365 Christian Men | 365 Christian Men

May 3. Don Richardson. At the age of 17, Don Richardson dedicated his life to Christ. After he graduated from bible college, he and his wife moved to Papua, Indonesia, where—for the next 15 years—they served the Sawi tribe.

Serving the Sawi was a soft assignment except for the prevalence of malaria, dysentery, hepatitis, and frequent violence. And the Sawi were headhunters. Cannibalistic headhunters. That could slow a missionary down. But not Don Richardson. Listen to this.

When tested, sometimes we have to speak up to see God show up.

Don Richardson and his wife Carol were drawn to the window of their treehouse home in a small village in the interior of Netherlands New Guinea. On the ground below, someone wailed, and on their shoulders, several Sawi natives carried a limp body. In the distance, a single voice cried out the news. Warahai was dead.

Richardson went to the house where the Sawi had taken Warahai’s body. Sobbing friends and relatives crowded around him. Determined to revive him, they pinched him, they burned him, and they shouted at him.

But Warahai didn’t open his eyes.

But Richardson saw the man was still breathing, he pressed his fingers to Warahai’s wrist and felt a pulse. Full of excitement, Richardson tried to tell them Warahai was not dead, but the Sawi gathered around only gave him blank stares. He couldn’t understand why.

One of the men explained, “Warahai is still breathing because he is in a condition of ‘apparent life’ called aumamay. Sometimes a person’s body keeps functioning for a while after his soul has departed. But it doesn’t last long.” They believed that if he were alive, he would have woken when they pinched and burnt him.

Then the sorceress Aham confirmed this supposed fact.

“Aham has told you, in the name of the demons, that Warahai is already dead.” Richardson’s voice boomed. “In the name of Jesus, I tell you he is still alive!”

“Give us time to pray over him and treat him. If he recovers…” Richardson hesitated, looking at the cold, lifeless-looking body, but continued, “If Warahai recovers, if he actually opens his eyes and talks to you and takes food, then you will know I have told you the truth in Jesus’ name. But if his pulse stops, you can believe Aham, if you want to!”

Some of the men laughed at Richardson. One commanded the body be prepared for burial. But Richardson spoke up again and claimed the body until the pulse stopped completely.

So he and his wife stayed with Warahai and treated him with medicine and prayed continually.

While they cared for the unconscious man, the next several days crept by and tested the strength of Richardson’s faith. Sleepless nights, angry relatives, a scare when Warahai’s pulse disappeared, and severe doubts—all seemed to make a mocking cloud around Richardson’s head. If God intended to heal Warahai, He would have healed him by now.

By the sixth day, Richardson decided to stop the medicine. Using it on a man who was going to die was unnecessarily depleting the medicine supply.

At one point, Carol noted that men in better condition than Warahai had died in hospitals surrounded by adequate medicine and equipment, and that only a miracle could save the man now. They’d rely only on prayer.

The next day, Richardson was taking a break from watching Warahai. Sawi natives were watching him, and shouted. Yelled for Richardson.

Richardson ran back toward the sick room and met some Sawi. “How is he?”

“He’s been talking to us,” the Sawi said sheepishly.

Richardson’s heart leaped for joy. Continuing on toward the storehouse, he found Warahai reclining against his mother’s lap.

“Konahari, Warahai!” Richardson greeted him enthusiastically.

“Konahari,” Warahai said.

The onlookers sat in still-shocked silence.

At the in-your-face victory, Richardson rejoiced with old and new believers. Surely, God had power to do all things!

And we are sure of this, that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will” (1 John 5:14 TLB).

Today how can you declare your faith in God’s life-giving power? When tested, sometimes we have to speak up to see God show up.

“Remembering Don Richardson.” Pioneers. Pioneers.org. Accessed August 4, 2020. https://pioneers.org/2018/12/24/remembering-don-richardson.

“Remembering Don Richardson.” Pioneers, https://pioneers.org/2018/12/24/remembering-don-richardson/. Accessed 2 April 2019.

Richardson, Don. Peace Child. Regal Books, 2005.

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

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May 2. John Hagee is the founder and Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, a non-denominational evangelical church with more than 22,000 active members.

Pastor Hagee has served the Lord in the gospel ministry for more than sixty years and reached international audiences through his radio and television ministry. He also founded John Hagee Ministries, which is telecast to the United States and Canada, and the organization Christians United for Israel. On this date in history, Pastor Hagee opened a home for orphans.

In the face of hopelessness, a godly man takes action.

When John was 15, he was the assistant athletic director at a home for orphans. Every day he’d go into work, and he’d see the orphans’ hopelessness. He’d hear the edge in their voices that said they were afraid to hope. He’d feel their loneliness.

