365 Christian Men | 365 Christian Men

August 20. Nick Vujicic. Though Nick was born without arms or legs, in 2005—when he was only 17—Nick founded Life Without Limbs, an international non-profit ministry whose mission is to spread the gospel and unite the body of Christ.

Nick says he keeps a pair of shoes in his closet because he believes in miracles. On this date in 2008, Nick learned to surf with Bethany Hamilton.

Sometimes the best way to succeed is to fall down, get back up, and try again.

He wiped out—again. Swimming away from his board, Nick came up for air, then let the waves wash him toward the shoreline. To his left, professional surfers went head-to-head in competition, rolling and flipping dramatically through the waves to earn the judges’ favor. Nick just wanted to stay on his board. His instructor, Bethany, nodded her encouragement. Face set, Nick waded back into the deeper water.

A small crowd of people had gathered along the break wall, and almost as one, they turned their attention away from the competition and toward Nick. Some held up cameras. Nick felt his heartbeat rising in his chest—Too many people were watching!As a wave approached, he narrowed his focus. Bethany nodded, murmured a word of encouragement,and nudged his board forward. Would he fall again?

No!

The crowd on the beach erupted with cheers and whistles, and laughing happily, Nick joined in with his own victory cry. What made this simple accomplishment such a victory? And, why was this crowd so impressed, when just beyond, professional surfers performed far greater feats? Because this student was Nick Vujicic, born without arms or legs, and he had just demonstrated a powerful truth: Sometimes, the best way to succeed is to learn from our failures.

“Every time you fall down,” Nick says, “every time you fail, you learn something new. You’re ready for the next one. You’ve learned how not to do something. Learn from it, and move on. You can only win if you don’t give up!”

When Nick’s speaking tour took him to Hawaii in 2008, he knew it was the right time to try to fulfill one of his life-long dreams: to learn how to surf. Years earlier, his mother had shown him the website of a young girl, Bethany Hamilton, who had lost her arm to a shark attack while she had been surfing. In spite of this staggering loss, Bethany was back on the water within three weeks and soon became nationally recognized for her talent on the board.

Nick knew she would be the perfect teacher for him, and as soon as he landed in her home state, he reached out to ask for a lesson. “I was psyched at the prospect of learning how to surf,” he said. “I also was more than a little nervous.”

They began on the beach. As Nick struggled to raise himself upright on the board, he and Bethany devised a platform made of folded towels, duct taped just off center, which he could use for leverage. Once he could raise himself up on his own, he rode several waves perched on the end of Bethany’s board.

Finally, he was ready to try it on his own, and Bethany nudged his board into a wave, …. and he immediately fell off. Wriggling from side to side like a fish, Nick swam back out to the deeper water, waited while Bethany positioned his board, and tried again. Wipe out!

Wave after wave, Nick tried, and wave after wave, he failed—but he didn’t give up. Each time he stayed on the board a little longer and made minute adjustments to his body—based on what worked or hadn’t worked during his previous attempt.

And late in the morning on August 20, 2008, Nick successfully surfed a wave all the way in to the shore. The happy crowd whistled and cheered its delight.

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10 NLT).

In your life, what challenge seems impossible? Sometimes the best way to succeed is to fall down, get back up, and try again.

Vujicic, Nick. Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life. New York: Doubleday, 2010.

Vujicic, Nick. “How not to be afraid of failure.” Published April 27, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM1jVHb5Z1M.

Vujicic, Nick and Bethany Hamilton. “Nick Vujicic and Bethany Hamilton.” Accessed June 18, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=eBLuRDqu584.

Story read by: Nathan Walker

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

Project Manager: Blake Mattocks

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August 19. Li De Xian. Pastor Li has been arrested so many times he’s lost count. Arrested and treated brutally for illegal preaching.

He keeps a go-bag ready, not for jet-setting, but for the next arrest. It contains a blanket and a change of clothes.

Don’t settle for safe; do what you’re called to do.

God called Li to a nation who didn’t know Christ, to a legal system at war with Christianity, to a life of danger.

Still, Li treasured God more than he feared anything man could do to him, and he was compelled to preach the Gospel of Jesus in China. More times than he could count, brutal Public Security officers burst in while Li was preaching, and they dragged him out of the house. But he was relentless. He said, “I will preach until I die.”

One quiet Tuesday morning in an unregistered house church, about 400 Christians crowded in to celebrate the God, who had given them a freedom they had never thought possible.

Secretly shuffling in, they found seats on wrinkled newspapers on the floor because the authorities had already confiscated their chairs. The people knew what the authorities would do to them if they were caught, but they loved their Savior, and they loved each other, and they loved gathering in his name.

