April 21, 1897: Birth of A.W. Tozer, pastor and author whose works include The Pursuit of God, and The Root of Righteousness.

April 20, 1718: Birth of David Brainerd, colonial missionary to the Indians of New England. Though he died of tuberculosis at the age of 29, his biography has been influential to many including William Carey and Jim Elliot.

April 11, 1836: George Mueller opened his orphanage in Wilson Street in Bristol. By 1875, Mueller’s orphanage was providing care for over 2000 children.

April 8, 1945: German theologian and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the night before he was hanged by the Nazis, said: “This is the end…for me the beginning.” These were his last recorded words.

April 4, 1507: Future German reformer Martin Luther, at age 21, was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic church.

March 31, 1816: Death of Francis Asbury, 70, pioneer Methodist bishop. Sent to America in 1771 by John Wesley, he saw the new denomination grow from under 500 members to over 200,000 by the time of his death.

March 21, 1747: On a slave ship bound for England, during a violent storm, captain John Newton, 22, was dramatically converted to a living faith. It was more than a “foxhole religion,” as Newton soon abandoned the sea, and from 1764 until his death (43 years later), he devoted his life as a clergyman in the Anglican church. He also penned the hymn Amazing Grace.

March 7, 1867: Birth of Peter Cameron Scott, founder of the Africa Inland Mission. In 1895, Scott led the first band of missionaries to reach Kenya. He died in Africa the following year, at 29, of blackwater fever. Over 700 AIM missionaries have since followed in Scott’s footsteps.

February 24, 303: The first official Roman edict for the persecution of Christians was issued by Roman Emperor Galerius Valerius Maximianus.

February 23, 155: Martyrdom of Polycarp, an early church father who was a disciple of the Apostle John. Arrested at age 86, Polycarp was burned at the stake for refusing to deny the Christian faith.

February 4, 1950: American missionary martyr Jim Elliot resolved in his journal: “I may no longer depend on pleasant impulses to bring me before the Lord. I must rather respond to principles I know to be right, whether I feel them to be enjoyable or not.”

February 3, 1943: The Allied troopship S.S. Dorchester was torpedoed by a German sub and went down with a loss of 600 lives. As it sank, four chaplains gave up their lifejackets to shipmates, thereby also perishing in the icy waters. The bravery of Rev. Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed), Rev. George Lansing Fox (Methodist), Father John Washington (Catholic Priest), and Alexander David Goode (Jewish Rabbi) led congress afterward to mark February 3rd as “Four Chaplains Day.”

As Christians we have an eternal hope that is grounded in Christ and the unchanging faithfulness of the Father. We too should be willing to give up our lives in favor of those who as of yet have no such hope.

January 6, 1850: Charles H. Spurgeon was converted to a living faith at age 16, in a Methodist chapel.

January 3, 1521: German Reformer Martin Luther, 38, was excommunicated by Pope Leo X for challenging Catholic Church doctrine. Luther soon after began translating the Bible into the German language.

December 18, 1943: German theologian and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter from prison: ‘The man who finds God in his earthly happiness…does not lack reminder that earthly things are transient…and…there will be times when he can say in all sincerity, “I wish I were home.”’