T.S. Elliot

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. Today, atheism is making a big comeback in American publishing. Authors are arguing that Christian faith is one of the most dangerous aspects of our culture. Back in the 1920’s, atheism was big too. Atheistic intellectual Bertrand Russell was the leader of that parade. He wrote that man ought to worship man, and people were starting to listen. But then another intellectual stood up, and said “No. I have decided to worship the God of the Bible. That is the way of hope”. TS Elliot was his name. His poem “the Wasteland” had made him the most famous poet in the world. And yet, he sacrificed much of his fame and endured academic ridicule because he converted to Christianity, and filled his poems with faith. TS Elliot warned that atheism would lead the world into a new dark age, and that Christianity had to survive if mankind was to have a future. Elliot’s life was all about one moment when he stood and said, “I will worship Christ.” What’s your life all about? I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

Richard Allen

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. It might surprise you to hear me say this, but some church splits can be good things. That’s right, sometimes even sincere Christians can get stuck in sinful patterns that God just has to break. Such was the case on a spring day in 1787, when evangelist Richard Allen had had enough. Allen was an African American evangelist in the Methodist Church in Pennsylvania. But when he saw that white Methodists insisted on separate seating for their black brothers and sisters in church, Allen started a new denomination. It’s known today as the African Methodist Episcopal Church or AME. With over 6000 churches and 2 million members, the AME Church is a pillar of hope in urban America. It might have had something to do with Allen’s intensity. He often said he would find himself waking up from sleep preaching because he believed time was short. I’ll bet nobody ever fell asleep in his services! I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment

Foxe's Martyrs

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. A while back, I had the honor of interviewing a young Russian immigrant to California on my radio show. Only 16 years old, she had been suspended from her high school in Sacramento because she bore public testimony to her faith in Jesus. I remember asking her if she felt discouraged at this mistreatment. Surprised, she looked at me and said, “In Russia, we were trained to suffer for Jesus. It’s what Christians do. Isn’t it?” I was humbled, and for a moment, speechless. Our Christian generation needs to wake up to this kind of commitment. Others have. Did you know that for 150 years, the most popular book among European Christians, other than the Bible, was Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, which was a graphic history of the torture and deaths of hundreds of Christians? I’ve read it, and it puts anything Steven King ever wrote into the comic strip category. The stories are horrifying. But it shows this lesson: The early church didn’t fear suffering; it honored it. So should we. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

Erasmus

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. You’ve probably heard the factoid out there that the average American reads two books a year. It might not be quite that bad, but we’re certainly on a literary downslide. That’s not good, because God chose to communicate to us through a written word, the Bible. In an X Box 360 age we’re so tempted to trade off a deep insight for an electronic experience, every time. We need to reverse this trend as Christians. Believer, you ought to be reading a lot more than two books a year about your faith. Erasmus was a Bible teacher in the 15th century. He wrote to a friend “When I get a little money, I buy books. If there is any left over, then I buy food. I hurry on, with all sails set, to find more books about the Bible.” That’s the kind of passion all of us need. However you learn best, by audio CDs, Christian biographies, or sermon mp3s, set your sails to learn all you can about the Bible. Devote your soul to that great journey, today. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

Saint Antony

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. In these days of fast fame for certain pastors (and even more dramatic falls from grace), it’s important to remember the advice of a forgotten but wise preacher: “If you take care of the depth of your ministry, God will take care of the breadth of it”. It’s safest to let God decide the number of people we influence. He certainly did it for Saint Antony. He was a dishwasher in a monastery in the year 1222 and had to be ordered to preach his first sermon, but he soon traveled the world, preaching to crowds of up to 30,000 people at a time. Antony’s preaching was so powerful that when he came to a town, the shops closed and the markets suspended business so people could go hear him. He was tough and so Biblical that it was said that if all the world’s Bibles were burned, Antony could surely rewrite them. If you want a big ministry, then build a deep life. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

Captain Dave Carey, U.S.N.

