I first met Ira Strauss in July of 1977 at the Green Lake Conference Center, located near Green Lake, WI. Ira would often joke that he was a ‘perfect Christian’ because he was a Christian Jew. Ira lived in the Bronx area of New York City. He had been going to Green Lake and attending the National ABMen’s Conference, while his wife was participated in the National Women’s Conference, also at Green Lake Conference Center, for several years by the time I met him.
When Ira was in high school he had been a member of a New York State, high school champion basketball team. Even in his eighties, Ira never missed a shot, scoring with every attempt. During the periods that the ABMen’s conference offered free time you would find him in the gymnasium; waiting for his next opportunity. Ira just loved to challenge boys who entered the gymnasium to a game of Horse. (Horse is a two player game on a basketball court that involves matching the last shooter’s basket.)
As mentioned, Ira never missed, and you can imagine the awe that a boy or young teenager would have at being defeated by someone older than their own grandparents. For Ira, the game of Horse was simply leading up to an opportunity. Once he had the young man’s attention, Ira would then offer to give pointers on how to properly shoot a basket and very few would turn that opportunity down. So, mixed in with lessons on stance, and proper shooting, Ira would include his witness for Christ. And the young men who Ira met would listen attentively as Ira taught basketball and Christ.
Here is a follow up story involving another person who had known Ira.
Rev. Tim Schwartz, while he was the pastor of a church in Pennsylvania, took Ira’s method of witnessing into the digital age. (This is not the same Rev. Tim Schwartz who lives in Kansas.) Working with some of the people in his church, a few computers were purchased and video games were loaded onto them. Then they played one another until they were very good at playing the games. Once well practiced, they began inviting neighborhood kids into the church to play video games and the church members often won. Following Ira’s methodology, the church members would then give the neighborhood kids pointers on how to win at the game and share Jesus along with the game lesson.
Ask someone which of Jesus’ disciples is their favorite and most will say Peter or John. Peter is often admired because of his boldness and John because of his love for Jesus. Rarely does anyone say that Thomas is their favorite because he was a doubter. Personally, I think Thomas is treated unfairly, haven’t we all had doubts at one time or another?
My favorite disciple is Andrew. Andrew is in the background for much of the New Testament Gospels and we know little about him. But one thing I am positive of and that is that I wish I were more like Andrew.
In John’s Gospel, Andrew first appears in John 1:36-42. https://biblehub.com/niv/john/1.htm This is the story of where two of John the Baptist’s followers decide to follow Jesus. In these verses, Andrew finds his brother, Simon, and tells him that they have found the Messiah. Taking Simon to Jesus, Jesus says, “You will be called Cephas (Peter).”
Andrew again appears in John’s Gospel at the feeding of the five thousand. This story is found in John 6:1-15. https://biblehub.com/niv/john/6.htm As you may recall, having heard this story multiple times, Jesus had been speaking to, and healing, a large crowd of people for much of the day. The scriptures record a brief conversation, between Jesus and Philip, about how they will feed the multitude of people gathered. Andrew brings a boy to Jesus who has “five small barley loaves and two small fish”. Peter then asks how many can be fed from this small amount of food. From the boy’s meal, Jesus fed the multitude of people by dividing the bread and fish with what found to be an over abundance of what was needed once the uneaten portions of bread and fish were collected.
Andrew’s name again appears in John’s Gospel in verses 12:20-21. https://biblehub.com/niv/john/12.htm In this story Jesus had recently entered Jerusalem, riding on a young donkey, and the roads had been lined with people waving palm branches and shouting praise. In the quieter moments following, some Greeks, who had come to Jerusalem to worship at the upcoming Passover festival, approached Philip and asked to speak to Jesus. Philip then told Andrew that the Greeks wished to speak to Jesus and both, Philip and Andrew, introduced the Greeks to Jesus.
Andrew was quietly in the background and we really know very little about him. Still, when John wrote his Gospel, he considered it important to tell us what Andrew was doing in that background. Three times Andrew appears in John’s Gospel and in each appearance Andrew is taking someone(s) to meet Jesus. I admire Andrew simply because he was focused on introducing people to Jesus.
Railcars were converted into small chapels, complete with short pews and often a piano or a foot pump organ. One end of the chapel car would have cramped living quarters for the pastor, and his spouse if he were married. In the United States, Chapel Cars were built and dedicated into service by the Episcopal Church, the American Baptist Churches and also the Roman Catholic Church. The American Baptist dedicated the largest number of Chapel Cars.
The idea for the chapel car was to have the railcar parked in a rail siding of a community and begin a new church plant. As the church body would grow the congregation would be encouraged to move to a building in the community. The Chapel Car would then be free to relocate and begin in a new community and begin a new congregation. (American Baptists missionaries have a long history of working themselves out of a job and giving the ministry to those who live locally.)
The first American Baptist Chapel Car, called Evangel, was dedicated in May of 1891. Between 1891 and 1915, the American Baptist built, and dedicated, seven Chapel Cars. The final Chapel Car to be dedicated, named Grace, is on permanent display at the American Baptist Assembly at Green Lake, Wisconsin. The first photo below is one of my favorite Chapel Car photos, it is of the Chapel Car Good Will. Chapel Car Good Will is in the process of being restored by The National Museum of American Religion. This link will direct you to a page on the American Baptist Historical Society website that mentions the restoration project. https://abhsarchives.org/chapel-car-good-will-restored/ The second photo below shows a portion of the inside of Chapel Car Grace. On the left of the photo, behind the lectern, is the door leading to the very small living quarters.
The printing of the famed Gutenberg Bible was completed by printer and inventor Johannes Gutenberg. It was the first complete book to be printed using movable type.
Visigoth King Alari and his armies ransacked the city of Rome in retaliation for Rome’s refusal to grant the Goths the land on which they wanted to settle in modern Hungary. The event disillusioned both the Christians and pagans who believed Rome’s piety bestowed on her a divine favor protecting her from political and social upheaval. St. Augustine tackled the dilemma in his writing, City of God.
Birth of Katherine Lee Bates, U.S. English teacher, in Falmouth, Massachusetts. She was the daughter and granddaughter of Congregational ministers. Katherine authored more than 20 books, but is remembered for authoring the Christian hymn of patriotism: “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies,” a.k.a. “American The Beautiful.”
