Podcast: 365 Christian Men

October 20. Karl Howg. Karl worked hard and accomplished many big things. 

But one day, he missed out on an ice cream cone and gained a large dose of wisdom. Here’s how it happened. 

Your time is a gift; manage it well or lose it to lesser things.  

Karl knew how to work hard. For him, a 60-hour work week was typical, and a 40-hour work week would be a vacation. 

And the man was efficient. Karl would use his only day off well: this Sunday afternoon, he would mow the lawn and take his lovely wife out for ice cream. 

But while he was mowing, a bee stung him. 

Nothing happened right away, and he finished mowing the lawn. But something wasn’t right, and his tongue began to swell. 

He needed help. Now. 

His lovely wife rushed him to the ER, and within seconds, a slew of medical types surrounded him. 

And that’s all Karl remembers. 

They inserted a breathing tube and transferred Karl to the Intensive Care Unit. When he woke the next day, he had lost a day and a night of his life. 

Karl was all set to grab his lovely wife and go out for ice cream, but that wasn’t going happen. Time had passed without his knowledge, just slipped away. Gone. He had no memory of the last eighteen hours. 

Now time took on a new meaning for Karl. 

It was a Monday when he woke, and Karl was stunned to find he wasn’t at work. This was extremely out of the ordinary. Even uncomfortable. But the longer he lay in the ICU, the more he realized that time was a gift, and it was limited, and it came without a guarantee. 

Karl had been giving his life to work, and work didn’t appreciate his time in a way that meant anything. Not like his family did. 

Three days later, Karl left the hospital with a new goal: he would give his time to his family and make that his priority. 

One week later, he drove two hours to visit his parents, his son, his daughter, and his grandkids. A couple days after that, he and his wife took the sixteen-hour drive to Colorado to visit his other son and daughter-in-law. They spent two days there. 

It’s not like he had lost his work ethic; he would always be faithful to his job. But now he was willing to step back and see things more clearly—to take time away from work. Now, he would give his time to something much more worthwhile. 

“Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15–17 NRSV). 

What are you giving your time to? Your time is a gift; manage it well or lose it to lesser things. 

Based on an interview with Karl Howg, 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 

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

October 19. William R. Bright. Until eighth grade, Bill went to school in a one-room schoolhouse. And once he got started in life, he never slowed down. In 1951 he founded Campus Crusade for Christ—a ministry for university students. 

Then Bill spent the next 50 years growing Campus Crusade until it became the largest international Christian ministry in the world and serves not only students, but also inner cities, the military, athletes, political and business leaders, the entertainment industries, and families. By 2003, the organization had a staff of 26,000 and 225,000 volunteers in 191 countries. 

In 1952 he wrote The Four Spiritual Laws, which a whole generation of believers have used, and more than 2.5 billion booklets have been distributed. 

In 1972, he held a rally in Dallas the press called “Religious Woodstock,” and 85,000 young people came. In 1974, he did it again, this time in Korea, and every night 1.5 million people attended. In 1980 he held another event in Korea and 2-to-almost-3 million people attended. 

On this date in 1979, Bill released The Jesus Film, which has been viewed by 5.1 billion people in 234 countries. The most translated film in history, it appears in 1,400 languages. 

Sometimes the thing you don’t want to do, is the thing you must do. Do the hard thing. 

The morning didn’t start well. 

During Sunday school, Bill disappeared. He had been asked to counsel someone in crisis, but no one had told his wife Vonette. So, when he finally did join her—almost five hours later—Vonette let him have it. If the tables were turned, what would Bill have expected? 

During the drive home and throughout a tense (and very late) lunch, they hashed things out. 

Eventually Bill asked Vonette to forgive him, not only for the disappearance-incident, but for being insensitive in general as he juggled a too-busy schedule. Then they prayed together at the dining-room table. And they discussed their hopes for their marriage. Bill suggested they go to separate rooms, write out their expectations, and then come together to compare and ask God what He wanted. 

Vonette listed the practical: children, a suitable home where she could minister to people from all walks of life, a car, and God’s blessing. 

In the other room Bill pondered. Paul’s description of himself came to mind. “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God” (Romans 1:1 NKJV). 

Bill, too, was a bondservant to Jesus. On his paper Bill renounced “every single thing” in his life to “the control of the Lord Jesus Christ.” With God’s help, Bill would do whatever his Master asked. 

Late that afternoon Bill and Vonette came together again in the living room. They acknowledged each other’s goals were valid. They didn’t try to reconcile them. In faith they signed both papers. Peace returned as they declared the papers their “Contract with God.” God could do “anything He wanted” in and through them for His glory. Together they put aside their dreams, aspirations, and “little puny plans” to “embrace His magnificent” ones. They were God’s bondservants. For the first time, Bill felt truly free. 

Later that week Bill studied for his Hebrew class at Fuller Seminary. About midnight a warm sense of God’s presence enveloped Bill. He didn’t see a physical form or hear an audible voice, but God showed Bill a panoramic view of fulfilling the Great Commission. A vast spiritual movement emanated from Australia and spread across the globe. 

As Bill sensed the partnership of the Holy Spirit, he was astonished by his absolute conviction that reaching the whole world with the story of Jesus could actually happen. He didn’t know how, but God did. 

Bill was to begin by reaching leaders on college campuses. The slogan would be “Reach the campus for Christ today—reach the world for Christ tomorrow.” 

Bill hardly slept. As soon as Vonette awoke, he told her everything, and she celebrated with him. Bill floated through his classes and then rushed to tell his mentor, Doctor Wilbur Smith. As Professor Smith listened, he began to pace. “This is of God! This is of God! This is of God!” he said. 

The next morning Professor Smith called Bill out of class. He handed him a small paper with “CCC” written on it. Beneath the acronym was “Campus Crusade for Christ.” 

Years later, Bill looked back on the day he and Vonette became bondservants of Christ. It had been  the “beginning of a whole … new lifestyle.” God had used Campus Crusade to tell billions of people all over the world about Jesus. But Bill was convinced it wouldn’t have happened without that day of surrender. 

Is there a relationship in your life where each of you do your own thing? What would happen if you “did God’s thing” together? Sometimes the thing you don’t want to do, is the thing you must do. Do the hard thing. 

Richardson, Michael. “Chapter 8: The Contract.” Amazing Faith: The Authorized Biography of Bill Bright. Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2000.  

Richardson, Michael. “Chapter 9: The Vision.” Amazing Faith: The Authorized Biography of Bill Bright. Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2000.  

Shibley, David. “Chapter 2: Christ’s Slave.” Great for God. Green Forest, AR: New Leaf Publishing Group Inc., 2012. 

Story read by: Daniel Carpenter 

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. 

October 18. Remi Adeleke. Remi’s dad was an architect, an executive, and a Nigerian Chief, which made Remi a prince. But after his father passed away, Remi, his mom, and his brother moved to the Bronx. Remi said, “We went from having it all to not having much of anything.” Young and adrift, Remi turned to scamming, stealing, and selling drugs. But he did have one treat. 

Once a month, he got to go to the movies. In 1995, when Remi saw Bad Boys, starring Will Smith, he realized he could be more than a thug. He said, “They were everyday guys trying to go out and save people.” Another movie introduced him to the Navy SEALs. When Remi was nineteen, a street-deal gone bad was the final nudge he needed. He said, “I gave up that street life for six months, and then I joined the military.” 

At first, he scored low on the Navy’s vocational-assessment tests, and he didn’t know how to swim. Still he worked at it, retested, and qualified for SEAL training. “When I want something, I will run through walls to get it,” he said. 

Remi was a Navy SEAL for seven years, and then went on to act in movies and advertising. Remi explains, “We live in a time when so many people are afraid to show their true colors.” He said his job was to “show them perseverance. Show them hope. Show them resilience.” 

A man can fail and fail, but it’s failure only if he fails to learn from it. 

All eyes were on the Senior Chief. “Prepare to enter the water!” 

Remi stood there on the edge of the pool with sixty pounds of diving tanks strapped to his back, plus a twenty-pound weight belt around his waist. He wore fins. It had all come down to this moment. Pass the test he had already failed twice or his dream to become a Navy SEAL was over. 

“You will tread water with your full dive load for five minutes. At no time during the five minutes will your hands touch the water. If they do, you will fail! After we call time, you will swim twenty-five meters to the north end on your stomach, touch the wall, then swim twenty-five meters back to the south end on your back. It is the only time when you can use your arms and hands.” 

Looking down at the water Remi’s seven-year journey flashed through his mind. It had all started with the dream of a street kid from the Bronx who couldn’t swim. 

For Remi, failure was only a failure if he failed to learn from it. Each time the Navy tried to shatter his dream, Remi gathered himself back up, learned, and fought his way back. He had done all he could to prepare for this moment. 

“Enter the water!” 

“ … last time I could barely keep my head out of the water; it was a fight just to breathe. Then I started swallowing water. It was like I was drowning.” That was not going to happen this time. 

Remi thought about all the pool workouts he had done—when it was cold, when it was raining, when the pool area was packed, and when it was empty. He did it when he didn’t want to, putting all his failures behind him. 

He did it for the next five minutes. 

The second he hit the water, he resurfaced, kept his eyes closed, and centered himself. “I was one with the water.… The five-minute tread felt like two minutes. When I touched the starting wall, I peacefully climbed out of the pool as if nothing had happened.” 

“Adeleke! Pass! It’s about time!” 

Remi knew nothing was going to stop him now. Victory over his past failures was his. He was going to graduate! 

Leaving the pool, he walked past a sign he had read countless times during his long journey. A sign that had become his goal, “Be Someone Special!” 

“The LORD said to me, “Tell them, ‘The LORD says, Do people not get back up when they fall down? Do they not turn around when they go the wrong way?’” (Jeremiah 8:4 NET). 

What past failure is holding you back? What lesson is the Lord trying teach you to turn that failure into victory? A man can fail and fail, but it’s failure only if he fails to learn from it. 

Adeleke, Remi. Transformed. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2019. 

Stalnecker, Jeremy. “An Amazing Story of Faith and Transformation.” Accessed July 16, 2020. https://​www.youtube.com/​watch? v=Nl8x_​smtVmw&fbclid=IwAR0UCA8l8aYup4TwiZ4zZHwDtUNtwuOZ2aWFj8ILwsEyqsEmQTC8o0hEugs 

Story read by: Blake Mattocks 

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. 

October 14. John Wesley. Wesley grew up in a Christian home—the fifteenth of the nineteen children of an Anglican pastor and a devout mother. He always thought of himself as a believer and became a priest. On this date in 1735, he sailed to the newly founded colony Georgia, but neither the colonists nor the native people took to his message. After two years, he sailed back to England. 

In 1738, at a Moravian meeting, Wesley listened to preaching from Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. Wesley wrote, that he had changed. “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation, and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” 

After that, Wesley was a man on fire for the Lord. He wanted to preach the truth, but the Anglicans were hostile to the point of closing their churches to him. So, Wesley became a traveling preacher. He stood 5-feet 6-inches-tall and weighed about 120 pounds, so he had to stand on a chair or platform to preach. Fifteen times a week, he preached—more than 40,000 sermons in all, and he traveled more than 250,000 miles during a time when many roads were muddy ruts. 

Because he preached outdoors, he was able to reach many people that the Church of England had neglected. But still some crowds were hostile, and once a non-fan loosed a bull in the open-air congregation. It didn’t deter Wesley. He kept preaching for fifty years—his last sermon delivered four months before he died. 

Even when we are faithless, God remains faithful. 

Have you ever questioned God’s purpose for your life? John Wesley did. 

On the surface, he modeled the life of a devout Christian minister. And he led the members of the church in a strict religious regimen. Their days included prayer, Bible study, weekly communion, and social ministries. 

But on the inside, doubts about his own salvation plagued Wesley. He was afraid to die. 

Wesley was called to be the priest in a new Savannah, Georgia parish. To get there, he had to cross the ocean on a three-month voyage to America. And he set sail in October 1735. 

The first weeks on the ship went by without incident. But the fifth week of the journey, storms raged, and the ocean swelled. Grey clouds overshadowed the ship, and the whole sky blackened. Torrential rains pounded the deck and filled the air with the taste of salt water. Gale winds howled, and waves jolted the ship from side to side. Wesley tried to carry out his pastoral duties without showing his fear, but terror gripped his heart. 

He wrote in his journal, “I have a fair summer religion. I can talk well; nay, and believe myself, while no danger is near; but let death look me in the face, and my spirit is troubled.” 

There was a group of German Christians aboard—the Moravians—and they gathered routinely to worship and to sing to the Lord. In January, horrible storms battered the ship for more than a week. 

One storm arose in the middle of the Moravian’s worship service. When the storm split the mainsail, the English passengers screamed, and the sound was petrifying. But the Moravian missionaries went on singing to the Lord. 