Every Friday was visitation day, and they’d talk about who was coming to see them. “My mom is coming to see me” or “My mom is coming to get me in a blue car” or “My dad is coming to see me”—whether anyone was coming or not. Hagee grieved for the little boys hanging on the fence outside and waiting for someone to come.

Week after week they’d wait. But no one came.

Eventually it dawned on them that they were alone. They got it. No one was coming, and no one cared. Sadness overtook them. Rejection became the rule of live.

Hagee knew there had to be solution. “I know we cannot change the world. I know it is an ocean of pain. But it is wrong to see a need and not help that need to the level that God helps you.” He just didn’t know what the solution was yet.

The concrete plan came years later, after Hagee let the Holy Spirit grow and water his heart through his many years of ministry. His vision of providing a home for single mothers in need was finally becoming a reality.

His vision for this home was not just a safe place for mothers, but a place where medical care would be provided, parental training would be given, counseling, educational opportunities and job-placement services would be offered, all with no financial obligations.

Hagee knew the vision had been created in his 15-year-old heart. Replaying the memories of kids hanging on the fence pleading for someone to come solidified his desire for change. “We cannot help them all, but we can help some,” he said. “And we should.”

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for the orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you” (James 1:27 NLT).

What can you do for the people in your life who need help? In the face of hopelessness, a godly man takes action.

“Sanctuary Of Hope; Pastor John Hagee’s Heart”. Youtube, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzypmaLT1Dw. Accessed 24 Apr 2019

Maule, Will. “‘All Completely Free Of Charge’: Pastor Opens Incredible Facility For Pregnant Women In Crisis”. Faithwire, 2018, https://www.faithwire.com/2018/03/15/all-completely-free-of-charge-pastor-opens-incredible-facility-for-pregnant-women-in-crisis/.

Story read by Chuck Stecker
Story written by Abigail Schultz, https://www.instagram.com/abigail_faith65

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May 1. John Brown. John lived in an era known as The Killing Time—a time the government brutally executed people who taught that the Bible was the true rule of a man’s life not the King’s laws.

John was still a boy when the King ripped 300 pastors out of their churches and sent them into exile. Many ended up living in caves and wherever—along the coasts of Scotland—the area traditionally left to robbers and crazies.

Turns out many of those robbers and crazies—having been ministered to by the exiled pastors—found their way into the Kingdom of God. And it was those pastors who taught and nurtured young John. He grew up to be a man of character, so much so that he was nicknamed: Christian Carrier. The neighboring farmers trusted him to take their produce to market, sell it, and bring back the proceeds to them. In his capacity of carrier, he also served as a messenger, often bringing his neighbors news of what their fellow Christians were suffering.

On this date in 1685, John Brown was shot dead for refusing to deny Christ. Here’s what happened.

In Christ, we find faith to live and even the courage to die.

Along the coastal moors of Scotland, three miles northeast of Muirkirk, stands a single pillar. It’s surrounded by a rectangle of mossy stones on a lonely tract of pasture known as Priesthill Farm. Here on May 1, 1685, in front of his wife and children, a Scottish officer shot John Brown—to death.

“What thinkest thou of thy husband now, woman?” the executioner asked.

“I thought ever much good of him, and as much now as ever,” she said.

John Brown was a Scottish Presbyterian, and men like him were called Covenanters.

For the Covenanters, God was the only one who had all right, all authority, all power, and all wisdom. That entitled God to be in charge. And God’s authority superseded any earthly king’s or queen’s or pope’s.

They signed covenants—like sacred contracts—and fiercely held onto their beliefs even when the government demanded they stop preaching, teaching, meeting—being anything but allied with the Church of England.

In 1660, King Charles II reinstituted bishops in the Church of England Many people cooperated with this re-organization, but the Covenanters refused.

To safeguard the truth of the Gospel, they held secret services in isolated fields and private homes. But anyone caught attending risked punishment by death.

The farmer John Brown was smart, and he loved God. He so wanted to be a preacher, but he stammered and found God used him best as a teacher of the young. So he held Bible classes in his barn and welcomed other Covenanters to his home.

He’d already asked his wife if she was willing to lose him for the cause of Christ. He seemed to know he would suffer a martyr’s death, and she was willing. The pastor who’d joined John’s and Isabel’s hands in marriage, warned Isabel to save a sheet to wrap John in, as she would not be able to enjoy him for long.

Early one morning in 1685, John was outside cutting peat, when the muted specter of soldiers broke through the hazy dawn. It was John Graham and his mounted dragoons out hunting Covenanters.

They dismounted and forced John back to his farmhouse, and they ransacked it, looking for weapons and “treasonable papers.” They found what they were looking for and demanded that John take an oath—an oath against the Covenanters, against everything he believed.

John Brown refused. And he didn’t stutter.

Brown prayed aloud. And his powerful prayer was interrupted three times as John Graham appeared anxious to get the execution done.

