Participants: John Bradshaw (Host), Ron Halvorsen
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001238
00:07 It has stood the test of time.
00:11 God's book, the Bible. 00:16 Still relevant in today's complex world. 00:21 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe. 00:36 Thanks for joining me today on It is Written. 00:38 I'm John Bradshaw. 00:39 Today, we are going to focus on a special verse 00:41 of the Bible. 00:42 In 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 and verse 17, the Bible says 00:45 that if anybody is in Christ, that person becomes 00:49 a new creature. 00:50 Some translations will say a new creation and then it 00:54 says this "Old things are passed away and all things 00:59 become new." My guest for today is a long time 01:03 speaker, best-selling author Ron Halverson is proof of 01:08 that fact, that God can take the old and make it new, 01:10 that God can take the person we were and replace it with 01:14 the person that we can be in Jesus Christ. 01:17 Ron Halverson has a remarkable, a dramatic 01:19 conversion story about how God found him 01:22 and changed his life. 01:23 Ron Halverson, thanks for joining me today. 01:25 RH: Glad to be here again. 01:26 JB: Now you hail from New York City, the mean streets 01:30 of New York City. 01:31 RH: I come from Brooklyn, New York, a little section 01:35 in Brooklyn, New York, called Coney Island. 01:38 That's where the amusement center is. 01:40 Also the crime center and juvenile crime, but that's 01:43 where I was brought up and it's a 01:47 wonderful experience. 01:48 JB: And I've heard you say before that as a young man, 01:50 you weren't chosen from among the good angels. 01:54 You were a bit of a rebel. 01:56 RH: I grew up in a very bad neighborhood, poor, poverty. 01:59 My father at the time was an alcoholic and when you grow 02:05 up in poverty, in that kind of neighborhood, you rebel. 02:08 There is something inside of you. 02:10 You're fighting it and I blame my parents and blamed 02:14 the teachers and you know, they put me in special class 02:20 and I was always in trouble and that was going 02:24 to be my life. 02:25 My life was a bad environment. 02:27 The neighborhood itself is a jungle, they called it "the 02:30 asphalt jungle." It was. 02:32 You acted like animals in the street and I learned 02:36 the law of the street, and the future 02:38 didn't look too bright. 02:40 JB: Now we now thank the Lord that the future 02:42 turned out pretty well. 02:43 You are here today. 02:44 You have been serving the Lord for many years. 02:46 You have lead many people to faith in Jesus Christ. 02:48 You have proclaimed the Bible around the world. 02:50 It turned okay. 02:51 But getting from there to here was quite the 02:53 experience and so I just want to say this, as we talk 02:56 today, it is encouraging to remember. 02:59 Parents, God can turn your sons and daughters around 03:03 and bring them back to him. Children. 03:05 People without hope. 03:06 Young people. 03:07 There is hope for you because God can 03:10 change your life. 03:11 Somebody in this world saying "What do I have 03:14 to look forward to? 03:15 What does my life hold for me? 03:17 What is coming ahead? 03:19 There is something to look forward to because when 03:22 Jesus Christ gets into your life, He change what you are 03:26 and make you what you could never make yourself. 03:28 And Ron, so, as a young person, you got involved in 03:30 all kinds of various things that parents today would not 03:33 want their kids getting involved in. 03:35 RH: The thing was, John, was that I didn't believe 03:38 in God. 03:40 JB: Why not? 03:40 RH: I just ... Where was God in the ghetto? 03:44 It's easy to see God in a cathedral. 03:46 It's easy to talk about God when you are brought up 03:49 in a Christian home ... 03:51 JB: You were not brought up going to church? 03:53 You know, my parents didn't go to church. 