D.L. Moody: I Will Be That Man
Last week, there were musings around these parts about “remembering faith”.
This lead to a small group of us scraping up these embarrassingly-easy-to-read books on the life and faith of D.L. Moody. You can grab the book for $2 if you want to come along as we intentionally choose to remember what faith looks like in ordinary life.
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Sometimes you hear a presentation, a sermon–maybe even just a single sentence formed in a casual conversation–and the idea connects with you with force. You leave rolling the statement over in your mind, feeling as if someone hung a ten pound weight engraved with some new idea on your soul.
That happened to Moody.
He was at a meeting with a guy named Henry Varley. A preacher.
And Henry said something incredibly important.
He said “The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him.”
And that became the statement Moody couldn’t let go.
It haunted him until he wasn’t just thinking about it, he was writing about it.
He eventually wrestled the statement to conclusion.
“I will be that man.” He determined.
This was the inciting incident that happened just before Moody’s life developed what appeared to be some sort of unexplainable electric charge.
People began responding to his messages about faith by the roomful, so much so that even when he left London, church leaders there called him back and put him to work speaking to newer and increasingly larger groups every day for two weeks straight.
I hear about his smashing success right out of the preaching gates…and there’s part of me that calculates, I’m sure Moody developed himself as a speaker, that he must’ve had some natural knack for persuasion and maybe even marketing.
But in the end, it absolutely haunts me that his world-changing path might’ve begun because he decided he wanted to pour his life into being a man fully devoted to his God.
Because he said to God “I will be your man.”
If you read this post today, will you take a second and leave a comment about your thoughts on this blog series or on remembering faith in general? Just click the link by the title of this post. I’d love to hear from you.
Shelly Miller November 18, 2011 (5:11 pm)
Growing up in a broken home with an alcoholic bi-polar mother I learned how to pave my own way. Because of Godly grandparents, I learned to follow God and dream big, live surpassing my circumstances. Moody’s life gives me hope because I see a bit of myself in him. He proves that God is faithful to fulfill His purposes in and through us (beyond expectation) if we have a heart ready to receive what He has for us. The most important credentials we can acquire are to follow His voice and to say yes when he asks. Could say so much more, not enough room in the comment box! Thanks for hosting the series.
DAVID HENDERSON March 3, 2021 (11:43 am)
Our testimonies are quite similar. I really like the way you have expressed your faith.
Sarah November 19, 2011 (9:05 am)
@Shelly so glad you’re reading. It definitely sounds like Moody spent some lonely, hard nights as an adolescent after his dad died. I like your comment about the most important credentials. I believe that! Let me know if you want to send a 300-700 word guest post to sarahraymondcunningham (at) gmail (dot) com.
bob kane November 27, 2011 (10:25 pm)
Sarah–hi. I think when someone finds their passion and then tries to live it out great things can happen. But it may not happen right away or even the first time it’s tried. At church today, the pastor (of a very successful set of churches set in movie theaters in the Washington, DC area) talked about his previous failure to get a church off the ground in the Chicago area. I hadn’t heard of that before, and assumed that he’s always been a success wherever he was because he’s pretty committed to what he does and he’s been very successful here. It was humbling to hear him admit prior failure but also that he learned from that and (so he said) he didn’t lose the call that has certainly taken off here. Getting back to where you started, folks like Moody are pretty inspirational so thanks for sharing some of his life stories with everyone. They’re good fuel for the journey.
Sarah Cunningham November 28, 2011 (8:18 pm)
@Bob I really appreciate your thoughts. You’re right. Devoting yourself to a vision…and seeing results often are separated by a lot of patience (and if you’re me, impatience). I have a feeling Moody, along with just about every major figure in the Bible, could relate to that concept of “in process, but not yet”.
bob kane November 29, 2011 (9:33 pm)
Sarah, thanks. Your “in process” thought is a good one. I think for myself if I ever figured out my “grand passion” or what I thought I was called to do, I’d get impatient for it to succeed–this unfounded thought that, gee, God, if we’ve finally hit on what I’m to do, why isn’t it happening? Maybe the key is not just the strength of the passion but the strength of the commitment to the task, most especially when it doesn’t seem like it’s working. That was why I was so impressed by the words of the pastor that I mentioned before–he kept at it. I’ve often told my kids–don’t give up. Your “in process” thoughts fit well.
Mark Wager December 5, 2011 (10:30 am)
I’m a new reader of your blog and I have enjoyed your thoughts very much. I appreciate the challenge to live above where I live. I will pursue getting some books and following along… I’m looking forward to what God will do in me.
Thanks for sharing your heart,
Mark
Sarah December 5, 2011 (10:55 pm)
Thanks for the comment @Mark. So glad you dropped me a note! I’ll be looking for ya. =)
Karen ruth October 12, 2023 (4:45 pm)
Loved reading about dl moody
Mar January 25, 2024 (5:13 am)
Thank you, Shelly. Your words fir God matter. I heard the quite last night and I realize what a game changer that would be.