On the grassy knoll outside the family home, Graham now held a burnished pistol. He allowed John Brown to kiss his family goodbye. A few tearful words were spoken, and John Brown was ready to surrender his life.

Some report the soldiers could not immediately pull the trigger at command—paralyzed by the heart-wrenching scene, so that Graham lifted his pistol first and shot John Brown in the head.

“I have been crucified with Christ: and I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the real life I now have within this body is a result of my trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me,” (Galatians 2:20, TLB).

If you must suffer a great loss to do God’s will, are you willing to do it at all costs? In Christ, we find faith to live and even the courage to die.

The Killing of John Brown of Preisthill on 1 May, 1685: Walker’s Version

http://reformedanglicans.blogspot.com/2015/05/1-may-1685-ad-scottish-covenanter-john.html, (reference given to Dr. Rusten, Rusten E. Michael and Rusten, Sharon, The One Year Christian History, Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003.)

The Killing of John Brown of Preisthill on 1 May, 1685: Walker’s Version

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

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?

This is the title page of a biography of John Brown published in 1839.

At this link, you’ll find photographs of Muirkirk. The church shown here was built in 1631. https://youtu.be/aBep1W57z1U.

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April 30. Scott Rider. Scott is married to Tess, and they have four children. Together they’ve been through battles none of us would wish on our worst enemies. This kind of battle can wreck families and leave parents and children deeply alone.

Or God can show up.

Serious illness can tear a family apart, but a determined decision to rely on God can keep it together.

When Scott’s 18-month-old daughter, Sofia, was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor, his entire world shook.

Normal life was gone.

Instead, it would be full of uncertainty. Bills, exhaustion, the future, and most importantly, Sofia’s well-being, plagued him. And then there were the whispers of another problem, one he had rarely heard of: families falling apart because of childhood cancer.

For Scott, the risks seemed to be morphing into reality at an astounding rate. Time once set aside for playdates and family outings got scarfed up by surgeries, treatments, and trips to hospitals—local and out of state. Some stays lasted weeks, and the strains of constantly being away from home, along with the medical rollercoaster of not knowing which surgery or treatment would bring relief or make things worse—it all weighed heavy on the entire family.

Scott became exhausted. Physically, emotionally, mentally. And his family did, too.

The statistics and stories floated around the hospital. Caregiver stress and the strains of having a child with cancer risked the family being torn apart. With Sofia going through so much, and Scott still having to work and take care of his family while at the hospital, it wouldn’t take long before their family might become another sad statistic.

Scott decided to do something about it. He was not going to stand by and let cancer destroy his family.

Scott and Tess decided to make time for their relationship—despite the constant hospital stays. They’d be together for Sofia’s surgeries, but they’d also find time during the quieter moments to go out on a date.

The stress would not pull them apart, and they made a choice to keep their marriage strong—no matter what monster of an obstacle came at them. They made consistent concerted effort to be open in their communication. They shared their thoughts and feelings, frustrations and hopes. They refused to hold anything back from the other.

Scott knew that understanding his wife’s needs, as well as being honest about his own, would help them stay strong, so together they could be strong for Sofia.

But he didn’t just focus on his marriage. He focused on his kids, too. Sofia’s battle with cancer dragged on for years. When they passed the five-year milestone, Scott knew that Sofia’s younger siblings Nora, Zeke, and Jo would be watching how he handled all the stress.

A difficult diagnosis wasn’t going to stop the family from being there for each other. And Scott made sure the kids could count on that.

It wasn’t just Sofia fighting cancer. They were all fighting cancer, and the kids stepped up to help Scott and Tess. They encouraged Sofia during her down times, kept her happy if she felt sick or sad, and went with her to appointments and treatments.

While on a trip to Florida with other cancer-affected families, Nora met other kids like Sofia. She was amazed to see that Sofia wasn’t alone, yet she also grieved that those kids were suffering, too. Despite only being five years old, Nora was already displaying empathy and kindness to other families who were struggling like her own. She learned she could support others like her parents supported her family.

Sofia wasn’t done with her cancer fight. She still had a long road ahead. But despite the odds against her, Scott and his family remembered that even though God said He’d make all things work out in the end, that didn’t always mean that life was going to be easy or pleasant. Sometimes, life would be hard.

Scott nurtured a realistic, positive mindset, and the family relied on God’s love.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.… A cord of three strands is not quickly broken,” (Ecclesiastes 4: 9–12, NIV).

Think of a time where you faced a great difficulty. Did you face it alone or with others? How might facing struggles with others make the fight more bearable? Serious illness can tear a family apart, but a determined decision to rely on God can keep it together.

“A Little Girl’s Battle with Brain Cancer.” Accessed August 4, 2020. http://www.prayforsofia.com/updates/archives/04-2020

This story is based on an interview with Scott Rider.

