Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001333A
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00:08 It has stood the test of time.
00:12 God's book, the Bible. 00:17 Still relevant in today's complex world. 00:22 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe. 00:37 Thanks for joining me today on It is Written. 00:39 I'm John Bradshaw. 00:40 Today, we are going to focus on a special verse 00:42 of the Bible. 00:43 In 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 and verse 17, the Bible says 00:46 that if anybody is in Christ, that person becomes 00:50 a new creature. 00:51 Some translations will say a new creation and then it 00:55 says this "Old things are passed away and all things 01:00 become new." My guest for today is a long time 01:04 speaker, best-selling author Ron Halverson is proof of 01:09 that fact, that God can take the old and make it new, 01:11 that God can take the person we were and replace it with 01:15 the person that we can be in Jesus Christ. 01:18 Ron Halverson has a remarkable, a dramatic 01:20 conversion story about how God found him 01:23 and changed his life. 01:24 Ron Halverson, thanks for joining me today. 01:26 RH: Glad to be here again. 01:27 JB: Now you hail from New York City, the mean streets 01:31 of New York City. 01:32 RH: I come from Brooklyn, New York, a little section 01:36 in Brooklyn, New York, called Coney Island. 01:38 That's where the amusement center is. 01:40 Also the crime center and juvenile crime, but that's 01:44 where I was brought up and it's a 01:48 wonderful experience. 01:49 JB: And I've heard you say before that as a young man, 01:51 you weren't chosen from among the good angels. 01:55 You were a bit of a rebel. 01:56 RH: I grew up in a very bad neighborhood, poor, poverty. 02:00 My father at the time was an alcoholic and when you grow 02:05 up in poverty, in that kind of neighborhood, you rebel. 02:09 There is something inside of you. 02:11 You're fighting it and I blame my parents and blamed 02:15 the teachers and you know, they put me in special class 02:21 and I was always in trouble and that was going 02:25 to be my life. 02:26 My life was a bad environment. 02:28 The neighborhood itself is a jungle, they called it "the 02:31 asphalt jungle." It was. 02:33 You acted like animals in the street and I learned 02:36 the law of the street, and the future 02:39 didn't look too bright. 02:40 JB: Now we now thank the Lord that the future 02:43 turned out pretty well. 02:44 You are here today. 02:45 You have been serving the Lord for many years. 02:47 You have lead many people to faith in Jesus Christ. 02:49 You have proclaimed the Bible around the world. 02:51 It turned okay. 02:52 But getting from there to here was quite the 02:54 experience and so I just want to say this, as we talk 02:56 today, it is encouraging to remember. 03:00 Parents, God can turn your sons and daughters around 03:04 sons and daughters around to him. Children. 03:06 People without hope. 03:07 Young people. 03:08 There is hope for you because God can 03:11 change your life. 03:12 Somebody in this world saying "What do I have 03:15 to look forward to? 03:16 What does my life hold for me? 03:18 What is coming ahead? 03:20 There is something to look forward to because when 03:23 Jesus Christ gets into your life, He change what you are 03:26 and make you what you could never make yourself. 03:29 And Ron, so, as a young person, you got involved in 03:30 all kinds of various things that parents today would not 03:34 want their kids getting involved in. 03:36 RH: The thing was, John, was that I didn't believe 03:39 in God. 03:41 JB: Why not? 03:41 RH: I just ... Where was God in the ghetto? 03:44 It's easy to see God in a cathedral. 03:47 It's easy to talk about God when you are brought up 03:50 in a Christian home ... 03:51 JB: You were not brought up going to church? 03:53 You know, my parents didn't go to church. 03:56 They sent us to Sunday School every now and then 03:59 and we were confirmed but we didn't really have a family 04:04 experience about God and I kind of was rebelling 04:07 against everything so the first thing I rebelled 04:10 was against God. 04:11 If there was a God, he had a twisted sense of humor. 04:18 I mean, here is the inner city. 04:19 Here's people suffering and hurting and dying 04:21 in the streets and I mean, that's the reality 04:23 of the inner city. 04:24 That's the reality of the ghetto, and I'm growing up 04:26 in there and when they tried to talk to me about God, 04:29 I said I don't want nothing to do with a God 04:32 that would allow this. 04:33 I got in trouble. 