Episodes

Three doors. One calendar date. Three very different choices. On July 7, Lottie Moon leaves the comfort of home to carry the light of the gospel to China. Decades later, a misunderstanding at the Marco Polo Bridge erupts into a war that will cost millions of lives. Then, in 1944, the faithful ministry of George W. Truett comes to a close after nearly half a century of opening the doors of the church to all who would come. In this episode of Moments Almanac, we explore how one date in history ...

Some passages of Scripture don't simply teach us—they find us. In this reflective episode of Scattered Moments, we journey into the haunting beauty of Psalm 42, where waves, tears, longing, and hope meet in one of the Bible's most deeply personal prayers. Through an original spoken-word meditation, we'll explore how our deepest disappointments can become the very places where we encounter God's deepest mercy. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by grief, weighed down by unanswered questions, or f...

On July 6, 1415, Jan Hus was condemned and burned at the stake for insisting that Scripture — not church councils — held final authority, a conviction that would resurface a century later in Martin Luther. On July 6, 1885, Louis Pasteur risked his reputation to give an untested rabies vaccine to a dying boy. Two men, centuries apart, staked everything on a truth they couldn't yet prove — and both truths outlived them. Today's Moments Almanac looks at what it costs to hold to the truth, and why i...

Some laws reveal the way the universe works. Others reveal the condition of the human heart. On July 5, 1687, Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica introduced the laws of motion and gravity, describing an invisible force that acts with perfect impartiality. One hundred sixty-five years later, on July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass stood before an Independence Day audience in Rochester, New York, and exposed a nation whose laws promised equality while denying it to millions. What do these two rema...

25 Ways to Share Grace Grace isn't just something we receive from God—it's something we're called to pass along. In this episode of Scattered Moments, Matt Tullos explores twenty-five simple, practical ways to show grace in everyday life. From the words we choose to the way we listen, serve, react, and walk with God, these aren't grand gestures reserved for extraordinary people. They're small, intentional acts of kindness that anyone can practice. You don't have to do all twenty-five. In fact...

Every Fourth of July, we celebrate with fireworks, flags, and familiar stories. But hidden beneath the celebration are fascinating moments that many Americans have never heard. In this special Independence Day edition of Moments Almanac, we uncover ten little-known facts about July 4, 1776—from the surprising day America actually voted for independence to the real story behind the Liberty Bell, the risks taken by the signers, and the remarkable coincidence that brought two Founding Fathers to t...

Twelve spies entered the same land. They walked the same hills, carried the same fruit, and looked at the same giants. Yet ten came back talking about fear, while two came back talking about faith. In this dramatized reading, journey into one of Scripture's most unforgettable moments from Numbers 13. With multiple voices, a touch of humor, and a timeless challenge, this episode reminds us that our perspective often shapes our future. Are you staring at the giants... or celebrating the grapes G...

On July 3, history remembers one of the Civil War's most devastating assaults—and a little-known church council that forever shaped how Christians understand grace. At Gettysburg, thousands of soldiers marched across an open field toward a stone wall they could not take. More than thirteen centuries earlier, bishops gathered in Orange, France, to answer a different question: Can we make our own way to God, or does God make the first move toward us? In this episode of Moments Almanac, those tw...

On this episode of Moments Almanac, we explore two lives forever connected by one remarkable truth: God's grace was never meant to require a translator. On July 2, a young Martin Luther was thrown to the ground by a terrifying thunderstorm that changed the course of his life. Sixteen years earlier, Thomas Cranmer was born in England, destined to become the quiet architect of worship in the English language. Though their journeys were vastly different, both men helped tear down barriers that kept...

What can a hotel Bible and a cell possibly have in common? On this episode of Scattered Moments, we visit two remarkable events that happened on July 1. In 1899, two traveling businessmen founded the Gideons with a simple vision: place God's Word where weary travelers could find it. Thirty-eight years later, on that same date, German pastor Martin Niemöller was arrested by the Gestapo for refusing to let the state rule the conscience of the church. But this isn't just a story about courage. I...

June 30: When Darkness Couldn't Silence the Music Two moments. Forty years apart. On June 30, 1934, Adolf Hitler launched the Night of the Long Knives, proving how easily evil can disguise itself as order. Forty years later, on June 30, 1974, Alberta Williams King—the mother of Martin Luther King Jr.—sat at the organ of Ebenezer Baptist Church, playing The Lord's Prayer, when a gunman opened fire. These tragedies were separated by continents, generations, and scale, yet both reveal the same a...

Bitterness rarely announces itself as bitterness. It often disguises itself as justice, hurt, or the quiet conviction that we have every right to hold on just a little longer. In this spoken-word episode of Scattered Moments, Matt Tullos explores the devastating path resentment can carve through hearts, families, friendships, and even churches—and the greater invitation Christ offers at His table. Drawing from Hebrews 12:15 and Ephesians 4:31–32, this poetic reflection reminds us that forgive...

