Okay, I don't remember a lot of content from my science classes in school, but I remember some of the experiments. Remember the one with the hand generator? They connect it to this light bulb, and the harder you crank, the brighter the light gets? If you're gonna try and run your stove, your lights, your air conditioner, your TV with a little hand crank generator, now you've got a power shortage. We have just outside our window on the street on this pole, this big transformer. And fortunately, that's the power we've plugged into to run all the things we need to run. I'm glad we've got that transformer voltage to depend on. Depending on the power that I could crank, it would never do the job. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Cranking Isn't Enough." Now, our word for today from the Word of God. We're in Acts 12 and I'll begin reading at verse 4. The scene is that King Herod has just arrested Peter, feeling that by arresting the key leader of the church in Jerusalem, he will break the back of the Christian movement. The scripture says, "After arresting Peter, Herod put him in prison; handed him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each." This is one guy, right? "Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So, Peter was kept in prison..." (Now, there's not a period there, there is a comma. Listen to this.) "...but, the church was earnestly praying to God for him." You probably remember that during the night an angel came and took care of the guards, took care of the soldiers, took care of the chains, took care of the locked gates, and delivered Peter much to his amazement and the amazement of the very people who were praying for him. I think this prison situation goes beyond just Peter's own incident here. It's one of those situations where an answer is totally beyond your reach. I mean, that's where Peter was. He was totally beyond the reach of the church. They could not in any way affect this situation. They had no power to reach where he was. But they had a prayer meeting. Maybe you're in one of those "beyond your reach" situations, and you're still cranking your little hand generator saying, "I've got to come up with more power! I've got to fix this. I've got to come up with an answer." The Bible says their response was to be earnestly praying. And earnest praying reached where no man could, did what no man could do, opened doors no man could open. God is still in the business of opening doors on prisons around people the same way. Now, when we have unmoving mountains, we tend to have all kinds of meetings. "We need to have a planning meeting." "We need to have a committee meeting." "We need to have a finance meeting." "We need to have an emergency meeting." The power is in the prayer meeting, folks, and usually that's the shortest meeting we have. We have a four-hour committee meeting. We're lucky if we have a half-hour prayer meeting. Guess which will do more. The great Christian leader of another generation, Dr. Bob Cook taught me this. He said, "Prayer is a method of getting things done. It's not something that helps your methods; it's the way to get it done." We usually open our meetings with prayer; close our meetings with prayer, right? But do we stake everything on prayer? And when we pray, do we pray expecting the supernatural? D. L. Moody said that when he was asked the secret of his power, he said, "For fifty years I have had access to the Throne of Grace." A person, a situation, a need. it's beyond your reach. Well, don't keep trying to crank out a man-powered answer. Plug into the awesome generator of God's power. Make the prayer meeting your first stop.

Remember some years ago when the Olympics were in Russia? I liked that news a whole lot better than more recent news about Russia. Yeah, they had fireworks that ended the Russian Olympics. And now the fireworks are in Ukraine. And suddenly part of Ukraine was part of Russia. Hello? Russia flexing its expansionist muscles on the world's stage, I'm hearing those two words again that I haven't heard for a long time - Cold War. See, that standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine, well that could just be a beginning. It's starting to feel pretty familiar and potentially explosive. It doesn't help that a Russian anchorman (who reportedly is called President Putin's "favorite") was a while back on State-controlled TV with a mushroom cloud as his backdrop. He was announcing, literally, Russia is the only country capable of turning the U.S. into (his words) "radioactive ash." And we've heard a lot more saber rattling from them haven't we? That's not what you want to watch right before bedtime. I'm Ron Hutchraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Things Seem Out of Control." Some of this feels like the opening act of a world that's growing even more unstable and more dangerous as time goes by. It's just a disturbing time in the world with almost every night's headline.You know, there's talk about a Cold War standoff with a resurgent Russia; fears of a growing and powerful China. Rekindled fears of terrorism. And then the growing prospect of weapons of mass destruction in some pretty scary hands. It just feels like one little spark sometimes could send things spinning out of control. Well, that's our control. I turn off the news and I reach for my Bible. Then I read where David, the revered Jewish king, asked this question, "What can we do when the foundations are being destroyed?" Well I'll tell you, with so many "foundations" shaking these days, that's a good question today. Here's our word for today from the Word