The Boy Who “Stayed” While Obeying Jesus’ Command To “Go”

Dana was a boy like many other children who grow up playing with their siblings and friends laughing and playing and getting into . . .

. . . trouble once in a while. Dana was the kind of kid who was endlessly busy with lots of things and always seemed to find a way to do what interested him. But that all changed when, as a teenager he met Jesus and that encounter changed his life forever.
He loved God with all his heart and wanted to tell everyone he met about Jesus paying the penalty for our sin and making a way for us to be made right with God. Dana desperately wanted to obey
The Great Commission
to “preach the Gospel to everyone – everywhere. So, he went to Bible School and became a pastor, married his sweetheart and started a brand new church. As a skilled preacher, the little church grew and many people gave their lives to Christ.

Since Dana was always busy about many things he didn’t stop there. He became a pioneer in the growing Christian School Movement across America and built a school that God used to lead hundreds and hundreds of kids to Jesus. Then he began a program that enlisted scores of businessmen to sponsor thousands of “inner-city – at risk” teens to go to summer camp in the mountains just so they’d have a chance to hear the Good News of Jesus.

This was typical of Dana, always coming up with a new idea or scheme so that somehow – someway he could tell everyone about the Love of God. But he also had another talent.

Dana knew how to make money.

He was a very perceptive and capable entrepreneur.

So he used the gift God gave him to make money for the Lord – for the Kingdom.

Dana committed to God that he would give much of his wealth to the Lord’s work,

particularly to world missions.

He desired that countless numbers of people would hear the Good News and commit their lives to Christ.

And he did just that.

Dana gave away millions to ministries that ministered in nations around the world. Evangelistic ministries that did things like:

  • purchased huge printing presses in Sweden to ship to Russia in order to print Bibles for the masses
  • trained and supported pastors in South America and Africa and Southeast Asia and India and Mexico
  • built a gigantic shortwave radio tower in Perth Australia in order to broadcast the Gospel to over one billion people in Indonesia, the Philippines, and all over Southeast Asia 24 hours a day 7 days a week
  • provided support for the families of prisoners incarcerated unjustly
  • supported Christian universities training missionaries
  • supported international children’s programs
  • built orphanages
  • supported churches and ministries across America
  • and on and on and on . . .

Today Dana and his wife Ruth live modestly in a church run retirement home enjoying frequent visits and news of their children and grandchildren all of whom love and serve the Lord.

Not many people know who Dana is. Most people would appreciate that he was a pastor who loved Jesus and was simply a sinner just like everyone else. A sinner who received the grace and love of God and it changed his life forever. But they would never know of Dana’s determination to use the gifts God gave him to do whatever it takes to share the Good News of a God who loves the whole world.

How about you? Do you know how much God loves you? Jesus, who is Almighty God, stepped out of eternity into this earth and became a man – so that we would know what God is like. He died in our place and He rose again on the third day so that by His sacrifice we could be made right with Him. Please believe this. Please receive this gift of God and say “yes” to Him. Do it today!

Love you guys,

Steve 🙂
P.S.  Oh, and by the way, I also have the privilege of calling Dana (my father-in-law) . . . “Dad”

 

Mark 16:15

And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.


4 Responses to “The Boy Who “Stayed” While Obeying Jesus’ Command To “Go””

  1. Susan Barr Murdoch says:

    Beautiful!

  2. Denise Fuller says:

    Awesome

  3. Mary says:

    What a wonderful tribute … Thanks.

  4. Kris Miller says:

    Very inspirational!! God taking the ordinary – making it super extraordinary for the growth of His Kingdom. Thanks for sharing!

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