Later, Wesley asked Peter Bohler—one of the Moravian men—if the Moravians were afraid. 

And Bohler answered, “I thank God, no.” Wesley asked if the women and children had been afraid, and Bohler replied the same. “Neither their women nor their children were afraid to die.” 

Struck by their indomitable courage, Wesley was convinced the Moravians had a faith he did not have. And he hoped Peter Bohler would help him find that kind of faith. 

Wesley thought saving faith had to be earned over time through human effort. But Bohler taught him that saving faith did not exist in degrees. He either had it, or he did not. 

Bohler adamantly insisted Wesley needed to be purged of his works-based religious philosophy. And Bohler asked Wesley about Jesus. 

“I know he is the Savior of the world,” was the best answer Wesley had to offer. 

And Bohler told Wesley that he was still an unbeliever. 

This left Wesley utterly confused. He reasoned that if he didn’t believe himself, he certainly couldn’t go on preaching to others. He resolved to cling to the truth of Scripture: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways submit to him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5–6  NIV). And Wesley purposed to put the question about preaching to Peter Bohler. 

Bohler responded emphatically, “By no means” do not stop preaching. 

Wesley said, “‘But what can I preach?’” 

“[Bohler] said, ‘Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.’” 

Wesley believed that Bohler’s response confirmed God’s divine direction. He then determined to put his calling to the test. 

Right away, Wesley started on this adventure. “Accordingly, Monday 6—two days later, I began preaching.” The first person to whom he offered salvation was a prisoner under the sentence of death. After praying with Wesley, the condemned man arose from prayer and exclaimed, “I am now ready to die. I know Christ has taken away my sins, and there is no condemnation for me.” 

From that point on, every Sunday Wesley could be found confidently preaching. As he shared the gospel with others, he continued his diligent search for the faith of the Moravians. 

What might you attempt to do today if you knew without doubt, it was God’s determined purpose for your life? Even when we are faithless, God remains faithful. 

Wesley, John. The Journal of John Wesley. April 12, 2010.  

Wesley, John. A History of the Christian Church. “Chapter 7.” New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970. 

Miller, Basil. “John Wesley.” Archive.Org. 1987. https://​archive.org/​stream/​johnwesleymenoff00basi#page/​58/​mode/​2up. 

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. 

March 1. John Quincy Adams. Adams was a man of integrity with his mind made up to use whatever skills and talents he had to serve the country that loved. 

One evening early in 1821, a certain politician visited Adams and let him know that he was being considered as a candidate for the presidency. 

“To one thing, however, I had made up my mind,” Adams said. “I would take no one step to advance or promote pretensions to the Presidency—If that office was to be the prize of cabal and intrigue, of purchasing Newspapers, bribing by appointments or bargaining for foreign Missions, I had no ticket in that Lottery. … I will devote none of my time to devising laws to increase my own patronage, and multiply canvassers in my favour. …” 

Of course, he did become the sixth President of the United States. And that prestigious office didn’t change him. He refused to play politics and make deals. Today’s story tells how that went. On this date in 1841, twelve years after he left the presidency, Adams persuaded the US Supreme Court to free wrongly-imprisoned men, men who had been kidnapped and were to be forced into slavery. 

Even when we’re defeated, God has a plan. 

When Adams was elected President of the United States, he believed he had reached the pinnacle of his career because his single-minded goal had always been to serve his country. And what better opportunity could there be? 

But on every proposal, he battled Congress. They refused to support anything he wanted to do, and they brought the government to a halt. His term ended, and when he ran for re-election the voters trounced him. He wrote: “The sun of my political life sets in the deepest gloom.” He had set out to serve his country, to use his skills for the good of the people, and he had failed. 

But soon, some men asked Adams to run for Congress. His wife and his son were mortified; they wanted no more public humiliation. But Adams saw only an opportunity to serve his nation. 

He accepted the call on two conditions: he would not affiliate with any political party, and he would run without campaigning. If the people wanted him to serve, they would elect him. 

And they did. 

Nine consecutive times. Eighteen years in the House of Representatives. 

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 NASB). 

Adams detested slavery and what it did to human beings, and he wanted it abolished. This caused his Southern colleagues to disdain him. 

Instead of assigning him to Foreign Affairs, in which he had extensive experience, they put him on the Committee of Manufactures—a sphere he knew nothing about. To keep him from bringing up slavery on the House floor, they instituted the “Gag Rule” and forbid the mention of the word slavery in House proceedings. 

