It started out as an unimpressive ripple in the weather off the coast of Africa. By the time it was over, it had become Hurricane Katrina, pummeling Florida as a category one storm, then surprising most observers by becoming a category five monster over the Gulf of Mexico. Katrina's last minute shift to the east nearly destroyed the city of New Orleans. Yes, we saw some of the darkest side of human nature as people looted things that they didn't really need, and some even tried to shoot some of the very people who were coming to help. But on a much greater scale, the aftermath to Hurricane Katrina was a massive outpouring of heroism in many flavors.

As Americans learned of the desperation of the victims of the storm, thousands of us mobilized to give them a chance to live. We won't soon forget the military helicopters, launching and re-launching every 15 minutes to look for more people stranded in the toxic floodwaters that buried parts of the city. There were those memorable scenes of the rescuers coming down the rope from those choppers to save people trapped on their roofs. Doctors and nurses came from all over the country. So many came and did what they knew how to do - from cooking, to counseling, to contributing, to caring enough to take in whole families because lives were at stake.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Rescuer Spot For You."

Thousands of lives were saved, many of whom would have died otherwise because of this massive rescue operation where everyone did what they knew how to do; each one realizing that a rescue effort means all hands on deck.

It's a picture of the largest scale rescue operation on the planet. It is the rescue mission for which Jesus Christ gave His life, launched at a cross. In His personal mission statement in Luke 19:10 He said He came "to seek and to save what was lost." His final command: "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation" (Mark 16:15). Because it really is a life-or-death situation, where the eternal destiny of millions of people depends on the rescue efforts of God's people - all of God's people.

The orders are summarized in Proverbs 24:11-12, our word for today from the Word of God. "Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter." Those stark words describe every person we know, every person on this planet who has not grabbed the only one God provided to rescue us from the eternal punishment that our sin deserves. That Rescuer is Jesus! The next verse says, "If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this, does not He who weighs the heart perceive it?'" God is not going to excuse us for being AWOL in His all out mobilization to rescue the dying, whatever it takes.

He's expecting you to do what His Son did - to do all you can to rescue the lost. If you cook, cook to rescue the dying. If you're musical, if you're mechanical, if you're a techie, if you're in the media, if you're a prayer warrior, if you contribute to God's work, do what you do to help people go to heaven instead of hell. And if you have influence in anyone's life (and we all do) don't just use that influence to be a nice person for them. Use the relationship you have to tell them about the Rescuer from heaven who rescued you and who is their only hope.

In the wake of a hurricane, we saw thousands of people on the verge of dying without hope and an army of us who said, "We can't just let them die." If you'll ask Jesus to help you see the world through His eyes, you're going to see millions on the verge of dying with no hope of heaven, headed for an unspeakable eternity. And some of them are right within your reach. Can you see them? Are you going to do something about it? Will you do more than you've ever done before? We're losing so many because no rescuer has come.

"Active shooter in Colorado Springs." It was years ago but I got that news alert, and I turned to a news channel right away. I've got friends in that city.

After a violent five-hour siege, the gunman surrendered. And the tragic count of dead and wounded began to become clear, but so did the heroism in the middle of that fear and violence. Like Garrett Swasey, one of the first officers on the scene rushing to save lives. He lost his. His courage and sacrifice were a bright light in the dark sky of that tragic afternoon. Selfless love when evil seemed so strong.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hope is a Rescuer."

Garrett Swasey was a real three-dimensional guy, a former ice dancing champion, a great husband and dad, a pastor, a dedicated police officer; a man who lived his last day like he lived every day. As a friend said, "always putting other people's lives before his own." That friend explained why. He said, "He believed in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. That's what he lived for."

Apparently, it's also what made him willing to die to save others. His friend said, "Here's a man who loves Christ, and he'd be willing to go in and lay down his life, because that's what Christ has done for us." You know, we've got a lot to learn from a true hero like this.

First, ultimately, there are two categories that really matter. Don't we deal with most people as if they're a category: young, old, black, white, brown, rich, poor, Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, gay, straight, Christian, homeless, cop or whatever? Except God didn't make any categories. He only made people created in His image.

