Aiden Wilson Tozer, at age 15, was asked by a neighbor whether he was a Christian. “I don’t know, but I’ll think about it,” he replied. Three years later, he heard an elderly street preacher encourage his listeners with this: “If you don’t know how to be saved, just call on God, saying, ‘Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ ” Tozer thought about this for several hours while in his attic and emerged a changed man.

He began preaching on sidewalks himself, and through this ministry met other preachers who were also pastors. He became pastor of Chicago’s Southside Alliance church and stayed for 31 years.

His greatest passion, though, was to write books for Christians that would help them to think about God in a deeper way, which would lead them to greater obedience. Writing became a form of worship to Tozer, who only had a grammar school education.

Ultimately, Tozer would write over thirty one books, including the classics, “The Pursuit of God” and “Knowledge of the Holy.” He credited God for his inspiration and gave away most of his royalties.

A. W. Tozer died on May 12, 1963. His tombstone simply read: “A Man of God.”

You never know who will be listening when you preach in the street!

—Excerpted and abridged from “The One Year Book of Christian History.”