Podcast: 365 Christian Men

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

It was a hard way to live. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“ … the Grebo chief screamed in terror.”¹ 

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

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

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

Miraculously strong, Kaboo ran. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man? 

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

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

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

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Story read by: Blake Mattocks 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Story read by: Nathan Walker 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

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

September 23. Sam Childers. There was a time when Sam rode a sizable American-made motorcycle as a drug-addicted member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. Their nemesis club was Hell’s Angels, and Outlaws liked to say, “ADIOS,” which stood for: “Angels Die In Outlaw States.” 

Later, after Sam became a Christian, he rode in a Land Cruiser, carried an AK-47, and fought to protect women and children in South Sudan. With his wife Lynn, Sam founded and operated Angels of East Africa, a Children’s Village orphanage in South Sudan. 

Since 1998, at the orphanage, Sam has provided food, medicine, and armed security. Food for more than 300 children. And he opened 3 more orphanages in Ethiopia and others in Uganda. 

On this date in 2011, Relativity Media released a Hollywood Movie: Machine Gun Preacher. Two years later, Sam received the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice. But Sam tells anyone who will listen, “I didn’t rescue the children of Africa; they rescued me.” 

When God interrupts our plans, one man’s “yes” can change everything. 

Sam had been a gang biker, a drug dealer, and a high-school dropout, and one day in June 1992, he met Jesus. At a revival. Over the next few years, his life changed, and he started his own construction company. 

In 1998, with a crew of dedicated volunteers from America, Sam arrived at his first Sudanese village. In the melting African heat, alongside local leaders, the volunteers repaired blown-out buildings, houses, and water towers riddled with bullet holes. They demolished unsafe schoolhouses. 

With rusty, malfunctioning tools, they were determined to rebuild what rebel groups had destroyed. While they were working, shots fired, and explosions in the distance frequently caused the crew to drop their tools and jump into the nearest hole. The blasts vibrated the ground, and Sam thought, This is what people live with year after year, never knowing when the next strike will come or the next wave of soldiers with torches and machetes. 

Sam rode into the next village with his “Russian-made, well-oiled” AK-47 on his lap, barrel resting on his left arm and poking out the window. He and his team came across an area where many had lost their lives. And death was no respecter of persons here. If people didn’t fall victim to the daily bloody raids led by the rebel armies, they became the unfortunate victims of a hidden landmine. These landmines were designed to cripple, not kill. 

With the stench of death in the air and corpses all around, Sam found the body of a child. “I couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl. The lower half was just gone.” A child that no more than a few days ago had been running through the field and placed its little foot on a landmine. As Sam stood over the child, unable to look away, tears filled his eyes, and he made a vow to the Lord. “I will do whatever I have to do to help these people, these children. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it!” 

Sam, now deemed by the children of Sudan as the Machine Gun Preacher, with God-given plans for an orphanage, a school, and a medical clinic, began to build. “I hadn’t come to Africa to help the children initially. But one young child, whose name I’ll never know, changed my plans, my heart, and the rest of my life.” 

Change has certainly come to South Sudan. Thousands of people are fed every day, and hundreds of orphans have found a home. 

Sam, by the world’s standards, had completely disqualified himself from being God’s man. But when he encountered the goodness of God through faith in Jesus, Sam was able to step into a destiny he could never have imagined. 

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV). 

The willing rebel became a giant in the kingdom of God because he said “yes” to what seemed impossible. Is there something seemingly impossible for you to walk through? When God interrupts our plans, one man’s “yes” can change everything. 

Childers, Sam. Another Man’s War: The True Story of One Man’s Battle to Save Children in the Sudan. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 2011. 

Machine Gun Preacher. “About Sam.” Accessed July 3, 2020. www.machinegunpreacher.org 

Robertson, Pat. “Sam Childers: Saving Children from the LRA.” CBN. Accessed July 3, 2020. http://www1.cbn.com/content/sam-childers-saving-children-lra. 

Kohls, Ryan. “Sam Childers.” What I Wanna Know. Published March 29, 2013. http://whatiwannaknow.com/2013/03/sam-childers/. 

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

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

September 22. Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was not only a statesman, a lawyer, and the 16th President of the United States. As a young man, he was also a star wrestler and not above talking some smack in the ring. In about 300 matches, he was defeated only once. And after one of his winning matches, he challenged the spectators. 