of God. The answer in Psalm 11:3-4 - "The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord is on His heavenly throne." At first, that didn't sound like it answered the questions. But then I realized I was reading about the one unmoving anchor when everything else in the world is up for grabs. Things might be out of our control. and they are. But they're never out of God's control. Nations may fall. Evil men can plot and even succeed. The doctor may stun us with bad news. The finances may seem impossible. The funeral seems like the end. Our family may look hopeless. But God has not vacated the throne from which the universe is governed. Proverbs 19:21 says, "It is the Lord's purpose that prevails" You know, I was scared to death when I was on my first big roller coaster as a kid; pretty sure I was going to die at the age of nine. I was jerking every which-way. We were defying gravity. It seemed like we were out of control. But not out of control, because the whole time that car was flying all over, it was attached to the tracks and headed for a safe destination. I'm not at the mercy of a roller coaster world. I am loved by the God who rules the galaxies; whose plans can't be derailed. I'm not afraid. However wild the ride, things are still on track. The Bible says in the greatest insurance policy in the universe, "Who will ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Which causes me to ask you to consider today what unloseable source of security do you have that is divorce-proof, terror-proof, recession-proof, unemployment-proof, death-proof? The Bible says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." And this man who loved you enough to die for your sins was powerful enough to walk out of His grave. He's the one sure thing in a rapidly changing world. If you don't belong to Him...if you're not sure you do, get that settled today. Anchor your life! Go to our website and find out how to begin with Him. It's ANewStory.com. Because, like the song says, "He's got the whole world in His hands."

Part of our ministry team has worked on a remote Native American reservation in the Southwest. In fact, our sons launched this ground-breaking outreach to Native young people many years ago there. The ministry at that reservation is part of our bigger initiative, "On Eagles' Wings." Several years ago, God helped them launch a low-power FM radio station on that reservation. I mean, this was a reservation pretty spiritually hard and geographically hard to reach. But for several years, the light of Christ was going out via the airwaves 24 hours a day across that reservation in a very original format, and it really made a difference. Part of the adventure was just getting the station on the air - including setting up the tower. That required some special climbing abilities. And one of the Native young men who God sent to help with the station just happened to have that experience - illegally, in the years before he was following Christ. He used to love to climb towers that the law actually forbade people to climb. Now, all of a sudden, those abilities - that he had practiced in a way that did not honor God - were suddenly being used by God to glorify Him. Don't you just love it! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Turning Yesterday's Shame Into Something Beautiful." This is one of the amazing ways of God - taking what we did against Jesus before we knew Jesus and turning it into something Jesus can use for His glory. That aspect of God's amazing grace may help shed some hope-giving light on some of the very things you're most sorry for; the things you're even most ashamed of in your past. In 1 Timothy 1:12-18, our word for today from the Word of God, Paul tells us how this miracle of spiritual recycling worked in his life: "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has given me strength, that He considered me faithful, appointing me to His service. Even though I was a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Then he says, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life." Basically Paul says, "The worst things I ever did have been transformed by God's grace into credentials to show people what He can do." Man! That's part of the grace miracle described in Romans 5:20, "Where sin increased, grace increased all the more." Wow! God always has more grace than we've got sin. Grace always triumphs over sin. Hallelujah! Never is that more dramatic than when God takes the sinning you've done or the sinning that was done against you, and makes it into a boomerang to hit the very devil who once used that stuff to bring you down. Now all that ugly becomes something beautiful in Jesus' hands, because it causes people to listen to you when you talk about Jesus. You're providing living proof of His power - and maybe even helping you climb a tower for His sake. That's why you need to bring all that sin, and all that shame, and all those awful memories, and all the things you wish you hadn't done to the foot of Jesus' cross. Accept the forgiveness He made possible by the shedding of His blood for that very garbage. And ask Him to redeem those regrets and those lost years by somehow using them for His glory and to help others come to know Him. There's a world of people out there who are where you were before you met Jesus and, under His leadership, you are uniquely equipped to work with Him in rescuing them. They'll listen to someone like you. You've been there. That's one of God's great grace miracles, and it's waiting for you. Yesterday's shame, touched by the Master, can become today's life-saving victory!

