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The Son
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Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at their
church, the Pastor and his 11-year-old son would go out into
their town and hand out Gospel tracts.
This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the
Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it
was very cold outside as well as pouring down rain. The boy
bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said "Okay Dad,
I'm ready."
His Pastor Dad asked, "Ready for what?"
"Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go
out." Dad responds, "Son, it's very cold outside and it's
pouring down rain." The boy gives his Dad a surprised look,
asking, "But Dad, aren't people still going to Hell even though
it's raining?"
Dad answers, "Son, I am not going out in this weather."
Despondently the boy asks, "Dad, can I go-- Please?"
His father hesitated for a moment then said, "Son, you can go.
Here are the tracts; be careful son."
"Thanks, Dad!" And with that he was off and out into the rain.
This 11-year-old boy walked the streets of the town going
door-to-door and handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel
tract.
After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking bone-chilled
wet and down to his very last tract. He stopped on a corner and
looked for someone to hand a tract to but the streets were
totally deserted.
Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the
sidewalk to the front door and rang the doorbell.
He rang the bell -- but nobody answered. He rang it again and
again, but still no one answered. He waited but still no answer.
Finally, this 11-year-old trooper turned to leave but something
stopped him.
Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked
loudly on the door with his fist. He waited; something held
him there on the front porch. He rang again, and this time the
door slowly opened.
Standing in the doorway was a very sad looking elderly lady.
She softly asked, "What can I do for you, son?"
With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little
boy said, "Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want
to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU! I came to give you
my very last Gospel tract which will tell you all about Jesus
and His great love."
With that he handed her his last tract and turned to leave.
She called to him as he departed,
"Thank you, son! And God bless you!"
Well, the following Sunday morning in church, Pastor Dad was in
the pulpit and as the service began he asked, "Does anybody have
a testimony or want to say anything?"
Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to
her feet.
As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her
face. "None of you in this church know me. I've never been
here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian.
My husband has passed on, some time ago, leaving me totally
alone in this world. Last Sunday, being a particularly cold and
rainy day, it was even more so in my heart . . . as I came to
the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to
live.
"So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the
attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in
the roof then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of
the rope around my neck.
"Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted, I was
about to leap off when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell
downstairs startled me.
I thought, 'I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.'
"I waited and waited ? but the ringing doorbell seemed to get
louder and more insistent and then the person ringing also
started knocking loudly.
I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this be?
Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me!'
I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front
door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.
"When I opened the door and looked, I could hardly believe my
eyes! There on my front porch was the most radiant and
angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life!
His smile! Oh, I could never describe it to you! And the words
that came from his mouth caused my heart, that had long been
dead, to leap to life as he exclaimed with cherub-like
voice,
'Ma'am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE
YOU.'
"Then he gave me this Gospel tract that I now hold in my hand.
As the little angel disappeared back out, into the cold and
rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel
tract. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair.
I wouldn't be needing them any more.
"You see, I am now a happy child of the KING, and since the
address of your church was on the back of this Gospel tract I
have come here to personally say, Thank you to God's little
angel who came just in the nick of time, and by so doing, spared
my soul from an eternity in Hell."
There were now no dry eyes in the church. As shouts of praise
and honor to the KING resounded off the very rafters of the
building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew
where the little angel was seated.
He took him in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Probably no
church has had a more glorious moment and probably this Universe
has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love and honor
for his son, except for one:
This Father, God, also allowed His Son, Jesus, to go out into a
cold and dark world. He received His Son back with joy
unspeakable, and as all of Heaven shouted praises and honor to
the King, the Father sat His beloved Son on a throne far above
all principality and power and every name that is named.
There may be someone, reading this, who is also going through a
dark, cold, and lonely time in your soul.
You may be a Christian, for we are not without problems, or you
may not yet know the King. Whatever the case and whatever the
problem or situation you find yourself in, and no matter how
dark it may seem, I want you to know that I just came to tell
you, "JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU!"
The Author is unknown, If anyone knows the Author of this little story, would you please forward the information to me at this web site so that I can give them credit for this.
Thank you and may God bless. |
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THE GUEST SPEAKER
AFTER A FEW OF THE USUAL SUNDAY EVENING HYMNS,
THE CHURCH'S PASTOR SLOWLY STOOD UP, WALKED OVER TO THE PULPIT,
BEFORE GIVING HIS SERMON FOR THE EVENING,
HE BRIEFLY INTRODUCED A GUEST MINISTER WHO WAS IN THE SERVICE
THAT EVENING.
IN THE INTRODUCTION, THE PASTOR TOLD THE CONGREGATION THAT THE GUEST
MINISTER WAS ONE OF HIS DEAREST CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AND THAT HE WANTED
HIM TO HAVE A FEW MOMENTS TO GREET THE CHURCH AND SHARE WHATEVER HE FELT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR THE SERVICE.
WITH THAT, AN ELDERLY MAN STEPPED UP TO THE PULPIT AND BEGAN TO
SPEAK.
