Archives: Episode

November 10. William “Dabo” Swinney. Since 2009, Dabo has coached Clemson University’s Fighting Tigers, the same school John Heisman coached in 1900. And Dabo is the first coach in program history to lead Clemson to multiple national championships. 

In 2018, the Tigers became the first major college football team since the Penn Quakers in 1897 to finish a season 15–0. 

Twice, Dabo has been ACC Coach of the Year. He won the Woody Hayes Award—national coach of the year, and a week later won the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award. Dabo is the first three-time winner in that award’s history. Today’s story is a look at how he got started. 

Don’t ignore the little things; you never know when they may play a big role. 

Dabo was a college kid with a big dream—he wanted to play college football for Alabama. 

Only two guys made it through try-outs, and Dabo was one of them. His dream was about to arrive. 

When pre-season camp started, Dabo was all in. But when he went to get his class schedule, his Pell Grant and student loans were late and unavailable. 

He wouldn’t be allowed to enroll or to play football unless he paid $550 by the next day. Worse, he already owed his landlord $400 in back rent. 

Dabo felt devastated, and with no money, he turned to his mother for help. She applied for a loan but was rejected. Since his family couldn’t help, Dabo turned to the only one left who could: he turned to God. 

He got on his knees and prayed for God to help him. But deep down inside, he expected things wouldn’t change, and he came up with a plan that seemed like his only choice. 

He would have to go back home and work to save enough money for tuition for the winter semester. Once he had enough, he could come back. But his chance to play football could be gone. If he couldn’t go through camp, his spot on the team might be taken. 

Wondering how things were going to be fixed, he walked back to his apartment, and when he got in, he checked the mail. In the stack were plenty of pizza coupons and—hidden between them—an unusual envelope from Discover. Dabo opened it. 

Two blank checks. 

Was it a scam? He would call the company to find out. 

On the phone, a woman explained that the checks were connected to a credit card he had been given through a student program. 

But Dabo hadn’t gotten a credit card. After checking, the woman told him that the card had been mailed to the wrong address and sent back to Discover, but he didn’t have to worry; it wasn’t used at all and had all the credit still intact. 

“What’s my credit limit?” he asked her. 

“A thousand dollars.” 

Dabo felt numb for a second. That was $550 tuition plus $400 rent. 

In tears, Dabo called his mother and told her what God had done. Dabo thanked God for providing the money. 

He dashed to Coleman Coliseum to pay his tuition and used the other check to pay his rent. After a few weeks, his grant and loan came through, and he quickly paid off the credit-card debt and budgeted his money, so he would never be short on cash again. 

In the end, Dabo went on to play football, which eventually led to a career in coaching. He made a positive difference not only in his players’ lives, but in the lives of his fans and followers too. 

“That was a specific prayer answered,” Dabo said. He realized that the routine tasks we do daily—the habits we form—are important too. God can use them all. 

“You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light” (Psalm 18:28 NIV). 

Think about some little things in your life. How is God using them in a big way? Don’t ignore the little things; you never know when they may play a big role. 

Schlabach, Mark. “Dabo Swinney overcame pain and poverty to be on the cusp of history.” ESPN. Posted January 6, 2016. https://​www.espn.com/​college-football/​story/_/id/​14519758/​dabo-swinney-overcame-pain-poverty-reach-new-heights-clemson. 

Staples, Andy. “Two checks, one path altered: How a timely Discover card envelope forever changed Dabo Swinney’s life.” Sports Illustrated, January 5, 2016. https://​www.si.com/​college-football/​2016/​01/​05/​how-timely-discover-card-envelope-changed-clemson-coach-dabo-swinneys-path. 

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

Story written by: Shelli Mandeville, https://worthy.life/ 

November 8. Nicolaus Copernicus. After Copernicus earned a doctorate in church law, he became a church administrator and a medical doctor. For fun, he studied, and that included astronomy. 

By 1514, he was widely known as an expert in astronomy, and church leaders sought his help in reforming the Julian calendar. He was the first to propose that Earth revolved around the Sun. He also taught that the Earth rotated on its axis. Nowadays, middle-school kids know that, but in the 16^th century, the ideas were new and controversial. 

On this date in 1510, Copernicus was elected Chancellor in Frombork, Poland. This is today’s story. 

Challenge the thinking of the day, and make a better future. 

Copernicus wasn’t your typical astronomer. His job revolved around medical and priestly duties, and he was so busy managing church affairs that astronomy became little more than a hobby. But his hobby led him to discover knowledge. New knowledge that could lead to important advances for society and to being shunned or worse … to his death. 

And with the dangerous new knowledge, Copernicus discovered that, though people often resist new knowledge, a courageous few can make lasting change. 

Copernicus was meticulous in his studies. Everything he did, he did with care and as much precision as possible. 

At the time, the Earth was thought to be the center of the universe. Even the church supported this notion, using it as proof of God. But what Copernicus saw in the motions of the heavens didn’t match what he had previously learned, and so he proposed a new theory: the Earth wasn’t the center. He postulated that the sun was the center of the Universe, and the Earth revolved around it. So did the other planets. And his discoveries didn’t challenge his belief in God, but strengthened it. 

But would others come to believe as he did? The world was changing. Columbus had discovered a new land. Martin Luther had challenged the church. Explorers were expanding a world once thought small and confined. 

But not everyone was on board with such drastic changes. Anyone who dared to challenge the knowledge of the day risked the death penalty. Copernicus understood this, and it worried him. Stories about fellow intellectuals being burned at the stake echoed in his mind. He didn’t want to face such a fate. 

So Copernicus stayed silent. Fear, at first, had won. For more than thirty years, his discoveries remained hidden to all but a select few. 

But one day, as Copernicus got older, a German named Rheticus came across Copernicus’s work and deemed it revolutionary. Originally, Copernicus had resolved that his discoveries would only be subtle talk amongst the scientific community, but Rheticus disagreed. Copernicus needed to publish his work to everyone—and therefore change the world. 

Copernicus hesitated. He remembered what had happened to people who dared to challenge the knowledge of the day. He also wanted to make sure the work was done right. The mathematics had to be perfect, the science unmistakable. If he was to be challenged, he wanted to make sure the proof was unchallengeable. 

But Rheticus would not give up. He reminded Copernicus that despite the fear that kept him quiet, there were younger intellectuals who would crave his scientific knowledge. And if that knowledge got out, everyone would finally realize the truth. That truth wouldn’t challenge their faith or make the authority of the church crumble. It would make God’s creation understood. 

Rheticus’s persistence paid off, and after realizing that his friend was right, Copernicus agreed to publish. The man who had spent a lifetime serving the faith now had to put it to practice. The truth of how God had made the universe needed to get out to the public, and fear couldn’t stop him. 

The book with Copernicus’s discoveries was assembled and sent to Nuremberg, Germany, to be printed. But the controversy had only just begun. 

When word reached the people of the town that such a book was about to be released, accusations of heresy and threats of excommunication showed up. The university there even threatened to break the printing press. 

Friends had to get weapons and protect the printing press, and three times there was an attempted break-in, once with fire. For Copernicus, anxiety rose, but he didn’t back down. He would see the book finished and published. 

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3 NIV). 

It wasn’t long before Copernicus, in his old age and frail health, had a stroke. He became paralyzed on one side. But a notice came that the printed book would be ready in three days. Copernicus managed to stay alive just long enough. As he lay dying, the messenger arrived and put the book in his hand. The truth had been printed. Faith had overcome fear. 

In the end, his book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium went on to change the scientific world as we know it. 

Does the status quo need to be challenged? Challenge the thinking of the day, and make a better future. 

Neil, Samuel. Epoch Men, and the Results of Their Lives. Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo, 1871. 