Well, in the summer it's nice to think about winter Olympics. Well, you know what? I'm not like most people who watch the Olympics. You know, like the winter Olympics, the women's Olympic figure skating? Well, a lot of people just enjoy the grace of the "twizzles" and the "triple lutzes" (whatever those are). Not me. No, I love the stories. I'm a story guy. So I'm sitting there mulling the stories of those skaters. And thinking, "We've got something to learn from her." It happened. I remember one time, when Italy's finalist, Carolina Kostner skated her long program. It was in the Sochi Olympics. Before she began, they showed her disastrous skate in Vancouver four years ago. She left the ice with her face buried in her hands. It was sad. I mean, in her own words, "It was breaking my heart." And that was going to be the end of her skating career. She didn't want to go through this again. But she did. And on the ice in Sochi, she skated a nearly flawless program and captured Olympic bronze. Look, I don't ice skate. But I know what it is to fall and come back again. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Coming Back From Falling." I've set personal goals and I've blown it - losing weight, getting to a better place financially, conquering a personal weakness. And like all of us who have tried and failed, I know the temptation to forget it and just say, "I'm not going to get on the ice" again. But then I considered these Olympic lessons that can turn a sad chapter into a comeback victory. Number one, when you go down, don't stay down. The Bible says in Proverbs 24:16, "A righteous man falls seven times, and he rises again." I've watched three children and now our grandchildren learn to walk. They all have the same M.O. Try to walk? Fall down. The fallen baby, of course, has two choices. One, "That's it. I tried my best. I failed. I tried to walk. I can't do it. I give up." Well, that didn't happen! Every child got back up and started walking again. I've decided that the only people who haven't fallen are people who never tried to walk. I watched an Olympic skater whose falls were seen by millions. Who was devastated by the scope of her failure, but she came back with the greatest victory of her life because she didn't stay down. Oh, here's the other lesson: Do it for the joy, not for the result. That's actually what Carolina Kostner's mother told her after the debacle in Vancouver. That's good advice. Stop thinking about how you'll perform. In her words, "I had to skate for the passion and the pleasure." And that changed everything. Way back in the 2002 Olympics, U.S. skater Sarah Hughes surprised everyone - including herself. She went into the finals in fourth place; she didn't have much to lose. So, as the top three contenders competed, you could feel the tension. Every jump. Every landing. Each precision movement potentially could mean victory or defeat. Then Sarah skated. She was just fun to watch, because she was clearly having fun. Skating with reckless abandon. And that freedom liberated her to give the best performance of her life; a gold medal performance. You know, as we look back on our life and we think of the places where we blew it or we failed, especially those we love, I begin to turn to the pages of God's Word to find hope for our falls. And I find it in Micah 7:8 that says, "Do not gloat over me my enemy. Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light." You know how that could happen? Because it says later in the chapter, "Who is a God like you who pardons sins, forgives the transgressions?" And then it says, "You hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." To know that every mistake, every fall, every wrong thing, every hurting thing I've ever done has been erased because God's Son died for it on a cross. That is the ultimate freedom for a new beginning. This might be your day for that new beginning. I'd love to help you get started with Jesus. That's why our website's there - ANewStory.com. Check it out. I saw one skater come back with Olympic redemption, because she knew that coming back was getting back up, no matter how ugly the fall. So in a way, you win when you just put your skates back on.

