On those pheasant hunts in the San Joaquin Valley in California General Curtis Lemay was my hunting partner and bunk mate.  Many consider him the greatest worrier of the 20^th Century.  He showed us how to finally bomb the Germans effectively.  He was then sent to the Pacific to very effectively destroy the Japanese when we were not harming them much at all before.  In both of those occasions I am convinced that God woke him up in the middle of the night and put in his mind what specifically to do.

After the war he was sent back to Germany to direct the Berlin Airlift to thwart the Russians.  Then he is credited with winning the Cold War by building the Strategic Air Command from scratch, the most destructive fighting force in world history.

In those hunts in California he related to me things that I really don’t think that he ever shared with most anyone else, even his wife.  Following I will try to describe a few of those.  I sent some of those things out to you before, but my plethora of  folks in China who are reading this did not get to see them as many of you did.

                General Lemay with his custom made hunting clothes on ready to hunt.

Our Hunting Group with Me on the Left and Gen. Lemay on the Right

Our most accurate historians say that General Curtis Lemay was one of the most famous and important warriors that our country ever had. During WWII we were not putting any effective bombs on the Germans, that had to be done if we were ever going to defeat them until he showed us how to do it.

In the Pacific we were not putting any damage on the Japanese that had to be done if we were ever going to defeat them until he showed us how to do it. And at one point the Russians were a grave threat to us. They were not afraid of our President or our other generals, be they were deathly afraid of General Leman and the Strategic Air Command that he built and headed. Without him we may all be speaking German or Japanese or Russian today.

I have written you before how he was my hunting partner and bunk-mate on those pheasant hunts in the San Juaquin Valley in California. He told me things that I don’t think he had ever shared with most anyone else.

The General Bringing His Birds to Show Me

I have also written you about how so many people were desperately praying for our success against the Germans, and how I believe God woke General Lemay up in the middle of the night and showed him what to do. However, I never showed you the details of that. Herewith are those details and their results if you care to know. I find them fascinating:

Lemay was a good pilot, but he also became the best navigator that the Army Air Corps had.

They got the first B-17 in January 1936 at Langley Field, Virginia , but it was 1938 before they got production models to effectively train in. The US wanted to show off this long-range bomber to the world. The folks in Washington were also concerned about the growing influence of Germany and Italy in South America . Three Italian bombers, commanded by Bruno Mussolini, the youngest son of the Italian dictator had just visited Brazil.

It was decided to send 6 B-17’s all the way from Langley Field to Buenos Aires, Argentina . They wanted Curtis Lemay to be the Chief Navigator for this 11,952-mile trip. He said that they had no aircraft maps of South America . He said that he went by National Geographic’s Office and got some of their maps. That is all he had for navigation of this flight. They took off on February 16, 1938, and refueled in Miami, Panama, and Lima, Peru . They landed at the El Palomar Military Air Base in Buenos Aires on February 27. Three days later they provided a fly-over for the inauguration of President Roberto Ariz.

The people there had never heard anything like roar of those Cyclone-9 engines which provided 22,500 horsepower to each of the 6 planes.

Just after this flight the US Army Air Corps was in a big fight with the US Navy. The Army said their new long-range planes could provide protection to the US coasts. The Navy said that was impossible. So, a test was set up. The Air Corps was supposed to send a flight of B-17’s way off the coast of California and intercept the Battleship Utah in misty conditions with very low cloud cover. The whole success or failure of the mission was up to the Chief Navigator, Curtis Lemay. Even after being given the wrong coordinates on purpose by the Navy, Lemay found the ship and it was hit with three water bombs, much to the consternation of the US Navy.

Later, in a second test, Lemay found the Italian Liner Rex, 610 miles off the Atlantic coast. Still, the Navy was never convinced.

At Langley, Lemay formed the 305th Bomber Group. It was now just before Pearl Harbor. His recruits were subjected to relentless training, as Lemay believed that training was the key to saving their lives. “You train as you fight” was one of his cardinal rules. It expressed his belief that, in the chaos, stress, and confusion of combat (aerial or otherwise), troops or airmen would perform successfully only if their individual acts were second-nature, performed nearly instinctively due to repetitive training. Throughout his career, Lemay was widely and fondly known among his troops as “Old Iron Pants”, mostly because he demanded training way beyond that of any other commander. His demands for such training pervaded his whole military career.

After Pearl Harbor, he was ordered to England. He was now a Major and successfully got his 305th Group across the Atlantic and joined the 3rd Air Division of the 8th Air Force. Because of his dedication to training, he was later made Commander of the 3rd Air Division.

Those B-17’s were called Flying Fortresses because they had so many defensive guns, but Lemay was amazed that the gunners he was getting from the States had so little training, that “they just couldn’t hit anything”. He was criticized for using an inordinate amount of fuel for taking them on so many training flights to teach them how to shoot.

Lemay had never been in combat, so he was very intent on quizzing the commanders who had been on the few bombing missions that had been flown over France at that point in the conflict. They all told him the same thing: That those German 88mm’s were so formidable as anti-aircraft weapons that you had to fly a zigzag pattern over the target or everyone would be shot down from the flak, though many were shot down anyway. They all told him that a plane must not fly more than 10 seconds in one direction without changing direction. This was the operating procedure for all bombers in the 8th Air Force.

Lemay and his group flew several missions. He was lead pilot on every raid. However, it was just overwhelming consternation to him that the post raid photos showed that they were just not hitting anything. They were spending all that fuel and equipment and losing planes and getting guys killed, and so very few of their bombs were hitting the target.

They had that amazing new Norden Bombsight. US Airmen had to take an oath that they would guard it with their very life from falling into enemy hands. We did not even let the English have access to it for the same reason. It had a system that allowed it to directly measure the aircraft’s ground speed and direction, which older bombsights could only estimate with lengthy in-flight procedures. The Norden further improved on older designs by using an analog computer that constantly calculated the bomb’s impact point based on current flight conditions, and an autopilot that let it react quickly and accurately to changes in the wind or other effects. These features seemed to promise unprecedented accuracy, and they did in practice. But if you had to zigzag every 10 seconds, all that wonderful design was of little use.

General Lemay deeply believed that it was going to take success with strategic bombing of Germany to degrade their ability to wage war if we were ever going to defeat them. I am sure he was correct, too. The Germans were right on the verge of completing jet planes that could wipe out anything we had. They were also perfecting amazing rockets and were dangerously close to perfecting atomic bombs.

What happened next is why I have asked you to wade through all this history with me. I have already mentioned that more prayers were being offered up to God concerning WWII than any event at that point in human history. We can look back and see how those prayers were answered over and over, but here is what I consider to be one of the most important answers for its impact on the war in Europe.

Lemay was brooding on all this, when suddenly he was bolted from his sleep in the middle of the night. There, clearly in his mind was the answer, but it was so radical that he had to prove it. He never could explain even to himself why he had taken his old ROTC artillery manual from Ohio State with him all the way to England in his footlocker. He immediately got it out. It had been used by his old ROTC instructor there. He had been an artillery officer in WWI. He had drilled into Lemay and his fellow students the fundamentals of artillery warfare. The book had been written for French 75mm shells, but Lemay knew he could adapt it for the German 88’s.

He spent the rest of the night calculating the distance the 88 shell would have to travel to reach a B-17, the size of a B-17 at that distance, how fast the Germans were able to load the artillery piece with the next shell and a host of other parameters. He checked and rechecked his calculations and concluded that it would take 372 shells being fired to hit a plane if it were flying straight-in to the target without deviating at all. He knew, and I am convinced that God showed him that those were acceptable odds.

At the briefing the next morning of the 305th in their briefing room the guys were all assembled after their breakfast of eggs and spam and much black coffee. The back door opened, there was the “ten shun”. They all jumped to their feet, and “Old Iron Pants” walked up to the front. There was the weather report, and the maps of their target that day were put up. They were to hit the German submarine pens and the rail yards at St. Nazaire.

Then Lemay dropped the big one on them: They were to fly straight in from the first sighting of the target until all bombs were released. No one was to deviate the slightest bit.

Lemay had always encouraged his crews to speak up in a briefing if they felt it imperative to do so. At this point he rather wished he hadn’t allowed it, for all manner of commotion erupted. One pilot even stood up and said: “Sir, it just can’t be done!” Lemay informed them that it would be done, and that he would be flying the lead plane. That quieted things down, if he had that much conviction in his calculations to fly lead; but many guys wrote home: “Mama, I ain’t coming home!”

With no more talk, the men of the 305th got into their planes and prepared to take off. Twenty fortresses of the group took off. Four turned back because of mechanical problems and 16 continued on to the target, which wasn’t that bad in those days.

They got into an even tighter box formation as they neared St. Nazaire. For weeks and weeks Lemay had been having them practice a special box formation, flying very tightly together so that they would be protecting each other from enemy fighters. The thought of sending men in to die had been weighing more and more heavily on their commander. He devised the tight box formation with its resulting overlapping fire to protect them from the German ME-109s and the open engine FW-190s. These fighters used either 7.92mm MG machine guns or 20mm MG FF cannon, depending on the pilot’s preference. All were lethal to bombers but facing this tight box formation with all its overlapping firepower was something the German pilots had not faced before. If they could find a straggler that had drifted out of the formation, they pounced on it.

Eventually the entire 8th Air Force adopted Lemay ’s box formation.