A FATHER, HIS SON, AND A FRIEND OF HIS SON WERE SAILING OFF THE
PACIFIC COAST," HE BEGAN, "WHEN A FAST APPROACHING STORM BLOCKED ANY ATTEMPT TO GET BACK TO THE SHORE. THE WAVES WERE SO HIGH, THAT EVEN THOUGH THE FATHER WAS AN EXPERIENCED SAILOR, HE COULD NOT KEEP THE BOAT UPRIGHT AND THE THREE WERE SWEPT INTO THE OCEAN AS THE BOAT CAPSIZED."
THE OLD MAN HESITATED FOR A MOMENT,
MAKING EYE CONTACT WITH TWO TEENAGERS WHO WERE, FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE SERVICE BEGAN, LOOKING SOMEWHAT INTERESTED IN HIS STORY.
THE AGED MINISTER CONTINUED WITH HIS STORY,
"GRABBING A RESCUE LINE,THE FATHER HAD TO MAKE THE MOST EXCRUCIATING DECISION OF HIS LIFE: TO WHICH BOY HE WOULD THROW THE OTHER END OF THE LIFE LINE. HE ONLY HAD SECONDS TO MAKE THE DECISION. THE FATHER KNEW THAT HIS SON WAS A CHRISTIAN AND HE ALSO KNEW THAT HIS SON'S FRIEND WAS NOT. THE AGONY OF HIS DECISION COULD NOT BE MATCHED BY THE TORRENT OF WAVES. "
"AS THE FATHER YELLED OUT, 'I LOVE YOU, SON!' HE THREW OUT THE LIFE
LINE TO HIS SON'S FRIEND. BY THE TIME THE FATHER HAD PULLED THE FRIEND BACK TO THE CAPSIZED BOAT, HIS SON HAD DISAPPEARED BENEATH THE RAGING SWELLS INTO THE BLACK OF NIGHT. HIS BODY WAS NEVER RECOVERED."
BY THIS TIME, THE TWO TEENAGERS WERE SITTING UP STRAIGHT IN THE PEW,
ANXIOUSLY WAITING FOR THE NEXT WORDS TO COME OUT OF THE OLD
MINISTER'SMOUTH.
"THE FATHER,"
HE CONTINUED, "KNEW HIS SON WOULD STEP INTO ETERNITY WITH JESUS AND HE COULD NOT BEAR THE THOUGHT OF HIS SON'S FRIEND STEPPING INTO AN ETERNITY WITHOUT JESUS...
THEREFORE, HE SACRIFICED HIS SON TO SAVE THE SON'S FRIEND.
HOW GREAT IS THE LOVE OF GOD THAT HE SHOULD DO THE SAME FOR US.
OUR HEAVENLY FATHER SACRIFICED HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON THAT WE COULD BE
SAVED.
I URGE YOU TO ACCEPT HIS OFFER TO RESCUE YOU AND TAKE A HOLD OF THE LIFE LINE HE IS THROWING OUT TO YOU IN THIS SERVICE."
WITH THAT, THE OLD MAN TURNED AND SAT BACK DOWN IN HIS CHAIR AS
SILENCE FILLED THE ROOM.
THE PASTOR AGAIN WALKED SLOWLY TO THE PULPIT WHERE HE DELIVERED
A BRIEF SERMON WITH AN INVITATION AT THE END.
HOWEVER, NO ONE RESPONDED TO THE APPEAL. WITHIN MINUTES AFTER THE
SERVICE ENDED, THE TWO TEENAGERS WERE AT THE OLD MAN'S SIDE.
"THAT WAS A NICE STORY," POLITELY STATED ONE OF THE BOYS, "BUT I DON'T
THINK IT WAS VERY REALISTIC FOR A FATHER TO GIVE UP HIS ONLY SON'S LIFE IN HOPES THAT THE OTHER BOY WOULD BECOME A CHRISTIAN."
"WELL, YOU'VE GOT A POINT THERE," THE OLD MAN REPLIED, GLANCING DOWN
AT HIS WORN BIBLE. A BIG SMILE BROADENED HIS NARROW FACE, HE ONCE AGAIN
LOOKED UP AT THE BOYS AND SAID, "IT SURE ISN'T VERY REALISTIC, IS IT? BUT I'M STANDING HERE TODAY TO TELL YOU THAT STORY GIVES ME A GLIMPSE OF WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR GOD TO GIVE UP HIS SON FOR ME. YOU SEE --- I WAS THAT FATHER AND YOUR PASTOR IS MY SON'S FRIEND."
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Take 60 seconds & give this a shot! Let's just see Satan stop this
one.
All you do is:
1) Simply say a small prayer for the person who sent you this,
(Father, God bless this person in whatever it is that you know he or
she-may be needing this day!)
2) Then send it on to five other people. Within hours five people
have prayed for you, and you caused a multitude of people to pray to God for other people. Then sit back and watch the power of God work in your life for doing the thing that you know he loves.
If you have came to the KING after reading these two stories please let us know, so that we may add you to our prayer list.
May Our FATHER IN HEAVEN RICHLY BLESS YOU.
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