Kesten, Hermann. Copernicus and His World. New York: Roy Publishers, 1945. 

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man? 

Galileo Learned from Copernicus 

On June 22, 1633, Galileo stood trial before the Catholic Church. While a devoted Catholic himself, he had made many enemies in the higher ranks of the church. 

The court accused him of heresy. His crime was to believe and teach something that most of his society did not believe—the idea that the Sun lay at the center of the Solar System, and the Earth orbited around the Sun. 

While we now know that the Sun lies at the center of our solar system, and not the entire universe, the idea that everything in our solar system revolved around the Sun was still a great leap in scientific thought at the time. And Galileo faced the wrath of the Church authorities for teaching his ideas. 

It had been a long time since he had first heard and believed Copernicus’s theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. On January 7, 1610, Galileo used his homemade telescope to look at the stars and see the evidence that the heavenly bodies orbited around the sun, and not the Earth. 

Galileo knew that the right thing to do was to make this knowledge public. In trying to share the truth with the scientific community, he spent many years fighting the authorities of his society. 

This long and weary scientific battle had finally ended for Galileo, and he had seemingly lost it. His enemies in power would no longer allow him to teach the idea that the Earth revolved around the sun, even going so far as to ban his book on the subject. 

Galileo listened as the speaker for the court continued his long-winded monologue and finally arrived at Galileo’s punishment. He was forced to declare that he was wrong, and he spent the remainder of his life under house arrest. 

This was not the end of the cause he fought for, however. The truth of the solar system’s structure was eventually revealed to the wider scientific community, and the Catholic Church had little choice but to update their view of the world. 

November 7. John Jay. In the colonies, Jay was a successful lawyer. Three years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, he served as president of the Continental Congress, which coordinated the American colonies’ resistance to Britain during the first years of the Revolutionary War.  

The young government sent Jay to Spain to get their government to recognize the newborn nation and to fund their war against Great Britain. Jay knew he would need God’s wisdom and help, but he never imagined it would be the voyage itself that would put his trust in God on display. 

On this date in 1779, Jay survived the storm-damaged ship named Confederacy. 

Even when we are in danger, we can trust God with our lives. 

In late October, Jay and his wife Sarah and several others—including French diplomat Conrad Gerard—boarded the ship Confederacy and set sail for Europe. 

Despite some choppy seas and seasickness, there was nothing out of the ordinary. But early on the morning of November 7, 1779, while most of the passengers still slept, timber groaned and strained and cracked. Men cried out in alarm. 

The men hurried onto the deck and found the mast broken and multiple sails hanging limp ^⁠ and the whole ship tossing wildly in the wind-whipped sea. 

Sarah Jay later told her mother, “We had been deprived of nothing less than our bowsprit, foremast, main-mast, and mizen-mast, so that we were in an awkward situation.” ^⁠ 

Seems Mrs. Jay had a knack for understatement. 

After a long and frightening day and with the ship somewhat under control, the passengers again retired to their beds. 

But the following morning, they found the rudder damaged. Now there was serious doubt they would ever reach their destination—or escape with their lives. 

As the crew devised a makeshift rudder, Jay refused to become alarmed. In fact, Jay’s wife credited his “amiable example” of trusting God to remind her who was in control of their lives. ^⁠ 

Jay proceeded to meet with the Captain and the French Minister to decide their next steps. French Minister Gerard wanted to continue to their original destination, but the Captain feared it would not be safe to sail that route. Instead, he suggested the British West Indies, where Jay and Gerard and the other passengers could secure a different ship to Europe. 

As the conflict between the men raged, Jay stood quiet in the middle, certain that he knew the One who could command the wind and the waves. 

“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’” (Mark 4:39–41 NIV). 