The man who first climbed Mt. Everest said his reason for risking it was simply "because it was there." That's how it was with that monster sand dune near a Bible conference where I was speaking. Now, it wasn't exactly Mt. Everest, but it was a pretty daunting mountain of sand. The reward for reaching the top? A scenic view of a nearby lake and the satisfaction that you did it. I convinced two of our team members to climb that dune with me. Climbing sand is kind of like, you know, "much effort, little progress," as your shoes start filling with sand and your legs start yelling "Stop this!" We were about halfway to the top when my younger colleagues said, "Is this far enough?" They were ready to quit. We stopped to catch our breath and I pointed to the bottom of the dune and I said, "Hey, look at how far we've already come! Let's not turn back now!" They rolled their eyes and grudgingly agreed to follow the old guy all the way to the top. We were really hot. We were really tired. But I'll tell you what, the view at the top and the joy of conquest made it worth it! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You Feel Like Giving Up." We were halfway there and we were tempted to turn back. You might be at that point today. It's been an exhausting climb hasn't it? You don't have much left, and there are reasons to be discouraged. There are reasons to wonder if you'll ever make it the rest of the way. And God's showing up today to say, "Don't give up now!" His message to you might come from our word for today from the Word of God in Nehemiah 4. It's a story of one of the most amazing victories in the Bible. Against all odds, God's people, under Nehemiah's leadership, rebuild the devastated walls and gates of Jerusalem in just 52 days. Like you, they had plenty of reasons to quit when they "rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height." They were at that dangerous point of being halfway there; maybe kind of like you are. Their reasons for giving up are pretty familiar. Their responsibilities had exhausted them so much, the Bible says, "the strength of the laborers (was) giving out." Then there was all that rubble that discouraged them. Some were saying, "There is so much rubble here we cannot rebuild the wall." The other factor that can tempt you to turn back is resistance that unnerves you. They were surrounded by enemies who literally were ready to attack them to stop them. I can guarantee you that if you're doing something God wants you to do, the devil is throwing attacks at you to stop you. But Nehemiah 4 shows us the three energizers that will keep you in the game. First, Nehemiah "stationed...people...at the exposed places." So you fight back by fixing the leaks, and strengthening those gaps in your life or your work where Satan could get in. Secondly, you focus on the Lord. Nehemiah told the people, "Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome." You focus on the great Lord who brought you this far rather than the great load that's been weighing you down. The third energizer when you're staggering at that "halfway there" point is to fight for lives. Nehemiah reminded his workers of what was really at stake in their finishing, "Fight for your brothers," he said, "your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." See, you've got to remember, in any work for the Lord, it's not about tasks to accomplish. It's about lives at stake! Fix the leaks that could sink you, focus on the Lord who brought you this far, and fight for the lives that need for you to finish what you've started. Jesus didn't bring you this far so you could quit. He's counting on you, not just to start this race, but to finish your race like He did for you.

Okay, I guess I'm a typical American, because I like football, baseball, and basketball. Now, luge, bobsled, slopestyle, halfpipe - not as much. But, like millions of others, there's something about the winter Olympics that drew me in to watch sports that I know little about. It's because of the drama; the world's best on the world stage, with much of their life invested in what will be only minutes of their life, giving it all for the glory of winning or the agony of losing. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Winning Way to Handle Losing." That's part of what I saw, and I specifically remember it from the Games in Russia at Sochi; stinging setbacks, bitter disappointments. But there were examples of how to handle it. Number one, know the difference between what you do and who you are. No one was the face of Team USA in those Olympics more than snowboarder Shaun White. He had two gold medals in the halfpipe, a third win and he'd have made history. He didn't win anything. No gold, no silver, no bronze. But in the midst of what had to be a crushing disappointment, he did have some helpful perspective for all of us who'd watched the dream slip away. He said, "This is just one part of who I am - a big part - but I want to be more than just that." There's all the difference in the world between, "I failed" and "I'm a failure." Yes, you see, you may have fallen short athletically, academically, at work, or even more significantly, in a major life relationship. But "I've failed" doesn't mean "I'm a failure." You aren't what you do. You are your character, you are your God-given worth - which has nothing to do with your performance. No setback, no broken dream can rob you of you unless you let it. Here's another lesson. Look for the lesson and move on. Skier Bode Miller knew that glory - a five-time Olympic gold medalist. But in Sochi, he finished eighth in the men's downhill. In the midst of disappointment, one reporter said, "He painfully dissected what went wrong." Ecclesiastes 7:14 in the Bible says, "When times are good, be happy. But when things are bad, consider." Yeah, that's pretty good. I'll tell you, when I've messed up, there are always lessons to learn. Those lessons can, if I'll man up to the responsibility, keep me from messing up again. Learn the lesson. Don't dwell on failure. One woman's cross country star, who was expected to medal for the USA, said this after finishing as an also-ran: "So I'm just going to put today in a box and move on to the next one." Number three lesson, look where you're going and not where you've been. Erin Hamlin had just won the Olympic gold medal at Sochi in singles luge. She had been a favorite to do that in Vancouver before. She was out of medal contention after the first heat unfortunately. But after her most recent appearance in the Olympics she said, "I was really disappointed, and I knew that's not how I wanted to end my Olympic legacy. It was super-motivating." I like that. See, dwelling on the past can be futile. It can't be changed. But the future is yet to be written. And now our word for today from the Word of God that nails that down. Here's how God wants us to look at our life. "Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:18-19). See, God's in the business of erasing the sins and failures and the mistakes of our past. He's the Lord of new beginnings. We know that, because in this same chapter He says, "I am He who blots out your transgressions and remembers your sins no more." Do you know how that miracle happens in a human life? It happens because Jesus Christ died for those very sins so that they could be forgiven. Then He walked out of his grave so He can walk into our lives today and change what only He can. He's there to begin a life-changing relationship with you today. We'll show you how if you'll go to our website. It's ANewStory.com. It's a big deal when a child or grandchild gets to the weight where they can turn their seat around in the car. They don't have to look where they've been. They can look where they're going. That's what Jesus does for a life. He'll be all eyes on where you're going, because He's forgiven that past. That's a great, great way to live!

