his wife Gertrude, and their four children sat with a small group of passengers bound for Greenland.

“Pastor! It’s all over with us!” he bellowed. “The [cargo boat] has signaled she has run against an iceberg… and is in danger of sinking… I fear the same will happen to us. You have brought us into this straight, now up with you, and give directions how we are to extricate ourselves if you are indeed a man of God!”

Kitterick’s anger was clearly aimed at Egede, who had been comforting the women and children in the stateroom instead of joining the sailors on deck.

Egede’s courage was clearly being challenged, but he knew only one Pilot who could steer this ship to safety—and it was neither Kitterick nor himself.

So he left the passengers with a promise: “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them” (Psalm 145:18–19 ESV).

Then Egede dutifully followed the captain back to the deck.

The mountainous bergs dipped and jabbed at the sky—a serious menace. At any moment, the icebergs could crash together and crush the ship.

But Egede saw a moving table of ice, and on it, a herd of walruses relaxed peacefully. It was just like when the disciples were in a violent storm, and Jesus slept in the back of the boat. The disciples cried out, “Master, don’t you care that we perish?” (Mark 4:38 RGT).

But Jesus knew God was to be trusted. Now these great, bulbous creatures seemed oblivious to the storm.

God filled Egede with a settled confidence that He would see their ships through the storm.

Thirty-six hours later, the gale winds stopped, and the stars became visible again. But where was Captain Kitterick?

Hours earlier, he had left the crew to escape into his flask of whiskey, so he was in no condition to appreciate the stars. Egede had gotten up from his prayers, and he was thankful. Soon the ship landed safely on the shores of Greenland. God could be trusted.

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled; neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27 ESV).

Have you ever been tossed into a situation that tried your faith? Consider how God might be preparing you for a greater mission. Even the walruses know enough to trust God.

“Hans Egede.” History of Greenland. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed May 8, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hans-Egede

Nieritz, Gustave. Hans Egede, Missionary to Greenland. The Fatherland Series. Philadelphia: Lutheran Board of Publishers, 1876.

Hans Egede’s House—the Oldest House in Greenland

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June 3. Thomas Becket. Thomas became the Archbishop of Canterbury—the unofficial head of all the Anglican bishops in England.

He was also chancellor to King Henry II and the keeper of the great seal, which was used to authenticate royal documents. In this political position, he destroyed castles, repaired the Tower of London, and led troops in war. He was a powerful man.

And he was always determined, but he wasn’t always so other-centered. Listened to what happened when Thomas was a young man.

When the God who loves you is determined to rescue you, pay attention.

Before Thomas ever became a priest, like most young men in the twelfth century, he loved the outdoors. For him, life was all about doing what he wanted to do, only what he wanted to do, only when he wanted to do it.

Tall and lean, his favorite thing to do was to hunt—with his trained falcon, one of the fastest birds in the world.

One day, Thomas and his friend Richier went hunting, and Thomas loosed his falcon into the air to find an animal. The bird soared toward the river, where he would swoop down on a duck or a goose or a water vole.

Through the fields, Thomas galloped after the falcon, and Richier rode close behind. They would scoop up what the falcon captured. As they galloped, the wind whipped through Thomas’s cloak, and in the freedom of the hunt, he felt alive.

When Thomas reined up on the riverbank, the falcon flew above a splendid duck. Thomas and Richier would feast tonight! It was apparent the falcon hadn’t knocked the duck out of the air; that web-footed wonder was bobbing on the surface of the river. He was taunting the falcon. It was like he was daring the falcon to try to catch him. Absurd!

The falcon took the bait, and with fantastic speed he swooped down.

But at the last second, the duck dove underwater. The falcon had no time to slow, and he plunged hard into the rushing waters, and the current swallowed him.

Panic! Thomas loved that falcon. He’d be a poor owner if he allowed the bird to drown. Leaping off his horse, Thomas dove into the river.

The icy waters shocked Thomas’s body and mind. So much colder than he had imagined. Suddenly he realized how foolish he had been to jump into a raging river. The water weighed down his cloak and clothes, and the current hurtled him further downstream. He was out of control. Thomas was quickly being swept away. He had to think. Had to protect his head. Had to get out of the river.

He flailed his arms and shouted for Richier, but the current drove him fast and hard—toward the wooden wheel of the flour mill just ahead.

The giant wheel turned and thwacked the surface of the water and created a stronger current. And it was pulling him in. If the paddles didn’t crush him first, the rush of water would certainly drown him.

