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Rosemead Kiwanis Club "Serving the Community Since 1945" |
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FAX OF LIFE
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The Fax of Life
A weekly inspiration, courtesy of the Kiwanis Club of Scott's Valley
A Special Little Angel
Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning
service at the church, the Pastor and his eleven year old son would
go out into their town and hand out Gospel Tracts. This particular
Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go
to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside, as well
as pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest
clothes and said, "OK, dad, I'm ready."
His Pastor dad asked, "Ready for what?"
"Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go out," the son reminded his father.
His Dad responded, "Son, it's very cold outside
and it's pouring down rain."
The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking,
"But Dad, aren't people still needing His message, even though it's
raining?"
Dad answered, "Son, I am not going out in this weather."
Despondently, the boy asked, "Dad, can I go? Please?"
His father hesitated for a moment then said, "Son, you can go. Here are the tracts, be careful son."
"Thanks Dad!"
And with that, he was off and out into the rain.
an eleven year old boy walking the streets of the town going door to door
and handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel Tract. After two hours
of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet and down to his
VERY LAST TRACT. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a
tract to, but the streets were totally deserted.
Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell, but nobody answered. He rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but still no answer.
Finally, this eleven year old trooper turned to
leave, but something stopped him. Again, he turned to the door and rang the
bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something
holding him there on the front porch! He rang again and this time the door
slowly opened.
Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly asked,"What can I do for you, son?"
With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her
world, this little boy said, "M a'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I
just want to tell you that *JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU* and I came to give
you my very last Gospel Tract which will tell you all about JESUS and His
great LOVE."
With that, he handed her his last tract and turned
to leave. She called to him as he departed. "Thank you, son! And God Bless
You!"
Well, the following Sunday morning in church
Pastor Dad was in the pulpit. As the service began, he asked, "Does anybody
have any testimony or want to say anything?"
Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly
lady stood to her feet. As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance
came from her face, "No one in this church knows me. I've never been here
before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband passed
on some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, being
a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart that I
came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live.
"So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof, then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted I was about to leap off, when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me.
"I thought, "I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away."
"I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly. I thought to myself again, "Who on earth could this be? Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me.
"I loosened the rope from my neck and started for
the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.
"When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes, for there on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you! The words that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead, TO LEAP TO LIFE as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, "Ma'am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU."
"Then he gave me this Gospel Tract that I now hold
in my hand. As the little angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain,
I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel Tract. Then I
went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any
more. You see---I am now a Happy Child of the KING. Since the address of
your church was on the back of this Gospel Tract, I have come here to
personally say THANK YOU to God's little angel who came just in the nick of
time and by so doing, spared my soul from death."
There was not a dry eye in the church. And as shouts of praise and honor to THE KING resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the "little angel" was seated. He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.
Probably no church has had a more glorious moment, and possibly this universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love & honor for his son... except, of course, for One.
Our Father also allowed His Son to go out into a
cold and dark world. He received His Son back with joy unspeakable, and as
all of heaven shouted praises and honor to The King, the Father sat His
beloved Son on a throne far above all principality and power and every name
that is named.
--- Contributed by Russ
Nelson
PS: God's message CAN make a difference in the life of someone close to you. You don't have to eloquent, you don't have to know all the answers, and you don't have to do it all. It could be that your part is to just quietly whisper, "Thank you Jesus" at the right time. But if you're brave enough to do SOMETHING, you can trust God to do the rest.
Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time.
The Kiwanis Club of Scott's Valley is a community service club and meets at the Heavenly Café in Scott's Valley on Wednesdays at 7 am. You are welcome to join us anytime.
We do not charge anyone for receiving the "Fax;" however. if you have been encouraged in any way by the message, pass it on by saying something encouraging to someone else during the week.
Neither the Scott's Valley or Rosemead Kiwanis Club makes any representations as to the accuracy of words or actions attributed to named individuals; material selected for the Fax of Life comes from a variety of sources and is chosen based on its inspirational value as given.