K. 258 b.p. Grand Junction and k 217 f y k o u Hotchkiss. You can hear fascinating stories from history today on Chris Favre live the famous preacher a former slave they met they made a bond it affected both of their ministries going forward and I think that story from history is going to inform what we see in the headlines even today plus we're going to Houston to find out what's happening with 2 guests so let's get going this is pretty favorable either I'm Chris Fevrier We are live except we were not Amy Rios is our producer today Ryan McConaughey doing all things technical for St Guillen's our consulting producer the victor will answer your calls today website Chris Faber a Live dot org from Reuters Houston is facing worsening historic flooding in the coming days as tropical storm Harvey dumps more rain on the city swelling rivers to record levels and forcing federal engineers Monday to release water from area reservoirs in hopes of controlling the rushing currents Harvey was the most powerful hurricane to strike Texas more than 50 years when it came near shore near Corpus Christi about 220 miles south of Houston 2 guests for you lease trouble apologist pastor journalist I saw his movie at the store last night as I was walking around Professor Christian thought Houston Baptist Welcome to the program you're you're hot and heavy working on a book at home and you're in the north side of Houston tell me what's going on with you today. Well yeah it's really a disaster here I mean fortunately we are we have some just minor problems at our house but around the city you know we have 30000 people expected to end up in shelters we've got the airports closed until Thursday most of the highways are blocked at some places I mean some of the water is just unbelievably deep by use the Rivers are swollen and flooding and. People are being rescued by boat and by helicopter many of your listeners will know the name and to be a caress she be a Muslim turned Christian author who's suffering from cancer and he even had to be rescued from his house by boat last night he's in the hospital I have a friend from Houston Baptist University a professor with triplet boys who are like one year old and then 2 other kids and they had abandoned their house in the middle of the night in their pajamas and they're on their way trying to drive to Austin to get to some dryness so there's a 1000000 stories of tragedy and of people helping others to get through this crisis you're talking about Dr Johnston aren't you know we're going to talk with him in an hour Yes Oh there you go yeah yeah no I I saw what he posted on and the article that he wrote on Fox News and the picture of the family so we'll talk with him then Lee I also got Sterling tarried here I met Sterling a focus on the family years ago he's now production director at k s b j in Houston you haven't been able to get out of the house yet been able to go to work Sterling is that right. No we haven't were able to you know basically drive around the block but the streets into our subdivision here in King would have been impassable matter fact that's something you can pray about we just got word that the main drive one of them going into King with King would drive is being called to be under water here very shortly and so we've got some staff members who are looks like they may have some water in their house here in just a little bit so we're praying for that and but I think we could probably find a way to get out of our neighborhood but the problem is we can't get into work all of the exits on Highway $59.00 and all the ones around every single direction is flooded and so we can't get into that northern suburbs. Bill to get into the station even if we wanted to I just heard a report that they're saying about 95 percent of the roads here in Houston are flooded in some way shape or form and so there's just nowhere you that you could really go and I saw the on your Facebook feed yesterday Sterling you were talking about the the truck drivers and the people in the underpasses I mean this is the the rescue operation going on even as we speak right my goodness hundreds of thousands it's been over a 1000 of people who have had high water rescues we were watching cage show you the c.b.s. Affiliate here in town yesterday and they had water in their studios and were having to evacuate and if you know where their studios are and where Buffalo Bayou is that's probably about a 50 foot difference or so and their 1st floor was flooded they had to go to a reporter who was out on a road here in one of our major beltways and they just had to put her on the air and she stayed on the air and she found a truck that was in about and well the water was up to the cab the driver was in there he was you know halfway covered with water and she was able to flag down Harris County Sheriff's an airboat happened to be going by they got it in the water they got a rescued t.v. Station one off the air just as this is happening in the left everybody hanging in the lurch wondering what happened to this fellow good to say he was safely rescued and and good and then to the story here in just amazing that there have not been as many fatalities you know so far we're hoping that that that doesn't grow but it is just been amazing the people who have been coming together and people civilians who are rescuing others mazing that's that's one of the things I want to talk. Real quickly here leave because you see the fractured nature of our country with the different things that are going on and you see this and it doesn't matter what color your skin is or what you believe about God you know everybody pulls together or at least that's what it seems like to me is that true. Yeah I was just going to say you know one of the great things in this country where we are suffering the sell these divisions and so forth you're watch on t.v. And as you say it's all shades all colors all ethnicities coming together rescuing each other people taking their own boats we have a neighbor who just put his phone number out there on Twitter and said Look I've got a boat anybody need help tweet tweet me I'll come get you and you know it's that kind of selfless caring that we're seeing all around across racial divides across ethnic divides and it really is heartening to see people pulling together the pictures of . You know Latinos and blacks and Caucasians and you know in the same boat literally being rescued from the floodwaters. You know it it's unfortunate it takes sometimes a translator bring people together but it is heartening to see that these divisions certainly can be bridged I