But Adams had purposed to serve his country, and he wasn’t going to let his opponents stop him. He learned House rules and circumvented the Gag Rule. Into the House record, he read citizens’ petitions for abolition. He read them constantly. And he read them loudly—over his opponents’ loud protests. 

Adams investigated manufacturing issues until he discovered the economic tie between cotton manufacturing and slavery, and he used that to strike a major blow against slavery. 

After years of battling slavery, seventy-four-year-old Adams argued before the Supreme Court for the acquittal and freedom of kidnapped Africans, who had mutinied aboard the ship Amistad. 

Summoning all his mastery of language and law, combined with his firm belief that slavery was “a sin before the sight of God,” his impassioned speech persuaded the Justices, a majority of whom were slaveholders themselves, to his point of view. The Africans were returned to their native land, free. 

In the Amistad case, Adams told the Justices his hope for each of them was that they would “be received at the portals of the next life with the approving sentence, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of the Lord.’” 

Have you ever seen a defeat turned to greater opportunities for you to serve and glorify God? Even when we’re defeated, God has a plan. 

Unger, Harlow Giles. John Quincy Adams. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2012, p. 256. 

Hogan, Margaret A. “John Quincy Adams.” Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. Accessed September 26, 2018. https://millercenter.org/president/jqadams.  

Story read by Chuck Stecker 

Would You Like to Learn More About This Man? 

See The Diaries of John Quincy Adams https://www.amazon.com/​Diaries-John-Quincy-Adams-1779–1848/​dp/​1598535218/​ref=sr_​1_​1?_ie=UTF8&qid=1538080723&sr=8–1&keywords=john+quincy+adams. 

September 10. Thomas Cranmer. Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation, and he was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of two kings and a queen of England.  

Cranmer loved God and was sincere in his beliefs. His story is one of hope for people who sometimes make mistakes. On this date in 1533, Cranmer became godfather to the then-future Queen Elizabeth. 

When success gets you slander, stand firm in the truth. 

When Cranmer became the Archbishop of Canterbury, he suddenly faced a slew of accusations. People started rumors saying he wasn’t educated enough to be in such a high position in the country and the Church. 

One time, in an alehouse in Yorkshire, England, a fellow priest had been gossiping among his neighbors. No doubt enjoying the attention, the ability to make his neighbors laugh, and the pleasure of being “in the know,” the priest claimed that Cranmer had as much education as a gosling. 

This was not the land of free speech, and in that time and place that kind of talk landed the gossipy priest in prison. Worse, after eight or nine weeks of punishment, what the priest had said was reported to the Archbishop. 

Cranmer didn’t seem at all threatened by the priest’s idle talk, but the Archbishop was eager to put the rumors to rest. He got the priest out of prison, invited the priest to the palace, and offered to let the priest quiz him. The gossipy priest could now get proof of just how ill-educated Cranmer was. 

The priest accepted the invitation (it being a time and place one did not turn down the invitation of an Archbishop). He met Cranmer in the garden of Lambeth Palace, where the Archbishop was sitting under a vine, waiting. Right off, brother-to-brother, Cranmer asked why the priest had said such hurtful words about him. The priest, eager for an excuse, admitted it was probably the drink at the alehouse that had caused him to do it. 

Cranmer listened with respect. And he allowed that enough drink could loosen many tongues. But now that the priest was there, he could finally learn the truth about how educated Cranmer was. “You may oppose me, to know what learning I have,” Cranmer said. “Begin in grammar if you will, or else in philosophy and other sciences, or divinity.” 

But the priest knew he couldn’t question anyone in those areas. “I have no manner of learning in the Latin tongue,” he replied. He knew only English. 

Cranmer nodded. There would be no questions in Latin, nor would the priest be quizzing him in such worldly matters. Perhaps a Bible quiz would suffice. Surely, as a priest, he would know the Scriptures, and Cranmer used the opportunity to quiz the priest instead. 

Cranmer asked if the priest had read the Bible. 

Of course. He was a priest. He nodded. “Yes—that we do daily.” This would not be so bad, the priest thought. 

“Who was David’s father?” Cranmer asked. 

The priest stood still. “I … cannot surely tell, Your Grace.” 

“Who was Solomon’s father?” 

The priest answered that he didn’t really look at genealogies. 

