OUT OF THE BOX

THE HARD HEART A true story Mr. C____ was the elderly patriarch of his family. His wife was a godly woman, but he never went to church nor professed to be a Christian (at least not to my knowledge). He was in his mid-eighties and showed no signs of any concern about eternity. Until he retired Mr. C_____ ran a small country store beside the highway not far from my childhood home. He was famous for “stretching the truth” by telling some unsuspecting customer that a neighbor had “passed away” that morning. My grandmother once answered the door to find a sad old gentleman standing there giving his condolences regarding my grandfather’s death. “Mrs.Eva, I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am to hear about Mr.Tharon’s passing.” About that time my grandfather came to the door to greet the startled gentleman. Mr. C’s favorite target was an elderly man named Mr Faircloth; and occasionally as people came into the store, Mr. C_____ would tell them that the gentleman had died that day or the day...

  GOD, THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE Rebellious men in this age often yield and surrender in the face of great power simply simply due to having been overcome by the sheer force of power they cannot resist. This is a reluctant surrender. But when men stand before the God of the universe in that great day of the Lord, they will not just simply yield, but will face the clear, absolute, and incontrovertible truth that God is right and was always right all along. Before God in that day, everyone will realize the utter and total foolishness of his own ways and will be compelled by the sheer force of truth to admit that God is righteous and that rebellious man was in error. There will be no lie or deception in the presence of God. There will be no pretending, no games, no manipulation, no false accusations, no specious finagling, no devious twists of facts, no spurious arguments, no perversion of truth, no legal technicalities to obstruct justice. God will judge righteously according to absolute ...

A SPECIAL TREAT I have spoken twice at the Recovery Church in Charlotte, NC where Jim Shock was the pastor. (He is with the Lord now). An amazing thing happened both times I was there. During my first visit and just before I gave my message, one of the members, named David, went to the podium to read a scripture and say a few words before taking up the offering. The amazing thing is that the very verse he read was my text for the morning message, and my Bible was open to that very verse. Without realizing it he had chosen a Bible verse that just happened to be the topic of my message. When I stood up to speak I told him and the congregation how he had been led by the Spirit to select the exact verse that I was about to speak on, and that his word had confirmed the message I was about to bring. I spoke at this same church again a few weeks later. Before the meeting started, I went with Pastor Jim and his prayer team to pray for the service. David turned to me with a smile and said, “...

Dear Friends I pulled out an old newsletter and found this testimony written by Chris Stanley. We appreciate his testimony of God’s healing power and his desire to use that testimony to encourage all of us. When the doctors had given up hope, God answered prayer and bore witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ by working a miracle of healing. Also, it is important to know that Chris wrote this testimony in 1997, about 26 years ago. The doctors had given him up to die, but God intervened. Chris is healthy, is a worship leader in his church, and still testifies to the faithfulness and love of God. ---Billy Long   CAN YOU PRAISE HIM NOW? By Chris Stanley During the time I had cancer I experienced a period of depression. I came home from the hospital after receiving a large dose of chemotherapy called “methotrexate.” Five days of it to be exact. As a result, my hands and mouth developed blisters. I couldn’t eat for 31 days. I laid in the bed feeling sorry for myself ju...

  FACING ETERNITY   I have written this article to encourage those who know Jesus to be at peace knowing that beyond the veil of this flesh there is a glorious and wonderful eternity awaiting us.    My second purpose for this article is to awaken the unbeliever to the realities of the spiritual realm and to fact that each person must face eternity and give an account to God. What will you hear at your last breath? Jesus said to the repentant thief on a cross beside Him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” To the man who had ignored God, He said, “Fool, this night your soul will be required of you.” One man lifted his eyes into the glory of God’s presence and eternal life. The other was carried into hell and eternal misery. We must remember that God does not want any to perish, but that all might come to eternal life. For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have ev...