Monday, July 13, 2026

It is the 13th of July 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

 

Let's head to the mailbag- up to Oregon and Eric, who wrote to tell me that he got a used “Smith Machine”… I had to look that up- it’s for working out. And it got Eric thinking about “the movement within the church where strong men used their strength to promote the faith. I think you might have done an episode on this before, but I could be wrong,” and then the friendly and helpful “Feel free to pick someone else you think would be interesting to learn about.”

 

Oh Eric… I got something.

 

He tells me that Oregon is the home of Stash Tea- they make the Earl Grey Blend- Double Bergamot- his favorite. And then coffee catches a stray- he calls it “devil's juice”…. You can take that up with Gillespie.

 

So, this question sent me down a rabbit hole. I have done shows that touched on the “Muscular Christianity” movement that came around in the late 19th century- a response to the Victorian influences that were perceived as overly feminine. That was mixed with the camping and outdoors movement to expose kids from industrial cities to nature- think YMCA, Boy Scouts, etc…

 

All of that is a kind of procrustean bed for what happened to me in the 1990s. I was invited to a church that is today called “Mariners” church- it’s a church very similar to Saddleback. And we kids were brought into the sanctuary where I swear to you- columns of fire- smoke, cinder blocks, sheets of ice… Eric, I was there to see the original Power Team. An absolute supernova for a brief period of time. Found some articles and even a documentary that I watched to figure out what the heck my 13-year-old self didn’t really get- but surely I remember.

 

The Power Team was started by John Jacobs- a Texas man who was saved at an evangelistic rally when he was 9 and began preaching at 13. In High School, he got into weight training- he became something of a weightlifting wunderkind and began to hold prayer meetings. He would go on church work and saw an evangelist at his church use a karate demonstration to draw an audience. He also served in prison ministry, and a guard inside showed him a way in which he could use his strength to break handcuffs… this got attention, and pretty soon he was on his way- feats of strength to start and then the Gospel.

 

You have to understand the early 90s as a time in American Culture that was inundated with the likes of Schwarzenegger and Jean Claude van Damme- American Gladiators and the Golden Age of the WWF. His team of fellow bodybuilders would put on a show- let me quote some of the relevant feats:

Jacobs- 6’4” 320 would “bend three inches of steel with his teeth,” “break 40 baseball bats in a row,” and rip large phone books in half. Oh, I remember that part.

 

Jeff Neal- former NFL player- would bench 400 pounds 30 times while another team member lies sandwiched between a bed of 2,000 nails. Former NFLer Shawn Harper would run through an 8-foot wall of ice and break 4 2x4s with one flex of his chest.

 

They had a regular show on TBN; they had a cameo on Walker, Texas Ranger. They were, at one point, reportedly an 11 million dollar a year business.

 

BUT- there were cracks… By 2000, John Jacobs divorced his wife, quickly remarried, and had that marriage annulled. Most of the Power Team, upset with his leadership, formed the rival “Team Impact,” and others formed “Power Team 2.0”. Jacobs was charged with a misdemeanor assault against someone who left, and a bankruptcy in 2002 opened the books to reveal mismanagement. Jacobs has come back with his “Power Force,” but it seems that moment has passed.

 

A descendant of the Muscular Christianity movement- an 80s and 90s evangelical obsession with spectacle and numbers… fast fame and a fizzle out. Paul calls us to be all things to all people… maybe Eric, you can use that Smith machine and try ripping a phone book in front of the congregation- see what happens. In the meantime, I’m going to go listen to the Power Team Soundtrack I found on YouTube… Liaison’s “My God is A Rock” is a jam…

 

 

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and the beginning of the book of the prophet Micah and a promise:

The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Hear, you peoples, all of you,
 listen, earth and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you,
 the Lord from his holy temple.

3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place;
 he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.

4 The mountains melt beneath him
 and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire,
 like water rushing down a slope.

5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
 because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
 Is it not Samaria?
What is Judah’s high place?
 Is it not Jerusalem?

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 13th of July 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who could make a blend called Devil's Juice, just for Eric- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who remembers the youth room at Mariners vividly- they had half a car crashed into the side of the building… a soda fountain… TVs with surfing videos… the 90s were a TIME- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.