By this time Cranmer had already proven that his own education wasn’t low or poor. The King wouldn’t have appointed him to be Archbishop if he weren’t prepared. 

Cranmer looked to the priest, scolding him gently as a fellow minister, who wanted to make sure his brother learned his lesson. “God amend you,” he said, “and from henceforth, learn to be an honest man, or at least a reasonable man.” 

The priest nodded again, and obviously felt very sorry. He had been wrong to spread such a false and hurtful rumor. 

The Archbishop sent the priest—not back to prison—but to his home. 

“So also the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A great forest can be set on fire by one tiny spark.And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness, and poisons every part of the body. And the tongue is set on fire by hell itself and can turn our whole lives into a blazing flame of destruction and disaster” (James 3: 5-6 TLB). 

Have you ever faced slander or gossip from people who didn’t celebrate your success? How might you deal with words meant to hurt you? When success gets you slander, stand in the truth and find peace. 

Mason, Arthur James. Thomas Cranmer. London: Methuen & Co. 1898. Internet Archive. March 19, 2019. 

Nichols, John Gough, editor. Narratives of the Days of the Reformation: Chiefly from the Manuscripts of John Foxe the Martyrologist; with Two Contemporary Biographies of Archbishop Cranmer. Westminster: The Camden Society, 1859. Internet Archive. March 19, 2019. 

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 9. Oswald Jeffrey Smith. At an RA Torrey conference Oswald became a Christian at age 16. About 14 years later, he founded The Peoples Church in Toronto in 1928. On September 9, 1928, he preached his first service to an audience of 2000. 

Several missionary boards turned him down, saying he was too physically frail for the mission field. 

But Oswald lived in the power of the endless life of Christ and served eighty years in the ministry, preached more than 12,000 sermons in 80 countries, and wrote thirty-five books. His life didn’t go the way he had plan, but it did go. Here’s his story. 

Hearing “no” could lead to an unexpected “yes.” 

Oswald grew up in a small, country town. A sickly boy, his parents and doctors questioned whether he would reach adulthood. He was absent from school on and off, and eventually missed two entire years of school. 

But Oswald defeated the odds, and at 16, went to Toronto to hear an evangelist preach. He listened to that evangelist, and his heart was caught. That’s what he wanted to be. And he didn’t want to be only an evangelist; he wanted to be a missionary. He wanted to travel to places God wanted him to and tell anyone he could about the gospel. 

With his trip to Toronto stamped in his heart forever, he decided that was the place to be. So, when he turned 18, he moved there and started attending evening classes at Toronto Bible College, his longing to be a missionary burning strong inside. 

Finally, when the doors opened, he applied for an appointment in the mission field through the church. On the precipice of his dream coming true, excitement brewing inside, he was told “no.” He had been too weak and sick when he was a young boy, they said. He would never be suited for the mission field. 

Oswald struggled with the rejection and disappointment, but he wouldn’t give up. If God had put this in his heart, God would be faithful to bring it to pass. 

Oswald took a job selling Bibles door-to-door for the Bible Society. It was a way to make money and allowed him to travel a bit, meet new people, and talk to them about God and His Word. 

He was so good at selling Bibles that the Bible Society sent him to Vancouver, some thirty miles away. Meeting this person and that, he made his way up the coast, making contacts with a variety of people and local pastors. Sometimes he would make a call to a lumber camp or to a home in the middle of nowhere. All the while, he spoke to these people about God, His Word, and the truth written there. 

Traveling farther and farther through the country, he wound up near the native people. He preached to them and sold them Bibles. It was there that a Methodist missionary noticed Oswald and asked if he would be willing to stay through the winter as his associate and minister to the Indians. 

Oswald said, “Yes.” 

It wasn’t the way he thought it would go. He had thought he would sign up at the church and take an assignment in the mission field and in an orderly fashion, off he would go. No. God took a different route. A longer route, an out-of-the-way route. But the destination was the same. 

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his ways.” (Psalm 37:23 NKJV)   

What disappointments are you dealing with? Hearing “no” could lead to an unexpected “yes.” 

Hull, John D. “Oswald J. Smith.” Online Encyclopedia of Canadian Christian Leaders. Accessed June 27, 2020. https: //www.canadianchristianleaders.org/leader/pauline-vanier-2–2-2/ 

“Osward Jeffery Smith, Pastor, Evangelist.” Believer’s Web. March 17, 2003. https: //believersweb.org/view.cfm? ID=130 

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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