So Jay used his lawyer skills to question the officers about routes and weather and sailing a damaged ship. After listening to their reasoning, he had them explain all of it again in writing. He presented their arguments for heading to the West Indies to Gerard without comment. ^⁠ 

But Gerard turned sulky and refused to respond, so Jay yielded to the Captain’s decision. The Confederacy headed to Martinique. As a reward for Jay’s efforts to make a wise and informed decision, he endured the displeasure of the French Minister, who “ceased to observe that cordiality and frankness, which had before attended his conduct to me.”^⁠ The Jays, however, responded to Gerard with kindness and organized a birthday party for Madame Gerard. 

In speaking of Jay’s faith, when they didn’t know what the outcome of the situation would be, Sarah Jay wrote: “It is the property of a diamond to appear most brilliant in the dark, and surely a good man never shines to greater advantage than in the gloomy hour of adversity.”^⁠ 

In confidence, the thoughtful man speaks up. Challenge yourself. Even when we are in danger, we can trust God with our lives. 

Stahr, Walter. John Jay: Founding Father. New York: Hambledon and London, 2005, pp 117–119. 

Jay, Sarah. “MRS JAY TO HER MOTHER.” In Vol 1 (1763–1781), edited by Henry P Johnston, 3,887–3,916. The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay. New York: GP Putman’s Sons, 1890. 

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

November 6. Chuck Colson. On this date in 1969, Colson was appointed Special Counsel to President Nixon, and some people referred to him as Nixon’s “hatchet man.” After the Watergate scandal, after coming to know Jesus the Christ, Colson founded Prison Fellowship. 

It has since become the United States’s largest Christian nonprofit that serves prisoners, former prisoners, and their families and is a leading advocate for criminal-justice reform. 

From the ashes of broken lives, God can raise changed men. 

Wealthy. Powerful. Proud. Three words that summed up Colson’s life at the height of his career as President Richard Nixon’s right-hand man. A man who “drank and smoked heavily, who partied with the rich, famous, and powerful.” 

Never in a million years would he have imagined that God would one day destroy this powerful, sinful life. 

In 1973, after government organizations and reporters revealed Nixon’s involvement in the illegal wiretapping of phones in the Democratic National Committee, the Nixon government came under intense public scrutiny. Colson, who had masterminded many of Nixon’s political schemes—including spying on political opponents—began to buckle under the pressure, especially when the Supreme Court demanded all of Nixon’s tape recordings of White House meetings. 

Colson said, “My world was collapsing. I had an overwhelming sense that I was unclean.” 

Before serving as Nixon’s Special Counsel, Colson’s law firm had represented the Raytheon Company, a major US defense contractor, and on a hot, humid night in August 1973, Colson decided to visit Raytheon’s president, Tom Phillips. 

“Tom had become a Christian, and he seemed so different. I wanted to ask him what happened. He read to me from Mere Christianity by CS Lewis, particularly about the great sin that is pride. A proud man walks through life looking down on other people. He cannot see something above himself immeasurably superior—God. That night, Tom told me about encountering Christ in his own life.” 

And Tom even offered to pray with Colson, who politely refused, promising that he would visit again after he had read the book for himself. 

But escape from Tom didn’t go as planned. Colson said, “When I went to drive away, I couldn’t. I was crying too hard—and I was not one to ever cry. I spent an hour calling out to God. I did not even know the right words. I simply knew that I wanted him. God heard my cry. Jesus came into my life.” 

Less than a year later, on March 1, 1974, Colson was named as one of Nixon’s 7 co-conspirators in the Watergate scandal. He initially pled the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying against himself, but after much prayer, he pled guilty to a related crime: defaming Daniel Ellsberg, who had compiled damning evidence against the Nixon administration. Colson was indeed a changed man. 

Colson was sentenced to seven months in prison, and although he had received Christ and was genuine in his conversion, his life appeared to be in ruins. 

The Lord, however, chose this dark time to reveal His plans. Colson said, “I found myself drawn to the idea that God had put me in prison for a purpose. I felt God’s hand on my shoulder. ‘Submit yourself to Me, and I will guide you,’ were the words implanted in my mind.” 

