21/09/2026
βοΈ TODAY IN CHRISTIAN HISTORY β September 21
Five stories. All of them matter.
π Feast of St. Matthew β Today the Church honours Matthew β also called Levi β the tax collector sitting at his booth when Jesus walked past and said two words: "Follow me." He got up and left everything. He went on to write the first Gospel, giving the world the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer, and the Great Commission. A man defined by what he collected β until the day he was called to give everything away.
π 1522 β Martin Luther's German translation of the New Testament was published for the first time. Luther had translated the entire New Testament in just eleven weeks while hiding at Wartburg Castle. For the first time, ordinary German-speaking people could read the Scriptures for themselves β no priest, no Latin, no barrier. It changed everything.
π₯ 1452 β Girolamo Savonarola was born in Ferrara, Italy. He would become a Dominican preacher of extraordinary power, challenging the corruption of the Medici and the papacy, reforming Florence, and eventually being hanged and burned at the stake in 1498. A prophet before his time β or ahead of it.
π» 1944 β The National Religious Broadcasters organisation was officially ratified at Moody Memorial Church in Chicago β born out of a conviction that Christian voices had a right to the airwaves. It became the backbone of gospel radio in America. Today, Bloom Radio carries that same conviction from Nairobi to the world.
π©Έ 1992 β Islamic gunmen attacked Christian radio station DXAS in the Philippines, killing pastor-broadcaster Greg Happala and technician Greg Bacabis. They were at work β broadcasting the Gospel β when the shots came. Martyred at a microphone. Their story is a reminder of what gospel broadcasting can cost.
Five stories. One September 21. The Word goes out β by every means, at every cost. π