03:55 They sent us to Sunday School every now and then 03:58 and we were confirmed but we didn't really have a family 04:03 experience about God and I kind of was rebelling 04:06 against everything so the first thing I rebelled 04:09 was against God. 04:11 If there was a God, he had a twisted sense of humor. 04:17 I mean, here is the inner city. 04:19 Here's people suffering and hurting and dying 04:21 in the streets and I mean, that's the reality 04:23 of the inner city. 04:24 That's the reality of the ghetto, and I'm growing up 04:26 in there and when they tried to talk to me about God, 04:28 I said I don't want nothing to do with a God 04:31 that would allow this. 04:32 I got in trouble. 04:33 I mean, I was breaking and entering. 04:35 I was hot-wiring, stealing my first car when I was 14. 04:37 I was snatching pocket books, you know. 04:39 I mean, I'm running the streets. 04:41 I'm fighting in the streets. 04:42 I mean, that was the way of life. 04:44 My brother and I would wake up in the morning and he'd 04:46 say "Let's go look for a fight" so we'd go out 04:49 to look for a fight. 04:51 And I was blaming everybody but myself. 04:54 I was blaming the neighborhood. 04:57 I was blaming my parents. 04:58 I was blaming the law. 04:59 But it really was me, inside of me, that anger. 05:03 It seethed out in violence. 05:05 JB: You were raised to fight, weren't you? 05:07 As a kid you were schooled as a boxer. 05:09 RH: My dad was a professional fighter 05:11 for nine fights. 05:13 He won 8, he drew 1. 05:15 He was a very tough man. 05:18 When my mother said "quit the ring or else" he didn't 05:20 want to fight my mother, I guess, he quit the ring but 05:23 he wanted one of his boys to be a fighter. 05:25 Well, my dad put a heavy bag in the basement, a light bag 05:29 and we'd be hitting it when I was a pee-wee. 05:31 I was in the pee-wee boxing. 05:33 You could hardly put the gloves on, they were so 05:35 heavy, but I started there and you're just like a fly 05:38 weight, and you are boxing and then I'd train five 05:42 nights a week and I wanted to be a prize fighter and 05:46 my father drilled it in my head. 05:48 I want to be a light heavyweight champion 05:50 of the world. 05:51 That was my big goal, was to become a prize fighter, 05:54 and I got a lot of my violence out a lot of my anger 05:58 out that way. 06:00 But you really didn't achieve in my neighborhood 06:02 until you were in the gang. 06:03 There were 200 fighting gangs in the 50's and 60's, 06:07 in New York 200 fighting gangs and they were well 06:10 organized gangs. 06:11 They had a president, vice president, light up man. 06:13 The light up man took care of the weapons. 06:16 You had sawed off shotguns, Saturday night specials, 06:19 baseball bats, drills filled with lead, stiletto 06:23 push-button blades go through 3/4 inch piece 06:26 of plywood. 06:27 I was trying to find some fight of recognition from 06:30 fighting in the ring and fighting in the streets. 06:32 I did not know of any way out. 06:35 See, my neighborhood, it was a bad neighborhood. 06:37 About 70 or 80% of the kids had police records 06:41 before 16 or 17. 06:43 Anything that was not fastened down, I'd take. 06:46 JB: What might have made a difference? 06:49 There was a scarcity of good role models. 06:51 Maybe nothing would have made a difference, Ron, 06:53 but was there anything that might have made 06:55 a difference in the life of a wayward kid back them? 06:57 RH: Well with me, I came to an experience with Christ 07:00 but showing that there is hope for them, hope. 07:05 Everybody needs hope. 07:07 I mean, there's no hope. 07:08 There's no hope when the majority of the kids that 07:11 come out of my neighborhood go to prison. 07:13 What kind of hope is that? 07:14 Or they drop out of school. 07:15 They are drop outs. 07:17 I couldn't really read or write when I was in high school. 07:20 I mean, I could functionally get along, you know, 07:23 for a comic book. 07:24 I could see enough pictures. 