Podcast: 365 Christian Men

October 3. Drew Brees. Drew appears in the top five of many all-time greatest pro quarterback lists. He led the NFL in passing yards seven times and has 541 career-touchdown passes. 

He once threw a sixty-two-yard touchdown pass to a rookie receiver. 

Drew has made the Pro Bowl thirteen times, and in 2004, he was the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year. In 2008 and 2011, Drew was named the Offensive Player of the Year, and he was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLIV. On this date in 2019, Drew spoke up on behalf of children and National Bring Your Bible to School Day. Listen to what happened. 

Don’t let a dirty tackle knock you out of the game. Get back up. 

All-pro quarterback Drew Brees recorded a 22-second-long video in which he quoted his favorite Bible verse. And Drew encouraged Christian kids to take their Bibles to school on Bring Your Bible to School Day. He urged kids to share the love of God with friends. He told them, “You’re not alone.” 1 

He might as well have painted a target on his face. Bring Your Bible to School Day is a positive event in America, and in 2018, 650,000 kids participated. Turns out it was also promoted by Focus on the Family. 

Misleading headlines abounded, such as: “Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints Quarterback Records Video Produced by Anti-Gay Group Focus on the Family,” “Drew Brees is the Biggest Hypocrite in Sports,” and “Drew Brees Needs to Apologize.” The faux news incited a nation-wide Twitter mob. 

Another headline claimed Drew had disavowed his ties to Focus on the Family, which he never said he did. It was a fake-news free-for-all. 

The negative headlines seemed orchestrated to enflame division and group hate. Drew’s “guilt by association” was displayed as an ugly example of a sports hero corrupted by “conservative homophobes” lost to the evils of their own bigotry. 

Drew’s actual message of “share God’s love with friends. You’re not alone” seemed to have evaporated. 

The fact is, Drew recognizes and respects everyone’s right to choose their own path in life. He recognizes the freedoms we celebrate in America, and he doesn’t demonize or “hate” anybody. 

Drew pushed back against accusations and said he lives by two rules: To love the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, and mind, and to love his neighbor as himself (Matthew 22:37, 39). But some people still demanded an official apology for his association with a conservative “anti-gay” group. 

Focus on the Family spokesperson Jim Daly said that the problem was that in the current culture, if you respect someone, but you disagree with them, they label you as hating them. But disagreeing is not hating. They’re not even the same kind of thing. 

Jim said they don’t hate anyone. “Our goal is to say, ‘Jesus loves you, cares about you, no matter who you are—your race, your creed, your sexual orientation. Jesus died for every one of us.’ That’s the message we want to get out.”3 

He noted that he understands the LGBTQ’s stand, and he respects their right to hold that stand. He wishes they would respect people’s rights to hold a different stand too. 

NFL tight end Benjamin Watson said the media’s reaction was “misleading and a mischaracterization of Focus on the Family and of Drew.” He said, “They were slanderous. And so, my response was … stop lying with those sorts of labels.” 

Former quarterback Donovan McNabb explained Drew was actually “sending a good message” 2 that deserved to be heard. And Chris Valletta, a former offensive lineman said: “I think Drew Brees is the model American athlete. … He represents the best. … He’s the type of athlete, especially in today’s professional game, that our kids need to be modeling themselves after. … ” 

“They pushed me hard to make me fall, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation” (Psalm 118:13–14 CSB). 

What will you do the next time you get blindsided? When your opponent hits you with a dirty tackle, don’t let it knock you out of the game. 

1 Busbee, Jay. “Drew Brees appears in ad for evangelical lobbying group.” Yahoo!sports. September 5, 2019. https://sports.yahoo.com/drew-brees-appears-in-ad-for-evangelical-lobbying-group-151951797.html 

2 Millward, Craig. “Former NFL Stars Defend Saints QB Drew Brees: ‘Model American Athlete;’ ‘Sending a Good Message.’” CNS News. September 9, 2019. https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/craig-millward/former-nfl-stars-defend-saints-qb-drew-brees-model-american-athlete-sending-good. 