He yelled, “I’m the big buck of this lick. If any of you want to try it, come on and whet your horns.” Nobody came. And Lincoln received an “Outstanding American” award in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. 

Lincoln’s adult life is full of achievement. He led the country through the Civil War, promoted national healing, and on this date in 1862, President Lincoln signed the first order to end slavery in the United States—the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Restore the individual, and be merciful, as God is merciful. 

It was a couple of years before the end of the Civil War, and one after another, a parade of people visited President Lincoln. Some wanted their spying relatives saved from execution; some just wanted a day pass to visit a husband in jail. Lincoln listened to them all. 

On September 7, 1863, a young Mrs. Thomas Theophilus Brown came to see the president. With a young baby in her arms, she had traveled all the way from Alexandria, Virginia, in Confederate Territory. She had already been to the War Department looking for help for her husband and his brother, but nobody would help her. 

Mrs. Brown begged to be allowed to tell her story. And Lincoln obliged. The young woman should have all the time she needed. 

She told how her husband and his brother had been at the Battle of Gettysburg, and they had been arrested as spies and imprisoned in the Old Capitol Prison. They had been locked in there for weeks, and now people were saying the men were going to be shot. Mrs. Brown couldn’t hold back the tears. 

She explained that they had never been on the side of the Confederate Army, had always been loyal to the country, but had been drafted and forced to fight. Lincoln must realize her men were no spies, and she hoped he could somehow save them. 

The whole time she talked, the baby girl Mrs. Brown held had been watching the president and smiling and burbling. 

Enjoying the tender moment, Lincoln held the baby and brought her close and embraced her. 

The baby cooed, “Papa.” 

The President laughed and placed the baby back into Mrs. Brown’s arms. For a moment, he was silent and paced back and forth several times. Finally, he stopped and wrote something on a slip of paper. “Mrs. Brown, you are a brave little woman,” he said warmly and handed the piece of paper to her. 

She glanced at the paper and saw it was a letter for the prison. In it, Lincoln had written that “This lady says that … they were conscripted into the rebel army, and were never for the rebel cause, and they are now willing to do anything reasonable to be at liberty. This may be true, and if true, they should be liberated. Please take hold of the case, and do what may seem proper in it.” 

Within three days, the men had taken the Oath of Union Allegiance, and Thomas Theophilus Brown and his brother walked out of the Old Capitol Prison. Mrs. Brown “kissed her ragged, shaggy husband, trembling with fever and nerves, his feet torn and scarred.” She took them back to Alexandria and nursed the men back to health before she told her husband about the tall man his daughter had called “Papa” in the White House. 

Carl Sandburg wrote, “With the North squeezing the South toward its last loaf of bread and final bullet, Lincoln looked to the day when it would be an advantage to have a political record free from vengeance.” 

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act” (Proverbs 3:27 NIV). 

Mercy is a choice. Choose to extend it today. Restore the individual, and be merciful, as God is merciful. 

Sandburg, Carl. The War Years, 1864-1865. New York: Dell Publishing, 1959.  

Quick Facts. “Civil War Facts.” American Battlefield Trust. Accessed July 2, 2020. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/civil-war-facts. 

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man? 

April 14, 1865, Lincoln signed the bill that created the US Secret Service, and some hours later, he went to Ford’s Theatre and was shot. The Secret Service didn’t protect him because their primary mission was to deal with counterfeit currency. 

But after Lincoln’s death, when grave robbers stole his body and held it for ransom, Secret Service agents infiltrated the gang and foiled the kidnappers’ plan. 

Story read by: Chuck Stecker 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

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

September 21. Donald Cargill. About seven years after he started preaching, Cargill joined the Covenanters—a group of Bible believers who refused to swear that the king was the head of the church. They believed Christ was the head of the church and fought to defend that belief. 

At first, he tried to make peace between the king and the Covenanters, but soon the harsh way the king persecuted the Covenanters appalled Cargill so much that he joined the Covenanting Army. He fought in several battles before he was wounded and fled to the Netherlands to heal. 

When Cargill returned to Scotland, he ran coordinated campaigns of preaching in open space mixed with guerrilla warfare throughout Scotland. On this date in 1680, Cargill excommunicated King Charles II and his supporters. 

When life is filled with challenges, faith-filled men draw strength from the life to come. 

