A Word With You Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.

Well, as the years go by, we get more and more perspective on the presidency of Ronald Reagan. For example, people who were in his administration began writing books like crazy, telling everything they knew. And people, you know, have started to feel free to tell us what they saw, what they heard, especially behind the scenes. It's kind of interesting to learn about the late President's style of leadership. One of his close associates told us about some of the major decisions that President Reagan had to make and how he approached them. He said, "When the decision was particularly tough, President Reagan would ask a key question." Now, don't laugh; this is serious. "What would John Wayne do?" That's right. Oh, now, we can laugh and say, "Oh, come on! What would John Wayne do?" Well, whether or not you agree with all of President Reagan's decisions, I think we have to agree he made some good ones along the way that helped part of our economy, and helped resolve some very difficult international conflicts, and changed the world. Now, I don't know how much the John Wayne question contributed to the process, but President Reagan was on the track of the right kind of question anyway. Not just for his decisions, but for the ones that you're facing right now. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Question That Settles the Questions." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 2:21, "To this you were called..." Wow! Okay, I guess here's your destiny. This is an important verse. "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps." Actually that word example in the original Greek in the New Testament? It's the word for the copy head that was on the top of a child's slate when he was learning to do the alphabet. So, like you make an A like the A you see at the top on the copy head. You make your B like the B at the top, and it will come out just right. Well, this passage was written to some slaves with harsh masters. Now how should they respond? This is an unfair, painful situation they were in. Basically, Peter says, "Do what Jesus would do; copy Him. He gave you an example, now follow in His steps," which suggests the question that settles so many of life's questions. Not what would John Wayne do, with all respects to Ronald Reagan, but "What would Jesus do?" Charles Sheldon wrote one of the great classics of Christian fiction years ago called In His Steps and it was based on this verse. It was about a community that was transformed because the people in one church made their bottom line that question, "What would Jesus do?" And the publisher of the newspaper said, "OK, what would Jesus do in a newspaper?" And a wealthy lady said, "Well, what would Jesus do about the poor in this town?" And the pastor said, "What would Jesus preach about?" And an ambitious musician said, "What would Jesus do?" And it changed everything. It literally is your destiny to live by that simple question, "What would Jesus do?" Put Jesus into the choices you're facing now. What would Jesus do in that business transaction you're in the middle of? How would He respond to that difficult person? How would He respond to that stressful situation? What would Jesus do if He knew about the wrong thing that's going on; the one that you know about? What would He do about that need that you could do something about? What would He do about the poor people in your community? What would He do about the lost people you know? What would Jesus do? Start to pray that way. I think a lot of the fog in your decisions will start to clear. It will greatly simplify what could otherwise be a confusing decision. And then risk it! Have the courage to do what Jesus would do. What would John Wayne do? Well, that's a little shaky basis for a decision. But what would Jesus do? If that's your bottom line all day every day, you won't go wrong.

It's been quite a while since the whole country was really fixated on the trial. It was 1:00 P.M., Tuesday, October 4, 1995, and America came to a sudden stop. Everyone was waiting for the O.J. Simpson verdict. Maybe you don't remember that but I can tell you, this once famous football player was accused of the murder of his wife. It was like the trial of the century. Nine months of the most watched, most analyzed trial in history up to that point. And then, the jury's got a verdict, and the judge announced that we couldn't hear the verdict yet. See, it was placed in a sealed envelope. We had to wait until the next day to find out. Everybody was guessing about it, and then as the verdict envelope arrived, America literally stopped to hear it. I mean, there was this huge power surge in New York City as thousands of TVs came on at once. And all across the country, usually busy streets were strangely un-crowded. Long distance calls dropped by 60%. Now, the verdict would no doubt be debated. But one thing is for sure. We were obsessed with knowing what the verdict was. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about the "The Verdict On Our Eternity." You and I wouldn't be any different no matter what the verdict for O.J. Simpson was. But there is a verdict that really does affect you, because it determines where you will spend eternity. It's God's verdict on you. Was I good enough? Will I get to heaven when I die? Guilty or not guilty with God? See, the verdict is not in an envelope. It's in an open book. In fact I have that verdict here. You have the right to find out God's verdict on you. So our word for today from the Word of God, Romans 3:19 says, "Every mouth will be silenced; the whole world held accountable to God. No one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law." That means doing good things. Chapter 3, verse 2: "There is no one righteous, not even one." Everyone is guilty. Verse 22 says, "There is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." That's verse 23. The verdict is in on each of us - "Guilty before God." We've broken His laws over and over. We've hijacked a life that our Creator gave us and run it ourselves. We have been our own god. Not only is the verdict in, but the sentence has been pronounced. In Romans 6:23 it says, "The wages of sin is death." Some of us will plead the good we've done. It's not enough. No one righteous, not one! See, a death penalty can't be paid by somebody doing good. Somebody has to die. And our sentence - in a word - for our sin, is hell. But this reading of the verdict is followed by this amazing offer of a pardon. It says in the next verses, "We are justified freely by God's grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus through faith in His blood." In other words, someone has come to pay your death penalty - God's own Son. So our only hope of being right with God, of ever going to heaven, is placing all our hope in Jesus Christ - the One who died in our place as our substitute. See, if you think your religion or your goodness is going to satisfy God's verdict, the Bible says it won't. Why would Jesus die on a cross if there was a way you could possibly get to God on your own? Jesus died so He could forgive your sin and erase it from God's Book and trade that death penalty that you and I deserve for the eternal life we could never deserve. Have you ever put your total trust in Jesus to be your Savior from your sin? If you're not sure you have, don't risk another day without Him. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website, and there I've laid out as simply as I can how you can be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com. The bad news is we are all guilty. The sentence is death. But if you belong to Jesus Christ, if you put your trust in Him, the Son of God is your defense attorney who stands before His Father giving the verdict of "not guilty" and you will go to the heaven He has prepared for you.

Once upon a time there was a machinist who lived with his wife, his four-year-old son, and his new baby boy in this cheap apartment on the south side of Chicago. He spent a chunk of his meager earnings on alcohol and cigarettes and gambling, and then the bottom dropped out of his life. His baby boy died suddenly at the age of only six months. He was crushed. I mean, his grief was inconsolable. This machinist (John was his name) took his one surviving boy to church. John didn't go in - no. But he did wait out in front, in his car, smoking his cigarette and reading his Sunday paper. Until the day that one of the men of the church looked outside and noticed the man in the car. He didn't wait for John to come in. He went outside to John's car, introduced himself, asked a few questions, and then invited him in. Well, when John said he wasn't dressed for it, the man told him it didn't matter how he was dressed. The little boy gave his heart to Jesus in that church. And only a few months later, his Dad started coming to the men's Bible class. And one Christmas Eve John tearfully walked the aisle, accepting Christ's forgiveness for his sins. He would grow in Christ and ultimately he'd become a deacon, then the chairman of the deacons, and then an active Christian lay leader. The little boy was me. The machinist in the car in front of the church was my Dad. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Going Beyond the Walls." We were the un-churched. We were the lost. But someone went outside the walls of the church to reach my father. Because he did, my father is in heaven today. There are more people than ever like my father; they will never know Christ if we wait for them to come inside. We'll have to go out where they are if they're ever going to have a chance at heaven. This is not a new idea. In John 4:4, our word for today from the Word of God, the Bible says, "Jesus had to go through Samaria." It was there that Jesus encountered the woman at the well and led her out of a life of promiscuity and emptiness into a new life in Christ. And ultimately she went back and told her village about Jesus and they all came to Him. John 4 tells us that "many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the woman's testimony." Now why did Jesus have to go through Samaria when Jews did everything they could to avoid going through Samaria? Because Samaria is where you go if you want to reach Samaritans! If you want to follow our Master, we'll need to go