3 Gaydos, Ryan. “Drew Brees’ former teammate comes to his defense over backlash from Bible video.” Fox News. Published September 9, 2019. https://www.foxnews.com/sports/drew-brees-saints-nfl-ben-watson-bible-video. 

Story read by: Nathan Walker 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/ 

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

© 2020, 365 Christian Men, LLC. All rights reserved. 

October 2. Carl Smythe. Carl is not his real name, but Carl is a real man who had to deal with real sin. There was nothing easy about it. Today’s story is a hard one. In 1989, Carl was released from prison. 

Do the hard work. God will do his part. 

Carl stared at the barren cell. How had he gone from a happily married, church-going man to a prisoner? What had he done to himself? 

Depression grew. His pastor had suggested he talk with John, a mental-health professional—and a man of faith. 

The day of John’s first visit to the prison, Carl restlessly went through the protocol required to meet with someone from the outside. Finally, John sat across from him. 

Carl said, “I’ve ruined my life.” 

They talked a while, and then John said that in the Bible, Paul wrote, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15).  

But there in that visiting room, John said he too was the “chief of sinners.” 

Carl scoffed. John wasn’t the one in prison. But as Carl studied John’s steady gaze, he realized John meant it. 

“Carl,” John spoke softly. “If I’m first chief of sinners, you’re second.” 

Carl stood abruptly. He didn’t need another person telling him how bad he was. He shouldn’t have molested his foster child. He had just wanted to help her—but they had become so close! 

“Sit down.” John cleared his throat. “You told me you ruined your life. But what about the life of the girl?” 

Carl felt like he couldn’t breathe. 

“What about your wife?” John said. “Your church? God?” 

Carl looked away. 

“None of us think we’re as bad as we are, Carl.” 

Carl said he wanted to go back to his cell. But he couldn’t escape John’s words. For the first time, instead of thinking about the damage he had done to himself, he faced the damage he had done to the girl—and everyone else. He was a piece of filth. He didn’t deserve to live. 

Days turned into weeks, and Carl dreamed up ways to kill himself. The prison put him on suicide watch. 

But John kept coming. He explained that until Carl faced the reality of his actions, he couldn’t heal. But now that he had, there was hope. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, Carl was forgiven. 

At first Carl rejected the idea. He didn’t deserve forgiveness. John pointed out that Carl was questioning God’s capacity to forgive, heal, and change him. Carl was questioning the ability of the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. 

Eventually Carl understood. What he had done to his foster daughter would never be okay. But no sin was bigger than God’s ability to deal with it. 

Carl focused on receiving God’s forgiveness, and John asked him to answer three questions: How do I grow? How can I help others? How can I help rebuild what I destroyed? 

Carl decided that he could grow by learning more about God, so he took a correspondence course through Moody Bible Institute. Before his imprisonment, he had been a skilled worked. So he helped others by teaching the skill to his fellow inmates. One thing he had destroyed was his marriage. Carl asked John for marriage counseling. 

Then came the big challenge. If Carl took the state’s reprogramming classes, he could be released sooner. But the approach fought pedophilia by hooking offenders on adult pornography. John said you couldn’t fight sin with sin. Carl agreed. Most sexual offenders repeated the behavior. As much as Carl wanted an earlier release from prison, there was something he wanted more: forever change. 

Carl refused the classes and paid the full extent of his time. 

During those long days, Carl continued learning, serving, and rebuilding. When Carl was released, his wife was there, and his marriage was solid. 

When you sin, do you gloss it over or do what it takes to for true change? Do the hard work. God will do his part. 

Based on an interview, 2019. 

Note: Names, dates, and minor details in this story have been changed. 

Story read by: Blake Mattocks 

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

September 30. Lewis Hayden. Lewis was born a slave, but no mistreatment or ugly label could hold him back. When he finally escaped slavery, he dedicated his life, his time, and his skill as a businessman to serve and support slaves and escaped slaves. 

Lewis ran a clothing store, where he dressed runaway slaves—and he held meetings and campaigned against slavery. His home had a hidden tunnel connected to the Underground Railroad, a passageway to safety and freedom for escaped slaves. 

