Christmas Evans: The Mountain Where He Got His Fire Back

A preacher rode alone through the mountains of Wales, and his heart was cold. His name was Christmas Evans. Born on Christmas Day, 1766, into deep poverty. Orphaned at nine. At seventeen he still could not read a single word. After he met Christ, he taught himself his letters and began to preach. One night his old friends beat him in the dark and he lost an eye for the rest of his life. Then his fire grew dim. So on a lonely road between Dolgellau and Machynlleth, Evans climbed off his pony and up the mountainside, and prayed until the coldness broke. He came down a changed man, and revival followed his preaching across Wales. A five-minute reminder that when your fire has burned low, the road home runs straight uphill into honest prayer. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." Scripture echo: Revelation 2:4, James 4:8 Key figure: Christmas Evans (1766-1838), Welsh Baptist preacher whose covenant prayer on a Welsh mountain road sparked revival across Anglesey and Wales. Read or listen on the blog: https://rodneycoe.com/christmas-evans-mountain-fire-back/ Five minutes. Pull up a chair. "And that, friend, is how God lifts up your day."

Transcript

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A preacher rode alone through the mountains of Wales and his heart was cold. He had preached for years, but the fire had gone out of him. Somewhere on the lonely road between Delgelai and Mecalith, he could not carry it any longer. He climbed down off his pony and went up the mountainside to be alone with God. And there, with no one watching but heaven, he began to weep. Stay with me. You're gonna want to hear the rest of the story. Welcome to Lift Up Your Day, short stories with a biblical heartbeat. I'm Rodney Coe, and today a preacher whose heart had gone cold climbs a mountain and comes back down on fire. His name was Christmas Evans. He was born on Christmas Day in 1766 in a poor corner of Wales, and they named him for the day. His father died when he was nine, and the boy then was handed over to a hard uncle and put to work. Life had given him almost nothing anyone would call a head start. He had almost no schooling. At seventeen he could still not read a single word. After he came to Christ, a hunger for the word taught him his letters and he began to preach. He paid a price for it. One night a band of his old companions waylaid him in the dark and beat him, and one of them struck him across the eye. He lost that eye for the rest of his life. Years later when a man sneered that this Welch preacher had one eye, the great Robert Hall answered Yes, but that's a piercer, an eye that could light an army through a wilderness on a dark night. But the fire I told you about had grown dim. Christmas Evans knew it, so on that mountain road he wrestled in prayer for hours, until the coldness broke, and the love of God came flooding back over him. He poured out his soul until his face was wet, and the ground around him felt like holy ground. Right there he wrote out a covenant with God, and he signed his name to every line of it. He gave himself away again, his soul and his service to the Redeemer who had bought him. He came down off that mountain a different man. Revival broke out under his preaching, and spread across the island of Anglesey, and then across Wales. Hardened men wept under the word, and crowds gathered on the hillsides to hear him. The one eyed preacher had met God on a lonely road, and a whole nation felt the warmth of it. Maybe you know the cold he felt. It can settle in on anyone who has walked with God for a while. You still show up, you still go through the motions, but the fire that used to be there is burned low, and you feel the difference. Jesus once said to the Church of Ephesus that it had grown cold. He said you have left your first love. Then he pointed them back home. Go back, he said, and do the things your love did at the start. Go back to Jesus. James put the promise just as plainly, draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. That was a whole road Christmas Evans walked that day. He drew near, and God drew near, and the fire came back. Years later, as he lay dying, he waved his hand and said goodbye, drive on. He was still traveling that mountain road, only now it was carrying him home. You do not have to climb a mountain in Wales. You can draw near to God right where you are, and that friend is how God lifts up your day.