Pastor Li opened his mouth to preach. Again, angry government employees stormed into the crowded home, shouted accusations, and shoved their way through the people. Officers seized Pastor Li and dragged him outside. They bludgeoned him—as his fellow Christ-followers looked on. Including his wife.

United in their barbarity, they made an example of Pastor Li, smashed his face against the stone and repeatedly kicked him in the stomach and groin. As they hauled him off to prison, Li’s wife Zhao handed him a small black bag.

“What is that?” they demanded.

“It’s a blanket and some clothes. I’ve been expecting you,” said Pastor Li.

At the police station, they shackled Pastor Li’s ankles and his shins, and inserted a metal rod to hold his feet apart wider than his shoulders. Between his legs they put a ring and shackled his wrists to it, so he had to stand, his spine bowed. They left him like that for three days.

They interrogated Pastor Li, but he would not succumb to fear. “I do not fear you,” he said.

They shouted back, “You fear us!”

He endured several more hours of abuse and then was placed in isolation because the officers did not want him to preach the gospel to any of the other prisoners.

Pastor Li eventually returned home, after being given a strong warning not to preach any longer. This was a warning that he had received many times before. But he remained resolute in his call, and he would not stop.

“Christ was the first to suffer; we just follow Him. There are many thorns, but we are just injured a little on our feet. This suffering is very little,” Pastor Li said.

Zhao stood with her husband and said confidently: “God will take care of him; there is no need to worry.”

The next Tuesday morning in that same small, crowded home church, Pastor Li preached the Gospel of Jesus.

“The LORD is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me” (Psalm 118:7 ESV).

Is fear keeping you from trying something you think the Lord may be calling you to do? Don’t settle for safe; do what you’re called to do.

Crosswalk.com. “Continuing to Preach Despite Persecution.” November 9, 2003. https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/continuing-to-preach-despite-persecution-the year 1170448.html.

DC Talk and the Voice of the Martyrs. “His Heart Would Not Die.” Accessed June 18, 2020. http://www.sermonillustrator.org/illustrator/sermon5/his_heart_would_not_die.htm

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?

“Don’t feel sorry for us,” Zhao says of their lifestyle. “At least we are constantly reminded that we are in a spiritual war. We know for whom we are fighting. We know who the enemy is. And we are fighting. Perhaps we should pray for you Christians outside of China. In your leisure, in your affluence, in your freedom, sometimes you no longer realize that you are in spiritual warfare.”

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

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

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

Project Manager: Blake Mattocks

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August 18. Denzel Washington. Denzel was the son of a preacher and a hairstylist.

Denzel says, “I was what they call ‘throwing rocks at the penitentiary,’ but I never hit it.” He adds, “I never got caught…. But I also knew right from wrong, so I never wanted to go too far.”

Proactively, his mother sent him off to boarding school before things could go too wrong. When someone asks what advice Denzel would give to his 15-year-old self, he answers, “Listen to your mother!” In today’s story, Denzel was in college.

It’s not how much you have; it’s what you do with what you have.

Denzel felt like a failure.

Struggling in college, his grade point average was 1.7, so low that he worried he would flunk out. And he started to question whether he had really made the right choices about his education. A part of him wondered if he should just start over and join the army. Maybe there, he would find more success.

One March day, he took his frustrations to his mother’s beauty shop and occasionally glanced up at the mirror to see what was happening behind him. But one time he looked in the mirror, he realized an older woman under the hairdryer was looking back at him.

He looked away. Maybe it was one of those accidental eye contacts.

But after that, every time he looked up, she was looking back. And it started to feel weird. He didn’t recognize the woman.

Suddenly, she called out, “Somebody, get me a pen! Get me a pencil! I have a prophecy.”

Somebody handed her a blue envelope, and the woman scribbled on it. Then she spoke to Denzel. “Boy,” she began, “you are gonna travel the world and speak to millions of people.”

Denzel was taken aback. The woman was a prophet? Didn’t she know he was flunking out of school? Didn’t she know he was just wandering through life? Didn’t she know he didn’t have a clue what he should do?

But something in his spirit stirred. He felt it.

The woman gave him the envelope with the word: “Prophecy” written on it. And his mother came along and added the word “preacher.” Perhaps that was what he was going to be. Denzel wrote his own name on the envelope.

And he took the blue envelope home. About four months later, Denzel decided to try something new—acting. He had found his calling.