As St. Nazaire came into sight, Lemay banked his plane into a straight, steady course and leveled his wings. When he looked around at the rest of the group, not a single plane wavered, even as the flak came up to meet them. The nasty little black clouds began to burst above, below, and among them. Later, when asked, Lemay said that after working out the artillery problem the flak did not particularly bother him, “But I certainly didn’t care for those flickering machine guns coming straight at me.”

He was making an unprecedented demand today, not only upon himself but on the other men in his group, when he insisted that all of them look into the muzzles of those machine guns and press forward with no evasive action and the flak of the German 88’s. Not every man is capable of such cool courage, and he knew it.

The flak was all around them at 21,000 feet, but they continued straight and level for 7 minutes when the bombardiers took over and adjusted their bomb sights. At 1:40 PM the first bombs fell. Two minutes later they were beyond the target.

Lemay’s plane was hit by two pieces of shrapnel and two guys in the back slightly injured. Five other planes reported being hit, but none went down. Six German fighters made passes at them but moved on after doing only minor damage. All 16 continued back toward base with no stragglers.

B-17 on Bombing Run over France

Lemay immediately summoned the rookie bombardier and asked how he had done. “I put bombs on the target. It was a good run, Boss”, he said. “Are you sure of that?” Lemay asked. “I am sure, but I could have done even better if it weren’t for those white clouds. They kind of got in the way.” Though he didn’t know it, those white clouds were from the flak bursts. There wasn’t a regular cloud in the sky that day.

All the 305th planes got back safely, told stories, and turned in their strike photos. It was two days before the intelligence officers of the 8th Air Force could analyze everything and turn in their mission report. The 305th had put twice as many bombs on target as any other bomber group and none of their planes had been shot down.

Within three weeks, every group in the Eighth Air Force was flying straight-and-level bomb runs, taking no evasive action over the targets.

After several more raids Air Force intelligence concluded that: The 305th was attracting fewer fighter attacks than other groups. They were using more ammunition than other groups but shooting down fewer German planes.

They had a much lower loss rate than other groups.

When asked for his impressions of why by the intelligence section, he gave these answers. Lemay said:
1. The 305th usually had more ships in the air than other groups, giving greater protection.
2. His stagger box formation gave them more firepower against an approaching enemy.
3. They were shooting at longer ranges. Lemay had decided that if fighters were welcomed by bullets before they even came close, they were not as likely to come close.

By now the 8th Air Force had doubled in size with the addition of new Groups from the US. Ira Eaker, still head of the 8th, was becoming anxious to bomb Germany, but the weather there remained dismal.

They bombed across France, even the airport at Paris where Lindbergh had landed. On July 17, 1943 they entered Germany for the first time in hopes of bombing the submarine plants at Hamburg, but the clouds were too thick to find the target. The clouds over Germany continued and continued.

Finally on July 24, Fred Anderson, the new head of Bomber Command became so disgusted with waiting that he decided to bomb elsewhere. He assembled 324 Fortresses, the largest group to go on a mission up to that time and sent them to German occupied Norway. They bombed the ports that the Germans were using and hit quite a few German ships and port facilities, though several of their targets were covered by clouds. But then the clouds cleared over Germany.

Immediately Eaker, still over the 8th Air Force, started what became known as Blitz Week. The 8th went on 6 missions in 7 days. On July 25 Andersen sent planes to Kiel, Hamburg, and Warnamunde, but the clouds were too thick there. Lemay’s planes found a hole in the clouds and hit their secondary target of Rostock with impressive results. This was mostly due to Lemay ’s relentless drilling of his navigators’ and bombardiers’ studying of their targets before-hand.

By then the Germans had transferred some of their best fighter squadrons back from the Eastern Front to oppose the bombers. On this raid they shot down 19 fortresses and many more on the rest of Blitz Week. By the end of the week the 8th Air Force had lost 100 bombers and over 1,000 men, but Lemay ’s 3rd had hit important targets. They knocked out rail yards, a rubber factory, and on July 30 they dropped 100 tons of bombs on the Focke-Wulf components factory at Kassel that shut it down for over a month.

Mostly because of Blitz Week the 8th Air Force crewmen suffered 75 emotional breakdowns in July of 1943. The stress of battle was bad enough, but their planes were not pressurized. The waist gunners had to have large open sections in the side of the plane through which to fire their 50 calibers. At 20,000 feet and above the temperature was 30 to 50 degrees below zero. Their oxygen masks would freeze up and cut off the oxygen supply, and they would not realize it until it was too late. Many times the plane’s oxygen system would be hit or just malfunction. They did not dare descend to a lower altitude so they could breath, for leaving the formation spelled certain death from fighters and flak.

Because of his exceptional leadership ability and all he added to the bombing campaign against the Germans, Lemay was asked to take over the whole 3rd Air Division of the 8th Air Force. This task called for him to be a Brigadier General, but he remained a Colonel for way longer than he should have. He was doing the work of a General but did not have the rank. When he finally got his General’s star, he remarked to his aids: “Well, it is about time.”

Because the P-47 fighters could not go very far with the B-17’s for protection, the bombers suffered horrendous losses. One of the reasons was that the fighters could not get auxiliary wing tanks. Lemay became furious when he found that one of the reasons the fighters did not get them was that Walter Reuther, who was head of the United Auto Workers Union and founder of the AFL-CIO and a big Civil Rights worker, and Women’s Rights worker was holding up their production back in the States. It is estimated that hundreds of bomber crews died because of it.

Lemay and some of the other generals confronted the head of the 8th’s Fighter Command. Their men were dying from lack of fighter support even on missions so short that wing tanks were not needed. What really rankled him was the Fighter Command’s policy of having one of the good fighter planes escort any fighter back to base that was having engine trouble. Lemay had previously been a fighter pilot for 8 years. He had no patience for such a policy when the good plane was so needed to protect his bombers. He informed Fighter Command that when one of his bombers had engine trouble, it had to fly back to base on its own. He walked out; but soon, because of his new-found influence with Hap Arnold back in Washington there was a new commander for Fighter Command.

Lemay did not go on any of the missions on Blitz Week. Ira Eaker was saving him to command something much more special. They wanted to make a two-pronged attack against the German’s big plant for making the Messerschmitt 109 at Regensburg on the Danube River and the Focke-Wulf 190 plant at Wiener Neustadt in eastern Austria. This was to be a double attack to spread the German fighters out more thinly. Also, to make them even more thin, they wanted to simultaneously hit the big ball bearing plant at Schweinfurt which was close to Regensburg .

Ira Eaker wanted Lemay to lead the attack against the Messerschmitt plant, while General Carl Spaatz, Commander of the Fifteenth Air Force in north Africa would hit the Focke-Wulf plant. At the same time General Bob Williams, commander of the First Division of the 8th Air Force was to hit the ball bearing plant at Schweinfurt . However, this was no ordinary mission for Lemay . After dropping his bombs at Regensburg they wanted him to fly on across the Alps to north Africa, refuel, resupply, and fly back across Germany and bomb a target there the next day. Since these targets were so far across Germany and were sure to be very well defended, this was going to be a dangerous mission.

The B-17’s could carry enough fuel to safely do this, but it was quite unusual. In preparation, Lemay flew to Africa and met with Col. Lauris Norstad who Hap Arnold considered one of the smartest men in the Air Force. He assured Lemay that the best base to land his B-17’s was at Telergma (about 60 miles inland from Tunis ). He assured Lemay : “Telergma is your field. It’s both a depot and a combat field. There you’ll have supplies, extra mechanics—-everything you need. That’s the place to land. You can get well serviced there. All the parts you need. All the maintenance people and support.”

Lemay left Norstad feeling confident about everything but the weather. Maybe he should have gone to Telergma to see for himself, but Norstad had such a good reputation that he just trusted him.

When he got back to England his bomb groups were getting ready for the special mission, though they did not know its details yet. At that time Lemay ’s Third Division consisted of Bomber Groups——94th, 95th, 96th, 100th, 385th, 388th, and 390th.

In August the weather remained bad across Germany . By August 13 General Spaatz in Africa was tired of waiting for the Eighth to move against Regensburg . That day he sent his heavy bombers (including 3 B-24 groups) against the FW-190 plant at Wiener Neustadt, thus scrapping the two-pronged mission as it had been originally planned.

However, Eaker still planned his two-pronged attack against Schweinfurt . Clustered around the railroad yards of this small eastern Bavarian city were five huge factories which provided almost two-thirds of Germany ’s ball and roller bearings. At that time it was thought that the whole German war effort depended on these bearings.

Finally, the orders came for their mission the next day. At the briefing that evening, Lemay told his men to take rations for two days and that they would probably be sleeping on the ground for one or two nights. The men were very quiet. They knew that this was to be the 8th’s biggest, and the deepest penetration into Germany against two targets that were sure to be as well defended as any in the Third Reich.

Next morning the clouds were low and getting lower as Lemay rolled out of his bunk at three o’clock on August 17. And when the zero hour for takeoff approached the low clouds had reached the ground into a thick fog. Lemay figured that if men would escort the planes to the runway with flashlights, they could find their way to the end of the runway and take off.

The approval finally came and the props began to turn. They all got off and got through into the blue sky. Then began the huge job of assembling. The people on the ground could hear the noise of the roaring B-17’s and the Germans with their sophisticated listening devices would know that they were coming; they just did not know where.

The Ninety-sixth Bomb Group was to fly lead, and Lemay was the lead plane in that group. The assembly went smoothly and soon the Third was ready to head toward the Continent, but where were the eighteen squadrons of American Thunderbolts and the sixteen squadrons of British Spitfire fighters scheduled to escort them at least as far as Holland . And where was the First Division, which by now should have been assembling its 230 planes for its mission to Schweinfurt . If Lemay ’s Third Division was to act as a decoy as planned, the First would have to follow in 30 minutes.

