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THE PASTOR AND HIS SON (3/22/2008)
3/22/2008 9:03:35 PM
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We never know when some little
gesture can make a great difference in someone's
life. Every Sunday afternoon, after the
morning service at the church, the Pastor and his eleven 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, 'OK,
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 eleven 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 door bell. 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
eleven 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 holding 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* and 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. As the service began, he
asked, 'Does anybody have 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, 'No one in this church
knows me. I've never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a
Christian. My husband 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 that 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, for 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! The words that came from his mouth caused
my heart that had long been dead, TO LEAP TO LIFE as he exclaimed with a
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. 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 was not a dry eye in the
church. And 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 his son 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
& honor for his son... Except for One. This Father also allowed His Son 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. Blessed are your eyes for
reading this message. Don't let this message die, read it again and pass it to
others. Heaven is for His people; Jesus is for our
hearts!
Remember, God's
message CAN make the difference in the life of someone close to you. Do not be
too shy to share that wonderful
message.
Happy Easter & God Bless! Marion
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