04:34 I mean, I was breaking and entering. 04:36 I was hot-wiring, stealing my first car when I was 14. 04:38 I was snatching pocket books, you know. 04:40 I mean, I'm running the streets. 04:42 I'm fighting in the streets. 04:43 I mean, that was the way of life. 04:45 My brother and I would wake up in the morning and he'd 04:47 say "Let's go look for a fight" so we'd go out 04:50 to look for a fight. 04:51 And I was blaming everybody but myself. 04:55 I was blaming the neighborhood. 04:57 I was blaming my parents. 04:59 I was blaming the law. 05:00 But it really was me, inside of me, that anger. 05:04 It seethed out in violence. 05:05 JB: You were raised to fight, weren't you? 05:07 As a kid you were schooled as a boxer. 05:09 RH: My dad was a professional fighter 05:12 for nine fights. 05:14 He won 8, he drew 1. 05:16 He was a very tough man. 05:19 When my mother said "quit the ring or else" he didn't 05:21 want to fight my mother, I guess, he quit the ring but 05:24 he wanted one of his boys to be a fighter. 05:26 Well, my dad put a heavy bag in the basement, a light bag 05:30 and we'd be hitting it when I was a pee-wee. 05:32 I was in the pee-wee boxing. 05:34 You could hardly put the gloves on, they were so 05:36 heavy, but I started there and you're just like a fly 05:39 weight, and you are boxing and then I'd train five 05:43 nights a week and I wanted to be a prize fighter and 05:46 my father drilled it in my head. 05:48 I want to be a light heavyweight champion 05:50 of the world. 05:51 That was my big goal, was to become a prize fighter, 05:55 and I got a lot of my violence out a lot of my anger 05:59 out that way. 06:00 But you really didn't achieve in my neighborhood 06:02 until you were in the gang. 06:03 There were 200 fighting gangs in the 50's and 60's, 06:07 in New York 200 fighting gangs and they were well 06:11 organized gangs. 06:12 They had a president, vice president, light up man. 06:14 The light up man took care of the weapons. 06:16 You had sawed off shotguns, Saturday night specials, 06:19 baseball bats, drills filled with lead, stiletto 06:24 push-button blades go through 3/4 inch piece 06:27 of plywood. 06:28 I was trying to find some fight of recognition from 06:30 fighting in the ring and fighting in the streets. 06:33 I did not know of any way out. 06:36 See, my neighborhood, it was a bad neighborhood. 06:37 About 70 or 80% of the kids had police records 06:42 before 16 or 17. 06:44 Anything that was not fastened down, I'd take. 06:47 JB: What might have made a difference? 06:50 There was a scarcity of good role models. 06:52 Maybe nothing would have made a difference, Ron, 06:54 but was there anything that might have made 06:55 a difference in the life of a wayward kid back them? 06:58 RH: Well with me, I came to an experience with Christ 07:01 but showing that there is hope for them, hope. 07:06 Everybody needs hope. 07:07 I mean, there's no hope. 07:09 There's no hope when the majority of the kids that 07:12 come out of my neighborhood go to prison. 07:14 What kind of hope is that? 07:15 Or they drop out of school. 07:16 They are drop outs. 07:17 I couldn't really read or write when I was in high school. 07:21 I mean, I could functionally get along, you know, 07:23 for a comic book. 07:24 I could see enough pictures. 07:25 I could figure it out. 07:26 But I could not pick up a Bible or a book and just 07:29 read it and so what kind of future does a person 07:33 like that have? 07:34 He thinks the only future he has is he is going to fight 07:37 his way out of the neighborhood or they are going 07:40 to carry him dead out of the neighborhood. 07:44 That's the mindset you have and that was the mindset 07:47 I had as a teenager, and the police gave up on me. 07:51 They told me "hey", he's no good. 07:53 My principal told my mother one day "Your boy's a bum. 07:57 He is no good. 07:58 He will never amount to anything. 08:01 They are going to throw him away in jail, lock him up, 08:03 throw away the key. 08:04 This kid .. 08:05 no hope." He told my mother. 08:07 My mother cried on her way home and that's the 08:09 heartbreak of America, what we do to our parents. 08:12 I had a wonderful mother. 08:12 I had a wonderful father, but he didn't know God. 08:17 He was an alcoholic, but he was a wonderful dad, 08:19 he was a hard working man. 08:20 He never made a lot of money. 08:22 We lived in the worst of worst tenements. 08:25 Poverty-stricken. 08:27 But my mama, she scrimped and saved. 08:30 My mother, she didn't know what to do. 08:32 She says to me, "Ronny, I don't know what 08:36 to do with you? 08:37 What can I do?" 08:38 And I didn't know. 08:39 I would have told her, "mom, you can't help me, 08:41 only God could help me", but who knows that? 08:43 JB: Something you said is interesting. 08:45 There was no hope. 08:46 There was no hope. 08:47 Evidently, there was hope because today Ron Halverson 08:49 is a changed man and has been for a long time. 08:51 How does a person get from there, lost and without hope, 08:55 to sharing the hope that we have in Jesus Christ 08:59 with people all around the world we'll find out in a minute. 09:03 [Music] In Matthew 4:4, the word 09:06 of God says, It is written, man shall not live by bread 09:09 alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth 09:13 of God. 09:14 Every Word is a one-minute Bible-based daily devotional 09:16 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed 09:20 especially for busy people like you. 09:22 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch it 09:25 on-line everyday on our website, itiswritten.com. 09:29 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 09:32 Watch Every Word. 09:33 You'll be glad you did. 09:35 Here's a sample. 09:45 Thanks for joining me. 09:46 Every now and then my daughter will show me 09:48 a feature on my phone that I knew nothing about and I'll say, 09:52 "well, that's really helpful, I did not know that." 09:55 It can be like that with God's blessings. 09:58 There might be things we are missing out on because we 10:00 simply do not know about them. 10:02 You know, the Bible says in Exodus 20:8, "Remember 10:04 the Sabbath Day to keep it holy." 10:06 God carved a day out of the rock of time 10:09 and set it aside for us to spend time especially 10:12 with him. 10:13 If you are missing it, you are missing a real blessing. 10:16 I wonder how many people are losing a blessing because 10:18 they are not remembering the Sabbath day. 10:20 Just letting the hours pass by without taking them 10:23 to spend with God. 10:25 Don't make that mistake. 10:26 Let the Sabbath be the blessing that God wants it to be 10:30 in your life. 10:31 I am John Bradshaw for It Is Written. 10:34 Let's live today by Every Word. 10:39 [Music] Eyes for India is 10:42 giving sight to the blind and you can be a part of this 10:45 amazing work that God is doing. 10:48 Fifteen million blind people live in India, more than any 10:50 other country in the world. 10:52 And many of the blind in India could see again if only 10:56 they could have simple cataract surgery. 10:59 It Is Written is making that happen. 11:02 Would you support Eyes for India? 11:05 For just $75 you will be giving the gift of sight to 11:09 someone who desperately wants to see. 11:12 Here's all you need to do. 11:13 Call 1.800.253.3000 to donate and support Eyes for India. 11:20 Or you can write to It Is Written, Box O, Thousand 11:23 Oaks, California, 91359. 11:27 You'll also find Eyes for India on-line at 11:29 itiswritten.com 11:33 Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. 11:34 I4m John Bradshaw. 11:35 Today, the Ron Halverson story. 11:38 He has been called from gangs to God. 11:42 Ron, this was no laughing matter. 11:44 You were a lost boy, in trouble, making trouble. 11:46 You said a moment ago there was no hope and when you 11:50 have no hope, the future is bleak, no matter which 11:53 way you stack it. 11:54 Somehow, the light started to shine in. 11:56 RH: Well, this is the amazing thing and this is why 11:58 I love my work. 11:59 I work in the inner cities a lot. 12:01 I work in the big cities. 12:02 I work for a lot of these people. 12:04 God is there. 12:07 The incarnation is God is here. 12:09 God is waiting to touch a life, but at that time 12:12 I was hopelessly lost. 12:13 I said I didn4t want to know about God, 12:16 I don4t believe in God. 12:17 You know, anything I could do. 12:19 I4d curse God, but God wasn4t done with me. 12:22 God didn4t give up on me. 12:24 What happened was the miracle that happened was 12:26 another kid found God. 12:29 Another kid in the neighborhood, one kid, a 15 12:32 year-old kid finds God and his life 12:36 is drastically changed. 