Richier frantically shouted toward the millhouse in front of them. Somebody inside had to hear him and shut down the wheel. But its thundering drowned out his voice.

The mill wheel rushed closer, and the paddles sliced through the water, and Thomas was about to die.

Tumbling forward now, he was a few seconds from the giant wheel. The next turn would crush him.

Then the wheel stopped. The noise died. The current calmed, and Thomas floated. Soon Richier caught up to Thomas, and a miller peeked out of the mill, shocked to learn there was a man in the water. He quickly fished Thomas out.

Thomas figured the miller had heard Richier’s cries for help. Surely, that was why the mill had stopped. But when he and Richier thanked the miller for stopping the wheel, the old man shook his head. He had only stopped the mill because it was time to stop the mill. He turned it off every day at this time.

Thomas’s eyes widened. Had it been any other time, even a minute off, he could have been killed. When Thomas returned home and told his mother what had happened, she was awestruck at how God had miraculously saved him.

Thomas realized this brush with death was a wake-up call and he ought to serve this powerful God instead of himself.

And Thomas went on to become the unofficial head of all the Anglican bishops in England.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1 NIV).

Can you remember a time you needed help? When the God who loves you is determined to rescue you, pay attention.

Hinds, Allen Banks, M.A. A Garner of Saints: Being a Collection of the Legends and Emblems Usually Represented in Art. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1900. Hathi Trust Digital Library. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.ah2265&view=1up&seq=9

Morris, John. The Life and Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. London: Granville Mansions, 1885. Accessed May 7, 2020. https://archive.org/details/LifeAndMartyrdomStThomasBecketPt1/

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June 2. Bill Wilson. Bill founded Metro World Child, the largest ministry to children in the United States.

For more than fifty years, Bill Wilson has rescued hurting children, loved them, introduced them to Christ, and helped them stay in school and out of gangs. He offers a message of hope.

With headquarters in New York, Metro Ministries operates programs at more than 200 places in the United States, the Philippines, Romania, and South Africa.

Metro Ministries has the world’s largest Sunday school, serving more than 42,000 children. And it feeds children in 51 schools in Kenya and in 7 of the poorest neighborhoods in Manila. Here’s how it got started.

When a man reaches out to a boy, the boy gets a chance to become a man.

With the smog, despondency hung over the ghettos of New York City, and Bill often felt like he was fighting it all by himself.

At the top of the stairs, the door burst open, and six-year-old Jerome launched himself through the door, across the hall, and into Bill’s arms, and Jerome held as if his life depended on it.

In that instant—at least for that instant—all Bill’s questions faded. Kids like Jerome endured poverty, hostility, and hunger. Jerome’s was an abandoned generation, and there were too many children for one man to save. But when Bill looked at a child’s aching expression, he saw himself.

At twelve, Bill had been abandoned on a street corner. Rescued by one man who cared. Changed by the love of Jesus.

When Bill started a Sunday school for the kids of inner-city New York, he had little financial support and a note in his pocket—written to him by an inner-city pastor. The note read: “I’ll give you six months, and you’ll be gone like everyone else.”

The negativity could have been discouraging, but Bill’s commitment made no concession to discouragement or any other lame feeling.

Bill rented space from a church, a pickup truck, and a Yogi Bear costume. Then he paid a young drug dealer $20 a day to drive the pickup, while Bill ran alongside it with a megaphone yelling. “Be outside on Saturday morning. Look for the big yellow bus!” he hollered. “We’re taking you to Sunday school.”

The first day more than a thousand kids showed up.

More children than space. The church who’d rented the space tired quickly of the arrangement, so Bill rented from another church, but they soon asked Bill and his kids to move on. Next, he rented a vacant warehouse, and when Sunday school started that Saturday, it was seventeen degrees outside.

Inside, it was also seventeen degrees.

Most of the children had no coats. Nobody had told Bill the boiler had blown up. Bill stood and announced, “Sorry, kids, it’s over.” He cut the program short, sent the kids home, and canceled his lease. They were devastated, and Bill felt he’d let everyone down. For almost a year—no Sunday school. He almost quit. But the question was always, “Whose child is this?” and the only answer was, “Mine.”

When Bill asked God for another chance, he found a building, but the down payment was $25,000. And Bill had $98.16. Not quite enough.

But when God told a pastor in Texas to invite Bill to tell his story, the church collected $10,000. Other churches joined. In eight days, God provided $28,000, and Bill placed the down payment.