Looking back, he realized that the moment in the beauty shop had had a profound effect on him. Even though he had felt lost in his life, God still had His hand on him and was guiding him—even if Denzel didn’t realize it at the time. “I’ve been protected. I’ve been directed. I’ve been corrected,” Denzel said. “I didn’t always stick with Him, but He always stuck with me.”

Denzel knew a calling from God came with responsibility. God gave him success, and just as the older woman spoke God’s calling into Denzel’s life, Denzel would speak God’s calling into the lives of others … not always with words, but with action.

At Howard University, another young man was studying to become an actor. His mentor at the school offered him an opportunity to further his education and study at Oxford. But the young man didn’t have enough money to go. He was going to have to limit his dream due to lack of funds.

His mentor, Phylicia, knew Denzel (who was a famous actor by then) and contacted him. Denzel then paid for the student to go to the Oxford program.

Years later, the mystery of the young man whom Denzel had sponsored came out. He was Chadwick Boseman, now famous for playing Black Panther in the Marvel Superhero movies.

Denzel remembered what it was like to struggle in college. During a commencement speech at Dillard University, Denzel said, “It’s not how much you have; it’s what you do with what you have.”

“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21 NIV).

With whatever resources you have, be intentional about speaking life into other men’s lives. “It’s not how much you have; it’s what you do with what you have.”

Above Inspiration. “Put God First—Denzel Washington Motivational & Inspiring Commencement Speech.” Published 26 Oct. 2017. https: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=BxY_eJLBflk&feature=youtu.be.

Smith, Dean. “An old woman’s prophecy over actor Denzel Washington said he would speak to millions.” OpentheWord.org. February 12, 2017. https: //opentheword.org/2017/02/12/an-old-womans-prophecy-over-actor-denzel-washington-said-he-would-speak-to-millions/.

Hill, Zahara. “Denzel Washington and Phylicia Rashad Helped Chadwick Boseman Study at Oxford.” Ebony. Published February 20, 2018. https: //www.ebony.com/entertainment/denzel-washington-phylicia-rashad-chadwick-boseman/.

Story read by: Stephen Holcomb

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

Project Manager: Blake Mattocks

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August 17. John Mott. John came to faith in Christ when he was an undergrad at Cornell. He was among the first hundred students to sign up in Dwight Moody’s summer conference in Massachusetts. The pledge was, “It is my purpose, if God permit, to become a foreign missionary.”

John was still a student when he turned a Cornell group into the largest and most active YMCA Chapter on American campuses. In 1915, He enlisted 20,000 people to serve soldiers and prisoners, and in 1946, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work establishing and building up international Christian-student organizations that worked to promote peace. By 1951, John had enlisted more than 20,000 missionary volunteers. On this date in 1895, John founded the World’s Student Christian Federation.

To keep going, you must choose to rest.

John noted the short blasts of the ship’s horn, a sure signal they were nearing port. Soon he would step onto English soil, plan a conference, and gather influential students he could empower to share Jesus with the world. Evangelism was a high calling. His calling. But at that moment, a slight dizziness blurred John’s vision.

He shook it off.

In the three years since he had established the World’s Student Christian Federation (WSCF), he had circled the globe, hosted conferences, and met with student leaders from more countries than he could quickly count. His wife said he hadn’t taken a real break in years—the last she remembered was their honeymoon. Sure, weariness dogged him. But when one is called of God, shouldn’t he give his all?

John’s friend D. W. thought John needed more rest, and he owned many acres of lake-front property in Canada. And what a generous friend—not only had he offered John’s family any plot they wanted, he had also promised to cut a road to the plot and give John all the logs needed to build a vacation cabin. But John thought: who had time for such things? The Lord’s work needed to be done.

John debarked from the ship and headed for the site of the next conference. The back-to-back schedule of the upcoming conferences would tax him. They would be intense and far-reaching. But with his daily disciplines of healthy eating, physical exercise, and daily time alone with God, John was confident he could persevere. He always had.

John arrived at the conference. Offered his smile and warm handshake to the helpers. But then John’s head swam. Spots appeared before his eyes.

When he awoke, he was on the floor with a painful bruise covering the side of his face and one eye. When he had fallen, he had hit a stand.

Somebody called a doctor—and that wise man ordered John to bed. John couldn’t continue with the conference plans. Diagnosed with a nervous breakdown, he wondered if his years of service to God were over. He couldn’t stand that thought.

For ten years, John had trusted his iron constitution. But he had pushed his body farther—and longer—than it could sustain. He lay in bed. Rested. Prayed. Studied the relationship of periods of rest to staying-power in one’s work.

