Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - Radio Program

Friday, August 15, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Sometime during the vacation season you probably stayed in a hotel somewhere. I’ve stayed in so many that they blur into one big hotel room. I wake up sometimes with no clue what city I’m in. Now, I’ve stayed in some fabulous hotels; stayed in some dumps. No matter how nice it is, though, I’ve never called the moving company and said, “Hey, could you bring all my earthly possessions over to the hotel?” Hey, I take an overnight bag in. I’m not going to live there. The hotel isn’t home.

Add new comment

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

It happened a few weeks ago at a major hockey tournament in Canada; the Spokane Chiefs actually won the tournament and the captain skated out proudly with the trophy—I saw this on the news—it was sort of a Stanley Cup wannabe trophy, but it was nice. Suddenly, the trophy broke right in his hands with part of it falling to the ice. You should have seen the looks of bewilderment on their faces. I mean, what do you do when the trophy you just played your heart out for breaks in your hands? It’s a feeling a lot of us know about.

Add new comment

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Our grandson doesn’t know a lot of words yet, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t communicate. Oh no, no. Like when he comes up to me carrying his little sneakers and pointing to the door saying, “Ouuu.” There’s no ‘t’, but that means out. This time of year he thinks inside is boring. Outside is where the action is, right?

Add new comment

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Ross McGinnis wasn’t there to receive his Medal of Honor from the President of the United States. He died in Iraq so his buddies wouldn’t. When an insurgent’s grenade landed in the Humvee that he and his fellow soldiers were in, instead of escaping he chose to absorb the explosion with his own body; and in the process he was laying down his life for four men who are alive today as the result.

Add new comment

Monday, August 11, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

I’ve read books about leadership, I’ve been to seminars about leadership, but I got a giant lesson in leadership in just a couple of lines in a recent movie. It’s the second Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian. Now in the movie they are fighting huge battles to defeat those who have wrongfully ruled Narnia for a long time.

Finally, the rightful ruler is in a position to assume the throne thanks to the one who made the victory possible; that’s Aslan, the lion king, who in C.S. Lewis’ books is the Christ figure. As Aslan asks Prince Caspian to kneel so he can bestow the crown on him, the Prince says, “I do not think I’m ready.” And Aslan says, “For that very reason you are.” That’s what Jesus looks for in someone He can trust to lead; a sense of inadequacy and humility.

Add new comment

Friday, August 8, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

It was the Mexico City Olympics—there was this grueling twenty-six mile marathon event. Now it was over. It had been over for about an hour. The medals had been awarded, the people were leaving the stadium; they were closing the gates on the stadium. Suddenly a horn started going off, they opened the gates again and this battered runner came almost staggering through the gate.

Add new comment

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

To C.S. Lewis fans, Narnia is a magical place that he created where four children are caught up in centuries old battles between good and evil and where the ultimate ruler is the lion king, Aslan, who’s Lewis’ Christ figure in Narnia. Now recently these Chronicles of Narnia have been unfolding on movie screens; most recently with Prince Caspian.

Add new comment

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Wow, this year’s almost been like the tornado a day season, but tragedies can also turn every day people into heroes. It happened in a town in Minnesota not long ago. Several houses were leveled in this neighborhood, and one neighbor emerged from his damaged house and he heard the screams of a husband trapped under a house that had totally collapsed. And the man was screaming for his kids. So this neighbor flew into action. He actually pulled the family out of what had once been their house, and in the end that neighbor saved the lives of seven people in his neighborhood because he forgot about himself and he just couldn’t let them be lost.

Add new comment

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Man for weeks the heartbreaking images just kept coming from that massive earthquake in China. At least 80,000 people died there. Now one of the heart-wrenching scenes was watching those parents who stood 24-hour vigil outside their kids’ school waiting until their child’s body was brought out. Now they’re protesting. They believe that their children didn’t have to die; if only the school had been built to withstand that quake.

Add new comment

Monday, August 4, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Man, did you see that blazing fire they had at Universal Studios not long ago? You know I was there with the family years ago and we saw all those great sets that were now going up in flames. Some really famous backdrops you know, city streets and a famous courthouse and big homes. Of course there was a secret about all of them, they were just facades. They looked really impressive on the outside, but if you peep behind the facade there was nothing there. Of course that kind of reality is universal.

Add new comment

Friday, August 1, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

I’ve seen a lot of earthquake scenes over years in the news, but I can’t remember any that have touched me so much as all those children of the earthquake in the massive quake in China. There were over 4,000 orphans left by that quake. There’s been a major counseling emergency with kids because tens of thousands of them had their whole world suddenly cave in around them. Of course that doesn’t just happen in earthquakes.

Add new comment

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

I saw myself in a movie recently in a little girl of all things. It’s the second movie based on The Chronicles of Narnia—Prince Caspian. Now the four children are again transported to this magical land of Narnia. It’s in the hands of powerful dark forces and their only hope of defeating the massive evil armies is Aslan, the lion king who actually represents Christ in C.S. Lewis’ stories.

Add new comment

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

It happened this time of year—Hurricane Katrina. Can’t you remember the images; one of the most unforgettable hurricanes in history. I remember those people who were on their rooftops, their last refuge from the flood that was all around them. They had those signs, “Without food, without water.” Actually, they were without hope until that chopper came up and that rescuer came from above with that cable. And I remember those pictures of those people just holding onto that guy for dear life as he lifted them out of that flood.

Add new comment

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Until she retired, she was often the deciding vote on the Supreme Court—Sandra Day O’Connor. Not long ago she resurfaced, giving testimony before a Senate Committee about the disease that has diminished her husband for some eighteen years—Alzheimer’s Disease—a disease that has even claimed a President of the United States, Ronald Regan.

Add new comment

Monday, July 28, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

You’re supposed to come back from your summer vacation in better shape than when you left, right? Well, I haven’t always. Sometimes I’ve come back more tired than when I left because I tried to pack so much in. Some people come back from vacations in pain from a sunburn, from physically overdoing it, or they come back broke from spending too much, or with lifetime regrets, or very far from God.

Add new comment

Friday, July 25, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

If this summer is beach or pool time for you, it’s probably also lifeguard time. I didn’t realize until recently one of the greatest, surprising challenges that those lifeguards face. I was reading one writer who described his summer lifeguard job at a California beach. He was told in training that people might resist their assistance or resent it. He assumed anyone in trouble would welcome help, right? Then came his first rescue and the guy fought him off, he cursed at him, he kicked him, he clawed him. That’s why lifeguards are trained with the last resort rescue technique; you knock them out so you can save them.

Add new comment

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Our three-year-old granddaughter went with her beloved uncle to Disneyland, and she wanted to ride the Dumbo ride. Now, in case you had a deprived childhood, Dumbo was the elephant with the big ears that enabled him to fly, of course. The Dumbo ride; well you climb into your Dumbo car, and as he goes in circles you push the bar and it will take you up higher so you can fly like Dumbo. Well her uncle was ready to take it up, but our granddaughter insisted that they stay where they were. All the other Dumbos were flying high; our granddaughter and grounded uncle stayed at the bottom.

Add new comment

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Now when I see hurricanes taking aim at the East Coast, I remember Belle. Yeah, that’s the hurricane that hit while our family was vacationing on Long Island one summer. The kids’ room was upstairs and ours was downstairs, but not the night of the hurricane. I mean, we were on high ground so we didn’t have to evacuate, but the kids moved downstairs and we made one big bed out of sofa cushions and chair cushions; and the winds are howling around us, but it really drove us together. We were really close. That’s a good thing about a big storm.

Add new comment

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

I still remember the day at the beach when the lifeguards got us all out of the water because someone had spotted a shark. I didn’t mind cutting short my water time at all that day. Oh, I’ve heard the shark stories. One of the most memorable, Bethany Hamilton was one of those shark stories. At fourteen she was one of the best young surfers in the world; she was attacked by a shark. She lost her left arm in that attack, but you know, she’s talking about what she gained.

Add new comment

Monday, July 21, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

The U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have a new thing to worry about now—evidence that the enemy is actually stealing the gear that’s used for night vision. Now the military says that the ability to see in the dark and to fight in the night gives them a definite advantage.

Add new comment

Friday, July 18, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

We were at a meeting at a youth conference at the New Jersey shore, and Jenny decided to go to the boardwalk where there were lots of amusements and health food. Yeah right. Well, she heard a cry actually from the water, and she ran down to the beach even though it was dark. Of course, the beach was closed. She jumped in; she saved a woman’s life. I said, “How did that feel?” Jenny said, “There’s nothing more scary than the ocean at night.” I said, “Why did you go in then if you were so afraid?” She said, “Someone would die if I didn’t.”

Add new comment

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

My sons love roller-coasters and I love my sons, but they’re crazy; they didn’t get this from me. I was at one amusement park where I saw a rollercoaster I really had zero interest in. There were two lines and two signs; one said forwards, the other said backwards. It’s going backwards? Why would I want to keep looking at where I’ve already been?

Add new comment

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Now I’ve been in a couple of hurricanes, so I take their warnings pretty seriously. A hurricane is no fun. I do not want to be there when it hits, so I’m glad that they give those hurricane warnings pretty well in advance. They actually did before one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. It hit Gulf Port, Mississippi—Hurricane Camille.

Now during that, people were at the Richelieu Apartments and they were warned ahead of time, but they were having a hurricane party and they refused to leave. The sheriff insisted on each person giving him the names of their next of kin, and when Camille slammed into Gulf Port it hit those apartments, and when the sheriff could finally get back to that beach he found no trace of the apartments or the people who had died there. Tragically, they did not have to die if they’d heeded the warning.

Add new comment

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

I can’t help it, this time of the year I think about Ocean City, New Jersey. That was our family’s favorite summer place on the East Coast. We used to go there every year with a big youth conference; and of course the conference would take advantage of the beach. They had this massive sandcastle competition, and the young people there made these amazing characters and structures out of sand. Of course, it didn’t matter how amazing they were, they were all gone the next morning because the tide erased everything they had built. That’s a disappointment many of us feel some time or another.

Add new comment

Monday, July 14, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Okay, I know its baseball season, but you’ve got to hear this great football story. My friend, Steve, is a Cheesehead—I mean he’s a Green Bay Packer’s fan. And he was watching his beloved Packers play my beloved Giants in the NFC Championship Game. His wife, Shari, was actually close to her due date to deliver their first child. While they were in a huge overtime situation—there was a crucial interception—suddenly, his wife came out of the bathroom soaked from the waist down. He’s thinking, good grief her water’s broken, and Steve stood there for a minute—Cheesehead and all—looking first at his desperate wife, and then at his desperate team fighting for the championship, and it was a tough choice. Funny part—his wife staged the whole thing!

Add new comment

Friday, July 11, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

My son called the other day, and he said, “Dad, I’ve just had the day I dreamed about since the day I got married.” He took his two-year-old daughter to Disneyland in her Minnie Mouse dress, and I tell you the pictures are enough to make this grandfather want to get on a plane right now and go hug her.

Well, the highlight for her was a place they call Mickey’s House. It’s got all kinds of fun things to see and do, but she didn’t stop for any of those. She ran all the way through the house, past all these attractions, and went straight to Mickey Mouse and hugged him. Because he was all she really wanted to see.

Add new comment

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

I bet you love watching those psycho parents at their kids’ sports events. Well whether you do or not, you might enjoy hearing what happened to my friend, Chuck, the other day. He’s watching his son who hit a long ball between center and left, and he’s on the third base line—he’s yelling to his wife on his cell phone, trying to tell her what’s happening—and he said, “Here he comes. He’s crossing home, it’s a homerun. He’s safe. He’s out!” She said, “How can he be both?” He had failed to touch third base. He thought he was safe; he was out. He’s not alone.

Add new comment

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Well it’s almost Olympics time, and they never fail to deliver those amazing sports performances, along with some pretty intense human dramas. Like what happened to Derek Redmond a few years ago. I’ll bet you remember it. He was a British track star in the Barcelona Summer Games and it turned out to be one those like ultimate Kodak moments in the Olympics. He got this painful injury as he was running in his event, and it was so painful it looked like he was down for the count. He wasn’t going to go on. Right then a big man in an orange T-shirt pushed his way out of the stands and past security, onto the track. It was his father, and he lifted his son to his feet and he said, “You can do this son. We’ll cross the finish line together.” And a lot of us will never forget that scene as this father and son did just that; an arm around each other’s shoulder.

Add new comment

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

In the midst of all the crazy news we get these days, sometimes you hear these stories that are totally cool. I like this one. It was actually Amber Birdsall’s seventh birthday, and she opened this huge gift box that was wrapped in pink paper. She was pretty sure it was a pair of bicycles. Wrong! It was her daddy. He’d been deployed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for ten months. She said, “This was way better than bikes.”

Add new comment

Monday, July 7, 2008

Download MP3 (right click to save)

A lot of my heroes growing up were baseball players. Of course that’s still true for a lot of kids today. I guess that’s why it’s so sad that while we’re enjoying this baseball season, there’s this big old cloud over some of our heroes. Can you say steroids?

Add new comment