On the night of June 3, 1680, Cargill and Henry Hall sat in a quiet inn in Scotland. They were rebel ministers being hunted by King Charles II, who wanted total control of the church. They were leaders in the Covenanter Movement—Scottish Christians who met in secret because they refused to recognize anyone else but Jesus Christ as head of the church. 

But on this night, in the inn known as The Palace in South Queensferry, all they wanted to be was two friends enjoying each other’s company and a well-deserved rest. 

After a short while, a nobleman sat down at their table. The man asked Cargill and Hall to share a glass of wine with him, and being gentlemen, they did. But as soon as they finished their wine, the man stood and drew his sword. His name was Middleton, Governor of Blackness, and he arrested the two ministers. 

The ministers drew their own swords. Middleton attacked first, seriously injuring Cargill. Hall wrestled with Middleton, trying to seize his sword, and in the confusion, Cargill escaped. Hall overpowered Middleton and attempted to escape himself, but a waiter struck him on the back of the head with the knob on the grip of his sword. Hall died shortly afterward. 

Cargill, bleeding badly, crawled into a dark alley and passed out. A woman found him, tore her own clothes to bind his gaping wounds, and after a great struggle to lift his body, carted him to the house of James Punton. 

Although the Puntons were strangers to Cargill, they showed him mercy. They fed him and called a surgeon to dress his wounds. A few hours later, after Cargill was well enough to stand, he thanked them and departed. 

Cargill fled to neighboring Cairnhill. He had lost a dear friend and almost his own life. An innocent man and his family would likely suffer because they helped him. Most men would have found somewhere to wallow in self-pity. To lick their wounds. 

Cargill knew his time was short. He had determined to finish the race of life full of joy. And so he used what little money he had left to buy food for the many starving citizens of Cairnhill. 

Then he stood on top of a crowded hill, still covered in dried blood, and he preached from Hebrews 11. Cargill reminded his audience of those “who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:33-38 ESV). 

Angered by his failure to capture Cargill, Middleton forged a letter from Robert Stark, a famous preacher, inviting Cargill to preach in Edinburgh. But once again, a woman, Mrs. Moor, came to Cargill’s aid and warned him that Middleton’s soldiers were waiting for him. Cargill fled, and for the next thirteen months, he preached in secret open-air meetings whenever he could. 

Cargill was finally captured on July 27, 1681. As he approached the gallows, his joyful expression shocked everyone. His last recorded words were: “The Lord knows I go on this ladder with less fear than ever I entered the pulpit to preach.” 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV). 

Today, where do you get your strength? When life is filled with challenges, faith-filled men draw strength from the life to come. 

Walker, Patrick. Six Saints of the Covenant. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1901. 

Jardine, Mark. “Ambushed at the Inn: The Queensferry Incident of 1680.” Jardine’s Book of Martyrs.  Accessed July 2, 2002. https://drmarkjardine.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/ambushed-at-the-inn-the-queensferry-incident-of-1680-history-scotland/. 

Howie, John. The Scots Worthies. London: Forgotten Books, 2018. 

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

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

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

September 20. Josiah Henson.  Born into slavery, Josiah refused to remain enslaved. When he was 18, he became a Christian and soon began to preach after slaving all day. He also married and had twelve children. 

In 1830, Josiah escaped to Canada and founded a settlement and a laborer’s school for other fugitive slaves. In 1842, he founded the British American Institute, an Afro-Canadian community and industrial school—a refuge for escaped slaves.  

Real strength comes from facing real weakness. 

Before he escaped to Canada and gained freedom for himself and his family, Josiah had spent about four decades as a slave.  

While in Canada, Josiah’s oldest son, Tom, had the opportunity to go to school. He learned to read, and Josiah would often ask his son to read the Bible to him to help him memorize the stories and verses to preach on. But one early Sunday morning before church, Tom had been reading from the Psalms and asked, “Father, who is David?” 

Tom was eager to learn more about the Old Testament king who’d written the psalm he had just read. But even though Josiah was a preacher, he had no idea who David was. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to know. 

Josiah had never learned to read. And because he’d never learned to read, he’d never read the story of David. 

Josiah was afraid to admit to his son that he didn’t know because he didn’t want Tom to think less of him. He tried to give the boy a simple answer, one that hopefully had no follow-up questions. “He was a man of God, my son.” 

But the answer wasn’t what Tom was looking for. He already knew David was a man of God. But Tom wanted to know where David lived and what he did. How had David become a man of God? 

