Courage
The Bible says: “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid,
neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” Joshua 1:9 (KJV)
Bruce Larson, in Charles Swindoll’s book, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, said: “When
I was a small boy, I attended church every Sunday at a big Gothic Presbyterian bastion in Chicago. The preaching was powerful
and the music was great. But for me, the most awesome moment in the morning service was the offertory, when twelve solemn,
frock-coated ushers marched in lock-step down the main aisle to receive the brass plates for collecting the offering. These
men, so serious about their business of serving the Lord in this magnificent house of worship, were the business and professional
leaders of Chicago.
One of the twelve ushers was a man named Frank Loesch. He was
not a very imposing looking man, but in Chicago he was a living legend, for he was the man who had stood up to Al Capone.
In the prohibition years, Capone’s rule was absolute. The local and state police and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation
were afraid to oppose him. But single-handedly, Frank Loesch, as a Christian layman and without any government support, organized
the Chicago Crime Commission, a group of citizens who were determined to take Mr. Capone to court and put him away.
During the months that the Crime Commission met, Frank Loesch’s life was in constant danger.
There were threats on the lives of his family and friends. But he never wavered. Ultimately, he won the case against Capone
and was the instrument for removing this blight from the city of Chicago. Frank Loesch had risked his life to live out his
faith.
Each Sunday at this point of the service, my father, a Chicago businessman himself,
never failed to poke me and silently point to Frank Loesch with pride. Sometimes I’d catch a tear in my father’s
eye. For my dad and for all of us this was and is what authentic living is all about.”
Daily Chronological Bible Reading: Joshua 1-4