07:25 I could figure it out. 07:25 But I could not pick up a Bible or a book and just 07:28 read it and so what kind of future does a person 07:32 like that have? 07:33 He thinks the only future he has is he is going to fight 07:36 his way out of the neighborhood or they are going 07:39 to carry him dead out of the neighborhood. 07:43 That's the mindset you have and that was the mindset 07:46 I had as a teenager, and the police gave up on me. 07:50 They told me "hey", he's no good. 07:53 My principal told my mother one day "Your boy's a bum. 07:56 He is no good. 07:57 He will never amount to anythin 08:00 They are going to throw him away in jail, lock him up, 08:02 throw away the key. 08:03 This kid .. 08:04 no hope." He told my mother. 08:06 My mother cried on her way home and that's the 08:08 heartbreak of America, what we do to our parents. 08:11 I had a wonderful mother. 08:12 I had a wonderful father, but he didn't know God. 08:16 He was an alcoholic, but he was a wonderful dad, 08:18 he was a hard working man. 08:20 He never made a lot of money. 08:21 We lived in the worst of worst tenements. 08:25 Poverty-stricken. 08:26 But my mama, she scrimped and saved. 08:29 My mother, she didn't know what to do. 08:31 She says to me, "Ronny, I don't know what 08:35 to do with you? 08:36 What can I do?" 08:37 And I didn't know. 08:38 I would have told her, "mom, you can't help me, 08:40 only God could help me", but who knows that? 08:42 JB: Something you said is interesting. 08:44 There was no hope. 08:45 There was no hope. 08:46 Evidently, there was hope because today Ron Halverson 08:48 is a changed man and has been for a long time. 08:50 How does a person get from there, lost and without hope, 08:54 to sharing the hope that we have in Jesus Christ 08:58 with people all around the world we'ff find out in a minute. 09:02 It Is Written is dedicated to sharing 09:04 the gospel around the world. 09:06 To discover more about It Is Written, I invite you 09:08 to visit our website: itiswritten.com and browse 09:11 the dozens of pages that describe what we do 09:14 and how we do it. 09:15 Let' get to know each other better. 09:17 Visit our website itiswritten.com today. 09:21 Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. 09:24 I4m John Bradshaw. 09:25 Today, the Ron Halverson story. 09:26 He has been called from gangs to God. 09:30 Ron, this was no laughing matter. 09:32 You were a lost boy, in trouble, making trouble. 09:34 You said a moment ago there was no hope and when you 09:38 have no hope, the future is bleak, no matter which 09:41 way you stack it. 09:42 Somehow, the light started to shine in. 09:44 RH: Well, this is the amazing thing and this is why 09:47 I love my work. 09:48 I work in the inner cities a lot. 09:49 I work in the big cities. 09:50 I work for a lot of these people. 09:53 God is there. 09:56 The incarnation is God is here. 09:58 God is waiting to touch a life, but at that time 10:01 I was hopelessly lost. 10:02 I said I didn4t want to know about God, 10:04 I don4t believe in God. 10:06 You know, anything I could do. 10:08 I4d curse God, but God wasn4t done with me. 10:10 God didn4t give up on me. 10:12 What happened was the miracle that happened was 10:14 another kid found God. 10:18 Another kid in the neighborhood, one kid, a 15 10:21 year-old kid finds God and his life 10:24 is drastically changed. 10:26 I mean, this kid, he is coming down the street with 10:28 a Bible in his hand. 10:29 I mean, he hardly knows anything about the Bible. 10:32 If you think you can only be saved if you know everything 10:34 about the Bible, then only the intelligent will be saved, 10:36 only the theologian will be saved. 10:39 Thank God that4s not true. 10:41 JB: That4s right. 10:41 That4s a mistake they made in Jesus' day, that only 10:42 the educated class. 