Episodes

Four hundred and thirty-eight years apart, Philipp Melanchthon and President Dwight D. Eisenhower faced very different questions of authority. One helped articulate a Reformation conviction that Scripture stands above human institutions. The other signed the first federal civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, as America wrestled with whether justice could be left to the will of individual states. Two moments. Two very different struggles. And one enduring question: Who gets the final w...

What do you trust when the day of trouble comes? Psalm 20 reminds us that faith is not the promise of a life without battles. It is the confidence that God hears, strengthens, sustains, and remains present in the middle of them. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” This original song is inspired by that powerful confession. The resources around us may change. Plans may fail. Strength may fade. But the character and faithfulness of God rema...

When the Walls Don’t Hold On September 8, AD 70, the Roman siege of Jerusalem came to its devastating end. On the same date in 1941, Leningrad was cut off from the outside world, beginning a siege that would last nearly 900 days. Two cities. Two sieges. Nineteen centuries apart. One story remembers people who fled when warned. The other remembers people who had nowhere to go and endured. Sometimes faith means go. Sometimes faith means hold on. And both stories remind us of something we easily...

Psalm 20 is a prayer for the day of trouble. It does not promise that God’s people will be spared from difficulty. Instead, it offers something deeper: the assurance that God hears, helps, strengthens, and sustains His people in the midst of it. Originally, this Psalm appears to have been a prayer spoken over Israel’s king before battle. The people ask God to answer him, protect him, remember his sacrifices, establish his plans, and grant victory. But beneath those requests is a deeper confes...

On September 7, 1807, Robert Morrison arrived in China with a Bible and a calling, beginning decades of quiet missionary work that would help bring Scripture to the Chinese people. Ninety-four years later, the Boxer Protocol marked the bitter aftermath of an uprising fueled partly by resentment toward foreign influence. Two moments on the same date offer both a calling and a warning: carry the gospel faithfully—but be careful what else you carry with it. Share Your Thoughts

On September 6, 1529, Anabaptist preacher Jörg Blaurock was executed for a conviction that had already cost him his position, his freedom, his friendships, and ultimately his life. Four years earlier, Blaurock had knelt in a small house in Zurich and asked to be baptized upon his own confession of faith—helping ignite the Swiss Anabaptist movement. Arrested, beaten, banished, and threatened with death, he kept preaching. Even during his final weeks in prison, he wrote hymns rather than pleas fo...

What do yellow jackets, a homemade tractor-tire boat, the first day of junior high, and forgetting where you live have in common? In this episode of Scattered Moments, I look back on one of the most embarrassing and unforgettable days of my childhood—and the surprising gift it left behind. Sometimes suffering gives us a language for compassion. It teaches us how to sit beside someone else and say, “I know how you feel.” And that points us to something even greater: Jesus doesn’t understand our...

On September 5, 1997, Mother Teresa died in Calcutta after a lifetime spent among the poor, the abandoned, and the dying. To the world, she seemed to embody unwavering spiritual certainty. But letters published after her death revealed a surprising private struggle: for decades, she often lived without any felt sense of God’s presence. In this episode of Moments Almanac, we look beyond questions of Catholic sainthood to something every Christian can understand—the experience of praying when God...

September 4 — Two Men, Two Surrenders On September 4, 1886, Apache leader Geronimo laid down his weapons for the final time, ending years of resistance against the United States government. Seventy-nine years later, on the same date, physician, theologian, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Schweitzer died at the hospital he had built in Lambaréné, Gabon. Geronimo surrendered because the fight had reached its end. Schweitzer surrendered a life of prestige and accomplishment because he believ...

A mysterious stain, a drone, a roofing estimate roughly equal to our first mortgage—and suddenly my faith in God’s provision needed a little inspection of its own. In this episode of Scattered Moments, I discover that the biggest leak may not be in the roof at all. It might be somewhere between my bank account and my heart. The good news? God owns the roof. The bad news? Apparently, the bill has my name on it. 😄 I’ll keep you posted. I’m just hoping this doesn’t become a three-part episode. S...

Psalm 19 — My Rock and My Redeemer Psalm 19 is one of those passages that feels like an old neighborhood. Nearly every turn reveals a familiar verse: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” “The law of the LORD is perfect.” “More to be desired are they than gold.” And finally, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.” But when we put these familiar verses back together, we discover that Psalm 19 is not merely a collection of memorable sayings. It ...

On September 3, two men tried to disappear — for very different reasons. In 590, Gregory the Great tried to escape the responsibility of becoming bishop of Rome. More than twelve centuries later, Frederick Douglass escaped slavery, risking everything for freedom. One ran from a calling he didn’t want. The other ran toward a freedom he’d never been allowed. Their stories raise a powerful question: What are you running from — and what are you running toward? In this episode of Moments Almanac, ...