Eventually, he was strong enough to go home. Convinced God had designed his body for more rest—and that it would help, not harm, his ability to serve, John took D. W. up on his offer of a vacation home. On a secluded island in the Canadian wilderness, John built a sturdy family cabin.

Throughout the rest of his life, John continued to travel. But each summer, John and his family took extended vacations. No phone. No local telegraph. No easy access. John completely unplugged.

He had always worked hard, and that didn’t change. But the new John, the one who had learned to rest, kept going strong for the long haul. He clocked nearly two million miles of foreign travel and recruited tens of thousands of students to help him spread the gospel of Jesus.

His service, fueled by rest, spanned more than half a century, and in 1946, fifty-seven years after the break-down, John received the Nobel Peace Prize for creating a “peace-promoting religious brotherhood”throughout the world.

“Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.’ He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat” (Mark 6:31 NLT).

Will you finish strong? To keep going, you must choose to rest.

Matthews, Basil Joseph. John R. Mott, World Citizen. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1934.

The Norwegian Nobel Institute. John R. Mott: Facts. The Nobel Prize. Accessed June 17, 2020. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1946/mott/facts.

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

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August 16. Michael Lyles. Michael is a psychiatrist in Georgia who loves God and demonstrates it by loving the people God has created.

Today’s story takes place when Michael was 14 years old and attending a new school in a new city. Here’s what happened.

Sometimes you get betrayed; what do you do with the pain?

New to Detroit, Michael was in ninth grade at Kettering High School. And the walk from school to home was about two miles long.

Because September in that part of Michigan—especially in the heart of the concrete city—can be roast-your-brains hot, Michael’s strategic routine was to walk the first mile and then duck into the air-conditioned Sears and Roebuck for a short break before he tackled the second hot mile. Sears had a couple café tables and sold drinks, popcorn, and peanuts.

But the break from the sun was the minor part of Michael’s strategy for surviving freshman year in Detroit. The major part was Michael’s friend—Bob.

Bob played football; he stood 6’3” and weighed about 220. And Bob was fast. Nobody could catch Bob. Most days, Michael and Bob walked home together, and Michael thought it a fine, safe arrangement.

This one afternoon, Michael and Bob had their snacks in the nice cool department store. And Bob always managed to finish his before leaving the store. But Michael decided to finish his popcorn on the way home.

“Walking through a gang-infested neighborhood with food in your hand is never smart. I should have known,” Michael said. “Along the way, a group of five tough-looking guys approached, intent on one thing.” They demanded Michael’s popcorn.

“You can’t have my popcorn!” he said. He had no problem standing up to these guys because Bob had his back. “There’s two of us,” Michael said, “but it’s more like three since he’s so big.” And Michael half-turned to point to Bob—but Bob was gone.

“We don’t see nobody but you,” the leader said.

The gang beat Michael, ripped off his clothes, cut him with a knife, and walked away with his money and his popcorn.

As for Bob, as soon as the trouble started, he had run off like the hired hand Jesus described, who—when he saw the wolf coming—took off running.

And after the assault, that’s what stuck in Michael’s mind most. It wasn’t the pain, the indignity, or the missing popcorn, but the anger. Bob should have stuck around to defend him. “That’s why I was walking with that big guy. I thought I would be safe.”

The physical scars from the assault healed. And the humiliation of picking his battered self up off the sidewalk ended. But the scary memories remained.

Then Michael had to make a choice. He was at the age when many beliefs are formed. And Bob abandoning him could have shaped Michael’s attitude. But he had recently become a disciple—like an apprentice—to Jesus, and Michael was learning to think like Jesus.

Michael chose to forgive Bob and move on. That was what Jesus taught.

Today, Doctor Michael Lyles sits with people who are holding onto feelings and memories that hamper their lives. He helps people sort through distorted thinking and teaches them strategies to overcome old traumas. He knows from personal experience such events can beat people down, knock the joy out of living, and leave them feeling angry and abandoned—if they allow it.

Michael teaches: “The Bible is relevant to all of life or not relevant at all” and that it’s “a book of resilience, not just a book of trauma.” It is a book full of powerful affirmations written to show people the path to recovery.

“When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.’ And the disciples were filled with grief” (Matthew 17:22-23 NIV).

Could some old pain be stealing your joy? Sometimes you get betrayed; what do you do with the pain?

Lyles & Crawford. “Dr. Michael Lyles.” Accessed June 16, 2020. http://www.lylesandcrawford.com/biography.

American Bible Society. “Michael Lyles: Empowering People Who Have Lost Power.” Trauma Healing Institute. Published June 5, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHZCeHkWxCo.