At Lewis’s funeral, the pastor said about him, “The secret of the success in Lewis Hayden’s life is that he lived for others. He was, indeed, a prince among us.” On this day in 1850, Lewis became the chairman of The Friends of Liberty. 

Circumstances can drag a man down, but God-given dignity can lift him up. 

In 1811, Lewis was born a slave to a family of twenty-five in Lexington, Kentucky. Not an ideal situation. While he had family members all around him, life for a child slave was not safe. 

Lewis was property, like a dog or a hamster is property. If slave children were disobedient or showed any kind of free spirit at all, they could be beaten just like adult slaves. Their owners did not see them as human beings. Just things to be used. 

His father was sold off first. And Lewis knew that at any time he could be sold too, or his mother, or his siblings. This molded Lewis’s firm belief that he was only worth what someone was willing to pay for him. 

When Lewis was ten, it finally happened. His owner sold all of Lewis’s family to different slaveholders and traded Lewis to a traveling salesman for two horse carriages. In one swoop, Lewis lost his entire family. He was left alone, a young slave. Not much sense of self-worth after that, not much of anything to cling to. 

But when he was fourteen, an American Revolutionary War soldier visited Kentucky, and one day as he strolled past, he tipped his hat to Lewis. 

What to most would have been a simple nod, a smile, a gesture … to Lewis, it was as if a veil had been lifted from his eyes. Someone acknowledged him. Him. As if he were a human being. A person. Not a slave, not a piece of property, but a young man. 

This sparked something human in Lewis. For the first time in his life, he recognized his own value. And not just that, but the value his Father in heaven had for him. He was of worth in God’s eyes. He clung to that. 

Not that Lewis’s troubles magically disappeared—they didn’t—he was still a slave, but he was a slave who, with that simple acknowledgment, began to change. He now had a belief in himself as a man. 

This stayed with him, and a few years later, he approached Lewis Baxter, an insurance office clerk, and Thomas Grant, an oil manufacturer, and asked if they would buy him and hire him to make money for them—and let him keep some of the earnings to eventually buy his own freedom. 

The men accepted, and Lewis was hired out as a waiter at Lexington’s Phoenix Hotel, and now knowing his own value as a man, he worked hard and began his savings for his own freedom. 

Then in 1844, Lewis, still a slave working at the hotel and now married with a stepson—both of them slaves—and fearing his family could be separated, met another man who loved God, a Methodist minister involved with the Underground Railroad. Lewis asked the pastor to help them escape. 

The minister asked Lewis, “Why do you want your freedom?” Lewis replied, “Because I am a man.” 

No longer a slave. A man. The minister agreed and helped Lewis and his family escape slavery via the Underground Railroad. 

Amazing what recognizing one’s own worth and developing self-respect can do to someone, and how it can affect others’ lives, too! 

“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it” (Psalm 139:14 NLT). 

You may feel like a slave to circumstances; let boldness move you to action. Circumstances can drag a man down, but God-given dignity can lift him up. 

New Bedford Historical Society. “Lewis Hayden.” Accessed July 6, 2020. http://nbhistoricalsociety.org/Important-Figures/lewis-hayden/. 

Yee, Shirley. “The Black Past.” Published February 22, 2007. https://www.blackpast.org/?s=lewis+hayden. 

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. 

September 28. Charles Hodge. As a boy, Charles dutifully memorized Scripture and the Westminster Catechism. Then the revival of 1815 “led Charles into an intense season of spiritual searching, and he found that God had made his boyhood beliefs both sincere and heartfelt.” 

He entered Princeton Theological Seminary, where they required him to memorize the Catechism again—in Latin—and on this date in 1819, he graduated. Within the year, Charles began to teach at the seminary. 

And he kept on teaching, “representing the faith,” for 56 years. And he trained up more than 3,000 seminary students, more graduate students than “any other professor of any kind in the 19^th century.” 

Although Charles’s teaching and the books he wrote caused him to be popularly known as “the pope of Presbyterianism,” he trusted Christ alone. 

Point people to Jesus. You can’t give what you don’t have. Get to know God’s empowering grace; then share it. 

