365 Christian Men | 365 Christian Men

April 13. George Frideric Handel. Handel wrote operas, large-scale choral works, church music, and oratorios—large-scale musical works for orchestra and voices often with religious theme.

But George’s passion and talent couldn’t be denied. By the time he was 10, he had mastered composing for the organ, oboe, and violin. He later added the harpsichord.

George became an international figure, famous in Italy, Germany, and England. He experienced bankruptcy, suffered two mild strokes, regained both health and fortune, and helped establish what is now the Royal Society of Musicians. In 1750, he lost sight in his left eye. In 1752, he lost sight in his right eye. But blindness couldn’t stop him, and he continued to compose until he died in 1759.

On this date in 1742, his greatest oratorio Messiah debuted in Dublin.

With a vision from God, endure the critics. The vision’s time will come.

You’d think a man of genius like George Frederic Handel would have it all. But it wasn’t success that set the backdrop for Handel’s Messiah, one of the most powerful musical compositions in history.

When Handel was 56, he wondered if he’d just given his last concert. Life’s circumstances overwhelmed him. Like many of us do when things get tough, Handel considered giving up.

In the spring of 1741 debtor’s prison loomed before Handel. Four years before, overwork and anxiety brought on an attack of paralysis, and the resulting bankruptcy nearly destroyed him. While his work had since gained some acclaim, he was at odds with the Church of England. Debt, depression, and the compulsion to eat, not compose, filled his days.

What had gone wrong? Too much entrepreneurial spirit? Mixing his love for Bible stories with his love for theater? Much of his demise stemmed from the censure of the religious elite.

When he’d released the oratorio Esther, the religious leaders were furious, and they declared Scripture belonged in the church, not the theater. When Israel in Egypt released, they ripped down concert fliers and disrupted performances.

Handel pushed against their attempts to silence him. Setting Scripture to music and sharing it with the masses brought him joy. A good Lutheran, he read Scripture for himself and was at peace. The church need not define his choices.

But passion-of-purpose didn’t pay the bills. And for Handel, depression had become the norm.

Then one day a wealthy friend Charles Jennings came to visit with an interesting proposal—a libretto he’d taken directly from Scripture in an effort to establish the deity of Christ. Would Handel compose the music?

He would. When he was later promised a generous commission to compose for a charity benefit, he set to work. Once again Handel would put Scripture to music for performance in a public venue.

For nearly three weeks Handel didn’t leave his London home. He composed at a feverish pace, emotional, often leaving his food untouched.

After he finished the Hallelujah Chorus, tears streamed down his face. “I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God Himself,” he said. On page 259 of Messiah, the last of a work with an estimated quarter of a million notes, Handel penned “SDG” or Soli Deo Gloria—To God Alone the Glory.

Later he quoted the Apostle Paul, “Whether I was in the body or out of my body when I wrote it I know not.”

Handel’s Messiah debuted in Dublin. Men left their swords at home, and women didn’t wear hoops under their skirts, so an additional 100 people could squeeze into Fishamble Street Musick Hall. The overcapacity crowd of 700 wasn’t disappointed.

The Dublin Journal said Messiah, “conspired to transport and charm the ravished Heart and Ear.” The concert raised more than 400 pounds, which was used to free 142 men from debtor’s prison.

While it took a while for the religious of London to fully embrace Messiah, eventually it became a mainstay during the Christmas season. Handel grew wealthy and successful—and often alleviated the suffering of others through generous donations.

In 1759 Handel gave his last performance to a thunderous ovation. As the people cheered, Handel cried out, “Not from me … but from Heaven … comes all.”

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world,” (John 16: 33, NLT).

Has God given you a vision of something to accomplish? With a vision from God, endure the critics. The vision’s time will come.

Biography.com Editors. “George Frideric Handel Biography.” The Biography.com website. A&E Television Networks. Updated June 16, 2020. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://www.biography.com/musician/george-handel.

Cudworth, Charles. “George Frideric Handel: German-English Composer.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica.com. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Frideric-Handel/Music .

Spiritual lives of the Great Composers, Patrick Kavanaugh, 1992,1996, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids Michigan.

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=880893

Story read by Nathan Walker

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April 12. Robert Murray M’Cheyne. Two resolutions marked Robert’s ministry. One: Never rest until you accomplish your task. Two: Never hurry in a way that prevents the Holy Spirit from calming your heart.

Robert—the son of a Scottish lawyer—spent his early life in comfort and luxury, but when his older brother died, Robert looked for a life of deep communion with God.

He got his education and entered the ministry. From the outset, Robert suffered from frequent illness and sensed that his time on earth would be short. But he was determined to make every moment count. His life had been saved by Jesus, and it belonged to Jesus. Robert wouldn’t waste a minute.

About this resolution, he wrote, “As I was walking in the fields, the thought came over me with almost overwhelming power, that every one of my flock must soon be in heaven or hell.”

With some friends, on this date in 1839, Robert left London for a six-month journey to Palestine. It was a fact-finding mission to learn about the spiritual condition of the Jewish people living there. Today’s story starts with Robert returning from his trip. It was time to tell his congregation all about the trip, right?

