Subscribe  

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Download MP3 (right click to save)

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

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Download MP3 (right click to save)

One of the large churches in our area started a new building and they announced it would be for community outreach. But they did something I've never seen a church do before. They gathered the congregation around the just-completed foundation of that new building and they asked them to throw something into the foundation. Now you've no doubt seen people's names on the outside of a building's foundation, especially on the cornerstone. But these folks were actually putting names inside the foundation-the names of people they care about who don't belong to Jesus yet; people they are hoping and praying will be in heaven with them some day.

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Download MP3 (right click to save)

I was speeding along the Interstate; legally speeding of course, and this van passed me. He pulled into the right lane and then he seemed to be maintaining a pretty consistent speed. For many miles, I ended up traveling behind him. I noticed there was something unusual about this van-it had a plastic bubble that was mounted just above the roof. I had some ideas of why it might be there, especially in light of the words printed on the side of the van. It gave the name of a large express mail delivery service, followed by these words, "Critical Care Van." Later, actually a law enforcement friend of mine confirmed my theory of what that vehicle was actually carrying-parts. Body parts needed for transplants that can save lives. And the bubble on top? My friend said that's a strobe light that actually turns traffic lights green as the van approaches them! Wonder how I could get one of those for me?

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Download MP3 (right click to save)

If you've ever listened to the fans at a college or professional football game, you know some of them are the ultimate experts at what their team is doing wrong and what they should be doing. It's just amazing some of those fans haven't been hired as like head coach of the team, right? Yeah. After speaking for professional football chapels and getting to know some of the players, I was less than patient with their critics all around me up in the stands. I mean, I knew some of those guys on the field. I knew they had everything on the line when they played and that they were the only heroes in the game. You know, there were no heroes in the stands. Sometimes I just wanted to stand up and say to one of those guys: by the way, I never did because they were all bigger than I am. But I wanted to say, "Hey! Why don't you get out of the stands and get in the game!"

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Look, whether you're a Yankee or a Confederate at heart, you don't take much joy in what happened at what is called the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy." If you're a Civil War buff, you know that's where the Union Army turned back Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. Some 15,000 Confederate soldiers marched courageously across a field in a very tightly packed formation, advancing on 40,000 Union soldiers. Only 150 of those Southern soldiers made it. General Lee had made an honest but tragic mistake. See, he'd been trained at West Point in Napoleon's war tactics-masses of men, advancing against imprecise, short-range weapons until they could overwhelm the opposing troops in hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately, things had changed since that kind of strategy had won battles for Napoleon. Recent technology had greatly improved the range and the accuracy of the rifles that the Union Army was using, which meant those masses of men were brought down long before they could ever reach enemy lines.

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Because we lived along the East Coast for so many years, we had the opportunity to see many of America's old lighthouses. I mean, not long ago we came up over the top of a hill on an interstate and I saw what I certainly never expected to see hundreds of miles from the ocean. It was a lighthouse with a bright, functioning light on top. Obviously, it wasn't there to point any ships in the right direction. Actually, it was part of a church that stands right near the highway. This lighthouse is for people!

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Download MP3 (right click to save)

When you live around New York City like I did for 30 years, you take people on lots of tours. We've had friends visit us from all over the country - all over the world - and, of course, they all want to see the sights of New York that they've heard so much about. Well, we got to take many of them to the Statue of Liberty, the late great World Trade Center, Times Square, Broadway, the United Nations, Central Park. And something interesting actually happened to me as I introduced others to the place that I knew so much about and that I'd seen a lot of times. In a sense, I sort of discovered those places for myself in a new way, and I was actually energized by watching their reactions to seeing it all for the first time.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Download MP3 (right click to save)

My life was profoundly affected by the example of five American missionaries who died trying to get the Gospel to a Stone Age tribe in Ecuador who had never heard the name of Jesus. They were actually murdered by the tribe that was then known as the Aucas. We now know them as the Waoranis. Amazingly, the wife of one of those missionaries and the sister of another actually went to the tribe that had killed their loved ones to tell them about Jesus. Today, some of the murderers of the missionaries are pastors of the Waorani church. It's an amazing story. 

Friday, June 1, 2018

Download MP3 (right click to save)

Over the years, my wife missed some memorable photographs because of me. Well, frankly because I was in too much of a hurry to stop. I'll tell you what, what a gift as a photographer this lady had! What an eye for what was going to turn out to be a memorable picture. So, we'd be speeding along. She'd see one of those potential pictures and ask me to stop. Okay, here comes my all-too-frequent answer: "We'll stop later." OK, I'm a guy. Well, somehow the same picture isn't there a few minutes later. I remember this one scene; we saw this cabin in a field and it was haloed with this beautiful rainbow. That scene just wasn't there a few minutes later. It's amazing how there's this brief window during which you can capture the scene and, well, then it's gone. 

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Download MP3 (right click to save)

I was speaking for a youth camp, and I'd been pouring out my heart to those teenagers in service after service. At the end of the week, some kids came up to me and said, "Do you know what really affected us the most this week?" I was kind of waiting to hear which message, or which illustration, or which challenge had impacted them. It wasn't any of those things. These teenagers said, "You know, Ron, we've been watching you with your wife this week. We've seen how you treat her, how you put your arm around her, and how you talk to her. That's what impressed us."

Page 24 of 64

                

GET IN TOUCH

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

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

FIND OUT MORE

Home / About

What We Do / Resources

News / Blog / Store

Contact Us / Privacy Policy

Donate

STAY UPDATED

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

Please know we will never share or sell your info.

Subscribe

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

Back to top