Episodes

On October 4, 1535, the printing of the Coverdale Bible was completed—the first complete printed Bible in the English language. Within its pages, Psalm 119:105 declared, “Thy word is a lantern unto my feet, and a light unto my paths.” Exactly 291 years later, on October 4, 1826, Sir Walter Scott was living beneath the weight of enormous financial debt. Yet his journal that day began with gratitude to God for the health and strength he still possessed. Then Scott went to work. His final words for...

On October 3, two Christian musicians died nearly seven centuries apart. In 1226, Francis of Assisi reached the end of a remarkable life—one in which he exchanged privilege for poverty, comfort for service, and admiration of Jesus for the radical pursuit of actually following Him. Then, 693 years later, on October 3, 1919, Daniel B. Towner died. Towner composed more than 2,000 gospel tunes and worked alongside evangelist D. L. Moody. His best-known melody grew from the simple testimony of a yo...

On October 2, 2006, tragedy entered a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. Five young girls lost their lives, five others were wounded, and a quiet community was plunged into unimaginable grief. But within hours, something remarkable happened. Members of the Amish community reached out to the family of the man responsible—not with hatred or demands for revenge, but with compassion and forgiveness. They comforted his parents, embraced his widow and children, attended his fu...

King of Glory is a Psalm 24-inspired song built around one searching question: Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?The answer leads us away from our own goodness and toward Christ—the One with clean hands, a pure heart, and the power to bring us into the presence of God. Moving from weakness and failure to grace, freedom, and worship, the song celebrates Jesus as the strong and mighty King of Glory who carries us where we could never climb on our own. Original lyrics by Matt Tullos. Music crea...

Some people in Scripture get entire books. Shamgar gets one verse. Judges 3:31 introduces him almost as quickly as it leaves him: “After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.”That's essentially his entire biography. No tribe is identified. No hometown is given. There is no calling narrative, no recorded prayer or speech, and no explanation of how the battle unfolded. Yet Scripture gives Shamgar one remarkable distinction: ...

What do you do when the biggest title you’ll ever have is already behind you? Born on October 1, 1924, Jimmy Carter would become the 39th president of the United States. But this episode of Moments Almanac isn’t about politics or an endorsement of a political legacy. It’s about what happened afterward. For decades after leaving the White House, Carter devoted himself to humanitarian work, helped build homes alongside Habitat for Humanity volunteers, worked through the Carter Center to allevia...

Psalm 24 begins with an enormous declaration: “The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” — Psalm 24:1 Everything belongs to God. Creation is His. History is His. The nations are His. Our lives are His. But after opening with the vastness of God’s sovereignty, David suddenly asks a deeply personal question: “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?” — Psalm 24:3 Who can actually come near to this God? Who can sta...

On September 30, 1685, twenty-two-year-old Benjamin Hewling sat down in Taunton, England, knowing he had only hours to live. Condemned for his part in the failed Monmouth Rebellion—and having already lost his younger brother to the executioner—Benjamin picked up a pen and wrote one final letter to his mother. What he wrote was not filled with anger or despair, but with an extraordinary confidence in Christ. In this episode of Moments Almanac, we remember a young man facing the end of his life ...

On September 29, 1770, George Whitefield climbed onto a barrel in Exeter, New Hampshire, and preached what would become his final sermon. His body was failing, his breathing was labored, but he believed that if God had given him one more opportunity to speak, he should take it. Exactly 218 years later, on September 29, 1988, the space shuttle Discovery lifted off—the first shuttle flight since the Challenger disaster 975 days earlier. NASA had grieved, investigated, examined what had gone wrong...

The Unusual Suspects is a limited series from Scattered Moments about the people in Scripture nobody saw coming. They weren’t always the obvious choices. They weren’t necessarily powerful, prominent, polished, or even particularly predictable. Some appear for only a handful of verses. Others step onto the biblical stage almost without introduction—and then disappear. But for one scattered moment, everything turns on what they do. A left-handed deliverer. A woman whose prophetic voice changes ...

On September 28, 1928, Alexander Fleming noticed something strange in a contaminated culture dish: bacteria were dying around a patch of mold. What looked like a ruined experiment became one of medicine’s most important discoveries. In this episode of Moments Almanac, we look at the story of penicillin, the power of paying attention, and the possibility that what seems like an interruption may actually be an invitation to see something new. Sometimes the interruption isn’t ruining the experim...

The God Who Pursues a Wandering Heart Robert Robinson and the story behind “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” What happens when the man who writes one of Christianity's most beloved hymns knows all too well the struggle of a wandering heart? Born on September 27, 1735, Robert Robinson was just seventeen when he heard the great evangelist George Whitefield preach a sermon that would change the course of his life. The message, drawn from Matthew 3:7, left Robinson wrestling with his soul for t...