A life lived for God’s glory leaves an eternal legacy.

When Robert returned from an exhausting—yet very fruitful—six-month missionary journey ministering to the Jews in Israel, M’Cheyne made his way to his church, gave thanks to the Lord, encouraged his flock, and then led them in prayer. After this, he preached for an hour.

Although a great revival had occurred during his absence under the ministry of his assistant William Burns, M’Cheyne was unwilling for even a single member of his church to miss out on the grace of salvation. “He seized that opportunity, not to tell of his journeyings, but to show the way of life to sinners.”

When he left the church that night, he found the road to his house blocked by congregants who were waiting to welcome him back. Did he politely greet them and go on home for a much-needed respite?

M’Cheyne shook hands with every one of them, many at the same time, and since they’d gathered, he felt compelled to speak some words of life to them again. Out on the road, he stood and prayed with them as long as they would pray.

A month later, when preaching at his church one Sunday afternoon, M’Cheyne once again demonstrated his unyielding passion for the Lord when he said, “Dearly beloved, I now begin another year of my ministry among you; and I am resolved, if God give me health and strength, that I will not let a man, woman, or child among you alone, until you have at least heard the testimony of God concerning his Son, either to your condemnation or salvation.”

M’Cheyne died four years later during an epidemic of typhus. He was 29 years old, and his ministry had lasted less than six-and-a-half years. But although his life and work were short, much like our Lord Jesus,’ his influence has been longlasting.

M’Cheyne did not let anything distract him from pursuing Christ every day, not even the intense suffering he endured in his body.

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom,” (Psalm 90: 12, NIV).

Today, his powerful sermons, love for the Word of God, and life of communion with Christ still inspire countless believers worldwide.

Are you making every day count for Jesus? A life lived for God’s glory leaves an eternal legacy.

“Robert Murray M’Cheyne: His Life.” Banner of Truth, Issue 4, December 1955, pp. 14–23. Transcribed for digital transmission by David F. Haslam. Copyright 2019. Accessed August 1, 2020. https://www.mcheyne.info/his-life/.

Bonar, Andrew. Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne. Banner of Truth, 1966

https://www.mcheyne.info/life.php

Story read by Blake Mattocks

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April 11. Anthony Ashley Cooper. Anthony was the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury. He came to be a Christian through the care of his first best friend –an old family servant who loved the Lord.

Anthony believed the true responsibilities of Christian aristocrats included caring for the bodies and the souls of those entrusted to their oversight. He devoted himself to political, legal, and social reforms that would improve the lives of factory workers, miners, chimney sweeps, and agricultural laborers. Anthony tackled the Poor Law, public health laws, and lunacy laws—to make them more humane.

In Parliament, he introduced an act that would outlaw employing of women and children underground in coal mines.

On this date in 1844, Anthony founded the Ragged School Union, an alliance of British ragged schools designed to provide educational and other services for children too poor and too “ragged” to obtain those services anywhere else.

What a man believes shows in what he does.

Anthony, strode down the uneven street in the dimly-lit London neighborhood. Ill-clad women dashed to find an alcove to block the icy wind, and crop-headed jailbirds pulled up coat collars—if they had one.

Behind the earl marched a small, determined group of modestly dressed men. Though none were men of means, they did what they could.

Ashley believed, “a man’s religion, if it is worth anything, should enter into every sphere of life and rule his conduct.” He fought for the dignity of mankind with Legislation in the House of Commons. He fought for better schools for destitute children. He fought in person on these dismal streets.

“For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land,” (Deuteronomy 15: 11, NASB)

The great clock at St. Paul’s Cathedral had already clanged midnight before the men began tonight’s mission. In silence they walked toward Victoria Arches—the Vagrant’s Hiding Place. These dismal vaults built into the riverbank made a poor substitute for a home, but where else could the poor find shelter?

The men arrived at the Arches, and Ashley sucked in a quick breath. The shielded expressions of his men reflected the pain he felt. He nodded to the one who’d brought the candles, and the man solemnly passed them out. After they were lit, Ashley led the group into the gloom of the brick archways.

It took a moment for Ashley’s eyes to adjust. While he fought for focus, foul-smelling vagrants pushed past him, rushing outside, away from the candlelight. Others crept backward from its bright circle.

Rats scurried into the dark, and Ashley swallowed hard. The impoverished people were crammed together, some on smelly straw, others on bare earth. As the glow fell upon them, most turned to hide dirty faces and pulled tattered garments closer.

A wave of grief assaulted Ashley, and he shrugged it off. He couldn’t rescue all of them, but he could reach a few. According to their plan, Ashley’s men spread out and looked for the youngest of the vagrants. The men spoke kindly, but with authority, and they gathered about thirty boys, who responded more from fear than trust.

The men herded their young charges out of the vaults and down the crooked London Streets.

It was close to two in the morning by the time they reached the warmth of Field Lane School. Ashley was especially affected by two small boys huddled together, eyes wide. He asked to sit between them, and they slowly parted. With gentle questions, he learned their stories.

