Did you know that Haven Ministries is celebrating 90 incredible years of ministry?

If you missed our live 90th anniversary celebration, no worries! You can catch all the highlights and heartwarming moments in the video below. Be encouraged as David Wollen, Charles Morris, Joni Eareckson Tada, and more reflect on Haven’s rich history of sharing the gospel for 90 years … and counting!

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All About Jesus Hymns (CD)

A good hymn has the power to catch your ear, warm your heart, and fill your soul with truths about God and His Word. Haven’s 90th anniversary album All About Jesus Hymns seeks to inspire this through foundational anthems of the Christian faith, including “Softly & Tenderly,” “How Great Thou Art,” “I Surrender All,” and more.

Allow the familiar voices of Steve Ragsdale, Paul Sandberg, Truitt Ford, and other vocalists through the years to lead you to Jesus in a deeply personal way. This hand-selected collection brings together 20 of the Haven Quartet’s greatest recordings in a new 90th anniversary album that includes a commemorative booklet on Haven’s rich legacy from 1934 to the present day.

This commemorative album includes an accompanying booklet featuring the rich history of Haven Ministries! Go back in time with photos of First Mate Bob, the Haven Quartet, Charles Morris, and more.

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David Wollen and Charles Morris met up recently to look back on how the Lord has led and sustained Haven’s gospel-focused ministry for 90 years. In this video that features early footage of Paul Myers and the Haven Quartet, David and Charles also discuss how the relevance of Jesus’ invitation to anchor our weary souls in His “Haven of Rest” is needed just as much now as it was in 1934.

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Every day, Haven Ministries reaches countless souls with the assurance that yes, He can set things right. But we can’t do it alone … Haven depends on generous gifts from friends like you to keep this all about Jesus ministry on the airwaves.

Would you consider supporting the transformation of people’s lives through the faithful preaching of Christ and His Word with your fiscal year end gift today?

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My Gift for Haven’s Fiscal Year End

With a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other, Charles Morris has shared the great story that’s all about Jesus for a quarter century. Today he crosses the finish line. Though he will return as a guest on the program in the future, Charles is now stepping away from daily production … but not before sharing a few memories and prayers.

In honor of these 25 years, we asked Charles a few questions about his time as Havens’ fourth president & speaker, the people he met, the moments he saw Christ move, and the prayers he has for the ministry’s future.

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You’ve interviewed many people over the years. Sometimes we reshare those interviews on the air. But there are a few that have unfortunately been lost to time. Can you share about an interview you did that you wish we could unearth?

Two interviews stand out in particular that we lost in our archives due to moving our office when we sold the old Maranatha music studios and moved to another part of greater Los Angeles. One was an interview with the famous Chuck Smith, who founded Calvary Chapel and took part in the Jesus Revolution movement. I used to have lunch with him when our office was a few blocks from his church. On the program, he shared his life story. We even had him sing.

The other one was when I had first come to Haven. I was speaking — the Haven of Rest Quartet was with me — in Pennsylvania. And this man shared his story about how someone broke into his house late one night. I don’t remember the whole story, but it was a robbery. The intruder wielded a hatchet and as the man tried to defend himself and his wife against this home invasion. He was struck in the head with this hatchet and he almost died. And it left him with recurring headaches. He had to take disability. The lingering effects meant he couldn’t work anymore.

But the highlight of this story that we lost in our archives was that he decided to ask himself, “What would Jesus do?” He went to the prison and shared the gospel with the very man who tried to kill him and led him to faith in Christ. When the man was released, they took him in and ministered to him.

What a sweet, sweet story of grace. A sweet story of repentance and forgiveness. The gospel works in the most unlikely of circumstances. The gospel still works today.

Is there a guest you always wanted to have on the program but it never seemed to pan out?

I interviewed Billy Graham as a secular journalist, but I was never able to interview Billy after coming to Haven and that’s something I wish I could have done as a Christian pastor on the radio. I did interview George Beverly Shea for Haven, but Billy was unable to do interviews at that point.

But I did spend half an hour with him doing an interview as a secular journalist. Even though I was a believer, it was a totally different context. But to his credit, he still shared the Lord in a secular interview.

A lot of our listeners express how great it would be to meet so many Christian authors, pastors, and artists. Is there a moment in your 25 years where you met a personal hero?

I think there were heroes of mine that I really warmed up to, that were either theologians or preachers. One that comes to mind was the late John Stott who pastored a famous church in London, close to Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth asked the current king as a young man to go and learn more about the Christian faith from John Stott. And every time Billy Graham would pass through London, he tried to make sure he was there on a Sunday so he could hear John Stott preach.

The last interview John Stott ever gave was with Haven Today when he was speaking in Santa Barbara California. And one topic that did not go on the program was I asked him about hobbies. He was famous as a birdwatcher, a twitcher. And he even wrote a book about God’s creation and being a twitcher.

Another one, since I’m thinking in twos, the other one would be the times that we put on a well known pastor in New York City, Tim Keller, who’s also now with the Lord. We first knew him in Philadelphia.

We had him on a number of times, but probably the most significant time was on 9/11. I was on the road speaking and I gave four questions along with Tim and Kathy’s private, unlisted phone number to team member Robert Jacobson. And I said to Robert, “Just keep dialing over and over again.” Finally, Tim picked up the phone.

This was the only interview that Tim did with anyone that day. He thought at this point he had lost 2,000 from his congregation in the World Trade Towers. Thankfully, he didn’t lose that many, but it still ended up being a few hundred. And that crisis led to a period of depression for Tim and his wife, but he still had to lead — he still had to pastor his flock. He still had to minister Christ to people who were hurting after 9/11 in New York City.

You often get to meet listeners when traveling who get the chance to tell you what Haven has meant to them. Is there a moment like this that sticks out in your mind?

One was a young Mennonite lad about 15 years old in Pennsylvania. His family drove a couple of hours to where we were holding an event. He had recently met the Lord listening to Haven Today, and they wanted to bring their son and the rest of their family to just say thank you. His voice hadn’t quite changed yet at 15 years old. And that was just encouraging to see that the Lord would use us, you know, and use the program to lead people to Christ.

And then back to 9/11, this couple heard the program whose son worked in the World Trade Center. And they tried repeatedly and couldn’t reach him. They had just heard our program, and a couple weeks before they were in New York City and had gone to church with their son who had just graduated a few months before from Wheaton College. And the pastor they heard preach was Tim Keller.

So, roll ahead about five years later, I was staying at a Christian retreat center in Michigan. The head of the ministry said there’s a couple I want you to meet. They run our retreat center. They used to run a bed and breakfast, but now they’re with us.

It was the same couple who had lost their son and they had just received some of the fragments of their son’s body. We sat there in this large kitchen and wept together. Their son knew the Lord, but he lost his life in the World Trade Center on 9/11. And somehow they just happened to listen to our radio program five years before and hear their son’s pastor on the air. I’ve visited them since. I saw them a couple years ago when I was in Michigan. I stopped and had a memorable lunch with them.

You’ve gotten to see Christ move in many places. Would you mind sharing a story from your far flung travels that showed you how God was at work in surprising ways?

Some of the trips into Iraq come to mind. ISIS was bearing down and I was in this city of 100,000 that was empty — an historic, ancient Christian city. And I’m very thankful for an Iraqi soldier.

I was doing a live interview over the phone and ISIS had used this church courtyard for target practice. And I was doing this interview there on my cell phone on a talk show back in the United States. I started to step into a room and all of a sudden this soldier grabs me by the back of my collar and yanks me out. There was an unexploded IED in that room that had not been disabled and I was one step away from hitting the trip wire. It would have been on live radio in Los Angeles had that happened.

But the interesting thing was every time I go into a part of the world where Christianity was birthed, but now is such a minority. I always meet new believers. It’s in the last 20 years that more Muslims have come to faith in Christ than the last 1400 years combined. And that kept increasing even faster as ISIS tried to grow its caliphate.

But the people I would meet, through Spirit-inspired moments, often had an encounter with Jesus in a vision or a dream. And then somehow, in a part of the world where there aren’t Bibles, they found a Bible and started reading God’s Word.

I’d say, “I’m a Christian pastor from North America. I’m here doing radio programs to send back home, and they would all say, “I’m a lover of Jesus.” I found that very intriguing. They hadn’t been to Sunday school. They didn’t have church to attend, but they had somehow met the risen Lord. A smile would appear on their faces as they would say, “I’m a lover of Jesus.”

Wow! Doesn’t get better than that. I’m a lover of Jesus, too. And there may have been a language barrier but there wasn’t a faith barrier.

Ukraine was a significant trip too. The Christians we encountered there at the border who were escaping and leaving their husbands behind, not knowing if they would ever see grandparents, husbands, dads again. And then we’d start hearing the stories of how the Lord was using a war and an invasion of a country to bring people to faith. I’ll go to my grave thinking about that.

You’ve been making 26-minute radio programs every weekday for the past 25 years. Now that you’ve gone emeritus, what will a day in the life of Charles Morris start to look like?

Well, I still have projects I’m working on for Haven, primarily the Amazing Grace movie which we’re working on to get out the door. The book is published, but the movie still has to be finished and released.

But, you know, I don’t like the word retirement. It’s hard to get to the point where you’ve worked so many years, so many hours, and just stop. I mean, for many years I’d start at six in the morning, work even more after dinner, and still put in a full day on Saturdays. Three or four more hours Sunday after church, too. Because, as my predecessor the late Ray Ortlund warned me, it’s a freight train that’s always moving. And it’s always moving until you jump off. And I’m jumping off. But I’m not finished yet.

The wonderful thing is we get to serve Christ until the day they die. The Lord will always keep bringing tasks into our lives. Our work on earth is never done until he calls us home. And that’s the joy of following Jesus. That alone is our full time job, whether you’re working and paid to do that or not.

What is your prayer for Haven Ministries now and in the future?

That as technology changes, we will be able to reach more people than ever before.

As I leave, Haven is on more radio stations than we’ve ever been on in the history of the ministry. But there are still people who need to be reached with grace. I pray that we would be able to continue the broadcast with the gospel and reach more people through new technologies that I can’t even envision – to share the risen Christ. The only answer to all problems, to all issues, and to all darkness is Jesus.

What is your prayer for Haven’s many listeners and readers?

I pray to see Christ reign in the lives of more people everywhere. That every day they would hear the words of Jesus, and respond to Jesus speaking to them. For those who don’t know Christ and those who do know Christ, every day may they hear the Savior say, “Come to me … and I’ll give you rest.” Just unpack that from the gospels. That would be my prayer.

With a reach of over 500,000 people a day, it’s often hard to visualize who is listening. We want you to meet Louise Farmer, a listener and supporter of Haven Ministries. Just like you, her partnership helps provide hope to a troubled world.

As you think about how Haven has blessed you over the past twelve months, will you consider making your year end gift before December 31?

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Your Year End Gift to Haven

Since 1934, Haven Ministries has existed to be exactly what our name suggests — a Christ-focused refuge that offers hope for a troubled world. With conflict and uncertainty raging high in our world, what we really need is the hope of Jesus.

Today, we are asking friends of Haven Ministries to help us fulfill this mission by raising $745,127 by the end of the year. Will you give now to help us finish strong?

Your partnership today allows Haven to be a beacon of hope for hundreds of thousands of people. Thank you so much for your generosity to provide . . .

• Hope by radio over 650+ stations in North America
• Hope in the hands of 14,000 devotional readers
• Hope throughout Cuba and the Spanish speaking world

Haven Ministries is part of an 81-year legacy that began under the leadership of radio host Paul Myers. Known as First Mate Bob on the air, he encouraged listeners for decades on the radio program called Haven of Rest (now called HAVEN Today). Learn more about our history.

Recently, we thought it would be fascinating to dig up an old “Log of the Good Ship Grace,” an update First Mate Bob wrote regularly, about what Christians can look forward to when World War II would finally be over. And we weren’t disappointed.

This is a word-for-word transcription of what First Mate Bob wrote in 1944, just one year before the end of World War II. He was writing to a war-torn nation, but I think you’ll find that the words he wrote 71 years ago continue to be true for each of us today.

Post-War!

By First Mate Bob

When will that be? Looking back across the sum total of human history we can find comparatively few years when there has been peace. Yet today our radio broadcasts, our newspapers and magazines are full of plans both social and economic, designed to create what man has never been able to bring about, namely: a post-war Utopia, devoid of armed conflict, and providing perfect living conditions for all peoples.

One school of post-war thought lays emphasis upon the economic problem of tomorrow. Its exponents declare that our main efforts should be directed toward worldwide stabilization of currency. They talk glibly of “reconversion to consumer-goods production,” and “resumption of world trade on a far more gigantic scale.” Will a planned readjustment to “economic stability” solve the problems of such a world as this, or is our need deeper than that? We now have more than forty million people in war industries. Many of these have had their standards of money and living distorted all out of proportion. There will be a “bottle-neck” when peace comes which will make a wartime traffic jam mild by comparison. How about rebuilding “small business” which has been wrecked by the war?

Another school of thought sees the “social problem” as being the greatest task which will confront us in the post-war era. We are told on every hand that we must first rebuild bombed cities and homes, clothe and feed starving millions of devastated nations. After this, a world-wide police force must be set up to prevent war-minded nations from arming themselves and slaughtering their neighbors. But how about rebuilding American home life? What sort of social planning must we have to recreate the form of family life upon which this nation was founded? How about the “factory orphans” and the juvenile delinquency which has resulted in the most perplexing problem our law enforcement agencies have ever known?

Certainly, the economic and social problems are many and staggering. Millions of people have been pulled up by their roots, physically and mentally, perhaps never to be re-established. Mere social and economic planning alone will not suffice in the bewildered world of tomorrow, for we are face-to-face with sinister forces at work throughout the world today, which defy the cunning of mere man. History’s greatest disasters, hatred and wars have marked our generation. One by one, nations have fallen and disappeared, having been snuffed out like lights.