10:44 RH: And this kid, he don't know much, he can't find 10:49 much in the Bible, but he's so full of God he wants to 10:53 share it, so here we are standing on the street 10:57 corner, black leather jackets, skull, blood dripping 10:59 over the skull, every gang flew its color 11:02 and there you are, switchblade in your pocket, 11:04 you know, looking cool. 11:05 And this kid comes up. 11:07 I knew he's a friend of mine. 11:08 We're from the third grade, and he is smiling, 11:12 and nobody smiles in my neighborhood, and I said 11:14 what's wrong with you? 11:15 And he says, "Ah, I found Jesus Christ in my heart." 11:17 "Jesus? 11:21 Religion is old people, Jim. 11:23 I mean, when you have one foot in the casket and the 11:25 other on a banana peel, hey, that's when you get religion." 11:28 JB: You get religious there. 11:29 RH: And I kid him. 11:30 I said, "Man, I wanna live it up", forgetting 11:32 I have to live it down. 11:33 And Jim, every time you see him, smile on his face, 11:35 and talking about God, but you know, we began 11:38 to see a change. 11:40 The kids didn't curse around him so much. 11:43 They didn't plan their escapades so much. 11:45 I mean, they kind of admired him. 11:48 When they got in trouble, who was the first person 11:50 they called? Jim. 11:52 And he'd come smiling. 11:53 But he always kept after me because I was his friend, 11:57 but I am now in William E. Grady 11:59 Vocational High School, I am in a school that wrote 12:02 the Blackboard Jungle. 12:04 JB: Oh, that's that school? 12:04 RH: Yeah. 12:05 And you know, juvenile crime. 12:07 On ever corner, there's a policeman station. 12:10 I mean this is where you run up the downstair case 12:12 and find someone who's stomach is slit open. 12:14 I'm in the middle of rumbles, where kids get blown away. 12:17 One of my best friends I recruited in the gang, 12:20 he was blown away, his head blown off his shoulders 12:23 and died in a pool of blood at 16. 12:25 I mean, try to live with that your whole life. 12:27 And here's this kid, Jimmy. 12:30 He goes off to this academy, a Christian school, way out 12:32 in Queens, two hours each way on the train. 12:35 We thought he was crazy. 12:37 But when we got in trouble, hey man .. 12:40 "Jimmy" ... and he came, and he ministered to them. 12:44 I'm playing hookey and I'm going down the street 12:49 and a friend of mine, coming the other way, 12:50 Richard, he is coming to school and I said 12:53 "Where are you going" and he says "school" and I said 12:55 "you don't want to go to school". 12:55 We'd play hookey, you know, all the time, but he just 12:57 got out of reform school and so he had to go 12:59 to school or else they would send him 13:00 away until he was 21. 13:01 And he said "No, I gotta go." 13:02 And I said "No." He said "No, they know where we 13:04 go." We'd go down to the boardwalk, 13:06 we'd go down to the pool hall, and then I thought 13:09 about this kid, out in a christian school in Queens. 13:12 I said "Hey man, let's go out there. 13:16 Who is going to look for you and me in a Christian school" 13:18 and that was the week that began 13:20 to change my life. 13:21 We snuck onto the train. 13:22 We never paid to get on the train. 13:24 It's an elevated train in lower Brooklyn. 13:26 We climb up, cross the tracks, don't want to get electrocuted, 13:28 jump between trains and save 15 cents. 13:31 So, I come out to this school, a Christian school. 13:34 JB: And you go to this Christian school because 13:37 you are on the run. 13:38 You are not going there for any good reasons. 13:40 RH: Oh yeah, no, yeah, and I figure we'd go out there, 13:43 and I'm not going to be out in the street, so I walk 13:46 into the school and it's quiet, man. 13:48 I'm used to guys fighting it out. 13:50 I see kids overdose on the roof, 13:52 they strip them of their clothes to sell, 13:54 friends throw their body off the roof. 13:56 I mean, yeah, this is a bad place. 13:58 I turn to my friend Rich and I say "Man, 14:00 this can't be a school." 14:01 This has got to be a morgue. 