Voices of the Past

I often find myself wondering in my studies of history what the voice of someone might have sounded like. It’s easy for us now since the age of the phonograph began and recordings have been made to hear the tone of people’s voices in the last hundred years. But what about before?

They say Abraham Lincoln had a rather high-pitched squeaky voice. I would love to have heard Patrick Henry thundering, “Give me liberty or give me death.” I think the most pleasing voice of all will probably be that of Jesus, and although we can’t hear him now, I imagine someday in heaven His voice will be the sweetest music to the ear ever heard.

Last Friday, January 8, was the 60th anniversary of the death of the five martyrs in Ecuador, Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian and Pete Fleming. In their cases there are still people alive who had heard them speak and may remember their voices.

January 8 is a special date for me as it was on this day in 1967 that I trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior. When I was younger I used to think I somehow had a connection with the martyrs because of the date. The story became closer to me when my cousins, Jim and Sharon Smith began to work with Nate’s sister, Rachel, in the jungle in Ecuador. I’ve seen video of Rachel in interviews and heard the dedication in her voice and the determination in her soul to carry on the work her brother had envisioned with the Waorani people in Ecuador. But I’ve never heard a recording of her brother or the other men. Until today.

Here is a recording of Jim Elliot preaching a message in 1951. I was surprised by what I heard. It seems to me his voice sounds like a much older man than 24. It is a powerful voice, tenacious and purposeful in its delivery. There is no temerity or lack of confidence in his delivery. Rather there is urgency and a quickness to pack as much into the time he had available as possible. His passion is evident as he eloquently unfolds the implications of the Gospel.

It’s a good message, forty minutes worthy of our hearing. If you can get on youtube do yourself a favor and look it up.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=youtube+jim+elliot+missionary

This is the kind of preaching America needs to hear today.