Charles stared at the blank stationery on his desk. Thought of Sarah. Wondered why their letters had become superficial—that is when there were any letters at all. 

When he had first noticed her back home in Philadelphia, he had only been fifteen. And now that they were old enough to court, she had agreed to correspond while he studied at Princeton Seminary. He imagined her large, searching blue-gray eyes. What had happened between Sarah and him? 

Most likely he was to blame. Sarah had trusted him with her private struggles with God and faith. His response had not satisfied her questions. Was it his inability to help her through those painful emotions that had created this distance? 

Yesterday his beloved professor had encouraged the class to “look unto Jesus!” Until a person looked to Jesus, he was left struggling in his own strength. When he looked to Jesus, the battle became God’s. Charles prayed for wisdom. He couldn’t give Sarah what he didn’t have. But as he experienced the grace of God, he could share it with her. 

Sarah tried so hard to be good. Charles was learning that to be good before believing Jesus was the One who made you good was like trying to start a fire with no wood. The direct reverse of what God prescribed! 

He put the fountain pen upon the paper. “My dear Sarah, the reason why persons truly pious make so little progress … is because they do not carry on the conflict in the right way.” Trying to change inner motivation never worked. You couldn’t force holiness. Jesus promised to deliver from faults, and He never failed! 

“Use Christ as though He were your own,” wrote Charles. “Employ His strength, His merit, and His grace in all your trials. This is the way to honor Him. Fear not that He will be offended at the liberty.” Charles prayerfully re-read the letter and wrote the year—1818—across the bottom. 

As Charles continued his studies, his thoughts were not far from Sarah. How would she receive his letter? 

When Sarah wrote back, the tone encouraged him. Soon they corresponded with more intimacy. 

What joy to share the love of Christ with his wife-to-be! Paul wrote that a husband should love his wife as if she were a part of himself. Charles would love Sarah as God loved him, sharing with her God’s patient grace. Together, grounded in Christ, they would build a strong, godly relationship. 

“In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself” (Ephesians 5:28 NIV). 

As Charles finished seminary, preached, and then received an appointment to teach at Princeton, he continued to share with Sarah what he was learning—to look to God, not oneself. Don’t wait until “your heart becomes penitent and humble,” he wrote. “Go with a proud heart for Him to change … He alone can give you what you need.” 

For roughly two years, the correspondence continued. One day Charles eagerly opened another letter from Sarah, written on August 4, 1820. “I love to feel myself bound to you by … ties that not even the grave can change,” he read. Sarah wrote that she felt cherished. Guided by his words. Grateful that he was the instrument God had used to draw her closer to Himself. Moisture pricked Charles’s eyes. God gave him grace. And God gave grace to Sarah through him. 

How do you love others as you love yourself? Point people to Jesus. You can’t give what you don’t have. Get to know God’s empowering grace; then share it. 

Hodge, Archibald Alexander. The Life of Charles Hodge, D.D. LL.D: Professor in the Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1880. 

Taylor, Justin. “The Remarkable Legacy of Charles Hodge.” TGC. Posted on December 27, 2016.  

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/the-remarkable-legacy-of-charles-hodge/.

Story read by: Joel Carpenter 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/ 

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

© 2020, 365 Christian Men, LLC. All rights reserved. 

September 27. Prince Kaboo. In the jungles of Liberia, nearing the end of the nineteenth century, people were always preparing for tribal warfare. Or they were recovering from tribal warfare. Or they were in the middle of tribal warfare. 

It was a hard way to live. 

But fifteen-year-old Prince Kaboo—the son of a Kru tribal chieftain—bore more than his share of the tribal-warfare pain. Already he had been kidnapped and held for ransom—twice. 

Does life seem like it is over? There’s still hope. 

The third time the Grebo tribe defeated the Kru and captured Prince Kaboo, they held him for ransom—as usual. And as usual, the prince survived at the mercy of the drunken Grebo chief. 

But this time, no matter how much rice, ivory, or other gifts Kaboo’s father brought, the Grebo chief refused to free Kaboo. 