14:02 I mean, there ain't a dead body you see here. 14:04 Not a live people, and just then, a woman teacher came 14:08 down and she says "Can I help you?" 14:10 She was kind of frightened. 14:11 You can picture it. 14:12 I mean you know, here I am, I look the part, 14:15 I look the part of a criminal and I was. 14:18 She says "Can I help you?" 14:19 And I say "I'm looking for Jimmy Landis. 14:21 Does he go to school here?" 14:22 And she says "He's up in chapel". 14:24 I didn't know what a chapel was. 14:26 I never been in a chapel all my life. 14:28 I said "Chapel?" She said "Well, yes, it's like assembly 14:30 in public school. 14:31 Do you want to go up?" 14:33 I said "Yeah" I don't want to go out. 14:35 But anyway, so my friend and I, Richard, just out 14:37 of reform school, we go up, get to the door, I put my hand 14:41 on the door knob and just then, she said "Oh, by the way 14:44 it's week of prayer." 14:45 I break out laughing, man. 14:46 "A week of prayer?" I say "I can't pray 30 seconds, 14:49 how do they pray for a whole week?" 14:51 And that was my introduction. 14:53 I walked in this chapel. 14:55 The week of prayer preacher was up front. 14:58 Sat in my seat, the last two seats with my friend and I, 15:02 in the back row. 15:03 Jimmy turned around, he saw me and he 15:07 couldn't believe it. 15:08 I mean, he could not believe it and he came running back 15:11 and sat with us. 15:12 I was looking around. 15:13 I didn't listen. 15:14 You don't want to listen. 15:15 That's why people don't go to church. 15:17 They are afraid God might grab them. 15:19 They don't go to meetings because they are afraid 15:21 "Hey, I might listen." Well, I wasn't going to listen. 15:23 I'm looking, checking the chicks out, you know, 15:26 and doing everything else. 15:27 Next day, played hookey with my friend 15:29 and went out to the Greater New York Academy, 15:31 walk in, black leather jackets, skull blood, 15:33 hate in my heart. 15:34 I hate it. 15:35 Man, I had such anger. 15:36 I'd hit you, run your face down a brick wall and walk away 15:39 and not feel nothing. 15:41 And here I am. 15:43 And what happens? 15:45 JB: Well, let's find out. 15:47 Something happened. 15:49 Ron Halverson, a gang banger from Brooklyn, finds himself 15:52 in a Christian school, in an assembly, 15:55 at what was called Week of Prayer. 15:58 Evidently, this had something to do with the Bible, 16:00 it had a lot to do with God. 16:01 Would he listen? 16:03 Would God reach his heart? 16:05 We'll find out what happens in just a moment. 16:09 If there was something in today's program 16:11 that you would like to study in greater depth and detail, 16:14 visit our website itiswritten.com where you 16:17 will discover additional spiritual resources along 16:20 with free Bible Study guides on a host of topics. 16:23 Visit itiswritten.com today. 16:27 Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. 16:29 What hope is there for anybody who is miles 16:32 away from God? 16:34 Who has got his fingers in his ears trying desperately 16:37 hard not to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. 16:39 See, this question is very important because I think 16:42 you and I, if we don't ourselves, we certainly know 16:46 people who have very lost people in their families. 16:49 I know there are many people watching It Is Written today 16:51 and they are saying "my children", "my son", 16:53 "my daughter", "my grandchildren", 16:55 "my grandchild", or "my great grandchild", 16:57 "my neighbor", "my niece", "my nephew" .. 16:59 " so far from God, what hope is there?" Today, 17:02 the Ron Halverson story. 17:04 Young fellow, who grew up in a bad neighborhood 17:06 in New York City, joined a gang, 17:08 hate in his heart, no love for God, 17:12 but when we left the story a moment ago, we discovered 17:14 that Ron Halverson, through an act of providence, 17:17 found himself at Christian school, and 17:19 Ron, you were about to hear the Word of God. 17:21 What happened when you went back that next day and they 17:23 were having what was called a Week of Prayer at this 17:25 Christian school where your friend attended. 