365 Christian Men | 365 Christian Men

September 8. William Townsend. William was a hard-working farmer, a family man, and a man of his word. His whole life is a demonstration of the marvelous things God can do with whatever we commit to Him. William wanted to serve God. Today’s story shows us what God did with this desire. Listen to this.

Disabilities don’t dictate what God can do through us. Or generations to come.

“Oh, everybody knows about my daddy, the man who started Wycliffe Bible Translators!” Joy laughed, as she served me her famous carrot cake. Her South Carolina accent was still strong—even after many years living in southern Mexico.

“Everyone called him ‘Uncle Cam,’ but his full name was William Cameron Townsend. Did you know there was another William Townsend? He was my grandfather. Not many people know his story. But without it, we wouldn’t have the story of my daddy and how he brought the Word of God to people all over the whole world in their own language.”

Joy began the story of the first William, “Once there was a poor farmer, who had an intense love of geography and the Word of God …”

Old William spun a globe that was sitting on top of maps and stacks of books with titles like Countries of the World, World Cultures, and Great Explorers. He traced his finger over all the seas and continents as it turned. And he thought of the scripture: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV).

He thought about all these people with their unique cultures and languages. These people covered the whole globe … so many still didn’t know about God’s love and what He had done for them.

William asked the Lord to send him to tell the gospel to people who lived worlds away.

Years passed, and William grew up and married. He was generous and trusting, so when a friend asked him to co-sign a loan, William agreed. Unfortunately, his friend reneged. William spent the rest of his life deep in debt—no money to travel, no freedom to leave the work that would pay back the money.

Then things got worse.

While William was working, a heavy, swinging beam knocked him in the head. He lost all his hearing. His plan of going overseas to serve the Lord was lost, too.

One day, after a long, hard day of work, William looked at his globe. It was smudged and wobbly from the curious hands of his children. Once again, he thought about the world that God loved.

I can’t go out to ALL the world, but there is a whole little world that God has put right around me, he thought.

William and his wife had four girls and two boys, who needed to know God loved them. Some day they would have little worlds of their own, and they could tell those worlds about God’s love, and on it would go … the message would spread wider and wider.

The oldest son, William Cameron Townsend, remembered his father’s geography books and the old globe. Every evening, his dad read three chapters of the Bible to his captive audience. And every reading ended with Isaiah 11: 9: “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

Old William couldn’t have been happier when his son Cameron announced his plans to preach the gospel in Central America. Armed with the three things Cameron said his father taught him: the importance of the Word of God, the importance of the whole world knowing the Word of God, and some handy gardening tips. Cameron began a Bible-translation project, that soon extended beyond the Central American tribal languages to the languages of people groups around the whole globe.

William’s son, Paul, also served the Lord in other lands, and his grandchildren work in Bible translation and overseas-missionary work. Joy’s son is a missionary in Thailand.

Joy smiled. “We are all like pieces in God’s puzzle. … Not all the pieces received the same recognition and honor, but everyone was needed; everyone is an important piece in God’s plan. … People who’ve heard … have told others … all because of a poor, deaf farmer who went to his world.”

Who can you tell today? Disabilities don’t dictate what God can do through us. Or generations to come.

Based on an interview with Joy Tuggy. June 27, 2019.

Story read by: Chuck Stecker

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks

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September 7. Randy Moore. For more than 30 years, Randy has been a leading news anchorman in the Indiana-Kentucky-Illinois area. People say, “He’s … a comforting, stable, and trustworthy presence—perhaps the Walter Cronkite of this era … He is able to inject a sense of calm that counters unnerving news reports.” But Randy’s life off camera has been no easy thing.

Even in the hardest times, the peace of Christ is here for you.

Randy grew up in a Christian family. Church life was natural to him. His life was charmed—not a lot of sickness or hardship. And in fourty-eight years, Randy’s Christianity had never really been tested. He believed that is just the way Christian life is … until the challenge of his wife Ann’s cancer.

Ann’s nights were not sleepless because of anxiety or worry. She struggled night after night with excruciating pain throughout her body. The diagnosis was devastating—inoperable, incurable, terminal pancreatic cancer!

Like many men facing the challenge of watching a loved one suffer, Randy’s response was to man up—internalize the pain and the shock. He was doing it for his wife. His sole focus was taking care of Ann. He changed her dressings, emptied the containers draining infection, monitored her medicine, and brought her comfort through the pain.

But it became too much for Randy. His nights were full of fear and anxiety as he agonized over her pain and suffering. He came to the point where just the dread of knowing that Ann was going to die, probably very painfully and very quickly, was too much. The thought just knocked him for a loop.

He couldn’t eat; he couldn’t sleep. The tossing and turning every night took its toll. During the day Randy struggled just to function in his high-paced job as a highly respected TV news anchor. His mind was focused on Ann.