The questions came at Josiah like a whirlwind, so any chance to avoid the real answer became impossible. Finally, after minutes of listening to Tom’s pleading, he admitted that he didn’t know anything about David. 

But Tom saw deeper into Josiah’s admission. “Why, Father … can’t you read?” 

Josiah felt his spirit sink. To Tom, Josiah was the very definition of what it meant to be a man. He was the leader, the protector, the provider of his family. To admit to his son that there was something he couldn’t do … it was embarrassing. 

But Josiah couldn’t lie. He admitted the truth—he couldn’t read. 

“Why not?” Tom asked curiously. 

“Because I never had an opportunity to learn, nor anybody to teach me.” Back in America slaves were not allowed to have an education. They weren’t permitted to learn anything about letters and words. 

“Well,” Tom said. “You can learn now, Father.” 

Josiah wanted to laugh. He was nearly fifty years old. “I am too old, and have not time enough,” he said. “Still there is nobody to teach me.” 

But Tom wouldn’t accept any excuses. “Why, Father, I’ll teach you! I can do it, I know. And then you’ll know so much more that you will be able to talk better and preach better!” 

Josiah was shocked at his son’s persistence. He always knew he wanted his children to be more successful in life, and it was no surprise that someone like Tom would grow up to know more than him because of better opportunities. But to learn from his own son … learn a skill that most people mastered in childhood … he never expected such a turn of events. Fathers were supposed to instruct their children, not the other way around. 

But Josiah knew that Tom was right. Tom could help him. Their lessons began, and at first it wasn’t easy for Josiah to learn or for Tom to teach. But as the weeks and months passed, Josiah eventually learned to read, and the knowledge he acquired burned in him an even deeper passion to help others—especially those who had been denied an education because of slavery.  

“Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them” (Proverbs 4:5 NIV). 

When you find you need help, are you willing to ask for it? Real strength comes from facing real weakness. 

Chapple, William. The Story of Uncle Tom. Dresden, Ontario, 1900. Internet Archive. Accessed  March 4, 2019. 

Neivman, Debra, ed. The African-American mosaic; a Library of Congress resource guide for the study of Black history and culture I. “Uncle Tom’s Story of His Life: An Autobiography of the Rev. Josiah Henson (Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom”)” London: Christian Age Office, 1876. Internet Archive. Accessed Web. March 4, 2019. 

Henson, Josiah. The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself. Boston: Arthur D. Phelps, 1849.  

The following passage is written by Josiah Henson, remembering the day his family was sold off one by one.  

The [man who owned the estate, Josiah’s mother and siblings] was riding from one of his scenes of riotous excess, when, falling from his horse, in crossing a little run, not a foot deep, he was unable to save himself from drowning. 

  In consequence of his decease, it became necessary to sell the estate and the slaves, in order to divide the property among the heirs; and we were all put up at auction and sold to the highest bidder, and scattered over various parts of the country. My brothers and sisters were bid off one by one, while my mother, holding my hand, looked on in an agony of grief, the cause of which  I but ill understood at first, but which dawned on my mind, with dreadful clearness, as the sale proceeded. My mother was then separated from me, and put up in her turn. She was bought by a man named Isaac R., residing in Montgomery county, and then I was offered to the assembled purchasers. My mother, half distracted with the parting forever from all her children, pushed through the crowd, while the bidding for me was going on, to the spot where R. was standing. She fell at his feet, and clung to his knees, entreating him in tones that a mother only could command, to buy her baby as well as herself, and spare to her one of her little ones at least. Will it, can it be believed that this man, thus appealed to, was capable not merely of turning a deaf ear to her supplication, but of disengaging himself from her with such violent blows and kicks, as to reduce her to the necessity of creeping out of his reach, and mingling the groan of bodily suffering with the sob of a breaking heart? Yet this was one of my earliest observations of men; an experience which has been common to me with thousands of my race, the bitterness of which its frequency cannot diminish to any individual who suffers it, while it is dark enough to overshadow the whole after-life with something blacker than a funeral pall.—I was bought by a stranger.—Almost immediately, however, whether my childish strength, at five or six years of age, was overmastered by such scenes and experiences, or from some accidental cause, I fell sick, and seemed to my new master so little likely to recover, that he proposed to R., the purchaser of my mother, to take me too at such a trifling rate that it could not be refused. I was thus providentially restored to my mother; and under her care, destitute as she was of the proper means of nursing me, I recovered my health, and grew up to be an uncommonly vigorous and healthy boy and man. 

September 19. Charles Spurgeon. When Charles was 19, a church asked him to come for a 6-month try-out as pastor. Charles agreed to a 3-month trial and said, “The congregation might not want me, and I do not wish to be a hindrance.” He stayed 38 years and brought more than 14,000 people in. 

Usually, Charles chose the theme for the Sunday-morning sermon the night before, took a single page of notes to the pulpit, and spoke about 140 words per minute for 40 minutes. The man could talk, and what he said, God used.  

Charles often preached 10 times in a week, and about 3,600 times in his lifetime. Though some criticized Charles for his active sense of humor, that wasn’t the whole story about him. Listen to this. 

Trapped in the dark? God knows where you are. He’ll equip you to lead others out. 

Charles felt wretched as he readied himself to preach the word of God one Sunday morning. 

His spirit was downcast; his heart was weighed down by an invisible burden. Whatever joy he had felt was gone, and the depression was like a dark cloud that hovered above his head, following him wherever he went. There was no sickness, no pain that caused such a depression—at least, not this time. 

Charles certainly didn’t love God less or feel as if he were leaving the faith. His life had been spotless, and no guilt kept him up at night. But, as Charles went about his days preaching and teaching the Word of God, he wondered if God had left him. Why did God allow His servant to fall into such a deep depression? 

Charles felt much sorrow, but instead of dwelling on it, he decided to speak about it in one of his sermons. He had felt forsaken, and he remembered that Jesus, too, had felt forsaken when he hung on the cross. Charles gathered whatever energy he could muster and took to the podium and preached about Jesus’ trial. Charles connected Jesus’ ordeal to the feelings he was now experiencing. 

Once the sermon was over, Charles stood in a room near the sanctuary and noticed a man coming toward him. He looked to be about sixty years old, with bright eyes filled with tears. 

Visibly shaken, the man took Charles’s hand in his own and held it, cried, and with a dazed look, he said, “Birds of a feather will flock together.” 

Charles was taken aback. What did the man mean? Was he mad? 

But then the man explained what he meant. “Nobody ever preached my experience before. I have now been for years in a horrible gloom of great darkness and could not find God, but this morning I learned that I was not the only man in the thick darkness.” He paused, a new glimmer of hope shining in his eyes. “And I believe that I shall get out.” 

Charles felt an understanding suddenly wash over him. God had not forsaken him like he thought. Even amidst the depression, there was still work to be done and a ministry to help others learn about the love and comfort of Christ. “Yes, that was the reason why I was put into the dark, that I might help you,” Charles said. The invisible burden that weighed him down earlier seemed to weaken. “And now that I know the reason,” he continued, “I am already out of the prison.” 

Charles continued to minister to the man over time, rescuing him from the brink of insanity and helping him to find his way back to his calling. But Charles found himself being rescued and learned that God was able to use him to help others with depression because he had experienced it himself. 

“You cannot help a man if you know nothing about him, and therefore the Lord sends you into many a thick wood and dark valley that you may meet with His own redeemed in their wanderings,” he said. “If you did not know the wilderness, how could you act as a guide through it?” 

Charles understood that depression could happen to anyone, even someone who loved Jesus with all his heart. But even though depression made his faith feel weak, God was able to use it and grow it into something strong to help others. “If you believe in Christ Jesus, though your faith be as a grain of mustard seed, it will save you, and it will, by and by, grow into something stronger.” 

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26 NIV). 

Trapped in the dark? God knows where you are. He’ll equip you to lead others out. 

Spurgeon, Charles. “Our Leader Throught the Darkness.” Spurgeon Gems, Sermon #3370. September 4, 1913. https://​www.spurgeongems.org/​sermon/​chs3370. pdf. 

Spurgeon, Charles. “Encouragement for the Depressed.” Spurgeon Gems, Sermon #3489. December 9, 1915. https://​www.spurgeongems.org/​sermon/​chs3489. pdf. 

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man? 

Once—to test the church’s acoustics, Charles  yelled, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” A worker high in the rafters heard him and converted to Christianity! 