Now—after all this fighting—that crazed Grebo chief had plans. He told Kaboo the Grebo were going to tie Kaboo to a tree and beat him until he passed out. 

Then they were going to bury him up to his neck and prop his mouth open with a stick. Next, they would smear honey all over the boy to attract flesh-eating driver-ants. 

And when the ants had had their way, the Grebos would hang Kaboo’s skeleton as a warning that ransom must be paid. 

The time came. Warriors bound Kaboo to the whipping post. With poisonous, thorny vines, his captors lashed him over and over. His body was shredded, and escape was impossible. 

Suddenly a blinding light from above shone on Kaboo’s mangled body. 

“ … the Grebo chief screamed in terror.”¹ 

Everyone there heard a voice that seemed to come from above them. “The voice said, ‘Get up, Kaboo, get up and run away.’” 

The vines that had held him to the tree fell off, and he burst free. 

He bled. A lot. But his body surged with new energy. 

Miraculously strong, Kaboo ran. 

He saw a soft light ahead, and he followed it. That unexplainable light led him through the thick maze of murky jungle to a coffee plantation, where he met missionary Anna Knolls. And he stayed—there where he was safe—and he could heal. 

One day during normal Bible study time, Anna told the story of the light that had blinded the Apostle Paul. 

“I have seen that light!” Kaboo yelled. “When they were whipping me, and I was about to die, I heard that voice. … Now I know who it was who saved my life. It was Jesus!” 

Stunned, the missionary explained that Jesus died on a cross to pay the ransom for all people. Kaboo understood being ransomed. 

One night he was again surprised by light. “The room grew brighter until it was filled with glory. The burden of my heart suddenly disappeared. … I … shouted until everyone in the barracks was awakened: ‘Praise God! Praise God! I am His son! He is my Father!’” 

“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15 NASB). 

For the rest of his short life Kaboo, who was later named Samuel Morris at his baptism, clung to the truth that he was a son of God, who loved him. 

A missionary advised Kaboo to go to the United States for education, and he did. Since he had no money, he started off to America on foot. For several nights, he slept on the beach until he could barter his passage for work. 

He was on his way, but they beat him and gave him the dirtiest, most dangerous jobs. By the time Kaboo arrived in New York, the captain and most of the crew had become Christians. In the United States, Kaboo preached the gospel to anyone who would listen. 

Have you been through some battles? Is there a way to use that to speak into someone else’s life? Does life seem like it is over? There’s still hope. 

1 Brother James. “Samuel Morris aka Prince Kaboo.” Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. 

http://www.courtofheaven.com/pdfs/books/15-Sam-Morris-22-pages.pdf

Whalin, W. Terry. Samuel Morris: The Apostle of Simple Faith. Heroes of the Faith. Uhrichsville OH: Barbour Publishing, 1996. 

Keller, Kenneth B., ed. Journal Gazette. February 14, 1971. 

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man? 

Would you like your children or grandchildren to know more about Samuel Morris? Quest for the Lost Prince, written for children by Dave and Neta Jackson, tells more of his story. You can view this and other Trailblazer books at http://trailblazerbooks.com. 

Taylor University President Thaddeus Reade said, “[Kaboo] thought he was coming over here to prepare himself for his mission to his people, but his coming was to prepare Taylor University for her mission to the whole world.” 

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

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/ 

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

© 2020, 365 Christian Men, LLC. All rights reserved. 

September 26. John Stott. Stott was an Anglican priest and theologian. On this day in 1950, he was inducted as rector of All Souls Church. 

But he lived in a two-room flat above the garage behind the rectory. He had a bedroom, but it also served as a hallway and a study for his research assistant.   

And Stott needed a research assistant; he wrote fifty books, which were translated into sixty-five languages. He also worked with evangelist Billy Graham to shape the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland, and served as its principal writer. 

In 2005, TIME Magazine named him among the 100 most influential people in the world. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, which he founded, Stott said he felt most alive “in worship, where praises reach to the heavens; in enjoying the gift of friends; and in the natural world, early in the morning, where the sights, sounds, and smells are all clear and fresh.” 