The Sunday school, later named Metro World Child (www.metroworldchild.org), still ran out of room, so they turned small trucks into traveling stages and took “Sidewalk Sunday School” to more kids in harder-to-reach places. The kids and the staff loved it.

But space issues were the good problems. Other problems—especially the heartbreak—were harder. And when you served in the inner-city, heartbreak was a way of life.

Over the years, Bill has been beaten, stabbed, and shot. And when he was shot, people thought, “He’s tough … but he’s going to retire today.” But Bill had committed—no matter how bad it got, he wasn’t leaving.

Today more than 200,000 kids attend Sunday school in inner cities around the world. Consider 12-year-old Vincent, who started Sunday school at 3. Statistics say he’ll be carrying a gun soon, but Vincent disagrees. “What they don’t know is what a difference God’s made in my life,” he said. “You’ll never see me … shooting anyone … I am standing for Jesus.”

Someone once said Bill had a shepherd’s heart. “Thus says the LORD: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed’” (Amos 3:12 ESV).

What challenges threaten your commitment? When a man reaches out to a boy, the boy gets a chance to become a man.

Based on an interview with Bill Wilson, 2019.

Wilson, Bill. Whose Child Is This? A Story of Hope and Help for a Generation At Peril. Brooklyn: Metro World Child, 2016.

Story read by: Chuck Stecker
Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter
Audio production: Joel Carpenter
Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/
Project manager: Blake Mattocks
© 2020, 365 Christian Men, LLC. All rights reserved.

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June 1. Desmond Doss. Doss was a United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic in World War II. In 1945, in Okinawa, where at least seventy-five fellow soldiers were wounded, Doss stayed—the only medic in a fire-swept area.

During training, he had learned a special double-bowline knot, and he used it during the battle to lower wounded soldiers from the ridge where they were fighting. His pledge was that no soldier would be left in enemy hands. Here’s the story.

In the heat of the battle, sometimes the best weapon is faith in action.

Hundreds of feet below, soldiers lay bleeding and dying. Above—at the edge of the 400-foot-high, jagged Okinawan cliff—Doss tied a rope around a strong tree stump. He worked to secure the knots until his hands bled. Corporal Doss signaled instructions and lowered another injured soldier into their arms of safety.

“Lord, help me get one more … just ONE more,” the young medic prayed between quick, shallow breaths. Ignoring the constant spray of gunfire and the rising smoke of exploding grenades all around him, Doss focused on the Soldiers Creed: “I will never leave a fallen comrade.”

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; he protects me from danger—whom shall I fear? When evil men come to destroy me, they will stumble and fall! Yes, though a mighty army marches against me, my heart shall know no fear! I am confident that God will save me” (Psalm 27:1–3 TLB).

He dedicated the hours ahead to this routine. While the horrific sights and smells of heavy combat continued, Doss relentlessly pressed on in his mission and saved as many lives as possible, without ever using any kind of conventional weapon.

The lone medic’s 150-pound frame was exhausted, his hands and uniform were covered in blood, and his mind was in shock at the magnitude of unthinkable atrocities he was taking in. Somehow, with each victorious drop of another wounded friend over the cliff, Desmond found his strength renewed.

“One more, Lord. Please help me get ONE more,” he breathed into the hell-on-earth surrounding him, and he tucked behind a rock formation to catch his breath. Suddenly, a grenade exploded nearby. Around him, the earth shook, and dirt and debris rained down on his head.

Doss grasped the Bible that was faithfully stowed in his shirt pocket. Astounded at how God had miraculously protected him, Doss stood, yanked his right boot out from where it had sunk into the deep Japanese mud, and set his sights on the next life to save.

As machine gun bullets fired past, the medic and another survivor carefully worked their way through the chaos until they arrived at the stump at the cliff’s edge. Desmond quickly secured the rope around the soldier. The wounded man stuck out his muddy hand, and the medic gripped it and shook heartily. Then Doss tightened his grip and gently pushed the wounded brother out over the edge. Grabbing the rope with both hands, Desmond slowly lowered the last soldier to safety.

Five months later, on October 12, 1945, President Harry S. Truman presented Corporal Desmond Thomas Doss with a Congressional Medal of Honor for the unprecedented heroism displayed during his service in World War II. His selfless acts saved the lives of at least seventy-five men that day and irrefutably shaped the outcome of numerous battles. During the ceremony, President Truman honored the humble Doss with the remarkable words: “I’m proud of you. You really deserve this. I consider this a greater honor than being President.”