Colson emerged from prison with a new mission: to mobilize the Church to minister to prisoners. Prison Fellowship was founded in 1976, and as of 2020, God is still using the ministry to serve prisoners, former prisoners, and their families. Hundreds of thousands of men and women have encountered Christ through Prison Fellowship. 

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you” (Psalm 32:8 NIV). 

Have you surrendered your life to Christ, so He can make you a new man? From the ashes of broken lives, God can raise changed men. 

Colson, Chuck. “Thirty-Five Years in the Light: Reflections on My Conversion.” Drell’s Descants. Published August 25, 2008. https://descant.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/chuck-colson-reflects-on-his-conversion/. 

Colson, Chuck. “Breakpoint: Remembering Chuck Colson’s New Life in Christ.” Breakpoint. Published by Eric Metaxis, April 21, 2017. https://www.breakpoint.org/breakpoint-remembering-chuck-colson-new-life/.  

Colson, Charles. Born Again. Ada, MI: Chosen, 2004. 

Story read by: Chuck Stecker 

November 5. John G. Paton. Two weeks after John married Mary, the young couple headed for the mission field—an island full of people who carried spears, wore only paint, and sometimes dined on their fellow islanders. On this date in 1858, John arrived on Tanna, a New Hebrides Island. 

Some months later, John and Mary had a son. Within another month, mother and baby were dead. For four years, John lived and worked among the savages, who hated him. Except for one old chief. 

In time, John remarried. While he was building his house, he needed some nails and some small tools. So he found a flat chip of wood, scribbled some words on it, and asked the old chief to take it to Mrs. Paton. Which the chief did. 

The old chief saw Mrs. Paton look at the woodchip and then fetch exactly the items the Chief knew John needed. Chief was flabbergasted. After that, the more good works he saw John do, the more interested he was in what John had to teach. 

Fifty years later, famous pastor Charles H. Spurgeon called John the “king of the savages.” Here’s John’s story. 

Constant fear can tear a man down, or it can lead him to trust God. 

John gathered the medical supplies needed to treat Ian, the great Island Chief. Today’s mission of mercy could be a mission of mercy—or it could be another trap. The native factions were constantly at war. And they often blamed John—and “the Worship”—for their problems. They had often threatened to kill him, to cook his flesh, and to take a serving to every village on Tanna. 

The people of Tanna, an island near Australia, had no concept of a merciful God. They murdered infants and widows. No discrimination there. And their threat to cook him was not idle talk. When they invited a man to dinner, he might end up on the menu. 

Chief Ian’s home was four miles away. So John strode down the footpath through the thick vegetation, and sweat ran down his spine. At Ian’s village, too many people milled about. Something wasn’t quite right. 

Had he been set-up? Again? But Ian appeared to be dying, so John entered the hut and prayed with him. 

But then it was too quiet. He looked outside; the whole village had emptied. This could not be good. 

“Come near me and sit by my bedside to talk with me, Missi,” Ian said. 

John would do the job he had come to do. He sat by the bed. 

Ian lay still and silent. 

John spoke to him gently. But a sudden flash of a blade thrust next to John’s heart and stopped him mid-sentence. 

He didn’t dare move—or speak. John was so afraid that his vision blanked out for a moment. Silently he cried out to God to spare him—or take him for God’s glory. 

Suddenly Ian wheeled the knife around and plunged it into a sugar-cane leaf. “Go! Go quickly!” he yelled. 

John sneaked out of the hut and away from the village. Once he reached the dense part of the forest, he ran for his life—the whole four miles back home. 

That night—as had become his habit—John didn’t undress before he climbed into bed. He never knew what he would face in the night or early morning hours. If his faithful dog gave a sharp bark, John would be ready. 