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. In the skies over Vietnam on August 31, 1967, Navy pilot Dave Carey’s A4 Skyhawk was shot down, and Carey parachuted into a five year stint in the hell of the Hanoi Hilton as a POW. Under the agony of daily torture, both physical and mental, Carey gradually deteriorated to the point where one day he realized he couldn’t keep even one thought straight in his head. Terrified he was losing his mind, and fearful that his captors would use something he might mindlessly babble forth against his shipmates or his country, Dave Carey groped for even one sentence to focus his mind. And then it came to him. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” The words of Psalm 23, buried in his memory twenty years before, now arose as the only words he could sustain in thought. They saved his mind, and his life, in the very presence of his enemies. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

Jessie Irvine

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. I don’t know about you, but I often find myself saying “There just aren’t enough minutes in my day to get it all done!” But there is something tougher, and that’s the occasional day that never seems to end, when I’ve had so many burdens and challenges that I just want night to fall and my head to hit the pillow. In Crimond, Scotland, there’s an unusual clock in the church tower. It’s famous because the clockmaker accidentally added an extra minute mark to the clock face. As a result, every hour in Crimond, Scotland is 61 minutes, making a day there 24 minutes longer than anywhere else on earth. Jessie Irvine lived in Crimond. In 1870 she wrote a famous hymn entitled The Lord is My Shepherd”. I think she was onto something. If you’re having a day that seems longer than anyone else’s, try reciting Psalm 23 at the end of it. The Lord is your shepherd, and He doesn’t mind pulling overtime. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

Christmas Evans

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. His name was Christmas Evans, if for no other reason than he was born into wretched poverty on Christmas Day 1766 in Wales. He found Christ as a little boy, but angry schoolmates beat him so badly for his faith that he lost an eye. One day a large crowd had gathered to hear a popular preacher who didn’t show. Someone called out “Let the one-eyed lad preach. I hear he speaks quite wonderfully”. The elders muttered to themselves “Surely this embarrassment can’t preach.” As some of them began to wander away, Christmas Evans did begin to preach, and such beautiful words and biblical passion had scarcely ever been heard. The people were spellbound, with some of them calling out “Glory, glory!” From that day, Christmas Evans was the greatest preacher in Wales. Embarrassed about your ministry gifts? Maybe God’s just waiting to say” Glory!” over you. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

Charlotte Elliot

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. Has anger been a problem for you in the past? Well, one woman’s struggle with anger actually gave birth to the most famous evangelistic hymn of our time. Charlotte Elliot was a bitter woman. Early in her life her health broke, and she was hardened in anger at God because of it. One night, a pastor visited her home for dinner, and Charlotte launched into a bitter tirade against God over her illness. The pastor looked at her and said “All you have in the world is your anger. Why don’t you trade that for Jesus?” “But how do I come to God”, Charlotte asked? “Why, you come to Him just as you are” he said. That night, Charlotte Elliot did come to Christ, and soon after she wrote a hymn titled “Just As I Am”. You’ve heard it if you’ve ever attended a Billy Graham crusade. “Just as I am”, she wrote, “without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me. And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God I come, I come”. Anger shouldn’t keep you from God. In fact, it’s one of the great reasons to come to God. Just as you are. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

James Chalmers

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. James Chalmers and his young wife Jane had prayed for years to be allowed to serve as missionaries on the island of Roratonga in the South Pacific. But in January of 1867, no sea captain could be found who could take them to the island, perhaps because the inhabitants of Roratonga were known as cannibals. Undaunted, Pastor Chalmers found a most unlikely ship to take them, and an unlikely captain as well. The schooner Rona was a pirate ship, captained by notorious pirate Bully Hayes. In the six week voyage, the missionary and the pirate were instantly drawn together. Chalmers preached everyday aboard ship, and Bully often ordered his men to attend services. As Chalmers biographer put it, the missionary and the pirate had something in common: a thirst for adventure and a total indifference to danger. Been sidelined on your way to ministry? Maybe God’s already sent you a boat. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