Two people, separated by more than two centuries, faced stretches of water that had already demanded much from them. Methodist pioneer Thomas Coke crossed the Atlantic again and again for the sake of the gospel. Diana Nyad returned to the waters between Cuba and Florida after four failed attempts. Their stories remind us that faithfulness doesn’t always mean getting there the first time. Sometimes it means getting back in the water. A Moments Almanac reflection on perseverance, calling, and Gal...

What does a half-assembled Millennium Falcon on Christmas Eve have to do with faith? In Matthew 17, a desperate father brings his suffering son to Jesus after the disciples have been unable to help. Jesus responds with a simple command: “Bring the boy here to me.” We spend so much of life trying to fix what we cannot fix—rearranging the pieces, trying different solutions, worrying, planning, and exhausting ourselves. But faith isn't knowing how everything will work out. It isn't having all th...

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War began. Eighteen years later, on September 1, 1957, Billy Graham stood before an enormous crowd in Times Square to close his historic New York Crusade. One demanded surrender at the point of a gun. The other invited surrender at the foot of a cross. Two moments, one date — and two radically different pictures of power, conquest, grace, and the kingdom of God. Keywords: Billy Graham, September 1, World War II, invasion of ...

Haman had money, influence, status—and one guy who wouldn’t bow to him. Naturally, he handled it terribly. In this episode of Scattered Moments, we look at how one bruised ego turned into a full-blown revenge plot, complete with some very unfortunate infrastructure. From ancient Persia to modern outrage culture, revenge still promises satisfaction and usually delivers something else entirely. Jesus shows us a better kind of strength: telling the truth, refusing bitterness, and not becoming like...

On August 31, 1688, John Bunyan died after one final journey of service. The beloved preacher and author of The Pilgrim’s Progress had traveled through heavy rain to help reconcile an estranged father and son. He returned soaked, developed a fever, and never recovered. In this episode of Moments Almanac, we follow Bunyan from a poor tradesman’s home to a prison cell, from an unexpected conversation with a few faithful women to the creation of one of Christianity’s most enduring books. Bunyan w...

Years ago, on a long road trip, I finally worked up the courage to make a difficult phone call. I talked, explained, questioned—and when silence came from the other end, I just kept talking. There was only one problem: the call had dropped. That embarrassing moment became a parable for something far more serious. In Judges 16, Samson rises to face his enemies “as before,” unaware that the Lord’s empowering presence had departed. It’s a haunting picture of spiritual presumption—assuming yesterda...

Some Victories Take Generations | August 30 On August 30, 1856, a failed Ohio resort where enslaved attendants had once served vacationing Southern families was reborn as Wilberforce University, a college dedicated to educating Black students. Exactly 111 years later, on August 30, 1967, the United States Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as the first Black justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Two moments. One long road toward freedom and opportunity. In this episode of Moments Almanac, we tra...

Peace Amidst the Storm is an original song inspired by Psalm 18—a psalm of rescue, strength, and the God who comes near when life feels overwhelming. Drawing from the imagery of trembling mountains, rising waters, the Rock who cannot be shaken, and the right hand of God that holds us steady, this song is a reminder that even in chaos, we are not alone. God is our refuge, our strength, and our peace amidst the storm. Lyrics by Matt Tullos Music, arrangement, and creation by Suno Share Your Th...

August 29 — Two Johns, One Choice What do you do when the truth costs you something? On August 29, we remember two very different moments in history. The church has long observed this date as the martyrdom of John the Baptist, who confronted Herod Antipas with a truth the ruler did not want to obey. Eighteen centuries later, during the Second Battle of Manassas, Union General John Pope received reports that Confederate reinforcements under James Longstreet were arriving — and refused to belie...

Psalm 18 is David’s great song of deliverance—a testimony to the God who hears the cry of His people, comes near in power, and brings them from distress into a broad place. This meditation reflects on the rich theology woven through the psalm: God as Rock, fortress, shield, deliverer, and refuge; the dramatic language of theophany as the heavens bend and the earth trembles; the symbolism of God’s right hand as strength and sustaining grace; and the striking confession that God rescues because H...

On August 28, 430, Augustine died as the Vandals besieged Hippo, convinced that no earthly empire—not even Rome—could ever be the Christian’s final home. Fifteen centuries later, on August 28, 1963, Baptist preacher Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial and called a divided nation toward a dream of justice and human dignity. Two preachers. Two troubled cities. Two visions of something beyond the brokenness they could see. In this Moments Almanac, we consider Augustine’s City of ...

Now Where Did I Put Him? “Now where did I put that?” It’s a question I ask more often than I’d like to admit. But while reading Luke 2, that ordinary little phrase opened the door to something much bigger. After three days, Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple. Years later, after another three days, the women came looking for Him in a tomb—and He wasn’t there. That pattern runs throughout the Gospels. We put Jesus with scholars, and He welcomes children. We put Him among Jews, and He sit...