The youngest, only eight, remembered better days before his father died, but he’d spent most of the last year sleeping on the dirt floor in the Arches until the other, not much older, had shared his straw. It was a small comfort, but straw was better than bare ground. They weren’t brothers by blood, but poverty had created the bond of brotherhood, and now they looked after each other.

Ashley’s eyes misted. He comforted the boys, and the terror in their eyes gradually diminished. When he explained that they no longer had to live in the Arches—that they would have a warm bed and an education, the astonished boys cried.

Ashley looked away to hide his own tears. There were more boys to rescue, and he would keep fighting poverty on every front.

In what ways does your belief system dictate your actions? What a man believes shows in what he does.

Hammond, J.L., and Barbara Bradby Hammond. Lord Shaftesbury. London: Constable, 1923. Hathi Trust Digital Library, SUNY Potsdam. Accessed August 1, 2020.

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Ragged School.” Encyclopedia Britannica. June 25, 2008. https://www.britannica.com/topic/ragged-school. Accessed August 1, 2020.

The Life and Work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury K. G., Edwin Hodder, 1893, Cassell and Co Limited, London, Paris, Melbourne. For free online viewing visit: https://archive.org/details/lifeworkofsevent00hoddiala/

The Nuttall Encyclopædia, James Wood, ed. (1907). To access this entry online visit: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Ragged_school.html and The Ragged School Union Magazine, Volume III, December 1851, Blackburn and Bert Printers, Holborn Hill, London.

Story read by Daniel Carpenter

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April 10. John Harper. Growing up in a Christian household, Harper came to faith when he was 14. By the he turned 18, he couldn’t be kept quiet. He had to preach about Jesus.

He became a pastor and served churches in Glasgow and London before he went to Chicago in 1911 and back to London, where he pastored.

He’d been invited to return to Moody Church, so on this date in 1912, Harper—with his daughter and his niece—boarded the luxury liner RMS Titanic.

The forces of nature were too much for the Titanic, but the force of John’s love for lost souls was greater. This man used every minute, every opportunity. Here’s how it went down.

Crisis makes telling the truth in love urgent.

Illuminated from stem to stern, the great RMS Titanic struck an iceberg, sending shards of ice over her starboard deck. As water flooded into her side, a horde of panicking people filled the multiple boat decks. Stars flickered above like festive lights, and strains of “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” rose from a sinking deck. And the stench of death mingled with the acrid smell of saltwater.

John Harper’s voice rang above the din, “Let the women, children, and the unsaved into the life boats!” John, the great revival preacher, responded from the same fervor that guided his every-day life—the passion to see people saved for eternity. Crisis makes telling the truth in love urgent.

John lowered his six-year-old daughter, Nana, into a lifeboat, then he rushed about, asking man after man if he was saved. One rebuffed him. John took off his life vest. “You need this more than I do.” John knew his future. Fearless, he fought for the future of those who didn’t know the Lord.

The men on that deck formed a circle and knelt. Some say it was John who asked the band to play Nearer My God to Thee. The Titanic settled, the bow and bridge completely under water. A wave crashed over the deck—and washed it clear.

Gasping for breath in the icy waters, John grabbed a piece of wreckage. Using it to keep his torso above the frigid grave, he kicked against the freezing sea. “Are you saved?” he called to the nearest soul. On to the next and the next he went. “Are you saved?”

The great RMS Titanic swung upward, the stern shooting out of the water. Her lights went black, flickered on again for a single flash, and then went forever dark. There was a terrible crashing.

When it ended, the RMS Titanic hung vertical. It seemed an eternity she stood on end, mammoth propeller dangling from the stern, out of place in the night air. Then she slid slowly forward as her haunches slipped slanting down … down … and she was gone.

Nothing remained to prove she’d been there except the crushing chorus of a thousand or more voices moaning, crying, begging for salvation from icy death. They bobbed in the water in life belts, clung to the wreckage scattered upon the dark, bitter wet.

“Are you saved?” John called to the nearest man.

“No,” came a Scottish brogue. “I am not.”

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” The waves pulled John from the young man, then the swell brought him near again. “Are you saved now?”

“I cannot honestly say that I am.”

“They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household,” (Acts 16: 31, NLT).

Of the 1,528 people that went into the water that night, six were rescued by the lifeboats. One of them was this young Scotsman, Aguilla Webb. A few years later, he shared his story. “[John Harper] went down,” Aguilla said. “And there, alone in the night, and with two miles of water under me, I believed. I am John Harper’s last convert.”

What will give you courage in crisis? Crisis makes telling the truth in love urgent.

“A Story of the Titanic Article from the Evangel. June 1912.” Billy Graham Center Archives. Collection 330, Box 42, Folder 3. Wheaton College. Updated June 14, 2002.http://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/docs/titanic4.htm

The Titanic’s Last Hero, Moody Adams, 2012, Ambassador International

Acts 16: 31, Holy Bible, King James Version, public domain

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, Paul Lee Tan, 1982, Assurance Publishers

Story read by Blake Mattocks

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April 9. William Seymour. All his life, Seymour never let a locked door stop him from seeking God’s will. Born to freed slaves, Seymour fled the deep south to escape poverty, oppression, and prejudice. But while he was working in Ohio, he contracted smallpox, which left him partially blind. But it also confirmed in him God’s call to preach.