12:37 I mean, this kid, he is coming down the street with 12:39 a Bible in his hand. 12:40 I mean, he hardly knows anything about the Bible. 12:43 If you think you can only be saved if you know everything 12:45 about the Bible, then only the intelligent will be saved, 12:48 only the theologian will be saved. 12:50 Thank God that4s not true. 12:52 JB: That4s right. 12:53 That4s a mistake they made in Jesus' day, that only 12:54 the educated class. 12:55 RH: And this kid, he don't know much, he can't find 13:00 much in the Bible, but he's so full of God he wants to 13:05 share it, so here we are standing on the street 13:08 corner, black leather jackets, skull, blood dripping 13:10 over the skull, every gang flew its color 13:13 and there you are, switchblade in your pocket, 13:15 you know, looking cool. 13:16 And this kid comes up. 13:18 I knew he's a friend of mine. 13:20 We're from the third grade, and he is smiling, 13:23 and nobody smiles in my neighborhood, and I said 13:25 what's wrong with you? 13:26 And he says, "Ah, I found Jesus Christ in my heart." 13:28 "Jesus? 13:32 Religion is old people, Jim. 13:34 I mean, when you have one foot in the casket and the 13:37 other on a banana peel, hey, that's when you get religion." 13:39 JB: You get religious there. 13:40 RH: And I kid him. 13:41 I said, "Man, I wanna live it up", forgetting 13:43 I have to live it down. 13:45 And Jim, every time you see him, smile on his face, 13:47 and talking about God, but you know, we began 13:50 to see a change. 13:52 The kids didn't curse around him so much. 13:54 They didn't plan their escapades so much. 13:57 I mean, they kind of admired him. 14:00 When they got in trouble, who was the first person 14:01 they called? Jim. 14:03 And he'd come smiling. 14:04 But he always kept after me because I was his friend, 14:08 but I am now in William E. Grady 14:11 Vocational High School, I am in a school that wrote 14:14 the Blackboard Jungle. 14:15 JB: Oh, that's that school? 14:16 RH: Yeah. 14:16 And you know, juvenile crime. 14:18 On ever corner, there's a policeman station. 14:21 I mean this is where you run up the downstair case 14:23 and find someone who's stomach is slit open. 14:25 I'm in the middle of rumbles, where kids get blown away. 14:28 One of my best friends I recruited in the gang, 14:31 he was blown away, his head blown off his shoulders 14:34 and died in a pool of blood at 16. 14:36 I mean, try to live with that your whole life. 14:39 And here's this kid, Jimmy. 14:41 He goes off to this academy, a Christian school, way out 14:44 in Queens, two hours each way on the train. 14:47 We thought he was crazy. 14:48 But when we got in trouble, hey man .. 14:52 "Jimmy" ... and he came, and he ministered to them. 14:55 I'm playing hookey and I'm going down the street 15:00 and a friend of mine, coming the other way, 15:02 Richard, he is coming to school and I said 15:04 "Where are you going" and he says "school" and I said 15:06 "you don't want to go to school". 15:07 We'd play hookey, you know, all the time, but he just 15:09 got out of reform school and so he had to go 15:10 to school or else they would send him 15:11 away until he was 21. 15:13 And he said "No, I gotta go." 15:14 And I said "No." He said "No, they know where we 15:15 go." We'd go down to the boardwalk, 15:17 we'd go down to the pool hall, and then I thought 15:20 about this kid, out in a christian school in Queens. 15:24 I said "Hey man, let's go out there. 15:28 Who is going to look for you and me in a Christian school" 15:30 and that was the week that began 15:32 to change my life. 15:33 We snuck onto the train. 15:34 We never paid to get on the train. 15:36 It's an elevated train in lower Brooklyn. 15:38 We climb up, cross the tracks, don't want to get electrocuted, 15:40 jump between trains and save 15 cents. 15:42 So, I come out to this school, a Christian school. 15:45 JB: And you go to this Christian school because 15:48 you are on the run. 15:49 You are not going there for any good reasons. 15:51 RH: Oh yeah, no, yeah, and I figure we'd go out there, 15:54 and I'm not going to be out in the street, so I walk 15:58 into the school and it's quiet, man. 16:00 I'm used to guys fighting it out. 16:02 I see kids overdose on the roof, 16:04 they strip them of their clothes to sell, 16:06 friends throw their body off the roof. 16:08 I mean, yeah, this is a bad place. 16:10 I turn to my friend Rich and I say "Man, 16:12 this can't be a school." 16:13 This has got to be a morgue. 16:14 I mean, there ain't a dead body you see here. 16:16 Not a live people, and just then, a woman teacher came 16:19 down and she says "Can I help you?" 16:21 She was kind of frightened. 16:22 You can picture it. 16:23 I mean you know, here I am, I look the part, 16:27 I look the part of a criminal and I was. 16:30 She says "Can I help you?" 16:31 And I say "I'm looking for Jimmy Landis. 16:33 Does he go to school here?" 16:34 And she says "He's up in chapel". 16:36 I didn't know what a chapel was. 16:38 I never been in a chapel all my life. 16:40 I said "Chapel?" She said "Well, yes, it's like assembly 16:42 in public school. 16:43 Do you want to go up?" 16:44 I said "Yeah" I don't want to go out. 16:46 But anyway, so my friend and I, Richard, just out 16:48 of reform school, we go up, get to the door, I put my hand 16:52 on the door knob and just then, she said "Oh, by the way 16:55 it's week of prayer." 16:56 I break out laughing, man. 16:57 "A week of prayer?" I say "I can't pray 30 seconds, 17:00 how do they pray for a whole week?" 17:02 And that was my introduction. 17:04 I walked in this chapel. 17:06 The week of prayer preacher was up front. 17:10 Sat in my seat, the last two seats with my friend and I, 17:13 in the back row. 17:14 Jimmy turned around, he saw me and he 17:18 couldn't believe it. 17:19 I mean, he could not believe it and he came running back 17:22 and sat with us. 17:24 I was looking around. 17:25 I didn't listen. 17:26 You don't want to listen. 17:27 That's why people don't go to church. 17:29 They are afraid God might grab them. 17:31 They don't go to meetings because they are afraid 17:33 "Hey, I might listen." Well, I wasn't going to listen. 17:35 I'm looking, checking the chicks out, you know, 17:37 and doing everything else. 17:38 Next day, played hookey with my friend 17:40 and went out to the Greater New York Academy, 17:42 walk in, black leather jackets, skull blood, 17:44 hate in my heart. 17:45 I hate it. 17:46 Man, I had such anger. 17:48 I'd hit you, run your face down a brick wall and walk away 17:50 and not feel nothing. 17:51 but things were going to change because happenstance, 17:58 things change, let me tell you. 18:00 That night, we were going to have a block party. 18:02 We used to have block parties and the guys would put ash 18:05 barrels across the corners so the cars couldn't 18:07 come through, and then we'd get the ghetto blaster going, 18:09 and you know, we'd have a dance, and each 18:11 member was supposed to bring something to the party, 18:14 and the president would give you a slip of paper 18:17 and you know, you'd get that stuff, 18:19 and since I had no money, I'd break and enter. 18:21 I was to get all that stuff that is not good for you 18:23 right now, but when we get to heaven, we'll be alright, 18:25 you know, eclairs, and lemon meringue pies. 18:27 Yeah, that's the kind of tree I'm gonna have, 18:30 everybody else can have a pineapple tree but I'm going 18:33 to have an eclair tree, but anyway, so I go down 18:35 to Brighton Breach, and at Second, 18:37 on Neptune Avenue, there's a bakery. 18:39 I wait until it closes, I break in the back, 18:41 I get in. I go for those little white boxes 18:44 they have in the bakery, you know, I'm filling them up 18:46 with all these cream puffs. 18:47 We're going to have a great party. 18:49 You know, that was my job. 18:50 I was supposed to get all the sweet things. 18:53 So, I say "why go out the back window? 18:55 I'll go out the front door." 18:56 And I go out the front door and about six blocks up, 18:58 a patrol car, the 60th Precinct, 19:00 comes around the corner and here I am with ... 19:04 you know, everybody is a theologian, I mean "get rid 19:07 of your sin", get out of here. 19:09 I drop the cream puffs and try to get traction 19:12 with cream puffs in your sneakers, 19:14 but anyway, I took off. 19:15 And usually in your neighborhood, you knew 19:17 the alley ways. 19:18 But I was in Brighton Beach, that was the next 19:22 neighborhood over. 19:23 Here I am, I'm running and I duck down this alley 19:25 when I figure, I get to the end and I'll jump over 19:27 the fence and I'll be gone, man. 19:29 They won't find me. 19:30 I come to the end, and it's a back of a building, 19:32 it's a dead-end alley. 19:34 So now, being a theologian, I'm gonna think, what amI 19:36 going to tell these guys and I look up and there was 19:39 a fire escape and I pulled the ladder 19:42 down and I ran up. 19:44 I got to the roof just then they came in - "stop 19:46 or I'll shoot". 19:47 I was moving so fast I'd outrun the bullet 19:49 and here I am, run across the building, 19:51 jump over the next building, and I'm gone. 19:53 Next day, I'm out to that school with my friend, 19:55 Richard. 19:56 And this preacher says that this Jesus touched lame legs 19:59 and men walked, and I thought "Wow!" 20:03 Now I'm listening. 20:04 He touched blind eyes and men saw the light of day. 20:07 He touched the little baby's dead heart and beat 20:09 it into life and handed it back to its mother again. 20:12 I thought "Wow, man, what kind of power in 20:16 those hands?" First time in my life ... I mean, I heard that 20:21 before, catechism. 20:22 I heard that stuff, but it never dawned on me 20:25 that it's real. 20:26 I mean, that's like Three Little Pigs 20:29 ... you know, Humpty Dumpty sat on the 20:32 wall ... but REAL? 20:33 He talked about this miraculous Christ and loving 20:36 Christ and boy, a thought came to my mind but I pushed 20:39 it out fast. 20:41 Boy, God...could he be like that? 20:45 Could he be like that? 20:46 That night I needed money. 20:51 The easiest way to get money then was to snatch 20:54 a pocket book. 20:55 A little old lady would come and I'd grab the 20:57 pocket book, pull it and if they yelled 20:59 or screamed, I'd hit them, knock them to the ground. 21:01 That's what sin does to you. 21:02 And so I run out and grabbed a pocket book, I'm pulling 21:04 and this woman, she starts screaming, and I go to hit 21:08 her and all of a sudden, I started to cry. 21:11 Big boys don't cry. 21:13 My daddy taught me that. 21:14 I mean, tough kids don't cry. 21:17 But I was crying. 21:18 I didn't know what it was. 21:20 I let go of the pocket book and I started running. 21:22 I ran down alley ways, up over fences, I fell between 21:26 some ash barrels and almost all night I stayed 21:28 there crying. 21:29 And there was something in my heart. 21:31 It was pounding in my heart. 21:33 I was scared because I didn't know what it was. 21:35 And why didn't I hit her? 21:38 Why couldn't I? 21:39 What was it that changed so drastically, dramatically? 21:42 The next day I played hookey and went out to that school 21:46 with my friend Richard, and now I'm starting to say 21:50 "I gotta listen to this." 21:52 I mean, I can't explain last night. 21:54 I can't explain this miracle man. 21:57 You know what I discovered John, and I want those that 22:01 are watching this program to discover, parents that have 22:03 lost their children, their kids may be in gangs, it may 22:06 seem hopeless. 22:07 Listen, God made a round world. 22:10 That's not a physical scientific reason. 22:13 Because the further you go away from home, the closer 22:18 you come to home. 22:19 You see, that's the story of this planet. 22:21 That's the story of God. 22:23 That's the story of his love. 22:24 He was caring about a gang banger, an angry kid. 22:31 I heard about this Jesus and how they didn't love him, 22:34 they wanted to crucify him and kill him. 22:36 I thought man, you kill bad guys. 22:39 Or good guys that get in the way of bad guys. 22:42 That night, I was supposed to steal a car. 22:45 We already looked at it. 22:46 We knew where it was, what it was, 22:49 what we were going to do. 22:50 And we went out, but there was a knock on the door 22:53 and standing at that door was that Christian boy, 22:56 Jimmy, with a Bible. 22:59 And he said this. 23:00 I'd never forget it, 50 years later. 23:03 "I come to study the Bible with you." I said "What?". 23:07 He said "I come to study, I want to study the Bible." 23:09 And all those people said to me, Aw, you chicken. 23:13 They went out that night. 23:14 They were caught and arrested. 23:16 I would have been in prison, maybe, or dead for all I know, 23:18 because most of my friends are dead or in prison. 23:21 But for the grace of God ... 23:23 and that night, I studied the Bible. 23:26 I couldn't read it but I studied it. 23:29 Next day I went out and heard about 23:31 this crucified Christ, hanging between two thieves, 23:34 and I thought, "Wow! 23:36 Could that Christ who died for two thieves in Jerusalem 23:41 die for a thief in Brooklyn streets and for the first time 23:49 in my life, the first time, I found hope. 23:52 And that day, I gave my heart to God. 23:54 I turned to my friend Richard, and I said "Richard, come on." 23:57 Tears were in his face. 23:59 He was touched by the Spirit of God. 24:01 And he said this, he said "Ron, it costs to much 24:04 to be a Christian." 