Story read by Joel Carpenter

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April 29. Vasily Dimitrievich Zhomiruk. Vasily was of one of the richest men this earth has ever known. You haven’t heard of him? By the end of today’s story, you might forget his name. And that’s the way he would want it. Vasily never asked to have his story told. “I don’t want to take any glory from Christ,” he would say. His mission was to point people, not to himself, but to God. Here’s his story.

When you spend your life sharing Jesus, your life will keep on sharing Him when you’re gone.

The thermometer read 40 degrees, but the Colorado sunshine poured into a large kitchen and made it feel 20 degrees warmer. Crowded with aunts and uncles and cousins, not a corner in the whole house lacked family members some chattering away in English, older ones mostly in Russian.

Vasily sat at the large table, spread with an assortment of Russian foods: salads, grapes, baked fish, and homemade pelmini—Russian dumplings.

When his daughter-in-law walked into the room, she called, “Come kids! It’s time for blinchiki!” From all over the house, family members rushed in and clamored for the sweet dessert.

Vasily closed his eyes as memories of another time and place swept over him. It was in Siberia 1937.

Thirty prisoners were stuffed in a small room with concrete walls and thin mattresses. Straw covered the floor. Thirty-six-year-old Vasily was grateful to have so many bodies in the room; it kept the temperature a little warmer than the 12 degrees outside. Siberia’s reputation for brutal cold did not disappoint.

The closer it got to mealtime at the prison, the quieter it became, as each man’s hunger overtook his attention. Then the meal arrived. Bones and water. And the desperate, sometimes violent, scramble for sustenance ensued.

Vasily was as hungry as anyone else. So hungry the bones looked like a feast, but he didn’t join the mob. He had something these men didn’t; he had access to the richest blessing a person could have; he had a relationship with Jehovah Jireh, God the Provider.

Thinking about the filthy stable where the King of Kings was born, Vasily sat in the straw and watched the men unknowingly devour his share of the meal.

“Fill my belly, Lord!” he prayed, “Fill these men’s bodies with enough to satisfy them, and fill their souls with You. Give me strength, Lord!”

Vasily spent fourteen years in a Siberian labor camp in Communist Russia for the crime of preaching the good news of the gospel. That was the first time. After his release, he joined his wife and children and an underground church. Not long after, he was arrested a second time for sharing the gospel and sent back to Siberia for several years.

Once freed and back in his home city, his little church begged him to be their pastor. He had learned to trust God so well, his faith had grown so strong, they hoped to learn from him. He agreed to take on the risk. Sure enough, he was arrested again, and he served time—only to have it all happen a fourth time. In all, he spent twenty-five years of his life in Siberian prison camps.

Through a US-church-sponsorship program, Vasily and his family immigrated to the US in 1993. They settled in a Colorado city and joined a church. Vasily watched his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren grow as believers—secure and thriving in a land of freedom without threat of persecution.

Now, still at the table with his family, Vasily opened his eyes. But he would never forget those hungry men in Russia. He looked around at the table filled with food and his loving family. It was too beautiful, too abundant to keep for himself. God had not brought him here to live a good, safe life, to die clutching those blessings to himself. He had been given too much not to share it with those in need.

“Peter,” Vasily called his son over.

“Help me stand. And gather everyone. I want to say something. Then let me lie down.”

Peter supported his thin frame. The family quieted and stood to listen.

“Buy me a ticket to Russia,” Vasily said. “I’m going back.”

His shocked family protested; he was 95 years old! But Vasily insisted.

In May of 1997, he returned to Russia and preached at his little church, which had grown larger. Then he went to share Jesus with his daughter who had remained all along in Russia. He had to tell her the truth about Jesus.

Vasily finally felt satisfied. In his son’s small Russian house, Vasily lay down on the couch. “Okay, Lord, I’m ready to meet you,” he said aloud. “I’m done.”

And with that, he passed into his heavenly home.

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:10-21 NLT).

“My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work” (John 4:34 NLT).

What is the story of your life telling others? When you spend your life sharing Jesus, your life will keep on sharing Him when you’re gone.

Story based on an interview with Blake Mattocks and Tanya Davis, Vladimir Petrovich Zhomiruk, and Lydumila Mikailovna Zhovmiruk, August 26, 2020.

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

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

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

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

Lying may get you attention, but honesty earns respect.

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

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

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

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

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

“Certainly, it is!” Evans answered.

“What is his age, sir?”

“Twenty-three years,” he said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the pews, kids’ eyes grew wide.

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

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

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

In the pews, kids’ mouths gaped open.

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

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

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

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

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

His giant-slayer was Jesus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was like being gut-punched.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Story read by Chuck Stecker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The honesty brought tremendous healing.

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

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

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

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

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

Based on an interview with Bruce Porter.

Story read by Blake Mattocks

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?

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

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