17:27 RH: Well we got there that day and I wasn't impressed. 17:33 I tried not to listen. 17:35 Every now and then, a word would get through. 17:37 But you know, I had such anger. 17:39 I couldn't get above that anger, but things 17:42 were going to change because happenstance, 17:47 things change, let me tell you. 17:49 That night, we were going to have a block party. 17:51 We used to have block parties and the guys would put ash 17:54 barrels across the corners so the cars couldn't 17:56 come through, and then we'd get the ghetto blaster going, 17:58 and you know, we'd have a dance, and each 18:00 member was supposed to bring something to the party, 18:03 and the president would give you a slip of paper 18:06 and you know, you'd get that stuff, 18:08 and since I had no money, I'd break and enter. 18:10 I was to get all that stuff that is not good for you 18:12 right now, but when we get to heaven, we'll be alright, 18:14 you know, eclairs, and lemon meringue pies. 18:17 Yeah, that's the kind of tree I'm gonna have, 18:19 everybody else can have a pineapple tree but I'm going 18:22 to have an eclair tree, but anyway, so I go down 18:24 to Brighton Breach, and at Second, 18:26 on Neptune Avenue, there's a bakery. 18:28 I wait until it closes, I break in the back, 18:31 I get in. I go for those little white boxes 18:33 they have in the bakery, you know, I'm filling them up 18:35 with all these cream puffs. 18:37 We're going to have a great party. 18:39 You know, that was my job. 18:40 I was supposed to get all the sweet things. 18:42 So, I say "why go out the back window? 18:44 I'll go out the front door." 18:45 And I go out the front door and about six blocks up, 18:47 a patrol car, the 60th Precinct, 18:49 comes around the corner and here I am with ... 18:53 you know, everybody is a theologian, I mean "get rid 18:56 of your sin", get out of here. 18:59 I drop the cream puffs and try to get traction 19:01 with cream puffs in your sneakers, 19:03 but anyway, I took off. 19:05 And usually in your neighborhood, you knew 19:07 the alley ways. 19:08 But I was in Brighton Beach, that was the next 19:11 neighborhood over. 19:12 Here I am, I'm running and I duck down this alley 19:14 when I figure, I get to the end and I'll jump over 19:16 the fence and I'll be gone, man. 19:18 They won't find me. 19:19 I come to the end, and it's a back of a building, 19:21 it's a dead-end alley. 19:23 So now, being a theologian, I'm gonna think, what amI 19:25 going to tell these guys and I look up and there was 19:28 a fire escape and I pulled the ladder 19:32 down and I ran up. 19:33 I got to the roof just then they came in - "stop 19:35 or I'll shoot". 19:36 I was moving so fast I'd outrun the bullet 19:38 and here I am, run across the building, 19:40 jump over the next building, and I'm gone. 19:42 Next day, I'm out to that school with my friend, 19:44 Richard. 19:45 And this preacher says that this Jesus touched lame legs 19:49 and men walked, and I thought "Wow!" 19:52 Now I'm listening. 19:53 He touched blind eyes and men saw the light of day. 19:56 He touched the little baby's dead heart and beat 19:59 it into life and handed it back to its mother again. 20:01 I thought "Wow, man, what kind of power in 20:05 those hands?" First time in my life ... I mean, I heard that 20:10 before, catechism. 20:11 I heard that stuff, but it never dawned on me 20:14 that it's real. 20:15 I mean, that's like Three Little Pigs 20:18 ... you know, Humpty Dumpty sat on the 20:21 wall ... but REAL? 20:22 He talked about this miraculous Christ and loving 20:25 Christ and boy, a thought came to my mind but I pushed 20:28 it out fast. 20:30 Boy, God...could he be like that? 20:34 Could he be like that? 20:35 That night I needed money. 