Interview with Michael Lyles, September, 2019.

Story read by: Joel Carpenter

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

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

Project Manager: Blake Mattocks

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August 15. William Gladstone. Gladstone worked for equal opportunity for people, including self-rule in Ireland. He strove toward those goals for the four terms he was England’s prime minister, and he kept fighting for the causes he believed in, even when he wasn’t in office.

Gladstone’s belief in God colored all his adult choices, and he continued to grow and learn. His ultimate decision was that believers must be bound by their own consciences and deep study of the Word of God, rather than by edicts handed down by a religious authority.

The general population fondly called him “The People’s William” or “Grand Old Man.” On this day in 1892, Gladstone was elected prime minister for the fourth time.

The power of love is greater than the love of power.

By day Gladstone had a busy, important job, but in his later years, many nights he walked the streets of London looking for women to rescue. The icy London wind cut through his overcoat, and the rhythmic clacking of his heels echoed off the cobblestone walk. In the dark, he heard the sound of a woman sobbing.

“Madam, you do seem quite distressed,” he said. “Is there anything at all that I can do to help?” Gladstone’s breath ascended like smoke rings in the frigid air.

“Sir, you’re most kind to inquire. However, I fear that my life at the moment requires more than I would want to burden a stranger with.” She sniffled and forced a smile.

“I see,” Gladstone said. “Well I am, in fact, no stranger to the people of England, and I don’t believe that there is any urgency you may be facing with which I cannot assist.”

The two stood in silence. Slowly her lip began to quiver, as she fought back the tears suddenly welling up in her weary eyes. “Perhaps …” But her voice broke, and she started to weep.

Gladstone reached into the inside pocket of his overcoat and offered her his silk handkerchief.

“There is a much better way of life than this for a young woman like you. It’s late tonight, bitterly cold out, and anyone could conclude from your attire the profession that you are in. Is this the life that you’ve chosen, or did this life somehow choose you?” asked Gladstone.

“Kind Sir, I ran away from home as a very young girl. To escape my father’s violence. One horrible decision led to another, and now I find myself at the mercy of violent men every day,” she said. “I have nowhere to turn for help, and nowhere to sleep tonight, unless I turn a trick.”

“Tonight, there is a bed waiting for you, without strings attached,” he said. “My wife will gladly look after you at our home this evening. And in the morning, we will secure for you more permanent lodging at the hostel, which we maintain for women similarly situated. Our people will be pleased to help you begin at once exploring a new, dignified course for your life. The choice in all of this is, of course, yours.”

Her eyes grew wide. With both hands, the disheveled young woman wiped the dark lines of tears and mascara from her cold, red cheeks.

“Sir,” she said in disbelief, “I am indeed speechless at your offer. Who are you, if I may ask, and why is it that would you want to help someone like me? Every man of power that I’ve ever encountered has wanted to use that power to his advantage. Certainly not mine.”

“Perhaps in this dim light you’ll not recognize me, but please forgive me for not already offering a proper introduction,” he said. “My name is William E. Gladstone, and I am the Prime Minister of England. As such, you will find that I am happily at your service, and at the service of all those who call our beautiful country their home.”

The young lady gratefully accepted Gladstone’s offer. Just as many others had over the course of his life and his decided efforts to improve society by offering a better way of life to London’s ladies of the night.

“Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4 NASB).

How can you leverage your power or influence today to benefit others, especially those who would otherwise be helpless without it? The power of love is greater than the love of power.

West, Anthony and reply by Frederick C. Crews. “Gladstone’s Prostitutes.” The New York Review of Books. Published October 6, 1966. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1966/10/06/gladstones-prostitutes-2/

GOV.UK. “William Ewart Gladstone.” Past Prime Ministers. Accessed June 16, 2020. https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/william-ewart-gladstone

Justice delayed is justice denied.

~William Gladstone

We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.

~William Gladstone

Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race.

~William Gladstone

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

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

Story written by: John Mandeville, https://www.johnmandeville.com/

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

Project Manager: Blake Mattocks

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August 14. Maximillian Kolbe. Kolbe was born in the part of Poland that belonged to the Russian Empire. When he was 16, he and his brother stowed away in a hay cart so they could attend seminary on the Austrian side of the country.

From there, he went on to Rome to get doctorates in theology and philosophy. He built robust evangelism and publishing organizations. When the Nazis overran Poland, Kolbe was able to rescue 3,000 persecuted persons. On this date in the year 1941, he was executed by lethal injection for the crime of rescuing Jewish people.

When oppression forces a fearless man to change course, he accepts it as his next assignment.