An interviewer asked Stott how he wanted to be remembered, and he answered, “As an ordinary Christian who has struggled to understand, expound, relate, and apply the Word of God.” 

What if you were suddenly jobless, homeless, and sick? How would you want to be treated? 

In the late 1940s, London was rebuilding itself after World War II and the effects of the German bombs. Blown-out buildings and debris lay throughout the old city. Amid the reconstruction, a young priest sought to build a bridge between the Anglican Church and the poor. 

In general, the church ignored people living on the street and made a priority of attending to the needs of their parishioners. But many churchgoers felt sympathy for the homeless. They felt sorry for their problems. 

Stott sought to spread empathy, not sympathy, for the homeless. He wanted the church members to imagine themselves as homeless. 

Stott said, “We must allow the Word of God to confront, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency, and to overthrow our patterns of thought.” To discover their needs, Father Stott disguised himself as a homeless man and lived on the street. 

Near the Charing Cross Bridge in London, the night was biting cold. Stott was surrounded by trembling tramps with only flimsy newspapers for blankets. A chill grabbed Stott’s feet, and he looked down at his shoes. Each had a hole, a perfect opening for the wind. He had chosen these shoes, as well as his clothes, so he could fit in with the homeless people. By understanding their pain and challenges, he could learn to better serve the poor, not just write sermons. 

The next morning when he woke on that cold pavement, he was thirsty and hungry, so he walked to several tea shops close by—one after another. Although Stott had grown up privileged and spoke the Queen’s English quite well, he created a Cockney accent to ask the tea shop workers, “Can you gimme a job for a cuppa tea? Or even spare a breakfast?” After being ignored and rejected several times, Stott moved on to another part of London and took a nap in some soft grass. 

Toward evening and still hungry, he went to the Whitechapel Salvation Army hostel for the homeless to ask for a bed. The officers in charge spoke to each homeless man who came in. The officers were disrespectful, grouchy, and brusque. Stott was allocated a bed in a dormitory with no privacy, and he slept little. He listened as men, some drunk, some mentally ill, came in and out of the hostel. 

The experience of living among the vagrants made a profound effect in Stott’s heart. After this time with the homeless, he taught his congregation ways they might meet the needs of the poor. 

First, Stott established the All Souls Clubhouse, to serve as a place for clubs or groups to meet. He emphasized to everyone that it was meant for not only the congregants, but also the non-church members, the homeless, and the poor. He led a midweek service-and-meal geared toward the poor. He ministered to young homeless men and women. 

In his lifetime, he wrote more than 50 books and led many conferences, encouraging all Anglicans to minister to the poor. Stott understood that ministering to the poor meant ministering to Jesus. 

In Basic Christianity, Stott wrote: “It is never enough to have pity on the victims of injustice if we do nothing to change the unjust situation itself.” 

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:34–40 NIV). 

How can you empathize with someone less fortunate and then help them, and not just sympathize and do nothing for them? What if you were suddenly jobless, homeless, and sick? How would you want to be treated? 

Costanzo, Eric. “John Stott (1921–2011) Lives As A Homeless Man—A Story In Memory Of His Death Today.” Posted on July 27, 2011. https://ericcostanzo.me/?s=John+Stott. 

Stott, John. Basic Christianity. Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press, 1958. 

Story read by: Blake Mattocks 

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. 

September 25. CS Lewis. Lewis wrote more than thirty books, which have sold millions of copies. They run the literary gamut: fantasy, sci-fi, speculative fiction, apologetics, autobiography, and now-classic Christian non-fiction. The Chronicles of Narnia have also appeared on stage, TV, radio, and in films. 

Lewis taught English at both Oxford and Cambridge, and during World War 2, he bolstered the courage of many young military people with special BBC broadcasts, which later became the text of Mere Christianity. Though he was a highly-esteemed professor, today’s story shows that Lewis remained teachable. Here’s the story. 

Watch out for the poison of conceit. It can sneak up on a guy. 

When CS Lewis walked into the sanctuary that Sunday morning, the local butcher welcomed him by name, smiled with genuine warmth, and held out a hymnal. 

