“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life” (Deut 30:19). Col. and Mrs. George Clarke began the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago in 1877, a “doorway to heaven.” Mrs. Clarke also regularly visited the jail. One of those visited was John Callahan. After escaping a reformatory in New York, he moved to Chicago where he joined a notorious westside gang. The law finally caught him, and he was visited by Mrs. Clarke. Butch Lyons, Callahan’s cell-mate, jumped on the top bunk with derisive laughter, not wanting the “angel of mercy” to deal with him. Callahan, on the other hand, fell to the floor and prayed for mercy. After serving a term in Joliet, Callahan went to Minneapolis, where, instead of tending bar as he had once done, he walked into a mission and into newness of life in Christ. Butch Lyon met death on the gallows. John Callahan became superintendent of the Hadley Rescue Hall in New York City’s Bowery. — C.F.H. Henry
Today’s Reading: Job 36-40 Memorize: Matthew 27:35