Giants from the Past

In my walkabout with Jesus, I joined the crowd on the mountain for the Sermon on the Mount.  Before I was able to hear the first beatitude, I remembered Frank Roughton Harvey.  Some will remember the name. It is important for me to remember and speak it today.  Frank was a professional actor and minister who used drama to present Christ.  His most famous monologue had him attired in Jesus clothes speaking the Sermon on the Mount into existence in our midst.  The first time I heard Frank was when I was a teenager and he came to the Alamo Church.  He later came for week long engagements at the last four churches I served.  When he died in 2006, the Kingdom here on earth lost a powerful voice for the Christ.  

Perhaps, what prompted the memory in addition to the Sermon itself was a recent re-read of a biography of Oswald Chambers.  During this read I have been amazed at the men who had an influence on him.  In addition to his parents, there was Dwight L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, Hudson Taylor, George MacDonald, J. Henry Jowett,  Alexander Whyte, Juji Nakada, and others.  The list of those who influenced Chambers appears like a 19th century roll call of the saints.   It set me to thinking about those from my past who have influenced my spiritual journey.  

The ones we remember and whose name we call today may not be as prominent on the stage reserved for spiritual giants, but their influence was giant like for many of us.  Like Chambers we might start with our parents and go on to a Sunday School teacher which was the case with Dwight L. Moody, but a few minutes of sitting still and remembering will bring many others to mind.  It is a good day to call their names and thank God for the way He brought their lives to a place of intersection with ours.