Lewis nodded and accepted the book from the butcher’s blood-stained fingers. Made his way down the aisle. 

Hot and claustrophobic-ish, Lewis sidled into a pew, sat, and loosened his collar. Another service of wretched organ music, badly-written hymns, and barely-biblical sermons. A jarring assortment of local people surrounded him, and he tried to ignore the too-much perfume, the too-loud nose whistle, and the too-close bad breath. Church services could be “wearisome affairs.” 

Lewis thought about the stimulating meeting he had had the night before—a deep theological discussion with friends like fellow-author JRR Tolkien. Surely that was what church should be like—two or three learned men gathered for a serious discussion. 

But in the pew next to Lewis, generous old Mrs. Green belted out, “All praise and glory!” She sang hopelessly off-key. 

Lewis refused to grimace. With proper harmony and pitch, the music might be tolerable. 

Now boots squealed on the waxed floor and came tromping down the aisle; Mr. Green, home from his latest gambling adventure, climbed over some more-punctual parishioners to sit next to his generous old wife. 

Lewis mourned that he had nothing in common with these people. He looked around at them. Some of them led quite “un-Christian” lives—except on Sunday morning. And the vicar’s main job seemed to be to help his flock develop patience—by means of sermons, long and rambling and pointless. 

Just then a new idea struck Lewis: Here I am at a gathering of the body of Christ, and every thought and feeling I have is smug and conceited. Wouldn’t the devil be quite pleased? 

Lewis looked at the motley collection of people again. This assembly wasn’t a group of people with shared interests. They didn’t have the same tastes in music or similar jobs. They didn’t all agree on every point in a particular theology. 

Mr. and Mrs. Green, the smiling butcher, the dignified physician—no this wasn’t a club. It was the Body of Christ, a living organism, “spread throughout all time and space and rooted in Eternity, terrible as an army with banners.” 

What had Lewis expected the Body of Christ to look like? If it should look like a bunch of well-behaved saints in white clothing singing praises like a world-famous choir, then he wouldn’t have been allowed to join. 

“If I, being what I am,” Lewis said, “can consider that I am in some sense a Christian, why should the different vices of these people in the next pew prove their religion is hypocrisy and convention? 

“The idea of allowing myself to be put off by mere inadequacy—an ugly church, a gawky server, a badly turned-out celebrant—is horrible.” 

Lewis thought seriously about how he had given in to the temptation to think that he was better than these other people, and idea for a story formed—a story of one devil advising another devil how to keep a believer from growing in his faith. 

Here’s one way to “treat your patient” the devil teaches: cause him to look around at the people around him, but don’t let him see the persons. Get him to focus on the little things that bug him. Make him feel superior. Before long, he would be put off by the Body of Christ. He would be cut off from the rest of the body and unable to worship God. Lewis had given in to that temptation, and he knew others had, too. 

Two years later, Lewis published The Screwtape Letters, a bestseller full of letters from a senior devil named Screwtape to his nephew devil, Wormwood. Wormwood had been assigned to corrupt the “Patient.” In one of the letters old Screwtape describes a church scene starring attendees who were neighbors the “Patient” otherwise would go to lengths to avoid. Lewis hoped the book would be “useful and entertaining.” 

Though the “wearisome” aspect of the church service never changed for Lewis, he did learn not to use it as an excuse for pride, grouchiness, and withdrawal. He said about himself, “you realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren’t fit to clean those boots. It gets you out of your solitary conceit.” 

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:1-11 ESV). 

Do you ever find church services wearisome? Is something going on under the surface? 

Watch out for the poison of conceit. It can sneak up on a guy. 

Lewis, C.S. God in the Dock. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1970. 

Lewis, C.S. The Screwtape Letters. Uhrichsville OH: Barbour and Company Inc, 1990. 

Lewis, C.S. Surprised by Joy. New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1956. 

Lewis, C.S. Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer. New York: Harper Collins, 1964. 

Dickieson, Brenton. “How C.S. Lewis Conceived of ‘The Screwtape Letters.’” Posted on January 15, 2014. https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2014/01/15/conception/. 