In 1905, Seymour attended Bible school, where segregation laws forced him to sit in the hallway, outside the classroom. This locked door, couldn’t stop him, though. He soaked up the lessons and was soon teaching them to others.

In 1906, he accepted an invitation to preach in Los Angeles. This time, the content of his Pentecostal message got him locked out. But he preserved, and on this date in 1906, God poured out his Spirit on William and his small band of like-minded seekers. In time, the Pentecostal message spread across the globe.

In 1988, long after Seymour’s death, the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary dedicated its chapel to William’s memory, and at the close of the 20th century, Christian History Magazine named William one of the top ten most influential Christians of the 20th century.

Rejection can derail us, but prayer keeps us on track.

The first Sunday-morning message William Seymour preached for his small Holiness congregation, was his fifth message in five days. An eager congregation filled the hall.

Seymour was “a man alive and on fire” as he preached, passionate about his vision for the church. Full of excitement, he took the crowd through Acts 2 and described the power of the Holy Spirit poured out on Pentecost. He told the people this same Holy Spirit could be poured out on them, too.

But many congregants were put off by this message. Even J. M. Roberts, President of the Southern California Holiness Association, approached Seymour and advised him—in the future—to tone it down and play it safe. But Seymour didn’t care about being safe. He wanted to see Pentecostal power poured out on the 20th century church.

Unfortunately, his congregation was against this radical new idea.

Sorely disappointed, Seymour had his sights set on God, and he purposed that he would keep himself optimistic and keep obeying God. Out of courtesy, his congregation members Edward and Mary Lee invited their new preacher home for lunch, and Seymour made a few friends. Though they didn’t embrace his weird ideas.

Just a few hours later, it was time to head back for the evening meeting. Seymour and his two hosts walked through the streets toward the meeting hall. A crowd stood around the doors of the mission, and the doors were padlocked shut.

They were locked out. The message was plain: Seymour had lost his job. Fired! On the first Sunday. How was he to deliver the message God had given him, if they wouldn’t let him preach?

More reality crashed in on him. Seymour had also lost his only place to sleep.

Edward and Mary Lee did the only humane thing to do and invited the homeless pastor back to their home.

Seymour gratefully accepted, and for the next few days, he went to God in prayer and fasted. He refused to let his discouragement show. He was following wherever the Lord led. For today, the Lord had led him on the outside of the church, shut away from the general congregation. He kept on asking for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and if anyone else wanted to come along with him, he would be delighted to bring him along.

Edward and Mary Lee watched Seymour closely for a few days. He refused to give up. He refused to believe that the Holy Spirit was not to be poured out on these people. He refused to look glum. Lee and his more skeptical wife knelt beside their pastor and joined him in prayer.

Then Edward Lee received the gift of the Holy Spirit. He spoke in tongues and a new fire burned in him. Faster than Seymour could imagine, word spread among other members of the congregation, and many more men and women joined this collection of souls thirsting for more of the Spirit.

God blessed Seymour’s steadfastness, and a revival was born. Seymour and his new gathering soon received exactly what they had prayed for: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the gift of tongues, and a renewed fervor for the Lord’s work and power. Thousands more were filled with the Spirit in the next year.

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4: 5–7, NIV).

Today what situation can you submit to God through prayer? Rejection can derail us, but prayer keeps us on track.

Borlase, Craig. William Seymour: A Biography. Lake Mary, Charisma House, 2006.

Story read by Daniel Carpenter

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April 8. James Chalmers. Chalmers was known to be a stubborn man—a stubborn man on fire to be the first one to preach to a group of people who needed Jesus. So Chalmers and his first wife Anne sailed to the Cook Islands northeast of New Zealand. Part-way there, they were shipwrecked, stranded, and rescued by a pirate ship. And the pirate leader allowed Chalmers to preach for the rest of the journey.

For 10 years James served in the Cook Islands, and then for another 24 years in New Guinea, he worked up and down the coast in 105 villages. He always preached Jesus. He always established a Polynesian teacher to carry on the ministry, and he always traveled unarmed—to allay some of the natives’ fear of him.

When the government offered him a position, Chalmers said, “Gospel and commerce, yes: but remember this: It must be the gospel first.… The ramparts of heathenism can only be stormed by those who carry the cross.”

To understand what it meant for Chalmers to “carry the cross” in this time and place, you need to know three things. Chalmers knew them.

The natives had never heard of Christianity and were steeped in religion of their own

A dubu is a public building for the native warriors, and it could only be used after it was consecrated by a human sacrifice. Wooden idols stood in the corner, and human skulls were piled near them.

The natives would never know Jesus if someone didn’t tell them, and Jesus had said—as you’re going, tell them.

