A Word With You

Not many parents can sleep real soundly until they know their children are in for the night. At our house, we asked our kids - big teenage guys to stop by our room no matter how late it was and just say, "Hey, we're here." Sometimes they get delayed, or sometimes they're in a situation where they couldn't call. And it's natural, I think, for a mom or a dad to be anxious until they can get a fix on where their kids are, and the great time of relief is when they come in the door and we know everything's okay. Right? I guess some of the most beautiful words in the English language are, "Mom, Dad, I'm home." Maybe you know a child who's way overdue. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Mom, Dad, I'm Home." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 7, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 12. "As Jesus approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out; the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. Now, a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, 'Don't cry.' Then He went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying stood still." This is truly a dramatic moment here. "He said, "Young man, I say to you, 'Get up!'" The dead man sat up and began to talk. And Jesus gave him back to his Mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God." That's a powerful story! And the most touching words of all for me are these, "And Jesus gave him back to his Mother." You know, Jesus is still in the business of giving children back to their parents, even when it appears hopeless they'll ever come back. Maybe you or someone you know has a son or a daughter who's away right now; spiritually, emotionally, physically. My word of encouragement is this simple word from the Lord. He's still in the business of giving children back to their parents. I don't know, for some reason, I just thought that this day should be the time when we should talk about this for someone who needs that little word of encouragement. Maybe you know better than I do why we're talking about this today. Sometimes maybe it seems like your prayers just are not being answered for the one you love. But remember, much of God's work is invisible. Like plants getting ready to sprout and come out, and flowers blooming in the spring. We don't see anything going on all winter, looks like nothing is going on under the ground. But God is at work all the time. Much that God is doing to bring that child home, you can't see. But you'd better believe it's going on under the ground where you can't see it. Secondly, the hound of heaven - the Holy Spirit - pursues that child wherever he goes. They can get away from you; they can't get away from Him. Thirdly, open arms do more than open mouths to bring kids home. Sometimes we can talk too much and push them so hard we actually push them away from the Lord. The Father of the prodigal son didn't chase the son. He just kept his arms open for him to come home. And then fourthly, remember God does answer prayer. Release that child again to the Lord. Don't try to do God's job of changing that child's heart. I understand that John Newton, the writer of Amazing Grace said his conversion came in a storm at sea with a mast crashing down on him as he cried, "My Mother's God save me!" And her prayers were answered. Continue to claim that child for Jesus Christ. Do not give up! "Be not weary in well doing, for in due season you will reap if you do not give up!" Jesus is still in the business of bringing kids home to their parents and home to Him. Because of His love, I believe one day you will hear, "Mom... Dad... I'm home."

My friend, Alan, was working with a carpenter friend of his on a building project. Out of the blue, Alan sprang this rather unusual question on the carpenter, "Do you know what the most powerful nails in the world are?" The craftsman paused on his ladder for a moment and then he said, "I don't know. US Steel?" Alan said, "No. The strongest nails in the world are the three nails that held Jesus Christ on His cross." Well, then Alan just walked into the other room. A few minutes later, the carpenter called for Alan. He said, "Man, you've got to help me. Every time I drive a nail now, it's like I'm nailing Jesus to the cross." My friend said, "Well, in a way, we did." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Strongest Nails in the World." For some people, Jesus' death on the cross is just history. For others, it's a religious event. To some of us, the brutal death of Jesus on that Roman cross is a deeply personal event. I hope it is for you, or soon will be. Galatians 2:20 is our word for today from the Word of God, and in it there are two words that are literally life-changing. Actually, eternity-changing. They're the difference between someone who has Christianity and someone who has Christ; between someone who has a Christian religion and someone who has a personal relationship with Jesus. Ultimately, these two words are actually the difference between heaven and hell. Galatians 2:20 - "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." There are the two words: "for me." One of my associates was on a plane with a man in his 30s who talked pretty openly about his years of spiritual searching. He said that as a young man he moved beyond his boyhood church and began experimenting with a buffet of spiritual beliefs and experiences. Nothing seemed to satisfy the restlessness in his heart. Then one day he came back to visit the church he grew up in. Here's what he said: "As soon as I walked in the door, I saw something I'd seen hundreds of times as a boy - the cross at the front of the church. But suddenly I was overwhelmed with something I had never realized before, and I said out loud, "For me. What Jesus did on that cross was for me." He said his search ended that day, and the hole in his heart was finally filled. My guess is that you know about Jesus dying on the cross. You know He died there to pay for our sins maybe. But you somehow may have missed that life-changing moment when, in your heart, you walk up to that cross and say those words, "For me, Jesus. What you're doing there is for me." When my friend said that in a way we all did help nail Jesus to the cross, he was right. Because it's our rebellion against God and against His ways, all our "my way" choices that left us cut off from God and under His death penalty until Jesus came and did all the dying for all our sinning. And in reality, it wasn't the nails that kept Him on the cross. After all, He's the Son of God! No, it was His deep love for you that kept Him there 'till your bill was fully paid with His life. If you've never had your "for me" moment with Jesus, it could be this very day right now and right where you are. Would you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm taking for myself what you died to give me. You paid for my sin so I don't have to. You died for my sin so I don't have to. Now I embrace you as my Savior; as the new driver of my life. I'm taking you for me." Hey, our website is there to encourage you and help you make sure you've begun this relationship. Go there, spend just a few minutes at ANewStory.com. This could be your moment. This could be your day to finally make the Savior...your Savior.

On a visit to the home area where my wife grew up, she took me to this picturesque spot along the beautiful river there. When she was a little girl, she and her whole family went swimming there with the pastor of their church and his wife. That little patch of river became the scene of a dramatic rescue that afternoon. The pastor almost drowned and my father-in-law jumped in and literally saved this pastor's life. I learned recently that that pastor was one of four people that my father-in-law saved from drowning in his life. He got very serious about that when he told me the reason why. He told me about a time when he was a boy, and he literally watched two young girls drown in a river before he even knew how to swim. Immediately after that he learned to swim and to rescue drowning people. You know what motivated him? I'll tell you what, in his own words, he said, "I saw someone I couldn't rescue and I decided, right then, that it would never happen again." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Rescue Ready." Our word for today from the Word of God, 1 Peter 3:15 - "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." Did you get those words? "Always be prepared!" to explain that hope that you found in Jesus. So, do you feel prepared to do that, always? Why is it so important? Because of God's command. Proverbs 24:11 says, "Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering towards slaughter." If you know Jesus, you know those about-to-die people it's talking about. You know who they are. Listen to Jesus' words in John 3:36 - "Whoever believes in the Son (that's Him) has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life." That's people you know, and it says about them, "God's wrath remains on him." My father-in-law saw dying people he couldn't rescue, so he made up his mind, in his words, "to never let that happen again." He did what he had to do to learn how to be a rescuer, and he saved four lives as a result. People who are spiritually lost don't know they're dying, but you know it if you believe what Jesus said about heaven and hell. How many times have you felt like you should have said something about your Savior but you just weren't ready and another spiritually drowning person slipped beyond your grasp? You can't do anything about those missed opportunities, and we all have a lot of those. I do. But you can make up your mind that you're going to do what you have to do to be ready for rescuing from now on. "Like what?" you say. Like thinking through how you would explain what Jesus did in the kind of non-religious words that a lost person would understand. Talk about life's most important relationship, not a religion! I encourage people to present Christ this way. There's a relationship you're created to have. Colossians 1:16 - "All things were created by Him and for Him." But it's a relationship you don't have because of your sin; you running your life instead of God running it. Isaiah 59:2, "Your sins have separated you from your God." But it's a relationship you can have because of what Jesus did on the cross by paying the death penalty. And 1 Peter 3:18 talks about Him dying in your place. And it's a relationship you must choose. That's all in John 3:16 - "God loved the world so much He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." But put their name in that verse. You also get ready for rescue when you think through your personal Jesus-story - your Hope Story. How is your life different because of Jesus? They want to know what the difference is that Jesus makes. Finally, pray daily for God to give you a natural opportunity to talk about your relationship with Jesus. Get yourself ready. We've let enough drowning people go. We've got to get ready for rescuing. Who knows how many people may live forever because you were ready!

My friend, Nathan, was on the 61st floor of Tower Two that September day when a hijacked jetliner flew into the World Trade Center. I interviewed him for a broadcast, and I was pretty deeply moved by the story Nathan told. He was coming out of the restroom when he remembers seeing a piece of burning paper floating by the window. That was his first hint of the horror that was to follow. As people began to realize they might be in danger, they did what my friend did - they headed for the stairwell. Nathan's account took me right into those stairwells, ultimately jammed with screaming people, through the terror of first the smoke starting to fill the stairwell and then finally the quake when a plane hit their building. Our friend finally made it to the soot-covered lobby, and that's where he saw the faces he said he would never forget. He told me, "I started seeing some of the rescue workers for the first time heading toward the stairwells and directing us out. You can still remember the looks on some of those faces. They were looking just as scared as I was, I'm sure. They're some of the people that helped save my life, and they never made it out themselves." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Only Hope Of Making It Out." My friend told me he'll be forever grateful to those rescuers who gave their lives so people like him didn't have to. He literally owes his life to them. I wasn't at the World Trade Center that awful day. But I understand a little of how my friend feels about those rescuers because I know someone who gave His life so I don't have to die. I owe my life to Him. He's the Son of God. His name is Jesus. He rescued me. He wants to rescue you if you'll let Him. Just before Jesus' arrival on earth, his earthly father, Joseph, was given instructions from heaven about this baby who would soon be born. In it - even before the Son of God spent His first day as one of us - His rescue mission was announced. It's in our word for today from the Word of God, Matthew 1:21 says, "You are to give Him the name Jesus (that means deliverer or rescuer), because He will save His people from their sins." Save. That's what those courageous rescuers did for my friend. They saved him from a deadly situation he could not get himself out of. That's what Jesus came to do for you and me. Our deadly situation isn't a burning or a collapsing building; it's the eternal death penalty that the Bible says is what our sin will cost. We have hijacked the control of our life from the eternal God who made us and that has eternal deadly consequences - eternal separation from God. But God loves you more than you can imagine. That's why He sent His one and only Son into our "collapsing building," up the stairwell to rescue us. And Jesus' death on that cross was the moment when He was taking the hell that you and I deserve. He was dying so you don't have to. Today, Jesus has come to where you are to bring you out. But He's your personal Rescuer only if you personally reach out and grab His hand as your only hope of getting out. As you reach out to Him and say, "Jesus, I have no hope of getting out from under the penalty of my sin but what You did on the cross to take it for me. No religion can get me to heaven. No amount of goodness can get me to heaven. I can't get me there. I need a Rescuer, and Jesus, you are my Rescuer beginning today. I pin all my hopes on you." Let me ask you, let me urge you, to go to our website - ANewStory.com. Because right there you will have all the information you will need to confirm that you really belong to Jesus Christ and you are rescued. I am a man who owes my life to the Man who brought me out at the highest possible cost to Him. He wants to do that for you. He laid down His life to rescue you, my friend. Please don't live - please don't die - without Him.

Let's take a look at Nemoria arizonaria. I'm sure you were just talking about him at lunch, right? It's a caterpillar! That's what a lot of us know him as. Now, some caterpillars are born in the spring and some are born in the summer. The spring bunch I understand, eat oak catkins. That's the dangling flowers on an oak tree. And within days, guess what? They look as fuzzy as their meal was that they ate just a few days ago. Oh, let's take the summer bunch now. They eat smooth leaves because that's what's out then. Would you believe it? They become smooth caterpillars. It's amazing! Caterpillars exemplify that old adage, "You are what you eat." They literally are. That doesn't mean you're going to begin to look like your lunch I hope. That's a scary thought. But in another way, the caterpillar dynamic is happening to you. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Healthy Diet, Healthy Heart." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Philippians 4:8. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." That's dietary advice. You think it's not about eating? Well it is. It's about what you consume mentally and spiritually; what you allow to come into your mind, your ears, your eyes, your heart. And if it isn't noble, and true, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable, you've got no business listening to it. You have no business dining on it mentally. The Bible says, "As a man thinks in his heart so is he." You are what you eat. That's why Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart. Be careful what you let in there; it's the wellspring of life." Your mind is being programmed and shaped even today by what you hear, what you watch, what you laugh at, and your music. The subtle thing is you don't feel like anything's happening. You don't say, "Oh, I am now being programmed. I am now being influenced." You don't know it. But input is what creates thoughts, and thoughts become fantasies and attitudes. And those attitudes eventually become actions. It's too late then. You can't stop this process. You can't feel it happening, and you can't stop it any more than a caterpillar can say, "I don't want to become bumpy like what I ate." Or, "smooth like what I ate." You keep tuning in to depressing input, and you're going to start to feel a darkness growing inside of you. You keep fueling yourself with bad news about a certain person and all the things that are wrong about them, and you're going to find a growing bitterness and criticism in your spirit. You keep letting in sexually stimulating images, and increasingly it will affect how you view the opposite sex and your own sexuality. See, the media is a lot more than entertainment. It's ideas and it's values wrapped up in bright attractive packages. I've decided I have to fight sin at the door. James 1:15 is so revealing, "After desire has conceived it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full grown gives birth to death." You've got to fight it as a desire. Your most important choices are not so much about your actions; they're about your input. Actions all come from what you eat mentally. For caterpillars and for Christians, diet is destiny.

Full disclosure here. I'm not the guy you want to call when you need a guy to do a job with a hammer. But look, I do know the fundamentals. A hammer can be used to build something, right? Or to tear it down. Either way, what a hammer hits is not going to stay the same. Life's hammers are like that: Losing your job, your health, the one you love most. Those are hammers! And maybe one of those has hit you recently. Or it maybe hit a long time ago but its effects are still there today. And whatever the hammer hits can't possibly stay the same. The only question is whether the blows will build you or tear you down. But the hammer doesn't decide that. We do. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You're Hit With Life's Hammer." Each summer, I travel with a team of young Native Americans who've been hammered all their lives by family violence, sexual violence, addiction, and depression. Most have been to a dozen or more funerals by the time they're 16. But when they talk about their lives with reservation young people like them, they don't sound like victims. Oh, they acknowledge the damage the blows have done. But what they talk about most is hope! Because they made choices that have made them stronger, more compassionate, people of great faith, and they hand out hope wherever they go. We don't get to choose if and when life's hammers hit, but we totally choose what kind of person it's going to make us. Will I let this tenderize my heart or turn it hard? Will I let pain open up my heart or close my heart in fear that I'll get hurt again? Will I let it go, by forgiving and be free, or will I let it grow into a cancer in my soul? Will I let the blows equip me to be a wounded healer for other bleeding people, or is it going to make me one of those hurt people who hurt people? The hole left by my Karen's absence is unfillable. But God has used it to open my heart to Him and to other wounded people as never before. I'm living with His promise, and it's our word for today from the Word of God: "He comforts us in all our troubles so we can comfort others" and "give them the same comfort God has given us" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). When we've been hurt, we can choose to let the hammer turn us inward, putting up walls that say, "Leave me alone." People get that vibe and they oblige, and we end up self-isolated at the very time when we need people the most. On the other hand, if we choose to reach out, we can experience the very flood of love and support that we're going to need to heal. Maybe the worst choice we can make when the hammer hits is to turn our back on God. We go, "why?", and the heavens seem silent. But when we turn our back on God at the very point where we need Him the most, we're turning our back on the only One who can make any sense out of what's happened. Who can bring meaning out of our pain. Who has the hope and the supernatural strength we need to go on. As the Bible promises, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13). Even through the most leveling blow of my life. My Jesus gets it. No one took the blows He did. Literally loving me enough to take the hellish punishment for my sin so I wouldn't have to. And anyone who loved me enough to die for me will never do me wrong. So, yes, I can trust Him. Even when I can't understand Him. I would encourage you, if you've never reached out to Him and begun your relationship with Him, tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." And let me urge you to go to our website and there get all the information you'll need to get this relationship started. It's ANewStory.com. When my son was three years old, we visited the U.S. Capitol. You can imagine how those long, steep stairs looked with little legs. Impossible. But he made it to the top! Not with his strength. With his daddy's. I carried him. Just as Jesus has been carrying me and wants to carry you. He's carried me where I never could have gone without Him. He's waiting to do that for you.

You know, handmade gifts are always the most special. Well, there are better crafted doll houses than the one my daughter got when she was a little girl. But we made it; it's handmade. My wife and I, for better or worse, did it with our own hands. One December we closed the basement and we started hammering and sawing away to build that doll house. There was a sign on the door that said "Do Not Open Till Christmas." That meant the basement. That drove the kids crazy, but we were having a great time doing it. Frankly, my month was crammed. But even though the work we did was often very late and it took quite a few hours, especially since I'm not the neighborhood handyman, I enjoyed every minute of working on it. Did I get tired? Yes. Was I too busy to do that doll house? Yes. Was it outside the things I do well? Yes. Was it a pleasure? Yes. Why? Because it was for a little girl I loved very much. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "What Love Does to Work." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 7, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 37. It's the familiar story of the lady who loved Jesus very, very deeply. "When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. And as she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them." Now, there's a discussion by the Pharisee with Jesus as to why she did all of this. And He simply says, "For she loved much." She loves her Master, and she uses everything she can find to serve Him. She kisses His feet. She says, "Wait, I have this perfume. I could use that to express my love for Him, and she breaks open that perfume." She says, "I've got my hair. I can dry His feet with my hair." It's as if she is looking for everything she can use to love Jesus with it. There's a principle here. Work is so different when it's an act of loving worship instead of grudging duty. Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord and not for men." And then it says, "It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Maybe you've just been cranking out your responsibilities lately and it's joyless - drudgery. Maybe those who are around you would testify to hearing more complaining and negative talk lately. It could be you're working for the wrong person. No, no, not for your boss. Don't do it for your boss, your company, your pastor, your church, your ministry, or your teachers. Don't do it for your children even, or your employees. See, work becomes lighter and more joyful when you begin each responsibility by saying, "Lord, I dedicate this everyday chore to You. I love You, and this job I'm doing, I'm doing as an offering to You. I'm giving it my best. I'm doing it for you, Jesus." A woman in this story used everything she could find to love Jesus. It's a beautiful picture - grabbing everything you do as something with which to love your Master. You're busy, tired, maybe feeling inadequate, like I did when I built that doll house. But it was for someone I really loved. Do your work for someone you really love. You may not love your work, but it makes a difference when you do your work for love.

Three feet of snow! That was a weather record I didn't really want to participate in. But, sure enough, we woke up that cold New Jersey morning to three feet of snow that had literally buried the metropolitan New York area. Even New York, the city that never sleeps, had been effectively shut down by the storm. Our little guy really wanted to go out in the snow that blanketed our backyard. So we bundled him up and we watched as he ventured out into that white stuff. And he promptly disappeared! I went out after him and, as short as I am, I just about disappeared myself. It took quite a while for that snow to become manageable and for life to get back to normal. And it wasn't the last snow dump of the winter. But for those of us who have lived through some pretty long and tough winters, there is one word that sustains us through it all. You know the word: spring.

If you're a teenager, it's got to be one of the ugliest sentences in the English language. You ready? "You're grounded!" Or if you're a traveler who flies very much, it's not a very nice word for you either. "All flights have been grounded." And if you're a Christian, it's not a fun word either. But there's a way to be grounded without being ground under. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hope When You're Grounded." Our word for today from the Word of God comes to us from somebody who was really grounded. I'm in Philippians 1:13, and the Apostle Paul is in prison. It is not his choice, of course. It is, however, his new assignment from the Lord. He is there for reasons he doesn't deserve to be. He has been following Christ, serving Christ, and he is there on trumped up charges. But listen to his perspective. He says, "As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ." Paul had a lot of assignments in his life, a lot of places God sent him to minister, a lot of places to preach, a lot of enemies to oppose. But this was probably the toughest assignment the Apostle Paul ever had - to be in chains. But look how he put it. "I am in chains for Christ." Now listen, it's a lot easier and a lot more fun to be in charge for Christ. And most of his life Paul had been in charge, but now he's in chains. He's used to being the one who makes it happen wherever he goes, and now he's in a situation where it appears he can make nothing happen. He's chained all day to one of the Praetorian guards. He can't see the people he loves. He can't be with the people he's reached for Christ. He can't go and witness, he can't stay and preach a sermon to people who need to know what Christ has done. Maybe you know something about being in chains yourself. You've been, well, we could say, grounded by the Lord. Oh, they may not be the chains of a prisoner - they could be the chains that have been imposed by an illness or the limitations imposed by finances or by having to wait or by any kind of circumstances that are beyond your control. Can I share with you how Paul was in chains for Christ, because I think you can be that way in your chains for Christ. First of all, trust the One who gives you the assignment. He's assigned you to this limited playing field. So, trust Him. Number two - look for the ways that God can use your inactivity. Paul found that the gospel was advanced right into Caesar's throne room through the guards that he was chained to. When my wife was grounded with hepatitis for nine months in bed, she said it cleansed her schedule, gave her a chance to get closer to the Lord, to be a witness from her bed to the grace of God when an active woman is down. She looked for the ways that God could use your inactivity. Number three, remember your mission is the same wherever you are. Oh your surroundings change, your situation changes, but your mission - your assignment - never does. Paul says in this passage "It served to advance the gospel." Well, that's your mission wherever you are...to advance the gospel. It's the same whether you're in charge or you're in chains. It's the reason you're there. And fourthly, capture your environment for Christ. That's what Paul did. He said, "Well, I'm going to make this a Jesus' place, even though it's not the place I'd like to be." To be in chains is a burden. But to be in chains for Christ gives your chains meaning. You may be grounded, but you can be grinning too.

Seven years of junior high band concerts. Yep, that was the special joy Karen and I had since all three of the Hutchcraft kids were in junior high band. Oh, it wasn't always a supreme musical experience, but hey, it's our kids, right? Let's imagine you have never heard of the brilliant composer Ludwig von Beethoven before. And I say to you, "Beethoven was a genius. His music is some of the most beautiful ever written." You're a little skeptical because you've never heard any of his music, but I suggest a way you could remedy that. See, the junior high band is having a concert this week, and they're performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony. So you go, and you come back to me and you say, "I thought you said this Beethoven guy was a genius! I just heard his music. It wasn't brilliant!" Now what's the problem here? It isn't Beethoven - it's the way the band played his music. Just because they don't play his music well doesn't mean the man who wrote the music wasn't a genius! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hypocrite Hang-up." I've devoted my life to telling people about the Genius who can harmonize our lives, who wrote the music that's supposed to guide everything we do. His name is Jesus. But many people - maybe you - can't bring themselves to a point where they'll put their trust in Jesus Christ to be their own personal Savior from their personal sin. And one of the biggest reasons? Christians who are hypocrites. That's why I'm so glad for today's word for today from the Word of God, where Jesus clarifies what, and who, is the real issue in this whole Christian thing. Mark 2:14, our word for today from the Word of God, "As Jesus walked along, He saw Levi sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow Me', Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him." Jesus sums up here the central decision we all have to make by issuing a clear, two-word invitation that He gave to so many people: "Follow Me." Jesus basically is saying, "I'm the issue. Your decision is about me." He repeated that invitation so many times when He was on earth. And listen, He's done it millions of times since then and I think He's extending it to you today. As for those Christians who aren't a very good advertisement - well, they're like that junior high band trying to play the Beethoven symphony. Unfortunately, some of us don't play Jesus' music very well. But it has nothing to do with Jesus. He's still the Genius who forgives our failures, who loves us with a "never leave you" love. He promised, "I'll never leave you." And who can take us to heaven when we die because He walked out of his grave and conquered death. Jesus never said, "Follow My followers." He never said, "Follow My leaders," or "Follow My religion" or "Follow My rules." He said, "Follow Me." The only reason not to be a Christian is if you have something against Jesus. And there wasn't a trace of hypocrisy in Him. All that's going to matter when you keep your appointment with God is what you did with Jesus, God's one and only Son who died on the cross to pay...not for His sins, but for yours. Honestly, there's just no place to hide when it comes to Jesus. Either you commit yourself to this Man who died for you or you turn your back on Him and you walk away. It's all about Jesus. And maybe you're ready to surrender all the baggage that has kept you from experiencing His love for yourself. Forget all those people that in your mind are between you and Him. It's Jesus and you, because it's Jesus you're trusting, not Christianity, not Christians. Maybe you're ready to begin this relationship you were created for. I hope you are. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours. You died for me. You're alive and I'm giving myself to You." And then, would you go to our website? I've laid out there how to be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com. On Judgment Day, it will just be you and Jesus. Today it's you and Jesus. There's an old hymn that puts it this way: "What will you do with Jesus? Neutral you cannot be. For someday your heart will be asking, 'What will He do with me?'"

So this friend of mine pulled out his wallet and said, "Ron, can I show you my pride and joy?" And he did. There was a picture of a little dusting compound called Pride and a dishwashing detergent called Joy. So, here were these two household items. I was fully expecting to see his children, but then, of course, I have strange friends. Actually, most people do produce a picture of their children or their grandchildren when they say, "Would you like to see my pride and joy?" That's the way it should be. But if we were to judge our greatest source of joy from the time we spend on things, maybe we should put a picture of our desk and say, "Here's my pride and joy, or our house, or our car. Or, "Here's a picture of my paycheck" or my name being in print. Or, "Here's my sporting equipment for what I spend so much of my time doing." Maybe we need to stop and evaluate what really is our greatest fulfillment factor... or what should be. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Greater Joy." Now, our word for today from the Word of God. We're in the book of 3 John. Yes, Virginia, there is a third John after first and second John. And if you would like to read a book of the Bible pretty quickly, well you've got your choice right here. There are only about 13 or 14 verses in 3 John. So look it up! I'm reading to you from the fourth verse. It says: "I have no greater joy..." John says, okay, here's his pride and joy. Can you imagine him pulling out his wallet and saying, "Okay, I'm going to show you my pride and joy"? "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." We know that John here was talking about his spiritual children. But he was saying that the greatest fulfillment factor I have in my life is to know they're walking in the truth. Notice he didn't say it's that they know the truth or they're giving the right answers, or that they're quoting the truth. He says, "They're walking around in it. They're living it." Now, if you're a parent as I am, you need to remember that God's value system puts the highest priority on the spiritual welfare of your children. How are they doing? Are they walking in the ways of Jesus? That's one way to find out how you're doing as a follower of Christ. Could it be that something else has replaced your children - pushed them to the edge a little bit? You didn't mean for it to happen. You're not even aware of it; it has been subtle. But somehow something has edged out your children as your main fulfillment factor. It could be your career. Maybe it's education or pursuing some goal in that area. Maybe it's just in improving your lifestyle. You're trying to do it for your kids, of course. But somehow it's taking so much time that your kids are crowded out. Maybe it's even church work that has left your kids virtual orphans a lot of the time. Remember, somebody else could do that job at work - that job at church. It might be a very noble goal you're pursuing, but you are the only daddy. You are the only mommy they will ever really have. And they will reflect the amount of investment you have placed in them spiritually. No greater joy than them? Is it your greatest investment to see that you're doing all you can to see that your children walk in truth: Time to pray together, to apply the Bible together, to serve Christ together, to talk about Christian values, to talk about a Christian lifestyle together? They are your greatest responsibility, don't let anything else take their place. They're supposed to be your greatest fulfillment. And, I hope, your very greatest joy.

I have to confess, I didn't exactly go storming into the Computer Age. I was sort of carried into it. Yeah, you know, back in the days when I was getting into that world, I was returning from my first trip to an Indian reservation, and I had a heart full that I wanted to write into a report. So, as usual in those days, I pulled out my trusty pen and paper and handwrote my report. It took the whole trip from Arizona to New Jersey. Well, after one of my friends read my report, he called my wife and said, "I don't want Ron wasting any more time writing things like this by hand. He has to get a computer." My wife agreed, but she indicated we didn't have the funds to get a computer. My doctor friend said, "That doesn't matter. I intend to buy a computer for him!" I was stunned, and shortly thereafter, the owner of a wonderful personal computer. Ever since then, what a difference, huh? I mean that's greatly impacted my life! I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Biggest Spiritual Mistake In the World." I couldn't have afforded to buy a computer. The only way I got one was that someone who cared about me gave it to me as a gift. Had I tried to pay my friend for it, had I tried to work for my friend to earn it somehow, it would have no longer been a gift. Right? Tragically, most of the religious people on this planet are making the mistake of trying to earn from God what He says we can only have as a gift. In fact, I believe that's why so many people observe their religion's ceremonies, attend their religion's meetings, and try to live by their religion's rules. They are trying to earn eternal life in heaven by doing good things and being good people. And it's a good thing to live a good life, but it's a deadly thing to depend on your good life to get you into heaven. That's the message of much of the Bible, including our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 6:23. God says, "The wages of sin is death." In other words, what we get paid for running our own lives is spiritual death--eternal separation from God. That's the bad news. But then God says, "But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Now, notice - eternal life isn't the reward of God that we earn with a good life. It's the gift of God which we cannot possibly earn. We can earn hell; we can't earn heaven. In fact, God says in Ephesians 2:8-9, "It is by grace (which that's undeserved love) you have been saved. It is the gift of God - not by works..." Could it be any plainer? We can't get to heaven by Protestant works, or Catholic works, or Jewish works, or Moslem works, or Buddhist works, or Hindu works. God couldn't make it any clearer. It's not by works! The computer my friend gave me could have only been mine if someone else paid for it. The heaven you want to go to when you die can only be yours if someone else pays the death penalty for your sin - and someone did! Jesus, God's only Son! All I could do to get what my friend had purchased was to accept it. All you could do to have the eternal life Jesus purchased with His life is to accept it. So the eternity-deciding question is this, "Has there ever been a time when you have told Jesus, 'Lord, You are my only hope of having my sins forgiven...of going to heaven when I die. I'm turning from the running of my own life and I'm welcoming You into my life right now - the One who died for me, the One who walked out of His grave under His own power. I know, Jesus, you have the power to change me. I know you love me enough to have paid for my sin. I'm putting all my trust in you.'" If your trust is in anything else - including your religion or your goodness - you'll never see heaven. Only Jesus can take you there. So tell Him right now. Put your total trust in Him. Tell Him you're putting your trust in Him today. Our website is there to help you be sure you belong to Him. That's reason enough to go there isn't it? It's ANewStory.com. Look, you'll never be able to earn heaven. It's a gift - one that God's Son paid for with His life. But the gift won't be yours until you reach out and receive it.

When you live around New York City like I did for 30 years, you take people on lots of tours. We've had friends visit us from all over the country - all over the world - and, of course, they all want to see the sights of New York that they've heard so much about. Well, we got to take many of them to the Statue of Liberty, the late great World Trade Center, Times Square, Broadway, the United Nations, Central Park. And something interesting actually happened to me as I introduced others to the place that I knew so much about and that I'd seen a lot of times. In a sense, I sort of discovered those places for myself in a new way, and I was actually energized by watching their reactions to seeing it all for the first time. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Surprising Secret of Exciting Faith." Those places that I knew so well actually became more special to me when I introduced others to them. Just kind of like what happens when you or I introduce someone to the Savior we've known for so long. That's why Paul prayed what he did in Philemon verse 6, our word for today from the Word of God. Interesting verse. Here's what he said, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." Now there are a lot of reasons to tell people about the life and the love that you found in Jesus Christ, not the least of which is that their eternity depends on them understanding what Jesus did on the cross for them. But here Paul gives a reason we may not think much about or we don't hear much about, and that is that in sharing your relationship with Christ you actually begin to really understand your relationship with Christ as you never did before. If you remain silent about Jesus, you can just coast along in a comfortable but shallow spiritual rut. But once you step up to your responsibility to get this life-saving message to the people around you, something awakens in your own soul. You have to find ways to explain what Jesus did without all that religious vocabulary which I call "Christianese." And that vocabulary that we use so casually, allows us to believe without thinking a lot about it. We just kind of agree with the words. But as you struggle to explain a relationship with Christ to someone else who doesn't know all those words, you actually start to better understand that relationship yourself. It's like me taking tours of where I lived - it becomes more special to me as I tell someone else about it. As I see the wonder of someone else discovering what I discovered a long time ago. When you tell others about Jesus, He starts to mean even more to you. And if you're like most believers, you're actually missing this life-changing, faith-expanding experience. Surveys show that up to 90% of Christians never talk about their relationship with Jesus Christ. Which means 90% are missing what Paul calls "a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." And the lost folks in their circle of influence are likely to go into a Christless eternity, an unthinkable eternity because of the silence of the Christian they knew. Please don't let that be you. It's time to start blowing the lid off our relationship with Jesus by telling people about that relationship - about explaining it to others! Because when you show someone else this Jesus that you know, He'll mean more to you than He's ever meant before!

Our family has gone into New York City at times when we lived in that area with some blankets and food and gifts for homeless people, but we had to find them in order to meet them. Sometimes, they were in a park; other times they were under or near a viaduct or overpass. One night we found a little village of homeless people on a vacant lot next to the bus depot with their makeshift shelters against the back wall of the depot. I remember the time that I interviewed a homeless man on the street. I wanted to get his story out to people through my radio program. He actually let me crawl right into that large cardboard box that he called home. I guess when you're homeless you seek shelter and warmth wherever you can find it. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Homeless In Your Heart." Now, it's possible to have a place - maybe a beautiful place - to go home to every night and still know deep feelings of homelessness in your heart. Like you've never really found the emotional home, the spiritual home you've always wanted to experience, you've always been looking for. It's not for lack of trying. When your heart is looking for home, you seek shelter and warmth in lots of places, some of which may have actually made you feel more homeless than ever. Maybe you've looked for that peace and security and acceptance in some close relationships, even in marriage. But the restlessness, the emptiness is still there. It could be that you've sought the shelter of building up a lot of financial security or lots of strokes and approval from people, maybe in your job performance, or even in your children. But the best you've found is just temporary shelter. After all these years, all these experiences, all these people, it still doesn't feel like you've found home. But you might be close if you're ready to open up to the only One whose love is big enough to finally make you complete and fulfilled and safe. He's the One who created you. Who, according to the Bible, created you "by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). That's why no one but Him can finally fill the hole in your heart. Our word for today from the Word of God is in Isaiah 53:6. It tells us why we have felt homeless all these years. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way." To put it simply, we were created to live God's way. We've decided to live our way. And that's made us lifetime wanderers looking for what only God can give us. But this same passage in the Bible tells us about the incredible love God has for us and what He did to make it possible for us to come home. Speaking of Jesus, the Bible says, "And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity (that's actually the wrongdoing) of us all. He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him." Jesus' suffering and His death on that cross was to pay the death penalty for all our mistakes, all our sins, all our rebellion. So the road home begins at the cross of Jesus when you give Him your homeless heart, when you tell this One who died for you that you are putting your total trust in Him to forgive your sin and connect you to God forever. I'm guessing that God's Holy Spirit is right now, if this is for you, if I'm talking about you, He's making sure you know that this is your moment. As He tugs on your heart, this is your moment to open your heart to the One who can bring you home at last. You want to begin the relationship you were made for? Let it happen today, this love relationship with Jesus Christ. Tell Him that right now, "Jesus, I'm yours." Next step, go to our website and check out the information I have left there to help you begin your relationship with Him. The website is ANewStory.com. You've looked for shelter, you've looked for warmth in a lot of places that turned out to not really be home. Today can be the day when your heart is homeless no more. You are almost home.

Our second child was in college; we had just one left at home. And honestly, I hadn't totally figured out the adjusted grocery needs at our house. I always made sure we had plenty of quick breakfast food around. We needed that because of our crazy lifestyle. And because I hadn't figured out the new math for our new family configuration, I bought way too many donuts or muffins or bagels or whatever a few times. When that happened they sat around a lot longer and they turned a little dry, a little tough, and then they got a little hard. But that's where the microwave comes to the rescue. You pop them in, you warm them up briefly, and what was hard turns soft. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Warm a Hard, Old Heart." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 1, beginning at verse 21: "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to Him. But their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man, and birds, and animals and reptiles." That's a pretty sad testimony here to the downward spiral of people getting away from God. No one starts out real far from God; we go through stages of getting away. The Bible says, "We wander away like sheep." So, first of all, you start thinking confusing thoughts. It says their thoughts became futile, and then your heart gets darker and your heart gets harder. You hardly even realize it. And then you start to get all full of yourself. It says here that they claimed to be wise and became fools. Well pretty soon you end up worshiping earth stuff rather than worshiping the Lord. You didn't mean to get there. You know how it starts? It starts when your heart just begins to get dark and hard. Maybe you could notice that happening to you lately. Now, your actions haven't changed that much, you're still at the meetings, you're singing the songs and you're doing jobs for the Lord. But you get more confused in your thinking and your heart is drying out like my old donuts. You're tougher and you're harder inside. You need to warm up that heart again. How do you do it? Well, the Bible says you do that when you glorify Him as God and give thanks to Him. That's how you keep from having a hard heart. That's the way to soften a brittle heart, to review what God has done for you. Gratitude is the key to attitude. If you're not specifically looking for and saying thanks for all God is doing in your life, your spirit starts to turn sour. Let me suggest a daily thank you agenda. First of all, you start at the cross and just review. Picture yourself there and review what was paid for you and how much you are loved. Then secondly, review the big tapestry that God's been putting together so far in your life. Go back and thank Him for the people, the provisions, the circumstances that He's unfolded so skillfully so far, that He's architected, that He's woven together. It's helpful to look at that big picture that He's been painting. Not just at today's thread, but at the big tapestry. And then, thank Him for His gifts and His interventions in the past 24 hours. Bring your thanks up-to-date. As you get on your knees and you specifically start to review what your Father has done, at the cross, in the tapestry of your life up to this point, and in the last 24 hours, you'll find that toughness, that hardness starting to melt away. Praise and gratitude are like a spiritual microwave. They warm the heart that has gotten hard and they make it soft again.

It was supposed to be a one-hour fishing trip off the coast of South Carolina. For 17-year-old Josh and his 15-year-old friend Troy, it turned out to be a six-day nightmare at sea. When they set out on their little 14-foot Sunfish, they didn't know about the small craft warnings in the area. Within hours, the fierce winds had pulled them out to sea - to a point 111 miles north - well outside of the Coast Guard's search area. They fought to stay alive, eating raw jellyfish and gargling sea water. They were severely sunburned, exhausted and dehydrated. After 48 hours, the Coast Guard announced they were suspending their search and moving from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. But there was this uncle who refused to concede the boys were dead. He's a police officer, so he thinks of rescue. After studying the weather and the currents, he concluded they might be as far as the area where they actually were found. He made sure that fishing vessels in the area were alerted to be looking for the boys. And as they were praying that God would either take them home or take them to heaven, some fishermen spotted them and saved them. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Love That Cannot Let You Go." That's what that uncle had. When everyone else had given up hope of saving those boys, he was looking for a way to do it. He was a rescuer who refused to give up, who would not quit. You have someone who loves you like that - someone who has refused to give up on rescuing you. You say, "Do I need rescuing?" We all do. Because we are paying the price for all the times we've done things our way instead of God's way - all the times we've broken God's laws, all the times we've pushed our Creator to the margins of our life. Isaiah 53:6, our word for today from the Word of God, describes our lostness this way: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). We are paying the price in guilt, and stress, and loneliness, and the bitter consequences of our selfish mistakes. Worse yet, that's only a taste of the ultimate price we'll pay for drifting so far from our home port. If we don't get rescued, we'll end up separated from God and His love forever. That's the penalty for spiritual hijacking - taking over a life that God was supposed to direct. So whether or not you realize the spiritual danger you're in, your only hope is still a rescuer. And there is one - only one. He does not want to leave you lost. Here's how He proved that. He found a way to bring you home, but it cost Him everything. Speaking of Jesus, that statement in Isaiah says, "The Lord has laid on Him the wrongdoing of us all." For Jesus, the road to rescue you led to a cross, and that is where He paid for your sin. Jesus said He leaves the sheep that are already in to "go after the lost sheep." Could that be you today? He's come right to where you are to reach out His hand to you. When you grab His hand, when you grab Him as your only hope, you are rescued. You are headed for the home your heart's been missing your whole life. But you've got to be willing to leave the course that has been taking you away from God and to depend totally on Jesus to make you clean and take you to heaven someday. This could be the day of your rescue. Would you say to Him, "Jesus, I've run my life long enough. I'm ready to turn that over to you. And my only hope of going to heaven, my only hope of ever having my sins forgiven is what you did on the cross and the fact that you are alive and walked out of your grave. I want to invite you to walk into my life this very day." Our website is there for you at a point just like this. So you can be sure you have begun a relationship with Jesus. It's ANewStory.com. See, Jesus really, really loves you. He doesn't want to lose you. He went all the way to a cross to bring you home. Now He's reaching for you to rescue you. Now, while you can, grab His hand.

My wife was one of the most generous people I've ever known. We never had a whole lot to spend on gifts, but somehow she usually found a way to give them. Over the years God has blessed us with some friends who have been very generous with us. They have invited us to get away to their cabin or their cottage or their farm. I can remember occasions where I've been all packed and ready to go and anxious to leave, and my wife hadn't come out yet. I'd go back inside and I'd say, "Honey, what are you doing?" You know where she is? She's rummaging through her gift box or her gift closet, and she would say, "Wait a minute, Honey, I'm looking for a gift." Sure enough she almost always left a gift behind for those friends. She found something of hers that she could give. I can't tell you how many times she did that for a dinner host, for a sick friend, for a new mom. She just left a gift in so many lives. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Leaving a Trail of Gifts." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 1:11. Paul says to the Roman Christians, "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong." Whoa! That reminds me of my Karen! "I want to be with you. And when I am, I'll leave you with a gift." What kind of trail do you leave with the people you touch? It's exciting to live like Paul describes here, consciously asking as you're with a person, "Lord, what spiritual gift could I give him or her? How could I leave this person a little better off than they were before I was with them?" Whether you're on the phone or on the Internet with them, or you're in an appointment, or whether it's a casual contact on social medis, or it's with your mate, or your roommate, or your son or your daughter, or you parents, what kind of gift could I give them on this occasion? I want to impart to you, he said, "some spiritual gift." Too often we look at it the other way, "What gift can they give me?" We go looking to them for some attention, or information, or affection. What connection does this person have that I could use? What promotion could they give me? What money could they give me? Well, this doesn't talk about living for you to impart to me. It's about me imparting to you. Or maybe, you too often impart a gripe instead of a gift. There are some people who just tend to drop bad news or some burden on everybody they meet. You walk away and they are feeling down or suddenly heavier than before you were with them. Because Jesus lives in you, people should feel richer after they have been with you. Do they? What gift could you give them? A word of encouragement maybe, or just to put your arm around them and pray with them if that would be appropriate right now, or a testimony of how God is at work in your life right now that might help them see how He can work in theirs. Maybe you could share with them just something you're thankful for that God has done for you, a God-sighting you've had today, or maybe some good news about a friend instead of bad news, a verse that came alive for you recently. Maybe just give them a chance to laugh when it's been mostly tears. The gifts will differ with the person's need, but your mission - your attitude - should always be "What gift can I leave today?" I remember singing that song "Make me a blessing to someone today." Well, you will be a blessing if you approach folks as a giver and not a taker. I've watched the blessing a person can leave because she was always looking for a gift to give. Why don't you try that as a lifestyle? I think you'll like it, and they'll love it.

Look, whether you're a Yankee or a Confederate at heart, you don't take much joy in what happened at what is called the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy." If you're a Civil War buff, you know that's where the Union Army turned back Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. Some 15,000 Confederate soldiers marched courageously across a field in a very tightly-packed formation, advancing on 40,000 Union soldiers. Only 150 of those Southern soldiers made it. General Lee had made an honest but tragic mistake. See, he'd been trained at West Point in Napoleon's war tactics - masses of men, advancing against imprecise, short-range weapons until they could overwhelm the opposing troops in hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately, things had changed since that kind of strategy had won battles for Napoleon. Recent technology of that time had greatly improved the range and the accuracy of the rifles that the Union Army was using, which meant those masses of men were brought down long before they could ever reach enemy lines. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Today's Battles, Yesterday's Weapons." Robert E. Lee, the great general that he was, made the fatal mistake of fighting today's battles with what used to work. You know, a lot of us are still making that fatal mistake when it comes to fighting the battle for which Jesus gave His life - turning people from the death penalty of their sin to the eternal life that only Jesus can give them. When we lose that battle, a soul is lost forever. The message that Jesus died for our sin and came back from the dead to be our living Savior: that message, wow, that never changes. The Good News about Jesus always has been and it always will be the unchanging (in God's words) "power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). That message is always relevant, it's always powerful, it's never to be tampered with or watered down, or compromised. But the methods by which we present His message are always subject to change. And, frankly, many of us haven't changed our methods for a long time. We're still trying to reach people with what used to work. But today's lost people? They don't know the Bible, they don't understand our "Christianese" words we use to explain what Jesus did, they don't ever plan to come to our religious meeting to hear our religious speaker talk on a religious subject in a religious place, which describes a lot of the ways we try to reach them. The Apostle Paul, who never compromised his message, of course, was the same one who said in 1 Corinthians 9:22, our word for today from the Word of God, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." In terms of method, Paul tells us you have to be willing to do whatever it takes, within Biblical boundaries, to rescue the dying. Which today may mean going to where they are instead of counting on them to come where we are, doing outreach in places where they feel comfortable - neutral ground - instead of where we feel comfortable in our religious setting, communicating Christ in non-religious words that a lost person can understand. Delivering the message in music that is their musical language instead of ours, realizing it's going to be the everyday believer like you that we'll have to depend on to rescue the lost more than those programs we've created. See, the program of God for rescuing the dying is the people of God. If we insist on fighting today's battle for the lost with what worked yesterday, we'll keep on reaching who we've already been reaching, while most of the spiritually dying people around us will live and die without God and without hope. We can't lose them because we insist on doing what we've always done, sticking to what we're comfortable with. The eternity of people all around us is at stake - this is a battle that is too costly to lose.

It's a nice deal when your auto mechanic is also your good friend. And I've had that opportunity. What I've really appreciated about my friend, the auto mechanic, was the fact that he worked long, hard, and professionally. However, it was unfortunate that when I stopped by his station, I was usually all dressed up on my way somewhere. Now, instinctively, what would we do with a friend? We'd extend our hands to shake. Well, we would immediately hesitate and both of us would look at the layers of grease on his hand and then we'd look at my suit and my white shirt and my clean hands. Yeah, pretty boy over here. I didn't have any time to clean up, and he would say, "We'd better not." Now, I'd love to shake hands with my buddy, but it just might be a problem. It's actually best to get the dirt off your hand before you reach for a really clean one. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Dirt In the Throne Room." Our word for today from the Word of God is from 1 Timothy 2:8. Guess what it's about? Hands. "I want men everywhere," Paul says, "to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing." Now, we could probably get into a little debate on that most cosmic theological issue of all, "Should we pray with upraised hands?" You say, "Ron, I pray with my hands in my pocket." Well, listen, I'm not going to get into that. There's a much larger point that Paul is making here. Whether you lift up your hands to God literally or symbolically to offer praise to the Lord, to get something you need from the Lord, the bigger issue is this: What kind of hands are you lifting up? He says here, "Lift up holy hands to the Lord." Make sure your hands are clean before you reach up for a holy God. The failure to do that? Well, that just might explain why God hasn't reached back toward you yet with the answer you've been seeking. You've praised Him. You've petitioned Him over and over again, but you haven't heard anything back. Could it be that you haven't cleaned up a part of you that in His eyes is giving you unholy hands? See, a sinless God cannot bless your sin. He can't respond to sin. And so if you could hear His voice, He might be saying, "I see you reaching for Me, and I've got something I want to give you, but what's that in your hand? See, I can't have that." So, before you reach out to God, review the last 24 hours. Where did you get some dirt on your spiritual hands? You might need to look at the last hour. Has there been some dishonesty, you've told something less than the truth? Did you display a little less than total integrity? Have there been impure thoughts, impure motives? Have you hurt someone in these last hours? Have you neglected someone? Whatever the dirt, deal with the dirt first. In fact, this scripture talks about anger and disputing. It suggests that maybe what we need to take care of is some broken relationships before we ever lift up our hands, so our hands will be holy. The Bible says, "If you have something against your brother, or your brother has something against you, leave the altar. Leave your sacrifice there and go and make it right with him." David said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Now there are many reasons we may not have heard an answer to prayer but this one we need to check out in our own heart: Is it because of dirty hands to receive the request? There's so much He wants to do for you, so much He has to bless you with. But He can't hand it to you while your hands are dirty with sin. Whether you reach for God literally or symbolically, would you be sure your hand is emptied of anything sinful. If you want God to put His hand in yours, be sure you're not offering Him a dirty hand.

Our friends John and Marie have a lovely family area in their home that they call the Great Room. And it really is a great room - big fireplace, lots of comfortable couch and chairs, tastefully decorated. It's just one of those rooms that people are drawn into like a magnet, and you don't want to leave. And on the wall near the fireplace, a beautiful painting. That's new. See, it hasn't always been there...until the wall cracked. Now, they tell me it was some kind of water damage, but it has left a really ugly hole in the wall. But who would know? It's covered up with this lovely painting! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Ugly Beneath the Beautiful." Now, it's true that no one can see the ugly spot. It's successfully covered up by something beautiful. It keeps anyone from knowing about the ugly, but not even a Rembrandt can repair that damage! Most of us have something ugly that we would just as soon not have anyone see. There's ugly stuff in our past, in our heart, in the closets of our life. The secrets we don't want anyone to know about - the dark side we try to conceal: those weaknesses, those failures, the mistakes that betray the wonderful view that we portray to the world. See, we cover the ugly with a great personality, or with religious activity, or spirituality, with our image, with good things we do. But no matter how impressive what we hang on the wall is, the damage - the holes inside - they're still there. God says that one day, all the cover-ups are going to come off the wall, and we will be judged on the basis of the ugly on the inside, not the beauty on the outside. That's our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 2:16. It talks about "the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ." That's the junk we've successfully concealed from others, maybe even those closest to us. But it's totally known to God. And until the sin inside is removed - not just covered up - we are in the danger zone with the One who will judge us based on His knowledge of every secret. In the next chapter in the Bible, God tells us that no one is exempt from the reality of a sinful heart or of the consequences of a self-run life. He says, "All have sinned," even the most religious person among us. It says, "and they fall short of the glory of God." There is no way we can make it into God's heaven with this sin we all carry inside, no matter how much religion we cover it with. It sounds pretty hopeless until you read on. Yes, we've all missed it with God, but it goes on to say, "we are justified" (that means made right with God) "justified freely by His grace through the redemption" (or the rescue) "that came by Christ Jesus." God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood. Now, we couldn't do anything to fix our sin problem, but God, who is the One we've sinned against, reached out in love by sending His Son to die our death penalty - to remove the stain of the sin that has haunted us and condemned us for so long. And today, God's waiting to go deep inside you where all that sin is, and all the guilt and the shame, the secrets, and clean it all up. He wants to forgive it all. He wants to repair what you could never repair. He wants to change what you could never change and cleanse what you could never cleanse. And it happens when you tell Jesus that you are trusting Him to be your rescuer from your sin, because only the One who died for your sin can forgive your sin. This could be your day to be something better than religious. You could be forgiven. You could be clean. If you want that, go to the One that can do it. Tell Him, "Jesus, you're my only hope of my sin being erased and being in heaven some day. I am yours beginning today." Our website will help you, so much, to know that you belong to Him and get you started with Him. Please go there today. It's ANewStory.com. There's nothing like the freedom, the relief, of knowing that the sin of a lifetime is gone - not concealed, but gone.

Did you ever notice this little law of life? Just about the time you get comfortable in a place, the scenery changes. You're all comfy at home as a little child, and you think this is a world you can handle. You just figured out your house and the yard, and suddenly somebody plunges you into this unfamiliar jungle of kindergarten with all these crazy kids in this classroom. And then you get pretty comfortable in elementary school. You say, "Hey, I've got this figured out. I know how to handle this place." And no sooner do you get on top of that, and they plunge you into the middle school or junior high. Then there's high school. Just about the time you're really confident in junior high, boom, you're in the huge world of high school. And then after that you're plunged into college or the working world, and you think, "Well, I think I've got college figured out." Hello? Now you are plunged into life! Of course, parents get to go through all those new beginnings with their kids. Being grown up doesn't mean you're beyond those "shake ups" that are caused by new beginnings. No, you might be staring at a new beginning right now. Well, I've got news for you! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You're Moving From Rest to Risk." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Exodus 33. Let me set the stage for you a little bit. Moses and his people are at Sinai. At one point, this very imposing mountain out in the wilderness had been a new beginning place for them. They left Egypt, and this is where God asks them to park for a while. They've met the Lord there. But by now Sinai, which maybe once looked new and dangerous, has become the easy, familiar, comfortable place. It's the place where they've had a lot of encounters with the Lord actually. In chapter 33 verse 1, it comes as a shock perhaps when the Lord says to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought out of Egypt, and go to the land I promised you." Leave this place, this safe place, this familiar place? To something better, but it's something different, something unknown, something risky. Can you relate at all? Maybe God seems to be saying to you, "It's time to move on. You're on the edge of change right now in your life." A new beginning can be triggered by a lot of things - maybe a change at work, a change in your family, maybe in your health, a graduation, retirement, an accident. Well, here's Moses on the edge of something new. He's nervous...and maybe so are you. And God has a word for him. In fact when Moses says, "Teach me Your ways" in Exodus 33:13, we then get God's answer to him. And our word for today from the Word of God, Exodus 33:14 - "The Lord replied, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'" The scenery changes, the cast changes, the location changes, the script changes, but the Director is the same. The presence is what makes the risk not really risky. His presence is what made this place bearable and beautiful. It's the same in the next place. He's the same in the next stage of your life - in the next season. That's the important thing. He will not change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I want you to imagine Jesus now, standing in front of you, looking you in the eye, and you're standing together in front of that new thing. He puts a hand on your shoulders, grips you tightly and He says these words, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." No matter what the risk, no matter what the change you're facing, isn't that enough to go on?

There are some things that are just tough to advertise - like things people need but don't want to think about. Like insurance to pay your funeral expenses some day. Well, a local insurance agency gave it a good try in the newspaper ad they ran. In bold letters it said, "FINAL PAYMENT." It went on to make a case for doing something now to take care of the last obligation of your life. Of course, that ad had a serious inaccuracy. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Bill With God." According to the Bible, there is still one more bill to pay after the funeral. It's the payment for all those me-first life choices that the Bible calls "sin." In God's words, "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). The payment for running our own lives is an eternal payment. But like that final payment for your funeral expenses, you can do something now to take care of that awful obligation once and for all. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, and it graphically explains the terrible final payment for sin, and it suggests the way to remove it. These are sobering words from the One who will be your Judge and mine. It says, "The Lord Jesus will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power." Everlasting destruction - shut out from God's presence. I know we don't like the idea of hell, but it doesn't change the reality of it. If you don't have life forever, there's just one alternative-living death forever. But that's not what God wants for you. It's not what He wants for anyone. He says in the Bible, "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10). In other words, God loves you so much that He sent His Son to take on all the punishment for every sin you have ever done. Your final payment was paid by Jesus Christ on His cross! That's the "Gospel," the good news. God said the ones who would never see Him (never see heaven) are those who "do not obey the Gospel (the good news) of our Lord Jesus." That Gospel calls upon us to grab Jesus as our Savior like a drowning person would grab a lifeguard to save them. That's why the Bible bottom lines the most important decision you will ever make in these words, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." That's "believe" as in totally trusting Him as your only hope for having your sins forgiven, for going to heaven someday. Have you ever consciously given yourself to Jesus to be your Savior from your sins? If not, does it make any sense to wait any longer? Not when eternity's at stake, and eternity can begin any time. If you want to trust Jesus as your rescuer from your sin and from its penalty - the One who died for you - would you tell Him you're His from this day on - that you're pinning all your hopes on Him to forgive your sins and to guarantee you eternal life someday? Only He can rescue you. That's why we've really dedicated our website to helping you know and be sure that you have begun this life-saving relationship. It's ANewStory.com. Please go there today. The final payment is one God doesn't want you to pay. He sent His Son to pay it for you. But He leaves the choice in your hands, and that choice will determine your eternity.

Because we lived along the East Coast for so many years, we had the opportunity to see many of America's old lighthouses. I mean, we came up over the top of a hill on an interstate one day and I saw what I certainly never expected to see hundreds of miles from the ocean. It was a lighthouse with a bright, functioning light on top. Obviously, it wasn't there to point any ships in the right direction. Actually, it was part of a church that stands right near the highway. This lighthouse is for people! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Great Lighthouse Shortage." It seems to me that Jesus intended for every church to be a lighthouse, whether or not they have a lighted tower as part of their building, as He intended for every Christian to be a lighthouse, every ministry. Tragically, there are so many lives around us headed for eternal disaster, and there is a terrible lighthouse shortage. We know that Jesus said that those who belong to Him are "the light of the world" (Matthew 5:16). And Matthew 4:16, our word for today from the Word of God, tells us which direction our light should be pointing. Jesus says, "The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned." See, it's the people in spiritual darkness, the people who are spiritually dying who should be the focus of all this light that God has given us. The problem is that often we're content to have all the lights inside the church, shining on those who are already headed for heaven. Meanwhile, we let countless lost people just get another day closer to hell. We do what's easy. We just work with the sheep who are already in, when Jesus said He would leave ninety-nine of those just to go out and find one lost one. But notice, you have to go out to find them. You can't just stay in the Christian cocoon waiting for someone to stick their head in the door and say, "Excuse me, but is there any light in here?" The lighthouse needs to be out where they are! We can go to all our Christian meetings, and fellowship with all our Christian friends, and enjoy all our Christian books and programs, and we feel like we must be winning. Well, not when two-thirds of Americans can't tell you half of the Ten Commandments or who did the Sermon on the Mount! Not when the number of people who say they believe in nothing has doubled in just a few years, not when the number of those who are self-declared witches grew over 1,500% in a decade. Even in one Bible Belt state, the statistics came in this way: two-thirds of the people even there are essentially un-churched! You have working near you, living near you, going to school with you - people who have no idea that what Jesus did on the cross was for them and that He's their only hope! If our Christian subculture makes us feel like we're winning, it's the illusion of winning. How can we be content to spend all our time with the already rescued when we're living surrounded by a sea of dying people? How can we say that we're following the One who came, as He said, to "seek and save what was lost" and not be doing that with all our heart? If you're following Jesus, I'll tell you where He's going. He's always headed for a sea of lost people. That should be where we end up, too. Oh, it's bright inside the lighthouse, but it's very dark outside the walls. So many headed for eternal destruction! They desperately need a lighthouse - a lighthouse that's out where they are, pointing them to life in Jesus Christ. Please, be their lighthouse!

Years ago, I was at a youth conference where we needed to raise some money for a camp scholarship fund. So we challenged the kids to buy their counselor into this Friday night food fight. Well, the kids found the money alright pretty quickly! So, Friday night all of us leaders showed up on the field of battle with the campers watching like sadistic spectators at the Roman Coliseum. Now, for starters, we got hosed down so everything would cling to us. I have to tell you, in retrospect, I'm embarrassed about the food we wasted. But we did it, so I'll tell you about it. Round One was flour. The campers got their money's worth as we redecorated each other with this blizzard of flour, followed by eggs, then fudge sauce. Can you imagine this? Get the idea? The last round was the worst - lard. Yea, from our hair to our toes, we were totally gross by the end of this massacre. Our only satisfaction was at the end when we went after those kids and gave them a big, gooey hug. Yeah, it was great! I couldn't wait to get a shower, though. And I was there for a long time. Ever try to get lard off? Probably not. Well, I have never felt dirtier - but clean has never felt better! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Feeling Dirty, Getting Clean." If you've ever felt real dirty, you know how much you enjoyed that shower that made you clean again. If only there was a shower that could make us clean on the inside, where we carry the guilt, and the regrets, and the dirt of the things we wish we'd never done, or the things we should have done and we didn't do. Unfortunately, there's no medication, there's no therapist, not even a religion that seems powerful enough to remove the dirt on our soul. That's why our word for today from the Word of God is such good news. Acts 3:19 - "Repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." Now look at this! All the sins of your life can be wiped out, erased from God's records forever. God says you can be clean - that you can have a new beginning. He is actually offering a cleansing spiritual shower for those who repent and turn to Him. That means you acknowledge the wrongness of what you've done and that you're ready to turn from your sin-choices and turn to Him for a new beginning. Look, we all have things we're ashamed of, things we're not proud of, things that make us afraid of what God will do when we meet Him on Judgment Day. According to the Bible, the sins of our life will, in fact, make it impossible for us to ever enter God's Heaven because there is no sin there. Our only hope is if somehow God will forgive a lifetime of choices that have left Him out. And there's only one place where a spiritual shower like that is available. It is at the cross of Jesus Christ, the place where every sin of yours was paid for. You carry all the garbage of your life up that hill, you give yourself in total trust to the One who paid for your sin on that cross with His life, and you leave your sin at that cross forever. You may have started this day guilty, but you could go to sleep forgiven tonight and finally clean. God's promise: "Everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through His Name" (Acts 10:43). There is nothing you've done that is so bad that Jesus did not pay for it on the cross. Today could be the day you are finally clean. If you've never trusted Jesus to be your own Savior from your own sin, would you tell Him you're doing that right now? Your sins will be erased. He promised. And you'll never carry them again or face them when you meet God. And the only thing that would keep you from heaven can be gone today. We've put the information on how to begin with Jesus at our website. Please go there today. That's ANewStory.com. That day I felt so gross, it was an awesome feeling to stand in that shower and have all that accumulated junk get washed away. That's what Jesus wants to do for your heart, my friend. It is such an incredible feeling to be finally clean!

When you play high school football, you learn to play another game too. It's called Impress the Coaches. Of course, the coaches decide who plays, who starts, who sits. All summer long players show up for weight lifting in this steamy, hot weight room. Now, they come three times a week. Why would guys want to come and sweat and strain? Because the coaches are there. You can't help but ask how many of those fellows would show up if, well let's say the coaches suddenly announced they were taking a week off, "Fellows, you keep coming. We just won't be here all next week, okay?" I have a feeling the attendance would really go down in the weight room. One day back when my boys played football, there was a lot of football equipment that had to be moved to the school. Again, it was a hot, humid summer day. The coach needed volunteers. It's amazing! A lot of guys showed up to carry equipment! Of course, the coaches were going to be there and would notice who helped. Right? If the coaches weren't there to watch, how many guys would have been hauling equipment? I don't know. How many guys would lift on those hot days? How many players would run an extra lap? See, the real athlete works out whether anyone is watching or not. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When No One's Watching." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Philippians 2, and I'll be reading verse 12. "My dear friends," Paul says, "you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but how much more in my absence." Now, that's a description of authentic Christianity. This is the real deal. He says, "You are obeying the Lord whether I'm there to look at you and see you or not." Oh, I'm sure that they would like to impress their spiritual leader. Look, we like to impress ours. But he said, "It doesn't matter if I'm there or not. One way or the other, you continue to do what God tells you to do." You know, that's the real test of how much you love Jesus - what you do when there's no one there to see you except Jesus. We're always on our best Bible behavior when the pastor's around, or when our Christian friends are around, or any Christian we want to impress favorably. That shows how important those people are to you. It doesn't tell you too much about how important Jesus is to you. The way to find out how important Jesus is to you is the way you act when He's the only one watching. Are you into His Word when there's no one there to impress? Are you on your knees when there's no one there watching? Are you sexually pure when no one will probably know what you've done except Jesus? Are you unselfish? Are you loving with the people around you when there's no one around that will know? Do you watch, do you listen to, do you do things that you wouldn't ever do if you had other people's eyes on you? Well, Jesus is looking. Jesus is watching. He knows. He's there. Does your family see the same Christian that the church does? Do your coworkers, your clients, your customers, your fellow students, your teammates? Take a good, honest look at the private you. Are you faithful to Jesus when there is no one there to impress? That's the real you! The way you live when there's no one watching is the way you can tell how much you really love your Jesus.

It happened over 100 years ago, but we still seem to be fascinated with it - the Titanic. I mean, the Titanic has sailed into the Internet! You can find all kinds of information about the sinking of that "unsinkable" ship back in 1912. And then, there was the Academy Award-winning movie, endless TV shows, articles, and there was even a Broadway musical about it. It seems like fascination with the Titanic just never goes away. A lot of this information has been known for decades, but now there's a tremendous appetite for that information. Like the tragic mistake that fatal night by the radioman on the Titanic. The ship had received a number of warnings about ice ahead and had adjusted her course southward as a result. But two hours before the Titanic hit the iceberg, the radioman received a warning from another ship about a major iceberg, along with longitude and latitude coordinates. They put that iceberg right in Titanic's path. It's the one that sank the ship. But the radioman didn't know it was in their path. He was busy that night, so he stuck that message on a spindle to be dealt with later. That one choice doomed him and 1500 other passengers who died that night. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Titanic Mistake." That just makes the tragedy even more tragic, doesn't it? The warning of what was coming was sent, it was received, but a man decided he'd deal with it later. And later was too late. When the warning is life-or-death, you don't wait to deal with it, especially if the warning is from God, especially if the warning is about what's ahead for you. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 2:3. "How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" Ignoring God's warning - fatal results. What's the warning about our future? Here are God's words, "Whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's only Son" (John 3:18). Like the Titanic on her last night, steaming headlong for a deadly rendezvous. Again, God in His own words, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:36). God says there are people who are forever safe and people who are headed for eternal destruction. The difference is what they do with His Son, Jesus. You can do a lot of things with Jesus: you can reject Him, or ignore Him, or postpone Him, or you can even agree with Him. But all of those responses lead to the same place - eternity without God. You might say, "You mean agreeing with Jesus, isn't that enough?" Well, you see, I wasn't married to my wife based on my agreeing with her views. I was married to my wife for one reason - there was a time I committed my life to her. That's what you have to do with Jesus. Has there been a time when you did that? If not, you're still ignoring God's warning about eternity. He says we can't possibly escape if we neglect this great salvation. He calls it salvation because it's a rescue from a death sentence. Jesus dying on that awful cross - that was God's Son paying the death penalty for the sinning you and I have done. And our only hope is to put our total trust in Him - the only One who can rescue you from sin and its penalty. So you have the warning. Maybe you've been saying, like a radioman on the Titanic that night, I'll deal with it later. Don't do that. When a warning is life-or-death, the only time to deal with it is now while there's time. If there has never been a time when you have committed yourself to Jesus to be your Savior, tell Him right now you're putting your trust in Him and what He did on the cross for you. "Jesus, I'm yours." I hope you'll go to our website as soon as you can today, because you will find the information you need to secure and be sure you belong to Jesus. It's ANewStory.com. Without Jesus, you are steaming full speed into an eternity without hope. Deal with God's warning now. And you'll be on the course for a guaranteed arrival in heaven when your journey's done.

I was once held hostage by a dragonfly. This is very embarrassing, but it is true. I was just a little guy and my cousin and I were sitting on these swings in her backyard. I believed everything she said. And a dragonfly started to circle us on the swings. He was a big old guy - at least he looked big compared to the size I was then. And then he landed on the swing, and my cousin said to me, "You know, if they get mad at you they'll drill a hole through you." I took one look at him and he kind of dived back and forth and started to dive bomb us. I started imagining him boring a hole in me, and it seemed reasonable. So I was frozen to the swing. I must have been there for a half hour... maybe an hour, I don't know. I didn't move until the crazy dragonfly left. Did I mention this is embarrassing? Well, today I know a dragonfly is nothing to fear, but my cousin that day made me afraid of something that I didn't need to be afraid of. That might be happening at your house. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Paralyzed Parents." Our word for today from the Word of God is from 2 Timothy 1:7. "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline." This is a great verse for parents isn't it? Parents especially who are raising children in a very pagan, out-of-control world like ours. In fact, earlier in this chapter Paul talks about Timothy's Mother, Eunice, and how her faith was passed on to her son. She had an unbelieving husband, the Bible tells us, she was raising Timothy in a lost culture, and yet she turned out a son who was a great spiritual leader. Now, one of the keys is in this seventh verse, "don't parent out of fear." You know, I'm a Dad of three kids that grew up in this kind of a world, and I know that we tend to look at a world where lies are taught as truth and where wrong is promoted as the right thing to do, and where sex outside of marriage is expected. That's the kind of world we're living in no doubt about it. Sin is boasted about. Our tendency is to grab our child and run to a cave with him or her and try to keep that child from ever rubbing shoulders with that nasty world. Do you know what we're communicating? We're saying, "You know, that darkness out there is really big and strong, and I'm not sure Jesus is strong enough to compete with it." We're giving the Devil and we're giving the darkness a lot of credit when we teach our children to be afraid of it. Yes, we need to teach them to live in a dark world, but not to be afraid of it. We serve a Christ who blew the doors off of death. We serve a Jesus to whom demons surrender. Let's not hide from the darkness. He empowers His children to change the darkness. Many days our kids came home from school with words they heard or ideas or questions. And, well, we found that those are the moments to seize, not to freeze. We can say to our kids, "You know, I'm glad that came up. Let me show you how much better Jesus' idea is." See, Jesus called us to be salt and light, and they have to be in contact with something if they're going to change it. Right? But we forfeit a whole generation if our kids withdraw from the people who've never touched Jesus. They're not sacrificial lambs. They're people who can make a difference and raise their kids on the two words I raised ours on: GO MAD! Go make a difference! You need to change things. Don't let them change you. You are their hope of another way to be. I sat on a swing one day as a boy, paralyzed by something I didn't need to fear. As Christian parents let's not do that or cause our children to do it. Teach them the dangers of a lost world for sure; expose the darkness. And then outfit them with a strong version of Jesus who doesn't run from the darkness. He challenges the darkness.

Ah yes, World History class. I'm sure you remember everything you heard there very vividly, right? No. If you remember anything, you probably remember that for centuries the nations of Europe were fighting it out to be number one on their block - often using their ships to build their empires. Now, if you were out on the high seas back then, sailing, let's say for England, the only way you knew if an approaching ship was friend or foe was by their colors flying from the mast. That was also how they would know whether or not to shoot at you as well. As the story goes, many captains decided to strategically lower their colors in a risky situation so folks wouldn't know what their allegiance was. But apparently there were a few bold and courageous skippers who gave a different kind of order to their crew. It went like this: "Nail the colors to the mast." "Uh, sir, that means we can't lower our colors if we need to?" "That's right, matey. Nail them to the mast!" I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Nailing Your Colors to the Mast." In the account of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection that first Easter week, we have the story of a follower of Jesus who knew all about lowering his colors when it might cost you to fly them. His name was Joseph, known by the town he was from, Arimathea. Apparently, he saw the crucifixion of Jesus, and then something happened. In John 19:38 - it's our word for today from the Word of God - we read: "Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. You bet he feared the Jews. He was part of the ruling Council of the Jews that had engineered Jesus' execution. If they found out that he had given his heart to Jesus, he had everything to lose! So he just kept following Jesus "under cover." He never told anyone about his relationship with Him. Joseph would, according to some modern surveys, be one of the 90% of Christians today who never tell anyone about Jesus. Think about that. I mean, how many spiritually dying people are, in essence, remaining under their spiritual death sentence because of the silence of the Christian they know? What a tragedy! And why do we stay silent about our Jesus? For the same reason Joseph did. Fear of what they'll think of me, fear of what I might lose, fear that I might damage a relationship or mess it up. Valid fears? Possibly. But the fears of what might happen if I do tell them about Jesus are nothing compared to the fears of what might happen to them if I don't tell them! They may die without ever knowing how they could have lived forever! But silent believers don't have to remain with their true colors lowered out of sight. Look at Joseph. He's hope for all of us. He totally blew his cover by going to the Roman governor and saying, "I want to bury Jesus in my tomb." I mean, that will identify Joseph with Jesus for all the world to know. But he doesn't care anymore. You know why? He saw what Jesus went through on that cross for him, and he nailed his colors to the mast! Isn't it time for you to do that? When you think about your Savior dying publicly on a cross for you, would you tell Him, "Jesus, you're not going to be a secret anymore. You're who I'm about. You are my true identity. You are what I'm about forever. I will not deny you any longer." Too many times you've lowered your colors, but not anymore. Not after what Jesus has done for you. Not when somebody's eternity may depend on you telling what you know. For once, for all, you are nailing your Jesus-colors to the mast and they will never come down again.

I think I've lost the same five pounds 200 times - uh-huh. That's enough to make about six of me! Actually, I used to weigh 55 pounds more a number of years ago, and I lost it. But that's no great accomplishment. As anybody will tell you who has that same battle, the challenge is to keep it off. So I set a certain ceiling, and then I would kind of have this anchor weight. And as my weight creeps up there, which it often does, I yell down to the engine room, "Reverse all engines! It's time to go to work!" Frankly, it's just too hard to fight 20 or 25 pounds. It's much smarter, I've learned, to fight the problem when it's a baby than when it's full grown. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fighting It When It's Small." Now, our word for today from the Word of God is in 2 Corinthians 10, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 3. It's a battle briefing for spiritual warfare. It talks about how to fight spiritual enemies - but that which will weigh us down, hold us back, make us spiritually unhealthy. Here's what it says: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." That's an exciting passage. It talks about God's power to destroy fortresses of sin in our life. Then it goes on to talk, not about immoral behavior or pornography or attacks on people, it talks about our thoughts. It talks about arguments, pretensions, and then every thought. It presents the fantastic prospect of capturing every thought for Christ. Now, when you're fighting being overweight, you have to fight that early in those first few pounds that you start to put on. When you're fighting sin, you have to fight it early, when it's just a thought. See, your mind is a jungle. Savage animals roam across it all day long, right? Thoughts of revenge, thoughts of lust, sexual impurities, proud thoughts, self-centered "me first" thinking, bitterness is there, anger. Usually we don't start fighting back until this idea animal becomes an action. Well, then it's too late. The Bible spells it out in James 1:15. It says that, "Desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death." Seems like it would be easiest to fight it as a thought, as a desire, doesn't it? Successful spiritual warfare doesn't wait for sin to become a plan or an action. Successful spiritual warfare has to be fought in the jungle of the mind. It's there we find sin in thought form - a thought that needs to be captured and not allowed to roam free any more. Daily we capture thoughts as soon as they appear, and then immediately, consciously you turn that sin idea over to Jesus Christ. General Douglas MacArthur said, "The history of failure in war can be summed up in two words - too late. Too late in comprehending the deadly purpose of a potential enemy." Now, think about this in terms of sinful thoughts: too late in realizing the mortal danger, too late in preparedness, too late in uniting all possible forces to resist it. See, this passage says that sin, even the strongholds of sin, are beatable unless you wait until it's too late. Capture sin when it's a thought...just a thought. Take it from a former guy battling the weight battles. You can stay spiritually fit if you learn to fight it early.

It's hard to describe to you how our first grandchild lit up our lives. He had a smile that was really a people-stopper. Yeah, I know I sound like a grandfather. Now, it's a good thing this is radio or you'd have to look at my pictures as well! One day when he was about eight months old, I came home from the office to a pleasant surprise. My wife and I were babysitting our grandson. There he was, sitting on his Grandma's lap, leaning against her. I knelt down in front of the chair and told him what I tell him often. "I love you." He just looked at me, without changing his expression. I repeated it again - no response. Then two more times. "I love you." Suddenly he smiled, his arms started reaching, and his whole body leaned forward for me to hold him. And I did. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Saying 'Yes' to Love." I kept telling my grandson I loved him. No response. And then finally, he reached for me. That scene has been repeated over and over again - millions of times - when God comes close to someone and says, "I love you." And we just don't respond. For you, this might be the day when you finally reach for the One who has loved you so long. Our word for today from the Word of God, from 1 John 4:19, describes in just eight words how people like you and me finally come to experience the awesome love of God. It says, "We love Him because He first loved us." Well, there's the picture: The God who made you trying to tell you how much He loves you over and over. Actually, showing you how much He loves you. Earlier in this same chapter in the Bible, God says, "This is how God showed His love among us...He sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10). God gave us our lives. And the One who rules billions of galaxies is the One who was supposed to call the shots in our lives. But according to what God says, "Each of us (and these are the Bible's words) has turned to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). We've made ourselves God, and we've built a wall between us and the divine love that we were made for. That's why our deep loneliness has never gone away. It's cosmic loneliness. You're lonely for God. And God's love for you is so great that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to pay for your rebellion and mine. You did the sinning. Jesus did the dying, and it's that kind of love that God has been trying to give you for years. But like my little grandson, maybe you've stayed where you are while your Heavenly Father has been saying, "I love you. I love you." It's been a long, lonely, turbulent road without that love. And now you are risking an eternity without that love by putting off or ignoring God's forgiveness for your sins. Maybe you've thought God was mad at you, that He's an angry God you could never know or be close to. But if you want to know how God feels about you, look at the cross of Jesus. That was for you! Haven't you lived long enough without this unloseable, unconditional love that you were made for? This isn't about being religious or some spiritual experience. It's about finally responding to the love of the man who gave His life for you! One more time, God is leaning in close, calling you by name, and He's whispering, "I love you." But this time is your time to take that love! You want to do that? You tell Him that right now, "Jesus, you loved me enough to die for me. I will take this life of mine that I've run too long already and I put it into Your hands. I'm pinning all my hopes on You and what you did on the cross for me." Our website is there for you at a moment like this. It's ANewStory.com. Go there as soon as you can today. It's been a one-way love long enough. Reach out your arms for Jesus. His arms have been open for a long, long time, and He will take you in His arms and He will never let you go.

This has got to be one of the great engineering feats in the world - packing the trunk of our car for a family trip. Oh, those were the days. Maybe you can relate to that. We had a family of five - quite a challenge to get all of that luggage in one trunk. So, I would stuff every corner, trying the suitcases every which way, and then I'd see if there was something the kids could sit on during the trip. And if all else failed, I called my wife and she could figure it out. Finally, you get it all in, but just barely of course. And then the big moment comes. There's a drum roll as I try to close the trunk, and after a couple of tries, it closes - barely! Then along comes one of the kids with one more bag I didn't know about. So, the frustrating search begins - looking for a place to put just one more thing. We would try to cram one more thing in this space that was already jammed. Wait a minute! That sounds a lot like our lives doesn't it? I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The One More Thing Syndrome." Now, our word for today from the Word of God catches Jesus in the middle of this in Luke 4, and beginning at verse 40. It says, "When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness." Okay, His day is almost over, but it looks like it's just about to begin again. "And laying His hands on each one, He healed them." Now, listen to this, "At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for Him, and when they came to where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving them. But He said, 'I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.' And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea." Now, here's a side of Jesus we don't often think about. Jesus knew how to say "no." Did you notice that? There were more needs; they begged Him to stay. But He said, "No, I can't." He had set His priorities, and the people were crying, "Just one more!" And He said, "No." Maybe some of us should learn to do that. We live in a constant state of being behind, I think, because of the 'one more thing' syndrome. You know, it's time to leave and we say, "Oh, just one more call; just one more email. I'll just get one more task done." And we end up frazzled, over extended, late and not at our best. Oh, you can add peace and sanity to your life if you discipline yourself to say no to that one more thing before you go. Look at the bigger picture. There are so many needs crying for your time, for your attention, and you can only do as much as you can do well. Maybe you're doing that right now. And then like the child running out to the over-packed trunk, "One more thing!" Why do we say yes? Usually because we underestimate the job; we don't really count the cost of what it's going to take, or we overestimate ourselves and think it's got to be us that does it. Or we forget about Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." Realize you can't meet every need - not even Jesus did. Five liberating words from the mouth of John the Baptist in John 1: "I am not the Messiah." See, God might want to develop somebody else to do it, and you'll get in the way if you do it. Maybe the people who asked you are ahead of God's schedule. Maybe you need to unpack something else before you put this in. You don't do anyone a favor by taking on more than you can really do well. You're saying to people, "Depend on me" but you know you won't be able to be dependable - not in all of that. Now, we're telling teenagers today when it comes to drugs, "Just say no." Well, that's not just good for drugs. It's good for us responsibility addicts too. I'm one. I know. The next time you're tempted to over-commit yourself, think of that trunk that's jam packed with all that it should hold. Have the wisdom and courage to resist that temptation to add just one more thing.

Every winter we hear the stories, we see the pictures of avalanches. We have done a lot of work in Alaska, and I took special note of an avalanche that happened at Alaska's Turnagain Pass. The mountain slopes had danger written all over them that day - eight feet of new snow had fallen on this older, packed-down snow, a warm sun had been beating down all day, and there were avalanche warnings. But that didn't stop some snowmobilers from powering up this 2,000-foot-high mountain to see who could go the highest. There was an even more sobering warning of the danger they were in. Twenty minutes before the major avalanche there was a smaller one in a nearby gully. But some of the snowmobilers just kept going. When the big avalanche hit, a mile-wide wall of snow roared down that mountain. An onlooker's videotape shows massive slabs of snow breaking loose and sliding down the mountain in a roiling, powdery cloud with at least four snowmobilers - mere specks - being swallowed up. At least four people died that day. And none of them had to. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Warning You Must Not Miss." You say to yourself, "If only they had listened to the warnings." I wonder if that's what God says every time someone goes into eternity unprepared. The Bible makes it clear He wants us to go to heaven when we die, to be with Him forever, to experience His awesome love forever. But the Bible also makes it clear that many won't make it to heaven, not because they weren't good enough, but in God's own words, "because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son" (John 3:18). Because they've heard God's warnings about sin and its death penalty in hell, but like those stubborn snowmobilers in Alaska, they've ignored the warnings. Our word for today from the Word of God in Hebrews 2:3 really bottom lines what's at stake here. God says, "How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation." Salvation. That's rescue. That's what I got the day that someone came to rescue me from drowning in Lake Michigan. I was ten years old. That's the reason I'm around today. Someone came and rescued me. So salvation is what a person receives when a firefighter brings them out of a burning building. It's salvation. Rescue from dying. God says that's what Jesus dying on the cross is all about. He was paying the price for all the sinning you and I have ever done so He can come and rescue us forever. But like me in that lake or the person in the burning building, if we resist the rescuer, we'll die. God warns us here about ignoring His salvation, and I think that's how most people end up in hell instead of heaven. Not because they out-and-out reject Jesus; they just ignore Jesus and all of God's warnings about our need of Him. Maybe that's where you are. You're just too busy to think about eternity right now or you're having too much fun. You think you're religious and you'll make it on your own goodness, or you think you know Jesus because you know a lot about Jesus. But for one reason or another you are ignoring the Savior. You are ignoring God's warnings. And this is one more warning from God. Right here today. It may be that for someone here today; this might be the last warning. But God is saying, "Don't keep going this way! You are headed for an eternity without hope, without love, without Me." This is just too important to ignore any longer. You are risking the eternal judgment of Almighty God - judgment which God's Son already took on the cross for you. Please listen to Jesus' knocking on the door of your heart. Listen to the warning of God. Tell Jesus "I'm trusting You today to do what only You can do - to rescue me from my sin and its eternal death penalty." Actually, our website is there because we wanted to put things that would help you begin that relationship with Him and know you belong to Him. I want to encourage you to go there. It's ANewStory.com. Please check it out! The avalanche of God will sweep away all those who ignore His warning, who ignore His Son. Please, don't gamble your eternity one more day.

When my wife and I were raising our three children, communication during the early morning shift at our house was, shall we say, non-verbal. There I was, getting ready for my day. The kids were getting ready for school, and my wife was doing her role of maid, chef, valet, chauffeur. One morning I was shaving and thinking through an endless list of things I had to do on that particular Friday - all of it the Lord's work of course. I was mulling over a sermon I had coming up, and I was thinking about some radio programs, and about an appointment I had that day, and a couple of events I was planning. My son pops in. Now, somehow I must have succeeded in letting him know - non-verbally - just how much I had on my mind, because he disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. I guess he got the message. Then as I was praying about all of the Lord's work I had to do that day, suddenly I remembered an important decision my son had to make that day; one that he probably needed to talk about. And the Lord woke me up in those early morning hours with what He told me, then, so I'm going to tell you. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Mission Right In Front Of You." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 4, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 30. It takes place after the woman of Samaria, who met Jesus at the well, has gone back and said, "I met a man who told me all I ever did." And now the town is starting to come to Him. The disciples, who have missed all this, have just returned. It says, "The Samaritans came out of the town and made their way toward Jesus. Jesus says to the disciples, 'Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, 'Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.'" I think He was pointing at all those Samaritans streaming out of the village. "The harvest is here. Even now the reaper draws his wages," He said, "even now he harvests the crop for eternal life." For the disciples, this town in Samaria was a pit stop. They're looking ahead to some great future ministry...four months till harvest. But they were missing the ministry right under their noses. Sounds sort of like this man I heard about at the beginning of the program who was shaving, thinking about the ministry he had ahead, and missing a son who needed some ministry right there. You see, you don't have to leave your home to do the Lord's work. In fact, the Lord's work begins right in front of you, right at home. Interestingly enough, in the list of qualifications for leaders in 1 Timothy 3, it says, "Make sure you have somebody whose ministry at home is quality; who has his home under control." So often we fill up our lives with ministry responsibilities, only to reach other people's kids while missing our own; to bring blessing to God's house while neglecting our first responsibility; the congregation at our house. Many husbands, and wives, and children, and parents, have been victims of a misguided view of God's work that you have to leave home before you start doing ministry. That doesn't mean you withdraw from every responsibility, but it does mean you take care of the Lord's work at home first. Maybe your unbelieving family member would be better reached by you staying home and spending time with them than by you going to another prayer meeting to pray for them. Your mate, your child - they may need your ear, your encouragement, your counsel as much as anyone you're going to see at that meeting. Look around your house for the needs that are right there before you. Before you go charging off somewhere else to find the Lord's work. Listen, it's right there in front of you.

Now, as a good football coach prepares his high school players for the season, he's going to bring up the dangers of what he will call playing tentatively. I know no one's anxious to get hurt, and so there's a natural tendency to hold back a little in a contact sport; to hold back when you hit, when you block, when you tackle. But the coach is going to tell you that the best way to get hurt is to play tentatively, half-heartedly. Either give it all you've got or don't play. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Winning Number - 100%." Now, our word for today from the Word of God is from Ecclesiastes 9:10 - a verse that could be one of those life-principle verses like maybe a good wall plaque. It's almost a motto that you could repeat to yourself at work, and in sports, or while you're doing your homework, while you're doing dirty work, while you're listening to someone, or you're trying to finish a job. It's one of those repeat over and over statements. Okay, why don't we find out what it is? Ecclesiastes 9:10, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." Well, that's consistent with four words that appear over and over in the Bible, "with all your heart." Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, or in this case with all your might. One of my personal heroes is Jim Elliott, who was a missionary that in the 1950s was one of five American missionaries martyred as they went to a tribe that had never even heard the name of God. And out of that martyrdom came a flow of missionaries and people in Christian service. Honestly, I'm one of them. Well, one of Jim Elliott's mottos went like this - you ready? "Wherever you are, be all there." Somebody may have said to you, "You're not all there." Well, yes, wherever you are, be all there. If you've got something to do anyway, why not do it with all you've got? If you've got to be there, why not be there with all your heart? There's a little wisdom up on a plaque in our kitchen. It says, "Lord, help me do with a smile the things I have to do anyway." Got to do them anyway, might as well really do them. A Christian should be known as a 100-percenter in everything he or she does. You listen with all your might. When it's time to work, you work with all your might. When you pray, you pray with all your might. When you play, you play with all your might. When you goof off, you goof off with all your might. When you help somebody, you help with all your might. When you study, oh yeah, you know by now, yeah, you do it with all your might. You can do that because you know that you are leading a God-planned life. Psalm 37 says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in His way." Psalm 16 says, "The Lord has assigned me my portion and my cup." Now, you know that every situation has been brought into your life by a God who loves you and knows best. So you make every situation the best it can be. And you do that when you tackle it with all your might; not just the things you like to do or not just the things you feel like doing. This says "everything your hand finds to do." Don't play tentatively. Do it with intensity. In football, in everyday life, playing tentatively invites injury and defeat. Either give it all you've got or don't play.

When you hear the word "superstar," you may think of some great athlete or A-list movie star or some television personality - a celebrity. I'm sorry, but I personally think that's a pretty lame use of the word when you hear about the kind of star that astronomers have been discovering. Like the largest known star in the universe! Conventional telescopes had missed it because of vast dust clouds. But the Hubble Space Telescope picked it up. It is (get this) 186 million miles wide and ten million times brighter than the Sun! That's a superstar. Don't even try to comprehend one star that enormous! Interesting footnote - according to many theories on how stars are formed, a star this large is an impossibility! It's there, it is not impossible. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Awesome God, Awesome Love." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 8:1-4. "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens...When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" It's hard to come up with a theory big enough to contain the infinity of what's out there. But it's not hard to come up with a creator big enough to explain it all. And speaking of Jesus, the Bible further explains in John 1:3 that "through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made." When you consider that beyond that superstar are literally millions of galaxies, your mind just goes on overload. But there is something more staggering than the size of creation...and that is the possibility that you could have a personal love relationship with the creator of it all! That's what the psalmist couldn't grasp - in light of the splendor and magnitude of all you've created, God, why do you care about us little guys and girls on this speck of dust called earth? But the amazing truth is that this awesome God has a deep, deep love for you. Here's how you can know that. In those same verses that tell us Jesus created it all, it says that He "became flesh and made His dwelling among us" (John 1:14). The One who created that mega-star - and countless millions of galaxies - left the Throne Room of the universe to come here as one of us. And everything in us screams, "But why?" Answer - two chapters later. "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Why? God loves you so much. So much that even though we've defied Him by running our own life, He sent His Son to go to a cross to bear the death penalty for my sin and yours. God does not want to lose you. And when Jesus comes knocking on the door of your heart, offering you His love and His forgiveness, it just doesn't make any sense to reject Him or postpone Him. This is the One who made it all - who loved you enough to die for you. Why would you wait another day to begin a personal love-relationship with the most awesome person in all the universe? Have you ever begun this relationship that Jesus died to make possible? He proved that He can give it to us, because He walked out of his grave under his own power. And only the One who's proven He has eternal life can give it to you. This is your day to be born into God's family; to begin your relationship you were made for. Reach out to Jesus and say, "Jesus, I'm tired of running my own life. I resign from running my life. You died for the sin that's come from my decision to take over a life you were suppose to run. And today, Jesus, I'm pinning all my hopes on you. Thank you for loving me so much." I think our website would help, would you go there today - ANewStory.com? Jesus - the one who made the stars - the biggest Star of all - has come to you. Don't miss this amazing love.

It wasn't very loud. Just three little words, softly spoken. But they were loud enough to drown out a gunshot that had reverberated across the nation. The widow of assassinated influencer, Charlie Kirk, talked about the young man who ended the life of her husband and the father of her children. Through tears, she spoke words that stunned a nation. It was a holy, deeply human moment. Politics didn't matter. Personalities didn't matter. Three words that, if they became part of our vocabulary, could help heal a broken nation. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "I Forgive You." Those were the three words. But how does a woman, so deeply wounded, forgive the one who inflicted it, only days after that deadly shot? "I forgive him," she said, "because it was what Christ did." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Colossians 3:13. How right she was. It simply says there, "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Erika Kirk's humanly unexplainable grace was an echo from a cross 2,000 years ago. Amidst the agony of His crucifixion, Jesus spoke these unforgettable words about the men who had nailed Him there. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." He's been forgiving sinners like me ever since. In the only way that was possible. The death penalty for the running of my life - sin, the Bible calls it - had to be paid. Or being forgiven by a sinless God would have been impossible. In the Bible's words: "Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:27). We can forgive because we have been forgiven by a sinless God. The meanness, the violence, the hate that headlines our daily news - and lives - has produced an epidemic of heart trouble. Hard hearts. Shots are fired for grievances big and small. Not always with a gun. Often with our tongue. Or a social media post. People have become categories who we judge by whatever label they bear in our minds. So brokenness isn't just a season we're in. It's a spiraling cycle. Martin Luther King described the futility of living like this. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." A beacon of light really shows up on a very dark night. And there is such a beacon. Young people are looking for hope. Not by turning inward. Not by turning outward to others. But by looking up. Churches have been unusually full since this tragedy. Social media is full of stories of people suddenly seeking God, finding Jesus. On campuses. Online. And there is hope in that. What's broken between us is because of what's broken between us and God. The Bible says, "Your sins have separated you from God." And the essence of sin is that middle letter - "I." We have occupied the throne of our life that was made for God alone. So that makes it a world that's all about me. And millions of people living in that self-deification crush others. And hurt people hurt people. A shattered wife who told thousands of people "I forgive him" can be a harbinger of hope. But in reality, she is not the answer. For she attributed her forgiving to His forgiving. There is hope for a broken marriage. For a broken family. For a broken world. Or a broken heart. The Bible calls Him "a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3). And He is hope for you, my friend. If you've never gone to His cross to have your sin forgiven, never opened your heart to Him, let this be the day your heart, your life, and your eternity is changed. We'd love to help you do that. Go to our website today. It's ANewStory.com. Hope has a name. His name is Jesus. That hope begins at His Cross where He looks your way and says, "I forgive her. I forgive him."

Our son was falling in love. I mean like the big one - like the girl he ended up marrying. Our beautiful Navajo daughter now. Our son lived on the Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona, and the girl of his dreams lived in a remote area of the Navajo Reservation. It was about an hour drive to get out to her house to see her, but he managed - frequently. And the road? Oh, boy! It's one of those reservation roads that kills your shock absorbers, covers you with dust, and even opens up a crater or two for you to dodge. It's not that there weren't better roads around in that area; there are some nicely paved highways with some beautiful views. They even had some nice girls living on them probably. But my son didn't take any of those, for one very good reason. There was only one road that led to the destination he wanted. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I'd like to have A Word With You today about "The Only Way to Choose Your Road." What is that? It's the same way our son chose the road he took - does it get me to the destination I want? That's especially important when the destination is eternal; the place you'll be forever. God deeply wants you and me to be with Him forever in heaven. So He makes the road very clear. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Isaiah 43:11. "I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from Me there is no Savior." How many roads? According to the One who decides, there is one. Now notice, God doesn't say "apart from Me there is no religion." There are many religions. God doesn't say, "Apart from Me there is no teacher." Again, there have been many spiritual teachers. And God doesn't tell us, "Apart from Me there is no spirituality." There's a whole buffet of inspiring spiritual experiences. If what will get us to heaven is a religion or a religious leader or spirituality, take your pick. There are many roads. But God says what we need is a Savior, someone who can rescue us from a dying situation. Later in the same chapter in the Bible, God explains what it takes to have a relationship with Him and to make it to heaven. "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more." God says, "You've got to have your sins totally erased." No amount of doing good can erase my doing bad. No amount of sincere spirituality can pay the death penalty that sin requires. Only one person even claimed to do that. In the Bible's words, speaking of Jesus, "He carried our sins in His own body on the tree." So that's why Jesus says, "I am the way. No man comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Apart from Him there is no Savior. And apart from a Savior, you and I don't stand a chance with God. There are many beautiful roads with many beautiful people on them. But only the Savior road gets you to the eternal destination you want, which is heaven. The only issue that will really matter forever is whether or not you took the road God provided at the cost of His only Son's life. You've thought about it, maybe even argued about it, but maybe today your heart is saying, "I do need a Savior. It's time." If you want Jesus, the Savior, to finally be your Savior, would you tell Him that right now? "Jesus, you're the One who died for me for what I've done against God, I am yours beginning today. I'm grabbing You like a drowning person would grab a rescuer." I'd love to help you be sure you belong to Him; to nail down this relationship and get it settled. That's why our website exists, and I want to invite you to go there. It's ANewStory.com. Would you check it out as soon as you can today? One day, maybe unexpectedly, your earth-journey will come to an abrupt end. And then it's eternity. From then on and forever, all that matters is what road you chose to get to heaven...because the only one that goes there is the one that runs by Jesus' cross.

Some longtime friends dropped by for a visit and they told us a moving story of what had happened to their son. Tom had been a missionary pilot in Mexico - one of those spiritual heroes, I think, who take the Gospel and God's help to places where it could otherwise never go, including a mountain village in Mexico where the pilots have been God's instruments to launch a mighty work for Christ. And then came the crash. With three missionary pilots and several passengers aboard, a defect in their plane's almost new engine caused a terrible crash. Tom was one of those who survived that crash that could very well have killed everyone. The villagers who loved them actually traveled hours to reach them and rescue them. Tom's body was really badly shattered, and his recovery was long, grueling. But then he was flown back to the area where he ministered. His parents really choked up, and so did we, when they told us what happened as he got off the plane. There to greet him was a crowd of cheering Mexican friends. And they were holding a banner that simply said "Welcome home, Captain Tom!" I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your 'Welcome Home.'" I'm hoping you and I can get a "welcome home" like that in heaven someday. It all depends on what we live for in the years until we get home. In our word for today from the Word of God, Paul clearly lays out what matters most to him about the legacy of his life. In 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, he writes these words to the people that he's invested his life in spiritually: "What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy." Paul is looking forward to getting to heaven and seeing a lot of people that he touched for eternity. That's the welcoming party he's looking for. Basically, Paul says there are two things that matter in life: the Savior you serve and the lives you touch. That's your reward for the years you spend on this planet, that's your legacy, that's your joy. Well, at least it's supposed to be. It's possible that your life's priorities have gotten a little inverted by the pressures and the people and the problems that tend to fill up your life. You've been taken over by a truckload of earth-stuff. One friend of mine summed it up pretty well the other day. When someone asked him if he's ever played Trivial Pursuit, he said, "Every day." He wasn't talking about the game. He's talking about his life. Just hearing about Pilot Tom's "welcome home" was an important values-clarification reminder. If you've become consumed and sidetracked with a lot of stuff that's non-eternal, maybe it's time to get with Jesus and replace your agenda with His agenda to "seek first His kingdom" (Matthew 6:33). And if you're a little weary or discouraged in your faithful service for Jesus, I hope you'll be encouraged by the thought of the reward you're building, the legacy you're developing and the lives that have been touched by your sacrifices who will be thanking you forever. The people you've risked to take to heaven with you will be there, humanly speaking, because you cared. The lives that have been touched by the ministries you've given to will, in the Bible's words, be "credited to your account" (Philippians 4:17). All that really matters is what's going to meet you when you get to heaven. First, your Savior who will welcome you with the words you have lived for, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And the people your life in Christ has touched for eternity. Who knows, maybe they'll be holding a banner with your name on it that says, "Welcome home!"

I guess you could call it creative architecture. Or you could just call it a big stone in the middle of a high brick wall. I saw this phenomenon when I visited the new station of one of our radio partners. The front wall of the station has this big old 230-pound stone about halfway up the wall in the middle of the bricks. There's no way that could be a mistake or an accident. It is, in fact, a message. A masonry contractor offered to do some of the work on the station, and somewhere along the way he thought about a stone like this. He thought about what the Bible says about Jesus being the "chief cornerstone." So he went to the local quarry and he found this impressive piece of rock, which he installed in a central spot in the front of the building, with the "chief cornerstone" scripture reference under it. I love the reason he gave for this unusual feature. He said, "You build everything around the cornerstone." Wow! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Build a Life That Works." That's a builder who knows how to build a life, not just a building. And he's following the life blueprint laid out for us in the Bible, the only book God ever wrote. God is the Master Architect, not only of the universe, but of your life and mine. He tells us how to build it in our word for today in the Word of God in 1 Peter 2, beginning with verse 4. "As you come to Him, the living Stone (that's speaking of Jesus symbolically), rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him - you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house. See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame. Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. To those who do not believe, 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,' and, 'a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.'" These verses are all about Jesus. Your life is supposed to be all about Jesus, with Him as the cornerstone, with everything else in your life built on Him - your relationships, your marriage, your money. But maybe you're building on another cornerstone right now. Slowly but surely, you've pushed Jesus from the center of things to the edge. He's the King of kings. He's the Lord of lords, but you've pushed Him to the margins. You can tell by how little time you spend with Him, by how little you make Him the bottom line in your decisions, or by the things you do that break His heart. But count on this: unless your life is being built on Jesus as the center, what you're building is not going to last, it isn't going to satisfy, and it isn't going to work. The contractor who put that cornerstone in the middle of the wall found it at a quarry on the reject pile. A stone the builders had rejected. It now stands representing the Chief Cornerstone. Jesus is the Cornerstone rejected by man, but loved by those who are building their life around Him. Maybe you've made the mistake of rejecting Jesus as the center of your life. He's the reason you're here. In fact, the Bible says you were "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). He gave His life for your sin so you could belong to Him...so you could live the life you were made for. Would you let today be the day that you open your heart to the One who loved you so much He died for you? That would be God's only Son, Jesus, who knocks at the door of your heart this very day. But the handle is on the inside. You've got to let Him in. Today, would you say, "Jesus, I've built my life around me. I'm building it around You from now on. You died for my sin, You walked out of your grave under your own power. Walk into my life this day. I invite You. I turn my life over to You." Listen, I wish you would go to our website today. Everything you need to know about making sure you belong to Him is there. It's ANewStory.com. Jesus is the only Cornerstone that can support everything you face in your life. Make sure that you're building that life all around Him.

I never heard the words till I got to college. You start talking about Senior Panic. Yeah, well, if you didn't have a prospective mate by your senior year, it became pretty obvious that the odds were working against you and time was not on your side. Sadly, there were some people who got somebody in their desperation, but time began to show they got the wrong somebody. I guess you don't have to be a senior to begin to panic over your singleness. In fact, you may very well fear deep down inside never being married or never having anyone again; that you're going to be stuck eating frozen dinners alone a lot of nights for the rest of your life. In your anxiety, you can make a terrible mistake. I think we've got some good news today! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Mating Game." Our word for today from the Word of God? It goes back to the very first couple there ever was. You remember Adam and Eve, or as my daughter said when she was a little girl when we asked her who were the first man and woman, she said, "I know! I know! Eve and Steve." Well, no, that's not quite right. It's Adam and Eve. And it says in Genesis 2, beginning with verse 20, "So the man gave names to all the livestock; the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib that he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." Oh, I love that story and I love some of the priorities that it teaches. God saw that Adam needed someone. He said to him, "It's not good for you to be alone." Now, in spite of the fact that he had God over him and the animals under him, he had no one to be next to him. And so, Adam slept while God worked on that need. And God prepared Adam for a partner, and then He rested. And at just the right time, God brought them together, "He brought her to the man" it says. Now, how different that is from the frantic American dating game. We don't wait, we chase! We catch a husband; we catch a wife. I'll tell you, there is no one who knows what you need emotionally better than the God who made you. I wonder, do you think you could trust Him to meet your very deepest need as a man, as a woman? Now, that might be through a fulfilling singleness, or it might be through the marriage that perhaps you hope He'll bring about. Or are you going to have Senior Panic? Are you going to take matters into your own hands and chase, and pursue, and manipulate, and grab what you can and try to push and press? God has unique plans. God has unique people. God has unique timing that is just for your unique life. Don't compare how He's working in someone else's life to yours. He's got a plan that's never been there before. There's never been a you. He's got a plan just for you. Right now the thing to work on is building God-glorifying friendships with both sexes without that pressure of having to think marriage with them or to push for marriage, or to put the very pressure on them that might ruin the whole thing. Don't panic! Psalm 23:1 says, "The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want." God can meet your need in the very same way He did with Adam. Adam didn't go and find his own wife and create his own situation. Let God meet your needs. And He'll do it like with Adam, when you're resting, not running. There's a wonderful statement in Colossians 2:10 for all of us who belong to Jesus. It says, "You are complete in Him." Wow! Married or single, alone or with lots of people, you are complete in Him, and Jesus is enough.

When we secured land to build our Ministry Headquarters, we barely noticed the barn that was standing on that land, until God blessed us with some truckloads of donated materials which needed a place to be stored. Suddenly, we were taking a second look at this old pole barn filled with hay. The center was the only part that had walls - walls with rotting wood. The east and west sides of the barn had no walls, just some rotting old poles holding up a makeshift roof. We asked a contractor friend if there was any hope for the barn - especially since some folks had said just to bulldoze it. The contractor said the rafters and the foundation were actually good enough that something might be able to be done. Well, what followed was hundreds of hours of volunteer labor, a cement floor, the old wood and poles being removed, walls built to enclose the entire area - including the east and west ends, a second story and stairs were built, and we put on the truckload of shingles and vinyl siding that had been donated. Now, little did we know when we first started rebuilding that barn, that would also become our temporary Headquarters while our new building was being completed. Today, when people see this nice, vinyl-sided building which is fundamental to our ministry and the things that are produced there going around the world, when they see how useful that facility has become, and especially when they see the pictures of the dilapidated old thing it was at the beginning, it's nothing less than amazing! I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Repairing a Broken Life." I know a Carpenter who does that with people! He takes lives that seem pretty wrecked, hopeless and too far gone, and He miraculously redeems them and rebuilds them into something no one ever dreamed they could be. Jesus is the Master Carpenter, and it might be that your life is ready for His miraculous renovating power. In our word for today from the Word of God He describes our spiritual condition before the Carpenter comes. Ephesians 2:1-3 says, "You were dead in your...sins...we were by nature objects of wrath." See, God says all the things we've done in our life that He calls "sins" - every time we have done it our way instead of God's way - they have us under an eternal death penalty. God has to punish our sin, and the punishment is spiritual death forever. But we're dead in our sins even before we die physically. That might be what you're feeling right now - this despair and hopelessness. Inside, you're kind of like our old barn. There are holes everywhere. You're about to give up hope of ever changing. You feel like it's all falling down. In your heart - maybe even in the eyes of others - your life seems ready for the bulldozer. Hang on. Here comes the Carpenter. These verses from the Bible say, "But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead...By grace you have been saved, through faith." God loves you too much to lose you, so He sent His only Son, Jesus, to do the dying for all the sinning you've ever done. So you can be saved, like, rescued if you commit yourself to Jesus Christ. The result is not just that you get rescued from hell. Jesus builds you into someone more useful than you could have ever imagined. A new you built by the Master Carpenter. It all begins the day you turn it all over to Jesus, which for you, could be today. You can tell Him right now, "Jesus, I resign the running of my own life. I was made by You and for You. You died for every wrong thing I've ever done. Beginning this day, Jesus, I'm yours." Our website is about helping you get that relationship with Jesus started. Please go there today. It's ANewStory.com. I've watched carpenters transform a structure that was ready for the bulldozer into something incredibly strong and useful. And I've watched Jesus transform lives that seemed so far gone into walking miracles of His grace. You can't imagine what you could be if you'll just open yourself up to the touch of the Master's hand.

I had the opportunity to spend 24 hours of my life in the city of Athens in Greece. I was on my way home from a teaching mission, and if I only had 24 hours, well, I knew what I wanted to see. I wanted to see the Acropolis, and there it was on a hill that just dominates the entire city. That's where the ancient Greeks built a temple to their goddess, Athena, after whom, obviously, the city was named. Even after 21 centuries, I've got to tell you it is still an impressive, imposing, dominating structure up there on the mountain. Maybe you can even see a picture of it in your mind, if you've ever seen one before. It was the most sacred, most protected, most honored place in all of Athens. In fact, it was actually a crime to violate that temple. Of course it was that way in many cultures. The temple always got first-class treatment because your gods live there. Well, those ancient people had the wrong god, but they knew what to do with a temple. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Temple In The Mirror." Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. It's not about the Acropolis, it's not about the ancient Jewish temple, but it's about temples. Listen to where the temple is. "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." This is one of Christianity's most revolutionary ideas - you are the building God lives in. You can go in the bathroom, look in the mirror and see His temple. Even pagan people knew that the way you take care of your god's dwelling place tells a lot about how you feel about your god. Now, if you know Christ, you are God's two-legged temple. He's come to live in you by the presence of His Holy Spirit. That puts a whole new significance on your body - what happens with your mouth, your mind, your eyes, your ears, your hands, your feet, and every part of your body. Because in a sense, what you do with that body - everything you do with it - God is a part of. He lives in that temple. Everything you do to that body, you do to God. Now, even people without God in ancient days recognized that you guard, and you protect, and you keep special, and you honor the place where God lives. Let me ask you, "Have you been treating your body like the temple treasure that it is?" See, if you really care about your God much, you won't let His temple get run down. You won't let it have to carry the extra weight it's been carrying. You won't let it be too out-of-shape. You won't poison it with things that should never go into it; things that will degrade your body. It's a temple you're talking about, not just your body. That's a whole new reason to take care of it. See, that temple advertises what your god is like, and God deserves the best! Maybe you've devalued that temple with some junk you've been putting into it. Maybe you have defamed the temple of God by playing around sexually with His temple, dragging the name of God and the presence of God into things He is so much against, using His temple to satisfy your glands. Your body isn't yours. See, it was bought with the price of Jesus' blood. Your God lives there! Keep it special.

My life was profoundly affected by the example of five American missionaries who died trying to get the Gospel to a Stone Age tribe in Ecuador who had never heard the name of Jesus. They were actually murdered by the tribe that was then known as the Aucas. We now know them as the Waoranis. Amazingly, the wife of one of those missionaries and the sister of another actually went to the tribe that had killed their loved ones to tell them about Jesus. Today, some of the murderers of the missionaries are pastors of the Waorani church. It's an amazing story. I had the unforgettable privilege a few years ago of going to the Ecuadorian jungle to tape a radio program about what happened there. And I met Mincaye, one of the killers, one of the pastors. I learned that those missionary women had difficulty translating the Bible into the native language because this tribe literally had no word for or even concept for "forgive." But the message somehow had gotten through to Mincaye. Here's what he said: "What we did to those missionaries was a terrible thing. But one day soon I will see them in heaven because Jesus has washed our hearts." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Jesus In Their Language." A spiritual rescuer had come to people to whom the word "forgive" meant nothing. But God's messenger to them did what effective missionaries have always done. She found a way to say it in words the people could understand. You know, we can do no less for the spiritually dying people around us. Obviously, the need to translate Christ's message is hard to miss in a foreign setting where there is a clearly different linguistic language. But the need to translate the Jesus-story is easy to miss when our neighbors and friends speak that same linguistic language we do, but they speak a different cultural language. The words of our Christian "tribe" simply have no meaning, or the wrong meaning, to the lost "tribe" next to us. Many lost people assigned to us by God have no better understanding of "born again," or "saved," or "accepting Christ," or "sin" than Mincaye did of "forgive." In our word for today from the Word of God, we discover one big reason thousands of people from all over the world came to Jesus in the first outreach ever held by the Christian Church. It was Jerusalem, it was Pentecost, and according to Acts 2:6, "Each one heard them (that is the apostles) speaking in his own language." Now that was a special miracle from God, but it underscores that people must hear Christ's message in a language they can understand, which our church language - which I call Christianese - is not. Maybe you've been transmitting the Good News about Jesus and getting little or no response. Could it be they're stumbling over your vocabulary? You can't just transmit the Good News; you have to translate it into everyday, non-religious words. In Jesus' parable of the four soils, three of which produced little or no good harvest, we see the major difference between those three soils and the soil that produced great fruit. In each case, Jesus explains that "this is the man who hears the word." But where there was a great harvest, Jesus said, "This is the man who hears the word (and here's the one difference) and understands it" (Matthew 13:23). We've got life-or-death information we have to deliver. We cannot afford to have our lost family and friends miss it because we said it in words they don't understand. It's time to move beyond the comfort of our Christianese to communicate the message people cannot afford to miss. The words we use could be decisive for each of us in our personal rescue mission for Jesus. You're God's missionary where you are. If you make the effort to translate the Good News into the language of the person who needs it, you could be part of a life-giving miracle!

People become like the environment they spend their time in. At least that's what I've been told. For example, if you work at IBM, you become amazingly well organized for some strange reason. If you live in a college town, or if you work around a college, it's amazing how your vocabulary can change; sometimes increases. Oh, and your clothing? Yeah, it becomes a little bit more collegiate. You know? I've noticed that people who live near the ocean or resort areas, they just kind of dress, you know, more loose, more casually all year long. If you move from the North to the South, you may very well find your pace slowing down to match your environment. When I moved to the New York area, I know my driving changed. They say in New York about the roads there that there are two kinds of people, the quick and the dead, and I decided to become the quick. You become like your environment. That seems to be a pretty consistent principle; maybe too consistent. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Drawing a Line." Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 3 - one of the more amazing chapters in the Bible. If you want to read a startling description of the last days of this planet, read 2 Timothy 3 with today's newspaper or news website in your other hand. It's startling because of how it matches up with our headlines. Verse 1 says, "There will be dangerous times." And it talks about these characteristics of people that lead you to believe the reason it's going to be dangerous is because of the death of love. There won't be much love in that world. Paul's orders to Timothy are included in this chapter, and God's orders to us. Verse 14, listen: "But as for you, you continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of because you know those from whom you have learned it. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Now, Paul is saying if you live in a world that is racing away from God's standards, you can't afford to become like your environment even a little. See, there's always a noticeable difference between lost people and God's people. It's kind of my equal distance theory. There's always an equal distance between the standards and lifestyles of the people of God and the people of the world. Let's say figuratively speaking that the church, or the people of God, are always ten miles closer to God than the world is. The problem is that as the world moves to the left, away from God, so does the church. Now, we're still ten miles away from the marriages of the world, and from the sexual standards of the world, and their hardness, and their love of material things. But as the world moves faster and faster away from God's standards, so do we. We're still the same distance from our culture. So, in a matter of like five or ten years, we Christians are where lost people were only a few years ago, accepting what we thought we would never accept, doing what we never thought we'd do, watching, listening to what we never thought would be part of our lives. But we can feel pretty good about it, because we're better than the folks around us. But see, the rate of speeding away from God is accelerating right now, and God says, "Hey, you continue where you are! Don't move! Stand still! Don't move any further." He's not saying detach yourself from people who need Him. No, you live in the world, but you don't live as part of it. You don't march to that drumbeat. You know, you feel like you're pretty good if you compare yourself to what the world is doing, or maybe even what most Christians are doing, and saying and accepting. But that's not the measure. We're to measure ourselves by the God-breathed scriptures of the Lord himself. If you turn the light of God's Word on your lifestyle, maybe you'll see how far you've drifted. You just can't move any more. We've got to get back to God's standards for love, for marriage, for honesty, for family, our relationships. Our environment is terminally polluted. We can't be like our environment. It's time to draw the line.

On September 11, twenty-four years ago, I saw the Twin Towers crumble to dust. And then, on September 11th this time around, I saw so many people grieving the shocking assassination of a hugely popular Gen Z influencer in front of 3,000 people. In both cases, millions of people were devastated in disbelief and grief. Including reporters, politicians, law enforcement people - and lots of ordinary folks. And certainly the 2001 tragedy had a scope much greater, but this assassination hit many young people very personally. I found myself praying, again, what I cried out to God 24 years ago. "God, what do You see here?" The answer has been the same both times. Souls. Lost souls. Grieving souls. Eternal souls. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Fatal Shot, A Wounded Generation." Working with young people my entire life, I've seen many of them become less engaged with their world and with current events. A lot of them know more about Taylor Swift's love life but can't find Ukraine on a map or tell you the name of the Vice President. But they were drawn to Charlie Kirk, and he was dedicated to involving them in the major issues of our time. A prime time CNN host said: "If you don't know who Charlie Kirk is, ask your teenager or your college student." He was, in a sense, a generational prophet to many of them. He had over five million followers on X (formerly Twitter) and hundreds of thousands of listeners to his podcast and radio program. A lot of people have said that this generation is disconnected. But listen, they connected with Charlie Kirk. To countless millions of young people, he was finally a voice they could trust. Suddenly, he was gone. For me, this isn't about Charlie Kirk's politics or his culture war perspectives. It is, of course, about his wife Erika and their two children. I'm so glad the Bible says, "the Lord is close to the brokenhearted" (Psalm 34:18). She has a relationship with Him. I pray Jesus will hold them close in His big arms. I do see what God showed me on that dark September 11 years ago. Those souls. The emotional outpouring that has flooded social media gives testimony to the deep sense of personal loss so many young people are feeling now. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, there was a hole in our hearts that none of our usual "go to" answers could fill. So we turned to God. Churches were full. Prayer was everywhere. Many people opened their hearts to Jesus who died for them and beat death by His Resurrection. For many contemporary young people, this recent loss has left their own hole in their heart. That's where it's about "souls." This trauma will be, for many, a "turning point." Sadly for some, to anger, retribution, disillusionment, despair. All destinations devoid of hope. Or to Jesus, whose hope is stronger than death, guaranteed by an empty tomb. Which brings us to our word for today from the Word of God, which happens to be a verse that Charlie's wife posted hours before his death. Psalm 46:1 - "God is our refuge and strength. An ever present help in trouble." We are desperate for a generation that doesn't carry all our baggage. A spiritual awakening may well be our only real hope. And our young people may be our only real hope of a better tomorrow. I'm praying the death of a looked-to leader may lead them to the Leader whose life and hope are eternal. Jesus called us to tell our world about His unloseable love - and then to let them experience that love through us. That was his final order. I think about the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the guard coming on and the guard coming off exchange these words. The current guard says, "Orders remain unchanged." And the new guard says, "Orders acknowledged." We have our orders from our Master - to be His witnesses. No matter the loss, no matter the cost. Our orders remain unchanged.

It was one of those really special 90-degree days, when it is very humid and I was just finishing about eight miles on my bike. I was feeling all fit, and then I passed Tom running all ten and a half miles around that lake. Well, I realized that Tom did that every day. Nobody knew; nobody noticed actually. But I knew that he'd be in the headlines back home, and he'd be in the headlines a lot. Because he was one of the county's champion track stars. And I yelled to him from my bike, "No time off for vacation?" And he reminded me that running is a 12-month sport. Champions aren't made on the day of the race with the crowd applauding. It turns out they're made on like 1,000 unsung mornings. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Unseen Secret of Spiritual Champions." I've never understood people who get involved in a sport or an activity or in anything and just settle for like being mediocre. If you're going to get into something, well, aim to be all you can be. Right? If that's true in sports, it's really true when it comes to serving the King - the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe you've looked at spiritual champions you know, or some leader, or somebody you admire as a spiritual person and you said, "Boy, I'd like to be used by God that way. I wish I could teach, or preach, or minister musically, or lead like that. I'd like to make a difference. I'd like to influence people for Christ like that person does." And you see them in a public setting at the pulpit, or you watch them on television or you hear them on radio. You read their book, maybe hear them in concert. But the ministry you see in a spiritual champion is because of something you don't see. Just like that championship runner, chugging out those miles on those back roads. Nobody noticed, nobody seeing him, but that's where the champion is built. Okay, Isaiah 50:4, our word for today from the Word of God says this: "The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary." Now, how does he keep coming up with the words that people need? It says that "God wakens me morning by morning; wakens my ear to listen like one being taught." Okay, the great prophet of God says here, "morning after morning" there is a meeting with his Lord that nobody sees. And while others are resting, the champion is in God's Word, he's on his knees, not going on spiritual binges occasionally to get some great spiritual insight. No, no, no, no. He does it day after day, week after week, month after month. And finally there's all these years of accumulated time with God, and how He's touched you, and how He's changed you, and how He's moved you. So, when he speaks, he speaks with a "God-instructed tongue" because he shows up for class every morning. See, there's no glory there. There's no crowds applauding. It's just Christ's personal presence, and you're there with Him. Anything I have ever said for the Lord that has ever touched anyone has been because He touched me in private first where no one could see, no one else could hear. He wants to do that for you. He wants to do that for all His kids. Do you want to be used greatly by your Lord? Well, before you try to do a great work for Him, why don't you let Him do a great work in you? And you wake up each morning and let Him teach you before you leave. I saw that in a young track star; a picture of any of us who would like to be God's champion, a winner who's being built on 1,000 unsung mornings.

After watching the World Trade Center as part of my skyline for many years, it hit really hard that awful September 11th to see those towers come crashing down and thousands of lives with them. The day after the first attack on the Trade Center, which was back in 1993, I was greeted by a TV crew as I got off a flight from Newark. Of all things, they asked me as a New Yorker how I felt after that first bombing. And I could only think of one word, "vulnerable." That was my answer. Well, since the events of that September 11th, and the years since then, and all of the terrorism that has spread Iike a cancer. I think a lot of us are feeling more and more vulnerable all the time. It happens on the street, in churches, in malls, wherever! We're uncertain about what a new kind of war might mean, where the danger might pop up next, and what's going to happen economically. And some of us are trying to help our children understand this crazy world that we don't even understand. We all feel vulnerable. It's as if some of our own sense of personal security and safety started to come crashing down with those towers and it's been crashing ever since. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Safe in an Unsafe World." Even without the constantly disturbing events in the news, we all know the feeling of having things that we counted on suddenly come crashing down - a person we love, our job, the collapse of a marriage, a bad report from the doctor. In times like these, we're hungry for something we can anchor to, for something to sustain us when the bad news is more than we can bear, for something that will make us feel really safe. When our President, years ago, addressed the nation after that September 11th, he alluded to the one source of comfort and hope in moments like that. He quoted from that treasured 23rd Psalm in the Bible - actually, Psalm 23:4, our word for today from the Word of God. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me." The Bible holds out to you and me a security that can keep you safe in life's deepest valleys - even the valley of the shadow of death. That security is a relationship. It's a person. "You are with me, Lord" the psalmist said. All our lives we've been looking for one "unloseable" love. And there really is one. It's the love of the One who made you, the One you will meet on the other side of your last heartbeat, the One whose love caused Him to literally lay down His life for you. In our vulnerable moments, our moments that are more than you can handle alone, those moments when you've gone seeking God, maybe you've realized that there's something that is separating you from Him. The Bible says that feeling is right. The Bible says, "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2). But Jesus came to remove that wall between you and God - the only way it could be removed - by Jesus dying to pay the death penalty for you and for me, hijacking a life that God was supposed to run and we took it instead. Either you have this life-saving relationship with Jesus or you don't. It all depends on whether there's been a time when you grabbed the outstretched hand of Jesus like a person trapped in the wreckage would grab the hand of his rescuer. If you are ready for the kind of security, the safety that only Jesus Christ can offer, if you're ready to begin this anchor relationship with the man who died for you, would you tell Him that right now right where you are? "Jesus, you died for me. My life is yours from this day on." I want you to know for sure that you have that anchor, that security from this day on. So I'd invite you to go where some information is that will really help that happen. It's our website, please check it out today - ANewStory.com. I'd love for you to visit there as soon as you can today. My prayer is that you'll be able to go to sleep tonight knowing you are in the safest place in the universe - the arms of Jesus Christ - and that you'll be able to say, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil - for You are with me."

I was sitting on our front porch, and I saw our son-in-law suddenly running full speed across the front yard, headed for the back yard with his camera in his hand. With my incredible detective mind, I surmised that he had seen something that would make a great photo; something that apparently wasn't going to be there for long. Actually, he had seen our horse running across the pasture with her mane flowing and beautifully illuminated by the setting sun. Well, having a wife who's taken some pretty amazing photos over the years, I understood this. I guess you'd call it the "seize the moment" thing. Photographers know about this, and you'd better not get in their way. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "While the Window's Open." Photographer-types understand a life-principle that a lot of us miss - that there are moments, there are opportunities that have to be seized - or they're missed forever. And it isn't just photographs. It's precious life moments where a window of opportunity opens for a brief time, maybe just a moment, and either we stop and we take that opportunity or sometimes we lose it for good. Thus, God's counsel in Ephesians 5, beginning in verse 15, which is our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise..." Okay, so what does wise living look like? "...making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Apparently, knowing and doing God's will in your life often depends on seeing the opportunity He has opened up for you and seizing that opportunity. Many of life's regrets are about opportunities we missed because we let them slip by. Like the aging businessman who says, "If only I'd spent more time with my family." As many times as I've heard that lament, I have never heard anybody say, "My only regret is I wish I'd spent more time with my business." Nope, never heard it. When your child is ready to talk, you'd better drop everything and listen. The window won't be open for long. When your child is ready to be affectionate, you've got nothing more important to do than respond. When your son or daughter has time to be with you, you'd better have time to be with them. The same applies to your mate, your parents, others that you love. Many a tear at a funeral is over opportunities we did not take when this one that we loved was still touchable, still thankable, still forgivable, still huggable. And how many chances do we have a day to simply compliment someone, encourage someone, stop and listen to someone. Those are God-moments - opportunities to be a channel of God's love into a person's life. Most importantly, how many times do we pass up a God-given opportunity to talk about our relationship with Jesus Christ, when the eternity of that person may depend on them hearing about our Jesus? Spirit-filled living involves making yourself available each new day to seize the opportunities that God gives you in that day. If you're the kind of person that's all rigid, programmed and inflexible, you'll probably miss or ignore the many times the Holy Spirit is saying, "This is it! This is your chance. The window's open. Do it now. Seize the moment!" Like a photographer running to capture his picture before the moment passes, we need to capture the God-moments that He is weaving into each new day. Those scenes are just too good to miss!

Our daughter is all grown up now, but she'll never forget that very scary moment when she was four years old. My wife was shopping in a supermarket with our son riding in the grocery cart and our daughter walking with her - well, actually running ahead of her. Karen had warned her to stay in the same aisle she was in, but we're talking a firstborn here - so she had to run ahead to other aisles to explore, of course. Until suddenly she noticed how high those shelves were and how long those aisles were, and the fact that she didn't see anything familiar. And suddenly she felt that awful feeling that she still describes today as "scary" - she was lost. Not too long ago, she told me how it felt. As a grown woman, she said, "Suddenly my security wasn't there." Thankfully, her mother came looking for her. Our daughter got lost, but someone who loved her found her. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "I Once Was Lost...." Lost isn't just a feeling that little kids know. No, a lot of us who are all grown up know it all too well. The dictionary says that "lost" means "bewildered as to direction; missed the way." You ever felt that way? Now, maybe? It could be that, like our daughter said, suddenly your security isn't there. There's been a breakup, a divorce, changes at work or in your family, a painful loss, a financial setback, some major change. Interestingly enough, our Creator describes us as lost. We're bewildered about the meaning, the direction of our life because we've, Well, like the dictionary says, "missed the way." You and I have missed what we were made for - a life run by God - and we've wandered off into a life run by us. Like our daughter separated from her mom, you suddenly realize the person you need most isn't there - the God who made you. You're away from your Father, your Heavenly Father. And, again, like a lost child, there's no way you can find your way back to Him. Your only hope is that He's come looking for you and that's what Jesus is all about. He's God come looking for you. In our word for today from the Word of God - Luke 19:10 - Jesus says, "The Son of Man (that's Him) came to seek and to save what was lost." Jesus literally gave His life to bring you home; He absorbed your death penalty for all your sin when He died on the cross. And now He's coming seeking you to save you - right now through this visit He may be doing that. It's really Jesus, who knows your need, coming where you are, through this program, to bring you home. Here's a letter that I received from a man who experienced that. He tells about commuting to work one winter morning. He says, "This hour and one half ride is really getting to be a drag - too much time to think. Thinking about one divorce and a second marriage, never enough money, can't afford a new car and this one may not even make it home." Then again, what if he doesn't make it home? Is this what life is about? Drive-work-sleep, then drink myself into oblivion to numb the monotony? He is painfully aware of a growing emptiness - something's missing - actually everything is missing! He tells how he started surfing the radio and he landed on this program and he says, "You directed me to the One who would give my life meaning. Without that, it was quite possible I would not be here now." See, Jesus found this man through a radio. And this man finally found everything he'd been missing. For someone listening right now, that's what Jesus wants to do for you this very day, this very hour. Would you open up to this man who gave His life for you? You can trust Him with the rest of your days. Would you say, "Jesus, You died for me. You love me. You're alive! You walked out of Your grave. Come into my life. I'm yours." Our website will tell you how to be sure you've begun that relationship. You can go to ANewStory.com. Jesus loves you too much to lose you. He went all the way to a cross to prove it and right now He's come where you are to bring you home. Don't miss Him, my friend.

The attack on the USS Stark was really a double tragedy. It happened during the Iraq War, and an Iraqi pilot fired a missile into the side of our missile frigate, the USS Stark. And 37 American sailors died in an awful inferno that followed. Actually, one of the reasons for the tragedy wasn't even so much the missile. It appears now that someone had turned off a vital alarm; one that actually could have alerted the crew in time to respond. Well, there's the double tragedy. The American sailors died, yes. But none of them had to. An attack was underway and the alarm was off. Well, wait a minute! Let's be careful, because you and I might be making that same mistake. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Alarm Inside You." At the moment you committed your life to Christ, God actually activated inside of you this flawless, internal guidance system. He's called the Holy Spirit. The guidance system is described in John 16:8, which says this: "When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." So the Holy Spirit is this alarm system that lets us know when we're crossing or when we're about to cross God's boundaries. Then in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 we find our word for today from the Word of God. It simply says, "Do not quench the Spirit." Man, this is a blazing warning! It says, "Don't turn off God's alarm!" It could be that knowing what only God knows about you, He is sounding one more alarm in your life through our visit today. This could be an alarm. That's a sobering thought. The Holy Spirit in you has been warning you about the compromises you've been making long before you tuned in today; about those things He's been trying to pull you away from; or that sin that you've been trying to rationalize or justify. He's been making you feel uncomfortable about some of those wrong choices. He knows where they're going to take you. He sees the destruction that's headed right for you, and you don't. He's sounding the alarm. Please listen to God the Holy Spirit! The alarm has been going off as you've been telling less than the truth, or as you've been saying hurtful things in anger and frustration. That alarm's been going off as you've been flirting with that sexual sin, or maybe even as you've committed it; or as you've talked about what you never should have talked about, or you've been watching what you never should have watched, or listening to what you never should have listened to. It could be that you have felt that alarm in the middle of criticizing somebody - backstabbing - and the Holy Spirit is saying inside of you, "Don't do this." He has sounded the alarm, and honestly, you have felt this spiritual heartburn that is trying to pull you the other way. It's a frightening thing that you can actually quench the Holy Spirit and become immune to His warnings. You say, "Oh, that's good! Yeah, I'd actually like to be immune to it." No, it's deadly! When you turn off the warning system of the Holy Spirit; when you quench the Spirit, it will lead you to spiritual death and destruction. Because you will end up going farther than you ever thought you'd go, staying longer than you'd ever thought you'd stay, and paying much more than you ever thought you'd pay. If the missile of sin's destruction is headed your way, I guarantee you, the Holy Spirit's alarm is going off in you now. Turn off the alarm and the price will be too high to pay. Respond to the alarm, and you will be able to get out while you can.

I missed that sunset a few nights ago, but I saw something just as beautiful - the afterglow. A sky painted by my favorite Artist in brilliant hues of orange and yellow. Look, I've seen a lot of sunsets all over the country and all over the world. But the show isn't over when the sun goes down. No, the sky is still glowing, often magnificently. The sun may be gone, but its aftermath is still beautifying our horizon. It's made me think about what I'll leave on people's horizon when my sun sets. And about people I've known, whose life on earth is over, but who are still "afterglowing" on the landscape of my life. Oh, I know the kind of people who bring clouds and shadows with them. They're the gripers, the gossipers, the grimacers, the growlers, and the grumps. No glow. But what is it about certain people that makes them a treasure to be cherished, long after they're gone? It's in a certain way, I think, that they make you feel when you're with them. They make you feel lighter. There's this contagious joy and an ever-ready smile that's like the sun on the gloomiest day. Who doesn't want to be around - even seek out - that kind of person? My Karen had that, even when she might have been weighed down with medical, financial, or work stresses. But her joy was explained by a favorite Bible verse of hers, which is our word for today from the Word of God in Nehemiah 8:10, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." That's an unsinkable buoyancy that's independent of your circumstances and it's anchored in Christ. These "afterglow" people also make you feel safe, unlike the many who have an agenda, can't keep a confidence, make you feel judged, or later use what you tell them against you. But there are those rare people who have been for me a harbor where I know I can run in the storm. Someone I can pour out my heart to. Those people change your life. So do the people who make you feel heard. In a world where no one can remember what you were saying when you lost your train of thought, these people can because they're all about you. Unforgettable people really listen for your heart, not just your words. Ultimately, the "afterglow" legacy people are the ones who make you feel important. When you're with them, you feel like you're the only person in their world at that moment. I lived with and I loved this kind of woman since I was 20 years old. Long enough to know why people of every age and race and background cherish her memory. She made us feel Jesus. She always told us, "It's not about me. It's all about Jesus." It turns out she wasn't generating all that love and joy. She was reflecting it like the moon, reflecting the glory of the sun, or in her case, the Son of God. She felt so totally loved by Jesus, because she could say in the words of the Bible, "He loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). You could say that too. She lived Jesus' promise to light up every life that's given to Him. He said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). Have you ever experienced that? Do you feel safe and secure in the love of the One who loves you the most - Jesus? The only One who loved you enough to die for your sin? Today, if you've never given your life to Him, let this be Day 1 of life like it was meant to be. Tell Him, "Jesus, nobody loves me like you do. I'm yours. Replace the darkness with Your light." Go to our website today, and find out there exactly how to be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com. I've seen this light Jesus talked about up close for many years. I called it her Jesus-glow. So radiant that it continues to light my life and countless others, as yours can...even after your sun has set.