where the lost people are. Most of them don't ever plan to go to our religious meeting to listen to our religious speaker talk on a religious subject in a religious place, which is usually how we go about trying to reach them isn't it? It's no wonder they're still outside. If we want the lost to be at our outreaches, we need to have some of those outreaches in places they will come to - neutral places. And you've been strategically placed right in the middle of some spiritually dying people. You work with them, you live near them, you're in some group with them, you go to school with them, and you recreate with them. You are God's program for rescuing the lost people who are around you. That's why God placed you there, to save some lives. See, you already are where the spiritually dying people are! You don't have to go where they are. You're there! It's very possible the reason my Dad is in heaven today is because someone left where it was comfortable and someone went outside the walls to reach him. That's where an awful lot of lost people are, and that's where they'll have to be reached, including people you know very well. By the way, as you're listening to this, you might be my Dad, because you've never experienced the love and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ for yourself. And your heart's ready for that. You want that. This is what you've been looking for all your life. Maybe that's why this broadcast today; this is how He has come looking for you where you are. Don't

When our daughter was little, we displayed most of her artwork on the refrigerator door. We were usually proud of her creative efforts...usually. There was this time, though, that my wife was painting the woodwork of our daughter's room and she stopped briefly to answer the phone in another room. She gave our little girl one instruction, "Do not touch the paint!" You want to guess what happened? When my wife returned from her call, little Miss Rembrandt was working on a three-year-old masterpiece. Unfortunately, she had chosen the wall for her canvas. There on her bedroom wall were Designs by The Princess done with the paint that was intended only for the woodwork. Now, Mom didn't spank. She didn't even yell. She just went and got a bucket of soap and water and a rag and gave our daughter a new instruction, "Clean it up." Well, my little girl scrubbed and scrubbed, mostly to no avail. But she learned something important that day. We're responsible for the messes we make. By the way, I think that was the only wall painting she ever did. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fixing What Sin Has Broken." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 7:9-10. It's really about how to clean up the messes we've made. It involves that renewing, transforming process the Bible calls repentance. You might say, "Oh, you mean the feeling bad about what I did?" Not exactly. Verse 9 says, "Your sorrow led you to repentance." Feeling sorry is a good start on repentance, but it's sure not the whole story. Verse 10 says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. See what this godly sorrow is producing in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done." See, these people understood repentance. It's not just a forgiveness fix for your guilty feelings. It's an all-out campaign to fix what your sin messed up. It's the kind of cleanup that "leaves no regret." Now, our daughter was quick to say she was sorry for what she had done that day, and she was forgiven. But she had to step up to the responsibility for the marks she had made. She had to do what she could to remove those marks. Well, so do you and I with some of the sinful mistakes of our past. If you've brought them to the cross where Jesus died to pay for them, and you've asked for His forgiveness, you are clean. In fact, if you've never brought the sin of your life to the cross where Jesus died for you to have the wall between you and God come down so you could go to His heaven and experience His love, today say, "Jesus, I take for myself what You did for me on the cross." I'd love to help you begin that relationship, to be clean, to be forgiven today and to be sure you belong to Him. That's why I want to invite you to go to our website - ANewStory.com. But then after you've made that commitment to Jesus, you're not really done. You aren't emotionally free until you go do what you can to remove any marks your sin has made. If you've wronged anyone, would you obey the Spirit's prompting to go back and make it right? If you took something, would you repay what you took? When you make every effort to fix what your sin may have damaged, you complete the spiritual circle of repentance, restoration and healing. Now, this will require special grace and special courage from the Lord. But if He's telling you to do this, He will give you everything you need to obey Him. The Lord who has forgiven that sin may now be pointing to a mess we made and lovingly saying, "Clean it up." By making things right you can really close a chapter. You can actually say a firm goodbye to the sin of the past, and maybe really feel that great forgiveness that Jesus has already given you.