So—knowing all that, on this date in 1901, Chalmers headed for a new-to-him remote village. When Chalmers and his party arrived, the natives leapt with joy; they were delighted to welcome the group to the island. Shortly, they invited Chalmers and his missionary partner into the dubu for refreshments, fell upon the men, dismembered them, and passed the limbs to the women, who cooked them with herbs. That was Easter Sunday, 1901. Chalmers knew what it meant to “carry the cross.”

When we’re secure in our future, we can be fearless in our present.

When Chalmers and his wife arrived at New Guinea, it “was an unknown land, full of terrors, savagery, and human degradation.… there were some uncomfortable habits (cannibalism) … and the sanctity of human life was unknown, and every man was a thief and a liar.” The men were most proud of their tattoos, but they were only entitled to wear one when they had murdered someone. Chalmers intended to introduce the New Guinea cannibals to Jesus.

“Chalmers’ fearlessness must have been a great factor of success in his hazardous work. He disarmed men by boldly going amongst them unarmed …”

As Chalmers’ boat gently bobbed up and down outside another primitive village, they waited a short distance from the shore, in their usual way, so the villagers had time to notice the strange vessel in the water and to take in the shock of seeing a white man for the very first time.

In the hot New Guinea sun, suspicious native protectors—a host of armed savages with barbaric markings on their faces, sticks in their noses, and human bones around their necks—got into their canoes and paddled out to Chalmers’ boat.

Chalmers spoke peacefully and gave them gifts—things like pieces of hoop iron and red braid. He let them know that he was leaving, but he would be back to tell them about a great Being they didn’t know. He had a way about him that instantly disarmed them.

A short time later, Chalmers did return to the village with his wife. Greeted with a warm welcome, they touched their noses and their bellies and then nose-rubbed, as was the custom. The village chief invited them to his home. Human skulls decorated the room, and blood-stained weapons lined the walls. Mrs. Chalmers did her best not to let her angst show.

Chalmers and his wife built their own hut in the village and began to teach the villagers about Christ. One afternoon, as they labored, a group of armed savages surrounded them and yelled, “Tomahawks, knives, iron, and beads!” The villagers said that, if the missionaries didn’t supply these things, they would be killed.

Chalmers told them, “‘You may kill us, but never a thing will you get from us.’ He always refused to make terms with force.” The missionaries spent a very anxious and restless night in their hut. The next morning the leader of the angry visitors returned, only in a very different manner.

Apologetic about the previous night’s escapades, he wanted to be friends.

“Now you are unarmed,” Chalmers said, “we are glad to make friends with you.” He invited the once hostile villager into his hut and offered him gifts and conversation. And he won the hearts of the cannibal groups all along the coast for Christ.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear. The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27: 1, NIV).

What frontier might God be calling you to pursue, in spite of fears that stand in your way? What steps can you take today to begin moving your life in this direction of obedience? When we’re secure in our future, we can be fearless in our present.

Mathews, Basil. “James Chalmers: The Boy of the Adventurous Heart.” Wholesome Words. Children’s Corner. Missionary Biographies and Adventures. Wholesomewords.org. Accessed August 15, 2020.
https://www.wholesomewords.org/children/heroes/hchalmers.html

Royer, Galen B. “James Chalmers: Fiery Missionary of the South Sea Islands.” Wholesome Words. Missionary Biographies. Wholesomewords.org. Accessed August 15, 2020.

https://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/bchalmer3.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Chalmers

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1901_2000/chalmers-and-co-clubbed-to-death-on-the-fly-11630669.html

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chalmers-james-3187

Story read by Peter R Warren, https://www.peterwarrenministries.com/
Story written by: Shelli Mandeville, https://worthy.life/

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April 7. Bob Gass. Bob preached his first sermon when he was 13, and he entered full-time ministry at the age of 18. He worked as a pastor, a guest speaker, and an evangelist before beginning his career as an author.

In 1994, at age 50, Bob produced the first edition of “The Word for You Today,” a daily devotional that now appears in print, on radio, on television, and on digital platforms.

Bob and his wife Debby built a transition home for orphans in Romania—the Village of Hope. It keeps orphans off the streets and out of over-crowded state-run orphanages and places them into homes with loving families.

Our potential is not determined by whether we see it, but whether we seize it.

At one in the morning, Bob Gass got a phone call from a friend. It was a friend he’d reached out to for advice and encouragement, and the caller had a word from the Lord.

Bob had been emotionally drained. He’d sunk to the lowest point in the darkest period of his life. He’d overextended himself, crashed, and gone up in emotional flames.

To keep up with the massive weight of commitments he’d taken on, he’d gotten addicted to chemicals, and the strain on his marriage had reached its breaking-point. A divorce he didn’t want. Things couldn’t get much worse.

It certainly wasn’t the life Bob had envisioned when he’d immigrated to America from Ireland to become a preacher. He wanted to preach the gospel and live for Christ. Now he wasn’t sure how God was ever going to be able to use him.

So Bob took a two-year hiatus from ministry. He went to godly men and asked for prayer, guidance, and encouragement. And—of course—God answered.