I had 18 hours in the city of Rome. That's how long it was between my flight connections to Africa. I decided not to waste that time sleeping in the airport when I could be seeing one of the world's great cities. Right? And, my missionary friend, Dave, was kind enough to be my chauffeur and guide. With his help, I got a whirlwind tour that included the Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, and some beautiful piazzas. But the highlight of my day in Rome was my visit to the Catacombs, those ancient caverns that wind beneath the streets of Rome. Dave's been there many times so he said he'd wait while I went in. Well, here were the caverns where some of the first Christians hid from the Roman soldiers who would take them to their execution for believing in Christ. And here's where they carved in the walls the ancient symbols of their faith - like the cross and the sign of the fish. Those symbols are still there as a silent testimony to their faithfulness. And here in the walls, they buried countless loved ones who'd been torn to pieces by lions in the Coliseum all because they would not renounce Christ for Caesar. As I emerged from those Catacombs, Dave said, "Well, what did you think?" All I could say was, "Our faith is very, very expensive." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Discount Disciples." The way of Jesus that we claim to walk today was, indeed, very expensive for those first Christians; for millions who have suffered or died for the name of Jesus in every generation as well, including our own. And it cost Jesus everything. So who am I - who are we - that we should get off so cheap? Jesus made it clear that there would be no discount disciples; those who could request a commitment to Him that didn't cost too much. What an insult to the man for whom it cost everything! Or to our brothers and sisters across the generations who've paid such a high price for following this same Savior. Jesus put the cost of following Him right up front in Luke 14:27, our word for today from the Word of God: "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple." In Luke 9:23, He made clear that joining Jesus in carrying your cross was not a once-for-all decision, but one that has to be renewed every day. He said, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Notice, He didn't say, "Take up your couch and follow Me." Somewhere we've gotten the twisted idea that following Jesus just means going to some of His meetings, believing His beliefs, throwing a little money His way, maybe taking on a couple of jobs for Him, and maybe even being called a couple of names because of Him. If the price tag gets much higher, we start to complain, to feel sorry for ourselves, to think about quitting. We are here today because of some real disciples who refused to quit, no matter what the cost. Because of a Savior who refused to quit, even when it meant the agony and humiliation of a cross. Those who have experienced Jesus most deeply, most sweetly, are those who walk the way of the cross with Him. Don't be afraid to make the choices for Him that may cost you something. That's what taking up a cross means - expensive choices. That's what taking up a cross meant for Jesus. He is worth any price you pay for following Him, because as much as it may cost to follow Him, it costs a whole lot more not to follow Him. After the Allied forces stormed ashore at Normandy on D-Day, charging into deadly German fire and land mines, General Eisenhower said, "There are no victories at discount prices." It was true at Normandy, and It's true in following Jesus. Beginning at the cross, it's always been expensive and victorious. The hymn writer nailed it when he said: "Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, when others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?"

