September 29, 2018 (Saturday)
Dwight L. Moody was born in Massachusetts. His father died when he was 4 years old and he received only the equivalent of a 5th grade education. He moved to Boston when he was 17 and went to work in his uncle’s shoe store, hoping someday to become wealthy. After his conversion at 18, he changed his goal from wealth to serving his fellow man, and in 1858 started a mission Sunday School in Chicago. By 1861 he was concentrating on social and evangelistic work. In 1870 he heard Ira Sankey sing, and would not rest until he finally convinced Sankey to join him in evangelist work. The two made a great team. They were invited to Great Britain and conducted meetings in England, Scotland and Ireland for two years with great success. Word spread back to America and when they returned they were welcomed with open arms, and calls for them to lead crusades poured in. As they continued in the work, they developed many strategies and methods for evangelism and laid the groundwork for others to follow. The two were inseparable and worked together until Moody’s death in 1899. Sankey tried to continue working alone, but his health failed him, he became blind, and faded from the scene after 1903, and died in 1908.
The song, “The Ninety and Nine,” was his favorite and he was the composer and writer. You can hear this voice from the past singing this favorite song: