A Word With You

When our youngest son was just learning to walk and talk, my wife always knew when I walked in the door from work. She said she would just hear this loud, one-syllable announcement from our son, "DA!" No, not "Daddy"…not "Da-Da," just "DA"! And that's how he would greet me as I walked in. My wife said he actually would go to the door late in the afternoon and begin looking for me. And when I finally arrived—say it with me now—"DA!" I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Looking For Daddy.” My son went to the door looking for his father, and he found one. Tragically, a lot of people have gone looking for a father in their life and there was no one there. In fact, maybe for you the word "father" is a hurting word. In one way or another, your father wasn't there for you—physically, financially, emotionally, or supportively. You went to the door, but there was no one there. That leaves an emotional deficit. It makes you feel incomplete, cheated, unexplainably lonely, trying to compensate for the lack of a father's love in countless ways…some that leave you even more scarred. I call it a Daddy deficit. In our word for today from the Word of God there is hope for someone who has never had the father they needed. Galatians 4:4-6, God's Word, "When the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." God is showing us here this incredible possibility of actually belonging to our Creator in a deeply personal way—as a child in His family, with God Himself as your Father. Not like your earthly father. No, God is like the father we always wished we had, not the father we had. And God goes on to say here, "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father.'" Now, in the Greek language this part of the Bible was written in, that "Abba" is a deeply affectionate word for Father; it's like "Daddy" or "DA!" See, God literally offers you, not a religion, not a rulebook, but a love-relationship with Him—the Creator God—as your Daddy. Even if you've had a wonderful earth-father, there's still that sense of incompleteness, that sense of someone's missing. That's because someone is. See, there's a hole in your heart that can only be filled by this One who wants to be your Heavenly Father. He's always fair, always loving, always understanding what you're feeling, always dependable, always stronger than anything you're facing—always there for you. We're missing our ultimate Father, not because He's left us, but because we left Him. The Bible says, "Each of us has turned to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). We're separated from God by all the sins of our life--every time we've done it our way instead of His way. That's why, in the Scripture we read, "God sent His Son... to redeem" us. I'll tell you this; God removed all doubt about whether or not He really loves you when He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to pay your death penalty for your sin on His cross. I don't know how you picture God, whether He's waving a condemning finger at you, or His arms are folded, staring at you, or He's just too busy for you. That might have been your earthly father. It's not the Heavenly Father. His arms are wide open. He's so waiting for you to come to Him. The Father you've wanted your whole life becomes your Father when you put your trust in His Son, Jesus, to forgive all your sin. The Bible says, “To all those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God.” When you open up to God's Son, He makes you a daughter or a son of God. If you've never begun a relationship with Him, I would encourage you today to let your heavenly Daddy come into your life and love you as you were always meant to be loved, with a love that Jesus came for you to have. Tell Him, “Jesus, I'm yours beginning today.” Our website will give you more information on how to be sure you belong to Him. Check it out - It's ANewStory.com. Once you begin this loving Father relationship, wherever you go looking for your Father, He's going to be there!

Ted's an ex-Marine. I guess once a Marine, always a Marine. Right? You know — halls of Montezuma, shores of Tripoli, and semper fi. Since his days in the Corps, Ted's gone on to become very successful in business, but he keeps getting invited back to talk to Marine recruits as an inspirational speaker. And in the process, he tells them about a rescuer who came for him in the Marines and saved him — Jesus Christ. And I love what he tells them — “One thing about Marines — we always go back for our own, and that's why I'm here today. I'm going back for my own.” I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Leaving No One Behind.” Those Marines really listen to Ted, because he's one of their own. That's sort of a law of life, isn't it? We tend to listen to our own kind; maybe when we would listen to no one else. Especially when it comes to the rescuer that my friend tells the Marines about. More and more, people aren't going to listen to some “Christian professional” tell them about Jesus. No, even though their lives depend on understanding Jesus. They're not likely to go to one of those meetings that we have. It's probably going to have to be one of their own…like you. Jesus understood that approach to rescuing spiritually dying people. He used that approach Himself in our word for today from the Word of God. Here's the deal: Jesus has gone into Samaria to reach the Samaritans, and since the Jews and Samaritans basically couldn't stand each other, how is this Jewish rabbi going to reach them? He's going to send one of their own to go back and get her own — even though she is probably known for her immorality, her relationships with many men, her string of marriages and divorces. First, she meets Jesus at a well where she discovers who He really is. Then in John 4, beginning with verse 28, the Bible says, “Leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?' They came out of the town and made their way toward Him…Many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the woman's testimony…” Well, they listened to her when she talked about Jesus because she was one of their own. That's what makes you so eternally important to your coworkers, your fellow students, your neighbors, your teammates — you're one of them. They'll be more likely to listen to you talking about a personal relationship with Jesus than to any preacher or evangelist or radio or TV guy. Well, you may say, “but I'm not trained…I've got a lot of problems…I don't know enough.” Excuse me, but have you thought about the one Jesus sent as His ambassador to the Samaritans? See, what qualifies you is two things: you've met Jesus, and you're one of them. He's placed you where you are not just to get grades or get paid or get comfy. He's put you there to take some of those people to heaven with you! So, how are you doing? The best one to reach a lost farmer is another farmer…the best one to reach a lost mom is another mom. a lost teacher, a teacher. How about a lost businessman? It will take a businessman, and so on. But so many people die without ever knowing what Jesus could have done for them. They die without a chance at heaven — because the Christian close to them never told what they knew. That's a death sentence by silence. You don't have to tell them about Christianity, about church, about your religion or a list of Christian beliefs. Just do what the Samaritan woman did — stick to Jesus. She just said, “Come, see a Man!” But don't take them to a well — take them to the Cross and show them how much Jesus loves them. Their best hope is you, because you are already there. Of all the New Year's resolutions you could make, could there be a better one than to say, “I will finally tell the lost people in my world about my Jesus.” You're in their world. You're their spiritual “Marine.” Go back for your own, and don't leave any of them behind.

When my wife and I would drive somewhere, we didn't lose any time when she drove. In fact, we set some records. Once we were on a trip and I was preparing for the meetings we were going to, she was driving down this four-lane, divided highway. I was looking down. All of a sudden, I looked up and I saw orange plastic cones on the middle line that divides the two lanes on our side. And as I looked, every vehicle but one was moving into the left lane, to the left of the cones. You notice I said everyone but one. Yeah, that was us. My wife continued in the right lane, and I said, “Honey, what are you doing? Looks like this lane is closing.” She said, “Just watch.” Well, we passed a line of cars on our left, with a big truck at the head of it. See, that truck had moved into the left lane, and all the other cars said, “Oh, that must be the lane to be in.” The problem was that the truck that they were following was taking equipment to a big tar truck parked in the left lane, so we waved as we zipped by all those cars as they were heading for an unpleasant surprise. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about “Wrong About God.” Now, our word for today from the Word of God. We're in Proverbs 14:12. It's short, but it's hard-hitting. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death.” The Bible's pretty clear here. A lot of people are on a road that looks good, but it's going nowhere. Jesus talked about that in Matthew 7:13-14, when He said, “Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it; but small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” See, a lot of people are wrong about the one thing you can't afford to be wrong about—God, and how to get to Him. If you're wrong about God, it's fatal forever. Maybe you're someone who might be on a sincere road that seems very right, but that ends far away from God forever instead of with Him forever. Only God can tell us how to get to Him, and He does in John 14:6. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.” In 1 John 5:11-12 it says, “There is life in God's Son, and he that has the Son has life. He that does not have the Son of God does not have life.” So, question: Do you have the Son of God in your heart? This bothers a lot of people that Jesus is the only way. You say, “Well, I believe in tolerance. As long as we're sincere.” Well, if you're trapped in a burning building, and a firefighter risks his life to bring you out, I don't think you say, “Hey, wait, there's only one way out of here? Are you kidding?” No, you grab that rescuer and you say, “Thank God there's a way.” Well, thank God there is one way. There wasn't any way until one Savior came and paid the price for our sin. Sin has a death penalty. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.” Someone's got to die for my sin to be paid for. No good works, no matter what faith they're from, can pay that death penalty. Romans 5:8 says, “God proved His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” If you haven't pinned all your hopes on Jesus to be your Rescuer, you're still on the road that leads to death. That's why everything, now and forever, depends on what you do with God's Son, Jesus. This could be the day when you make this Jesus your Rescuer from your sin if you would just tell Him, “Jesus, I get it. You died on that cross for me. I'm Yours.” Would you please go to our website and just find there the information you need to get this relationship with Jesus going? It's ANewStory.com. Only one lane gets you to God. Only one lane gets you to heaven. It's the road that goes by the cross where Jesus died to pay for your sin.

Our local high school football team had the most dramatic turn around I think I've ever seen in a high school team. They had only scored in two games the season before. A new coach took over, and the next season they were in the state championship and were on top many years after that! They actually had a coach who molded winners. And I had a son who was coming up in the ranks and would soon be playing football for him. I pointed out to my son this coach's successes and one of the reasons why he was so successful. See, my son had said to me, “Dad, I want to play," and he told me the position he'd like to play. And I said, “Well, listen. You need to trust that coach, because one of his gifts is knowing what position each guy is going to play best.” Now, this coach would change players' positions around and that often would meet with great resistance from them. They'd say, “Hey, Coach, I want to be a ______.” They'd fill in the blank with whatever position they thought they should play. And he'd say, “No, you're going to play this position.” They'd end up being all-conference, all-county, and thanking the coach. So, I told my son to trust the coach for the best position to play. I'm going to tell you the same thing. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Let the Coach Place You.” Our word for today from the Word of God begins in John 21:17-19. Jesus is talking to Peter and he says, “'Peter, feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted, but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.' Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then He said to him, ‘Follow Me.'” Well, Peter turned and saw John following them. And when Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? But you must follow Me.'” Interesting! Peter seems to be questioning the coach here. He's questioning, in a sense, the position he's going to play compared to the position John's going to play. Now, the Lord has a position on His team that you are created to play, that you're gifted to play. And He's saying to you like He said to Peter “Don't worry about somebody else's position. You play your assignment.” And each of us has one. We know that from 1 Corinthians 12:6, “There are different kinds of working, but the same God works them in all men. That includes all believers. To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” Now, first of all, you've got to believe He has a position for you to play in His family, in His work on earth. Because it says all believers have it. Secondly, you trust Him to give you the assignment where you can do the most. It may not be the position you wanted to play, like some of the guys on our local football team. Maybe you wanted to be in front and He's got you working backstage. Maybe you wanted to be backstage and He's got you working in front. Maybe you wanted to lead and He has you being a follower right now, or you want to follow and He's pushing you to be a leader. Maybe He's teaching you to learn to do humble tasks right now. Maybe you want to be doing right now and He's actually assigned you to be preparing instead. You see, our Coach not only sees your talents, He sees your potential. He created it after all. So don't chafe if He asks you to play a position that is different from the one you want. He's the one who wired you, created you, and He has assigned you for a very specific assignment. And He knows where you'll play the best, and He knows what position will do the most for you and for His Kingdom. So, hang in with the assignment the Coach has given you. You are right now where you can contribute the most, learn the most, and share the most. Let the Coach place you.

I grew up as an only child. My parents took me to most of the places that they went, but I remember one time they left me home by myself. I was home alone. (You know, maybe somebody could make a movie about that someday.) Well, anyway, we lived in this third floor apartment on the south side of Chicago. It was getting very late. I was sitting near the back door waiting and they should have been home by now. I was worried. I remember hearing sirens and I thought, “Oh, no!” Okay, my imagination went crazy; it was taking me all over the place. I was thinking of all the bad things that might have happened to my parents. I was already there and then the sirens came. I was sure the sirens were for my mommy and my daddy, but they weren't. But the fear I had that night was so great (how about this?) - I still remember it don't I? I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about “Never Home Alone.” Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 8, beginning with verse 37. You probably know this fear of abandonment that I had that night. That's not unique to me, or even to a child. I'm thinking of a friend of ours who struggled her whole life with the fear of abandonment. She was left by her parents a lot because they were in mission work and there were a lot of “goodbyes” and she was always vulnerable to some bad choices because she was always afraid that she'd lose what she loved and what loved her. All right, Romans 8:37, referring to the most dangerous things that could happen to you in your life, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced (boy, here's the best news you might have ever heard) that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future (boy, this has got everything covered!), nor any powers, neither height nor depth (and that's like just in case I've forgotten anything), neither anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” This is where God promises one unloseable relationship. God created us to anchor ourselves to one relationship. The problem is that every other relationship on earth is losable. I think of the night when my wife was almost dying from hepatitis, and we weren't sure she'd make it. And I knelt by her bed and I said, “Dear God, please spare her.” And I thank Him that He did spare her life. But that night I almost lost the one relationship I thought would never leave me. She said she would never choose to leave and I would never choose to leave her, but you know what? There come those times when the choice is out of our hands. One day that choice did come and now she's in Heaven and I'm still here. See, you need a relationship you can't lose, and you can't take Jesus away. He will not leave you—ever. He is the unloseable one. Any human love I receive, well, that's a welcome bonus, but my identity is supposed to be knowing Jesus. So, do you know Him? See, life is never secure until you belong to Christ. That begins the day you get your sin erased by putting your faith in what Jesus did when he died on the cross for that sin and then you're in His arms to stay. Nothing in heaven, nothing on earth, nothing in hell can take you away from Him. You've had your sins forgiven. The only thing that will keep you out of God's heaven is gone because you've put your trust in the One who died to remove those sins—Jesus, His One and only Son who's alive because He walked out of His grave. He can walk into your life today. He said, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). And you decide whether that relationship ever begins, and you decide when it begins. Let it be today. Tell Him, “Jesus, I'm Yours.” You need to get to our website to find there everything you need to know to be sure you belong to Him. That website is ANewStory.com. The child in all of us hears the sirens. We imagine life without someone who loves us and we fear a future alone, and then Jesus steps in at your invitation and makes this awesome promise, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).

If you ever saw my oldest son, when he was younger, eating a hamburger, you'd see how quickly it disappears. I'm sure that you would find it hard to believe that there was a time when he was actually too young to eat one. Yes, but we have the movies at home to prove it! You've seen this little baby eating this mush that only babies eat. He didn't have any equipment to chew a hamburger with, right? So we'd feed him this smooth, beaten-to-death version of the real thing – no chewing, no effort, it just kind of slides right on down. Now he has to work harder on it these days, like when you're eating a steak. But he seems to have no desire to go back to the good old days of baby food. The best food will require some effort, but it's worth it. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Lazy Listeners.” Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 5, and it's about lazy eaters. I'm beginning at verse 11. The writer says, “We have so much to say to you, but it's hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need somebody to teach you the elementary truth of God's Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Now, the writer of Hebrews is writing to some Christians who insisted on food that didn't demand much of them. In this case, milk. They were lazy eaters. Well, that kind of laziness is all too common among a lot of us Christians today; we are, in North America, some of the most entertained Christians in history. We're so spoiled by our radio preachers, our TV shows, our seminars, our Christian celebrities. We want our sermons to be funny, and exciting, red-hot challenging, and short. We want our speakers to be entertainers. We expect our teachers to be brief, to the point. How dare they talk too long! And we want our pastor to chop up our food for us and give it to us Gerber-ized. We like melt-in-your-mouth messages that don't take a lot of effort. Well, there are a few very gifted pastors or speakers who do 80% of the chewing for you. All you have to do is meet them with maybe 20% of your attention; you don't have to put a lot of effort into it. But most of God's messengers require careful attention from you, a determination to follow along with them, a willingness to make your own applications and connections. There are some people who have a lot to say from the Lord, but they require you to come maybe 40-50-70% of the way. There are writers like that. You say, “This is hard to read.” But it's worth sticking with it; it's worth chewing. See, a spiritual leader doesn't have to be funny or have a ton of charisma in order to feed you God's Word. He doesn't have to be some famous preacher or TV celebrity. God has put you under the teaching care of someone who loves God and cares about you; one of his servants. Don't expect that leader, that pastor, that teacher, that writer to do all the chewing for you. Give your God-appointed teachers your very best. When you listen to them, go prepared to chew, to work for your good meal. You're too big for baby food. Lazy eaters never grow up. So, don't be too lazy to chew a good piece of meat.

It was one of the most compelling television documentaries I think I've seen. It aired on one of the anniversaries of the September 11th attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The stories of rescuers and survivors. One story I just can't shake was told by this British young woman who worked in a brokerage firm high up in Tower Two. She recalled with remarkable composure the confusion in her office on whether or not to evacuate the building. She's alive today because she made the right decision. But many of her coworkers never made it out. She actually broke down for the first time as she talked about her good friend in the office. All she could say was, “I keep thinking, ‘I should have asked him to go with me.' I can't get that out of my mind.” I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Life's Biggest Regret.” Okay, change the scene. You're in heaven, and you're looking for a coworker you cared about…a fellow student or a teammate, a family member, a neighbor, maybe a friend. You ask Jesus, “Lord, is (and you put the name in there)... are they here? What if He says, “Oh, did you bring her? Did you bring him? You never asked her to go with you.” Another scene: I've been to funerals where I looked at someone I'd been close to and I realized I had talked with them about everything except one thing—my Jesus. And now I couldn't. We can't have back any of those missed opportunities, but the future is yet to be written. I want to turn my regrets for the past mistakes of not telling someone about Jesus into a passion to be sure I don't make that mistake again. You and I have been placed in the lives of some people who are not ready for eternity, who have never been to Jesus to have their sins erased. God put us there to be their spiritual rescuer—to be their link to Jesus. To help them be in heaven with us. Our assignment comes crystal clear in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5, beginning with verse 11. “Since we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men…for Christ's love compels us…God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.” Okay, there's no doubt about it. You're the one God is counting on to deliver His life-saving message to the people who are within your reach. You can't just depend on your life to rescue them. They won't guess Jesus died on the cross for them just because you're a good guy or girl. You have to tell them about Him dying for them. Start by loving them in their language of love. Pray with them when they share a burden with you. You'll be showing them your personal relationship with God even as you pray for them. Share the difference Jesus is making in your life at a point where the conversation allows you a natural opportunity. I call that your Hope Story. In fact, each day pray for…look for opportunities. They're all around you. Let your hope story open the door for you to ask, “Has anyone ever shown you what the Bible says about how to have a personal love relationship with God and how to go to heaven?” And, in some cases, you might want to put your love for them and God's love for them in a letter where they can receive it without distraction and without debating. You only have to be God's glove, with Him inside you helping you to do and say what you could never do without Him. But silence? That's not an option. Not if you want them to be in heaven with you. You know what they need to know to get there. You're safe. You got out. They're still in the collapsing building. Life's biggest regret would be having to say, “I should have asked him to go with me. I should have asked her to go with me.” You still can. There's still time.

I was a Flash Gordon freak when I was a kid. Now, you probably have led a deprived life and you may be saying, “Flash who?” Let me bring you up-to-date. Flash Gordon was an inter-galactic hero that was made famous in a serialized movie that I think might have been filmed way back in the 1930s. No, I did not see it when it first came out! But it kept going on and on and on forever. I think you might still be able to find it sometimes on late night TV. Every episode ended with Flash Gordon in a jam, and he was always ready to be destroyed by some space monster or death ray. And you were sure there was no way Flash was going to get out of this one. There always was. He always did, and there is always a way out for you and me, too, if you're working for the right director. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Rescued Again and Again.” Now, you probably have a life full of close calls, just like old Flash Gordon. Except his were on movies and yours and mine are for real. There's a man who had a life full of close calls in the Bible – the Apostle Paul. He talks about them in our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Timothy 3:11 he says, “You know the persecutions and sufferings and what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured.” But listen to this, “Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.” Now, I have kind of a convoluted mind (you know that already), because as soon as I read that verse, I think of Flash Gordon. No, he's not in the Bible, and I know I've got a mental problem. I can't help that, but I remember that he was always rescued out of every close call. That's the bottom line for every child of God. He will sometimes let you go to the edge. It may look like there's no way out, but He will never let you go over the edge. “But the Lord rescued me out of them all.” You can say that, and so can I. It's not that it hasn't been close sometimes, but just look at the exciting episodes from your past; the time that the money ran out, or your friends ran out, or your family ran out, or your strength ran out. Maybe you've been so lonely at times in the past you couldn't stand it, or frustrated because every door seemed to slam shut in your face. There were these people that you had depended on, and they were suddenly gone. Or maybe you're hopelessly buried in work and responsibility and stress. And you say, “I'll never get out of this mess!” You've been to the edge of desperation, but remember the Lord rescued you out of them all. Maybe you're in a perilous or a painful place again. This time it looks like there is no way out of this, but then it's looked like that before at the end of other episodes and you're still here. Get some perspective. Stand back. Remember a lifetime of the Lord rescuing you. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out..." He will let you have heavy loads, but never more than you can handle. Jesus is, after all, your Savior. He can save you from this comparatively small crisis. He'll change the situation or He'll enlarge you to deal with the situation. But one way or the other, your Savior will rescue you. Look, He always has. Now, Flash Gordon, my old hero, got in big trouble – some big jams, a lot of close calls – so will you. But Flash Gordon always got rescued, and so will you. The God of the universe is writing your script and the God of the universe is producing your future.

As Lenny left our headquarters, I said, “Man, you have really made a difference around here!” He really had. A company that was getting rid of a lot of office furniture donated about a dozen desks to our ministry, and we were thrilled to get them! Good desks, but well, not exactly beautiful desks. They were all scarred and beat up, and on the surface they didn't look particularly useful. In fact, the company that donated them actually was getting ready to discard them before they learned about our need. So, here in a storage area were all these ugly desks…until Lenny got his hands on them. One by one, he went to work with his magic touch and he slowly restored their original beauty. By the time he was done, it looked almost like we had just gotten a shipment of expensive new desks. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Miracles With Damaged Goods.” As our amazing desk restorer stood in my office with hands so stained that they actually looked like they'd never be clean again, I thanked him for the amazing difference he'd made. He just broke into a big smile and he said, “Oh, I love doing this.” I know someone else like that. His name is Jesus and He, too, is in the restoring business. It took His hands being stained with His own blood to make His restoring work possible. But as He looks at countless scarred and undervalued lives that He has restored, I believe He says, “Oh, I love doing this.” And He would love to do it for you. There's a simple, five-word promise Jesus made that might mark for you the possibility of a fresh new start. That promise is in our word for today in the Word of God in Revelation 21:5. Jesus said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Did you get that, “All things new”? That may be exactly the kind of miracle you need right now. Because, like that office furniture we received, life has left you pretty beat up…scarred, maybe deeply scarred. You feel broken—useless. You've never been able to answer that haunting question, “Why am I here?” You're carrying a lot of regrets over things that, well, you wish you had done differently. You carry a lot of pain from things that have been done to you, and things you've done to others. But then there's Jesus, the one who makes all things new, but at a very high price—to Him that is, not to you. He said at the Last Supper as He broke a loaf of bread and handed it to His friend, “This is My body, which is given for you” (Luke 22:19). He was broken so you could be fixed. He paid for your sin on the cross so you wouldn't have to. That's what was happening on that horrific cross when He died. And in dying for your sin and then coming out of His grave, He broke the power of the thing that ultimately causes all the scars, and the regrets, and the hurts—the spiritual cancer called sin. And with hands that bear nail prints from His sacrifice for you, He reaches out to you and says, “I will make all things new.” The Bible says He will restore what sin has taken from you (Joel 2:25)…that He will “bind up the brokenhearted.” He'll “release the prisoner from darkness.” He'll “exchange the ashes of your life for beauty.” And then the Bible says, “He'll turn a ‘spirit of despair' into a ‘garment of praise'” (Isaiah 61:1-3). You don't have to be defined any longer by your pain or by your sin. You can now be defined by who you belong to forever—to Jesus Christ, God's Son, the King of all kings. Your life-changing relationship with Him begins when you come to Him and you say, “Jesus, You're my only hope. You died for me. Forgive me. Change me. I'm Yours.” I want to be sure you belong to Him. That's why we've got our website. That's really what it's for, and I want to urge you to go there and check it out as soon as you can today...ANewStory.com. Because of Jesus, who is the Master Restorer, your life doesn't have to be more of what it's been for so long. No, see, He makes all things new, and right now He is waiting to do that for you.

My next door neighbor in our dorm in college always wanted to preach like Billy Graham. I mean he really wanted to preach like Billy Graham. He would record Billy Graham on his radio program, and then he would listen to the tapes over and over again. He would copy everything, including even the inflections of Billy's voice. And then he would watch Billy Graham. He studied his gestures; he'd try to get them down and gesture just when Billy Graham would. He'd hold his Bible like Billy Graham. Now you are going to think he was really a fanatic, but this really is true. He told me he even counted the words per minute that Billy Graham averaged and tried to get the same pace. Wow! That's a crazy way to approach ministry, huh? Well, it's more common than you might think. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “You Be You.” Our word for today from the Word of God – one of the most challenging, exciting statements in all of the New Testament – is in Ephesians 2:10. This is about you now. “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Wow! God has created you as a unique, one-of-a-kind servant, uniquely prepared, uniquely wired by Him for a very unique set of plans which He prepared in advance for you to carry out. The problem comes when we start to compare ourselves with other people. You really can't compare yourself because you are a category all by yourself. You might never count the words per minute in somebody's sermon to copy them, but maybe you are looking at someone else God is using and you're saying, “You know, I can't talk like that. I don't know what they know. I'm sort of shy; I'm not that outgoing. You know, I don't have the training they have. I could never serve God like that; I'm not like that person.” You're right! You're not like them. Hurray! You weren't meant to be. You were created for works only you can do. I think we should look for models and learn from their values and their thinking and their ways of working, but not to become clones. The Mona Lisa is an original, it's priceless, but you can buy a postcard of the Mona Lisa for like 50 cents at the museum, because copies are cheap. Originals are priceless. Don't devalue yourself by copying someone else; trying to be like someone else. There's so much in social media that makes us want to do that. Don't do it! That's an awful, unnatural bondage if you're still trying to be like someone else. You see, everything you need - to do what God put you here to do - you have. And all those things that you don't have? Guess what? You don't need. You've got the right hair, you've got the right height, you've got the right body, you've got the right voice, you've got the right intelligence, you've got the right talents, and you've got the right limitations - even your background. See, God is using your background to make you into that unique servant of His. He's weaving a tapestry, and putting into that tapestry the people and experiences that will make you the man or woman you were designed by Him to be. So be yourself! Relax! Be the person that God made for a unique role that you are destined to fulfill. You compare with somebody else? You'll never get off the ground. You try to copy someone else, and you will never be the person you were created to be. I think you can say as you look at your life and the plans that God has for it, “God, you know what You're doing.” He sure does. Thank Him for making you the only you there is, and don't try to be a Christian clone. You are an original. So, you be you.

When I say this man is a veteran test pilot, I mean he's easily old enough to be comfortably retired. Instead, he's still blasting through the skies at these mind-boggling speeds, testing some of America's most advanced aircraft. He told his amazing life story on a national television program. It's a story of a lifelong adventure in the skies and a long spiritual search here on earth that ended, well, with the pilot of the universe piloting his life. As he concluded his story, he told about an incident where he was sent up in a state-of-the-art aircraft to help a pilot who was in distress. The fog was thick; the weather was dangerous for flying, and a rookie pilot was lost in that fog and unable to get through the weather in a plane that really wasn't equipped for it. Well, Mr. Test Pilot flew close to that imperiled aircraft until he was actually positioned right at its left wing. And then he radioed the desperate pilot and he simply said, “Look to your left.” Then he said, “Now stick with me. Turn when I turn.” Then in a plane so advanced that the veteran said it can make a game out of bad weather, he led his frightened fellow pilot to that glorious point where they broke through the fog and saw the bright lights of that landing strip below them. When they landed safely, well, you can guess. The rookie got out of his plane, he ran to his rescuer, and hugged him as if he had saved his life. Well, he probably had. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “When You're Lost in the Fog.” A pilot lost, in a potentially fatal predicament. His only hope was someone who was equipped with everything needed to bring him safely home. We all need somebody like that. Because we are all, in the words the Bible uses to describe our spiritual condition, “lost.” If we're honest, we know that we really don't know how life's supposed to work, no matter how cool and how together we look on the outside. When it comes to knowing why we're here, which way to go, and most importantly, how to land safely when we die, we're all lost. Our only hope is someone who's equipped with everything needed to lead us safely home; someone who will come beside us and take us the rest of the way through this life and on into the life to come. His name is Jesus, and He came here for all of us lost pilots. He said so in His personal mission statement, which is recorded in Luke 19:10, our word for today from the Word of God. Here's what Jesus said about Himself, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Notice, He didn't come to start a religion called Christianity or just give us a nice morality to live by. No, He came to rescue us from a spiritual predicament that will be eternally fatal unless we let Him lead us home. We're lost because we took over the pilot's seat that God was supposed to occupy. In the Bible's words, we're “sheep who have gone astray.” And you know what? Lost sheep just don't find their way home. Their only hope is if the Shepherd comes looking for the one who's lost. And Jesus did. He, in His own words, came to “lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:15). The only person who is equipped to lead you out of the guilt and the death penalty for your sin is the one who took all that guilt; who took all that dying on Himself. That's what Jesus did when He was on that cross. And then, He walked out of His grave under His own power! He's alive right now, and He's pulled up next to you today. That tug you feel in your heart—that's Jesus seeking you so He can save you. He's your only hope, but you've got to admit that. You have to tell Him that and start following where He leads you. Right now you could begin your personal relationship with Him. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours." Listen, would you get to our website the rest of the information; everything you need to know from God's Word about getting home to Jesus is right there - ANewStory.com. You don't have to fly in the fog one more day. You don't have to be lost anymore. Jesus has come close to you today, and He's saying, “Look to Me. I'll get you safely home.” Follow Him.

My Dad worked to make the money for our family, so my Dad decided where we went on vacation—fishing. Now some people would consider that a dream vacation, but the high-energy, ten-year-old me? No, I didn't think so. After just a little while, I was complaining. I was bored, but of course we kept fishing. Did I mention that my Dad made the money? Well, actually, we did have a good catch there and they were good eating. Catching them was fun. Eating them was fun. In between, there was this one step that was less fun - cleaning them. But for that fish to realize its culinary destiny, it had to be cleaned. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Fishing for Fish, Fishing for People.” If you're a fisherman, you're probably Jesus' kind of person. Four of the 12 disciples He called were fishermen by trade. When He summoned them to His service, He said, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). He told Simon Peter, “From now on you will catch men” (Luke 5:10). So the business of bringing people into a relationship with Jesus Christ apparently has some things in common with fishing. For example, you don't try to attract the fish with what you're interested in, but what they're interested in. Right? Look, I like pizza. I don't like worms. But if I put pizza on my hook, I'm going home with an empty bucket buddy. I've got to offer what will be interesting to the fish I'm trying to attract. And so, that's how it is with reaching people for Jesus Christ. If all we offer is religious bait, come to our religious meeting to hear a religious speaker talk on a religious subject in a religious place, we probably won't attract many of the lost people who need Christ so desperately. But if we're talking about needs they care about in a place where they feel comfortable, in words they can understand, we have a far better chance of getting them within hearing distance of the gospel. But there's another very important fishing principle we need to keep in mind as we present Jesus to the people around us. It's a principle it seems many believers have never thought about. You ready? You don't clean fish until you catch them! See, too many times, lost people are judged by us rather than loved by us, because we're attacking the things they do. And they do those because they're lost, and instead we should be leading them to the One who will take them from lost to found! You catch them, then you clean them! Actually, God catches them and cleans them, through you. You can see Jesus working that way in Luke 19, beginning with verse 5, our word for today from the Word of God. The whole town is shocked, scandalized, when Jesus says to Zacchaeus, of all people—the town crook, “I must stay at your house today.” As stunned as anyone, the Bible says Zacchaeus “welcomed him gladly. The people started muttering, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.'” But after meeting Jesus and experiencing His unconditional love, Zacchaeus can't stand his sin anymore. He announces he's going to make right the dishonest wrongs he has done, “If I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus announced, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Zacchaeus got clean, but he got caught first! The problem with the lost people you know is not their profanity, not their dishonesty, or not their immorality. They're lost and they're living like it! Their real problem is they need a Savior! Yes, they must repent, but that's part of being rescued by Jesus from their sin! Don't make their lifestyle the issue. Make Jesus the issue, and say with the great spiritual fisherman, Paul, “When I came to you…I resolved to know nothing…except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2). If you want to help people be in heaven with you, stick to Jesus. And stick to His cross!

When you're a five-year-old girl, going to dark places can be pretty scary. When my wife was that age, she lived in the country and she had this long, often dark road that she walked to get to the school bus. Part of the way, there was a grandma, and then there was a neighbor who watched and waved at her as long as she was in sight. See, it was that last stretch that was the problem. Trees covering that road, making it dark on the sunniest day, and sounds in the woods that reminded her of those wild critters that lived in their area. She told me how she made it down that stretch. She said, “There was one thing that got me through every day. I sang this little song, ‘Jesus loves me, this I know.'” I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The Dark and Lonely Stretches.” It was years later and my honey's beloved grandfather was 94 years old. Little did we know that one particular call to him would be her last. It was brief, but it was memorable. Granddad was at the point where he often didn't recognize even the people closest to him even though they had a pretty small family. When my wife called, she identified herself, and he responded, “I don't know who this is.” She again gave her name and reminded him that she was his granddaughter, the daughter of his only son. Just a chuckle on the other end, and Granddad said, “I don't know who this is.” Then, when she told him she loved him, he seemed a little embarrassed. "Who is this strange woman saying she loves me?" That's when my wife said, “Well, Granddad, that's OK. Because all that matters is that you know that Jesus loves you.” We will never forget his suddenly animated response: “Now Him I know!” Think about it: a scared little girl, walking a stretch she had to walk alone; a grandfather, walking the final stretch of life so many have to walk alone. Each of them, at opposite ends of life, finding their anchor in the very same place—in the same person—in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He wants to be your anchor for every dark, every lonely stretch you're going to ever walk—including that final stretch. The one the Bible calls “the valley of the shadow of death.” The writer of that 23rd Psalm put it this way, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” One “unloseable” relationship that not even death can interrupt. The one that you were made for that you were never meant to lose. The Bible says of Jesus that we were all “created by Him and created for Him” (Colossians 1:16). Problem: we haven't lived for Him. We've chosen to usurp the throne of our life, to do what we want, not what God wants. So life is lonely and meaningless because we're away from the One we were made for. And only the death of the Son of God could pay the penalty for that sin. And how do you know you can count on Jesus for every stretch of the road? Well, our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:39, “Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That's your ironclad promise from the one who's never broken a promise. He's coming where you are today, offering you this relationship that He actually died to give you. If He wouldn't turn His back on you when loving you meant dying for you, He will never turn His back on you. But you have to open your life to Him. Trust Him totally. Would you do that today? Tell Him, “Jesus, You're my only hope. I'm Yours beginning today.” When you do that, that's how your anchor relationship with Jesus begins. I want you to be sure beyond any shadow of a doubt that you have got this settled with God once and for all. That's why I'm urging you to go to our website's today. It's ANewStory.com. There you'll see the information that will help you be sure you belong to Jesus. This is the only love that will not desert you, never divorce you, never disappoint you, and never die on you. From the moment you give yourself to Jesus, He's going to walk with you every step of the way—all the way to heaven.

It seems like I've been on a diet since I was about six months old, or at least it seems that way. My “thorn in my flesh” could be my metabolism. Is that possible? It refuses to convert calories; it loves to store calories instead. Now, over the years, I've made friends with my metabolism, and thankfully I was able to knock off a good amount of that. I've learned how much intake I can stand in relation to how much I'll be doing that day. The problem is that the day is filled with caloric choices, whether it's a nibble on those snacks that somebody brought to the office, or getting a sandwich from the deli like everybody else is, or eating that tempting dinner that someone has prepared. I've learned a fundamental principle of how to control your weight. You have to decide in advance what you're going to do. You choose your lunch fare before your appetite or your opportunity chooses for you. I have to decide in the morning what I'm going to do about lunch. And you decide early in the day that perhaps you're not going to eat dinner or you're going to figure out a very low-calorie dinner. In fact, pre-choosing? That's actually the way to control of any part of your life. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Fighting Temptation Before it Hits.” Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Daniel 1:8. Daniel is actually a captive in another country; he is in Babylon. The Jews have been carried away to captivity there. He's been identified as kind of a leadership prospect, and he and some of his friends are kind of in the leadership academy there, and he's being asked to eat food that is forbidden to him by his Jewish faith. He says he won't do it. The Bible puts it this way, “Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way.” He goes ahead and eats a diet that is consistent with his convictions and he ends up stronger than any of those who ate the prescribed diet. Notice here his resolution came before – ahead of time – that he was not going to eat it. Then he took action to support that choice. He had already resolved what he would not eat. See, most of us don't do that; we make situational choices. Right in the middle of it we'll say, “I'll see how I feel. I'll see how it's going. I'll see which way the wind's blowing. I'll see how it goes. I'll see what the circumstances are.” Well, that's a good way to get blown away spiritually by temptation. Remember this, the key to no-regrets choices is deciding in advance. I guess Sampson had never really made up his mind how far he would go. And with Delilah he lost his leadership and he lost his life. But Daniel, in contrast, knew where his line was and became one of God's great leaders. He had decided in advance. Now, if you're facing a situation where you'll be tempted to give away what you'll later wish you hadn't, decide in advance how you're going to handle it. That's nowhere more crucial than in keeping sex pure and special. You set your line sometime when you're alone with your Lord, and then you don't violate that boundary. You don't let your glands decide. Your glands make lousy choices. Maybe you're in a situation where you're going to be tempted to tell something less than the truth. Well, you've got to decide now to tell the truth and what truth you'll tell. It might be a situation where you're going to be offered a chance to sin possibly. Would you decide now how you're going to answer? We live in a world where 99% of the pressure is to not do it God's way. If you wait and see how it's going to go, I know how it's going to go – so do you. You'll make a wrong choice. No, you see, like a dieter, you have to know now what you're going to do then. Remember, the key to no-regrets choices is deciding in advance.

A police officer spotted this little guy standing on a busy street corner in this huge city, crying. Of course, he tried to help the boy by asking him his address, and Scotty didn't know. The officer asked him his phone number, and he just said through his tears, "I can't remember." The officer was running out of options. He was just about to take that little guy down to the station when he thought of one last question: "Little boy, is there anything near your house that I might recognize?" That was the moment the little guy discovered the one thing that really helped him finally get home. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Finding Your Way Home." There was one landmark that lost boy was able to identify for the policeman. He said, "Mister, next to my house there's this big church, and it's got a big cross on the top. And if you can get me to that cross, I can find my way home." So can you - home to the love that you've been looking for your whole life; home to the only relationship that will finally fill that hole in your heart. And, one day, home to the heaven we all want to go to but that none of us deserves. Finding your way home means first "getting to the cross." Not long ago, a friend of mine met a 30-something man on a plane who had left the church of his childhood years to embark on a search for spiritual reality. Along the way, there were a lot of religions, many spiritualities, no satisfaction. Then, he said, "One day I stepped back into the church I'd grown up in. I was the only one there. Up in front, I saw the cross that I'd looked at so many times as a kid. But suddenly something hit me that I had missed all those years. I found myself saying, "For me. That cross was for me." And that's where his long search ended. That's where the spiritual search of millions has ended. Looking at that cross, seeing what Jesus did there, and suddenly saying those two words that change everything, "for me." Our word for today from the Word of God, Galatians 2:20, puts it this way: "Christ loved me and gave Himself for me." For many people in recent times, Mel Gibson's portrayal of Jesus' death in his movie, "The Passion of the Christ," revealed the enormity of the suffering and the sacrifice that Jesus went through. And one can understandably ask, "What made such a bloody, horrific death necessary?" Answer, my sin - and your sin. Because sin isn't just breaking some religion's rule. Na, no, no. It's declaring ourselves "God" of our own life; taking a life God made and doing with it what we want. That sin carries the death penalty of an unbearable hell - an eternal separation from God. And that's what Jesus was carrying for you in His body and His soul as He agonized on that cross. And three days later, He walked out of His grave under His own power. Which means you can have, not a religion about Him, but a relationship with Him. If you will make personal what He did on that cross by telling Him, "Jesus, I believe that when You died, You were dying for me. I'm putting my total trust in you to be my personal rescuer from my personal sin. Beginning right here; beginning right now, I am Yours." If you're ready to trade your emptiness for His peace, and your hell for His heaven, make sure that this is the day you say "Jesus, I'm Yours," Don't put this off another day. No other day is guaranteed, but today. To support you in this I want to invite you to our website where many people have gone and confirmed their own relationship with Jesus Christ. That website is ANewStory.com. Go there as soon as you can today, please. The search of a lifetime ends at the foot of an old rugged cross. And if you can get to the cross my friend, you can finally find your way home.

Somewhere on your body there is probably some mark or scar from your early days of riding a bicycle. I mean most of us took a pretty good spill somewhere along the way and we've got the marks to prove it. Well, our family was staying in a little cabin in the woods, and our oldest son came cruising down this little dirt path on his bike. He spun out on the gravel, had an unscheduled meeting with the ground. And when he got up he was really bleeding pretty profusely from his mouth. So we rushed him to the local emergency room. And they cleaned up the mess and found that he had a broken tooth. When they had done all that they could and he was sort of back together again, we came back to our cabin. Guess what was the first thing I had my son do? Uh-huh. Get back on that bike and ride. He was a little reluctant, but he did it. See, I didn't want the fear of failure and the fear of riding to have a chance to build up inside of him. I knew it was important to get right back on after a fall or he may not get back at all. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Recover From a Fall." Our word for today from the Word of God we're in Proverbs 24:16 - "For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again." Do you notice what this verse does not say? It doesn't say a righteous man does not fall. It says, "though he falls, even seven times, he rises again." You know it was important for our son to return to his bicycle ride that day and to do it right away. I didn't want him to dwell on the fall. Well listen, can't you just imagine him lying there saying, "I fell! That's it! I'll probably always fall. I wasn't cut out for bicycle riding. I give up!" No, "Get right up. Get back on." That's exactly what God wants us to do after a fall. I know you've experienced it; I have. That voice that nags you after you've messed up spiritually, "You're never going to beat this. Look what you did! Hey, you might as well stay down. You call yourself a Christian?" That's not God. That's the Devil, trying to turn one defeat into many. Like somebody who goes off their diet. Okay, you goof up one time, "Might as well eat everything in sight!" No, the Devil wants to take that one defeat and make it into many. Your job is to contain the damage the same way my son bounced back after that fall. First, you clean up the damage. Where the Holy Spirit has pointed out steps you need to take to repent, confess it completely, repent of it completely and specifically. You appropriate God's power to not do it again, and you might take a look at the gravel that made you fall in the first place, and you don't ride on that gravel again. It's important to burn the bridges to the sin that you've committed; to the sin that brought you down; to make yourself accountable to be on the line to change. Secondly, you return immediately to the ride that you were on originally. You accept God's promise. You know what He says? "Your sins I will remember no more." Don't let a fall affect more than that day. Don't stay down! The only ones who never fall are those who don't try to ride. By God's grace you will ride more carefully this time because you fell, and you probably won't fall that way again. But when you hit the ground with a spiritual fall, oh my friend get right up. Oh, and claim the promise of the book of Jude that "He is able to keep you from falling."

I was teaching at a national seminar on how to communicate an unchanging Christ in our rapidly changing culture. Well, at the end of a session, a pastor from Kentucky came up to tell me his story he thought really illustrated some of what I had been saying. He said, "When I was a young man, we used to have some big tent revivals in my community. Each night an invitation was given for folks to come forward if they wanted to be, well as this country preacher would always say, 'borned again.'" The pastor went on to describe how some of the deacons would actually go out into the audience and go row-to-row, and shall we say they were "encouraging" folks to make that choice. Near the back, one of the deacons came to a young man who gave him an honest and memorable response. The deacon said, "Son, do you want to be borned again?" To which the boy said, "No." The deacon pressed the point, "Why don't you want to be borned again?" The young man answered in all seriousness, "Cause I'm afraid this time I'd come out as a girl!" I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Lost In Our Language." Okay, first we can laugh at what that boy said. Then, when we're done laughing, let's think about what we can learn from a response like that. The preacher used words that the preacher understood, but apparently not everyone who was listening understood. It's a classic example of the problem with a language called "Christianese." It's the language we church folks speak without even thinking, and the language that folks who desperately need our message don't begin to understand. Many of our "Christianese" words are good Bible words, but words that a lot of lost people around us just don't know. For just a moment, try to "think lost." Think to think like a lost person. Think what a person without the context of a Christian environment hears when we say words like "accept" or "receive Christ as your personal Savior." We receive packages today, not people, and when we accept someone, we treat them right. When you try to hear what a lost person hears, words like "salvation" and "saved" and "become a Christian" are either not understood or they're vastly misunderstood. Oh, and "born again." In a world without absolutes, the word "sin" has become a word without meaning to many people, as much as the word "believe." Most people would probably say "yes" if you asked them if they believe in Jesus. And you'll know that they don't mean what the Bible means when it says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." Even the word "Savior" is not one that people use much today. They're great words, but the people who need Jesus the most have no idea what they mean or have the wrong idea. That's what makes our word for today from the Word of God such a mission critical prayer for any of us who know people that we want to take to heaven with us. In Colossians 4:3-4, listen to Paul, "Pray for us that God may open a door for our message...Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I should." It's not enough to just transmit the Good News about Jesus. No, like good missionaries, we need to ask God to help us translate it into non-religious words that lost people can understand. If a man came running into the room you're in, shouting in say Swahili, "The room is on fire! Evacuate immediately!" you'd probably go, "Well, he sounds sincere; I think he has something important to say." But you'd have no idea what he was saying, because it wasn't in words you could understand. It's not in your language, and you might die as a result. And that's no matter how important the message and no matter how sincere the messenger. The spiritually dying people around us hear us Christians announcing our all-important life-or-death message, often in words they don't understand. Yes, the gospel's life-or-death information that literally eternities depend on. So, we can't afford for them to get lost in our language, or they might be lost forever.

Five beaches became bloody battlefields, and that became the turning point of World War II. It was D-Day, June 6, 1944 when the allied forces invaded those beaches on the coast of France and began to move against and tore Germany. Of course Nazi stronghold after Nazi stronghold fell to those advancing allied troops, but the war still dragged on. Finally, the allies smashed into Berlin; the war still was on. Eventually, it came down to a few blocks around Hitler's bunker, and finally only after Hitler's death, the surrender came. Then the war was over. There had been a lot of victories along the way, but the war wasn't over until the last stronghold surrendered. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Last Stronghold." Our word for today from the Word of God comes right out of the life of Abraham. He has walked with God many years at the time this happens. And now in Genesis 22, the ultimate test of his faith. "Some time later, God tested Abraham, He said to him, 'Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." Man! Imagine this! This is the son God promised; this makes no sense. And yet, Abraham, with the son he deeply loves, marches up Mount Moriah with the knife in his hand, with the wood for the sacrifice altar. In fact it says, "Early the next morning Abraham got up, saddled his donkey, and took with him his son, Isaac." Now, as I pointed out, when this happens, Abraham has walked with God many years. He's sacrificed his security back in his homeland. He's taken many risks for the Lord. He's fought battles for the Lord. He's believed God over and over again. And now God takes him to the edge of faith and asks him to surrender the dearest treasure he's got - Isaac - the last stronghold. Here is Abraham with his love for God on one hand and his love for something earthly on the other hand, and he must choose. Do you see what he does? He's up early the next morning. I would at least slept till noon. But he's up early the next morning; instant, immediate response, obedience. Look, you've walked awhile with the Lord, and maybe you've fought battles for him and you've sacrificed some security for Him, you've taken some risks, you've believed Him. But now the Lord is coming to you to ask you to surrender your Isaac; to do whatever He chooses to do with it. God supplied a ram in the thicket for Abraham, and it did not cost him his son. But Abraham didn't know that when he made this walk. What's your Isaac? A lifetime ambition, a dream of being married, your career, a position you really want, some material expectations, maybe a child that's become too important to you, your ministry. God is looking for you to take back that contract you've asked Him to sign. At the bottom, you know, you've got the things the way you want them and at the bottom you want it signed GOD. No. He wants a blank piece of paper that you have signed. He'll write on it. Are you going to obey Him? He'll never do you wrong. He died for you. It's a crisis in Lordship. Today He's asking you to lower that flag that says "Mine" on the last stronghold and raise the flag that finally says "His," because if He can have this, He can have anything. Once you release to God what or who you love the most, God will release to you power and peace like you have never known before.

She was at the time, a princess in the royalty of Hollywood - one of the most successful, A-list, admired actresses in America. Behind the glamour, there are unrelenting struggles and unanswered questions, apparently. She was given some major recognition at an international awards ceremony, and as she expressed her gratitude, she also opened up her heart in a brief moment of extreme candor. Listen to what she said, "You know, I play so many roles, sometimes I wonder who the real me really is." I'll tell you, you don't have to be a Hollywood star to have that going on. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Playing the Part, Missing the Lord." Playing a role. You know, a lot of folks are doing that. Following the script you're supposed to follow, acting the way you're supposed to act, giving such a convincing performance that you almost believe it yourself. That gap between playing the role and experiencing the reality becomes horribly expensive when you're playing the role of belonging to Jesus Christ, when you don't really belong to Him. That's why, in a passage of the Bible written to church folks, God gives a life-saving warning. It's in 2 Corinthians 13:5, it's our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test?" For those of us who have spent a lot of time around Jesus, it's particularly important that we don't assume we automatically have Jesus. We need to examine ourselves - to test ourselves. Christ Jesus isn't, in the Bible's words here, "in you" unless there's been a time in your life when you've consciously opened the door of your life to Him and invited Him in to run it from now on. When you know the words, go to the meetings and you believe the beliefs, it's just way too easy to miss this one life-or-death step. My friend Gary is in the medical profession. The other day he took me aside and he told me his personal testimony. He said he and his friends had gone forward at a church meeting as young teenagers. And while he went through what he described as an "accepting Christ" thing, he never really had a personal transaction with Jesus that day. He did what he was supposed to do on the outside, but nothing really happened on the inside. From that point on, he said, he played the role. Gary became a Sunday School teacher in his church, a deacon, and even the youth director. No one would have even thought to question whether or not he was really a Christian. One of his former professors invited him to a men's retreat one day, and he looked forward to impressing this respected Christian friend of his with what an active Christian he had become. But instead, that friend kept pressing him for an answer to this question: "If you died tonight and God asked why He should let you into His heaven, what would you tell Him?" Gary answered with his spiritual résumé. His friend told him that none of that could get him into heaven. It was that night Gary finally realized he was playing the role but missing the reality. He fully committed His life to Jesus Christ that night. And that has made all the difference in the world, and all the difference in where he will spend all of eternity. Could it be that you have missed that step? The eternity-changing step of actually telling Jesus, "I believe you died for me. I believe You are my only hope. So beginning right now, I'm totally Yours." That takes courage. It takes honesty to admit you don't really have Jesus, but the cost of continuing to just play the role is way too high to pay; too awful to pay. God brought you here today so this could finally be your personal Jesus-day. So as He's speaking to you in your heart, with that tug you feel, don't miss this moment of truth. "Jesus, I'm Yours for real, beginning today." Check out our website today, please. And go to ANewStory.com. We will walk you through the steps to help you know you really belong to Christ now. That's ANewStory.com. Tonight you can finally go to sleep with the peace you've never had. It's the peace that comes from only knowing that you really do belong to Jesus now.

I remember this one visit to Texas where they got me on a horse. Bet you wish you could have been there! They were there with a camera. See, I was with a group of teenagers doing a radio program, and we decided to do part of it with me on horseback. I'm not sure why, but that was what we did. I had asked for like a nice, gentle horse, a tired old horse. So as I started to mount the horse I said, "By the way, what's his name?" They said, "Tornado." I knew I was in big trouble! I said, "Do you have anything named Glue Factory?" They didn't. So, I mounted old Tornado, and of course I was full of questions. I was trying to remember how to get him to go the way I wanted him to go (it had been a long time since I'd been on a horse), and I wanted, especially, to know how to get Tornado to stop. That was a major thing I needed to know. So, these teenagers are shouting to me, explaining to me what the bit does, the bridle and how that works, and which way to pull the horse so he'll know which way to go. That bit doesn't feel too good when it's pulled to the left or to the right I imagine, so what I concluded was this: Pain turns out to be a pretty effective steering mechanism. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Pain and The Point." Our word for today from the Word of God - it's in Psalm 32 - and I'll begin reading at verse 8. God says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you." This verse tells us how God wants to direct you. He says, "I will instruct and teach you." His favorite way of getting you to go the right way is to show you in His Word something He'd like for you to do or not do that day. You apply that verse to your situation; you do it His way that day whether it looks like it's the best idea or not. Then He talks about, "I will counsel you and watch over you." Sometimes He gives you these inner nudges to go the way He wants - those Spirit impulses. He wants you to go the way that's best for you. Maybe He's been trying to lead you gently to do what He wants, and you haven't been doing it; you've been resisting. You're saying, "You know, I kind of like going this way. I know God may not be thrilled with it, but I think I'm going to do it a little longer." Well, here comes the bit and here comes the bridle. God says, "Okay, then I have to use the bit and the bridle. Aren't you smarter than a horse?" Well, when gentle doesn't work, God pulls on the reins, the bit digs in and we're hurting. And possibly that might just explain the pain in your life right now. Maybe the question to ask is, "Lord, where have I been ignoring Your gentle leading? Why am I having to feel the bit in my mouth?" It's time you return to the trail that you should be on isn't it? You've been resisting. Guess what? It hurts, and the pain will stop when the obedience begins. Here's a good rule of life. If you're going to get the pain, get the point. See, God loves you enough to pull on you even if it hurts when you're headed for something that is going to hurt you. Listen to Him. Listen to His Word. Listen to the gentle Spirit impulses on the inside. Do what He's telling you to do. In other words, don't horse around with God's best. You haven't got time for the pain.

We've been looking for them, at least since I was a kid. Life forms from somewhere else in the universe. In the 1930s for example, famed actor, Orson Welles, freaked out a nation with a radio broadcast of simulated news bulletins. Millions were convinced an alien invasion was taking place. And then in the 1950's, sightings of UFO's triggered reports of downed aliens secretly kept in New Mexico's infamous “Area 51.” And then in the 1990s, the hit TV series, “X Files.” Now our government has started releasing extensive files with all kinds of footage of aerial phenomena. Is it military technology? The interplanetary visitors we've been waiting for? Or spiritual forces, as the Bible talks about in a section about “how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:9). I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Aliens – And Beyond.” In our broader popular culture, extraterrestrial life is one of the most enduring mysteries of the past century. But it's just one of many things in the “beyond us” category. Astronauts return from space in awe of the magnitude of what they have seen beyond our world. And millions of us are endlessly curious about a buffet of spiritualities and unexplainable spiritual phenomena. And while our fascination with things “beyond us” takes us down many different trails, there is one common source. There's a yearning in our soul that needs something bigger than ourselves. Bigger than can be explained. And the revealing explanation for this comes from the greatest “beyond us” of all. The God who created us. Who says in Ecclesiastes 3:11, our word for today from the Word of God: “God has placed eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are looking for something that will last forever! Which effectively eliminates everything “earth.” Oh, we try all kinds of relationships and accomplishments and experiences – but they don't last! And all of our ventures into the unknown and unexplainable are ultimately, well, substitute supernaturals. Little bridges that leave us stranded. Because none of them reach the destination our soul craves. Knowing our Creator. For He tells us that we were “created by Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). And as He prayed, Jesus said, “This is the way to have eternal life – to know You, the only true God” (John 17:3). But our search for lasting love and peace and meaning has not taken us to Him. It has taken us away from Him. God describes it this way: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to our own way” (Isaiah 53:6). The opposite of God's way. Tragically, that has left us “without God and without hope” (Ephesians 2:12). Alone in His universe. By our choice, not His. A lot of religions talk about God at the top of a mountain. And us on many different roads, hoping they will lead to Him. But the divine bombshell is this amazing reality: we can't possibly reach a sinless God, no matter which road we choose. But God loves us too much to leave us lost. So in the greatest act of love in human history, He came down from the mountain to bring us to Him! At the unspeakable price of dying to pay the penalty for the very sinning we've done against Him. In the Bible's words: “Christ died for sinners to bring you safely home to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Then He rose from the dead to give us a gift that answers the eternity in our heart. Life. Eternal life! That life is within your reach today. That's what our website is all about, and I encourage you to go to ANewStory.com. There you'll see from the Bible how to begin this life-changing relationship with the Jesus. Suddenly all the scattered pieces of our life make something. All our fear of the future is swallowed up by life that lasts forever. And the cosmic loneliness of our life is finally satisfied by the endless love of God. No, the answer is not “out there." It's right here. In the Savior waiting for us with arms open wide.

They're just pieces of cardboard, but some of them are worth hundreds, even thousands of dollars. We call them baseball cards. Actually, our son got interested in them when he was a little guy, and pretty soon they became a pretty serious investment for him. He really knew how to, well like they say on Wall Street, buy low and sell high. Because he watched up-and-coming players, then he would get the rookie cards of some of those players who later became major stars, and there aren't many of those rookie cards out there. So they're rare and they're valuable. Lest we trivialize the baseball card business, I want you to realize that it helped pay a significant part of our son's way through college. I remember when he told me as a teenager, "Dad, I know my room is a mess, but there's one thing I take care of - my baseball cards." That's true! His valuable ones were neatly organized in these plastic folders in these carefully guarded notebooks. And the reason most of those cards were high value was very simple. You know. They were rare! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "What Makes You Really Valuable." If you're trying to do what's right in an environment where most everybody else is doing what's wrong, you get to kind of feeling lonely sometimes, right? And even weird? In fact, the people you work with, or play with, or go to school with may basically tell you that you're weird because you don't do the things they do. And, after a while, that can start to wear on you and even wear down your resistance. You get tired of being "weird." But if you're basically standing alone but standing for the right thing, you're not weird - you're rare. Ask any collector, whether it's baseball cards, or antiques, or stamps, or coins, whatever. What makes an item valuable is that there aren't many of them. The less there are like them, the more valuable they become. So, if you're taking a stand, and you're doing things God's way, that's you - rare and valuable. In His final hours before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed to His Father on behalf of all those who believed in Him at that time and all those who would believe in Him through the years. So, when you listen to a portion of that prayer in our word for today from the Word of God, remember Jesus is actually praying in advance down the years for you and me. John 17, beginning with verse 15, says of His followers, "My prayer is not that You take them out of the world, but that You protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world." "Sanctify them," Jesus prayed. What that means is, "set them aside for special purposes. Keep them special. Keep them reserved for God's purposes." Jesus wanted to plant you right in the middle of a dark world because they needed a light there, and that's you. So that means that, just like Him, you will take some abuse, some name-calling, and some rejection for your allegiance to Him. But not because there's something wrong with you. No, there's something very right with you! The less virgins there are, the more valuable a virgin becomes. The less honest men and women there are, the more valuable an honest person becomes. The less people who say no to what's dirty, what's destructive, what's negative, the more your worth increases. Maybe you've been tempted to cave in. You've got combat fatigue; there's heavy pressure. Don't do it. Not only is Jesus counting on you, but the very people who are pressuring you, desperately need for you to stand firm, or their only light goes out. Because you're Jesus' personal representative in a dark place, in many ways you aren't like everybody else. But you keep loving them unconditionally. You make them feel important; do the right thing without condemning them. And keep doing all of that, and you're going to be, whether they admit it or not, one of the most valuable and important people in their life. Because people like you are rare and very, very valuable.

I couldn't just sit down and start using your personal computer. If you work in an office, chances are they make sure that they can have access to the company computer that you use. Your computer, my computer, your company's computer - obviously they're all protected from any funny business by something we call a password. I can't get into my computer without typing in my password. Would you like to know what it is? Nope! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Password For Heaven." Our word for today from the Word of God is important mostly for one group of people - people who want to go to heaven when they die; Isn't that just about all of us? This statement by the God whose heaven it is reveals the only password that will get you in. And the last thing God wants for it to be is a secret. He really wants you to be there with Him forever, but there's only one way possible. Acts 4:12 - The disciples have just healed a lame man in the name of Jesus. Then, through them, God says, "Salvation is found in no one else." (When you hear that word salvation, think rescue - like first responders going in to save the lives of people trapped in a collapsed building.) "Salvation (rescue) is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." No one else but Jesus. No other name but Jesus - the only way to be saved, to be rescued. From what? From the eternal death penalty that the Bible says we all have facing us because we've taken the life God gave us and, in essence, we've made ourselves "God" in our life. My Creator was supposed to run this life that He gave me and I ran it instead. The Bible says every one of us has done that. And there's no religion that can possibly pay or remove that death penalty, including the Christian religion. What we need to be saved from is hell itself. Without that, any hope you or I have for heaven is false hope. But why is there "no one else," "No other name," other than Jesus? Why is He God's password to heaven? In a world that so values tolerance and open-mindedness, isn't it colossal arrogance to say He's the only way to heaven? Well, I didn't say it. The Bible did. Jesus did when He said, "I am the way...no man comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). It isn't so much about one religion being right and the others wrong. In fact, it's not about religion at all. It's about a spiritual death penalty that can only be paid one way-Somebody's got to die. And that's why Jesus came. When Jesus died on the cross, He was dying so you don't have to. And the day He walked out of His grave, He proved He's got the power to turn your death sentence into eternal life. Which leaves us with the question on which everything rests, "On what are you basing your hope for heaven?" If your password is the good things you've done or your spiritual background or your religion - no chance. Because your only hope is pinning all your hopes on Jesus Christ. Has there ever been a time when you clearly, consciously, personally told Jesus that you were placing all your trust in Him? The day you do is the day you trade forever the hell you deserve for the heaven you could never deserve. And this could be that day. With your forever at stake and with life so unpredictable, waiting another day just doesn't make sense. So today would you say, "Jesus, I understand that You and You alone are the password to heaven, the door to Heaven, the One who opened that door by Your death on the cross for me. And Jesus, beginning today, I am Yours." I want to be sure that you really do belong to Him and that's why we have our website. Would you check out ANewStory.com today? Your hell cancelled, your heaven guaranteed - today. If you'll enter in through the only name God will accept. That is His son. That is Jesus.

Some of my favorite moments in our kids growing up years have been story-telling time. I remember one time after we told the Bible story about the book of Genesis, I said to my daughter, "And Honey, do you remember who the first Mommy and Daddy were?" And she said, "Yep! Eve and Steve." Okay, good, so much for my Bible teaching. I said, "Do you remember who their boys were?" She said, "Yep! Cain and Mable." There we go again. Well, back to the drawing board for Bible stories. But I do think the Bible is exciting, and I wanted my children to think so. So I tried to make the telling of the stories as exciting as possible. So, each night I would take the story to sort of a cliff-hanger point and I'd leave it there, often to loud protests. But even when they objected, they were ready to listen the next night. You know, when you don't tell the whole story, you keep folks interested. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Chapter at a Time." If you are in need of God's guidance today, would you walk with me into the life of Abraham for a minute? God's got a great story line for Abraham's life. He's going to have him leave his home, he's going to have him go to Canaan land, and he's going to eventually promise him that that land will be his. Then he's going to promise that He's eventually going to have a son, and that son's going to become a great nation, and He's going to give that son to him miraculously. But did He tell him that all at once? Oh, no. God only gives Abraham the story a chapter at a time, like I used to tell my kids stories. Just real quickly, as we march through his life in our word for today from the Word of God, Genesis 12:1-2, "The Lord said to him, 'Leave your country. Go to a land I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you.'" He sure doesn't give him very many details. He just says, "Leave and go to this land." Well, that's what Abraham does. He goes on what information he has. Chapter 12, verse 7: He's in Canaan. God appears to Abraham and says, "To your offspring I will give this land." Now he finds out that there's going to perhaps be some children. And then he finds out that it's going to be the land of Canaan that God was talking about. In chapter 15 and verse 4, God goes on to say that it's going to be to a son that will come from your own body. "You're going to have a son!" Then finally, He leads him in Genesis 22, to the offering of that son, willing to sacrifice him. And after he has shown that willingness, God gives him blessings that are unprecedented. Notice the pattern of God's leading. You might need to know this right now to understand what He's doing in your life. He shows you what you need to know to take the next step. Then, after you do just that next step, He'll show you what you need for the next step. It's an unfolding scroll...a little at a time. It's like me telling that story to my children. Because I didn't give them the whole story, they were eager to get back to my lap the next night. The old hymn writer said, "We cannot see what lies before, and so we cling to Him the more." See, the plan is the easy part for God. He could give you that in one blueprint right now, but you would walk away with that under your arm and not need Him, not depend on Him, and not be back in His lap. God wants to build trust in Him in a day-to-day relationship. And so He shows us the story a little at a time. Like Abraham, your mission is to take the step He shows you today from His Word; not to worry about the whole big picture. There's another reason He doesn't show it all to us. If He did we might either run from it or run to it and we'd ruin it, like jumping ahead of the book and wondering why the chapter didn't make any sense. But if God's will unfolds a day at a time, then it just seems natural when we get to it. So, act on the chapter the Lord is revealing to you right now, and then return to His lap tomorrow for the next exciting episode.

Our plane was racing down the runway, preparing to take off from Nashville. I was so exhausted, I was already drifting off into la-la land. Then came those jolts as the front wheels left the ground. The team member who was with me said, "Have you ever felt anything like that?" I said, "No." And I dozed off. I wouldn't sleep for long; the flight attendant suddenly announced that we had blown a rear tire on takeoff and we were heading back to Nashville. For the next 45 minutes or so, we were circling the area, burning up as much fuel as possible for what could well be a crash landing. I called my wife from the plane. I asked her to get people praying. My team member joined me in committing this whole situation to the Lord. The flight attendants went into emergency mode to begin to prepare us for the landing. They demonstrated how to brace for the landing. They had us pull out our emergency instruction card from the pocket in front of us; something they had asked us to do before we took off; something hardly anyone did. But as the attendant began her briefing she prefaced it with a simple exhortation, "This time I want you to really listen." We really did! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Ignoring, Postponing, and Dying." I'm very thankful to God for the way He answered prayer and brought our crippled aircraft in safely for a welcome from an armada of emergency vehicles and personnel. I was impressed with how the crew had prepared us. I was impressed with the way we all listened. And why did they have our total attention the second time when they reviewed those exits and evacuations? It's obvious, because we were in a critical situation now; because the information could be life-or-death. Our word for today from the Word of God, Hebrews 2:3. "How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" God has been trying to communicate life-or-death information to some of us for a long time. That word "salvation," that's not just a religious word. That's serious stuff. Salvation is how to get out of a plane that might be on fire; how to get out of a burning building. But like those passengers on that flight, we don't pay much attention to salvation information until we're suddenly in a critical situation...until we finally realize that what we do with this could be the difference between life and death. God is used to people, as it says here, "ignoring such a great salvation." Maybe He's been trying to get your attention with the most critical information you will ever hear - that we're under an eternal death penalty for running our lives our way instead of God's way. And that His one and only Son, Jesus, absorbed all your sin and all the hell of it when He died on the cross, and that your only hope with God is putting your total trust in Jesus, like a person in a burning building would pin all their hopes on the rescuer who came to save them. You've heard that news before, and maybe you've even accepted it with your head. Maybe it's been that God has even shaken things up recently. He's asking for your attention before it is eternally too late. He says, "This time I want you to really listen." This requires an action step of making Jesus your personal Savior. If you haven't done that - if you've been putting that off - consider this God's emergency call to make your peace with Him. I believe there's someone listening right now who's saying, "I don't think I should risk one more day without the Savior." Are you ready to begin this life saving relationship, to open your heart to Him? Tell Him that right now. I want to help you in every way we can, that's why our website is there - ANewStory.com. It will help you find your way home to Jesus. God simply says, "How will you escape if you ignore such a great salvation?" Especially after what it cost. It cost God's one and only Son His life! Please, don't ignore this any longer. Your life - your eternity depends on it.

There's something invigorating about being the first one out and around in the morning; you sort of feel like the conqueror of your environment. Like when you're the first one out exercising in those first hours of the new day. I had that feeling one morning as I went out for my fitness walk. I really like to walk when I'm away from home, too. And I was in a setting where right behind me there was this really scenic 18-hole golf course. I'm not a golfer, but I am a walker. There was a beautiful path around there, so I struck out on my early morning walk, and the mist was there, and the dew was all over the golf course. And I said, "You know what? I am the first one to conquer this golf course today. There'll be a lot of people out here later, but I have beaten all the golfers." I felt like the world was all mine, or so I thought. Then I got to one hole and I saw a carpet of dew covering the green, and footprints all across the green. Someone had walked there before me. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Someone Else Has Walked There First." Our word for today from the Word of God is from John 10:4. Jesus beautifully, intimately describes His relationship with us here as being like that of a shepherd with His sheep: Him shepherd, me sheep. John 10:4 says this, "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them and the sheep follow Him." I discovered this verse many years ago, just before we moved from all of the "knowns" that we had in Chicago, to all of the unknowns of northern New Jersey and New York City. We moved there to begin a youth ministry. We had no supporters, we had no place to live, we had no office, we had no staff. We knew nothing. We just claimed this verse, "...when He brings out His sheep, He will always go ahead of them." We got there and we found out that God had picked out an apartment, He picked out friends, He had picked out a church, He had picked out an office for us, He picked out supporters; people who could open doors that we needed opened, and that's what God does for all His kids. Everywhere Jesus will lead you to walk, He promises to walk there first; He goes ahead of you. That's how a shepherd operates. Wherever he's going to take his sheep, he goes ahead of them to see if there's enough pasture for them to be fed, if there are any wolves there that he needs to take care of, and where the cliffs are that they might walk over. He makes sure that He checks it out before they get there. He prepares it for them. That's just the kind of Shepherd He is. Think of the fear that takes out of the future; the uncertainty that takes out of the future. Like the old song says, "I know not what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future." Right now maybe you're looking ahead at the next few weeks, maybe months and you're anxious about it. Honestly, there's a whole lot of question marks; there's a lot of unknown out there. Well, there is one known in the midst of your unknowns. Guess what? That one known covers all the unknowns. Jesus will always be your "go ahead" Shepherd. He always does that with His sheep. He has promised that He would, and He always keeps His promises. In fact, today He knows your situation, and I think He brought us together and brought this verse to my heart for you, as a personal assurance from Him to you that He is already stepping ahead of you. There's nothing to fear on a path that Jesus has walked before you. It's the blessed security that only a follower of Jesus Christ can know. So, wherever He takes you, yours won't be the first set of footprints you'll find there. Jesus got there first.

Jeremy was a young man who worked in our office every year after he got out of college, and then he became a veteran of our On Eagles' Wings Native American team. But something was different this particular year for him - a woman! Yes, a woman in Jeremy's life! And, believe me, it was no secret. He started telling us all about her as soon as we saw him again. The romance had just developed in the weeks preceding, and there was nothing he would rather talk about. She lived quite a ways from where we were, and the more he talked about her, the more he wanted to be with her. At first I was kind of amused by this young love, until I remembered that it was me not so many years ago, telling anyone who would listen about the woman I loved. By the way, I will always love talking about her. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Joy of Telling." My young friend couldn't wait to tell us about the person he loved. And, as a result, we couldn't wait to meet her. You see, that's how it's supposed to work with any of us who love Jesus Christ. We love to tell about Him, and as a result, some people we know want to meet Him. It was a summer when, as we often do, our On Eagles' Wings team had brought the hope of Christ to a number of Native American reservations. Wendy, who was 16, was one of our new team members. During that amazing month, where hundreds of Native American young people began a relationship with Jesus, Wendy had the joy of leading her first people to Christ. At our last night, she said to me: "You know, I accepted Jesus when I was little, but I've never really felt Him until this month. And I know what I want to do with my life now. I want to be in full-time ministry, telling people about Jesus Christ." Why had Wendy suddenly begun to feel Christ in her life? Why did she suddenly have a sense of mission in her life? I believe it's largely because she had just spent the whole month doing what followers of Jesus are supposed to do all the time. She was telling lost people about the One who loves her, the one she loves. And that telling about Jesus might be the missing ingredient in your life as one of His kids. Paul prayed this revealing prayer along these lines in Philemon, verse 6, our word for today from the Word of God. 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." Paul seems to be saying here that there's a level of experiencing your Savior that can only be reached by telling others about Him. You don't have a religion to share, or a church, or some beliefs. You have a person to tell about - a person who loved you enough to die for you! Something powerful happens in your life when you finally open your heart and open your mouth to let people who've never met your Jesus know what He's like. Paul says you start to have "a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." Maybe that's what you've been restless for. Like that young woman on our team, when you start talking about Jesus, you may finally start feeling Him in your life as never before. And by starting to carry out your mission to be His ambassador, you may finally begin to get a clear picture of His greater plans for the rest of your life. Not to mention that what you know about Jesus is their only hope of ever being in heaven with you someday! You need to tell about Jesus. They need to hear about Him, because you need to talk about the greatest love of your life. And they need to hear about the one who loves them more than anyone. You tell them about how much He loves you. Sooner or later, I believe they're going to want to meet Him too.

Surprise! I used to be in a quartet. Oh I did! Listen, don't laugh out loud. Yes, when I was in college, for a little while I sang in a gospel quartet. I did not sing any solos. No, no solos for me. Now, musically, I'm okay in a group. Solo - not so much. You know, in a way, we're all like that. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I'm going to have A Word With You today about "The Antidote For Loneliness." Now, our word for today from the Word of God takes us back to the book of Genesis, to the very beginning to Adam; a fellow with a great home - the Garden of Eden. Couldn't beat that! A great job - he's got all the benefits you could possibly have. He's got closeness to God. But in Genesis 2:18, "The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'" Then the account goes on to talk about the creation of Eve for Adam from Adam's own rib. It's interesting that God looks at a man who seems to have an ideal environment and everything going for him and says, "It is not good for you to be alone." See, we're built from our very creation, to live in partnership with someone we love - no solos. Now, being married doesn't necessarily mean you're not alone. Some people think the worst loneliness of all is being married to the wrong person. Maybe you haven't been protecting your time with the person you're married to, and so, tragically, you are married but both of you feel alone because everything else has crowded each other out. You've got to get back together again. I said being married doesn't mean you're not alone, but being single doesn't mean you are alone. Paul, for example, was very single, very busy, never married. And yet he had a network of people who supported him his whole life. His letters are filled with references to those many people who were ministry partners, people who helped him, encouraged him, lifted him up. He told us that the mother of Rufus was "someone who has been a mother to me too" in Romans 16. He said Timothy was his son in the gospel. He said to Timothy, "Recalling your tears, I long to go see you so that I may be filled with joy." And then he had a friend, Onesiphorus, who according to 2 Timothy 1, refreshed him. And to the believers in Rome, he said, "By God's will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed." Paul was a tower of spiritual strength and emotional strength. If any Christian could have gone it alone - could have been a soloist - he was the man. And yet he nurtured and needed peer partnership. He had spiritual brothers, and mothers, and friends, and refreshers; a network of people. Now, you can't expect if you're single for any one best friend to be like a marriage partner to you and meet all those emotional needs. And you'll smother a person if you try to get one person to be that. But you can build, like Paul did, a network of caring people and you're part of God's network for them. It's a two-way street. You need to invest in those friendships; take time with them; build yourself a rich life while you're single. You've got to be a good one before you can be a good two anyway. Don't just sit there and wait for Prince Charming or Cinderella to come along. Build life partnerships now. Guard quality time with them as a married couple must do. Being single doesn't mean being alone if you'll invest in those life partnerships and not just sit there saying, "Oh, when am I going to be married?" Take encouragement from this, that the God who made you need people - will give you the people you need.

Many years ago we were shopping for a place where God wanted us to build a radio studio that we desperately needed. I've got a beautiful one at our headquarters today but back then we needed just something that would get us through. We were looking at a possible location - this big barn of a room with a high ceiling and it was totally bare. Well, when I looked at it I saw a big bare room, but not Kasey. No, he's a carpenter and he started talking about this wall here and that partition there; the control room in that corner, where the doors would be, and how we could soundproof the floor. It was amazing! He was seeing all kinds of things in that room that I couldn't see! But, then, that's the great thing about carpenters! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "What the Carpenter Sees in You." I do think that's how Jesus looks at you. After all, He's a carpenter. His earthly father, Joseph, was one and Jesus grew up with a carpenter's skills - and a carpenter's eye to see what someone could become; not just what they are. The blueprint is in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 2:10. And it's an eye-opener, really, as to who you really are and why you're here. "We are God's workmanship." Let's stop on that...you are no random assembly of molecules. You are a handmade, one-of-a-kind masterpiece creation of Almighty God. You may not have been treated like you're that valuable, but that's who you really are. And your Creator is the One who says so. Here's what the whole statement says, "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." When Jesus looks at you, it's like my friend, the carpenter, looking at that empty room. He sees what that room could be after his skilled hands are finished renewing it. Jesus knows the masterpiece you were created to become, the difference you were created to make, the value you are created to have. That's what He sees. Maybe other people have only seen the bare room, and maybe you've been made to feel pretty worthless, incompetent, unloved, unworthy. But they don't see what Jesus sees; what you were born to be. And here's why you may have missed knowing how much you're really worth. You're missing the One who gave you your worth. You're missing Jesus. The Bible says we have marked up this masterpiece God made with our self-centered living. God calls it sin, and our sin has built a wall between us and the God we were made by and for. So, we're cut off from the One who loves and values us the most; so much that He thought you were worth sending His Son to die for! And you will never really know how valuable you really are until you open your heart to the One who loved you enough to die for you. You don't have to spend one more day away from the One who made you to be His masterpiece. The One who sees you through His Carpenter's eye - and sees one He created with His hands, paid for with His blood, and the one He wants to forgive, restore, and renew this very day. But it's your move now. Now you have two choices: put your trust in Him to be your own Savior from your own sin, or basically say, "No thanks, Jesus. I'll just settle for more of the same." If you're ready to belong to Him, why don't you tell Him that right now. "Jesus, I'm done running my own life. I was never meant to. I am putting my life in the hands of the One who gave me my life...in the hands of the One who gave His life for me. Jesus, beginning this very day, I am Yours." This is the day to come home, my friend. A great place to land if you want to begin this relationship is our website where you can have all the information you need to make this choice. That website is ANewStory.com. Jesus, the carpenter, sees in you what everybody else has missed, and maybe even you have missed - the person you were born to be. And today, He simply waits for your invitation to start making you all you were meant to be.

Two words, but a valuable reminder about how important Mom is and why she is. I had occasion to stay at my son and daughter-in-law's house while I recovered from a painful injury. They set me up with a wonderful little "apartment" in their basement - recliner, remotes (of course), kitchenette. And like all the babies in our family, a night monitor. Now, I needed some help in the middle of the night, but I hadn't touched the pager. Suddenly, I hear my daughter-in-law's feet coming down the stairs. In my 3:00 AM haze, I said, "But how did you know?" She smiled and gave those two little words: "Mom ears." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Mom Ears." There's something a lot of us have to celebrate in the mother that God put in our life. Those Mom-ears who heard our silent cries over the years, who heard our need when others would only see our deed. Who heard the unspoken fears, the unspoken pain, and carried them to the throne of God. Sadly, mom-ears have also heard mean words that they didn't deserve, angry words that left a scar, rebellious words because we didn't want to hear what we now know was wisdom. But somehow, a Mom heart could reach for some of God's amazing grace, and forgive, even though wounded. As a dad, I learned early how important it was for me to seek and respect what my wife heard in our kids, believe me. Those times when I got home and I was ready to drop a bomb on a disobedient child, she would intervene with "actionable intel" of what was going on behind the scenes in their life. I'm not sure moms fully know their massive power to define their child's life for better or worse. Proverbs 31:26 says, "She speaks with wisdom on her tongue." And in a verse worth considering, our word for today from the Word of God in Proverbs 14:1 it says, "The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." Sure, I know moms who've turned their God-given Mom-ears to the seductive song of our world, "all about me." And their children languish under the awful cloud of "I'm not worth much. My Mom doesn't think so." Deafened moms can't hear themselves nagging, controlling, criticizing, diminishing - hoping to make a "super kid" and crushing them in the process. The Mom-ears that have tended to miss their children's cries are those who stopped listening to the One who gave her those children. Psalm 127:3 says, "Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him." It's so easy to succumb to the selfie drumbeat of "my rights, my pleasure, my flourishing." And a sort of deafness can grow. Deaf to those quiet little cries in the night, the intuition to drop everything and listen to someone I love. The Heavenly Father's promptings as He (in the words of the Bible) "gently leads those who have young" (Isaiah 40:11). But thank God many of us were blessed, not with a perfect mom, but with a mother whose ears truly heard us. If you have a mom with those wonderful "ears," would you tell her how her finely-tuned heart shaped your life and changed your life while you can. If you're a Mom who wants to have better ears for your children, just know there's amazing power to do that. In the Jesus whose relentless love led Him to die for our sins, which are the great relationship-wreckers. There is no greater life-force on earth than a woman whose ears are always open to the voice of God and the voices of those she loves. And for the one who listens to all this with little to celebrate - because your Mom really wasn't one - there is a higher hope. Because God has said, "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion for the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will never forget. See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands" (Isaiah 49:15-16). That's right, with nail prints. His ears listen all day, all night for the deepest cries of your heart.

It was one of those winter nights that chills you to the bone - cold temperatures, a brisk north wind, a freezing rain, some snow. Our friends were inside their house, and their horses were inside their barn. Well, actually, three out of four of their horses were inside the barn. Cassie, their Shetland, was standing outside for some strange reason. So as our friends looked out their window, they saw this pitiful scene: one lone horse under a barn light, standing there with the freezing rain and snow pounding down on her, forming ice on her mane. Now, her horse friends were all smart enough to be in their nice warm stalls, but, oh no, not Cassie. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "In the Cold When You Could Be Warm." That horse chose to stand out in the cold - when all the time she could have been in the warm place that had been provided for her. You know in some ways, a lot of people are making that same mistake - maybe you. In a way, maybe you feel as if you've been standing out in the cold for a long time. There's this loneliness that no relationship has satisfied, this confusion, this gnawing sense of uncertainty and insecurity, this emptiness that never seems to go away no matter what you've filled yourself up with. Emotionally, spiritually, it's as if you're out in the chilling wind and the freezing rain. But you don't have to be. There's a warm place that's been provided for you, but you have got to step inside. In fact, this very day, I believe Jesus Christ himself may be beckoning you to come in where it's warm. Listen to His invitation. It's our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." If we're "weary and burdened" it may be because we haven't come to Him. It could be that Jesus has been asking you to come to Him for a long time but you've never responded. He's been waiting to answer your loneliness with His unloseable love, to turn your confusion into a sense of knowing why you're here and where you're going. He wants to replace that uncertainty with this unshakeable peace, to fill that emptiness in your heart with the relationship with Him that you were made for. But you're still in the cold because you've never really come inside where Jesus is. There are actually five things you can do with the man who died to pay for your sins. You can just outright reject Jesus. You can ignore Jesus, pushing Him to the margins for other pursuits. You can postpone Jesus - you'll get around to Him someday. You can agree with Jesus - believing everything you've ever been told about Him. Or you can commit yourself completely to Jesus. Four of those five responses end the same place - out in the cold, now and forever. Only one leads to heaven: giving yourself to Jesus. Yes, it's possible to agree with everything about Jesus and yet never have given yourself to Him. It's about commitment, not agreement. Today, though, He's close to you. He's where you are, and He's whispering, "Come to me...I will give you rest." Today you can begin your relationship with Him by saying, "Jesus, you died for me and I'm giving myself to you for now and forever." That's when you receive what He's been waiting to give you all these years. If that's what you want, we would love to help you begin your love relationship with Jesus. That's why our website is there. That's why I encourage you to go there today. It's ANewStory.com. You've been out in the cold long enough. There's no need for you to be out there any longer. You're so close to the warmth and the safety of belonging to Jesus Christ. Today, won't you come inside?

OK, let's put away all the junk food snacks for a minute and reach for a healthy snack today. Yes, it's time for some fresh fruit. It could be an apple, an orange, a pear, but the next time you eat one, would you look for the example on the inside? There is one. Oh, I wouldn't recommend you eat that entire apple; you'll probably want to stop when you get to the core. But notice what's there in the middle of that apple. Yep, seeds that can make another apple! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Have Life to Give." That little encounter with the inside of a piece of fruit can actually take us all the way back to the first fruit that God ever made, and a powerful example of some of what gives our lives real meaning. Genesis 1:29 - it's our word for today from the Word of God. The Lord told Adam and Eve, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it." As I was reading that, it really struck me that God has created things with the seeds of reproducing themselves built right in. When God created man and woman, He told them to "be fruitful and increase in number" (Genesis 1:28). But that principle of fruit carrying the seeds of the next generation goes beyond just physical reproducing. Jesus said to His followers, "I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last." And certainly that includes people who will come to Jesus because of you. They are fruit that your life is supposed to be producing. So, how are you doing? The great creative plan of God is that when He creates a life, He creates it with the potential of reproducing life like itself - "Fruit with seed in it." The moment you gave your heart to Jesus Christ, God made you fruit with seeds, with the capability and the purpose of making some more like you! Apples generate apples, oranges generate oranges, and followers of Jesus generate followers of Jesus. Or at least they're supposed to. But you know what? There's research that shows that maybe even just 10% of believers ever tell someone about their relationship with Jesus Christ, which in that case would mean 9 out of 10 believers are missing their destiny. They have the seeds of life to plant in another heart, but they're doing nothing with those seeds. And people around us go on dying without Christ, and without any hope of heaven. Isn't it time you start bearing some fruit, like people who will be in heaven with you because you helped them know how? And God's plan is that we reproduce our own kind. Moms introducing other moms to Jesus, and students introducing other students to Jesus, and golfers pointing golfers to Christ, and business people reaching business people, and wounded people reaching wounded people. God has made you who you are; He's placed you where you are so you can take people like you to heaven with you! How are you doing with your divine assignment? We're not talking here about you adding some new activities to your already overstuffed life. This is just using things you already do to bring other people who do them to Jesus. You already live where you live, you go to school where you go to school, you work where you work, and you play where you play. Just go there with the conscious mission of helping some of those people go to heaven with you! There are seeds of spiritual life that God planted in you the day you met Jesus. And He's counting on you now to plant those seeds in the people like you. In fact, their eternity may depend on it.

If you've ever checked your suitcase when you're about to take a trip by airplane, you know what they do with our luggage. No, not lose it. Not usually. The ticket agent determines what your final destination will be, he prints out an adhesive sticker with that destination on it, and he puts it around your suitcase handle. And then you settle back in your seat, knowing that bag will meet you at the other end of the trip. With the millions of bags the airlines handle daily, it's amazing that most do go straight to the right destination. Now there are some exceptions. Like the one I checked in Idaho. Oh, I checked it through to my final destination - Newark, New Jersey. To this day it's still floating somewhere out there in the Baggage Twilight Zone. Like I said, most of the time they get it to your final destination. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Guaranteeing Heaven." If you belong to Jesus Christ, God has placed a final destination sticker on you. It says "Heaven." And I am happy to report to you that, unlike human delivery systems, God's batting a thousand on getting His there. Our word for today from the Word of God starts with John 10:27 - in a sense, it's kind of your personal life insurance policy...for eternal life. "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand." Jesus says, "I know the ones who are Mine, and I've put My final destination sticker on them. It says 'Eternal Life.' No one is going to get them away from Me. I won't stop until I've delivered them safely home." Isn't that awesome? Your getting to heaven is not up to you. That's what the Bible means when it says it is "not by works" but that it is "by grace you have been saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Now it may be that you have often questioned whether or not you really belong to Jesus and whether it really is settled. Those recurring doubts could be for one of two reasons. One is that you really don't belong to Jesus yet. He's in your head but He's not in your heart. Even though you have a lot of Christianity, maybe you've missed Christ! You know He died on the cross to pay the death penalty for the sinning you've done - you know that you need Him as your personal Savior. But somehow you've missed that actual moment of commitment, that transaction, when you stand at Jesus' cross and say, "For me, Jesus. What you did here is for me. Right now I'm giving me to You." If you asked me if I was married all these years it would be an easy question to answer. Yeah, there was a time I made a conscious commitment of my life to Karen. If you have committed yourself to Jesus, you should know you have. If you don't know you have, you probably haven't. And it's important you get it settled today because this is eternity. Do it before your heart turns harder. Don't risk another day without Jesus. The other reason you may not be sure of your final destination is that you've fallen for the devil's big lie. He knows that, based on your trust in Jesus Christ, God has put His "Heaven" sticker on you. Satan's lost you - so he's now reduced to making you wonder if you're really going to heaven. Your enemy wants you to spend your whole life wondering if you belong to Jesus instead of living like you do! Don't fall for it any longer! If you're not sure there's been a time when you've begun your relationship with Jesus, make sure today - once and for all. You can wonder if God has ever marked you for heaven before today, but at least you'll know He did it today if He's never done it before. I'd love to invite you to go to our website where an awful lot of people have confirmed the beginning of their relationship with Jesus. That's why it's there. So go to ANewStory.com. Then, enjoy the trip each new day. He will deliver you safely to your destination in heaven. After all, He paid your fare with His life!

Nantucket - a romantic island off the coast of Massachusetts. Waterbrook - a humble cabin in the woods in the mountains north of New York City. Long Beach Island - a little house by the Jersey shore. See, those are places where my wife has been her most beautiful. That's not because she had new makeup on, or was all dressed up, or did her hair differently. Those are just some places where we've gone to be alone, and where I finally slowed down and noticed her again. She was beautiful all the time, but I didn't notice it all the time, because I saw her best when we were alone. If you're in a lonely time right now, let's talk. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Seen In Your Desert." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 16:7. It tells the story of a young woman named Hagar. Maybe you remember that Abraham and Sarah got impatient for God to send the son that He had promised, and Sarah was getting older and older. The baby didn't come, so Sarah, going along with the customs of that day, suggested that Abraham sleep with Hagar, her maidservant, and then Hagar would be the surrogate mother through whom a child would come. They couldn't wait for God to do it His way, so they had to figure out a way they were going to do it. It's not how God wanted it done, and after Hagar gets pregnant, Sarah gets a little jealous. And Hagar gets a little caustic about it. Now we find her out in the desert all alone because guess what? She's been driven there by her mistress, Sarah. Here she is used, rejected, deserted, she's pregnant, she's alone in the desert, she's the picture of abandonment; all alone, or so she thinks. Genesis 16, verse 7: "The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert. The angel of the Lord said to her, 'You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.'" He goes on to describe some of what to expect from this son, and then she gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her. "'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me.' That's why the well is called Beer Lahai Roi." Which, by the way, means "the well of the Living One who sees me." It's interesting the name of God here, "I have seen the One who sees me." Maybe right now you're in the desert; it's a very lonely desert. God sees you in your loneliness, and He has heard your tears. We keep hearing our desire to be seen...Oh, here is the God who sees you. The broken relationship, the lost loved one, the years of living alone, the collapse of your family; God sees you. Do you see Him? She said, "I have now seen the One who has been seeing me." When no one sees, when no one knows, when no one understands, Ishmael. You know what that name means? God hears. And guess where we tend to see God best? Yeah, in the deserts of our lives. Not until we are stripped of all the other supports in our life, that's when Hagar finally saw the God who had been seeing her all along. That's when we see Him. That's when you dig deep into His resources; you see what He can do. You feel His love, and you let His love be enough. Paul said, "When everybody had abandoned him" (2 Timothy 4:17), "the Lord stood by my side." I told you when I noticed my wife's beauty and wisdom the most - when there was no one else around. Well, it's the same in a relationship with the Lord Jesus. When it's just the two of you, maybe like it is right now, you can see Him as you've never seen Him before.

How did we know it was a stupid question? Our family was in Alaska some years ago and we asked some of the folks there what seemed like a reasonable question, "Where can we go to see a moose?" Turns out seeing a moose is really no big deal in Alaska. In fact, some people we talked to had hit one recently! So, they're everywhere. Sure. While I was busy speaking, my wife and kids drove all over the countryside looking for some moose. Nada. Maybe people hit them all! They even went to the Moose Sanctuary and they saw no moose there; frustrated, tired of looking, and pretty sure those moose were only in pictures in the tourist brochures. One morning we walked out of the house where we were staying, piled in the car, and started driving down the driveway. Suddenly, one of the kids shouted, "Moose!" And sure enough, there were three members of the antler gang right there at the bottom of our driveway! What we'd been looking for all that time was right in front of us! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Looking for What's Right There." You know this is a time when spirituality is important to more and more people, there's a word you hear a lot and folks use it to describe themselves spiritually - I'm a "seeker" or I'm "searching spiritually." And that's a good thing to be doing. We're created with this eternity dimension by a God who is eternal, and we'll only find life's real meaning by shopping in the store called "spiritual answers." That part is right. Today, as never before, there's a spiritual cafeteria to choose from. Our search for the truth can carry us to many different religions or a blend of several religions; into New Age spirituality, into ourselves to find the power within us. But like our family hunting for moose, we're looking, but often not finding what we're looking for. Much searching - still no lasting peace, no security about eternity. It was a number of years ago where 39 members of the "Heaven's Gate" cult committed suicide. It was really unsettling because these were bright people, competent people; sincere spiritual seekers hoping to graduate from earth to, believe it or not, a waiting spaceship. That was their unusual belief. But listen, this is what I wanted to share with you - what one national news magazine observed about them and about us. It said, "Subtract the spaceship and the mass suicide, and you have a yearning and a search familiar to millions of Americans." That's true. That magazine pointed out what they called universal needs that many people are trying to meet: "the craving to belong, the wish to connect to something larger than oneself, the secret hope of finding an all-caring parent who offers protection and comfort." I'll tell you what, those needs were built into us by our Creator. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Colossians 1:16. "All things were created by Him and for Him." That simple statement from God could be the beginning of the end of your spiritual search. He says you were created by Jesus; you were created for Jesus. The Savior who's been pretty much in front of you all the time, but maybe you've passed him by because you get Jesus confused with all the religious baggage attached to His name because you thought it was some new spirituality you needed. But only Jesus died to remedy our central spiritual problem: we're away from God because of our sin. And only the One who paid for that sin with His life can put you and God together. Without that, all spiritual searching must, sooner or later, turn up empty. The day you find is the day you say, "Jesus, You died and it was for me, for my sin. And today, I am Yours." He's been here all the time, but you've missed Him. Why don't you make today the day you find Him? Make a trip to our website and find out there how to be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com. Searching is good. Finding is better. Your long search will end in the loving arms of the One who's been patiently waiting for you all this time. Jesus - the end of your search.

There's something invigorating about being the first one out and around in the morning; you sort of feel like the conqueror of your environment. Like when you're the first one out exercising in those first hours of the new day. I had that feeling one morning as I went out for my fitness walk. I really like to walk when I'm away from home, too. And I was in a setting where right behind me there was this really scenic 18-hole golf course. I'm not a golfer, but I am a walker. There was a beautiful path around there, so I struck out on my early morning walk, and the mist was there, and the dew was all over the golf course. And I said, "You know what? I am the first one to conquer this golf course today. There'll be a lot of people out here later, but I have beaten all the golfers." I felt like the world was all mine, or so I thought. Then I got to one hole and I saw a carpet of dew covering the green, and footprints all across the green. Someone had walked there before me. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Someone Else Has Walked There First." Our word for today from the Word of God is from John 10:4. Jesus beautifully, intimately describes His relationship with us here as being like that of a shepherd with His sheep: Him shepherd, me sheep. John 10:4 says this, "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them and the sheep follow Him." I discovered this verse many years ago, just before we moved from all of the "knowns" that we had in Chicago, to all of the unknowns of northern New Jersey and New York City. We moved there to begin a youth ministry. We had no supporters, we had no place to live, we had no office, we had no staff. We knew nothing. We just claimed this verse, "when He brings out His sheep, He will always go ahead of them." We got there and we found out that God had picked out an apartment, He picked out friends, He had picked out a church, He had picked out an office for us, He picked out supporters; people who could open doors that we needed opened, and that's what God does for all His kids. Everywhere Jesus will lead you to walk, He promises to walk there first; He goes ahead of you. That's how a shepherd operates. Wherever he's going to take his sheep, he goes ahead of them to see if there's enough pasture for them to be fed, if there are any wolves there that he needs to take care of, and where the cliffs are that they might walk over. He makes sure that He checks it out before they get there. He prepares it for them. That's just the kind of Shepherd He is. Think of the fear that takes out of the future; the uncertainty. Like the old song says, "I know not what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future." Right now maybe you're looking ahead at the next few weeks, maybe months and you're anxious about it. Honestly, there's a whole lot of question marks; there's a lot of unknown out there. Well, there is one known in the midst of your unknowns. Guess what? That one known covers all the unknowns. Jesus will always be your "go ahead" Shepherd. He always does that with His sheep. He has promised that He would, and He always keeps His promises. In fact, today He knows your situation, and I think He brought us together and brought this verse to my heart for you, as a personal assurance from Him to you that He is already stepping ahead of you. There's nothing to fear on a path that Jesus has walked before you. It's the blessed security that only a follower of Jesus Christ can know. So, wherever He takes you, yours won't be the first set of footprints you'll find there. Your Shepherd got there first.

She was one of the most admired women in the world - Mother Teresa, that angelic woman who devoted her life to the least of the least in the slums of Calcutta, India. The world's greatest leaders wanted to meet her and to experience her love and her moral authority. And actually, she was just a diminutive woman who made such a difference in the world. Some years ago, a young man wrote a letter to Mother Teresa, asking her how he could make his life count as she had with hers. He waited six months for a reply from this very busy lady. When it came, it was just a postcard with just four words on it - four very powerful words - "Find your own Calcutta." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Life That Matters." If you do just what comes naturally, you'll live the kind of life most people do - self-focused, self-centered, self-serving. But a life that's only as big as you are is too small to live in. And you might be feeling an emotional and spiritual claustrophobia right now. Business as usual just isn't satisfying that restlessness in your heart is it? Your life is full, but not really fulfilling. Find your own Calcutta. Find some people who need you and start pouring your life out for them. The lid will come off your life. Jesus gave us an immortal, indelible picture of the two ways to live life in His classic story of the Good Samaritan. It's in Luke 10, beginning with verse 30, our word for today from the Word of God. "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side" - as, by the way, did another religious leader who came by next. Jesus goes on: "But a Samaritan...came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds... He put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him." Then Jesus went on to say that the Samaritan paid all the expenses of the beaten man's recovery; and that this Samaritan was the kind of neighbor He expects all of us to be. And there in that simple story is a picture of two lifestyles - you can be all about yourself, ignoring the needs of people in your path... or stopping for people's needs, bearing the burdens of a bleeding world. I was really touched by a news report about a man whose choice might help you step up to a life that makes a far greater difference. It actually happened right after September 11th and it said that "David Townsend's perspective changed profoundly on September 11th." It says, "From that moment forward, (Here's what he said.) I realized that we are not going to live forever. I feel an even greater sense of urgency; feel compelled to leave my mark on the world. It has changed my outlook totally and shaken me to the core." So, apparently, according to the story, Townsend left his job to work in social services with the homeless and with urban churches. Here's his quote, "September 11th reinforced in me the need to live a life that matters." I think that's the kind of life you want isn't it? So learn to wake up each morning and ask yourself, "Who needs me today?" not "Who can meet my needs today?" There are people in your personal circle - people in your community - who desperately need someone to care, to be there for them. And remember, there is no greater difference you can make in anyone's life than to introduce them to Jesus Christ and take them to heaven with you! That's an eternal difference! With however many years or few years you have left (who knows?), live to make the greatest possible difference with the rest of your life!

I don't think it's that I'm incompetent when it comes to technical things. I think I was just born a hundred years too late. I probably would have fared better when they hadn't invented so many machines and appliances, and computers. I would have done fine in those simpler days. I mean sometimes it is just so embarrassing. I can't, you know, get a lamp to work, or I can't get some appliance to work, and no matter what I do it doesn't go on. The ending is too often the same. My youngest son for example would come in and say, "Dad, is it plugged in?" "No." Oh, I didn't check that! I hate that! So many times we tinker with everything and miss the one simple factor that needs to change. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Blessing and Broken Things." Our word for today from the Word of God offers a possible diagnosis for why some important things in your life just aren't working right now. Maybe you're like me trying to get things working at the house. You've tinkered with all the different parts of the problem. Well, have you considered the possibility that it isn't working because God is withholding His blessing? And it won't work until God gives His blessing to that part of your life. You say, "Well, why?" Well, because something He really values may be missing. Our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 133:1 and 3 - "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. For there, the Lord bestows His blessing." Did you catch what the Lord is saying here? "I put my blessing where My people are together and unified." The implication might be this. Where they are not unified, I do not put My blessing. Well, let's look at your personal frustration right now - that door that is not opening, the money that just doesn't come, maybe the child who won't respond, the results that just aren't coming no matter how hard you work. Could it be that you're not plugged in to God's blessing because there are fractured relationships, strained relationships right now? 1 Peter 3:7 tells husbands to "treat their wives properly so that their prayers will not be hindered." In other words, when that relationship with your wife isn't right, God will not answer your prayers. Maybe your children will not come around until mom and dad deal with the walls that are between them. Your church won't grow until those factions come together in a common cause. Like rescuing the dying people all around you. The money or the answer won't come until you fix that broken relationship. See, that broken relationship, and you know which one it is, is breaking God's heart. Do everything in your power to take down the walls that might be costing you the blessing of almighty God. Keep checking until you understand what is there that's broken that God says needs fixing. Quit tinkering with the problems that really aren't the problem. You have to go check and make sure you're plugged in at the right place. Check the power source. And the power source is a current called the blessing of God. There is nothing worth sacrificing His blessing for. And no sacrifice too great to have His blessing. He's told us where He puts that. He's told us where He gives that blessing. It's when He sees His people hand in hand.

For a long time, I have been fascinated with the story of the Titanic. The sinking of that seemingly “unsinkable” ship after a collision with an iceberg is filled with so much human drama that has inspired endless movies, books, and documentaries. Finding the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic fueled even greater information than ever before. Some of the drama of those discoveries has been within our reach as the Titanic artifacts exhibit went across the country in some of America's leading museums. You could see many personal items recovered from the Titanic's debris field along with displays that recreated the feeling of being a passenger on that doomed ship. And now there's at least one permanent Titanic museum in the country. When I went into this one on the early tour, I was given a boarding pass with the name of a real person who'd been aboard that awful night. At the end of the exhibit, there's this big wall with the names of everyone aboard – first class, second class, third class, crew. Every person is either on the list that says “saved” or “lost.” I looked hard for my name, and I discovered that I was one of the few crewmen who was “saved.” A pastor I know, who I had told about my experience there, well, he went to see the exhibit for himself. But he told me about it. He looked me in the eye and he said very soberly, “Except I was lost.” I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about “The Shock at the End of Our Voyage”. One of the most sobering truths in the Bible is this: God has two lists. Each of us is on one of those lists. Everyone we know, everyone we care about, is on one of these two lists. In 1 John 5:11-12, God plainly says, “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” There it is – the “saved” and the “lost.” And it all depends on one thing – whether or not you have Jesus in your heart. It doesn't say, “Whoever has religion has life” or “whoever lives a good life has life.” No, it's all about Jesus and whether or not you've ever begun a personal relationship with Him. That life-saving relationship begins when you realize that Jesus' dying on that cross was the only thing that can pay the death penalty that you deserve for running your own life, for hijacking your life from your Creator. And that means you know now that you've got to put all your trust in Him to save you, because you can't do a thing to save yourself. For my pastor friend, it was a shock to get to the end and find out he was “lost.” That's the shock that for real so many are going to experience when they meet God. My friend didn't know until the end. But we can know right now which list we're on – depending on whether or not we've given ourselves to Jesus. If you know you've done that, you are among God's rescued. But now it's up to you to rescue those around you who are still on the “lost” list. The “saved” and “lost” list from the Titanic can never be changed. But there's still time for people you know to be moved from God's “lost” list to His list of those who are “saved.” But you've got to do something about their lostness. You'll have to step up to tell them about Jesus, to be their rescuer. The devil – who wants as many lost as possible – is working hard to keep people on both lists preoccupied with something other than eternity. If you're lost, he's trying desperately to keep you from Jesus, even right now, until time runs out. If you're saved, he's trying to desperately keep you from reaching out to rescue the people around you until time runs out. If you've never reached out to Jesus to rescue you, grab the hand of the Rescuer who came all the way from heaven to come and die so He could rescue you. If you want to go to sleep tonight knowing you belong to Jesus, tell Him now, “Jesus, I'm Yours. The battle's over. I'm Yours!" Get over to our website as soon as you can today, ANewStory.com, because I think you will find there everything you need to know about how to be sure you belong to Jesus. When you've taken your last breath, lost is forever; but not yet. This very day, you can move from death to life, and from lost to saved.

Now, I'm not in the business of advertising any particular ice cream spot, but let's face it, it's kind of fun to go to Baskin Robbins. You know, they have all those flavors they advertise. Now, you can write to me and tell me that maybe you like another place better, but listen, I know you like to go where there's a lot of flavors. And you know what? It seems like it takes me an hour to decide which one I want. Well, not really, but seems like an hour to the person whose waiting on me. But the variety is a lot of fun. Now, can you imagine an ice cream store that offered only vanilla? Yeah, boring! After a while you get tired of the same old flavor. Can you imagine a person who said, “I only eat vanilla. I never tried anything else.” I'd say to them, “Man, look at the list! You're missing so many flavors. You can have ice cream so many different ways.” How boring to think that all ice cream has to be the one flavor you like. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about “Many Flavors At God's Place”. Our word for today from the Word of God is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And we go, in a sense, to God's ice cream parlor if you want to put it that way. And it's called the church—the body of Christ. Listen to all the flavors. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.” Verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 12, “The body is a unit, though, that is made up of many parts, and though all of its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” Okay, now, if there's one message we could get from these wonderful verses it would be this. Variety is God's plan for His body. He's not interested in cookie cutter Christians. He wants many styles, many flavors of Christians. God likes variety. Guess what we like? Uniformity. We want everybody to be like us—like our group. So as a consequence, generally speaking, Baptist Christians only know Baptist Christians, and Assembly of God Christians only know Assembly of God Christians, and Methodist Christians only know Methodist Christians, and Presbyterian, Presbyterians, etc. The list is infinite. But, you see, none of us has all of Him. But all of us together have all of Him. Don't cut yourself off from all the other flavors; don't just be a vanilla Christian. See, we disagree only about, say, 10% of it. Ninety percent is about Christ, and sin, and salvation, and Christ's return, and the Bible: we tend to agree on those. We need each other. Those different styles and different emphases in the body of Christ are not only God's will, but they make you rich. One group of Christians may teach you how to pray and get a hold of God. Another group may really have a vision for missions, and they'll help you care about a lost world. Others will really get you into personal evangelism. There's another group of Christians who might really help you learn about God's sovereign control over things. And then there's a group over there that may be strong in loving and caring and accepting. And this group over here, they'll teach you a lot about worship. And this one, oh you'll learn a lot about careful Bible study. Hey, listen. We will be together forever. All the labels we have here on earth won't make it past the gate of heaven. Why don't we get together now? You're on God's side when you're against whatever divides His body. It's not all vanilla. Its lots of flavors. It's all ice cream; but it's lots of flavors, and that's what counts. We're all the church. So, celebrate the variety in God's family. And enjoy all those flavors.

When our oldest child was born, they didn't even let fathers go into the labor room. That was nice. Then when our second one was born, fathers must have gotten a little smarter. They let us go into the labor room, but not the delivery room. And by the time our third one was born, hey, fathers had really gotten smart! I was actively involved with the doctor in the delivery. But, of course, I couldn't just walk right into the delivery room. No! First, I had to do what the doctor and nurse had to do – scrub up! Oh yeah, they made sure I washed thoroughly with disinfectant. Then they covered every part of me but my hands and my eyes and my nose – and they put a mask over my mouth, a thoroughly ugly cap on my head and this goofy smock over my clothes. My only consolation was the doctor looked as geeky as I did. They gave me paper booties, oh that was cool, but I understood. They can't allow any dirt to infect that environment. You've got to be clean to get in. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about “No Dirt Allowed.” It seems like more people are thinking more these days about spiritual issues. That's a good thing, including what happens after we take our last breath. One area of curiosity is heaven – which we can guess about if we want, or we can get our information from the One who made heaven, who lives there, who sets the standards for going there. Of course, that would be God. Who, in the Bible, describes heaven, not as a state of mind, but as a very real, very mind-blowing place. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Revelation 21:4. It is a partial description of heaven. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” Later it says, “The great street of the city was of pure gold.” Imagine! This is what we consider the most precious substance on earth. We'll be walking on it in heaven! It's pavement. We can't begin to imagine the glory of this eternal destination. Then in that same passage, here's something very disturbing, “Nothing impure will ever enter it,” He says, “nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:27) God says heaven is a lot like that delivery room; no one is allowed in there who isn't clean. They would infect an environment that has to be pure. God's saying here that He can't allow anyone with sin into heaven or it won't be heaven any more. But here's why that's so disturbing. Romans 3:10 in the Bible says, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Well, if sinners can't get into heaven, then you and I have no chance no matter how religious we are. No matter how much good we do, it doesn't remove any of the dirt of a lifetime of choices that were “my way” instead of God's way, that defied what God wanted. The scriptures show us that there will be a lot of surprised people in hell; people who thought they could get to heaven by being good enough. But their good didn't remove the sin that keeps people out of heaven. But this verse mentions those who will enter heaven; those in the Lamb's Book of Life. Your name goes there when you get every sin of your life erased from God's book. Here's the only disinfectant that can do that. 1 John 1:7 says, “The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” Our only hope of being clean enough to enter heaven is what Jesus did when He died on the cross to take the death penalty that we deserved to pay for our sin. The question is, has there ever been a time when, in your heart, you've stood at Jesus' cross and basically said, “Lord, I'm putting my total trust in you to forgive me, to erase my sins from your book? You're my only hope.” If you've never done that, if you're not sure you've done that, why don't you make sure today. Jesus has become your personal Rescuer from your personal sin at that point. Go to our website because I've put there the information that will help you nail down and make sure this is the day that Jesus becomes your Savior from your sin. That website is ANewStory.com. We're all too dirty to enter that sin-free environment of heaven. You can get clean this very day, but only Jesus can do it. If you want to go into Jesus' heaven, you've got to get clean. This is that day.

I've only been to Israel once, and just for a short visit, but I will never forget the thrill of seeing those places where Jesus walked when He was there, and watching all those names and places in the Bible suddenly come alive. It really was one of the highlights of my life, except for one thing. I went alone, on my way back home from a ministry trip to Africa. As I stood on the Mount of Olives, and as I walked the streets of old Jerusalem, as I experienced the feel of Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee, you know what I kept thinking? "I want my wife to see all of this. I want to experience this with my kids!" Yes, Israel was terrific, but I really wanted to share it with the people I love. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your People In Heaven." I guess that's just the way it is when you're enjoying a special place; you want the people you care about to be there, sharing it with you. That must include the most special place of all - heaven. Imagine that you get to heaven and you see Jesus. After you fall on your face in adoration and awe, you begin to thank Him for all He did to get you to heaven. And then you ask a question that's been on your mind since you arrived, "Lord, is Scott here? Is Linda here?" What if Jesus says, "Oh, did you bring him? Did you bring her?" See, Jesus was counting on you to help those people you love understand what He did for them on the cross and to point them to the only One who could get them to heaven. In our word for today from the Word of God, Paul anticipated the joys he was expecting when he got to heaven. In 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, he says, "For 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." Now, when Paul sees Jesus, his joy is going to be that the people he loved - that he loved enough to introduce to Jesus - will be there with him. I wonder who you'll be looking for when you get to heaven; people who, as far as you know, may not be headed there right now. If you want them to be there in heaven with you, you've got to tell them how they can know the Savior who died to get them there. In fact, that's why God has you in their lives, to help them go to heaven with you. So, how are you doing with that? There are very few sadnesses deeper in life than standing by the casket of someone you could have told about Christ - you should have told about Christ - but you didn't. Well, you know, we can't have any of those opportunities back, but we do have the friends and neighbors and coworkers and loved ones who are still with us. And we still have time to tell them, but no one knows how much time. This very day you could start praying what I call the "3-open prayer." First, "Lord, open a door." That's a natural, God-given opportunity to bring up your relationship with Christ. Then, "Lord, open their heart." And then finally, "Lord, open my mouth." You don't even have to pray, "Lord, if it's Your will." It is His will. "Lord, open a door. Lord, a natural opportunity. Lord, open their heart; get them ready, and Lord, open my mouth with the words, and the approach, and the tone, and the courage to tell them what I know about You." Begin to seek opportunities, pursue opportunities to tell the people in your personal world about the Son of God who loved them enough to pay for their sin so they don't have to. If there are people you want to have in heaven with you, please while there's still time, share with them the only message that can get them there.

There were a lot of dramatic images from the military action known as Operation Iraqi Freedom - but I think few were more dramatic than the middle-of-the-night rescue of a prisoner of war, Jessica Lynch. If you were around at the time, you probably remember it. As Coalition forces advanced quickly from the Kuwaiti border to the capital of Baghdad, Pfc. Lynch's unit of Army maintenance troops made a wrong turn, ended up in the middle of an enemy ambush, and no one knew Jessie Lynch's fate. She was listed as missing in action. But acting on the tip of Iraqi sympathizers, a Special Operations Force fought their way into the hospital where she was imprisoned, found her, and quickly carried her to a waiting helicopter. And then, they had to fight their way out, too. But Private Lynch was safe - saved by rescuers who risked it all to bring her out. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Day You're Rescued." I'll never begin to know what it must have been like to be a prisoner of someone like Saddam Hussein's brutal regime. But I do know a little bit about how it feels to be rescued from a situation that I couldn't get out of, that otherwise would have been fatal. I know what it is to be rescued by someone who risked it all - actually, who gave it all, to bring me out. It's a life-saving experience shared by millions of people over 2,000 years. It's a rescue that can happen to you. This rescue was planned in heaven and executed by no one less than the very Son of God, Jesus Christ. It's described by God Himself in Colossians 1:13-14, our word for today from the Word of God. It says of God that "He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." We don't realize it, but we are in as deadly a situation as that rescued POW was in - actually a lot more deadly, because without a rescue we will be imprisoned forever in an awful place the Bible calls hell. That's where the death penalty is carried out for a human being who has run their own life instead of letting their Creator run it. Who has dared to say, "God, you run the universe. I'll run me." Which, according to the Bible, describes all of us, no matter how religious we might be, and no matter what religion we're from. We're sinners. We are unable to get ourselves out of our own dark side, we're unable to get ourselves out of the penalty for our sin. We are trapped in what the Bible calls "the dominion of darkness." But Jesus came, fighting his way to rescue us. Dying on a cross to pay the penalty we deserve, so we could have (as the Bible says) "the forgiveness of sins" instead of the punishment for our sins. No religion can get you out - only a rescue can. And only Jesus did what had to be done to rescue you. This very day - maybe through these very words - He is breaking into your life, offering to be your personal Rescuer from your personal sin and its eternal penalty. If you'll grab Jesus by His hand and just say, "Jesus, You're my only hope. You paid for my sins when you died on the cross. You proved you're alive by walking out of your grave. I want you to walk into my life today. Beginning today, I am Yours, Jesus." Don't you want to know that you're right with God? Don't you want to know that eternity is settled? If you want to know you belong to this Rescuer that loves you more than anyone ever could, let this be the day you give yourself to Him. Let this be the day that you check out a website that is all for you at a moment like this. It is literally designed for this crossroads moment in a person's life - ANewStory.com. I invite you, I urge you, I encourage you to go there as soon as you can. Jesus paid the ultimate price; made the ultimate sacrifice to bring you out. The strong hand of your Redeemer; I wish you could actually see it. He's reaching for you right now. Please - grab Him now.

There's nothing more discouraging for the family chef than these three words, "I'm not hungry." Maybe you've faced those words. You know, kids have impatient stomachs. Of course, only kids. We don't, right, adults? But kids have impatient stomachs, so they eat whenever the urge hits and whatever the urge tells them to eat. And, of course, I'm sure our kids were like yours. They would usually go to the refrigerator and get some carrots or a tossed salad. Right? Some broccoli, some high fiber cereal? No! Our kids did not! Don't worry, neither do yours. Oh yeah, they'd go after junk food. Most kids today are junk food junkies, and they fill up on it. So, my wife would give us this beautiful spread of pot roast, and potatoes, and fresh vegetables, home baked bread. And the troops, "I'm not hungry." They're too full to eat. How discouraging when they're full of junk food. Now junk food may be okay, but not when it spoils your appetite for real food. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spiritual Hunger, Spiritual Junk". Now, our word for today from the Word of God is found in Luke 8. It's the familiar story of the parable of the seed and the sower. And as you know, Jesus talks about the seed falling on four different kinds of ground. Let's look at one today. He says in verse 11, and this is the meaning of the parable, "The seed is the Word of God." And in verse 14, "The seed (or the Word) that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they're choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature." Now these are people, who are Christians, and they remain Christians, but they are God's under-developed children. Children who never experience what they could have experienced. They always miss God's best. Why? They were choked. Choked by worries, anxieties, things they're afraid of. They're choked by chasing what money can buy. They're choked by focusing their energies on their own pleasure, their own feeling good. God has a lot of spiritually anorexic kids. You know that? They have an appetite disorder. They're just not hungry for the Bible any more. They're not hungry for time with Jesus. They're not hungry for church; for spiritual input; for Christian fellowship. They almost go just dutifully. Have you noticed in yourself maybe recently a diminishing desire to get into the Bible; to get with God's people? Oh, you used to have an appetite. Where did it go? Could it be you've been filling up on junk food? Maybe things that aren't wrong in themselves; they're just taking over what you think about and talk about most of the time. An unbalanced interest or concern has taken over and crowded out any room for God's Word in your life. Maybe you've become preoccupied with a hobby, television, the Internet, soap operas, music, maybe a special friend, maybe your car, maybe your house. Maybe God's time in your life, God's voice, God's Word are being choked by something far less important, far less eternal. It's just been crowded out. All your thinking time, all your mentally neutral time is gone. Do you have a spiritual appetite problem? Could it be that some junk food is filling you up? God has so much prepared for you; so much He wants to say to you; so many ways He wants to lighten your load. But you come to the table saying, "I'm not hungry." Next time you're reaching for more mental junk food, reach instead for the banquet of the Bible. Spiritually it is the breakfast, the lunch, and the dinner of champions!

There's nothing more discouraging for the family chef than these three words, "I'm not hungry." Maybe you've faced those words. You know, kids have impatient stomachs. Of course, only kids. We don't, right, adults? But kids have impatient stomachs, so they eat whenever the urge hits and whatever the urge tells them to eat. And, of course, I'm sure our kids were like yours. They would usually go to the refrigerator and get some carrots or a tossed salad. Right? Some broccoli, some high fiber cereal? No! Our kids did not! Don't worry, neither do yours. Oh yeah, they'd go after junk food. Most kids today are junk food junkies, and they fill up on it. So, my wife would give us this beautiful spread of pot roast, and potatoes, and fresh vegetables, home baked bread. And the troops, "I'm not hungry." They're too full to eat. How discouraging when they're full of junk food. Now junk food may be okay, but not when it spoils your appetite for real food. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spiritual Hunger, Spiritual Junk". Now, our word for today from the Word of God is found in Luke 8. It's the familiar story of the parable of the seed and the sower. And as you know, Jesus talks about the seed falling on four different kinds of ground. Let's look at one today. He says in verse 11, and this is the meaning of the parable, "The seed is the Word of God." And in verse 14, "The seed (or the Word) that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they're choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature." Now these are people, who are Christians, and they remain Christians, but they are God's under-developed children. Children who never experience what they could have experienced. They always miss God's best. Why? They were choked. Choked by worries, anxieties, things they're afraid of. They're choked by chasing what money can buy. They're choked by focusing their energies on their own pleasure, their own feeling good. God has a lot of spiritually anorexic kids. You know that? They have an appetite disorder. They're just not hungry for the Bible any more. They're not hungry for time with Jesus. They're not hungry for church; for spiritual input; for Christian fellowship. They almost go just dutifully. Have you noticed in yourself maybe recently a diminishing desire to get into the Bible; to get with God's people? Oh, you used to have an appetite. Where did it go? Could it be you've been filling up on junk food? Maybe things that aren't wrong in themselves; they're just taking over what you think about and talk about most of the time. An unbalanced interest or concern has taken over and crowded out any room for God's Word in your life. Maybe you've become preoccupied with a hobby, television, the Internet, soap operas, music, maybe a special friend, maybe your car, maybe your house. Maybe God's time in your life, God's voice, God's Word are being choked by something far less important, far less eternal. It's just been crowded out. All your thinking time, all your mentally neutral time is gone. Do you have a spiritual appetite problem? Could it be that some junk food is filling you up? God has so much prepared for you; so much He wants to say to you; so many ways He wants to lighten your load. But you come to the table saying, "I'm not hungry." Next time you're reaching for more mental junk food, reach instead for the banquet of the Bible. Spiritually it is the breakfast, the lunch, and the dinner of champions!

Because we've spent so much time on Indian reservations over the years, the story I heard about one little Native American boy is especially meaningful to me. He lived with his mom in a little hut on a reservation in the Southwest. His dad had died, and that meant the boy had to take responsibility for their sheep at a pretty young age. One day a missionary passed through their village and he explained to the little boy how Jesus Christ died for him and wanted to be his Shepherd. And that day this little shepherd invited Jesus into his heart. As the missionary was about to leave, he asked the boy if he could teach him a Bible verse. The boy said, "I don't think I can remember it." But the missionary gave him just five simple words from the Bible to remember. "The Lord is my Shepherd." But the missionary taught him a little trick for remembering it. He said, "Use the fingers of your right hand to help you remember 'The - Lord - is - my - Shepherd.' And when you get to the fourth word, wrap your left hand around the fourth finger of your right hand. 'The Lord is my Shepherd.'" Well, the boy remembered it - really remembered it - as the missionary would learn when he returned one year later. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Two Words That Decide Eternity." When the missionary revisited that village, he stopped by the hut where the little shepherd boy lived with his mother. He knocked on the door and the mother answered. When the missionary asked for her son, she said, "Oh, you didn't hear? Last winter a sudden blizzard hit us while my boy was out in the hills with the sheep. He didn't make it back. It was three days before they found him frozen to death." The missionary couldn't muster any words except a quiet, "I'm sorry." Then Mom said, "You know, when they found my boy and they brushed all the snow off his body, they discovered something very unusual. His left hand was wrapped around the fourth finger of his right hand." "The Lord is my Shepherd." Is He yours? It's possible that you know about Jesus, that you believe in Jesus, that you go to His meetings, maybe you even do things for Jesus. But somehow, you've never made Him yours. You've never made the Shepherd your Shepherd. You've never made the Savior your Savior. The difference is two little words found in our word for today from the Word of God from Galatians 2:20. "I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." You stand at that cross that you may have known about all your life. You look up at the price the Son of God is paying there. And you say with your heart, "For me. He's dying there for me. It's my sin He's paying for." And then you say, again with all your heart, "Jesus, I'm Yours." If you don't know you've done that, you probably haven't. Because it's a conscious choice. And you need to. Having Jesus in your head will never get you to heaven. He's got to be in your heart. This could be your day to finally move Him from your head to your heart so you don't miss heaven by those 18 inches. Right now, wherever you are, would you talk to Jesus? That tug in your heart? That's not me; that's Him. Maybe you could talk to Him in words something like this: "Lord, I've been running my own life. I resign. I believe that when You died on that cross, You were paying for every one of my sins. And now I'm giving You what You paid for with your life - I'm giving You me." That's the choice that changes everything, including your eternity. I want so much for you to be sure you belong to Him. That's why I'm going to urge you to go to our website, ANewStory.com, because right there you will find the information that will help you secure this relationship and know beyond any shadow of a doubt that now Jesus lives in your heart and you will live in His heaven. Can you say it now? "The Lord is my Shepherd."

Because we've spent so much time on Indian reservations over the years, the story I heard about one little Native American boy is especially meaningful to me. He lived with his mom in a little hut on a reservation in the Southwest. His dad had died, and that meant the boy had to take responsibility for their sheep at a pretty young age. One day a missionary passed through their village and he explained to the little boy how Jesus Christ died for him and wanted to be his Shepherd. And that day this little shepherd invited Jesus into his heart. As the missionary was about to leave, he asked the boy if he could teach him a Bible verse. The boy said, "I don't think I can remember it." But the missionary gave him just five simple words from the Bible to remember. "The Lord is my Shepherd." But the missionary taught him a little trick for remembering it. He said, "Use the fingers of your right hand to help you remember 'The - Lord - is - my - Shepherd.' And when you get to the fourth word, wrap your left hand around the fourth finger of your right hand. 'The Lord is my Shepherd.'" Well, the boy remembered it - really remembered it - as the missionary would learn when he returned one year later. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Two Words That Decide Eternity." When the missionary revisited that village, he stopped by the hut where the little shepherd boy lived with his mother. He knocked on the door and the mother answered. When the missionary asked for her son, she said, "Oh, you didn't hear? Last winter a sudden blizzard hit us while my boy was out in the hills with the sheep. He didn't make it back. It was three days before they found him frozen to death." The missionary couldn't muster any words except a quiet, "I'm sorry." Then Mom said, "You know, when they found my boy and they brushed all the snow off his body, they discovered something very unusual. His left hand was wrapped around the fourth finger of his right hand." "The Lord is my Shepherd." Is He yours? It's possible that you know about Jesus, that you believe in Jesus, that you go to His meetings, maybe you even do things for Jesus. But somehow, you've never made Him yours. You've never made the Shepherd your Shepherd. You've never made the Savior your Savior. The difference is two little words found in our word for today from the Word of God from Galatians 2:20. "I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." You stand at that cross that you may have known about all your life. You look up at the price the Son of God is paying there. And you say with your heart, "For me. He's dying there for me. It's my sin He's paying for." And then you say, again with all your heart, "Jesus, I'm Yours." If you don't know you've done that, you probably haven't. Because it's a conscious choice. And you need to. Having Jesus in your head will never get you to heaven. He's got to be in your heart. This could be your day to finally move Him from your head to your heart so you don't miss heaven by those 18 inches. Right now, wherever you are, would you talk to Jesus? That tug in your heart? That's not me; that's Him. Maybe you could talk to Him in words something like this: "Lord, I've been running my own life. I resign. I believe that when You died on that cross, You were paying for every one of my sins. And now I'm giving You what You paid for with your life - I'm giving You me." That's the choice that changes everything, including your eternity. I want so much for you to be sure you belong to Him. That's why I'm going to urge you to go to our website, ANewStory.com, because right there you will find the information that will help you secure this relationship and know beyond any shadow of a doubt that now Jesus lives in your heart and you will live in His heaven. Can you say it now? "The Lord is my Shepherd."

I imagine it's been a little while since you've asked somebody, "How's your liver today?" I never thought about it until my wife got sick. She had hepatitis, and for many months I learned how vital the liver is; never thought about it before. It's the filtration plant of your body. We've got all kinds of toxic materials pumping into us every day in medicines that we take, and foods that we eat, and our liver keeps those poisons from getting into our blood stream. Now, liver disease like hepatitis or cirrhosis can cripple you or even kill you if the poison can't be filtered. See, it's deadly if the poisons don't get filtered and they get into your blood stream. And there is one toxin that is on the loose, and it has a long history of being a killer. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Poison In the Blood Stream." Now, our word for today from the Word of God is going to come from Matthew 27. I'll begin reading from verse 18. And you are going to see the identification of perhaps one of life's most deadly toxins. We're in the middle of one of history's most ironic and most tragic episodes. Israel's Messiah has come in the person of Jesus Christ, and yet ironically it is the religious leaders who are clamoring to have Him executed. They bring Him to Pilate, because they don't have the authority to put Him to death. And there was a sobering footnote here as He is on trial before Pilate. You may have read past it many times. It's sort of a spiritual EKG that looks inside the human heart; what makes people so mean, so critical, so destructive. And it identifies that awful poison in the human blood stream. Here's what it says in a little footnote to the trial of Jesus. "For Pilate knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him." In the words of the King James Bible, "Out of envy they had delivered Jesus up to him." Oh, they offered a lot of smoke screens; they gave other reasons. A lot of it was spiritual talk. There were religious reasons, and they sounded very, very spiritual about it. But the real issue - bottom line - was envy. Jesus was delivered up because of it, and people are still being delivered up because of envy. The dictionary says that envy is, "A feeling of discontent or jealousy, usually with ill will at seeing another's superiority, advantages or success." You see, envy is a denial of God's faithful provision for His children. It's saying, "You know what? He's got one and I don't. How come? How come I don't have any? It's not fair." And it often causes us to crucify people with religious words of course. But envy is a poison in the blood stream. It always starts with comparing. You can't envy unless you first compare homes, children, or beauty, or opportunities, or clothes, or positions with what somebody else has. Isn't it interesting that one of the Ten Commandments of God is "You shall not covet." And you know what? You'll never covet if you don't compare. It always starts with comparing. Think of someone you've been critical of lately - maybe negative toward them. When they come around you, you start getting some dark feelings. I wonder if you'd be honest enough to examine your motives today. Could it be envy at the root? You've seen what you perceive to be maybe their superiority, or their advantages, or their success. Ask yourself this, "If envy is in my life, Lord, who is the object of it? Envy gets all dressed up, starts to deliver someone up for destruction. It is an ugly poison in the blood stream. Pray for that person that you might be comparing yourself with and envying. Call envy by name, and trust your Shepherd to give you what's right for you. Filter out that poison of envy. It's a killer!

I imagine it's been a little while since you've asked somebody, "How's your liver today?" I never thought about it until my wife got sick. She had hepatitis, and for many months I learned how vital the liver is; never thought about it before. It's the filtration plant of your body. We've got all kinds of toxic materials pumping into us every day in medicines that we take, and foods that we eat, and our liver keeps those poisons from getting into our blood stream. Now, liver disease like hepatitis or cirrhosis can cripple you or even kill you if the poison can't be filtered. See, it's deadly if the poisons don't get filtered and they get into your blood stream. And there is one toxin that is on the loose, and it has a long history of being a killer. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Poison In the Blood Stream." Now, our word for today from the Word of God is going to come from Matthew 27. I'll begin reading from verse 18. And you are going to see the identification of perhaps one of life's most deadly toxins. We're in the middle of one of history's most ironic and most tragic episodes. Israel's Messiah has come in the person of Jesus Christ, and yet ironically it is the religious leaders who are clamoring to have Him executed. They bring Him to Pilate, because they don't have the authority to put Him to death. And there was a sobering footnote here as He is on trial before Pilate. You may have read past it many times. It's sort of a spiritual EKG that looks inside the human heart; what makes people so mean, so critical, so destructive. And it identifies that awful poison in the human blood stream. Here's what it says in a little footnote to the trial of Jesus. "For Pilate knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him." In the words of the King James Bible, "Out of envy they had delivered Jesus up to him." Oh, they offered a lot of smoke screens; they gave other reasons. A lot of it was spiritual talk. There were religious reasons, and they sounded very, very spiritual about it. But the real issue - bottom line - was envy. Jesus was delivered up because of it, and people are still being delivered up because of envy. The dictionary says that envy is, "A feeling of discontent or jealousy, usually with ill will at seeing another's superiority, advantages or success." You see, envy is a denial of God's faithful provision for His children. It's saying, "You know what? He's got one and I don't. How come? How come I don't have any? It's not fair." And it often causes us to crucify people with religious words of course. But envy is a poison in the blood stream. It always starts with comparing. You can't envy unless you first compare homes, children, or beauty, or opportunities, or clothes, or positions with what somebody else has. Isn't it interesting that one of the Ten Commandments of God is "You shall not covet." And you know what? You'll never covet if you don't compare. It always starts with comparing. Think of someone you've been critical of lately - maybe negative toward them. When they come around you, you start getting some dark feelings. I wonder if you'd be honest enough to examine your motives today. Could it be envy at the root? You've seen what you perceive to be maybe their superiority, or their advantages, or their success. Ask yourself this, "If envy is in my life, Lord, who is the object of it? Envy gets all dressed up, starts to deliver someone up for destruction. It is an ugly poison in the blood stream. Pray for that person that you might be comparing yourself with and envying. Call envy by name, and trust your Shepherd to give you what's right for you. Filter out that poison of envy. It's a killer!

"Moon joy." That's what the Artemis commander called the crew's lunar euphoria as they approached the moon. And that was just the beginning. For all their science, for all their simulations, they were almost at a loss for words. The view behind the moon and seeing the Earth left them in awe. And to think - they were looking at one little blue marble in one galaxy. In what is estimated now to be two trillion galaxies! Four people have now traveled farther from our planet than all the billions who have lived on Earth. The commander said "It was the most spectacular moment... It paused all four of us in our tracks." As they got their first full glimpse of their home planet. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The View From the Moon and the Search in Your Heart." We're wow-ed by our sunsets on earth. They got to see an "Earthset" as the earth dropped below the lunar horizon - and a stunning view of the moon eclipsing the sun. Commander Wiseman said, "No matter how long we look at this, our brains are not processing this image in front of us. It is absolutely spectacular. Surreal. I know there's no adjectives. I'm going to need to invent some new ones to describe what we are looking at out this window." Three thousand years ago, the psalmist David seemed to be lost in wonder, too, just viewing the night sky from earth. Here's what he said in our word for today from the Word of God - Psalm 8:3-4. "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is mankind that You are mindful of them, human beings that You care for them?" (Psalm 8:3-4). The wonders of our tiny corner of the cosmos overflow the heart, whether simple or scientific. So what is the word for what we feel in these awe-filled moments that take us beyond ourselves? The word is worship. But, like love, worship is incomplete without an object. "I love" is a nice beginning, but it needs a name after it. So does a heart that is overflowing with feelings of wonder, inspired by the majesty of creation. Creation itself is not enough for a heart in search of somewhere to land our soaring soul. We are reaching for the Source. The sacred Scriptures complete our cosmic soul journey by pointing us to Jesus. The Christ. The Son of God. Colossians 1 says, "For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible... all things have been created through Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:15-16). One crew member said, "You're on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live. You are special." Looking at the cosmos from this "special" place, David marveled that the Creator of it all would be "mindful" of us or "care for" us. This planet is not even a speck in the oceans of galaxies. But it is here that God Almighty chose to make creatures in His own image! Made - and here's what takes my breath away - to have a love relationship with Him! The Son of God Himself came here, to this little planet to make that relationship possible - by dying for the sin that stands between us. The wonders of a space journey to our farthest destination so far have revealed the greater journey of every heart on this planet. To find the One behind the wonders. Who not only created this planet. But who has visited this planet to take us to Him. The wonder of all wonders is that... "God so loved the world!" This world. Our world. Us. And the relationship He made us for is within your reach today if you say, "Jesus, I am Yours from this day forward." If you want that relationship, then our website is for you today, go there. It's ANewStory.com. When you reach for Jesus, the greatest wonder of all is not in the skies. It's in your heart. He's in your heart.

"Moon joy." That's what the Artemis commander called the crew's lunar euphoria as they approached the moon. And that was just the beginning. For all their science, for all their simulations, they were almost at a loss for words. The view behind the moon and seeing the Earth left them in awe. And to think - they were looking at one little blue marble in one galaxy. In what is estimated now to be two trillion galaxies! Four people have now traveled farther from our planet than all the billions who have lived on Earth. The commander said "It was the most spectacular moment... It paused all four of us in our tracks." As they got their first full glimpse of their home planet. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The View From the Moon and the Search in Your Heart." We're wow-ed by our sunsets on earth. They got to see an "Earthset" as the earth dropped below the lunar horizon - and a stunning view of the moon eclipsing the sun. Commander Wiseman said, "No matter how long we look at this, our brains are not processing this image in front of us. It is absolutely spectacular. Surreal. I know there's no adjectives. I'm going to need to invent some new ones to describe what we are looking at out this window." Three thousand years ago, the psalmist David seemed to be lost in wonder, too, just viewing the night sky from earth. Here's what he said in our word for today from the Word of God - Psalm 8:3-4. "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is mankind that You are mindful of them, human beings that You care for them?" (Psalm 8:3-4). The wonders of our tiny corner of the cosmos overflow the heart, whether simple or scientific. So what is the word for what we feel in these awe-filled moments that take us beyond ourselves? The word is worship. But, like love, worship is incomplete without an object. "I love" is a nice beginning, but it needs a name after it. So does a heart that is overflowing with feelings of wonder, inspired by the majesty of creation. Creation itself is not enough for a heart in search of somewhere to land our soaring soul. We are reaching for the Source. The sacred Scriptures complete our cosmic soul journey by pointing us to Jesus. The Christ. The Son of God. Colossians 1 says, "For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible... all things have been created through Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:15-16). One crew member said, "You're on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live. You are special." Looking at the cosmos from this "special" place, David marveled that the Creator of it all would be "mindful" of us or "care for" us. This planet is not even a speck in the oceans of galaxies. But it is here that God Almighty chose to make creatures in His own image! Made - and here's what takes my breath away - to have a love relationship with Him! The Son of God Himself came here, to this little planet to make that relationship possible - by dying for the sin that stands between us. The wonders of a space journey to our farthest destination so far have revealed the greater journey of every heart on this planet. To find the One behind the wonders. Who not only created this planet. But who has visited this planet to take us to Him. The wonder of all wonders is that... "God so loved the world!" This world. Our world. Us. And the relationship He made us for is within your reach today if you say, "Jesus, I am Yours from this day forward." If you want that relationship, then our website is for you today, go there. It's ANewStory.com. When you reach for Jesus, the greatest wonder of all is not in the skies. It's in your heart. He's in your heart.