---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Byron Wicker
To: People Who Keep Company with God
Date: 7/17/2008 11:39:11 AM
Subject: The Faithfulness of One Ordinary Man

Dear People who Keep Company with God,

Becky and I were recently invited to a home in our neighborhood to pray and speak some words of comfort to a family who's loved one had passed away. To my knowledge this family is not involved with Christianity on any level. We told them stories from the Bible that illustrates the Father's love. What we shared that evening is an 'old hat' to us, yet it profoundly touched this family. The reality is that we have rivers of living water within (John 7:38) and in the right situation that water will flow life, healing and comfort to those around us. There really is a world dying for what we have.

This past Saturday morning I awoke hearing the name Mordecai Hamm. I immediately knew who this man was; he was the evangelist who led Billy Graham to the Lord. The Lord has spoken so much to me in the last several months about being His witness and I knew the story of Mordecai Hamm was yet another confirmation that we are in a time where the "preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 8:12) are foremost on the Father's heart. I believe the first 6 months of this year have been a time of receiving from the Lord and I hope you have taken full advantage of this time. I believe we are now in a shift from this time of receiving into a time of giving. Jesus told us to "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give Matthew 10:8.

Bob Jones told us that God was going to use the ordinary man and woman in this next move that we are now beginning to see take place. There is nothing new about God using the ordinary man and woman. The Bible is full of stories of ordinary men and women being powerfully used by God. Below is the story of how Billy Graham was saved, it all started with an ordinary man sharing his faith.

"It was July 1, 1885 when Edward Kimball felt the tugging of the Spirit to share his faith with a young shoe salesman he knew. At first Kimball vacillated, unsure if he should talk to the man. But he finally mustered his courage and went into the shoe store. There Kimball found the salesman in the back room stocking shoes, and he began to share his faith with him. As a result, the young shoe salesman prayed and received Jesus Christ that day. That shoe salesman's name was Dwight L. Moody, and he became the greatest evangelist of his generation.

But the story doesn't end there. Several years later a pastor and well-known author by the name of Frederick B. Meyer heard Moody preach. Meyer was so deeply stirred by Moody's preaching that he himself embarked on a far-reaching evangelistic ministry. Once when Meyer was preaching, a college student named Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ as a result of his presentation of the gospel. Chapman later employed a baseball player to help him prepare to conduct an evangelistic crusade. That ballplayer, who later became a powerful evangelist himself, was Billy Sunday.

In 1924 a group of businessmen invited Billy Sunday to hold an evangelistic campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina, which resulted in many people coming to Christ. Out of that revival meeting a group of men formed a men's prayer group to pray for the world. They prayed for Charlotte to have another great revival. God sent another evangelist named Mordecai Hamm. Hamm went to Charlotte in 1934 to hold a crusade. Ham's crusade went well, even though it did not have many converts. On one of the last nights under the big tent one tall, lanky young man walked up the aisle to receive Christ. That man's name was Billy Graham.

Talk about a chain of events! And it all started with an ordinary Christian named Edward Kimball, who reached D.L. Moody, who reached Wilbur Chapman, who reached Billy Sunday, who reached Mordecai Ham, who reached Billy Graham. Look at what God has done over these many years because of the faithfulness of one person."

Many Blessings, BW