07/31/2024
From this weeks Carey Nieuwhof podcast A story of Grace by Max Lucado
Max Lucado: (00:42:12) - Yeah. Or you can't be a Christian if you vote for this person. Exactly. That’s harsh.
(00:42:17) - You know, by the time I moved to San Antonio in 1988, Buckner Fanning was already a hero. He was the senior pastor of Trinity Baptist Church and ended up serving there for 40 years. when I Jirst met him, he shared with me the most amazing story. And he was a marine in World War two, Carey and was stationed in Nagasaki three weeks after the atomic bomb went off, and he told me that he was walking down the streets of the ruined city. Completely collapsed everything. Dust covered in ash covered people wandering the streets almost like zombies. He saw a sign in Japanese and English that said, Baptist Church. And being a devout Baptist, he made note of it and returned there the following Sunday wearing his military best, his marine uniform, walked into what used to be a church building. It was collapsed. The walls were out, pews were destroyed, and yet there was a cluster, he said of about 15 Japanese believers. And they were in a circle, one of them sharing with the others.
(00:43:24) - And when they saw this American. Can you imagine that moment when they saw this American? They all stood and they motioned for him to come over, and they pulled out a chair, and they put him in their circle. And then later on they shared communion. And he said, they brought me the bread and they brought me the cup. And he said, in that moment we were not enemies, but we were brothers. And I think that's the most powerful story of people in one end of a spectrum, reaching over to someone on the other side of the
spectrum in the name of Jesus, saying, we're bonded by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. I mean, could two people groups be more isolated? You know, there was so much potential for hostility just in that moment. And yet there was peace because of Christ. That's the power of the gospel. That's the power. When we make the big thing. The big thing. free sermon there. You didn't charge me.
Carey Nieuwhof: (00:44:29) - I’ve never heard that story. What was his name again?
Max Lucado: (00:44:31) - His name was Buckner Fanning. Buckner Fanning. Just a beautiful man, a wonderful man. He had a he had a long, Jlowing mane of hair that did twice. We've mentioned Billy Graham. He looked like Billy Graham to me. Yeah. Dear man, dear man.
Carey Nieuwhof: (00:44:48) - That's a beautiful story and an act of grace. Max Lucado: (00:44:51) - I hope we can do that this time.
