From One to Many

We all know how God mightily used Simon Peter as an apostle. But do you know how Peter originally came to believe in Jesus? His brother Andrew told him about the Lord.

We never read in Scripture of Andrew preaching to multitudes of people. Andrew never wrote any books of the Bible. Nor did God work miracles through his hands.

But God used him to reach his brother, Peter, who did all the above and more.

We can’t all be Simon Peters. God is looking for people like Andrew too. The fact of the matter is, if we had more Andrews, we would have more Simon Peters.

This reminds me of a more contemporary version of this point.

From selling soles to saving souls

Edward Kimball was an ordinary man who taught Sunday school at his church. He sensed God’s leading to share the gospel with a shoe salesman.

After nervously pacing outside the store several times, he found this young man in the storage room. Kimball shared God’s love and the salesman received Christ.

The year was 1858 and the salesman’s name was Dwight L. Moody, who went on to become one of the greatest evangelists in human history. But the story doesn’t stop there.

But wait, there’s more!

Several years later, when Moody was preaching, a pastor named Frederick B. Meyer was deeply stirred by Moody’s preaching. As a result, he started a nationwide preaching ministry.

A college student named J. Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ after listening to one of Meyer’s sermons. Chapman became a pastor and started holding evangelistic outreaches.

One of the assistants he hired was Billy Sunday, a former baseball player. Sunday went on to become a powerful evangelist, reaching thousands and thousands of people with the gospel in the early 20th-century.

From Billy to Billy

One of Billy Sunday’s evangelistic crusades was held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Afterward, a group of enthusiastic businessmen wanted to do more outreach in the area and asked another evangelist named Mordecai Ham to come and preach.

During Ham’s revival meetings, a young farm boy known to neighbors as Billy Frank made his way down the “Sawdust Trail” and gave his life to Christ. Today, we know Billy Frank by his given name, Billy Graham.

So look at this chain of events, starting with this unsung hero. Kimball reached Moody, who touched Meyer, who reached Chapman, who helped Sunday, who reached businessmen in Charlotte, causing them to invite Ham, who reached Graham!

It starts with one!

It all began with the simple witness of Edward Kimball!

If we had more Andrews, we would have more Simon Peters. If we had more Edward Kimballs, we would have more D.L. Moodys. If we had more Mordecai Hams, we would have more Billy Grahams!

So do your part to reach someone today. Who knows, they could be the next great evangelist God uses to reach a generation!