WHAT ABOUT TEETH?
“LORD, how many are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all…
Psalm 104:24
Hi Men:
I pray your week was one of gratitude for the great salvation we have “in” Christ !!
Well the grandkids departed this week, but not without one more trip to the sandpile. Actually it didn’t matter how hot it got during the day, as long as there was shade to take a break under and plenty of water.
We will sure miss them, but Lord willing, there will be more visits in the days ahead. Now Grammy and Grampa are recuperating 🤠 We had a lot of special moments during their stay, and as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, some of the best came during our afternoon breaks when we watched and discussed the Torchlighters series from the Christian History Institute.
These are animated stories of men and women who followed Christ with courage, conviction, and sacrifice — and the great thing is that all 23 episodes are free on the Redeem TV app.
Here is the link for your own kids or grandkids.
The few we watched and briefly discussed included:
The Jim Elliot Story
The William Tyndale Story
The Eric Liddell Story
The Perpetua Story
The Corrie ten Boom Story
The St. Patrick Story
It was a good reminder that our grandchildren need more than entertainment — they need examples of faithful believers who counted Christ worthy, even when obedience was costly.
PHOTO ABOVE
On Wednesday, I had a wisdom tooth extracted. The oral surgeon did an exceptional job, but I went in for a pre-consultation because the impacted tooth was very close to a vital nerve, and he needed to use anesthesia to keep my head stationary.
That got me thinking about teeth — something I don’t think I’ve ever written about in a Friday Letter. Yet the more I looked into it, the more amazed I became at these God-designed tools sitting right in our mouths.
Here are a few amazing facts:
- Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body — even harder than bone.
- Enamel shields the dentin and pulp beneath it, but unlike bone, once enamel is gone, the body cannot simply grow it back.
- Teeth are part of the digestive system. Digestion does not begin in the stomach; it begins in the mouth as teeth cut, tear, crush, and grind food.
- God did not give us 32 identical teeth. Incisors cut, canines tear, premolars crush, and molars grind.
- A human bite might be around 150–200 pounds per square inch when tearing into food.
- By comparison, lions, tigers, and hyenas can generate around 1,000 PSI.
- Hippos, though mostly grass-eaters, can have enormous canine teeth and are often listed among the strongest land-animal bites….. 1800 PSI
- A saltwater crocodile has been measured at around 3,700 PSI — one of the strongest bites ever measured in a living animal.
- Even more staggering, the tooth pressure (the point of the tooth) in a large saltwater crocodile has been reported at about 350,000 pounds per square inch. Wild !!
The more I look at the details of God’s creation, the more I am overwhelmed — not merely by what He made, but by the wisdom, power, and precision with which He made it.
IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD
Meet Lisa, the surgical assistant at the oral surgeon’s office.
I had a few Steps to Peace with God tracts in my pocket the day my wisdom tooth was extracted, but since I was sedated, I never really had the opportunity to hand them out.
Thankfully, I had already been there for a pre-consultation. During that visit, I met several of the gals in the office, gave them some Steps to Peace with God tracts, and also had a pocket full of Ten Commandment coins, which they absolutely loved.
Lisa was a real jewel. After the procedure, she helped me out of the office and safely into the car so Jane could take me home.
Once again, I was reminded that gospel opportunities are often right in front of us: at the doctor’s office, the dentist, the oral surgeon, or wherever the Lord places us that day.
There are times I reflect on what my life would be like if I lived outside the USA, in a place like Somalia or the DRC, and came down with an impacted tooth or a severe illness. We have been given so much, and I don’t want to take any of it for granted. Yet, with grateful hearts, we must still say, “Lord, wherever You send us, we will go.”
With a heart of gratitude,
Dan
“Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
— C. T. Studd
Men:
So, in one sentence Walt would say:
God is good not because He lets us define goodness or shields us from pain, but because His sovereign hand orders even rebuke, loss, and confusion to free us from self-rule and teach us to trust His will above our own.
God is Good – Day 198/9 Red Book
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically
Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”
ANDY FETSIS FCA – JUNE 2026 NEWLETTER
Men:
Make sure you read Andy’s Newsletter (click on image or link below). Every time I read his updates, it is a huge blessing to see how God is using this brother. What a precious photo of his family……. and READ those verses!
Read Andy’s June 2026 Newsletter HERE
I wanted to include a short paragraph from the email he sent out earlier this week. What a great testimony to the men that were so faithful in discipling Andy…….. and now Andy is reproducing what those men did and continue to do in his life…..
Thank you for co-laboring with me and my family in the ministry. I am so very thankful for the many ways we are supported that allow me to invest in the lives of people. When I was lost at the age of 29, the Lord brought men into my life to teach me the gospel, teach me the Word and share their lives with me. I would not be here today without those men who were and continue to be involved in my life today. And it is my privilege to get to do the same with others. Thank you so very much, Lord.
Daniel Janagam of India
And now we move from Tucson to India, to see how the Lord is using another dear brother totally focused on Matthew 28:19-20, in the trenches for E2 (Evangelism & Edification – Discipleship)
This is what Daniel said:
By His grace, approximately 230 young individuals from across India gathered in the states of Kerala and Telangana. Many of the GenZ participants expressed enthusiasm for discipleship and committed to incorporating it into their daily lives. They also resolved to serve as witnesses among their friends and relatives. Glory to God! We hope the video testimonies below will be a blessing to you.
Take a moment and watch the 2 videos below
Video #1 (YouTube 0:52 Seconds)
Video #2 (YouTube 1:16 Min)
Strings of God
Men: I just love how Lee & Miltinnie used the term “Strings of God.” How about you? Do you also see those strings in your own life as God sovereignly orchestrates those events?
It might be good to review these verses so Bonhoeffer’s quote has more bite:
Matthew 7:13-23
Men:
In his book, “The Cost of Discipleship”
“There is someone standing by my side, who looks just like a member of the Church. He is a prophet and a preacher. He looks like a Christian, he talks and acts like one. But dark powers are mysteriously at work; it was these who sent him into our midst. Inwardly he is a ravening wolf: his words are lies and his works are full of deceit. He knows only too well how to keep his secret dark, and go ahead with his work.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
The full passage continues with a very hard-hitting line:
“It is not faith in Jesus Christ which made him one of us, but the devil.”
The Price of the Vision
By Oswald Chambers
Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord… Isaiah 6:1
Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?
My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.
Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”
Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.
Men: Do you believe this Psalm and what Oswald Chambers wrote? Psalm 73:25 states:
“Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has NOTHING I desire besides you.”
Men: There is a video series by Missionary.com “Obeying the Great Commission” It is narrated by Brooks Buser and Chad Vegas. Here are the 6 films:
- Chapter 1: The Necessity of the Word (William Tyndale)
- Chapter 2: Culture and Language (Hudson Taylor)
- Chapter 3: Singleness and the Sufficiency of God (Amy Carmichael)
- Chapter 4: Longevity (William Carey)
- Chapter 5: The Cost of Family (David Livingstone)
- Chapter 6: The Patient Goal of a Church (John Paton)
My wife and I watched these videos last year and they are excellent. You can now stream all these videos on Vimeo ($17.99) or order the DVD’s.
Here is one of the trailers: YouTube (2:19)
SPOT ON FOR TYNDALE