“My wife has terminal cancer, and I’m the one that’s incapacitated. I was acting my way through it on a human level. I didn’t know that I could truly trust God and trust Jesus to get me through it.”

Like many Christian men, he believed all the right things, but he hadn’t experienced his Christianity. Now, for the first time, he had to conduct himself as a Christian under very trying circumstances, and he didn’t know how.

It was different for Ann. Reading her Bible and praying, she spent many hours on the couch in quality time with God. Day after day she lived in constant pain but with a peace that God had given her. It was a peace she carried throughout her cancer journey. How did she get such peace? Randy was amazed by it.

Then, in the middle of his struggle, something remarkable happened.

“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’” (John 7: 37–39 NIV).

In the course of caring for Ann, a peace and a joy overcame Randy, too, and it astonished him. He said, “ … it just startled me!”

That peace in the middle of horrible trouble showed Randy that this Christian life is not just a set of beliefs. It’s about a life, … the Christ life. It is the life Jesus led here on earth—a life of self-sacrifice and service. It is the life every Christian is called to.

He said, “We can live the Christ life because we have the life of Christ living in us; the life of peace.”

Randy lives the Christ life today not only as a news anchor but as pastor of Baker Chapel where he dedicates his life to serving others. He co-founded a cancer-support organization, has helped sick-and-injured children as host of the Children’s Miracle Network and helps kids with dyslexia learn to read.

Life is often filled with that which cannot satisfy. Longing for what you don’t have? Come to Jesus.

Moore, Randy. I Am Second. White Chair Film, 2011. https: //vimeo.com/387506050.

Riley, Jennifer. News Anchor: God Gave Peace Amid Wife’s Losing Cancer Battle. Christian Post, 2011. https: //www.christianpost.com/news/news-anchor-god-gave-peace-amid-wifes-losing-cancer-battle.html.

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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September 6. Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy was a Russian writer—one of the greatest authors of all time. He wrote two of the world’s most acclaimed works of fiction: War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

In the 1870s, he experienced a profound moral crisis and a spiritual awakening. His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, which centered on the Sermon on the Mount, led him to become a Christian.

We all have sins to give up, commands to obey, promises to believe. So be intentional.

The golden flame of a candle flickered and cast a warm hue over the silent study. The only sound in the room was the tip of Tolstoy’s pen moving rapidly across the page of his journal, where he was capturing a flurry of thoughts, as had been his habit since his teenage years.

He wrote, “Five years ago, I began to believe in the teaching of Christ.” He wrote that Christ’s teachings had changed him greatly. Now, he no longer cared about things he used to treasure. And his desires changed, too. The whole aim and purpose of his life had changed.

Tolstoy looked up from his journal and looked at the collection of books scattered across his desk. He read. Quickly moving from text to text, from commentary to commentary, from translation to translation, he mulled over the passage of Scripture known as The Sermon on the Mount. With the focus of a criminal investigator, Tolstoy read the passage. He read it again. And he read it again.

He felt that if there were any clear and definite precepts of Christianity, they must have been expressed in this sermon, and in those three chapters of Saint Matthew’s Gospel he sought the solution to his doubts.

And then it happened. He remembered a passage he had overlooked many times. “But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also” (Matthew 5:39 NLT).

He hurried to write this onto a fresh page of his open journal.

For years, Tolstoy searched the Scriptures for a deeper meaning than the established Church had offered. He longed for some way to resolve the conflict that he saw between the literal words of Christ and what the Orthodox Churches now taught.

He recorded these thoughts in the pages of his journal: “What perplexed me most … [was] … the evil things that men do … [and some of these] were justified by the Church. I saw that the teaching of Christ, which teaches us humility, tolerance, forgiveness, self-denial, and love, was verbally extolled by the Church, but … [the Church sanctioned behavior] incompatible with such teaching.”

“A Christian can only transmit the knowledge of the truth to others by keeping away from the error they are in, and by returning good for evil,” he wrote.

As he closed his journal and set down his pen, Tolstoy considered the revelation God had shown him about overcoming evil with good, of not returning evil for evil. He thought about how his life and his values had to change to line up with these words of Jesus. And he committed to spend the rest of his days pursuing this new standard for his life. He committed to it; he knew it would not happen by accident. It would not be easy. But he would do it.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21 NIV).

How are you inspired to follow Tolstoy’s example in your own life? We all have sins to give up, commands to obey, promises to believe. So be intentional.

Golgonooza. “The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoy.” Humandivinedotorg. May 1, 2016. https: //thehumandivine.org/2016/05/01/the-kingdom-of-god-is-within-you-by-leo-tolstoy.

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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September 5. Russ Frase. Russ has pastored several churches from Texas to Colorado. He’s been in ministry more than fifty years. He’s been married more than fifty years. And he’s built bible schools in more than fifty countries. On this date in 1992, he founded the Rocky Mountain Bible Institute.

Russ is also the Founder and President of Joshua Ministries, International—a ministry whose vision statement is “Training the next generation of church leaders.”