One day in the year 1939, Poland was suddenly “crowded with Germans … quartered in all the larger houses…. Armed SS soldiers … and ‘blue police’” hunted Jews. They were taken “from their houses, barns, cellars, attics, and other hiding places…. Sometimes hand grenades were thrown into the cellars. Jews were beaten and kicked; it made no difference whether they were men, women, or small children.

By mid-afternoon the Nazis had assembled more than 900 Jews and posted a notice: “All Jews will be shot…. Poles were forced to begin digging graves in the Jewish cemetery.” The penalty for helping the Jewish people was death. This was from an eye-witness report from a prominent Polish physician, who recorded what happened in the public arena.

But in a less public part of life, one humble monk named Kolbe committed his life to overcoming the growing evil with love.

Before sunrise, despite his fragile health from life-long illness, he rose early in the morning to offer a warm breakfast to a mother in peril, a coat to an elderly Jewish man who had run for his life from the Nazis, a blanket to a child who was suddenly an orphan.

The once-silent monastery, which Kolbe had been entrusted with, was now filled with the sounds of gratitude and hope—and this right in the middle of unprecedented suffering. Kolbe worked tirelessly to hide, feed, and clothe 3,000 refugees, 2,000 of whom were Jews.

One bleak winter evening in the year 1941, the infamous Gestapo pounded on the monastery door. They had one agenda, to bring Maximillian Kolbe to justice.

Kolbe assured his friends, “Courage my sons. Don’t you see we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible.”

The Gestapo ripped the door from its hinges, exploded into the monastery, and shouted angry commands in German.

“Seize these men, and show them their fate!” shouted the Nazi Commander.

Without another word, Kolbe gave himself up and offered a confident smile of hope to his fellow brothers, as one by one they were bound and dragged away.

The Nazis packed the bound prisoners into the cars of a train, where the stench of human waste and the cries of hungry children tormented Kolbe for the three-day journey.

When they arrived at the camp, an impatient soldier shouted, “Everyone out!” Someone bashed Kolbe in the head for moving too slowly and shoved him along until he ended up in the uniform line, where a soldier tattooed Kolbe common prisoner ID #16670. It was a good sign. Prisoners earmarked for the gas chamber received no tattoo.

The Gestapo immediately sent Kolbe to work and forced him to haul heavy stones for the crematorium wall, breaking down his already frail body. The Gestapo singled him out for extra brutality. A guard known as Bloody Krott pointed to Kolbe. “Double the load on that Polish pig!” he shouted.

After only a few steps, Kolbe buckled under the impossible weight of the stone. The soldiers beat him brutally and left him for dead. But Kolbe did not die. “Bless him, O Lord, he doesn’t understand what he is doing,” Kolbe whispered. He kept hearing prisoners’ confessions and gave them Holy Communion with smuggled bread.

One day, a prisoner escaped, and to retaliate, the Nazis chose ten prisoners to die in the starvation tank. One of the chosen prisoners cried, “My poor wife, my poor children!”

Kolbe forced his way up to the Commander and asked if he could take the poor man’s place.

To everyone’s surprise, the Nazi’s agreed, and guards led Father Kolbe with the other nine prisoners to the starvation bunker.

The ransomed prisoner said, “I was stunned and could hardly grasp what was going on. I, the condemned, am to live, and someone else willingly and voluntarily offers his life for me.”

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 ESV).

In the scope of eternity, what choices will you make today that give life to another? When oppression forces a fearless man to change course, he accepts it as his next assignment.

[EM1]

Petttinger, Tejvan. “Biography of Maximillian Kolbe.” Updated March 2, 2019. Biographyonline. https://www.biographyonline.net/?s=Maximillian+Kolbe.

Encyclopedia Britannica. “St. Maksymilian Maria Kolbe: POLISH MARTYR.” Updated January 4, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Maksymilian-Maria-Kolbe.

Franciscans of the Immaculate. “St. Maximilian Kolbe: The Saint and Martyr of the Immaculate.” Accessed June 16, 2020. https://saintmaximiliankolbe.com/biography/.

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

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August 13. William “Bill” Melone. Bill was a high-school teacher in a tough neighborhood in Philadelphia. He is now Pastor for Mercy and Outreach at a church plant in NE Philadelphia. Today’s story shows a time Bill needed and received mercy and how it changed him.

Wherever you find yourself, be all in.

“Hey, Andre, can I see your homework assignment?” Bill asked the tall boy stretched out at his desk.

Andre reached into a folder and grabbed a piece of paper. He crumbled it up and threw it across the room. “There, Mr. Melone.” Andre scowled defiantly.

