Subscribe  

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Our friend Betty has an unusual little personal business: she puts on birthday parties for kids. She brings a pony for the children to ride as well, and a petting zoo of baby animals, including some little yellow chicks...which you don't ride. Actually she rescues those chicks from a company whose business is chicken. They've told her that they have to remove any chicks that are speckled or spotted, and Betty's willing to take some of those and raise them on her farm. The reason that company has to remove those chicks is because of what the other chickens will do to any chick who has an imperfection. They literally will peck them to death. Pity the one who is not like all the others!

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Download MP3 (right click to save)

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.

Monday, May 8, 2017

Download MP3 (right click to save)

If you're a little kid and there's a big tree, it's there for you to climb, right? At least that's the way my wife Karen approached it when she was a little girl on the farm. They had this big maple tree - BIG maple tree! It took three people to get their arms all the way around the trunk. Well, little Karen started to climb that old maple one day, working her way through those big, thick old branches near the bottom. She got almost to the top when she suddenly realized something - the branches at the top are a lot skinnier than the branches at the bottom. Suddenly she was out on a very slim limb, on the verge of falling. That's when she started yelling for help - which, thankfully, her father provided. Karen found out in that old maple tree that the risks of falling are a lot greater at the top than they are at the bottom.

Friday, May 5, 2017

Download MP3 (right click to save)

If you don’t know how to swim, it’s not cool to let your friends know that, right? Well, let me tell you, it’s just not smart not to tell them, especially if you’re going into the lake with them to swim. The scene was Lake Michigan. This 10-year-old boy was me. I couldn’t swim and I was too proud to tell my friends. Suddenly, as I waded deeper and deeper, I lost my footing and I began drinking the lake. I can remember the terror of it to this day. My friends thought it was funny. They were just laughing and going, "Oh, look at Ronnie. He’s such a clown!" I was dying. I'd gone under for the second time, and man, how I remember! I was helpless. I could not contribute a thing to getting back to shore. Thankfully, someone saw me, jumped in and that rescuer did it all!

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Maybe you’re like me; you're one of those people who lives in a climate where there are four seasons, where the fall and spring are spectacularly beautiful and where winter is really winter, and summer is really summer. There’s probably one change of seasons that is probably anticipated by you more than any other-the end of winter! I’ve always lived with four seasons, and I like them all. I just think one of them lasts a month or two too long. That’s why I was so excited during a February ministry trip to South Carolina. I was living up north at the time, and so we had this serious winter. Now February is still winter a little while longer, but in South Carolina, the trees were starting to bloom! Not only were the flowers out on the trees, the shorts were even out on the humans! I don’t remember seeing dogwood blooming in February! That was early even for the mid-South, but there had been a string of days in the 70’s with temperatures that were still mild at night. So those little flowers said to themselves, "Hey, it’s warm, guys! I guess it’s time to bloom! You think they might have said that?

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Download MP3 (right click to save)

When that terrorist bomb ripped apart the Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City on that infamous April 19 years ago, Mark was on the scene within ten minutes. Today that scene of horrendous carnage and violence is a tranquil Memorial Site in downtown Oklahoma City. One night when I was speaking in that city, Mark (who was a police officer) took me there for a personal tour that was pretty moving. Gesturing toward that quiet memorial area that stands where the building once stood, he showed me where the nursery had been, from which he had carried the youngest victims of the bombing. And he pointed to the area where he had assisted in the dramatic rescue of a woman who thought she was going to die but was brought out alive by some valiant rescuers. Mark remembers making a quick call to his wife that day, telling her and his daughters, "I love you. I'll see you later" not knowing how much later that would be. As he and the men around him looked at the sagging wreckage over their heads, Mark just said to his supervisor, "I think we’re going to die here." They must have all thought that. But they refused to leave because lives were at stake.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Download MP3 (right click to save)

It was my first Valentine's Day without the love of my life since I was 18. I found the Valentine card that I sent her a couple of years ago. In it, I wrote: "I have never loved you more. You never cease to amaze me, amuse me, and captivate me." As the sun came up on my first Valentine's Day alone, I realized I had a choice to make. I could either spend the day mourning what I had lost, or I could celebrate the decades I did have with this remarkable woman, and I chose that. I'm glad I did.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Download MP3 (right click to save)

It's been a long time since I've had a pregnant woman in our family. But years ago, my wife, Karen, handled it beautifully. I offered to take some of that load, but apparently some things just can't be delegated. Now, the time came around for our daughter to have her first child some years ago. She lived close to us, so we got to walk down Pregnant Avenue with her. It was exciting! It was amazing how things our daughter might have normally done without even giving it a thought she wouldn't let herself do while she was pregnant. I think she was kind of watching what her Mom did. You know, she knew what her Mom had done. She refused to eat anything with certain artificial ingredients in it, things she loved. But she wouldn't touch them while pregnant. She had some headaches, but she would not put pain relievers into her body. No antihistamines, no matter how frustrating her cold symptoms got. She added a powerful new factor in deciding what she would and wouldn't do: the passenger she was carrying - the baby!

Friday, April 28, 2017

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Ten more minutes and my wife would have never been born. The story that changed everything is hope for any of us who love someone who's making some very bad choices. My wife's grandfather, Bill, had given up on life. Trashing a profitable career for the alcohol and cocaine he could not resist. He was labeled with a prison record, he was penniless, he was hopeless and he was suicidal.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Ian is one of the more amazing people I've met. The people who knew him publicly, when they were with him privately it was a shock. He had been the leader of Youth for Christ's highly effective ministry in New Zealand. As you would converse with him, you would quickly learn that Ian had a stutter - which sometimes made it difficult just for him to get through a sentence. It was noticeable, but it wasn't important. I mean, Ian was a godly, magnetic person. But when you saw him in action before a crowd - as I did at a national youth convention with 3,000 teenagers - get ready for a shock. I mean, I felt bad, wonder-ing how he was going to communicate effectively to all these teenagers with a stutter like that. To my amazement, I discovered there suddenly was no stutter. His speech was perfect! He emceed, he preached flawlessly. That's what was so amazing about Ian - something happened to him when he had to speak well. And to you.

Subcategories

Your Hard Times

Your Relationships

Page 180 of 424

A Word With You Categories

                

GET IN TOUCH

Hutchcraft Ministries
P.O. Box 400
Harrison, AR 72602-0400

(870) 741-3300
(877) 741-1200 (toll-free)
(870) 741-3400 (fax)

FIND OUT MORE

Home / About

What We Do / Resources

News / Blog / Store

Contact Us / Privacy Policy

Donate

STAY UPDATED

We have many helpful and encouraging resources ready to be delivered to your inbox.

Please know we will never share or sell your info.

Subscribe

rhm-logo-white Copyright 2024 - All Rights Reserved - Hutchcraft Ministries

Back to top