The old order of things is disappearing and a new one is taking its place. What this will turn out to be, no one knows. Everywhere one hears the expressed opinion that this war is caused by the clash of ideologies and theories of government, such as Fascism, Nazism and Communism. These are not first causes, but are, rather, the results and the produced effects of spiritual wickedness.

The main problem of today is a spiritual one. Something is going on in the world at this moment of history which the post-war planners have failed to take into consideration. There is an invisible, evil power with secret agents everywhere. It has been organized into “principalities” and “powers,” and these agencies are more powerful than the combined forces of men. The best minds of humanity are helpless against these rulers of the darkness of this world.

Satan, “the prince of this world,” has blinded the minds of men, and has organized their campaigns of hatred against God and His people and every preacher, minister and evangelist. We in radio Gospel broadcast have but recently felt the furious attack of this spiritual fifth column. No human power can successfully plan and execute a program to prevent the ravages of these devastating forces of destruction. No social or political philosophy can stem the rising tide of evil. This old world is rushing toward Armageddon, driven by unseen agencies. All of the plans and schemes of earth’s brilliant intellects which reckon without God and His supernatural power to help, are but feeble futile efforts.

All about us today are the unmistakable signs of the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ to this world. Surely before long, the kingdoms of this earth will become the Kingdom of our God and His Son, Christ. Remember the words of Jesus to His embattled church, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) This promise is soon to be fulfilled. “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” (Dan. 7:27)

How about your own personal “post-war planning?” Are you prepared to live in the kingdom that is to come? Have you made intelligent and adequate preparation? Your citizenship in God’s “new-world order” will depend upon what you do with His Son, Christ Jesus, here and now. If you do not crown Him King of your life now, you will never take your place among those who are to rule and reign with Him. Mercy’s gates are still open, but soon they will close. Today, open your heart to Him.

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Founded in 1934, Haven Ministries has always had a simple mission: to tell the world all about Jesus. Today, the daily broadcast—called HAVEN Today—airs on more than 650 stations in North America and around the world with a daily listenership of over 500,000.

Like Paul Myers—Haven’s first speaker—Charles Morris started his career on radio. In this brief intro, Charles tells his story and reveals the origin of Haven’s famous tagline: “Telling the great story … it’s all about Jesus.”

This year, Haven Today celebrates 80 years since its founder, a radio personality, first found Christ and started a program seeking to give its listeners the only rest there is: eternal rest for the here, now, and hereafter. Many of you remember listening to Paul Myers, or the three following speakers of Haven: Paul Evans, Ray Ortlund, and now, Charles Morris. Here we have Peggy Campbell, president of Ambassador, recalling her lifelong story with Haven. 

I still remember the day Jon and I met Charles and Janet Morris. At the time, Charles was being invited to consider joining Haven Today—it’s hard to believe that’s been well over a decade ago!

I have heard my parents recount the story of Haven’s remarkable founding many times—a once well-known radio personality whose life ended up in shambles, coming to Christ in a hotel room with a Gideon’s Bible. A homeless alcoholic, Paul Myers was transformed spiritually—and just a month after his salvation, the Haven of Rest with First Mate Bob was launched.

It was my own privilege to know the two speakers who preceded Charles—our beloved hosts Ray Ortlund and Paul Evans. Their ability to bring inspiration each day, woven between musical selections, made Haven one of the staples of Christian radio. The music of the Haven Quartet filled our home as it did the airwaves for more than seven decades. The artistry of the Quartet and a variety of remarkably talented musicians—men such as Paul Sandberg, Truitt Ford, Steve Ragsdale and others—brought encouragement more times than I could say.

Even the Haven building for many years was memorable—I recall meeting with the ministry in its iconic ship-shaped (literally) building in Los Angeles (sold long ago) … and, of course, the classic ship’s-bell opening that was part of the program for many, many years.

When you arrive at 80 years of history, it seems most appropriate to do some reflecting. And that’s exactly what you’ll be hearing on Haven this week as Charles looks back at God’s grace over eight decades.

At the same time, let me just say that there’s no time like the present either. I’m so glad that Haven hasn’t depended on the past to empower its future. Led by Charles Morris, this ministry that is all about Jesus is continuing to provide vibrant, timely, biblical content every day. Haven Today is just that!

So enjoy reflecting on God’s providence. And then let’s give thanks together that as great as the past has been … we’re looking to a future impact in even greater dimensions!

Want to learn more about Haven’s history? Check out an early film we found of First Mate Bob and the Haven Quartet. And then listen to song clips of the Haven Quartet’s best-selling album: A Cappella.