Jenny was a counselor with a student group we had taken to a youth organization conference at the New Jersey Shore. She was walking along the Boardwalk enjoying all the attractions, and suddenly she heard what she thought was a scream. It seemed to be coming from the ocean. Now, it was night and it was, of course, too dark to see out there. So Jenny ran down the steps, across the beach, and to the water's edge. This time it was clear that the screams were coming from somewhere out there in the water. Of course, Jenny paused for a moment, because she said, "There are few things more frightening than going into the ocean in pitch darkness." That's true. But Jenny's hesitation was only for a moment. She forgot about her own safety, she threw off her shoes, and she plunged in to save what turned out to be a drowning girl. Moments later, others jumped in to help too. Later, Jenny said, "I had to do it. Someone was dying out there!" I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why You Are Where You Are." A life was saved that night because of the courageous, selfless choice of a young woman who was in the position to make a difference. She was scared, she knew it was risky, but she was the one who was there. She was the one who could do something and she did. Someone's dying condition became more important to Jenny than her own comfort and safety. But then that's how it always is when there's a rescue. A drowning person; a person trapped in a burning building or the unstable rubble of an earthquake. There's no such thing as rescuing someone while staying in your comfortable spot. There's no rescue without risk. And that includes the most critical rescue of all: the rescue of someone who is dying spiritually because they don't know Jesus - the only One who can rescue a person from the eternal death penalty of their sin. Jesus knows there's no rescue without risk. Boy, does He know it! He said in Mark 10:45 that He came "to give His life as a ransom for many." Later He said to His followers, "As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you" (John 20:21). Jesus was sent to lay down His life so others could live. And now He's sending you and me, on the same rescue mission He died for, to do whatever it takes to try and bring some people we know to heaven with us. Jesus left His comfortable spot; I mean, the most comfortable spot in the universe to rescue you and me. He's asking you now to leave your comfort zone to rescue someone you care about. Your mission is graphically portrayed in our word for today from the Word of God in Proverbs 24:11, "Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter." Telling people about your Savior? It's life-or-death business! Like Jenny on the beach that dark, dangerous night. You won't take the risks unless you realize that if you don't do it, that person may very well die without hope. God's Word says that the people you know are without Christ "will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Not because Jesus wants that. He died so they don't have to, but because they haven't reached for the rescuer. And maybe they don't know what He did for them. They need to hear about Him from someone who knew! It's time for you to do what you need to do to build a relationship with that lost person you know. Spend some time with them. Write a letter about Jesus to them. Pray for some natural opportunities to share life's most important relationship. Share your hope story with them. Win the right to be heard and then take them to the cross where God loved them enough to pour out His love by dying for them. Don't wait for a professional lifeguard to come along. Like that woman on the beach, you're the one who's there. You're the one that's in the position to be their rescuer. If you know it's life-or-death, and it is, you'll know what you have to do. You can't just stand on the beach and let them die.

Recently, a friend of mine had a ringside seat on a family of birds. They actually decided to nest under the roof on the porch. The fun part was watching the birth and development of those baby birds. My friend actually got to see them hatching out and then settling down into their nest. They all fit in there so nicely - at first. See, Mama kept filling their open mouths with more and more food, and the little birdies didn't stay little! They grew and the nest seemed to shrink. As it got more and more crowded, each baby did more and more wiggling around to kind of keep his position in the nest. Then they feathered out and they forgot about all of them sitting in the nest ever again! Well, they began to perch on the edges of the nest until they were pushed off the edge by their siblings in a battle for whatever food Mama brought. One by one, as crowding pushed those little birds to the edge - and then over the edge - they were forced to fly or die. They decided to fly. The last nester stayed in the nest for actually another full week, being fed as an only child by Mama Bird. Finally, Mama must have gotten disgusted with her nest-addicted child. She quit feeding him. First, there was a lot of squawking and fussing, and then even he abandoned the nest to finally touch the sky. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Your Nest Doesn't Feel Right." We all know what those baby birds have to discover - that they weren't made to just hunker down in their comfortable nest. Neither are we. Those birds are destined to leave where it's safe so they can finally fly, and so are we. In fact, God uses an example just like this to describe His loving plan for our lives. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Deuteronomy 32:10-11. It says of a child of God, "He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions." The mother eagle actually removes all the cushioning in her nest, and that leaves her eaglets living on just the rocks and the sticks underneath. Ultimately, the stirring of that nest leads to their willingness to leave the nest where they had been so comfortable and then they ultimately take to the sky. Maybe your nest isn't quite as comfy as it once was. Things are stirring - they're changing. In your environment and in your heart there's this gnawing restlessness that seems to say, "God's got more for you than this." He does, and He's making you restless for it because restlessness almost always precedes a great work of God. Your Lord's trying to move you into a new season of your life where you can make a far greater difference than you have ever made before. But you'll miss it if you insist on staying where it's safe; financially safe, geographically safe, occupationally safe, where it's methodologically safe, socially safe. Abraham would never have discovered God's amazing plans for his life unless he was first willing to leave the safety and prosperity of a familiar and secure place. The disciples would have always been just another bunch of fishermen unless they had been willing to abandon the security of their career for the call of Jesus. Peter could have never known what it was to walk on water if he hadn't gotten out of the boat. Neither will you. God has much more of Him that He wants you to experience, but it will only happen as you move beyond all your usual security blankets and you abandon yourself to total trust in Him. He has so much more He wants to do with your life, but it's beyond your comfort zone. Like those baby birds, you weren't created to just hunker down in your safe, secure little nest - a nest that's becoming increasingly unsatisfying isn't it? You see, that's because you're destined to fly!