Bill fought his own anger and breathed deeply.

But Andre straightened up in the chair. “Hey, remember those ‘therapy days’ you said we could have if we needed them? Can I take one?”

“Of course,” Bill said, surprised. “You can just lay your head down here on the desk and rest, or you can go see a counselor for the class period. Whatever you think you need.”

“Yeah, I’m just going to rest. Things are bad again at my house. And hey—I’m sorry, Mr. Melone. I’ll pick up that paper,” Andre said.

While other teachers came and went after only a year or two, Bill taught for more than eight years at one of the roughest high schools in Philadelphia. He used the challenges to intentionally develop strategies to model the gospel for his students. He learned to rely on God—not himself, for creative strategies to show Jesus to his students.

Some of them had seen a parent shot. Others lived with the threat of deportation, some had imprisoned family members, and most subsisted under a cloud of poverty.

The traumas his students endured directly influenced how they reacted to their teachers and schoolwork. He saw small, but growing transformations in himself and the kids in his classroom.

But then Bill walked through his own trauma when his twin baby boys passed away.

A few weeks after their deaths, Bill returned to his teaching schedule. He felt unfocused and on edge, and he struggled with fatigue. He knew he was experiencing what some of his students felt on a daily basis. The difference was: he had faith in God’s promises and grace to meet him in hard times.

One night, while Bill was unable to sleep, God gave him an idea. He would offer the students two days out of every month to take as “therapy days.” Students could use the time to calm themselves or to talk with someone. It was an opportunity to demonstrate God’s grace towards children who too often had experienced judgment and condemnation from himself and the world.

But implementing a creative way of showing God’s grace changed his attitude—and the students noticed and thrived. Several even opened up to him about problems they were experiencing.

Bill has received numerous emails from grateful students thanking him for how he built trust and hope into their lives—not just with therapy days, but in how he daily encouraged them.

“‘Find your own Calcutta’ is something Mother Teresa had said, and it always stuck with me,” said Bill. “I think everyone needs to find a place to serve God and sacrifice themselves. This is where God has led me to serve, and I’m all in.”

“So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me” (Colossians 1:28-29 NLT).

That challenge you’re facing—how might God turn that challenge into an opportunity to serve someone? Wherever you find yourself, be all in.

Based on an interview with Bill Melone, 2019.

Story read by: Stephen Holcomb

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

Story written by: Krista Crumpton

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

Project Manager: Blake Mattocks

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August 12. Doug Smail. Doug—a left winger—played in the National Hockey League for 13 seasons from 1980 through 1993.

Doug is a man who loves God. He also loved hockey, but he loved his family more. On this date in 1990, at a Christian Training Camp, Doug dedicated his son Cody to God. Today’s story focuses on Doug and Cody.

You can’t outrun pain, so charge into it, and stay in the game.

Doug held his son Cody’s hand. Since his mother left, nine-year-old Cody often held Doug’s hand. “Let’s go for a walk, Buddy,” Doug said.

Losses had piled up. Because his wife demanded it, Doug left the pro-hockey career he had loved. But when he confronted her about her on-going affair, his wife chose divorce. She left, and the kids were devastated. Doug liquefied his assets. While the money lasted, he would be a “house daddy” and help his children heal.

As Doug and Cody wandered through a nearby field, Cody held on tight. “Watcha thinkin’ about, Daddy?”

Doug lifted tear-filled eyes to a blue sky. “Oh, Buddy, I was thinking of how great it would be to grab Anna, you, and Mom and just go to heaven.”

Cody was silent. Then he tugged on Doug’s hand. “That would be great, Daddy, but we’re still here … and that means Jesus must have some work for us to do.”

Cody was right. Doug had to stay in the game.

Twelve years later, Doug sat next to Cody’s hospital bed. The hand Doug held was now man-sized. Machines ensured Cody’s next breath, but his brain no longer functioned. Though they had resuscitated him, Cody had succeeded at taking his life.

When Cody was a baby, Doug had whispered, “The LORD bless you and keep you … the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24–26 NIV).

As Cody grew and life confused him, he often asked for his blessing. Doug whispered it again. Evening came. The clock ticked to 9, Cody’s—and Doug’s—hockey number. Hospital personnel unplugged life support.

For twenty minutes Cody labored to breathe.

“Bud.” Doug fought for composure. “Man! We want you here…. We love you…. You are our world. Buddy, everyone … thinks getting my NHL contract was the best thing that happened to me…. But … you were my best thing ever. But if you want to go … I was there with you when you accepted Jesus…. It’s okay to go home.”