That day during the shooting, Garrett Swasey saw only two categories: safe and endangered. That's what God sees, too. Spiritually safe described this way, "He who has the Son (Jesus) has life." And then spiritually endangered. The Bible says in that same verse, "He who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:12). Those who have trusted the One who died for their sins as the Rescuer from their sins and those who have not.

As one of those who chose to be rescued, I know what I must do. I have to see the spiritually endangered people around me and go in for the rescue so they can have the chance I had - to live forever.

Secondly, I think we learn from the heroes of that day, forgiven people have no choice but to forgive. "Forgive as the Lord forgave you," the Bible says in Colossians 3:13. Garrett Swasey's friend said, "There's forgiveness in the cross of Christ. And that's what Garrett would want for us, to forgive this man." That's the man who shot him. That's what the loved ones of those Charleston church shooting victims did, amazing the nation. That's what Jesus did for the ones who crucified Him, "Father, forgive them."

Third lesson here, our only hope is a rescuer. Actually, the Rescuer. In our word for today from the Word of God in Galatians 1:4, God's book reveals that "Jesus gave His life for our sins...to rescue us from this evil world we live in." I want to tell you, that's the sacrifice that blew my mind and captured my heart.

I hope you will open up to that love today, because He went to that cross for you as much as He did for me; paying for the sins that have separated you from God, and will forever unless He forgives them. And He can do that based on what He did on the cross.

I'd love to have you know for sure you belong to Him. So I'm going to invite you to our website because I think we can help you make sure you've begun your relationship with Him and are forgiven of your sins. It's ANewStory.com. Remember that. Please check it out.

None of us has to die. The Rescuer has come.

When our kids were growing up, we had an interesting system of government at our house. I had one big vote, and theoretically my one vote could count more than the other four sometimes. Nice system. That was the theory. In reality it didn't happen very often. There's one dynamic that takes place before a family decision that really can change the outcome, and that's what I would call skillful lobbying; especially by my three children, and they got really good at it.

Let's say one of them didn't want to go for dinner where we were planning to go. He wanted pizza. He'd come in and say, "Dad, I don't want to go there, I want pizza." Okay, he's going to get overruled. Then two of them would come in together; (he managed somehow to get somebody else to come with him) and they would say "We want pizza, Dad." Well, that was a little stronger, but then all three of them came together. "We want pizza!" Well, to tell you the truth, we usually ended up changing where we were going, even though I wanted to go somewhere else. You know what, there's power in kids asking together.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Power of Praying Together."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 18. I'm going to read verses 19 and 20. "Again, Jesus says, I tell you if two of you on earth agree..." (Oh, wait a minute, this sounds like my kids doesn't it?) "If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them."

Now, okay, God is not some earthly father who is pressured by "pizza lobbyists" like I was as an earthly father. But there is a principle here, an important secret of spiritual power, that somehow praying together has a special effect in heaven; asking God, our Father, together for the same thing. I don't understand why it's extra powerful, but I do know that Jesus says something special happens in heaven when God's kids go to Him together for something.

Frankly, I think Christians do very little praying together. We're so private about our faith sometimes. We're self-conscious about maybe saying something wrong. I don't really know how to, you know, pray the big words or whatever. But God puts a premium on united prayer. He says, "What you ask together, it will be done in heaven." That's pretty exciting!

Do you ever wonder what to do when somebody else is praying and you're with them? Do you doze off? They're praying out loud, do you just plan ahead what you're going to say? No. Agreeing with them, you enter into their requests in your heart. You're saying either aloud or quietly, "Me, too, Lord. I'm asking You for that too. I'm trusting You for that too." You're not a passive listener, or asleep while someone else prays. I've often encouraged young people I'm working with to get into praying triplets where there are three people who pray together for two people who are not Christians that they each pray for. For example, they each pray for two people who are not christians. And that's spreading in a lot of places...this idea of prayer triplets.

I've asked young people before, "How many people are in your prayer triplet? The answer - four. Because Jesus said, "You can see three, but I'm right there." So don't just pray for people. Pray with people. Don't say, "I'll pray for you." Put an arm around them and pray right there. Get a regular team of partners together who agree on some things and be prepared to see mountains moved, and hearts changed, and answers discovered.