20:40 The easiest way to get money then was to snatch 20:43 a pocket book. 20:44 A little old lady would come and I'd grab the 20:46 pocket book, pull it and if they yelled 20:48 or screamed, I'd hit them, knock them to the ground. 20:50 That's what sin does to you. 20:51 And so I run out and grabbed a pocket book, I'm pulling 20:53 and this woman, she starts screaming, and I go to hit 20:57 her and all of a sudden, I started to cry. 21:01 Big boys don't cry. 21:02 My daddy taught me that. 21:03 I mean, tough kids don't cry. 21:07 But I was crying. 21:08 I didn't know what it was. 21:09 I let go of the pocket book and I started running. 21:11 I ran down alley ways, up over fences, I fell between 21:15 some ash barrels and almost all night I stayed 21:17 there crying. 21:18 And there was something in my heart. 21:20 It was pounding in my heart. 21:22 I was scared because I didn't know what it was. 21:24 And why didn't I hit her? 21:27 Why couldn't I? 21:28 What was it that changed so drastically, dramatically? 21:32 The next day I played hookey and went out to that school 21:35 with my friend Richard, and now I'm starting to say 21:39 "I gotta listen to this." 21:41 I mean, I can't explain last night. 21:43 I can't explain this miracle man. 21:46 You know what I discovered John, and I want those that 21:50 are watching this program to discover, parents that have 21:52 lost their children, their kids may be in gangs, it may 21:55 seem hopeless. 21:56 Listen, God made a round world. 21:59 That's not a physical scientific reason. 22:02 Because the further you go away from home, the closer 22:07 you come to home. 22:08 You see, that's the story of this planet. 22:10 That's the story of God. 22:12 That's the story of his love. 22:13 He was caring about a gang banger, an angry kid. 22:20 I heard about this Jesus and how they didn't love him, 22:23 they wanted to crucify him and kill him. 22:26 I thought man, you kill bad guys. 22:29 Or good guys that get in the way of bad guys. 22:31 That night, I was supposed to steal a car. 22:34 We already looked at it. 22:35 We knew where it was, what it was, 22:38 what we were going to do. 22:39 And we went out, but there was a knock on the door 22:43 and standing at that door was that Christian boy, 22:45 Jimmy, with a Bible. 22:48 And he said this. 22:49 I'd never forget it, 50 years later. 22:52 "I come to study the Bible with you." I said "What?". 22:56 He said "I come to study, I want to study the Bible." 22:58 And all those people said to me, Aw, you chicken. 23:02 They went out that night. 23:03 They were caught and arrested. 23:05 I would have been in prison, maybe, or dead for all I know, 23:08 because most of my friends are dead or in prison. 23:10 But for the grace of God ... 23:12 and that night, I studied the Bible. 23:15 I couldn't read it but I studied it. 23:18 Next day I went out and heard about 23:20 this crucified Christ, hanging between two thieves, 23:23 and I thought, "Wow! 23:25 Could that Christ who died for two thieves in Jerusalem 23:30 die for a thief in Brooklyn streets and for the first time 23:38 in my life, the first time, I found hope. 23:41 And that day, I gave my heart to God. 23:43 I turned to my friend Richard, and I said "Richard, come on." 23:46 Tears were in his face. 23:48 He was touched by the Spirit of God. 23:50 And he said this, he said "Ron, it costs to much 23:53 to be a Christian." 23:54 JB: That's what he said? 23:55 RH: And he spent his life in prison for murder 23:59 and I went on preaching the gospel and I have 24:01 been on every continent in the world. 24:03 Hey, it cost too much not to be a Christian. 24:05 I discovered that. 24:07 And here is this illiterate. 24:08 What is going to happen now with me? 24:10 The moment I found God, I wanted to tell people. 24:12 JB: Is that right? 24:13 RH: I told people. 24:14 I preached on street corners. 