Lemay got on the radio to Anderson at Bomber Command and asked what was wrong. He was informed that they could not get off the ground because of the low clouds. He was furious. He had trained his people how to do that. Why hadn’t the others been trained? Thought was given to scrapping everything, but that would have been bad for morale, and would involve all that assembling on another day.

Just then, it did not matter. The radio went dead in Lemay ’s plane. No order to return could be given.

General Lemay never told me if it actually went dead on its own, of if he just turned it off. Anyway, the whole Third Division turned east to the continent. They had used up so much fuel circling and waiting that they had to abort or go now if they were going to drop their bombs and reach Africa.

Lt. Col. Beirne Lay, a member of Ira Eaker’s staff went along as an observer and to get some combat experience. He described what happened from one of the rear-most planes where he was riding. He said that as they approached Belgium about seventeen minutes after the Fortresses crossed the coast of the Continent, radial engine fighters approached. He hoped at first that they were the radial engine Thunderbolts, but no such luck. They were a hoard of FW-190s and bullet spitting ME-109s.

An exit door from one of the forward B-17s came hurtling through the formation with a man, who had apparently been sucked out with it. He had his knees tucked up and was just spinning over and over like a diver doing a triple summersault.

One of the fortresses fell gradually out of formation and drifted down to the right, and then moments later disintegrated in one giant explosion. The fighters kept pressing. In his rear plane he said they were flying through a hail of exit doors, tail assembles all manner of debris and partially opened parachutes.

He said that he watched one plane that was completely engulfed in flames but kept flying. He described how only the co-pilot got out through breaking his window. Lay said he crawled out but could not get through with his parachute on. He reached back, retrieved his chute and hooked his arms through it, and jumped off the plane. He hit the rear horizontal stabilizer and his chute never opened.

Lay said two FW-190s hurtled through the formation at a closing speed of five hundred miles per hour—-so fast that one of them nicked a pair of B-17s in passing. Smoke trailed from the wings of the bombers, but they stayed in formation. The 190 was not so fortunate. Smoke was trailing from its nose, and metal was flying from its wing as it plunged downward.

“After we had been under attack for a solid hour,” Lay reported“, it appeared certain that the One-hundredth Group that I was in was faced with annihilation. Seven of our group had been shot down, the sky was still full of fighters and more were coming up. And we still had 35 more minutes before we reached the target. I had long since mentally accepted the fact of death.”

German fighters were swarming all over the armada but concentrating on the battered and more vulnerable rear combat wings. Twin-engine ME-110s appeared on the scene to help the other fighters. They fired rockets from a distance and tried a new tactic of dropping bombs from above to explode in the midst of the fortresses. Col. Lay’s group had now lost 15 planes.

They finally reached the Initial Point from which they would begin their bomb run. Despite the onslaught, Lemay had led his division to the target. At 11:45 Lt. Dunstan Abel, the bombardier in Lemay ’s plane, dropped his load of explosives and incendiaries directly on the factorys’ buildings, and the rest of the planes in the group released on his cue. Lemay ’s task force dropped 303 tons of bombs on the Messerschmitt plant in what proved later to be one of the most accurate bombardments of the war.

The fighters had disappeared as they approached the target; probably from running short of fuel. They continued on toward the Brenner Pass in the alps, but 15 ME-110s and Junkers-88s caught up with them and they lost three more planes.

They formed up at a rally point south of the Alps and headed toward Africa. They had all suffered damage, but two fortresses were so badly damaged that they would never reach Africa . They headed into Switzerland for sanctuary as the others continued on.

The B-17s moved on down the boot of Italy . At an airbase near Verona there were fighters on the ground, but they must have been Italian. They did not come up to attack.

As they left the southern tip of Italy they went into a gradual, gliding descent to save gas. They hit the African coast about 18 miles off course but found Telergma. 45 planes landed one behind the other at the shortest possible intervals. Others landed on two desolate fields right on the coast. They were running out of fuel from having circled so long over England . Four could not even make those two fields on the coast. They landed in wheat fields and dry lake beds. Another four did not even make the coast and ditched in the Mediterranean . Two of their crews were saved by air-sea rescue units. The other two were never heard from again.

Much to his consternation, Lemay found nothing was as Telergma had been described to him. There were no parts depots. There was not a single mechanic there. There were bombs and there was gasoline in 55-gallon barrels, but almost nothing else.

Lemay was still fuming about this when Lt. Col. Beirne Lay arrived with the twelve remaining planes of the rearmost One-hundredth Group which had somehow managed to survive. Lay, who had just flown through Armageddon, and had watched countless Fortresses fall, including nine from the One-hundredth alone was glad to just be on the ground again and alive.

One of those B-17s “all shot to pieces” but Still flying

Lemay, knowing he was expected to bomb the next day sent a message back to Eaker in England with a preliminary report of his task force’s condition. By the time Eaker received Lemay’s message, he already knew about the Schweinfurt losses of the other armada. Though the damage to the vital German ball bearing plants had been as great as he had hoped; 36 of the 230 fortresses in Gen. Bob William’s First Division taskforce had been shot down. Added to Lemay ’s loss of 24, this brought the day’s toll to a disastrous 60, without counting the many planes that were so badly damaged they might never fly again. He knew the mission was dangerous, but he never expected to break a record.

Eaker immediately flew to Africa to assess the situation. What he found absolutely amazed him. Lemay had set up a headquarters tent and had his air crews scavenging the parts from the planes that were too damaged to ever fly again and repairing the other planes. Not a single man in the air crews was even close to a being a qualified mechanic except for one—– Lemay himself. He was directing everything for the repair job.

It took four days to refuel from those 55-gallon drums.

Eaker insisted that they fly home on a safe route to avoid any more losses, but Lemay was determined to complete his mission.

The best estimate is that of the 145 B-17s with which Lemay left England for Regensburg and Africa , at least half were either lost or would never fly another mission. Never-the-less on August 24, most of the survivors “returned proudly across France and in broad daylight”, dropped 144 tons of bombs on the German-held air base at Bordeaux.

Lemay was sent back to the States to boost morale and sell war bonds. However, he got back to England as quickly as possible. And on his return, he found that many more bombers had arrived and that plans were being made for the Normandy Invasion on the Continent. Yet, one more change had happened.

The long-range P-51 Mustang was coming to England, squadron after squadron, to escort the B-17s all the way to their targets and back. These slender, fast, durable and deadly fighters, equipped now with Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, brought a dramatic change to the American’s daylight bombing effort. When Hermann Goering, Hitler’s Air Force Chief was captured after the war, he was asked when he knew they had lost the war. His immediate answer: “When those red-nosed fighters appeared all the way over to Berlin .”

P 51 Mustang over Germany

For the last 20 years I have presented the Gospel to each new youth at the highly secure prison for the kids ages 13 to 19 at Gainesville, Texas.  It is the first time that most any of them have stopped “running on the streets” and had the time to think about their life.  Most every one made a decision to make God part of their life.  After our hour+ together I would write each one a letter.  As a result I corresponded more with many of them.  And in each letter I would enclose a group of short stories or poems.  They really liked them, especially those with an emotional message.  You probably would not believe how many locked-up prison boys have loved theses little stories, and read them over and over.

In my soon to be published book I enclosed a long list of those short stories in the Appendix.  Since the prison boys liked them so much, I thought you may like to see some of them.  So, here is a 27th group of them for you.  And you are welcome to share them with others.

Ron

WRONG E-MAIL ADDRESS

A couple from Minneapolis decided to go to Florida to thaw out during one particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the very same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.

Because of hectic activities, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his  room, so he decided to send an e-mail to his wife.

However, he accidentally left out one letter in her e-mail address, and without realizing his error, he sent the e-mail.

Meanwhile…..somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister of many years who was called home to glory following a sudden heart attack The widow decided to check her e-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends.

After reading the first message, she fainted. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:

 To:    My Loving Wife

 Subject:    I’ve Arrived

 Date:    Jan 8, 2015

I know you’re surprised to hear from me.

They have computers here now and you are allowed to send e-mails to your loved ones.

I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. 

I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow.

Looking forward to seeing you then!  Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S.  Sure is hot down here!

You Are Beautiful

You are beautiful. . .

It’s a phrase that my mother used a lot.

I used to wonder, “How in the world can Mother call them beautiful?”

I am a logical, statistical man.  I call things as I see them.  I didn’t always see beauty.

My mother would tell people this with an enthusiasm they could feel.  She was genuine.  She wasn’t telling them they were beautiful to get something from them.  Most of the time, they were trying to get something from her.

I wondered for years what was wrong with Mother’s perception and vision.  Couldn’t she see that all of the people she called beautiful, weren’t beautiful?

You were beautiful only if you had a certain figure and face that was classed as beautiful by the laws of the world and glamour.  Yet when my mother spoke, people smiled as though Glamour magazine had listed them as one of the beautiful people of the year.

It took me years to finally understand my mother’s vision and the phrase, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”  My mother had a spirit that could see the beauty in every person.

Most only look on the outside and then compare what they see with the standards the world has given them.  That was what I was doing.

Today when you leave your house, carefully look at the first person whom you see and notice how beautiful they are.

They may be balding, fat, wrinkled, pimply, or any of the other things the world frowns upon as beauty.

Look at them closely and look for the beauty.  If you really look, you’ll see it.

I didn’t believe that at first until I tried it.  Sure enough, as I stared and opened another set of eyes, I was able to see the beauty in every person.  No matter how rough or worn a person looked, each pain etched line held a glimpse of beauty.

You just had to look for the beauty.  It’s there.

When you get a chance today, look hard at each person.  You will start to see the beauty of every human who you didn’t know existed.  Trust me and try this. If you sincerely look, you will see it.

When you get home after seeing the beauty in faces you see, look in the mirror.

You are beautiful.

Thank you mama for all of the beauty that you have not only seen, but added.

You’re Fired!

“You’re fired.” Some people let the phrase get to them.  Others use it as a launching pad to superstardom.  In his book, “We’re Fired…and It’s the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us,”  Harvey Mackay brings us some inspirational stories of rejects turned-celebrities.  Turns out the road to fame isn’t so smooth.

Elvis Presley The King got fired from a music studio in 1954.  He was told, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son.  Go back and drive a truck.”  Tell that to the thousands of Elvis impersonators who sing his tunes decades after his death.

Walt Disney Disney was fired from a newspaper for lack of ideas.  The Walt Disney Company, with its animated movies, theme parks, television stations and more, is now a multibillion-dollar empire.

Joanne Kathleen (a.k.a.  J.K.) Rowling The author of the mega-popular Harry Potter books was canned from a secretarial job after she got caught using the company computer to write creative stories.  She used her severance pay to write Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, using grant money to finish it after she ran out of cash.  The Harry Potter series became a global craze and Rowling became a billionaire.

Larry King Before he ruled CNN, Larry King wrote a column for the Miami Herald.  The Herald’s editor fired him for being too chummy with his subjects.  His way with people paid off, though; few politicians or celebrities ever bypass “Larry King Live.”

Burt Reynolds “You can’t act,” Burt Reynolds was told when he was fired from one of his acting jobs.  He later became the No. 1 box office draw for five consecutive years.

Steve Jobs He co-founded Apple Computer in his garage, and then got fired from his own company.  Jobs picked up the pieces and bought a majority share in Pixar in 1986.  Nine years later, he won an Oscar for Toy Story.  In 1996, he was back at Apple.

Abraham Lincoln Abe Lincoln failed in business in 1831 and again in 1833.  In the meantime, he ran for state legislator and lost.  His sweetheart died in 1835, and he had a nervous breakdown the next year.  He lost the nomination to Congress in 1843, was defeated again for Congress in 1848 and 1855 and lost the vice presidency of the United States in 1856.  Then he ran for Senator in 1858 and lost.

In 1860 Abe Lincoln was elected president of the United States.  The rest is history.

Time

“There was a small gold box that his dad kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he’d ever tell me was ‘the thing I value most,’ Jack said.

It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it. 

“Now I’ll never know what was so valuable to him,” Jack said. “I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom.”

It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died.  Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. “Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days,” the note read.

Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small package was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago.. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. “Mr. Harold Belser” it read.  Jack took it out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack’s hands shook as he read the note inside.

Upon my death, please forward this package and its contents to Jack Belser. It’s the thing I valued most in my life.” A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.

Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved:

“Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser.” The thing he valued most was…..my time.

Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. “Why?” Janet, his assistant asked.

“I need some time to spend with my son,” he said. 

“Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!”

If you would like to watch a wonderful, life changing movie, get yourself all prepared with the time to watch a full length movie, and then go to this site and be ready for a life changing experience. .…………….. https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/english.html

如果您想观看一部精彩的、改变生活的电影，请准备好观看一部完整电影的时间，然后访问这个网站，为改变生活的体验做好准备………..…………https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/chinese-mandarin.html

For the last 20 years I have presented the Gospel to each new youth at the highly secure prison for the kids ages 13 to 19 at Gainesville, Texas.  It is the first time that most any of them have stopped “running on the streets” and had the time to think about their life.  Most every one made a decision to make God part of their life.  After our hour+ together I would write each one a letter.  As a result I corresponded more with many of them.  And in each letter I would enclose a group of short stories or poems.  They really liked them, especially those with an emotional message.  You probably would not believe how many locked-up prison boys have loved theses little stories, and read them over and over.

In my soon to be published book I enclosed a long list of those short stories in the Appendix.  Since the prison boys liked them so much, I thought you may like to see some of them.  So, here is a 26th group of them for you.  And you are welcome to share them with others.

Ron

Where You Going?

Where you going?

Not “where are you going,” but “where you going?”

As I held my shoes and socks in my hand, the six-year-old repeated the question. After the second repeat the three-year-old joined in.

“Where you going?”

People think that husbands are often bothered by wives asking them where they are going. That’s nothing compared to the two little ones.

I was downstairs with them so I replied, “I’m going upstairs.”

“But where you going?”

They knew that I did not require socks and shoes to go upstairs.

I could immediately answer them, I knew where I was going, that wasn’t the problem. The problem is that children, like adults, often don’t initially ask the real question.

Invariably, whenever I answer where I am going, I am bombarded with the next question:

“Can I go?”
“Can I go?”

That’s the real question they wanted to ask.

One must make it a point that wherever one is going, it is a place that one would not mind one’s children knowing about. Whatever one is going to do, it should be something they can be proud of.

Whether you know it or not, children eventually find out where you are going.

Eventually they ask of life on some level, “Can I go too?”

THE WONDER OF PRAYER!

Have you considered the wonder of prayer?
That we can pray anytime, anywhere?
That we can lift our hearts to God above?
To one who cares for us with his tender love?

Oh, how good to turn to him when in need!
To know he listens, that he pays heed!
To bring our burdens to him, and to bring our cares!
In a sense he’s waiting just to meet us there!

God wants us to bring our needs to him,
whether they’re big or small.
None are overlooked by him.
He’s concerned about them all.

If you are God’s child,
Here’s what you should do:
Pray to him daily.
He wants to hear from you.

Pray in the name of Jesus,
God’s own beloved Son.
He honors the name of Jesus,
and remarkable things get done.

Give thanks for God’s answers
given to your prayers.
They are his reminders
that he really, truly cares!

By Pastor Bruce Oyen

The Wooden Bowl

 A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson.  The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.

The family ate together at the table but the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult.  Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.

When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.  The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.

“We must do something about Grandfather,” said the son.  “I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.”  So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.

There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.  Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl that they found in the cabinet.

When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.  Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.

He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?”

Just as sweetly, the boy responded,  “Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food when I grow up.”

The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents that they were speechless.  Then tears started to stream down their cheeks.  Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table.  For the remainder of his days, he ate every meal with the family.  And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

Children are remarkably perceptive.  Their eyes ever observe, their ears ever listen, and their minds ever process the messages they absorb.  If they see us patiently provide a happy home atmosphere, they will imitate that attitude for the rest of their lives.

The wise parent realizes that every day the building blocks are being laid for the child’s future.

Let’s be wise builders and role models.  And realize that the Lord Jesus is observing us.

If you would like to watch a wonderful, life changing movie, get yourself all prepared with the time to watch a full length movie, and then go to this site and be ready for a life changing experience. .…………….. https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/english.html

如果您想观看一部精彩的、改变生活的电影，请准备好观看一部完整电影的时间，然后访问这个网站，为改变生活的体验做好准备………..…………https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/chinese-mandarin.html

For the last 20 years I have presented the Gospel to each new youth at the highly secure prison for the kids ages 13 to 19 at Gainesville, Texas.  It is the first time that most any of them have stopped “running on the streets” and had the time to think about their life.  Most every one made a decision to make God part of their life.  After our hour+ together I would write each one a letter.  As a result I corresponded more with many of them.  And in each letter I would enclose a group of short stories or poems.  They really liked them, especially those with an emotional message.  You probably would not believe how many locked-up prison boys have loved theses little stories, and read them over and over.

In my soon to be published book I enclosed a long list of those short stories in the Appendix.  Since the prison boys liked them so much, I thought you may like to see some of them.  So, here is a 25th group of them for you.  And you are welcome to share them with others.

Ron

God Was Busy

If you don’t know GOD, don’t make stupid remarks!!!!!

A United States Marine was taking some college courses between assignments. He had completed 20 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan .  One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist.

 
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, “GOD, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform…
 
I’ll give you exactly 15 min.” The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, “Here I am GOD, I’m still waiting.”

It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor,  and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform.  The professor was out cold.

The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently.  The other students were shocked and stunned, and sat there looking on in silence. The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, “What in the world is the matter with you? Why did you do that?
  
 The Marine calmly replied, “GOD was busy today protecting America ‘s soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid shit and act like an idiot. So He sent me.”

The classroom erupted in cheers!

USC Professor…………

This  is a true story of something that happened just a few years ago at the University of Southern California . 
           
There was a professor of philosophy there who was a deeply committed atheist. 
           
His primary goal for one required class was to spend the entire semester proving that God couldn’t exist. 
           
His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his impeccable logic.
           
 Sure, some had argued in class at times, but no one had ever really gone against him because of his reputation. 
           
At the end of every semester on the last day, he would say to his  class of 60 students, ‘If there is anyone here who still believes in Jesus, stand up!’ 
           
In twenty years, no one had ever stood up.  They knew what he was  going to do next. He would say, ‘Because anyone who believes in God is a fool’.

If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking; such a simple task to prove that He is God, and yet He can’t do it.’ 

And every year, he would drop the chalk onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into many pieces. 

All of the students would do nothing but stop and stare. 
           
Most of the students became convinced that God couldn’t exist.  Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped through, but for 20 years, they had been too afraid to stand up.
           
Well, a few years ago there was a freshman from Texas who happened to  enroll. 
           
He was a Christian, and had heard the stories about this professor. 
           
He  was required to take the class for his major, and he was afraid.  But for three months that semester, he intently prayed every morning that he would have the courage to stand up no matter what the professor said, or what the class thought.

Nothing they said could ever shatter his faith…he  hoped. 

Finally, the day came.  The professor said, “If there is anyone here who still believes in God, stand up!”  The professor and the class of 60 people looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at the back of the classroom.
           
The  professor shouted, “You FOOL!!! 
           
 If  God existed, he would keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!” 
           
He  proceeded to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleat of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe. As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away unbroken. 

The professor’s jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk.  He looked up at the young man, and then ran out of the lecture hall.

The  young man who had stood, proceeded to walk to the front of the room and shared his faith in Jesus for the next half hour. 60 students stayed and listened as he told of God’s love for them and of His power through Jesus.

WET PANTS

Come with me to a third grade classroom….  There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It’s never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it.  When the girls find out, they’ll never speak to him again as long as he lives.

The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, ‘Dear God, this is an emergency!  I need help now!  Five minutes from now I’m dead meat.’

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water.

Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy’s lap.

The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, ‘Thank you, Lord!  Thank you, Lord!’

Now, all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy.  The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out.  All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk.  The sympathy is wonderful.  But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else – Susie.

She tries to help, but they tell her to get out.  ‘You’ve done enough, you klutz!’

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, ‘You did that on purpose, didn’t you?’  Susie whispers back, ‘I wet my pants once too.’

May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good….

Remember….  Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

Each and everyone one of us may be going through tough times right now, but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can if you are staying close to Him.  

Keep the faith.

If you would like to watch a wonderful, life changing movie, get yourself all prepared with the time to watch a full length movie, and then go to this site and be ready for a life changing experience. .…………….. https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/english.html

如果您想观看一部精彩的、改变生活的电影，请准备好观看一部完整电影的时间，然后访问这个网站，为改变生活的体验做好准备………..…………https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/chinese-mandarin.html

For the last 20 years I have presented the Gospel to each new youth at the highly secure prison for the kids ages 13 to 19 at Gainesville, Texas.  It is the first time that most any of them have stopped “running on the streets” and had the time to think about their life.  Most every one made a decision to make God part of their life.  After our hour+ together I would write each one a letter.  As a result I corresponded more with many of them.  And in each letter I would enclose a group of short stories or poems.  They really liked them, especially those with an emotional message.  You probably would not believe how many locked-up prison boys have loved theses little stories, and read them over and over.

In my soon to be published book I enclosed a long list of those short stories in the Appendix.  Since the prison boys liked them so much, I thought you may like to see some of them.  So, here is a 24th group of them for you.  And you are welcome to share them with others.

Ron

Toys  vs.  Character

The world gives us toys, things that look exciting but are not the main point. The less mature you are, the more you get things for the toy appeal, and the less you get them for the higher purpose.

“The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.” That is a rather well known saying. Maybe the real difference between men and boys is that real men need less toys.

It is not really a function of age. I’ve seen old men still fascinated and focused on toys while neglecting the important things of life and family.

Choosing a woman based on curves not character or choosing a man based on cash not character……..toys.
17, 27, 47 or 87, age doesn’t really matter, only maturity.

Three dictionary definitions of fiber are:
1. Something that provides substance or texture.
2. Essential character or structure.
3. Basic strength or toughness; fortitude.

Three dictionary definitions of toy are:
1. An object for children to play with.
2. Something of little importance; a trifle.
3. A bauble

Fiber or Toys?

Good question.

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man,
I put away childish things.”   1 Corinthians 13:11 KJV

 Traveling Angels:

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family.  Not knowing they were angles, the family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room.

Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement.

As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a strange hole in the wall and repaired it.

When the younger angel asked why he did that, the older angel  replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife.

After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest.

When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel how could you have let this happen?  The first man had everything, yet you helped him, he accused.

The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die.

“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied.

“When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was huge hoard of gold stored behind that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it.”

“Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead.

Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don’t turn out the way they should with those who are close to the Lord.  If you have faith, you just need to trust that every out-come is always to your advantage with the Lord’s care. You just might not know it until some time later……

God Protects his own – A true story

 It has been confirmed that 80% of the town of Meulaboh in Aceh , Indonesia was destroyed by the Tsunami waves and 80% of the people also died. This is one of the towns that was hit the hardest.

But there is a fantastic testimony from Meulaboh. In that town are about 400 Christians.

They wanted to celebrate Christmas on December 25th but were not allowed to do so by the Muslim majority of Meulaboh. They were told if they wanted to celebrate Christmas they needed to go outside the city of Meulaboh to celebrate.  Because the Christians desired to celebrate Christmas the 400 believers left the city on December 25th and chose a high hill on the edge of town.   After they celebrated Christmas they stayed all night on the hill.

The morning of December 26 there was the earthquake followed by huge Tsunami waves destroying most of the city of Meulaboh and thousands were killed. 

The 400 believers were on the mountain and were all saved from destruction. 

Now the Muslims of Meulaboh are saying that the God of the Christians punished us for forbidding the Christians from celebrating Christmas in the city. Others are questioning why so many Muslims died while not even one of the Christians died there. 

Had the Christians insisted on their rights to celebrate Christmas in the city, they would have all died. But because they humbled themselves and followed the advice of the Muslim majority they all were spared destruction and can now testify of God’s marvelous protection. 

This is a testimony of the grace of God and the fact that as believers we have no rights in the world.  Our right is to come before God and commit our lives to Him.  Our right is kneeling down before the Lord almighty and committing our ways to Him.  

He is our Father and is very capable of caring for His children. Praise the Name of the Lord!

Bill Hekman
Pastor Calvary Life Fellowship in Indonesia.

Twinkies and Root Beer:

Once there was a little boy.  He had problems that made his spirit hurt.  He had never known his dad.  Since his mom had to work so much, he was ever so lonely, and since she came home so tired, he felt as if he never saw anyone smile.

He decided one day that he wanted to meet God.  He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his little suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer from the icebox and he started on his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old man. He was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie. The old man gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.

His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer. Again, the old man smiled at him. The boy was delighted!  They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but never saying a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old man, and gave him a big hug.  The old man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by something she had not seen in a long time…….a look of joy on his face. She asked him, “What did you do today that made you so happy?  “He replied, “I had lunch with God.”   But before his mother could respond, he added, “You know what?  He’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!”

Meanwhile, the old man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked, “Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?” He replied, “I ate Twinkies in the park with God.  “However, before his son could respond, he added, “You know, he’s much younger than I expected.”

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.  And know that for some strange reason God chose to do His work through people.

If you would like to watch a wonderful, life changing movie, get yourself all prepared with the time to watch a full length movie, and then go to this site and be ready for a life changing experience. .…………….. https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/english.html

如果您想观看一部精彩的、改变生活的电影，请准备好观看一部完整电影的时间，然后访问这个网站，为改变生活的体验做好准备………..…………https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/chinese-mandarin.html

For the last 20 years I have presented the Gospel to each new youth at the highly secure prison for the kids ages 13 to 19 at Gainesville, Texas.  It is the first time that most any of them have stopped “running on the streets” and had the time to think about their life.  Most every one made a decision to make God part of their life.  After our hour+ together I would write each one a letter.  As a result I corresponded more with many of them.  And in each letter I would enclose a group of short stories or poems.  They really liked them, especially those with an emotional message.  You probably would not believe how many locked-up prison boys have loved theses little stories, and read them over and over.

In my soon to be published book I enclosed a long list of those short stories in the Appendix.  Since the prison boys liked them so much, I thought you may like to see some of them.  So, here is a 23rd group of them for you.  And you are welcome to share them with others.

Ron

The Dive

A young man who had been raised as an atheist was training to be an Olympic diver.

The only religious influence in his life came from his outspoken Christian friend. The young diver never really paid much attention to his friend’s sermons, but he heard them often.

One night the diver went to the indoor pool at the college he attended. The lights were all off, but as the pool had big skylights and the moon was bright, there was plenty of light to practice by.

The young man climbed up to the highest diving board and as he turned his back to the pool on the edge of the board and extended his arms out, he saw his shadow on the wall.

The shadow of his body was in the shape of a cross.

Instead of diving, he knelt down and finally asked God to come into his life.

As the young man stood, a maintenance man walked in and turned the lights on.

The pool had been drained for repairs.

My friends tell me that this really happened!

The Flat

The tire was flat.

Church was just letting out as I stood in the street and looked at my mother’s tire; it was flat.  It was over 90 degrees as the sun was beaming down, and she didn‘t have a spare.

A small cigarette lighter powered air pump labored away trying to raise the flattened tire.  I told my mother to take my Jeep and go home, and I would take care of the tire.

I listened as air hissed out as fast as the pump put it in.  I found the hole and backed the car up so the hole was on the bottom.  The weight of the car stopped the leak and allowed the tire to fill.  With the tire full but leaking, I pulled off.

I didn’t know of any gas stations with mechanics in the neighborhood, but I figured I could drive until I found one.  I stayed off the expressway in case the tire went flat.

After ten minutes of driving, I found nothing open on a Sunday afternoon.  I pulled into a gas station to pump up the nearly flat tire again.

As the pump was pumping, there was one man pumping gas.  “Do you know where I can get a tire plugged around here?” I asked.  “There’s a place right there,” he said pointing.

“Right where?” I asked, wondering where the place could be since he was pointing to the street and direction that I had just driven from.

“It’s next to the liquor store, it’s on the right but you have to look hard to see it.”

“Are they open now on Sunday?” I asked.  “Yes, they’re open,” he replied.

I thanked him and set out to find the repair shop.  I was somewhat skeptical that I could have passed a tire repair shop while desperately looking for a tire repair shop.

I passed the liquor store and there on the right, down a little gravel road was a tire repair shop.  Men covered in black grease were hard at work.  They were a welcome sight as the air continually hissed from the tire.

In ten minutes, I was on my way.

It reminded me so much of life.  Why?

We are often deflated, the essence of life slowly leaking out and each time we pump it up, it isn’t long before we’re flat again.

We are straining, crying, praying, hoping, pleading for the answer and often we pass right by the answer.  Life is slowly leaking out towards the flatline and we pass right by because we don’t see the road, the place or the men on the right.

I could not find it on my own; I had to seek the answer from someone who knew, from someone familiar with the territory.  When I did hear the answer, I was doubtful that I could have missed it because it was so close.  I measured it; it was 750 feet from where I asked the question, but I couldn’t see from where I was standing.  Someone had to point the way.  Jesus can be like that for each of us.  As we search His Word, I predict that the way will become clear to you.

Your answer also, is closer than you think.  It’s on the right side.  Some of you will have to bypass the liquor store to get to it.  When you get there they will be waiting to help you.  They will be waiting to help you stop the leak.  They will be waiting to fill you with breath, but you will have to really listen and be ready to take action.

And they will be open on Sunday.

The Visitor

Ruth went to her mail box and there was only one letter.  She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter:

            Dear Ruth, I’m going to be in your neighborhood Saturday

            afternoon and I’d like to stop by for a visit.

            Love Always, 

           Jesus

Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. “Why would the Lord want to visit me?  I’m nobody special.  I don’t have anything to offer.” With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets.  “Oh my goodness, I really don’t have anything to offer.  I’ll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner.”

She reached for her purse and counted out its contents.  Five dollars and forty cents.  “Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least.”  She threw on her coat and hurried out the door.  A loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk…leaving Ruth with a grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday.  Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm.

“Hey lady, can you help us, lady?” 

Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn’t even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway.  A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than  rags “Look lady, I ain’t got a job, ya know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well, now it’s getting cold and we’re getting kinda hungry and, well, if you could help us, lady, we’d really appreciate it.”  Ruth looked at them both.  They were dirty, they smelled bad and frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to.

“Sir, I’d like to help you, but I’m a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I’m having an important guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving that to Him.”  “Yeah, well, okay lady, I understand.  Thanks anyway.”

The man put his arm around the woman’s shoulders, turned and headed back into the alley.

As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart.

“Sir, wait!”

The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them. 

“Look, why don’t you take this food.  I’ll figure out something else to serve my guest.”

She handed the man her grocery bag.

“Thank you lady. Thank you very much!”

“Yes, thank you!” 

It was the man’s wife, and Ruth could see now that she was shivering.

“You know, I’ve got another coat at home. Here, why don’t you take this one.”

Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over  the woman’s shoulders.  Then smiling, she turned

and walked back to the street…without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest.

“Thank you lady!  Thank you very much!”

Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and worried too.  The Lord was coming to visit and she didn’t have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key.  But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox.

“That’s odd.  The mailman doesn’t usually come twice in one day.”

She took the envelope out of the box and opened it.

            Dear Ruth, It was so good to see you again.  Thank you for the lovely

            meal.  And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat.

           Love Always,

Jesus

The air was still cold, but even without her coat, Ruth no longer noticed.

The “W” in Christmas

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience.

I had cut back on nonessential obligations – extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending.

Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year.  It was an exciting season for a six year old.

For weeks, he’d been memorizing songs for his school’s “Winter Pageant.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there’d be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation.

All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then.  Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as “Christmas,” I didn’t expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment – songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son’s class rose to sing, “Christmas Love,” I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.

Those in the front row- center stage – held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song.

As the class would sing “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up the letter C. Then, “H is for Happy,” and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, “Christmas Love.”

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter “M” upside down – totally unaware her letter “M” appeared as a “W”.

The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one’s mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her “W”.

Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen.

In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

“C H R I S T W A S L O V E”

And, I believe, He still is.

If you would like to watch a wonderful, life changing movie, get yourself all prepared with the time to watch a full length movie, and then go to this site and be ready for a life changing experience. .…………….. https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/english.html

如果您想观看一部精彩的、改变生活的电影，请准备好观看一部完整电影的时间，然后访问这个网站，为改变生活的体验做好准备………..…………https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/chinese-mandarin.html

For the last 20 years I have presented the Gospel to each new youth at the highly secure prison for the kids ages 13 to 19 at Gainesville, Texas.  It is the first time that most any of them have stopped “running on the streets” and had the time to think about their life.  Most every one made a decision to make God part of their life.  After our hour+ together I would write each one a letter.  As a result I corresponded more with many of them.  And in each letter I would enclose a group of short stories or poems.  They really liked them, especially those with an emotional message.  You probably would not believe how many locked-up prison boys have loved theses little stories, and read them over and over.

In my soon to be published book I enclosed a long list of those short stories in the Appendix.  Since the prison boys liked them so much, I thought you may like to see some of them.  So, here is a 22nd group of them for you.  And you are welcome to share them with others.

Ron

The Hole

Two little brothers once decided to dig a deep hole behind their house.  As they were working, a couple of other little boys stopped by to watch.

“What are you doing?” asked one of the visitors.

“We’re going to dig a hole all the way through the earth!” one of the brothers volunteered excitedly.

The other boys began to laugh, telling the brothers that digging a hole all the way through the earth was impossible.  After a long silence, one of the diggers picked up a jar full of spiders, worms, insects and interesting stones.  He removed the lid and showed the wonderful contents to the scoffing visitors.

Then he said confidently, “Even if we don’t dig all the way through the earth, look what we found along the way!”

Their goal was far too ambitious, but it did cause them to dig.  That is what a goal is for, to cause us to move in the direction we have chosen.  In other words, to set us to digging!

But not every goal will be fully achieved.  Not every job will end successfully.  Not every relationship will endure.  Not every hope will come to pass.  Not every love will last.  Not every endeavor will be completed.  Not every dream will be realized.

But when you fall short of your aim, perhaps you can say, “Yes, but look at what I found along the way!

Look at the wonderful things which have come into my life because I tried to do something!”

It is in the digging that life is lived, and it is the joy in the journey that truly matters!

The Portal

Over 20 years ago I read a fictional story about a device that would allow you to live forever.

The operation of the device was simple. It was just a portal that you walked through, and when you walked through five years were added to your life.

There was no cost, at least not in terms of money.

Each time you walked through and gained five years, five years were removed from your memory.  The good thing was, you could choose which five-year period would be erased.

As the story was told, no one ever walked through because no one could find five years that they wanted to give up.

Suppose I had that opportunity?  Could I choose five years to give up?  All have had periods in their lives rougher than others.

…times of economic strain

…times of ailing and aching bodies.

…times of romantic loneliness, turmoil, or heartbreak.

…times of fear and uncertainty.

and then

…times of prosperity and plenty.

…times exhilarating youthful energy and vitality.

…times where love conquers all.

…times where we can’t wait until tomorrow.

What were the worst five years of my life?  Would I erase those if I could?

Would you?

The tough times made me stronger, wiser, and more appreciative of the easy times.

The tough times are just as much a part of who I am and why I am who I am as the easy times.

I can look outside on a freezing day and appreciate warmth because as a teenager I carried newspapers at 4a.m. each morning on a bicycle.  My hands and feet were nearly frozen daily.  Would I give up those five years of the freezing paper route?  Not hardly.

Each age has its beauty and its strain, its pleasure and its pain and with any piece missing,

we are not the same.

What I read 20 years ago was just a story.  There is only one true way to get eternal life.  That is also a portal.

It does not require that you erase anything of the past, just get one thing straight in the present that automatically washes away all sins of the past.

“Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it.”  Matt 7:14 

The Tablecloth:

The brand-new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work.

They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve. They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc., and on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished.

On December 19 a terrible tempest – a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.

On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in.

One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later.

She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was white as a sheet. “Pastor,” she asked, “where did you get that tablecloth?” The pastor explained.

The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria .

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria . When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.

Her husband was going to follow her the next week. She was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again. The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the Church. The pastor insisted on driving her home; that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had three days later on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great.

At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn’t leaving.

The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike.

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety, and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

(True Story – submitted by Pastor Rob Reid)

If you would like to watch a wonderful, life changing movie, get yourself all prepared with the time to watch a full length movie, and then go to this site and be ready for a life changing experience. .…………….. https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/english.html

如果您想观看一部精彩的、改变生活的电影，请准备好观看一部完整电影的时间，然后访问这个网站，为改变生活的体验做好准备………..…………https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/chinese-mandarin.html

For the last 20 years I have presented the Gospel to each new youth at the highly secure prison for the kids ages 13 to 19 at Gainesville, Texas.  It is the first time that most any of them have stopped “running on the streets” and had the time to think about their life.  Most every one made a decision to make God part of their life.  After our hour+ together I would write each one a letter.  As a result I corresponded more with many of them.  And in each letter I would enclose a group of short stories or poems.  They really liked them, especially those with an emotional message.  You probably would not believe how many locked-up prison boys have loved theses little stories, and read them over and over.

In my soon to be published book I enclosed a long list of those short stories in the Appendix.  Since the prison boys liked them so much, I thought you may like to see some of them.  So, here is a 21st group of them for you.  And you are welcome to share them with others.

Ron

The List

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

 On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. ‘Really?’ she heard whispered. ‘I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!’ and, ‘I didn’t know others liked me so much,’ were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn’t matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Viet Nam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.

The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to pass the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. ‘Were you Mark’s math teacher?’ he asked. She nodded: ‘yes.’ Then he said: ‘Mark talked about you a lot.’

After the funeral, most of Mark’s former classmates went together to a luncheon.. Mark’s mother and father were there, obviously wanting to speak with his teacher.

‘We want to show you something,’ his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket ‘They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.’

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark’s classmates had said about him.

‘Thank you so much for doing that,’ Mark’s mother said. ‘As you can see, Mark treasured it.’

All of Mark’s former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, ‘I still have my list. It’s in the top drawer of my desk at home.’

 Chuck’s wife said, ‘Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.’

 I have mine too,’ Marilyn said.. ‘It’s in my diary’

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. ‘I carry this with me at all times,’ Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: ‘I think we all saved our lists’

That’s when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for allhis friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don’t know when that one day will be.

So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.

 Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.

 May Your Day Be Blessed!

Taps

We have all heard the haunting song, “Taps.”

It’s the song used at military funerals and at the end of each day on U.S. military bases.

Perhaps we should read the words to the melody U.S. soldiers hear around the world each night.  Try humming with the words:

Day is done, gone the sun
From the lakes, from the hills, from the skies
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Fading light, dims the sight
And a star, gems the sky,
Gleaming bright, from afar,
Drawing nigh, falls the night.

Thanks and praise for our days
‘Neath the sun, ‘neath the stars, ‘neath the sky.
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

“Taps” – Words by Union General Daniel Butterfield and bugler Oliver Norton.

The Barracuda

Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute did the following study:

It’s a widely known fact that Barracuda love to eat mullet.

Scientists put a barracuda into an aquarium, added a glass partition in the middle and then put a mullet in the other side.

Not believing his good luck the barracuda circled a few times, gathered up speed and launched directly at his lunch – the poor unsuspecting mullet.

Wham!  Bam!  Full throttle into the glass partition.

Unfazed at this, the barracuda did his preliminary circles and sped off again toward the mullet.  Again, Wham! Bang! into the glass partition.

Again and again and again he tried.  Some weeks later, the scientists noticed the barracuda quit trying to eat the mullet, so they removed the glass partition.

Amazingly, the barracuda remained in his side of the aquarium, silently swimming in circles.

In fact, the hapless barracuda slowly died of starvation while the lucky mullet swam about in safety just a few inches away!

Many of us are like that barracuda – hurt, bruised and wounded from many previous collisions with life.

We’ve given up, our lives have become unproductive, lifeless, hopeless, without goal, purpose or meaning.  And in this life, the Devil wants us to stay that way……until death.

Around and around we go, going nowhere…silently, starving to death… while just a few inches away there is a prize to be collected, a blessing to be claimed, a job to be had, a relationship to begin an education to be gained earnings to be earned.

The Heart

“Tomorrow morning,” the surgeon began,  “I’ll open up your heart…”

“You’ll find Jesus there,” the boy interrupted

 The surgeon looked up, annoyed, “I’ll cut your heart open,” he continued, “to see how much damage has been done “

 “But when you open up my heart, you’ll find Jesus in there,” said the boy.

The surgeon looked to the parents, who sat quietly. “When I see how much damage has been done, I’ll sew your heart and chest back up, and I’ll plan what to do next.”

“But you’ll find Jesus in my heart. The Bible says He lives there. The hymns all say He lives there. You’ll   find Him in my heart.”

The surgeon had had enough. “I’ll tell you what I’ll find in your heart.  I’ll find damaged muscle, low blood supply, and weakened vessels.  And I’ll find out if I can make you well.”

“You’ll find Jesus there too. He lives there “

The surgeon left.

After the operation the surgeon sat in his office, recording his notes from the surgery, “…damaged aorta, damage to

pulmonary vein, widespread muscle degeneration.  No hope for transplant, no hope for cure. Therapy: painkillers and bed rest. Prognosis:  here he paused, “death within one year.”

He stopped the recorder, but there was more to be said. “Why?” he asked God aloud “Why did You do this? You’ve
put him here; You’ve put him in this pain; and You’ve cursed him to an early death.  Why?”

And they say the Lord…..actually really answered in an amazingly clear voice, …..and said, “The boy, My lamb, was not meant for your flock for long, for he is a part of My flock , and will forever be.  Here, in My flock, he will feel no pain, and will be comforted as you cannot imagine.  His parents will one day join him here, and they will know peace, and My flock will continue to grow.”

The surgeon’s tears were hot, but his anger was hotter. “You created that boy, and You created that heart.  He’ll be dead in months. Why?”

The Lord answered, “The boy, My lamb, shall return to My flock, for He has Done his duty; I did not put My lamb with your flock to lose him, but to retrieve another lost lamb, “YOU!”
      
The surgeon gasped and wept ………… The surgeon sat beside the boy’s bed; the boy’s parents sat across from him. The boy awoke and whispered, “Did you cut open my heart?”

“Yes,” said the surgeon.

 “What did you find?” asked the boy.

“I found Jesus there,” said the surgeon!

If you would like to watch a wonderful, life changing movie, get yourself all prepared with the time to watch a full length movie, and then go to this site and be ready for a life changing experience. .…………….. https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/english.html

如果您想观看一部精彩的、改变生活的电影，请准备好观看一部完整电影的时间，然后访问这个网站，为改变生活的体验做好准备………..…………https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/chinese-mandarin.htm

For the last 20 years I have presented the Gospel to each new youth at the highly secure prison for the kids ages 13 to 19 at Gainesville, Texas.  It is the first time that most any of them have stopped “running on the streets” and had the time to think about their life.  Most every one made a decision to make God part of their life.  After our hour+ together I would write each one a letter.  As a result I corresponded more with many of them.  And in each letter I would enclose a group of short stories or poems.  They really liked them, especially those with an emotional message.  You probably would not believe how many locked-up prison boys have loved theses little stories, and read them over and over.

In my soon to be published book I enclosed a long list of those short stories in the Appendix.  Since the prison boys liked them so much, I thought you may like to see some of them.  So, here is a 20th group of them for you.  And you are welcome to share them with others.

Ron

The Silent Times

There are occasions when God will speak to you and then be silent for an extended period of time. Silence does not mean you have been forsaken by God. It simply means that God has spoken, and now is the time to allow the word that He spoke to germinate and come to pass.

Silence is not the same as peace. Silence is the absence of noise, but peace is the presence of God! While you are going through “silent times,” you should focus on inner peace.

Inner peace produces outward confidence in the face of negative circumstances so that we can go forward in the assurance that even though tribulation is coming against us, we are more than conquerors over it!

The Greek word for peace actually describes a spiritual equilibrium no matter whatever may seek to upset us. The biblical meaning of peace never denotes the absence of trouble. Peace is not the absence of negatives but the presence of positives. God’s peace is inward and spiritual and never predicated by contrary circumstances or negative events.

Poverty, sickness, death nor debt can override internal peace!

Silent times should indicate a time of reflection, introspection and listening. The quieter we become, the more we hear.  However, we cannot rush the silent times.

Silent times are times of transition. Transition is always uncomfortable and appears to last forever. We must ENDURE the silent times! Whenever you see the word endure, it means that there is no short cut through it. It must be endured.  You cannot circumvent what must be endured.

We are told to ENDURE unto the end. (Matt. 24:13)
We are told to ENDURE persecution and tribulation. (II Th. 1:4-10)
We are told to ENDURE hardness. (II Tim. 2:1-3)
We are told to ENDURE affliction. (II Tim. 4:5)
We are told to ENDURE chastening. (Heb. 12:7)

The key to being able to ENDURE is to see the END (ENDure).

Now, here are some things for you to question during the silent times:

Is my life really submitted to God?
Am I submitted at home, work, church and to the government?
Have I learned my lesson?
What is God trying to teach me?
Am I humble enough to be teachable?
Has the fruit of patience been sufficiently developed in me?
Do I still have an appetite for the world in me?
Did I properly respond to the last thing God told me to do?
Have I attained a deeper faith?
Is my attitude right toward God and others?
Am I harboring unforgiveness?
What am I becoming?
Have I sufficiently developed and matured as a person?
Have I taken the time to minister to the Lord? (Acts 13:2)

During your silent times you should:

1. Practice and develop your gifts. Study.
2. Clarify. Define goals. Reorder priorities.
3. Serve (even while you are hurting).
4. Trust God.
5. Pray

Your silent times should change your life! You should come out as a new person! When you come out, you should have a new level of:

1. Knowledge
2. Responsibility
3. Authority/Power
4. Faith
5. Trust

Remember, problems never come to last, they only come to pass!

Traveling Soldiers

I hope that you will spare me a few minutes of your time to tell you about something that I saw on Monday, October 27.

I had been attending a conference in Annapolis and was coming home on Sunday.  As you may recall, Los Angeles International Airport was closed  on Sunday, October 26, because of the fires that affected air traffic control.  Accordingly, my flight, and many others, were canceled and I wound up spending a night in Baltimore.

My story begins the next day.  When I went to check in at the United counter Monday morning I saw a lot of soldiers home from Iraq.  Most were very young and all had on their desert camouflage uniforms.  This was a change from earlier, when they had to buy civilian clothes in Kuwait to fly home.  It was a visible reminder that we are in a war.  It probably was pretty close to what train terminals were like in World War II.

Many people were stopping the troops to talk to them, asking them questions in the Starbucks line or just saying “Welcome Home.”   In addition to all the flights that had been canceled on Sunday, the weather was terrible in Baltimore and the flights were backed up.  So, there were a lot of unhappy people in the terminal trying to get home,  but nobody that I saw gave the soldiers a bad time.

By the afternoon, one plane to Denver had been delayed several hours.  United personnel kept asking for volunteers to give up their seats and take another flight.  They weren’t getting many takers.  Finally, a United spokeswoman got on the PA and said this, “Folks.  As you can see, there are a lot of soldiers in the waiting area.  They only have 14 days of leave and we’re trying to get them where they need to go without spending any more time in an airport than they have to.  We sold them all tickets, knowing we would oversell the flight.  If we can, we want  to get them all on this flight.  We want all the soldiers to know that we respect what you’re doing, we are here for you and we love you.”

At that, the entire terminal of cranky, tired, travel-weary people, across-section of America, broke into sustained and heart-felt applause.  The soldiers looked surprised and very modest.  Most of them just looked at their boots.  Many of us were wiping away tears.  And, yes, people lined up to take the later flight and all the soldiers went to Denver on that flight.

That little moment made me proud to be an American, and also told me why we win our wars.

If you want to send my little story on to your friends and family, feel free.  This is not some urban legend.  I was there, I was part of it, I saw it happen.

Will Ross, United States Department of Defense, Administrative Judge

The Sower

Jesus taught in stories or what the bible calls parables.  He did this so that we could remember the principles better that he was teaching to his hearers.

One of the most important was that of The Sower………….Jesus said that the Word of God was like a man going out to sow or scatter seeds in the field, which was the way that they planted wheat in those days.  The man would take a bag of wheat seeds and throw  them out in an arc across the prepared ground.  Jesus said that His Gospel story, (like the words that I shared with you in the prison when we first met and I invited you to make a decision about God), was like the wheat seeds.

Jesus said that some fell on rocky ground, sprang up quickly, but without deep soil for its roots, it just withered and died.  In the same way , some of your peers hear the story of why Jesus came, accept his message, and just glow with happiness.  Yet, when they do not study his word or fail to continue to pray, and neglect hanging with other Christian believers, they wither and fall away………..just like the seed that tried to grow on rocky ground.

Jesus said that some fell among the thorns, and sprang up, but the thorns chocked them out  In like manner, some accept God’s word, make a decision for Jesus, but go back with their old unbelieving friends, and continue to allow the sinful things of the world to be the most important things in their lives, and the Devil causes the things of the world to choke God’s way from their lives……..the thorns of the world choke out their relationship with God.

But Jesus also said that some of the seed fell on good, fertile ground, and sprang up and took good root and grew up healthy, and bore much fruit. 

That is the kind of seed and success that I want you to be.

Stay
In CC at a hospital near Annapolis, Maryland last month the nurse took the young service man to the old gentleman’s bedside.

“Your son is here,” she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient’s eyes opened.

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man’s limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.

All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength.  Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.

He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital – the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

“Who was that man?” he asked.

The nurse was startled, “He was your father,” she answered.

“No, he wasn’t,” the Marine replied. “I never saw him before in my life.”

“Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?”

“I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn’t here.

When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, and seeing how much he needed me, I stayed.”

     I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey.  His Son was killed in Afghanistan
   yesterday, and I was sent to inform him. What was this Gentleman’s Name?
 
   The Nurse with Tears in Her Eyes Answered, Mr. William Grey…………The next time someone needs you like that …… just be there.  Stay.

If you would like to watch a wonderful, life changing movie, get yourself all prepared with the time to watch a full length movie, and then go to this site and be ready for a life changing experience. .…………….. https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/english.html

如果您想观看一部精彩的、改变生活的电影，请准备好观看一部完整电影的时间，然后访问这个网站，为改变生活的体验做好准备………..…………https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/chinese-mandarin.html

For the last 20 years I have presented the Gospel to each new youth at the highly secure prison for the kids ages 13 to 19 at Gainesville, Texas.  It is the first time that most any of them have stopped “running on the streets” and had the time to think about their life.  Most every one made a decision to make God part of their life.  After our hour+ together I would write each one a letter.  As a result I corresponded more with many of them.  And in each letter I would enclose a group of short stories or poems.  They really liked them, especially those with an emotional message.  You probably would not believe how many locked-up prison boys have loved theses little stories, and read them over and over.

In my soon to be published book I enclosed a long list of those short stories in the Appendix.  Since the prison boys liked them so much, I thought you may like to see some of them.  So, here is a 19th group of them for you.  And you are welcome to share them with others.

Ron

Pumpkin

A woman was asked by a co-worker, “What is it like to be a Christian?”

The co-worker replied, “It is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you.

Then he cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc., and then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.”

This was passed on to me from another pumpkin.

The Road of Life
At first, I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die.

He was out there sort of like a president.  I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I really didn’t know Him.  But later on when I really met Christ, it seemed as though life were rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike. Then I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me pedal.  I don’t know just when it was that He suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since.

When I had control, I had to know the way.  It was rather boring, but predictable.  It was the shortest distance between two points.  But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places at breakneck speeds. It was all I could do to hang on!

Even though it looked like madness, He said, “Pedal!”  I worried and was anxious and asked, “Where are you taking me?”  He laughed and didn’t answer, and I started to learn to trust.  I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure, and when I’d say, “I’m scared,” He’d lean back and touch my hand.  I gained love, peace, acceptance and joy; gifts to take on my journey, my Lord’s and mine.  And we were off again.

He said, “Give the gifts away.  They’re extra baggage, too much weight.”   So I did, to the people we met, and I found that in giving I received, and thus our burden was light.

I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life.  I thought He’d wreck it; but he knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, knows how to jump to clear high rocks, knows how to fly to shorten, scary passages.  And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I’m beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ.

And when I’m sure I just can’t do it anymore, He just smiles and says.…….”Pedal!” 

Scars:

Some years ago, on a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went.

He flew into the water, swam out into the lake and then started back, not realizing that as he swam, an alligator was swimming toward the shore also.

His father working in the yard saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.

Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and turned to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to be driving by, heard his screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived.

His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father’s fingernails dug into his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Dad wouldn’t let go.”

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, He’s been there holding on to you.

The Bible teaches that God loves you. You are a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way. But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead.

The swimming hole of life is filled with peril – and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That’s when the tug-of-war begins – and if you have the scars of His love on your arms, be very, very grateful. He did not let you go.

Never judge another persons scars, because you don’t know how they got them.

Right now, someone needs to know that God loves them, and you love them too……..enough to not let them go!

Red Marbles

During the waning years of the depression in a small southeastern Idaho community, I used to stop by Mr. Miller’s roadside stand for farm-fresh produce as the season made it available. Food and money were still extremely scarce and bartering was used, extensively.  One particular day Mr. Miller was bagging some early potatoes for me. I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily apprising a basket of freshly picked green peas. I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the peas, I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller and the ragged boy next to me.

“Hello Barry, how are you today?”

“H’lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya.  Jus’ admirin’ them peas … sure look good.”

“They are good, Barry. How’s your Ma?”

“Fine.  Gittin’ stronger alla’ time.”

“Good.  Anything I can help you with?”

“No, Sir.  Jus’ admirin’ them peas.”

“Would you like to take some home?”

“No, Sir.  Got nuthin’ to pay for ’em with.”

“Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?”

“All I got’s my prize marble here.”

“Is that right? Let me see it.”

“Here ’tis.  She’s a dandy.”

“I can see that.  Hmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?”

“Not ‘zackley …..but, almost.”

“Tell you what.  Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble.”

“Sure will. Thanks, Mr. Miller.”

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me. With a smile she said: “There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. My Jim has the warmest heart that you will ever see.  I think that it is because he loves and stays so close to Jesus.  He just loves to bargain with those boys for peas, apples, tomatoes or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn’t like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, perhaps.”

I left the stand, smiling to myself, impressed with this wonderful Christian man. A short time later I moved to Colorado but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys and their bartering. Several years went by each more rapid than the previous one.

Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died. They were having his viewing that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them.

Upon our arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could. Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts ….. very professional looking.

They approached Mrs. Miller, standing smiling and composed, by her husband’s casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket.  Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket.

Each left the mortuary, awkwardly, wiping his eyes. Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and mentioned the story she had told me about the marbles. Eyes glistening she took my hand and led me to the casket. “Those three young men, who just left, were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim “traded” them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size… they came to pay their debt. “We’ve never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,” she confided, “but, right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho.”

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three, magnificently shiny, red marbles.

Moral: We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds.  Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.  Jim Miller is right there to spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus.

I so want you to be there with him when you have finished your time here on this planet!

If you would like to watch a wonderful, life changing movie, get yourself all prepared with the time to watch a full length movie, and then go to this site and be ready for a life changing experience. .…………….. https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/english.html

如果您想观看一部精彩的、改变生活的电影，请准备好观看一部完整电影的时间，然后访问这个网站，为改变生活的体验做好准备………..…………https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/jesus.html/chinese-mandarin.html