Go to your Father together, because something special happens in a Father's heart when the kids all agree.

Let's say the day is about to end. I would invite my wife to go for a romantic walk with me as we look toward the west at the beautiful colors of the sunset. Well, that's what you'd call it, right? And so would I. But we would be scientifically incorrect. Since when does the sun set? The sun doesn't go anywhere; it's the earth that's moving! Right? So, "Honey, let's go for a romantic walk and watch the beautiful earth set?" Uh, that doesn't work!

The National Science Foundation conducted a poll and discovered that one in four Americans believed at that time that the sun orbits around the earth! They're confused about what's revolving around what!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why We're In Trouble With God."

What's far more significant - and far more deadly - is God's survey about what orbit you and I are in. In the words of the Bible, we were "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). Like the earth is created to revolve around the sun, so you and I are created to revolve our life around our Creator.

But here are the disturbing results of God's survey of the human race. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 53:6. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way." God says that 100% of us have left the orbit we were made for, and we've gone to an orbit simply called "My Way." Just in case some of us religious folks would like to think we're not included, God says in Romans 3 that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...there is no one righteous" (by God's standard, that is) "not even one."

It's like the earth leaving its orbit around the sun and saying, "I think I'll go off on this orbit of my own. I'm free now." No, the earth away from the sun will die. You or me away from God - we'll die. And that's why life just isn't working. That's why the loneliness, the emptiness, the confusion about living, the fear about dying. We are out of the orbit we were created for.

We are all in trouble with God - big trouble. The Bible says in Isaiah 59:2, "Your iniquities (that's your sins) have separated you from your God" So, picture it - a huge wall between you and God. No wonder you're empty. The only One who can fill the hole in your heart is on the other side of a wall. No wonder you're lonely. The One whose love you were made for is on the other side of that wall. No wonder you're nervous about eternity. You should be. The God you'll meet the moment you die is on the other side of the wall.

Maybe you're tired of that wall between you and God. It can finally come down before this day is over. But you can't take it down. No religion can take it down. Only Jesus can do that. Why? Well, in that verse that says we've all turned away from God, He says, speaking of Jesus, "The Lord has laid on Him the wrongdoing of us all." The same sins that keep you from God, Jesus had transferred to Him when He died on the cross for you. See, He loves you that much. He really doesn't want to lose you.

The wall between you and God comes down from the moment you put your trust in Jesus to forgive you for a lifetime of sin. Please, don't let procrastination or religious pride cost you this relationship or cost you heaven.

I invite you this very day to say to Jesus, "Jesus, I believe that what You did on that cross was for me. I believe You walked out of your grave so you could walk into my life. And beginning here and beginning now I'm yours." Our website is really for you at a moment just like this to help you secure your personal relationship with Jesus. I ask you to go there today as soon as you can, ANewStory.com.

Haven't you spent enough days, enough years away from the One who loves you most in that death orbit of running your own life? Hey, it's time to come home.

Every once in a while a woman decides to try something daring. She has what they call a makeover! She'll look in the mirror and say, "I'm tired of looking like this. I think I'll try something different." So she puts herself really into someone else's hands. Not just anyone. Oh, no, no! Someone who can skillfully change your eye makeup, your facial color, maybe your lip stick, maybe your hair style, your wardrobe. And "voila"! You look different. Hopefully you look better. But you had a makeover. Now, when's the last time you ever heard of a man having a makeover? Well, actually some men could really use one.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Give a Man a Makeover."

Hey look! Men are pretty stubborn about changing. It's hard for me to say that, but it's a fact. If you're a woman who is married to one, you say, "I know...I know. I didn't have to tune in to find this out today." Well, if you're a woman, my guess is there's a man in your life who could use a little work. Can you think of someone? Not so much physically; but maybe like more in his personality, his spiritual leadership, his communication, his attitudes, his bad habits. Now I've got you going, right? Are we together now? Okay, good.

Now, our word for today from the Word of God, Titus 2:4-5. It talks about some skills that hopefully older women have mastered so they can pass them on to the next generation of women. Then it says, "They can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands so that no one will malign the Word of God."