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter 

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. 

September 24. Kirk Cameron. Cameron started acting as a child and is well-remembered for his role Mike Seavers in TV’s Growing Pains. Later, he starred in the Left Behind series, Monumental, and Fireproof, which became the number-one-grossing inspirational film of the year. 

Cameron partners with Ray Comfort in an evangelical ministry, The Way of the Master, and speaks at thirty churches a year as part of the “Love Worth Fighting For” marriage conference. On this date in 2013, Cameron released a hope-bringing documentary, called Unstoppable. 

In 2016, he hosted a live event, where he urged people of faith to embrace biblical principles and to create a future of hope for our children. In more than 750 theaters across the country, more than 150,000 people participated. 

Cameron and his wife Chelsea have been married for more than 25 years and have 6 children. They host Camp Firefly—a free summer camp for terminally-ill children and their families. 

When a man is tempted to compromise, working through the struggle makes him strong. 

In 1988, when Cameron was 17, he was the next Tom Hanks. He played Mike Seaver on the hit sitcom Growing Pains, earned $50,000 a week, drove in bullet-proof limousines, and flew on private jets. Nothing could stop this bright star from taking over the world. 

But Cameron had become a Christian, and his new life in Christ was invading his old life in Hollywood. He couldn’t contain his new passion for his Savior, and the Growing Pains scripts that he had happily accepted before now troubled his conscience. 

In one episode, Cameron’s unmarried character was supposed to wake up next to a beautiful girl and say, “Hey, babe. Good morning. What’s your name again?” But Cameron wanted to honor God. He knew that if Mike Seaver did something, his young fans would do it too. 

Cameron knew he had to say something. But he also knew it might cost him his career. He had been acting since he was nine years old. It was the only life he knew. 

“Please don’t make me do this,” he prayed. He ran through all the excuses he could think of: “The stories aren’t real. The characters aren’t real either.” 

The Lord whispered back: “Are you going to do what you think is right, or are you gonna compromise?” 

The cast and crew were ready to shoot. Cameron nervously approached the producers, cleared his throat—careful to avoid his pubescent voice cracking—and politely asked them if the scene could be changed to something less sexual. 

The producers reluctantly obliged, but it meant that eleven writers had to come up with a new scene at the last minute, and actors had to learn new lines. The writers assumed Cameron was trying to take over the show, and they threatened to quit. 

When the press got wind of what had happened, Cameron found himself on the front page of the tabloids, and the headlines read: “Cameron goes off the religious deep end!” His reputation in Hollywood was ruined. 

The cast of Growing Pains had been like a family to Cameron. But they couldn’t understand this change in their friend either. And although the producers eventually persuaded the writers to return, Cameron and the cast began to drift apart. It was incredibly painful for this young believer. 

He could have compromised his principles. He could have asked the writers to write his character out of the show. He could have thrown in the Hollywood towel. But he remained on the set because he believed that God still wanted him there. 

Things didn’t get easier. There were more battles. More scenes to change. Cameron struggled, but at the same time, he grew in courage and conviction, unwilling to compromise his faith in Jesus. 

Two years later, God blessed him in an unusual way. Chelsea Noble, a Christian, was cast as Cameron’s onscreen girlfriend, and the two hit it off immediately. In Chelsea, Cameron had finally found someone who understood what he was going through, and by the time the show ended in 1992, they were married. Honoring Jesus had taken Cameron on a long and difficult road, but it had all been worth it. 

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV). 

Are you willing to bear the cost of putting God first in your life today? When a man is tempted to compromise, working through the struggle makes him strong. 

Dawson, Will. “Kirk Cameron’s Real Life Growing Pains.” CBN. Accessed July 3, 2020. http://www1.cbn.com/700club/kirk-camerons-real-life-growing-pains. 

Ewald, Dan. “The Rebirth of Kirk Cameron.” Today’s Christian. March/April 2003. https://web.archive.org/web/20080711143843/http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2003/002/1.20.html. 

Cameron, Kirk. Still Growing: An Autobiography. Ventura: Regal, 2008. 

Story read by: Nathan Walker 

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.