24:16 I held an evangelistic meeting, 17 years old, we held 24:19 an evangelistic meeting in a bookie joint in Brooklyn, 24:23 Jimmy and I. 24:24 First person I seen baptized was my mother. 24:28 And I have held an evangelistic meeting ever since, 24:31 every year of my life, until the day I die. 24:35 I told my wife, I said "Honey, if I die before 24:37 the Lord comes, put a pulpit in my casket 24:39 because I'll come up preaching." And that was 24:41 just from one boy, one teenager who loved God. 24:46 Imagine what we could do if all the teenagers that claim 24:49 to love God would share their faith? 24:51 JB: An amazing story. 24:53 RH: And that's why I'm here. 24:54 JB: If any man be in Christ, ... what does the Bible say? 24:58 RH: New creature. 24:59 JB: Old things are passed away. 25:00 And all things become new. 25:01 RH: And we had struggles. 25:03 I want to tell people, God didn't promise you 25:05 a rose garden. 25:06 He didn't promise you a ... it's tough. 25:09 I mean there were times that I fell, times that 25:12 I was miserable, I mean, miserably fallen. 25:14 But the difference is getting up. 25:17 Taking that step. 25:18 JB: Christianity continues to be a growth, doesn't it? 25:21 RH: Yeah. 25:22 It's a lifetime. 25:23 And when you fall short, He hasn't. 25:27 That's the gospel. 25:28 That's the good news. 25:29 JB: Someone is struggling today. 25:31 Your message to that person is? 25:33 RH: Reach out for God. 25:36 He is a fingertip away. 25:38 Don't get good enough for God. 25:40 God is good enough for you. 25:43 Just say "Hey, help me" and let him help you and if 25:47 you are sincere to open your heart, he will help you. 25:49 You will be surprised what he can do with you. 25:54 Today, our free book offer is for one 25:57 of my very favorite books. 25:58 Steps to Christ. 26:00 Just what you need in your daily walk with Jesus. 26:03 Just call or write and Steps to Christ will be 26:06 on its way. 26:07 There's no cost or obligation. 26:09 It's our free gift to you. 26:11 Just call 1.800.253.3000 and ask for Steps to Christ. 26:17 Lines are open 24 hours. 26:19 If it's busy when you call, just try again. 26:21 You can also request this free book by writing to 26:24 It is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, 26:27 California 91359 and we'll mail a copy to 26:30 your address in North America. 26:32 Please note, this free book is limited to the supply 26:35 on hand, so call soon. 26:36 For immediate access, you can download a free, 26:39 electronic version of the book Steps to Christ from 26:42 our website itiswritten.com. 26:43 It Is Written is a faith-based ministry made possible 26:48 by viewers like you. 26:49 Thank you for your letters and for your continued support. 26:53 Ron, thank you for sharing today. 26:55 You know a lot of lives are going to be touched, 26:57 have been touched through your ministry 26:59 RH: Well, it's great to be here and to share. 27:02 JB: A lot of people have a lot of hope because of what 27:04 God did for you, God is doing in lives right now and will 27:07 continue to do in lives until Jesus comes back. 27:09 RH: That's right. 27:10 JB: Let's pray together right now. 27:12 Our Father, we thank you knowing that you treat us as 27:15 the father treated the prodigal son. 27:17 You run to meet us and grab us and greet us. 27:20 Thank you for meeting us where we are and helping us 27:22 to know that there is hope through Jesus Christ 27:26 and help us, Lord, to know that beyond the despair that we 27:29 experience in our lives, there is hope for us because 27:33 Jesus died to set us free. 27:36 Bless us, please, in Jesus' name, Amen. 27:47 Ron, thanks. 27:48 Thanks very much for joining me today. 27:50 I appreciate it greatly. 27:51 RH: You're welcome. 27:52 JB: And thank you for joining me today. 27:54 I look forward to seeing you next time and until then, 27:56 please remember It Is Written, man shall not live by bread 27:58 alone but by every word that proceeds from 28:02 the mouth of God. |
Revised 2015-02-06