On June 29, two very different fires tell the same story. In 1613, London's Globe Theatre—the stage that gave the world Shakespeare's greatest plays—burned to the ground in less than an hour. The building was lost, but the words escaped the flames. Centuries later, we still speak many of the phrases first heard beneath its thatched roof. Two hundred forty-eight years later, Elizabeth Barrett Browning breathed her last in Florence. Her body had been weakened by decades of illness, but her visi...

What does faithfulness look like? Sometimes it looks like carrying a bucket. Sometimes it looks like carrying a Bible. In this June 28 episode of Moments Almanac, we remember two ordinary people separated by sixteen centuries who simply picked up what the moment required. Irenaeus of Lyon defended the truth of the Gospel when false teachers threatened to reshape it, becoming the earliest Christian writer to clearly affirm Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as the four authoritative Gospels. Mary L...

On June 27, two remarkable lives remind us that God delights in giving people a voice. In 1736, a young George Whitefield stepped into the pulpit to preach his very first sermon. He began awkwardly, surrounded by family and friends, but before long the Holy Spirit filled him with boldness. That hesitant beginning would grow into one of the most influential preaching ministries of the Great Awakening. More than a century later, Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Deaf and blind from e...

On June 26, two men stood under extraordinary pressure and uttered words that history has never forgotten. In 363, the Roman Emperor Julian—remembered as "Julian the Apostate"—died after spending two years trying to reverse the rise of Christianity. Tradition says his final words were, "Thou hast conquered, O Galilean." Sixteen centuries later, in 1963, President John F. Kennedy stood before a divided Berlin and declared, "Ich bin ein Berliner"—"I am a Berliner"—offering hope to a city surroun...

On June 25, two remarkable moments—separated by more than three centuries—ask the same enduring question. In 1530, Philip Melanchthon stood before the Holy Roman Emperor as the Augsburg Confession was read aloud, declaring the convictions of the Protestant Reformation before the most powerful ruler in Europe. In 1865, Hudson Taylor sat alone on a beach in Brighton, England, and prayed for twenty-four missionaries to carry the gospel into inland China. That quiet prayer became the China Inland ...

On June 24, 64 AD, Emperor Nero began the brutal persecution of Christians in Rome. Men and women were arrested, crucified, and even burned as human torches in the emperor's gardens. Nero believed fire could silence the faith. Nearly fifteen centuries later, on the same date, John of the Cross was born in Spain. Imprisoned by his own religious order and confined to a dark cell, he discovered something remarkable: sometimes God does His deepest work in the dark. From that prison came The Dark Ni...

On June 23, 1683, William Penn signed a remarkable treaty with the Lenni Lenape people of Pennsylvania—a peace agreement built not on force or fear, but on mutual respect and trust. Penn believed God's law was already written on the human heart. Nearly two centuries later, on June 23, 1868, Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention that would change the way ideas travel through the world: the typewriter. One man used words to build peace. Another built a machine that would c...

The Run-On Sentence of Grace This may be the longest sentence we’ve ever attempted on Scattered Moments. A breathless list of all the things we use to measure ourselves—and each other: weight, IQ, credit score, parenting success, athletic ability, Facebook friends, square footage, the size of your boat, the shine on your floor, and about a hundred other things that seem important until they aren’t. The good news? God’s love isn’t hanging on any of them. Not your résumé. Not your failures. N...

On June 22, 1714, Matthew Henry died on the road at fifty-one — thrown from his horse, laid down in a stranger's house, his great commentary on Scripture unfinished. His last words: "A life spent in the service of God and communion with him is the most comfortable and pleasant life anyone can live." Thirteen men finished the work after he was gone. On June 22, 1750, Jonathan Edwards was fired from his Northampton congregation — 230 votes to 23, after twenty-three years of ministry. He received ...

On June 21, 1892, Reinhold Niebuhr was born. Though some of his theology remains a matter of debate among evangelical Christians, his influence on American religious thought is impossible to ignore. More than anything else, he is remembered for a simple prayer written during the turmoil of the twentieth century—words that would find their way into church bulletins, hospital rooms, recovery groups, and countless hearts: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage ...

On June 20, Moments Almanac remembers two missionary milestones separated by five years and thousands of miles. In 1880, Samuel Robbins Brown, one of the first American missionaries to Japan, died after a lifetime of faithful service. His work in education and discipleship helped shape a generation during a pivotal season in Japan's history. Then, in 1885, Moravian missionaries arrived in Alaska and established the Bethel Mission, carrying the Gospel to one of the most remote frontiers in Nort...

A Guided Meditation on Isaiah 40:31 Life has a way of draining us. Responsibilities pile up. Worries linger. Even faithful hearts can grow weary. In this guided meditation, we slow down and rest in one of Scripture's most beloved promises: "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength..." — Isaiah 40:31 Through gentle reflection, prayerful pauses, and the calming truth of God's Word, you'll be invited to release your burdens, breathe deeply, and remember that your strength does...