8/6/13

The Pastor's Son

I received this story in an email from a friend. I do not even know 
if it is a real story or fiction. However, even if it is fiction, 
it still illustrates a point of how powerful one Christian person  is 
when he is willing to take "a walk in the rain" to do God's work!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
 
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 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.' 
Dad responds, 'Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring rain.'

The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, 'But Dad, aren't people
still going to Hell, even though it's raining?' Dad answers, 'Son, I am 
not going out in this weather.'

Despondently, the boy asks, '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.. This eleven year old boy
walked 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 doorbell. 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, 'Ma'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 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 broken-hearted 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 anymore.

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 an eternity in hell..'

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 probably this
universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love & honor for
his son.... Except for One.

Blessed are your eyes for reading this message.

Just wanted to share this...
God bless
Corinne

1 comment:

Lynnie said...

I meant to comment sooner, but I guess today is when I have to..

True story or not, it is a perfect illustration of how much weight the small things we do can lift a burden from someone heart. Especially when we tell them about God's love.