think it was on your Facebook page Sterling that I saw the guy at the furniture store and he's on a live based book Seeds and you don't get to our store you can you know we've got places for you stay we've got plenty of beds here here's my cell number will come get you if you know I mean it's that kind of thing that's going on so let's turn to prayer What do you suggest in the people around the country price sternly. I am suggesting 1st and foremost you know the supernatural power of God make these waters recede as quickly as possible let's get to seeing more of the damage really isn't just the recovery efforts of course we're praying for the safety of the 1st responders making sure that they're not encountering things in that water that they shouldn't be encountering and that they're able to get people out of these rooftops and and hopefully people have been heeding the warnings and not going into the their attics like they were before. Or they're having to cut people out of there when they do but it's going to be still I think a little bit worse before it gets a whole lot better. They're having to release water out of our major reservoirs because they don't want even more catastrophic flooding to occur from roads of war that has been breached and so Army Corps of Engineers is monitoring having controlled releases but that means folks downstream like on the San Jacinto River where we are hearing to Inglewood. Are starting to see waters rise even more and that's why we're starting to see areas here in my neighborhood that have not flooded before starting to flood so people are are stressed and there they are looking at the constant rain falling out here and they're just I do hear over and over again people expressing that God is in control and we just want those who don't know our God to know that God is in control and he's going to see them through the storms Yeah and the Christian stations are a lifeline and I'm I'm praying that they'll stay I'll be able to stay on the air as to one station the managers bit was on duty for 30 plus hours you know alone because nobody else could get there Lee what else are you praying for well for this the Christian church would respond as it always has in the past with the disaster relief and putting the love of God into practical action in people's lives I know our church woodlands church just one of the many in the area that are poised to ready providing relief but as we get into the cleanup efforts will be sending teams in to help with repairing houses and so forth so you know we pray that God's church would show itself to be bright light of hope in the midst of. The star times yes and I encourage you to pray as well there are different ways to get involved and others organizations that are stepping up and we are looking at those and being able trying to struggle well to figure out Ok where is the best place to point you are going to do that but I want you to pray let me take a break and we'll come back and I want you to meet our other guests least Strobel thank you for being here Sterling Terence we're praying for you hang in there stay dry and will continue the conversation in just a moment this is Chris Fay Wray live on Moody radio 877-548-3675 is our number 877-548-3675. If it's true that God's word is living and active How do you put it to work right now Donald believes it's up to you to listen up. We must live for the Lord how with urgency well everybody in this room tonight appears to be ready from my perspective everybody in this room tonight appears to be and yet the reality is that there are some here tonight without question who though you look at the park though you would get an a for appearance if you are not in reality living with urgency. That's Listen up from James think Donald you can learn more about cultivating your relationship with God by going to teams McDonald's dot com Listen up is a production of walk in the work. That. On the radio this is a very big wire I'm a car guy here to help you understand God's purpose for your life through the eyes of a layman each of his account of what God places in her has been at war Ger small Remember how Jesus praised the widow who gave the least because she gave her all I've been humbled to missions just for the joy of Christians living in complete faith in dreadful condition I literally hungered for what they had My point is this God is not near his concern over what you're going through as he is how you're using it for His glory in fact the board limited your abilities in the more difficult your situation the greater the option you have to lead people to Jesus Christ face Ziering the joy that only comes from knowing your Vivi your life or his purpose and not. Your job is the revival outside the walls of your church by moving everyone you're with today closer to Jesus if you want to know how easy that is go tomorrow . Are you hiding anything from God He thinks he can't handle what you're really like I read an allegory years ago my heart crisis home to learn the simplicity beauty of giving Christ every room in the house of your heart Contact us today with a gift of any amount will send you my heart Christ's home call 186695 daybreak or go to Chris Favre live. Today's topic on Chris Favre live is timely for us in 2017 even though it took place in the 850 s. Through the 870 s. And then beyond I think it's going to encourage you if you look around at society and say Boy we've got a lot of racial divide still in this country that we need to deal with we're talking about a new resource called Steal Away Home and you'll find out more about that straight ahead from Matt Carter he serves as the pastor preaching Invision at Austin stone Community Church in Austin Texas yes it's all Texas all the time today and he is the co-author of steal away home we'll talk about that in a moment but Matt you were listening as I was talking to Sterling and Lee about what's going on in Houston you've been going through some of that same whether it hasn't been as intense as down in Houston the least the the flooding in your area so yes you're experiencing that as well right we are we we've got a lot of rain got a lot of wind and some of the outlying areas of Austin have received you know how to bunch of flooding over the last couple days and so we're definitely not experiencing I guess the catastrophic global storms that used it has and the Gulf Coast but we're going to little bit of taste of it yeah well I mentioned that some of the things that Lee and Sterling were saying would you pray for God's power which is pray for safety for those who are responding and I'm thinking