The oppressive heat felt heavier than usual, and John replayed the scary events of the day—only one incident of many. A while back, a wild chief had pointed a loaded musket at him while John worked. John had spoken kindly to the man and continued his chores. The chief—with his musket mostly aimed at John—followed him around for four hours. 

John clung to the belief that he would be “immortal” until his work on the island was finished. His dear Father was “too wise and loving to err” in anything that He “did or permitted.” But sometimes John wondered how love and peace could find its way into the deeply ingrained, violent culture on this island. John tossed on his bed. 

There was power in the risen Christ—the power of an endless life. And natives on a neighboring island had come to faith. John would look to the Lord and struggle on. After all, Jesus had made a promise right after telling his disciples to take the gospel to the whole world. 

“Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 NASB). 

“Precious promise!” thought John. “Oh, how I adore Jesus for it!” Calm washed over him. “God was near.” God was good. God had the power “to do what seemed best in his sight.” John rolled over. “Lo, I am with you always,” John thought. Feeling that Jesus—with all his power—was actually there in the hut with him, John slept. 

What gives you strength to face your fears? Constant fear can tear a man down, or it can lead him to trust God. 

Patton, James. The Story of John G. Patton. New York: A. L. Burt Company Publishers, 1892. E-text by Carl D. DuBois. Accessed August 5, 2020. http://​www.gutenberg.org/​files/​28025/​28025-h/​28025-h.htm. 

Paton, John G. John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides, An Autobiography, edited by James Paton. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1889. E-text accessed August 11, 2020. Volume One: http://​www.archive.org/​stream/​johngpatonmissio188901pato#mode/​2up. Volume Two: http://​www.archive.org/​stream/​johngpatonmissio188902pato#page/​n4/​mode/​2up. Volume Three: http://​www.archive.org/​stream/​johngpatonmissio03pato#page/​n6/​mode/​2up. 

“John G. Paton.” Banner of Truth. Accessed August 5, 2020. https://​banneroftruth.org/​us/​about/​banner-authors/​john-g-paton.  

Piper, John. John G. Paton: You will be Eaten By Cannibals! Minneapolis: Desiring God Foundation, 2012. E-text accessed August 11, 2020. https://document.desiringgod.org/john-g-paton-en.pdf?ts=1446647644. 

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

Story written by: Paula Moldenhauer, http://paulamoldenhauer.com/ 

November 3. Rob Prince. On this date in 2013, Rob became the lead pastor for Central Church of the Nazarene in Flint, Michigan—where the auto industry has taken multiple serious hits. There’s still lead in the drinking water in a lot of homes, and Rob experiences more pain in a week than many people have in a lifetime. But he is one of the most cheerful, upbeat men around, always ready with a word of encouragement. Here’s his story. 

Healing isn’t guaranteed, but God’s presence is. 

Rob was reading email at his office desk when a terrible pain hit his head as if he had been smashed with a baseball bat. 

At first, Rob thought it was just a normal headache. He had had migraines since he was in pre-school, after all. But this pain felt different. It was heavy, hard, brutal. He had never felt pain like what he was feeling at that moment. Barely able to move or think, he reached out and rummaged through his desk to find some ibuprofen. But after taking it, he started to realize that maybe what he was feeling wasn’t a migraine. Maybe it was worse. 

Thoughts raced through his aching mind as he began to list what could possibly be wrong. Was it a stroke? An aneurysm? Something else he didn’t know? He stumbled to the outer office and met his assistant, who looked at him in shock. She asked if he needed to go to the hospital. 

He did. 

After arriving at the hospital, Rob lost consciousness and was out for three days. He heard whispers of possible brain surgery and being transferred to another hospital to help him, and he finally learned what was wrong. 

He had a bleeding in the brain. Many people who have it don’t even survive the day. 

A miracle had happened. The bleeding stopped on its own, and surgery wasn’t needed. He was in the hospital about a week. Able to return to work in three. But his miracle didn’t end the way most people expected it would. His health didn’t go back to normal. 