Now, it's kind of a neat dynamic here. You've got the veterans teaching the rookies what they're supposed to do. And the single phrase that begins it is this: "Love their husbands." Notice it doesn't say, "The older women should teach the younger women how to change their husbands." It says "how to love them."

Ruth Graham, Billy Graham's wife, said very wisely, "It is my job to love Billy - it is God's job to change him." That principle applies to sons, to fathers, and certainly to husbands. A woman is a powerful force in changing a man if she makes him feel safe. A man often isn't going to risk changing unless he feels like there's a woman who will love him whether he changes or not.

Unfortunately, a lot of women want to give God a little help in reconstructing this big, old lummox, so that woman brings out the hammer and chisel, and starts nagging, and pushing, and criticizing, and attacking. "I'll change him!" All the push tactics make him feel cornered, attacked, and less secure. Therefore, he's less likely to change. Remember, a man has to feel safe in order to take the risk to try to change.

If nagging doesn't do it, well what will, you might ask. We're back to what the older women are supposed to teach the younger women, "love your husband." Praise his strengths often. If he makes a little progress, compliment that. As my wife had on a little plaque over the kitchen sink, "Water what you want to grow." Hold your tongue if it's going to be negative and tearing down. Share gently your feelings when you're hurting, he needs to hear that. But not his failings, your feelings. Let him know how much you need him, and then pray for him to change. I know it feels risky just to love him, but it's how God says it works.

Does the man you want to be different feel safe in your love? In other programs we'll talk to him about his part. But I hope, on your end, he feels safe. Unconditional love? Well, that's God's way for a woman to give her man a makeover.

I haven't bought a baseball bat for a while, but I know you can buy one that's cheap and may not last long or one that costs a little more and lasts longer. But a million-dollar baseball bat? That's a little out of my price range. And lest you think I've lost it, not long ago a massive 46-ounce Louisville Slugger bat sold at auction for $1.26 million dollars! What in the world could possibly make a simple baseball bat worth that much to anyone? Who used it? It was the bat used by Babe Ruth in the first baseball game in the new Yankee Stadium in 1923. In the third inning, The Babe blasted a home run right into the right field bleachers, and somebody just laid down over a million bucks for the bat he used.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Have a Million-Dollar Life."

It was just a piece of wood until someone important used it to do something important. That's what gave that bat such great value. And that's what gives ordinary humans like you and me a whole new value - being used by the most important person in the universe to do something He considers important. An ordinary life is never quite ordinary again once that life has been used by Almighty God.

And His choice of the person He will use is not based on the things most people look for. God doesn't care about charisma, or credentials, or connections, or cash. He's looking for character. He's a holy God, and He can only use holy instruments; people who keep themselves clean for His service.

Paul paints a picture of two kinds of believers - one useful to the Lord and one of little use to Him - in 2 Timothy 2, beginning with verse 15, our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved." (By the way, Missionary martyr Jim Elliot said the only degree he really wanted was his A.U.G. degree - Approved Unto God.) The verse goes on to say, "a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth... In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble." Even our house has some things we use for throwing away trash and others that we use to serve special people for special occasions.

So what do I have to do to have the honor; the incredible value of being someone the High King of Heaven can use? "If a man cleanses himself," the Bible says, "he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." Man, those are beautiful words, "useful to the Master." Just like you or me going to the kitchen to find a glass to drink from, God is looking for someone who's clean to use. And He doesn't find very many. What a powerful reason for you to keep your heart and your mind pure, to repent of the junk you've been hanging onto, to meet with Jesus daily for that day's tune-up, to aspire to be, as Robert Murray McCheyne said, "as holy as a saved sinner can be." You'll be God's man, you'll be God's woman, through whom God's work will be done in people's lives. That temptation, that compromise can't possibly be worth losing out on a destiny like this!

The beautiful thing is that anybody can qualify to be used by God. It's your passionate purity, your total surrender to be used totally for His purposes that qualifies you. You've abandoned your dreams for your life for His dreams for your life. They're so much bigger and so much better than yours. And the greatest legacy of your life will be to join Him in the rescue mission that changes people's eternities from hell to heaven. He's inviting you to join Him in that rescue mission for which He died.

Make yourself available to the Lord of the universe and keep yourself clean for Him. When He picks up a life to use it, it takes on a meaning and a significance that nothing on earth can even get close to. And in God's hands, your life can be a holy home run!

