Monday, March 1, 2010

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It's hard to find any "good news" in the bad news of being diagnosed with cancer. But Ellen did, and she told me about it after a recent seminar I led in her area. I'm really excited about how God is using our A Life That Matters training events to help everyday believers help people they know be in heaven with them. Ellen told me she'd read my book about that when it came out, but she didn't really look for or see many opportunities to tell people the good news about Jesus...until she got cancer. Suddenly she was in the middle of many people who in her words were "facing their own mortality; people whose future was suddenly uncertain because of that chilling word - cancer. Now, because of what she was going through and they were going through, her cancer strangely qualified her to share the Christ who died and rose again to get us ready for eternity. Ellen said, "I went back and re-read your book so I'd know what to do." God has used Ellen in a powerful way. She said, "Ron, I've led so many cancer patients to Jesus - people from many different religions and people with no faith at all!"

Thursday, February 25, 2010

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It wasn't the first time they'd had problems with the space station, but this one was pretty serious. There are four gyroscopes that the space station really depends on. One had been dysfunctional for a while. But now a second gyroscope had gone down, leaving the station and its crew all too vulnerable. With no backup now, one more gyroscope failure and they would be in big trouble. NASA hustled to find a solution because the gyroscope performs an essential function for that platform in space. It keeps it pointing in the right direction so it will have the power it has to have.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

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Okay, let's put away all the junk food snacks for a minute, and let's 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? I wouldn't recommend you eat the 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. Yes, seeds that can make another apple!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fruit With Seeds."

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

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No one has ever claimed that sheep were the smartest animals on earth. A few weeks ago, in a village in Turkey, they lived up to their not-so-bright reputation actually. One sheep wandered away from the flock to the edge of a nearby cliff, and he decided it would be fun to jump off. Of course it was the last thing he ever did. Suddenly, all the sheep decided to play "Follow the Leader" and 1,500 sheep leaped off that cliff to the rocks below, creating at the bottom the world's largest sweater. Actually, it was no joking matter. The town lost more than $100,000 in the great sheep massacre.

Monday, February 15, 2010

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The Valentine our four-year-old grandson got from his grandparents must have meant a lot to him. He doesn't get to see these grandparents real often, so it's nice to get their love in the mail. When his Valentine arrived, his mom read it to him. Several times that day, he asked her to read it to him again. Later, as they were driving around town, he actually began repeating verbatim the love words from that Valentine! They meant so much to him, he had memorized them, and he just kept going over them!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

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Treasure Island, A Child's Garden of Verses - those are just some of the literary classics written by Robert Louis Stevenson. He must have had a way with words from the time he was a boy. Anne Graham Lotz tells of a night in his boyhood when his nanny just couldn't get him to bed. Young Robert just kept staring out the window, oblivious to her talking to him. Finally, she said, "Robert, what in the world are you looking at out there?" As she pulled back the curtain, she realized he was watching the lamplighter making his way down the street, lighting one street lamp after another. Young Robert Louis Stevenson saw something more. He said, "Look at that man! He's punching holes in the darkness!"

Friday, February 5, 2010

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I've only been to Israel once, and just for a short visit, but I'll never forget the thrill of seeing those places where Jesus walked when He was here, 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, as I walked the streets of old Jerusalem, as I experienced the feel of Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee, 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.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

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My friend called me not long ago to pray for his Mom. During some medical tests, the doctor discovered something he didn't like - a large growth in her stomach. My friend said, "They haven't used the 'C' word yet. They wanted to take some more tests first." Now they've said the "C" word; the word all of us dread hearing from a doctor. You know - cancer. We know what that word can mean.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

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Twenty-three marks on the wall of his four-by-four prison cell told the story. It has just been three weeks since the soldiers captured him - the number one name on the Most Wanted List - at a local bar and they hauled him into this cell. The charges were robbery, treason, and murder. Day 23 was going to be just another day there, or so he thought until he heard the growing sounds of that angry mob outside the window above him. He managed to grab the bars on the window and pull himself up high enough to hear what the crowd was screaming. It was a combination of shock and fear that swept over him when he heard they were shouting his name! "Give us Ba-rabbas! Give us Ba-rabbas!"

Friday, January 22, 2010

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Columnist Bob Greene told a story that touched my heart. It's about a newspaperman in a small Midwestern town and the call he got from a school teacher. She wanted to tell him about something that had happened to a child on the playground. He was braced for bad news. Well, it wasn't. During a lunch break, most of the 8th graders were gathered in groups, talking and playing. This one boy - a student who suffered from severe physical disabilities and was new to the school - was off by himself as usual. He was painfully shy.