Instead, his condition left him with chronic pain. The migraines that had been a nuisance in childhood suddenly became a dreaded companion. 

After the hemorrhage, Rob had a migraine that lasted four months—with no relief. All he could do was go to work, survive the hours, and return home to lie down in darkness and silence, hoping and praying for relief. The medications and injections weren’t working. Relief was just a dream. How could he face another tomorrow of pain that just wouldn’t stop? 

He desperately turned to God. Where was He in all this suffering? What purpose could there be in finding no relief? Why didn’t He just heal him? 

Years after the hemorrhage, Rob finally found a medication that lessened his migraines. They weren’t cured, but he no longer had them every day—just most days. Despite the continued, lessened pain, Rob learned, through his chronic pain, how to empathize with others who suffered. 

Rob knew God could heal him. God could take away the pain. But even if God didn’t, he could still live an amazing life. Rob could help others who were suffering like he was, and they would be willing to listen because he was suffering, too. He could provide them comfort and show them God’s love. He could remind them they weren’t alone, and in their suffering, God could give them the strength to make it through any trial. 

He even wrote a book to share his story: Chronic Pain: Finding Hope in the Midst of Suffering. Rob wanted people to know that, despite the suffering of chronic pain, anyone could live a victorious life and be a blessing to others if they allowed it. 

“People can make it, even in extreme cases,” Rob said. “God will give you the strength.” 

“He went away a second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done’” (Matthew 26:42 NIV). 

Think about the pain or suffering you’ve endured. How can you relate to other people who have gone through similar situations? Healing isn’t guaranteed, but God’s presence is. 

Based on an interview with Rob Prince, 2019. 

Story read by: Nathan Walker 

November 2. James Dobson. Dobson is a world-famous psychologist. He founded Focus on the Family and started the radio broadcast “Family Talk.” On this date in 1981, “Family Talk” first became a daily thirty-minute program. 

Today, it’s heard on more than 1,300 stations around the world. More than 5 million people follow Dobson on social media, and he has published 34 books. 

Dobson likes to tell about the time he played pick-up basketball with pro-basketball player Pistol Pete Maravich. Minutes after that game, Pete had a heart attack and died. He was only 40. 

Dobson points at his own success, awards he’s won, books he’s written, and at Pete’s great success in basketball and says this about the moment a person dies: “What will matter most in that moment is who you loved, who loved you, and what you did together in the service of the Lord. There’s nothing else that will stand the test of time.” 

Life will trash your trophies. 

Dobson—an 18-year-old college freshman—wandered around his new campus. He had arrived a few days before classes began, so he could tour the buildings, and it wasn’t long before he found a trophy case in an administration building. 

Dobson was a highly competitive tennis player, and he scanned the majestic awards for his sport. Football, basketball, baseball … tennis. He stared at the two-foot-tall trophy and read the names of the college champions engraved on its shaft. 

His name would be on a trophy there one day. He would show everyone how good he was. 

That moment was the highlight of his morning, and that trophy became his highest ambition. During his four years in college, he played his way to the top and earned MVP in his sophomore and senior seasons. 

But the real prize in his mind was realizing his dream. He won the honor of seeing his name engraved on that tall trophy—twice. 

He imagined how the future generations would stand at the trophy case just as he had, how they would admire his name and his accomplishments, and how they would hope that they, too, could become as great as he was. 

Fifteen years later, though, an old teammate of Dobson’s paid him a visit and related an odd story. The teammate had gone back to their alma mater recently. 

While he was there, he went out behind the old administration building to dump some trash in the garbage bin. In the bin, something shiny caught his eye. It was the two-foot-tall tennis trophy. This thoughtful teammate rescued the trophy and cleaned it up. 

Now, as the teammate visited Dobson, to commemorate what he called their “prime,” he presented the trophy as a gift to Dobson. 