My teenage son was learning to drive. He had completed the classroom portion of Driver Ed. and he was very interested in getting some "behind-the-wheel" experience.

One afternoon he wanted to shoot baskets in the driveway behind our house, and he said, "Dad, would you move the car?" I said, "No, why don't you move it?" He stammered, and said, "Yeah, why don't you move it?" So I got in the car with him and I said, "Okay, what do you do first?" He said, "Put on your seat belt." I said, "Great! Okay." Well, we're only going 12 feet, but "Good. And then what?" He said, "Put it into gear." I said, "What do you do first?" He said, "Put it into gear." "What do you do first?" "Oh, put your foot on the brake. That's right." Well, we had a very interesting little maneuver going on there in the driveway.

He did manage to back it up and kind of pull it up the driveway without taking out too many trees. Afterwards he said, "Well, Dad, classroom's one thing, but, you know, doing what they taught us? That's a little different. I mean, I know how to drive, but there's going to be a big difference between classroom and behind-the-wheel isn't there?" Yeah. Uh-huh. Of course, classroom has no purpose unless you do put it to work behind the wheel. I mean, it's easy to learn a theory; the challenge is to use it on the road.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "It Isn't Real Until It's Behind the Wheel."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Joshua 1:8. God's instructions go like this, "Do not let this book of the law" (which is the Bible you have right there in your hand or on your shelf). "Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night..." Okay, that sounds like a classroom doesn't it - learning to drive? "...so that you may be careful to do everything written in it." Okay, so what's the purpose of meditating on it? What's the purpose of not letting it depart from your mouth? Using it on the road! "So you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

See, knowing the Bible, studying the Bible - that's good, it's just not an end in itself. It's a means to an end. You're supposed to know it so you'll do it. It's like driver education. It isn't enough to know the facts. You miss the point unless you immediately put it into practice. Be careful to do what you just were thinking about and reading about. The tendency, of course, is to do what's easy; learn the verses, study the Bible, debate the theology. You could be in seminary debating all the great theological issues, heavy into the Bible, biblical truths, theology, and be spiritually dried up because you're not doing anything with it. You're not driving.

You see your mission when you're reading the Bible isn't just to eat spiritually. It's to digest it, to get it into your system, to draw strength from it. So, whenever you're reading a verse about temptation, let's say, you should say, "Well, now what temptation am I facing today?" And you immediately apply that verse to that temptation. When you're reading about trials in your life, you say, "What trial am I facing right now?" And you apply it to that trial that day.

When the Bible says, "Don't let sin control your body," you ask, "What sin has been controlling me too much lately?" And you fight that sin that day with that scripture. There's no risk in learning what God wants. Just like there's no risk in learning how to drive. It's a little scary to go out on a limb and live that day risking that day on that truth, but see, that's how you build spiritual muscle. On any given day we ought to be able to stop each other and say, "Hey, what are you doing today because of what you read this morning? What are you doing differently because of what God told you today?"

You know, there's a false sense of spiritual well-being in going to Bible studies, and mastering theology, and getting biblically smart, because you could be dying inside. The question is, "What are you doing?" See, if you're not doing it, you're dying. That's why Jesus said, "Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?"

You notice God didn't say to Joshua, "Meditate therein so you'll be careful to know." He said, "be careful to do." So, connect your intake to specific obedient action that day. Don't be fooled into thinking that knowing is growing. Don't just hear it in the classroom. Risk it on the road, because it isn't real until it's behind-the-wheel.

I think there's like an art to shopping for produce. You can't just grab the first apple or tomato you see. You have to learn to squeeze the lettuce. My wife taught me how to do that. You have to learn how to check for holes and dents in apples and peaches; you don't just take the first one off the pile. You have to check to see how yellow those bananas are, or how green, or how black. There are ways to tell whether a vegetable is one you should buy. Now it's much tougher to shop for a spiritual leader you can trust. But there is a way to tell.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Test Spiritual Leadership."

It's getting tougher and tougher to know which spiritual leaders you can trust. Look, we're living in a time when, sadly, a lot of Christian heroes have let us down, right? People who say spiritual things, lead spiritual causes, give spiritual counsel, and then all of a sudden something happens that exposes their hypocrisy. In a way, it kind of makes a lot of us hold back and wonder who can we trust?

Well, we're not supposed to have our eyes on man. The Bible makes that clear. And yet, God does give His people leadership; He does raise up teachers. There are authentic spiritual leaders. He does want us to be able to get His teachings and see His love coming through people, but so many have let us down. How can you tell whether a pastor is a leader from God or a person who's doing his own thing in God's name?

Well, there's one person that Jesus really held up as a model leader. It was John the Baptist. He said, "There has been no greater man born among women." Now I cannot think of a stronger endorsement than that. Jesus said John the Baptist was the real deal; a real spiritual leader. And out of the life of John, we get one test for a pastor, a Christian musician, a TV or radio personality, a youth leader, an influencer on the internet.

John 3:30 - here's John's statement. Speaking of Jesus, he said, "He must become greater; I must become less." The King James Version says, "He must increase; I must decrease." You know how to test a spiritual leader? Well, one of the tests is this: Does he leave you thinking more about him or more about Jesus? Where is the spotlight? More about his organization, his goals, his ministry, his programs, or more about Jesus? An authentic man or woman of God, like John the Baptist, puts himself or herself in the background. The leader doing his own thing is heavy on sentences that have "I," "me," or "mine" in them.

Is this the only test? No, but it's a pretty good start. If you're in leadership, measure yourself that way. Who is getting the spotlight, you the leader or the Savior? The real spiritual leaders, the ones you can trust, are the ones who put Jesus in the spotlight and make you think about Him and forget about them.

Years ago I read about a man who maybe 100 years ago had lived in the countryside in England. He traveled to London and wrote to his wife and said, "Honey, today I went to two of the great churches of London. This morning I heard Dr. Cartwright and he is a great preacher. Tonight I went to Metropolitan Tabernacle and I heard Mr. Charles Spurgeon." He said, "Mr. Spurgeon has a great Savior."

Do you want them to remember a great you or do you leave them thinking about a great Savior? Maybe you've been burned by Christians, by a Christian leader. Please, don't let them cause you to miss Jesus in the midst of it all. Jesus said, "Follow Me."

If you've never begun a relationship with Him, please don't let Christians or Christian leaders, or Christianity keep you from Christ. I hope you'll say today, "Jesus, you loved me enough to die for me. You walked out of your grave. I'm yours." You can go to our website to get the rest of the story. It's ANewStory.com.

If you see a leader who leaves you thinking about Jesus, in the crowded spiritual supermarket that you and I shop in, you'll know that's one you can buy.

The area around New York City is dotted with some scenic, protected bodies of water. They are reservoirs that supply the water for the millions of people that are in that area. Now, having lived in the New York City area for a number of years, we often took a weekend drive as a family and, well, we enjoyed looking at them. They're very, very scenic. You know?

But maybe I've seen too many articles and news reports on terrorism, but I got to thinking one day what a target those reservoirs might be. I mean, if a terrorist or some mentally deranged person wanted to destroy a lot of people, I figure all he would have to do is poison the water from which we all drink. Actually a strategy like that is already in the works.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Guarding Your Heart."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 4, and I'm going to read verse 23. It starts this way, "Above all else..." Okay, that's like God clearing His throat. I mean, this is important! When God says, "This is above everything else" pay attention! "Above all else guard your heart." That's the "above all else" - guard your heart. "For it is," the Bible says, "the wellspring (or maybe we could say reservoir) of life." See, God's saying, "I want you to protect what you let into your thoughts and into your heart, because today's thoughts produce tomorrow's actions.

Now, how could the devil plant his ideas in your mind so he could gradually darken your view of love, your view of marriage, your view of the future? How could he put his ideas in there about sex, about the value of human life, and just kind of a slowly growing darkness? How could he do that? Well, obviously he's not going to walk right up to you and say, "Hi, I'm the devil and I'd like to plant a few of my ideas in your brain." He's a little more subtle than that and we're a little smarter than that.