The friend called in the middle of the night with this core message: “The battle in your life is not over your past. It’s not even over your present,” (where Bob was currently living—defeated). “The battle in your life is over your future.”

It hit Bob like a sledgehammer. Satan was trying to destroy his future by stopping him from fulfilling God’s plans today. The revelation seemed like an out-of-body experience.

Something rose up within his spirit and latched onto the promise from God’s Word: “I will not die, but live, and tell the works of the LORD,” (Psalm 118: 17, NASB).

After that night, everything changed, and Bob’s been declaring the works of the Lord ever since.

Eventually Bob entered a new phase of ministry through writing. He published 3,500 copies of a booklet containing daily devotionals he’d written entitled The Word for You Today. Those 3,500 booklets initiated a mailing list of 600,000 readers, who wanted to receive more devotionals regularly.

The ministry grew until The Word for You Today reaches approximately 7.6 million people in 17 languages through print, Facebook, emails, and other digital means.

What if Bob Gass—at his lowest point—had decided that God was through using him? The truth is, Bob’s personal failures allowed him to connect with people in a profound and personal way. When Bob didn’t know why God would choose to use him, and he gave God all the credit for his success, his faith revived.

He often prayed: “Lord if You don’t help me do this, I’m sunk.” And he wrote several years ahead of schedule, so his devotionals would reach multitudes after his death.

God wasn’t finished with Bob, yet, and his faithful words still speak to hearts who need a ‘word for today.’ Bob once said “It’s up to you to take authority over Satan’s lies. Your potential doesn’t change because you don’t believe it.”

What might the devil be telling you to destroy your future usefulness for His service? Our potential is not determined by whether we see it, but whether we seize it.

BDN Obituaries. “Robert ‘Bob’ Gass.” BDNMaine. June 13, 2019. https://obituaries.bangordailynews.co .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9lFiWuY2Fg, UBC TV Interview with Bob Gass hosted by Gary Hoovliet, posted November 17, 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZS4aXfX93M A Tribute to Bob Gass, The Dove TV June 28, 2019.

https://vision.org.au/blog/2019/07/03/remembering-bob-gass/ Phil Edwards, Chief Executive Officer, Vision Christian Media, article—Remembering Bob Gass.

https://www.bobgass.com/ Bob Gass Ministries Website

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

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April 6. Eric Irivuzumugabe. On this date in 1994, a plane carrying the president of Rwanda was shot down, launching a 100-day genocide against the Tutsis people by the Hutu people. More than 800,000 Tutsies died. Two million became refugees, and there were 120,000 new orphans. Eric was one of those orphans. But God showed up and turned the atrocity to good.

Within eleven years, Eric had founded Humura Minisitries to help fellow orphans. It currently has seventy volunteers for teaching entrepreneurship and fifty for counseling. He has written two books:

My Father Maker of Trees: How I Survived the Rwandan Genocideand

A New Generation with a New Legacy, which is written in Kinyarwanda, since the goal is help the Rwandan post-genocide generation to learn from what happened.

Today’s story starts when Eric is 16-years-old.

God never created a man he didn’t give a purpose.

“Don’t let anyone escape! Capture all the cockroaches.” Hutu extremists chanted as they swept into the village. They were bent on wiping out the entire Tutsi population of Rwanda.

Eric was 16-years-old, and he’d been happy, the son of a businessman/farmer. He’d had three sisters and two brothers. Cypress trees surrounded the village, and Eric thought of them as beautiful shelter for the animals. Until the day his grandfather told the family to run for their lives.

They should keep together as long as they could—but they wouldn’t be able to do it for long. They should run and hide and stay alive—but they wouldn’t be able to do it for long.

“I could taste the soot and ash,” Eric said. “The enemy quickly began looting, killing, and destroying homes, beginning at the edge of the hills and working their way through the village to dominate every Tutsi home until all was destroyed.”

Brutal widespread killing wasn’t enough for the Hutus. They hunted the Tutsis, raped, tortured and humiliated them all day long. At night, laughing and bragging about the slaughter, the Hutus fell back to their homes.

Grandfather pointed the family down a path, and Eric ran for an hour before the family reached the mountainside. Eric ran, driven by the sounds of looting, mothers screaming for their babes, babies crying for their parents, grenades exploding. Eric ran and gagged on the smell of burning homes and burning flesh. The brush was thick on the ground, and Tutsis crawled into it to hide. But the Hutu extremists searched every inch and slaughtered whoever they found. So Eric ran. Even after he lost touch with his family—Eric ran.

Legs screaming with pain and his head spinning, Eric darted past the fallen bodies of his friends and neighbors. Hutu hunters left the bush at night, and Eric was thankful for surviving another day, but he couldn’t block out the sights and sounds and smells of the massacre. When he woke, the Hutus were back chanting about exterminating the Tutsis.

Eric ran into the jungle and stayed there through the night, “terrorized, disoriented, and alone.” To Eric “God seemed like a distant fairytale … Though I couldn’t see him, he was present, lurking in the bush with me, chasing after my heart.”