William Carey

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. You may have heard the inspiring phrase, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” In this age of sound bytes and throw away buzzwords from motivational speakers and politicians clogging our language, it’s easy to believe that inspiration comes cheap. It certainly didn’t in this case. The man who uttered these words was a failure as a school teacher and then pastored a church that was too small to pay his salary. He was forced to repair shoes for a living, gazing daily at a map of the world he tacked over his workbench. It took him seven years, but he finally made it to India, where he served God for forty years and literally created the concept of the modern missionary. For William Carey, expecting great things from God was the only way to serve a God who has already given the greatest gift for us. What are you expecting today? I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

Emily Gilmour

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. Let me ask you, guys, in this age of Internet dating services and psychological profiles of the perfect mate, would you ever marry someone you had never met, or even corresponded with? In fact, would you propose to someone simply based on the kind of letters she wrote to her brother? No way, you say. That kind of a blind decision would never last. Well, in 1874 missionary James Gilmour did just that, proposing to young Emily Prankard just from reading her loving letters to her brother in-law. Emily sailed from London to China to meet him, and they enjoyed a joyful marriage for 11 years until her untimely death. Gilmour said he knew more of her inmost life and soul from her letters than he would have from months of romance. The first letter he ever wrote to her was to propose and her first was to accept his proposal. We forget that love is a decision before it’s an experience. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

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David Brainerd

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. His name was David Brainerd, and he was the first missionary to the Native Indians of North America. He had no mission society that sent him, no church that supported him, no team that went with him. Brainerd just felt convicted by God to go and live among the Indians alone. Miraculous stories abound of how Brainerd was spared from murder by the tribes out of their sheer admiration for his courage. His life text was John 7:37, where Jesus said “If any man is thirsty, let him come unto Me and drink”. Brainerd preached from that verse in hundreds of villages, and thousands of early Native Americans indeed came to Christ and drank deeply of eternal life. David Brainerd died at age 29 from pneumonia contracted from sleeping in the forests and preaching almost nonstop. His last words were: “I would not have lived otherwise for anything in the world.” American history textbooks may ignore his story, but heaven is the richer for his life. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

Billy Sunday

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. One of the greatest base stealers in professional baseball, he came to Christ in 1886 during a battle with alcohol addiction. Four years later, he left baseball at the top of his game, refusing a huge paycheck in favor of traveling the country preaching the Gospel. Long before Promise Keepers rallies, he could fill a stadium with cheering men who would listen to his story of the cross, a story he always ended by calling the Devil out at home plate, jumping down onto the stage and jamming a thumb over his shoulder like an angry umpire. Yes, watching Billy Sunday was quite an experience. He was larger than life, and a man perfectly suited to reach the men of his generation, by the thousands. Billy Sunday is proof that God always has a chosen person for every hour in history. And, remember, no matter what the score, God always rallies in the ninth. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.

The Amish Witness

Hello, I’m Joe Pursch, and this is a Transforming Moment. Not too long ago, gunshots again rang sharply in a schoolhouse, and another deranged gunman took the lives of innocent school kids in America. But this time, the pain was more jolting, if that were possible, because the attacks came in a one room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania. The very image of innocence. But what happened next touched the nation. In the veil of anguish, an Amish man walked to the home of the dead gunman’s wife and children within hours of the murders. There he found an anguished family member in tears but fearful of the rage of the community that they felt was sure to come. The Amish farmer simply wrapped his arms around the person and whispered the words “We forgive you.” He then walked back to his farm. Later that week, the Amish community began collecting money for the gunman’s family. The normally skeptical news media reported the story for days. And they will know we are Christians by our love. I’m Joe Pursch, and this has been a Transforming Moment.