“These are dark days, but you can bring on a spiritual summertime if you know how to pray.” ~Charles Spurgeon 

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

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

September 18. GK Chesterton. Chesterton was an exuberant man, a keen debater, and a prolific writer—ninety books, ten novels, and many articles. Best known for his Father Brown mystery series, Chesterton was also a philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic. He has a camp of followers and a camp of haters. Either way, he makes a reader think deeply. 

Chesterton knew how to have fun, and he knew how to do serious work. On this date in 1909, Chesterton influenced Ghandi about India’s independence. 

When weak thinking undermines truth, thinking people must speak up. 

Chesterton lived in an era of intellectualism when it was popular to debate in public, to trade witty barbs with your opponents, and to deny the existence of God. 

Chesterton was an intellectual, too, and a lover of the one true God. It was his duty and his calling to speak up against the lies being passed off as “the new truth.” 

Chesterton was a 300-pound, six-foot-four man, who wore a cape and tiny glasses “pinched to the end of his nose.” This was the day he would debate his greatest opponent—and respected friend—George Bernard Shaw. They would argue about what to believe and how to live. As he had often done, Chesterton would wield his favorite weapon: words. 

In an auditorium packed with a murmuring crowd, Chesterton lumbered toward the stage. Judging by the number of attendees, the gate had done well. It wouldn’t hurt his finances—if he had remembered to sign for his share of ticket sales. He couldn’t remember if he had. 

Chesterton crushed his cigar. Straightened his crumpled hat. Finger-combed his magnificent mustache. This was going to be fun. He stepped onto the stage. 

Shaw, with his snow-white hair and pressed black suit was Chesterton’s opposite. He was a vegetarian teetotaler, and he liked his cup of tea. Chesterton loved red meat, red wine, and a good cigar. But the important differences went deeper. 

For a long, long time in the Western world, most people had believed in a God, who was a person and who had created the universe and everything in it. It was a given. 

And this kind of thinking was called orthodoxy, which means “correct teaching.” But with the new wave of intellectualism, growing numbers of people called themselves atheists—who said, “there is no God” or agnostics—who said, “we can’t know whether there’s a god” or some ambiguous mix. Shaw called himself an agnostic. 

Chesterton argued that an all-powerful, all-wise Creator did indeed exist. And the all-good Creator had sent His Son to save the world. Chesterton said Christianity had not “been tried and found wanting;” it had been “found difficult and left untried.” 

Shaw said it was impossible for people to know whether a personal creator existed, and he actively promoted a Socialist agenda. The newspapers made a small fortune publishing the Chesterton-Shaw battles. And—not having TV or internet—people attended debates for the fun of watching these men try to outwit one another. 

With extra drama to entertain the audience, Chesterton cast his gaze at Shaw. “To look at you,” he said to Shaw, “anyone would think a famine had struck England.” 

Without a pause, Shaw responded, “To look at you, anyone would think you had caused it.” 

The audience roared. 

And so, the debate began. 

Both Chesterton and Shaw had been Socialists as very young men. But Chesterton grew up, denounced Socialism, and became a Christian. 

He chuckled. Despite their differences, he respected Shaw—and enjoyed matching his wit. They danced circles with words. The audience was always entertained. Chesterton and Shaw might banter, but they “would have died rather than really hurt” each other. 

The advertised debate topic varied. But the specific topic didn’t matter. Shaw would fight for “progress.” And he said progress could only happen if men threw aside all belief. 

Chesterton stood for reason and faith. He poked holes in Shaw’s theories. He believed his generation must “rediscover the reasons for believing” in God or humankind was “lost.” Chesterton’s admirers said he stepped into their confusion, turned “the tables on the heretics,” and exploded “their paper castles with a splutter of fireworks.” That was his plan. To fight for humanity by confronting its core problem—failing to believe in the one true God. He hoped his generation would “pay attention and gain understanding.” 

“Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother. Then he taught me, and he said to me, ‘Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live’” (Proverbs 4:1–4 NIV). 

For that purpose—and because there was little else as delightful as intellectual debate—he had taken this stage. 

How do you confront weak thinking? When weak thinking undermines truth, thinking people must confront it. 

Chesterton, GK. The Everlasting Man. 1925, Reprinted by Project Gutenberg, 2001. Accessed May 7, 2020. http://​gutenberg.net.au/​ebooks01/​0100311. txt. 

Chesterton, Gilbert Keith. The G.K. Chesterton Collection. The Catholic Way Publishing, 2014. 

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

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter 

Audio production: Joel Carpenter 

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

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks 

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