1. Today we celebrate the birthday of Jacobus Acontius, author of Satanae Stratagemata, and Thomas Erastus, author of Explicatio gravissimae quaestionis. The reading is a bit better known, a poem from Chad Bird, "Were You There?"
  2. Heroes all have deep flaws and weaknesses. It is the same in real life as it is in myths. Craig and Troy take a look into the life and times of the Prophet Jonah. He is the kind of Bible Hero that we love to hate, but mostly because he is so much like us. What made Jonah tick? Why did he run when God told him to go to Ninevah? How does God work in spite of Jonah's weakness and rebellion? Listen to this episode of For You Radio and find out!
  3. On this day, the "Pilgrims" set sail on Mayflower in 1620. The notable patriarch of American Lutheranism, Henry Melchior Muehlenberg, was born on this day in 1711. The reading is from "The Ragamuffin Gospel" by Brennan Manning.
  4. Once I was a pilgrim, a road warrior searching for a righteous end. Gillespie and Riley read and discuss John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress." This week, chapter one, The City of Destruction. We talk about apocalyptic literature, our old friend Plato, the necessity of a real present tense Jesus, and why Riley's version of The Pilgrim's Progress would be a pamphlet.
  5. On this day, we remember the birthday of Tommasso Campanella, utopian and astrologer, and also, Gottfried Arnold, theologian and historian. The reading is the hymn, "Thou Who Breakest Every Chain," by Gottfried Arnold.
  6. On this day, we remember Roman Catholic cardinal and archbishop František Tomášek, who helped the demise of the Czechoslovak communist regime. We also the radical Calvinist Jan van Hembyze, whose betrayal resulted in his beheading in 1584. The reading is by J.R.R. Tolkien, "Song of Aragorn."
  7. On this day, we remember two ecclesiastical figures, Pope Gregory, who was born in 540, and Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Oliver Cromwell, who died in 1658. The reading is from C.S. Lewis, "As the Ruin Falls."
  8. On this day, we remember the most impressive Symeon the Stylite, who died in 459 on his pedestal. We also remember Danish pastor N.F.S. Grundtvig, d. 1872. The reading is "Abide Among Us, We Implore Thee" from Grundtvig.
  9. We remember French polymath Marin Mersenne, who died on this day in 1648. We also commemorate the founding of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1831. The reading is from H.W. Longfellow, "Blind Bartimaeus."
  10. On this day, we remember two Biblical figures, Nicodemus & Joseph of Arimethea. On this day in 1688 John Bunyan died, the Puritan author of "Pilgrim's Progress." The reading is from William Blake, "And Did Those Feet."
  11. On this day, we remember the siege and sack of Jerusalem in AD 70. Also on this day in 1637, Anne Hutchinson was banished from the Massachusetts Bay colony. The reading is "My Body Is a Broken Toy" by Maurice Baring.
  12. On this day, we remember the beheading of St. John the Baptist, one of the oldest feast days in the church. We also remember German humanist Ulrich von Hutten, who later joined the Reformation. The reading is an excerpt from "The Meaning of the City" by Jacques Ellul.