What unconventional path might God be calling you to pursue in faith? In the heat of the battle, sometimes the best weapon is faith in action.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. “Desmond Doss.” Accessed May 8, 2020.

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/desmond-t-doss

Leepson, Marc. “Desmond Thomas Doss (1919–2006).” Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Published 2015. Accessed May 8, 2020 https://www.lva.virginia.gov/?public/?dvb/?bio.asp?bDoss_Desmond_Thomas

Story read by: Chuck Stecker
Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter
Audio production: Joel Carpenter
Story written by: John Mandeville, https://www.johnmandeville.com/
Editor: Teresa Crumpton https://authorspark.org
Project manager: Blake Mattocks
© 2020, 365 Christian Men, LLC. All rights reserved.

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May 31. RA Torrey. Torrey’s parents were Christians, but early on, he was not interested in the Christian life. He entered Yale in 1871, determined to become a lawyer. But God had other plans, and—after a dramatic conversion in 1875—he graduated and entered Yale’s Divinity’s School. Three years later, hearing DL Moody preach moved Torrey to give himself wholly to evangelism. So the not-interested-in-Christianity Torrey became an evangelist, pastor, educator, and prolific writer.

In 1889, Torrey became the first superintendent of Moody’s new Bible School. In 1902, he embarked on a worldwide evangelistic tour that lasted for 3 years. He embarked on another tour in 1911, and in 1912, he moved to the west coast where he became the dean of a bible college and started the Church of the Open Door, and he pastored that church until he was 68 years old, when he resigned to return to full-time evangelistic work.

When we let God interrupt our plans, He lets us take part in His.

One chilly, Minneapolis morning, Torrey arrived at his City Mission Society office and found a note on his desk from a family he didn’t know. They wanted him to visit and to pray for the family. Torrey never ignored such requests.

He traveled about four miles outside the city, and arrived at the family’s home. They were French and the husband and wife had been Catholic, but had become Protestants.

Now the wife had been sick for four years and had received care from nine different doctors, but none of them were able to help her. “She was helpless. She could move her hands, but she had to be lifted upon a sheet when they made the bed,” Torrey said. He sat next to her sickbed and asked her what she would like him to do.

She wanted to be healed.

Torrey read to the woman James 5:14-15, “Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven,” (NLT).

“Do you believe He will heal you?” Torrey asked the woman.

She said she believed God could heal her.

“But do you believe He will heal you?” he asked her. “Do you believe God will heal you?”

She did.

He read to her several promises of God from the Scriptures, explained to her that the anointing with oil meant that she was fully surrendering to God of all her physical powers.

One of the Catholic relatives in the room said she’d become a Protestant that day if the woman were healed.

Then Torrey knelt by her bedside. He anointed her with oil in the name of the Lord and prayed that God would come in with the healing power of His Holy Spirit and restore her to perfect health, then and there.

As Torrey prayed, God assured him that his prayer was answered. So he told the woman, “I expect you, as soon as I am gone, to get up and go about your work.”

Certain of this, when he returned to his office, he told one of the missionaries, “…I expect you are going to hear something tonight.”

“… and, sure enough, when the meeting was opened for testimony a neighbor of this woman arose and said that God had completely healed the woman, and that immediately after my departure she did get up, dress, and go out for a call,” Torrey said.

Torrey had the confidence in God and in his Word to risk a moment with the woman and boldly pray for her healing. “How often God has given me faith as I have prayed for some sick one, and healing immediate, complete and wonderful has followed.”

Years later he was speaking on the power of prayer in Los Angeles. When he recounted this story to the people, a man stood up from the crowd and said, “Mr. Torrey, that’s my wife … and [she] is a well woman.”

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most,” (Hebrews 4:16, NLT).

Where can you activate the power of faith and pray for someone in need? When we let God interrupt our plans, He lets us take part in His.

“Evangelism, Revival, and Healing” Healing and Revival. Accessed August 11, 2020.
https://www.healingandrevival.com/BioRATorrey.htm

“Reuben Archer Torrey.” Moody Bible Institute Archives. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://library.moody.edu/archives/biographies/reuben-archer-torrey/

https://www.truthfulwords.org/biography/torreytw.html, accessed 031419

Divine Healing, R. A. Torrey, New York/Chicago, Fleming H Resell Co., p. 21.

Story read by Nathan Walker
Story written by Abigail Schultz https://www.instagram.com/abigail_faith65

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