Joshua Nations now has more than 161,000 students studying in more than 7,000 schools in 58 nations and 60 languages. But that’s not the limit of Russ’s wide experience. Listen to this.

If you open the runways of your heart, God will land spiritual treasures there.

Russ gazed at the congregation of his first pastorate, a country Baptist church in Texas. While he attended seminary, he served—and loved—the people. And as several gathered at the altar, his heart swelled.

But a woman’s screeching wail shattered the peace. He had never heard anything like it. He scanned the crowd. It was a woman in the congregation named Selma. Her face was contorted, and she flailed about. Russ had no idea what to do. As she shrieked, people slipped out of the church. Russ didn’t blame them.

Desperate, he told her husband, Charlie, to take Selma home. “Call me if you need me,”Russ said. He hoped Charlie wouldn’t call. But after service, Russ had barely stepped inside the parsonage when the phone rang. “Don’t let it be Charlie,” he prayed.

It was Charlie.

Russ met him at his trailer, and Charlie opened the rickety screen door. “She’s gone mad.” Selma stood behind the tall farmer, her eyes red, wild, and unfocused. Her head flopped all over, and her red hair flew about. Now what?

Russ had heard that if you hollered at a demon in Jesus’ name, it would leave. So he gathered his bravado and puffed out his chest. “Get out of there, you filthy foul creature!”

Selma glared.

Russ felt a hand on his left shoulder. Expecting to see Charlie, he turned. But Charlie watched from the kitchen. A gentle Voice spoke from deep inside Russ. “Just slow down, and be quiet, and I’ll show you what to do. This is the demon of lust. Just take authority over it, and cast it out.”

Selma writhed.

The hairs on the back of Russ’s neck stood up. “Come out of her right now in the name of Jesus!” His voice was firm, but his knees trembled.

Selma went limp. Then she drew a long breath, raised peaceful blue eyes, and smiled. “So glad to have you, Pastor.”

Big Charlie shot the pastor a look of disbelief.

Russ shrugged. Relieved, he was ready to get out of there. But the Voice spoke again. “When her eyes get red, that’s another demon.”

Russ cringed.

Selma sprang off the bed, got a few inches from Russ’s face, and glared at him through blood-red eyes.

“This is a spirit of rage,” the Holy Spirit whispered.

“Come out, Spirit of Rage, in the name of Jesus!”

Selma went limp. Her blue eyes returned to normal. “That was a mighty good message you preached tonight, Pastor.”

They chatted until the arteries on her neck popped out, and her eyes again turned red. For two hours, Russ battled demons as if he had been doing it his whole life. There were thirteen.

It was just like Jesus had promised, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things,” (John 14:26 NIV).

Some time later, Russ flew into the Los Angeles airport after dark. Lighted runways below grabbed his attention. “Without those runways planes could not land,” God said. “It’s the same with your heart. It’s full of runways on which I desire to land My spiritual realities … But if you don’t allow me access to the runways of your heart, I cannot fulfill my purposes, plans, and pleasures in your life … Surrender completely to me and watch what we can do together.”

Over the years Russ learned to open more runways in his heart. God gave him more spiritual gifts. Commanding demons was just one.

What runways are closed in your heart? If you open the runways of your heart, God will land spiritual treasures there.

Based on an interview with Dr. Russ Frase, Jr.

Frase, Jr., Dr. Russ and Marla Lindstrom Benroth. Runways of the Heart: My Journey Empowered by the Holy Spirit. Pointing Due North Press, 2018.

Story read by: Joel Carpenter

Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter

Audio production: Joel Carpenter

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

Project manager: Blake Mattocks

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The post 365 Christian Men Narrators’ Intro first appeared on 365 Christian Men.

365 Christian Men is a project built on some basic truths about God and His character. God cares deeply about each man, and He has a specific purpose for every man’s life. In fact, God wants to tell His stories through the lives of His men.

One man had a vision for the project—to find the real-life stories of Christian men from all walks of life, men from the first century through last week. Some of the stories would be about pastors and missionaries, but he would also feature mechanics, a barber, a former mob boss, a dad, a star football coach, the voice actor for a Star Wars character, and many more!

These very short stories would be about men who have fought their battles, are overcoming their obstacles, and are using the lessons they’ve learned to help others. For this vision to come to fruition, we needed a team, which would include the project manager, more than thirty writers, an editor, an audio engineer, a graphics designer, a website builder and many other talented people who believed in the project’s vision.

For more than two years, the team has worked hard to see that vision come to life. To make that happen, they were committed to several foundational truths:

1. History is shaped by how men live their lives.

2. No man is perfect. Many of the great triumphs in life have come through trials, great fails, setbacks, and heartache.

3. God can use real-life stories to demonstrate His power, His goodness, and His love for men. He can do tremendous things through a man who recognizes his need for God, is willing to submit to His plan, and will trust Him with his future.

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