On the first warm day of spring I can remember my son saying, "Ready for a little baseball, Dad?" Well, 'twas the season, although that early in the season we usually ended up stuck in the mud somewhere between home plate and first base. Now, he didn't ask about playing baseball if it was fall or winter. Now, he always had a like a strong sense of season. By the same token, the first cool day of late summer, of course, that brought a predictable question, "Ready for a little football, Dad?" This is the same son, of course, that got upset when he saw Christmas items up before Thanksgiving, or phone calls when he was studying or homework that you had to do on weekends. See, this kid had and actually still does have for that matter, a strong sense of what season it is, and there's actually a lot of sanity in living that way. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Strong Sense of Season." Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ecclesiastes 3, and let me read some excerpts to you: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance." It goes on with a list of life's times, and then concludes in verse 11, "God has made everything beautiful in its time." Well, the message of Ecclesiastes 3 to me is this: Know what time it is. Know what season it is at this point in your life, or your month, or your week. And then really do what it's time to do and don't mix up your seasons. When it's time to work, really work; when it's time to fellowship, really fellowship. Just don't mix everything up. Now, I know some people who talk for half of their work day. Well, when it's fellowship time, do that, but don't mix that with your work and vice-versa. When it's time to play, really play. When it's time to be home, don't bring your work home with you; really be home. When it's time to be at work, don't keep doing personal stuff. When it's time to pray, block out everything else. Maybe that's why Jesus told us to go into a closet to do it. When it's time to listen, drop everything else and focus on that person. If it's time to finish something else before you listen, get that done and schedule a time when you really can listen. When it's time to study, don't talk. When it's time to unwind, don't study. Get the idea? It's like the Bible says in Colossians 3, "Whatever you do, do it with all your heart." I have a friend whose employees' wives are on the warpath because their husbands are coming home forever late from work. Guess who they blame? The boss and the company for overworking their men. Well, the fact is what the wives don't know is that these men are taking extended lunch hours for gym time and shooting the breeze much of the day. They waste as much time as they work, and then they have to work like crazy at the other end of the day. And then, guess what? They can't be the fathers they need to be. I like what the Bible says again, "Whatever you do, do it with all your heart." And I really like what Jim Elliott, the missionary martyr said, "Wherever you are, be all there." See, things don't work as well when you do them "out of season." Each day, each week has seasons in your life. Well, do with all your heart what it's time to do at that moment and then God makes everything beautiful in its time. I'll tell you, life is a lot more peaceful when you live with a strong sense of season.

We were in the middle of a community-wide outreach event, sort of a non-traditional strategy for bringing Christ into a community. One of the committee leaders took me on a media marathon to help build awareness for it. So we raced to the local CBS TV affiliate. I asked the cameraman when the interview would be on. He said, "tonight's news." That was amazing to me! He said, "I'll just go right into the editing room and we'll do a quick edit." I joked with him about spending half his life in the editing room, which might not be far off. Isn't it great that we can make all kinds of goofs on a video, and there are people who can edit all that right out? I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Erasing Life's Big Mistakes." When that cameraman finished shooting me (you know what I mean), I asked him a question. "Wouldn't it be great if we could edit our lives like that videotape?" He liked that idea. So do I. After all, we've all got moments we're not very proud of; that we're actually ashamed of. There are too many failures on our life-tape, and they're not just recordings. They're flesh and blood, and we can't edit them. But there is Someone who can. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 130:1-4. This is filled with hope for me. "Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy." This is a heart that's feeling the weight of their sin; the weight of the past. Maybe like yours. And then comes this incredible hope statement, "If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? For with You there is forgiveness." Wow! God - the last one we would expect to forgive us? After all, He's perfect. It's His laws we've trampled. God is the only one who could edit our sins, and He will. His editing process is called forgiveness - erasing forever from His eternal records the sin that burdens us with guilt, and shame, and condemnation. When God forgives a sin, it's gone! Acts 3:19 - "Repent and turn to God, and your sins will be wiped away." But there's only one basis on which a Holy God can erase a lifetime of sinning. In God's own words, "The blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." Forgiveness can be found only one place; at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ, where He absorbed all our sin and all of its death penalty when He died. Your sin is edited from God's records the moment you come in faith and repentance to the cross where Jesus died for you. You say, "Well, I've done that, but I still feel guilty." You may feel guilt, but you aren't guilty any more. Not when the only perfect person in the universe has declared you forgiven and clean. Would you base your life on the fact that you are now clean in Jesus Christ and not on the feeling that you're dirty? If you've made Jesus your Savior from your sin, your sin is gone. Yes, you want to confess it as other ones come up but all of it is covered by the blood of Christ. This is liberating news! Don't carry unnecessary guilt around any more. Accept the forgiveness God has given you and remember, Jesus said, "Whoever is forgiven much, loves much." If you're still trying to deal with your past without the Savior in your heart, why would you go one more day unforgiven? This could be your day to have a lifetime of sinning erased from God's Book forever. That's freedom - that's forgiveness! If that's what you want, tell Him that, "Jesus, I turn from running my own life. You died and gave Your life to pay for my sin. I'm Yours today." I want you to be sure you belong to Him. That's why we have it set up at our website, to help you be sure of that. It's ANewStory.com. Would you go there today? There is Someone who can edit your life; removing from every record in God's Book, every mistake and every sin. It's that man who hung on a cross and said these three words, "Father, forgive them."