“I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name,” (Isaiah 45: 3, NASB).

Exhausted, Eric sat on rock and for a moment felt grounded. Wonder of wonders! Two of his uncles hid there in the trees, and they installed Eric in his own tree to hide. In this rainy season, without food or water, forced to be still and silent all day, they watched the savage killing go on below. Eric hid in the trees 15 days.

He couldn’t sleep much, but at night he could climb out of the tree and rest his arms from clinging to the branches. About noon Eric heard a voice tell him to accept the branches as friends, and he called them: “Strong. Alive. A refuge. A majestic tower. And I wondered about the tree maker. Was he these things, too?”

Another time the same voice reminded him to be thankful for this place to rest. The seventh day in the trees the voice came: “‘I’ve spared you from seeing more evil, so let your heart rest.’ God gave us a Sabbath from the devils in the bush on the seventh day.”

The day came when the gunfire sounded different. Bigger guns. Hutu hunters fled. Tutsi refugees from Uganda had formed a rebel army, and they’d finally arrived to drive the Hutus out. Eric wanted to jump out of the tree and chase them, but he waited. A full 15 days.

When it was over, as Eric walked the 12 km. back to his village, he saw how beautiful the cypress trees were. He said, “I was beginning to believe that perhaps God planted the trees to take care of a scared, helpless 16-year-old boy like me.… If God gave such trees a purpose on earth, I thought, then maybe my life matters to him, as well.”

What have you been doing about God’s purpose for your life? God never created a man he didn’t give a purpose.

History.com Editors. “Rwandan Genocide.” HISTORY. A&E Television Networks. Updated September 30, 2019. https://www.history.com/topics/africa/rwandan-genocide

“My Father, Maker of the Trees.” Publishers Weekly.com. Accessed July 31, 2020. https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780801013201

Irivuzumugabe, Eric, Lawrence, T. My Father, Maker of the Trees: How I Survived the Rwandan Genocide. Baker Books, 2009. http://www.treasuresofrwanda.com/index.php/about-us

Story read by Peter R Warren,https://www.peterwarrenministries.com/
Story written by Teresa Crumptonhttps://authorspark.org/

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April 5. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor and theologian, who became the lead spokesperson for German Protestant resistance to the Nazis.

Much of his resistance work was done undercover inside the Germany’s Military Intelligence organization, but he also demanded that the Nazi’s change the way they defined Jewish people.

He insisted Christians with Jewish ancestry were entitled to all the rights as other Christians. In this point, he was at odds with the Nazis and with some of the Christian leaders. The Nazis took away his right to lecture or publish. Too soon, they took away his life. Here’s how it happened.

One man of peace can wage war on evil.

When the Nazis came into power, they envisioned a new Germany. And they built Dachau first to house political prisoners, but it soon turned into a concentration camp for anyone the Nazis deemed unfit for the new Germany, including anyone with Jewish grandparents, artists, intellectuals, Gypsies, the physically and mentally handicapped, and homosexuals.

The government bullied Jewish people. The government destroyed Jewish-owned businesses. The government assassinated handicapped and mentally challenged people to get them out of the way. Evil swept through Germany, and it grew. The government was evil.

A week after Hitler declared himself Fuhrer, which means “supreme leader,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer went on the radio and proclaimed that Hitler was not the supreme leader. Only God was supreme.

Someone at the radio station cut off the speech—as Bonhoeffer was speaking. Silence filled the radio air. It was not the last time Germany would seek to silence Bonhoeffer. But he’d just begun to speak.

He tried to rally fellow ministers to join him, to stand up against Hitler. But they refused. Instead, they joined Hitler and literally took down crosses and put up swastikas.

One minister told Bonhoeffer, “Hitler is a gift sent by Christ.”

Seeing the cowardice of the church, Bonhoeffer was more determined than ever to end the evil.

He discovered that his brother-in-law Hans Dohnanyi headed part of the Resistance, and he also worked for the Abwehr, a German-government-intelligence office.

So Dohnanyi got Bonhoeffer hired to be a counterintelligence officer. He was a courier and diplomat to Great Britain. In his job, Bonhoeffer traveled to various countries and acquired information that would be valuable to the German government—and he smuggled out documents and proof of the atrocities Germany was committing against the Jews.

Dohnanyi asked Bonhoeffer to explain how God would not punish them if they killed Hitler. Bonhoeffer prayed extensively and explained it to Dohnanyi and the other members of the Resistance, some of whom were high-ranking officers in the German army.

“Sometimes a Christian must sin boldly for the cause of Christ,” Bonhoeffer said. “If I see a madman driving into a group of innocent bystanders, I can’t, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe, comfort the survivors, and bury the dead. I must try and wrestle the steering wheel out of the driver’s hands.”

Bonhoeffer told his brother-in-law, “Hitler must be killed. I will kill him myself, if needed.”

Dohnanyi was grateful for Bonhoeffer’s willingness, but believed he’d be more valuable to the Resistance as a spiritual leader and courier.