All of a sudden The Son of God was in theaters all over the place. Actually, a movie by that name - Son of God. And based on its opening weekend, it was drawing a crowd. Of course that was not the first time something like that had happened. "The Passion of the Christ" turned out to be a blockbuster, too. Who would have guessed that? I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Jesus - More Than You Ever Imagined." When I was growing up, a movie about Jesus' life wouldn't have shown folks much they didn't know. People knew a lot about Jesus. Not now. Lots of people need an introduction. A lot of this movie was included in the highly successful TV mini-series called "The Bible." And when it portrayed the torture and the crucifixion of Jesus, the Twittersphere lit up with astonished comments. People were saying, in essence, "I had no idea Jesus went through all of this." I have a good friend who ministers among his Native American people. He says, "My people consider Jesus an enemy." But he did manage to get a few of them to go with him to see "The Passion of the Christ" which vividly, of course, portrays the unspeakable ordeal that Jesus went through. Afterwards, there was an interesting comment from those folks. They said, "Now we know why you follow Him." Wow! I can tell you this, it sure is why I follow Him. They didn't take His life. He's the Son of God. He'd have to give it. After all, He made the tree they nailed Him to. He made the men who nailed Him there. In His own words, "I lay down my life...no one takes it from Me" (John 10:17-18). And all the evidence says that He is, in fact, exactly who He claimed to be - the Son of God. Perfect life, incredible miracles, scores of centuries-old Messianic prophecies fulfilled by His life, and an empty tomb. No religious leader can come back from the grave. That's got to be God. So it really is the Son of God hanging on that cross. And if the Son of God is going to give His life, it's going to be for something really important. That's where it gets emotional for me, because one of the reasons He went through all that was me. Along with every other person who has done life their way instead of God's way, which, according to the Bible, is every one of us. The Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of God's glory" (Romans 3:23). But sadly, even with the visual of a movie, it's still easy to miss the "personal-ness" of what Jesus came to do. You can look at Jesus and just see a historical figure - which He clearly is. Or you can see Him as a religious figure, starting a religion to follow, and beliefs to believe. But He's so much more. What happened on that cross was intensely personal for each of us. Again, in the Bible's words, "He loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20); my personal Rescuer from the penalty of my personal sin. And He insists on a verdict from each of us about His death for our sins as that being the only hope of being forgiven and of ever entering God's heaven. One day Jesus did a little "focus group" research with His disciples. He asked, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They gave Him the results of their latest poll. "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Nice answer, guys. But then Jesus drills down to what may be the most important question any of us could ever answer. It is our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 16, verses 15 and 16, "'But what about you? Who do you say I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'" My friend, the question has not changed. Jesus still moves in close and says- "What about you? Who do you say I am?" And He extends His nail-pierced hand and He waits for your answer, on which your eternity rests. When you feel the tug of Jesus in your heart, He's come close to offer you the life that only He can give you. It's wise to grab Him while He's close. This might be that time for you. Would you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours." I hope you'll visit our website soon and let me show you the rest of the way to begin your personal relationship with Him. It's ANewStory.com. It's time to get this settled.