Winning The Race

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Here is a heart-warming story from an unknown source that I wanted to share.

Bill Rogers is on the right

 Bill Broadhurst was a great runner and he entered a 10k race in Omahu, a race that Bill Rodgers would win in less than 30 minutes.

Bill Broadhurst had a handicap, he was paralyzed on his entire left side from an aneurism early in life. But he still loved to run and for him to be in the same race as his hero Bill Rodgers was the greatest thing he could imagine.

The banners had been taken down, the traffic had begun to flow on the roads, there was nothing left that would tell you that a race had been run.

Except one man Bill Broadhurst who was still running the race. 2 hours ago Bill Rodgers had finished the race and now Bill Broadhurst was nearing the place where the finish line was. A couple of kids on bikes road beside him and said "hey mister are you still running the race, it’s been over for hours, someone’s already finished first and won, why don’t you quit, the race is over!"

Broadhurst replied, "I can’t, I have to make it to my hero at the end of the line". And he kept on running.

Bill Rogers

As he approached the place where he knew the finish line would be, Bill Rodgers and about 30 people stepped out from an alley and they placed a banner up and strung a ribbon across the road. And Bill Broadhurst stumbled across the finish line. And there stood his hero , Bill Rodgers who took off the ribbon form his neck and placed it around the neck of Broadhurst, and he said, "you a winner because you never quit".

Brothers and sisters don’t quit, keep running. Your hero Jesus Christ is at the finish line waiting to give YOU the victor’s crown of life.

Today, if you are not a Christian, you need to join the only race that will give you a victor’s prize.

And we Christians need to keep running the race.

Jesus is at the finish line waiting for you...

He wants to place the golden crown of life on your head...

Bill Rogers on the right

LET’S GO FOR THE GOLD!

Scriptures: 2 Timothy 4:7-8, Philippians 3:13-14

William James Roop

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Brother Roop teaches the Bible

Books by William Roop

Gift Of Divine Purity

 Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

This illustration came from the book "Revolution Within" by Dwight Edwards.

Text: 1 John 1:9; Matthew 6:14-15.

In 1829 a man named George Wilson was arrested for robbery and murder in a US mail heist. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. Some friends intervened on his behalf and were able to obtain his pardon from President Andrew Jackson. But when told of this, Wilson refused it saying he wanted to die.

 Well, the sheriff didn’t know what to do, how do you execute a man officially pardoned? An appeal was made to the President, who perplexed, turned the matter over to the US Supreme court. Chief Justice John Marshall gave this ruling:

 A pardon is a piece of paper, the value of which depends on its acceptance by the person implicated. Anyone under the sentence of death would hardly be expected to refuse a pardon, but if it’s refused, it’s no pardon. Thus, George Wilson was executed while his signed pardon lay on the sheriff’s desk!

In the same way, God has offered His gift of divine purity to every person, a gift that not only provides pardon from eternal condemnation, but offers much, much more. However, this gift of Christ must be personally appropriated to be personally beneficial.

William James Roop

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Brother Roop teaches the Bible

Books by William Roop

Christians Are Like Rubber Bands

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

 Here is an article by an unknown author that I wanted to share.

Text:  Isaiah 41:10; John 16:22.

Have you ever thought any deep thoughts about rubber bands? I have. In fact, I had one of those great big rubber bands that I was going to bring up here, but somewhere along the way, I either mislaid it or lost it. I was going to bring it up here and drape it over this corner right here, and I was going to just leave it there as a reminder.

Now, before you think I have lost my mind, let me explain what I mean. A rubber band is made for only one purpose. That purpose is to be stretched so it can hold something together. Now, if it is not stretched, it is not fulfilling its purpose at all, is it?

Christians are much like the rubber band. We were put on this earth to be doers of God word. To do that, we must stretch ourselves out of our everlasting comfort zones so that we can be effective. One of the hardest things for us to do, is to get out of our comfort zones, but to be effective for God, we must do it.

I have read the Bible through and through and I have never seen anywhere in it that says God wants us to be all comfortable and cozy. I have never read where God wants us to have it really easy and smooth, have you?

William James Roop

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Brother Roop teaches the Bible

Books by William Roop

Lung Cancer Healed!

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Here is an article from an unknown author that I wanted to share.

Text: Isaiah 53:5; James 5:16

 In 1953 in Grimes, Iowa, Violet Cross was getting sicker by the day! Finally her eldest son Frank insisted she go to the doctor. Eventually they ended up at the large teaching hospital in Iowa City. The diagnosis was devastating. Though Violet had never smoked she was dying of lung cancer. One lung was already gone the other was rapidly being devoured by the malignancy. The doctors sent her home offering no real hope, six months of pain would ultimately lead to her death.

That Sunday violet went down to kneel at the altar at the tiny church pastored by her son-in-law, Clarence Lautt. There in Grimes Gospel Center she begged God for one thing. Her two youngest daughters, Kay and Linda were still in high school. "Please God," she prayed, "Let me see my girls finish high school."

Her husband Eddie bought her the engagement ring that he hadn’t had the money to buy 30 years earlier, expecting that to be one of his final acts of love toward her. But Violet started feeling better. Kay graduated from high school, and her mom was back on the farm doing chores again. Linda graduated from high-school. Both girls married. Grandchildren were born. In fact, 18 grandchildren were there to help celebrate Violet and Eddie’s 50th wedding anniversary.

In 1976 Violet came to live at my house after my grandfather Eddie passed away. When I was 12 years old, 38 years after the doctors had given her 6 months to live, Grandma Cross’s two healthy lungs breathed their last.

Sometimes God performs miracles simply because he loves us and he has compassion on His children.

William James Roop

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Brother Roop teaches the Bible

Books by William Roop

Jewelry For The King

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Here is an article by Lynn Jost that I wanted to share.

 

During his reign, King Frederick William III of Prussia found himself in trouble. Wars had been costly, and in trying to build the nation, he was seriously short of finances. He couldn’t disappoint his people, and to capitulate to the enemy was unthinkable. 

After careful reflection, he decided to ask the women of Prussia to bring their jewelry of gold and silver to be melted down for their country. For each ornament received, he determined to exchange a decoration of bronze or iron as a symbol of his gratitude. Each decoration would be inscribed, “I gave gold for iron, 18l3.”

The response was overwhelming. Even more important, these women prized their gifts from the king more highly than their former jewelry. The reason, of course, is clear. The decorations were proof that they had sacrificed for their king. Indeed, it became unfashionable to wear jewelry, and thus was established the Order of the Iron Cross. Members wore no ornaments except a cross of iron for all to see.

When Christians come to their King, they too exchange the flourishes of their former life for a cross.

William James Roop

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Brother Roop teaches the Bible

Books by William Roop

Gratefulness

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Here is a story from John Wesley's Journal that I wanted to share.

John Wesley had a conversation with a porter who opened a new door to the spiritual awakening that would happen to him some years in the future. The man proved to be the first truly grateful person he had ever met. 

While the porter had only one coat and had consumed nothing all day but a drink of water, his heart still over flowed with praise to God. John remarked, “You thank God when you have nothing to wear, nothing to eat, and no bed to lie upon. What else do you thank Him for?”

 The man answered, “I thank Him, that He has given me my life and being, a heart to love Him, and a desire to serve Him.”From this testimony, John realized there was something more to following Jesus than he had ever experienced before—and this was something he wanted.

William James Roop

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Brother Roop teaches the Bible

Books by William Roop