In 1943, Dohnanyi delivered a special fuse and detonator to a high-ranking military man. He attached the detonator and the bomb to a bottle of Cognac and put it on Hitler’s plane. But somehow it didn’t go off.

A few days later, the Resistance gave two bombs to a partner Major Gerrsdorff, who hid the bombs in his pockets. Hitler would be visiting the area to inspect some weaponry, and Gersdorff was the guide. He planned to detonate the bombs and wrap his arms around Hitler. And they’d both die, ending the reign of evil.

But after the bombs were already detonated, Hitler unexpectedly hurried through the exhibition. He’d escaped again.

That time, Gerrsdorff was able to defuse the bombs.

Another attempt to kill Hitler resulted in the deaths of four Nazi officials, but not Hitler.

Dohnanyi assigned Bonhoeffer to get fifteen Jews out to Switzerland with new documents for each. And the mission was a success. The fifteen were safe.

But the Gestapo found out; they also found papers that linked Bonhoeffer to the assassination attempt, and they arrested Dohnanyi and Bonhoeffer.

He spent the next two years in prison, but he used his time to minister to others and to write books that inspired readers to live for Christ and to spurn evil. Three weeks before Hitler killed himself, the Nazis hanged Dohnanyi and Bonhoeffer.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us,” (Romans 8: 18, NASB.)

What about you? Do you have the courage to stand up to bullies in our society? One man of peace can wage war on evil.

Bethge, Eberhard. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A Biography (Minneapolis, MN, Fortress Press, 2000).

McCormick, Patricia. The Plot to Kill Hitler: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Unlikely Hero (New York City, NY, Balzer + Bray, 2016)

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Ethics. P. 267.

Story read by Daniel Carpenter

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?

“… It is not only what is said that matters, but also the man who says it.”

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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April 4. Ronald Dale Jackson. Ronald is a deaf-blind man with blond hair, cut military short.

In a church basement in New York City, an American Sign-Language interpreter named Pamela and her husband JH met Ronald, and they marveled at a man who had lost both hearing and sight, but gained the presence of God. This is his story.

When we face challenges head-on, in our pain, we find purpose.

In that basement in New York City, roughly twenty people sporting their Sunday best worshipped together. Most in the multi-cultural gathering were either deaf or deaf-blind. They sang in unison, not with voices, but with hands, arms, and sometimes their whole bodies.

When the sermon began, a hearing interpreter in the front signed to the deaf. In return, two deaf believers signed into the hands of the deaf-blind attendees. Pamela and JH were especially drawn to one: Ronald. As God’s Word was placed into his outstretched hand, his face radiated more and more joy.

Pamela and JH were eager to communicate with Ronald. He signed that he’d had both sight and hearing when he was born but was completely deaf by 16 months. At eight years old he was diagnosed with Type 2 Ushers syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes deafness in childhood and loss of vision by middle-age.

“It would be easy to feel defeated, like God left me or didn’t care,” said Pamela. “But Ronald’s attitude is the opposite.”

It wasn’t always that way. As a young man, Ronald worked for the US Postal Service. But after 20 years, his vision deteriorated, and he could no longer sort mail. Continued loss of eyesight soon made his next job impossible. As his Usher’s syndrome worsened, his wife left him. Then a second marriage ended. Unable to understand why God had allowed such difficulty and pain, Ronald questioned why he was ever born. The night was upon him.

Directionless at 39, Ronald battled depression. Then a friend encouraged him to visit Faith Baptist Mission, a deaf church. The pastor told Ronald God had a purpose for his life, and that he needed to find it. Ronald spent time in prayer and with Scripture. This spiritual awakening made him stronger, which made a sharp contrast to his continued decrease in vision. He learned to read Braille, mastered other skills needed to live with deaf-blindness, and married Elizabeth, who is also deaf-blind.

Since Ronald can’t see or hear, he can only listen when others sign into his hands. This is slow and limits communication to those who know sign language. From the outside, it would seem that Ronald’s world is quiet and dark, but it isn’t. He delights in constant, inner communication with God. “God is so tangible—so present—to him,” said Pamela. “He knows he’s loved. He knows God is using him.”

“He is probably the happiest person I’ve met,” agrees JH. “The large ‘I am Deaf and Blind’ pin he wears identifies him as unique, but when he starts praying and speaking about God, I understand how amazing he is. He glows.”

Ronald believes God gave him exceptional sign-language skills, so he can share Jesus with those who can only “hear” through sign language. “Ronald is present every day wherever he is,” said Pamela. Whether at home in shared housing for the deaf-blind or teaching at retreats throughout the United States, Ronald keeps smiling and telling others about his Savior.

Ronald’s inspiration is the Apostle Paul, who also suffered, but found purpose in sharing Jesus.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me,” (2 Corinthians 12: 9, NIV).

Where do you find purpose? The ways you positively impact others? Faith? Working out of giftedness? When we face challenges head-on, in our pain, we find purpose.

Based on an interview with Ronald Dale Jackson, July 23, 2018.

Story read by Chuck Stecker

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