Cody took two long breaths. Then he was gone.

The agony of suicide’s godless evil could not be appeased. Doug’s pain was empty, hopeless, forlorn. But Doug had to stay in the game.

“The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:17–18 NIV).”

In hockey, you seldom score from the perimeter. You skate into the center and take the hits to get the shot. Doug couldn’t outrun the pain, so he charged into the chaos. He was real, honest, and raw. Looking to God’s truth, Doug fought for the intellectual capacity to stand against the “would-a, could-a, should-a” accusations.

Doug didn’t run from grief. He put on headphones to “be with Cody” and lost himself in Cody’s music. He relived memories. Baby-Cody-after-a-bath snuggled into Doug’s bare chest. Deep-thinking-child Cody, full of questions. Cool-teen Cody, who had welcomed outcasts. Cody on a ski slope. On the rink. At the beach.

One of Doug’s hardest battles was to reconcile the evil of suicide with the grace of heaven. For three months Doug charged into the fear. He screamed at God, “Let me know he’s okay!”

And God did.

One night, Doug asked, “Why does this hurt so much?”

One of Doug’s children said, “It’s because you love so deep.”

That’s Christ, Doug thought.

Today Doug says there is no answer for the pain of tragedy, “but you have to run into the chaos. You have to stay in the game.”

What pushes you out of the game? You can’t outrun pain, so charge into it, and stay in the game.

Based on an interview with Doug Smail, 2019.

Story read by: Blake Mattocks

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

Project Manager: Blake Mattocks

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August 11. Brian Welch. Brian—also known by his stage name Head—was a guitarist and a founding member of the nu metal band Korn, who pioneered nu metal music, a form of alternative metal music—music for the disenfranchised.

In 2005, Brian left the band to focus on life as a father and to pursue his own solo career. He released his debut Christian album, Save Me from Myself, in 2008.

Now, at the top of Brian’s Facebook page, he’s posted: “I am an example that depression, addiction, and deep-rooted self-hatred can be conquered.” On this date in 2009, Brian published his award-winning book Washed in the Blood: Lessons from My Time with Korn and My Journey to Christ. Today’s story shows what turned Brian into a conqueror.

If you’re a slave to the fix, surrender to Jesus, and be free.

The whole world thought Brian and his bandmates were living the musical dream, but behind the scenes, Brian’s life had eroded into a nightmare.

The alternative-metal band Korn was #1 on the charts, and night after night the group played to stadiums filled with screaming fans. “We’ve made it; we’ve arrived. There’s nowhere else to climb,” said guitarist Brian. But he soon learned that the cliché was true: it really was lonely at the top. And loneliness was not his biggest problem.

Brian had become a slave to a meth addiction and its chaotic lifestyle. He was using every day just to function. On the road with the band, he had every type of drug at his disposal; he couldn’t get away from it if he wanted to. At home, he would wake, snort meth, and make breakfast. “I spent day by day, week by week … using meth. I didn’t miss one day because I couldn’t get out of bed without it,” Brian said.

Brian knew no way out of his hell, so he emailed a trusted friend with a cry for help. His friend replied with a Scripture he felt God had given him for Brian.

Brian read the words: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 NIV). That moment was a turning point for Brian. The words his friend had sent comforted him, and he got a glimpse of hope—a way out of the hell he was in.

On Sunday morning that same friend invited him to church. Desperate for help, with nothing to lose, Brian accepted. The two men sat together in the service. The singing and praying going on around him made Brian feel awkward. He didn’t want to be there, but he felt compelled to stay.

The pastor talked about how God had brought him out of a life of alcoholism and violence. And something began to stir inside Brian. He needed what that pastor had. Brian needed freedom. He prayed that if God were real, He would show up.

At home that night, Brian put his daughter in front of the TV and sat down to do what he always did. Snort some meth. But this time was different. This time he prayed. “Jesus, if you’re real like that pastor said, you gotta take these drugs from me. When you’ve reached the top … come into my life … you know I want to stop.[EM1] ” Suddenly the words of the pastor rang in Brian’s head.

“The Lord will fix you. You don’t have to come to him fixed. You come to him all broken.”

“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls’” (Matthew 11:28–29 NLT).

Do you struggle with habitual sin? If you’re a slave to a fix, surrender to Jesus, and be free.

RealTalkTVShow. “Interview with Brian ‘Head’ Welch.” YouTube. February 4, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfYPSpq6Faw&t=585s

Welch, Brian. Save Me from Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008.

[EM2]

Story read by: Nathan Walker

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

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