You probably know Johnny Appleseed as the barefoot wanderer with a cooking pot on his head, scattering apple seeds across the American frontier. But behind the beloved folk hero was John Chapman, a deeply religious man whose life was about much more than apples. Born on September 26, 1774, Chapman traveled through the wilderness of early America, establishing orchards, sharing religious literature, and building relationships with frontier families. He planted trees whose fruit he might never ta...

Who has the right to decide what you believe—your ruler, your government, or your conscience? On September 25, 1555, the Peace of Augsburg established a religious settlement in the Holy Roman Empire that allowed territorial rulers to choose between Catholicism and Lutheranism. For ordinary believers, religious freedom remained largely out of reach. Exactly 234 years later, on September 25, 1789, the United States Congress submitted proposed constitutional amendments to the states, including w...

Some people can walk into a room full of strangers and leave with six new friends, three phone numbers, and an invitation to somebody’s family reunion. Then there are the rest of us. 😄 In this episode of Scattered Moments, Matt confesses that while he’s perfectly comfortable speaking to a room full of people, put him in a barber’s chair and he can exhaust his entire supply of small talk before the cape is fastened. Fortunately, he married a professional mingler. From Darlene talking her way ...

What does a brilliant Greek scholar have in common with a Russian monk who could barely read? More than you might imagine. On September 24, 1934, A. T. Robertson, one of the most influential New Testament scholars of his generation, walked into his classroom at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for the last time. Earlier that afternoon, he had been studying Matthew 6:11: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Before the day was over, he would be gone. Four years later, on the same date, Silou...

On September 23, 1857, Jeremiah Lanphier climbed the stairs to a room in lower Manhattan and prepared for a noon prayer meeting. He had printed invitations, posted a sign, and made the room ready. At noon, no one came. For thirty minutes, Lanphier prayed alone. Then one man arrived. By the end of the hour, there were six. The next week there were twenty, then forty, and soon the meetings became daily. What began in an almost empty room grew into the Prayer Meeting Revival of 1857–58, spreadin...

Beneath the Shepherd’s Care From green pastures to deep valleys, from overflowing tables to the darkest shadows, Psalm 23 reminds us that the one constant in every landscape of life is the presence of the Shepherd. This original song grew out of the Scattered Moments Psalms Reflection on Psalm 23. It is a meditation on what it means to be held, provided for, protected, pursued by goodness and grace, and led by Someone who already knows the way home. There are seasons when we clearly recognize...

On September 22, 1776, twenty-one-year-old Nathan Hale was executed by the British as an American spy. Tradition remembers his final words as a declaration that he regretted having only one life to give for his country. More than a century later, missionary C. T. Studd would write another unforgettable line about the brevity of life: “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” In this episode of Moments Almanac, we look beyond the question of what we would be w...

Psalm 23 — The Scenery Changes. The Shepherd Doesn’t. Few passages of Scripture are more familiar than Psalm 23. Its words have followed generations of believers through hospital rooms, gravesides, seasons of uncertainty, and quiet moments of worship. But familiarity can sometimes cause us to miss just how much is happening in these six verses. Psalm 23 is not a stationary picture of a shepherd and his sheep. It is a journey. David moves from pasture to water, from path to valley, from valley...

On September 21, 1522, Martin Luther’s German New Testament—known as the September Testament—was published, placing the words of Scripture into the hands of ordinary people in language they could understand. Luther believed the Bible should not sound distant or academic, but like the language spoken in homes, marketplaces, workshops, and everyday life. His translation would help shape the German language and dramatically expand access to Scripture. But five centuries later, the challenge has c...

William J. Kirkpatrick gave the church some of its most beloved gospel music, including the melodies associated with “Jesus Saves,” “He Hideth My Soul,” and “‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.” But one of his most remarkable songs began with a burden for a young soloist who could sing the gospel beautifully—yet always left before the preaching began. Kirkpatrick prayed for him and wrote a song: “Lord, I’m Coming Home.” The young man sang it, stayed to hear the message, and according to the story,...

Ever notice how you search for one thing online and suddenly it follows you everywhere? Apparently, the internet isn’t the only thing that knows what gets our attention. In this episode of Scattered Moments, Matt explores what the Bible calls the flesh—that fallen part of us that remembers what brought pleasure, comfort, escape, or relief and keeps running the commercial: You deserve this. You need this. Just this once. You’ll feel better. Drawing from Romans 7–8 and Galatians 5, we’ll look ben...

Three generations. Three journeys. One calling. On September 19, 1853, twenty-one-year-old Hudson Taylor sailed from England for China. Decades later, Jonathan Goforth carried that same missionary burden deeper into the Chinese interior. And on September 19, 1955, Nate Saint flew over the Ecuadorian jungle searching for the Waorani people — a journey that would soon cost him his life. Their stories were separated by years, continents, and methods, but each was marked by the same simple realit...