But Dobson no longer saw it as a symbol of glory. Now it was nothing more than a piece of polished trash. 

So much for that. 

Dobson talked about the moment. “If you live long enough, life will trash your trophies.” Dobson stressed the need to focus on the people in your life and what you do in service of the Lord. The only trophies that count were everlasting ones. 

“This is what the LORD says: ‘Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:23–24 NIV). 

Does the way you spend your time stand the test of time? Life will trash your trophies. 

Buss, Dale. Family Man: The Biography of Dr. James Dobson. Carol Stream IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2005. 

Dobson, James. Life on the Edge. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1995. 

“Historical Timeline.” Focus on the Family. Accessed July 30, 2020. https://www.focusonthefamily.com/about/%20historical-timeline/. 

Showalter, Brandon. “James Dobson to Liberty U Students: Don’t Focus on Earthly Achievements, ‘Life Will Trash Your Trophies.’” The Christian Post. Published September 26, 2016. https://www.christianpost.com/news/james-dobson-liberty-u-students-dont-focus-earthly-achievements-life-will-trash-your-trophies.html. 

Story read by: Chuck Stecker 

November 1. James M Gray. After DL Moody died, Gray was the first president of Moody Bible Institute, assuming the role in steps—dean to co-ordinate dean to president. 

From 1904, when Gray was appointed dean, to 1931, the number of students at Moody increased 1,464 percent, and its assets grew 1,444 percent. Gray also established Moody’s still-popular radio ministry: Station WENR. 

Gray taught and wrote and traveled and preached. And he kept on until he was 83. On this date in 1934, Gray resigned as the president of the institute and became president-emeritus. 

That didn’t mean he stopped working. He still traveled extensively and taught and edited the monthly periodical of the Moody Bible Institute. Here is today’s story. 

When doubt intrudes, let the Word of God be the final verdict. 

At Moody Bible Institute, Gray handled the questions of a lot of theological students. He had a unique gift for making complex things easy to understand. 

One day, one of his students—visibly distressed—went to visit Doctor Gray. Without wasting time, this student confessed what was on his mind: he was afraid he wasn’t saved. 

Happily, already knowing where he would turn, Gray pulled out his Bible and “took [the student] to those wonderful words” found in John 5:24. Gray had the student read them out loud.  

Though Gray was agreeable and sympathetic, the student was still unsure of himself. He began to read: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24 ESV). 

No immediate revelation came down on the student, so Gray, who could so gently lead people to truth without humiliating them, asked some questions. 

“You have heard the words of Jesus?” 

“Yes,” the student replied. That wasn’t difficult to answer. 

Gray’s second question was just as plain: “You believe Him who sent Him?” 

Again, this was a no-brainer for the theology student. “Yes.” 

“Then what have you got?” Gray asked, watching the student’s reaction. 

There was hesitation. But once again, the student realized it was all in that small verse. “I have everlasting life.” 

Pressing on, Gray nudged him further. “And what else is true of you?” 

The student hesitated longer this time and then answered steadily, “I shall not come into condemnation.” 

“And what else?” 

After the longest internal struggle yet, the student broke free, and he sighed deeply. “I have passed from death unto life,” he answered, smiling joyfully. 

Neither of the men questioned what to do next. They just knelt and praised God. Something so simple filled the student with excitement; he grabbed his teacher’s hand and thanked him profusely for helping him. 

But all Gray had done was lead him to the truth, and God did the rest. 

“Let the words of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16 ESV) because “The unfolding of [God’s] words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130 NIV). 

Today, what can you study in God’s Word to remind yourself of His rich truth? When doubt intrudes, let the Word of God be the final verdict. 

Gray, James. My Faith in Jesus Christ: A Personal Testimony. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1927. 

Hannah, John. James Martin Gray, 1951–1935: His Life and Work. ThD diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1974. 

Runyan, William. Dr. Gray at Moody Bible Institute. New York: Oxford University Press, 1935. 

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter