Monday, December 30, 2024

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 30th of December 2024 Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Happy Monday! It's another “day of Christmas” (I stopped counting as we took our decorations down yesterday). I’m never so low-church as when someone says, “Actually, you’re supposed to…”). Humbug? Celebrate as you wish!

Jason in Goshen, Indiana wrote in… now, Indiana is the home state of our very own Christopher Gillespie- I’d say the name of the town he is from, but I have been recently rebuked- it’s the western version of the town that sounds like, or at least looks like the name of the French Marquis who volunteered during the American Revolution… and, stream of consciousness style- Goshen College there in Indiana got into trouble awhile back when some folks heard that they don’t play the National Anthem because of its militaristic language- they are Mennonite, part of the Peace tradition.

Jason wrote in because he told me he had been inundated with “end-of-year” articles, including the biggest stories, names, etc..… and wondered if I could do something like the CHA version of “The Year That Was.” Jason, this has had me going for a few days, as I have been collecting stories from various Christian news outlets to see what they have been saying about the year that was.

NOW- I will tell you, that part of what I love about history is that it can help us from becoming a prisoner of the moment. And, friends, I can become a prisoner of the moment. And the news media loves nothing more than keeping us prisoner for their pals, the advertisers who give them money. And, as I was looking at the news stories from the Christian Church in 2024, pretty soon, I was knee-deep in partisan politics and, well… gross. And, the fact of the matter is that most of these things will cease to matter in the coming years- and the ones that might matter the most might not even be on our radar. All that to say, Jason in Goshen, Indiana- great question, and what I decided to run down for this question was the list of people that we lost this past year- names in the church, some very famous, and some maybe not super well known but significant in the church and her direction in the past decades and into the future.

I won’t “rank” these, but here are five people we lost in the church this year.

In May, we lost Sam Butcher Don’t know the name? You know what he made: the Precious Moments figurines, a staple of the Christian Bookstore for decades (and there is a Precious Moments church based on the Sistine Chapel in Carthage, Missouri).

Jüregen Moltmann died in June. In the 1960s, he wrote Theology of Hope, which tried to take “eschatology” or “end times” and focus on its implications for the victory of God in Christ in the present.

Speaking of Eschatology, we also lost Hal Lindsay this year. In November, just days after his 95th birthday, he and his best-selling book, The Late Great Planet Earth, received their own weekend edition earlier this year.

Timothy Dudley Smith died this year. The 98-year-old may have been the most prolific and popular hymn writer of the last century and of this one. He wrote some 400 hymns, including “Tell Out My Soul the Greatness of the Lord” and “Lord, for the Years.” 

One more, and this is the most personal for me, was the death of Tony Campolo last month at the age of 89. I was at a youth group event in the early 90s sometime, and a video of Campolo became one of the first times I consciously thought about the implications- the cosmic implications- of the Gospel. I don’t have that much in common with him theologically, and there was a lesson for me in learning to disagree with someone- and before it was “everything is going to be ok,” I heard him say, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming” a bit of hope that has rattled around in my head at some difficult points in my own life. For all who have lost loved ones this year- including many of us at 1517- it’s true… and while it might be Friday for us- it’s Sunday morning- eternally for those we lost in the faith.

Thanks for the question, Jason, and for the opportunity to reflect a little bit here at the end of the year.

The last word for today, speaking of Eschatology- and wondering what questions Hal Lindsay asked first when he got there… this from Mark 13:

32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 30th of December 2024 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who might note that Goshen is somewhere in-between South Bend and Fort Wayne- there’s got to be a joke there somewhere… He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man over the moon with wins over Texas A&M and the Rams this weekend… Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.