of the Christian radio stations that are a lifeline to a lot of people on the. The church being involved with Judas Can we just pause right here before we start talking about this important topic would you pray for us the I'd be honored you know Father we do just right now come before you and confess to you that we need you right now so desperately you are in control we confess that and believe that when we pray that you would stop the rain God we pray for all those that have infected been affected by the storms got to pray that you would protect them pray for the 1st responders God that you would give them strength and wisdom and stand got I pray that you would Lord just give the leadership of Houston wisdom on how to move forward I pray that the church would rise up I pray that the name of Christ would be exalted even in this Lord we love you as these things in Jesus' name amen amen amen All right Matt So you got involved in a story between a man named Charles and a man named Thomas and I out keep this veil just a little bit because we did this in the promotional nouns but I want people to to hear the entire story though why do you think this is important for us to hear today. Well it is a story about. Charles Birch which is one of the most famous preachers in history who was called The Prince of preachers he was really one of the very 1st mega church pastors in history his his church in London England was called Metropolitan tabernacle had thousands and thousands of people that were come in his sermons were distributed all over Europe in all of the United States and in the latter part of the 1907 and still a home is a story of a slave from Virginia as a real life guy that we kind of came across in our research that was and spent 28 years on a tobacco plant Taishan in Virginia and there was a series of events these 2 got together and we'll probably talk more about that but it's really a story of a friendship between a white preacher and an African-American former slave who became a missionary and and just their relationship throughout the rest of their life and how they encourage one another and love one another and Andrew string from one another I think it's timely in today's society you know we began this project years ago and began the researching phase and dreaming about it I guess 55 years ago and and have it released literally the week before Charlottesville came out is I don't think it's any accident and I think there's a lot to be learned about how Christ and all of us being equal at the foot of the cross is really the answer for what our nation faces right now yes Amen Amen a lot you talk a lot about Spurgeon about his childhood his relationship with his grandfather the things that he learned from him there's no doubt that these 2 than Thomas Johnson his childhood was so much different with what will tell talk about Thomas' childhood did he have a relationship with his mother his father yes or Thomas Johnson was was born into slavery in Virginia and at the age of 10 he was separate. It from his mother his mother was sold to an owner of a different plantation and so from the very beginning of his life he experienced a lot of loneliness a lot of bitterness he really grew up alone on the plantation he in we talk about this in the story he had an older gentleman that was a friend of his and almost a mentor his but experience that a lot of pain and a lot of other frustration about his part in life he longed to be free I mean this guy thought about it every day of his life he desperately wanted to experience freedom from captivity and and one of things we do early in the book is we kind of contrast that to just virgin in a way he who grew up in relative ease but had a different kind of slavery. Transportation resolute depression from an early age and. You know one of things about Charles Spurgeon there been dozens and dozens of biographies that have written been written about him but he's almost presented throughout history in kind of the fog of time as larger than life as a man who because there's just incredible ability to preach we we almost look at him kind of as the 13th disciple or apostle but he really was just the man that that wrestled with a lot of things with were poor health and and and depression and so we see that although they come from incredibly different backgrounds they both were in need of Jesus and were ultimately in need of the friendship of the other and that's kind of what the story is all about if we talk with Christian George about that and he was helpful to you when you went to do some of the research right yeah Chris in Georgia for those of you don't know who he is but he is a professor of a seminary Midwestern scimitar He's the curator of the Spurgeon library Midwestern Similary was able to get hold of Spurgeon's actual library his book collection recently and he's considered Dr George is considered one of the premier Spurgeon scholars in all the world and so he was really the 1st one that mentioned the name of Thomas Johnson we were doing research at. Librarian we interviewed him and he told us about this relationship this version had with Thomas Johnson and we were looking for a story to write and my co-author error not in our look at each other when he said that in very quickly we knew that that's what we wanted to write about is a story that's never really been told. Miss Johnson was the 1st African-American student at Spurgeon's pastor's College in London and so Dr George was was incredibly influential in the telling of the story. Let's go more into Thomas's life than that because you paint these vignettes How did you did he write a book about his life did he know that you have some of the letters that they people have passed back and forth but did you did you find something written by Johnson himself. We did Thomas Johnson wrote an autobiography years later after all the events of the book took place called 28 years a slave and believe it's out of print now but we were we managed to get a copy of it hadn't It's an autobiography that he wrote where he tells just the story of his life from the beginning days of his life on the plantation through the Emancipation Proclamation when he was actually received his physical freedom he talks about his salvation on the plantation and kind of his subsequent desire to become a missionary and that was one of his greatest passions once he became a believer is he wanted to go back if he ever got his physical freedom to his home land of Africa and tell his people about the love of Jesus and so we learned about all this and this bargain if he has autobiography rather