No, he's going to do it the same way that a terrorist might get his poison into your body: poison the source; poison the water from which we all drink. Well, mentally, what's the water we all drink from? Well, television, movies, what we read, our music, what we watch on the Internet, magazines. The problem is this: Many believers, who would never drink the devil's poisonous ideas directly, routinely allow those ideas to sneak in through their entertainment, music, or website, or movies, or their videos.

See, the devil's cleverly disguised and attractively packaged ideas that are woven all through our media. For example, if you watch enough couples involved in premarital or extramarital sex, it starts to feel slightly more normal, a little more acceptable. You're not even aware your guard's coming down because you didn't guard your heart. You let it sneak in, "Hey, that was just entertainment, right, sown in the words of a song, or sown in something portrayed on a TV show, or a movie.

But it is still the outright breaking of God's moral law. Let's go back to Proverbs 4:23, "Guard your heart." Just say those words with me, "Guard your heart." That means I shouldn't be, I can't be watching or listening to a portrayal of something God is against. Stand back and maybe you'll see how you have kind of dozed off mentally and spiritually. The guard went to sleep! The guard needs to wake up and say, "Hey, no! You can't come into this mind; you can't come into this heart."

Put a guard in front of the reservoir. There's a lot of poison in the mental water around us. Why do we drink it so freely?

It's always moving when it comes to Memorial Day and you have all these families of veterans and people who were lost in a war or a battle and all these very poignant stories on television and in the news. You know, Memorial Day and days like it, they're different when you're a veteran or the loved one of someone who died for America's freedom. Because every day is Memorial Day. Because freedom's price for you has a name, a face, an empty chair at the table.

During the Memorial Day observances one Memorial Day, I heard some veterans and some families asking a haunting question. It's embodied in a statement that came from one combat veteran, a former Navy Seal, and a current TV commentator. It really touched me. He said: "It's important for veterans who fought to believe the sacrifice was worth it." The question especially arises when the ground that people bled and died to take is then later lost to the enemy.

"Was the sacrifice worth it?" Whatever the battle, whatever the war, that's what the warrior wants to know.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How Much God Thinks You're Worth."

As I sat in church recently, a sobering thought hit me. It's one I haven't been able to shake. Does Jesus look at me and ask that question, "Was the sacrifice worth it?"

He didn't risk His life. He gave His life. He came here knowing that He alone could pay the price for the sin of the world - for my sin. "The righteous for the unrighteous." That's the way the Bible says it. Nothing could break His heart more than to see the ground He died to liberate in our lives being lost to the enemy. Like us continuing to hang onto the junk that He bled to deliver us from.

In our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Peter 2:24 it says, "He personally carried our sins in His own body on the cross, so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right." Does He ever say to us, "Do you know I died so you wouldn't have to do that thing that you're doing now"?

Sin is so much more than breaking rules. It's really about breaking Jesus' heart. Like when His blood-bought child fills their heart with pornographic fantasies. Or uses their body - the "temple of the Holy Spirit," the Bible calls it, for the very sexual sins He died for. "You are not your own," the Bible says, "you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

It's got to wound Him again when we wound others that He died for with our runaway mouth. Or we just keep lying. Or we abandon our marriage vows. Or succumb to pride, bitterness, unforgiveness, or so many other dark impulses unworthy of His life's sacrifice. The Bible says, "Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ" (Philippians 1:27).

I guess the most hurtful way we can dishonor the blood-sacrifice of Jesus is to think that there's some other way we can get rid of our sin or get into heaven. Like being good, or being religious. Listen, if there was any other way my spiritual death penalty could have been paid, Jesus would never have endured the agony of the cross. Why would He do that if there was another way?

Our faith in anything else to make our peace with God says, "Jesus, what You did on the cross was not enough. I'm going to do something." To honor the unspeakable blood sacrifice of God's only Son is to abandon any other hope but Him. And then to drop the junk that killed Him. Have you ever done that?

Have you ever had your Jesus moment when you've put the life He died for, paid for with His blood, in His hands? If you've never done that, maybe He's talking to you today about this being your day. If you want to do that, tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours." And please, go to our website and let me meet you there and help you know how to begin this relationship. It's ANewStory.com.

He looks at me. He looks at you, and then He looks at the nail prints in His hands and perhaps He asks: "Was the sacrifice worth it?"