24:05 JB: That's what he said? 24:06 RH: And he spent his life in prison for murder 24:09 and I went on preaching the gospel and I have 24:12 been on every continent in the world. 24:14 Hey, it cost too much not to be a Christian. 24:16 I discovered that. 24:18 And here is this illiterate. 24:19 What is going to happen now with me? 24:21 The moment I found God, I wanted to tell people. 24:23 JB: Is that right? 24:24 RH: I told people. 24:25 I preached on street corners. 24:27 I held an evangelistic meeting, 17 years old, we held 24:30 an evangelistic meeting in a bookie joint in Brooklyn, 24:33 Jimmy and I. 24:35 First person I seen baptized was my mother. 24:38 And I have held an evangelistic meeting ever since, 24:42 every year of my life, until the day I die. 24:46 I told my wife, I said "Honey, if I die before 24:48 the Lord comes, put a pulpit in my casket 24:50 because I'll come up preaching." And that was 24:52 just from one boy, one teenager who loved God. 24:57 Imagine what we could do if all the teenagers that claim 25:00 to love God would share their faith? 25:01 We had struggles... 25:07 I want to tell people, God didn't promise you 25:09 a rose garden. 25:10 He didn't promise you a ... it's tough. 25:12 I mean there were times that I fell, times that 25:16 I was miserable, I mean, miserably fallen. 25:19 But the difference is getting up. 25:20 Taking that step. 25:21 JB: Christianity continues to be a growth, doesn't it? 25:22 RH: Yeah. 25:22 It's a lifetime. 25:24 And when you fall short, He hasn't. 25:28 That's the gospel. 25:29 That's the good news. 25:30 JB: Someone is struggling today. 25:32 Your message to that person is? 25:34 RH: Reach out for God. 25:35 He is a fingertip away. 25:40 Don't get good enough for God. 25:42 God is good enough for you. 25:44 Just say "Hey, help me" and let him help you and if 25:48 you are sincere to open your heart, he will help you. 25:51 You will be surprised what he can do with you. 25:55 Today, our free book offer is for one 25:57 of my very favorite books. 26:00 Steps to Christ. 26:00 Just what you need in your daily walk with Jesus. 26:04 Just call or write and Steps to Christ will be 26:06 on its way. 26:07 There's no cost or obligation. 26:08 It's our free gift to you. 26:10 Just call 1.800.253.3000 and ask for Steps to Christ. 26:16 Lines are open 24 hours. 26:19 If it's busy when you call, just try again. 26:21 You can also request this free book by writing to 26:24 It is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, 26:27 California 91359 and we'll mail a copy to 26:30 your address in North America. 26:32 Please note, this free book is limited to the supply 26:35 on hand, so call soon. 26:36 For immediate access, you can download a free, 26:39 electronic version of the book Steps to Christ from 26:42 our website itiswritten.com. 26:43 It Is Written is a faith-based ministry made possible 26:48 by viewers like you. 26:49 Thank you for your letters and for your continued support. 26:53 Ron, thank you for sharing today. 26:55 You know a lot of lives are going to be touched, 26:57 have been touched through your ministry 26:59 RH: Well, it's great to be here and to share. 27:01 JB: A lot of people have a lot of hope because of what 27:03 God did for you, God is doing in lives right now and will 27:06 continue to do in lives until Jesus comes back. 27:09 RH: That's right. 27:10 JB: Let's pray together right now. 27:12 Our Father, we thank you knowing that you treat us as 27:15 the father treated the prodigal son. 27:17 You run to meet us and grab us and greet us. 27:20 Thank you for meeting us where we are and helping us 27:22 to know that there is hope through Jesus Christ 27:26 and help us, Lord, to know that beyond the despair that we 27:29 experience in our lives, there is hope for us because 27:33 Jesus died to set us free. 27:36 Bless us, please, in Jesus' name, Amen. 27:46 Ron, thanks. 27:47 Thanks very much for joining me today. 27:49 I appreciate it greatly. 27:50 RH: You're welcome. 27:51 JB: And thank you for joining me today. 27:53 I look forward to seeing you next time and until then, 27:55 please remember It Is Written, man shall not live by bread 27:58 alone but by every word that proceeds from 28:02 the mouth of God. |
Revised 2015-06-18