Full disclosure here. I'm not the guy you want to call when you need a guy to do a job with a hammer. But look, I do know the fundamentals. A hammer can be used to build something, right? Or to tear it down. Either way, what a hammer hits is not going to stay the same. Life's hammers are like that: Losing your job, your health, the one you love most. Those are hammers! And maybe one of those has hit you recently. Or it maybe hit a long time ago but its effects are still there today. And whatever the hammer hits can't possibly stay the same. The only question is whether the blows will build you or tear you down. But the hammer doesn't decide that. We do.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You're Hit With Life's Hammer."

Each summer, I travel with a team of young Native Americans who've been hammered all their lives by family violence, sexual violence, addiction, and depression. Most have been to a dozen or more funerals by the time they're 16.

But when they talk about their lives with reservation young people like them, they don't sound like victims. Oh, they acknowledge the damage the blows have done. But what they talk about most is hope! Because they made choices that have made them stronger, more compassionate, people of great faith, and they hand out hope wherever they go.

We don't get to choose if and when life's hammers hit, but we totally choose what kind of person it's going to make us. Will I let this tenderize my heart or turn it hard? Will I let pain open up my heart or close my heart in fear that I'll get hurt again? Will I let it go, by forgiving and be free, or will I let it grow into a cancer in my soul? Will I let the blows equip me to be a wounded healer for other bleeding people, or is it going to make me one of those hurt people who hurt people?

The hole left by my Karen's absence is unfillable. But God has used it to open my heart to Him and to other wounded people as never before. I'm living with His promise, and it's our word for today from the Word of God: "He comforts us in all our troubles so we can comfort others" and "give them the same comfort God has given us" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

When we've been hurt, we can choose to let the hammer turn us inward, putting up walls that say, "Leave me alone." People get that vibe and they oblige, and we end up self-isolated at the very time when we need people the most. On the other hand, if we choose to reach out, we can experience the very flood of love and support that we're going to need to heal.

Maybe the worst choice we can make when the hammer hits is to turn our back on God. We go, "why?", and the heavens seem silent. But when we turn our back on God at the very point where we need Him the most, we're turning our back on the only One who can make any sense out of what's happened. Who can bring meaning out of our pain. Who has the hope and the supernatural strength we need to go on. As the Bible promises, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13). Even through the most leveling blow of my life.

My Jesus gets it. No one took the blows He did. Literally loving me enough to take the hellish punishment for my sin so I wouldn't have to. And anyone who loved me enough to die for me will never do me wrong. So, yes, I can trust Him. Even when I can't understand Him.

I would encourage you, if you've never reached out to Him and begun your relationship with Him, tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." And let me urge you to go to our website and there get all the information you'll need to get this relationship started. It's ANewStory.com.

When my son was three years old, we visited the U.S. Capitol. You can imagine how those long, steep stairs looked with little legs. Impossible. But he made it to the top! Not with his strength. With his daddy's. I carried him.

Just as Jesus has been carrying me and wants to carry you. He's carried me where I never could have gone without Him. He's waiting to do that for you.

You know, handmade gifts are always the most special. Well, there are better crafted doll houses than the one my daughter got when she was a little girl. But we made it; it's handmade. My wife and I, for better or worse, did it with our own hands. One December we closed the basement and we started hammering and sawing away to build that doll house. There was a sign on the door that said "Do Not Open Till Christmas." That meant the basement. That drove the kids crazy, but we were having a great time doing it. Frankly, my month was crammed. But even though the work we did was often very late and it took quite a few hours, especially since I'm not the neighborhood handyman, I enjoyed every minute of working on it. Did I get tired? Yes. Was I too busy to do that doll house? Yes. Was it outside the things I do well? Yes. Was it a pleasure? Yes. Why? Because it was for a little girl I loved very much.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "What Love Does to Work."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 7, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 37. It's the familiar story of the lady who loved Jesus very, very deeply. "When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. And as she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them." Now, there's a discussion by the Pharisee with Jesus as to why she did all of this. And He simply says, "For she loved much."

She loves her Master, and she uses everything she can find to serve Him. She kisses His feet. She says, "Wait, I have this perfume. I could use that to express my love for Him, and she breaks open that perfume." She says, "I've got my hair. I can dry His feet with my hair." It's as if she is looking for everything she can use to love Jesus with it.

There's a principle here. Work is so different when it's an act of loving worship instead of grudging duty. Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord and not for men." And then it says, "It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Maybe you've just been cranking out your responsibilities lately and it's joyless - drudgery. Maybe those who are around you would testify to hearing more complaining and negative talk lately.

It could be you're working for the wrong person. No, no, not for your boss. Don't do it for your boss, your company, your pastor, your church, your ministry, or your teachers. Don't do it for your children even, or your employees. See, work becomes lighter and more joyful when you begin each responsibility by saying, "Lord, I dedicate this everyday chore to You. I love You, and this job I'm doing, I'm doing as an offering to You. I'm giving it my best. I'm doing it for you, Jesus."

A woman in this story used everything she could find to love Jesus. It's a beautiful picture - grabbing everything you do as something with which to love your Master. You're busy, tired, maybe feeling inadequate, like I did when I built that doll house. But it was for someone I really loved. Do your work for someone you really love.

You may not love your work, but it makes a difference when you do your work for love.

Three feet of snow! That was a weather record I didn't really want to participate in. But, sure enough, we woke up that cold New Jersey morning to three feet of snow that had literally buried the metropolitan New York area. Even New York, the city that never sleeps, had been effectively shut down by the storm. Our little guy really wanted to go out in the snow that blanketed our backyard. So we bundled him up and we watched as he ventured out into that white stuff. And he promptly disappeared! I went out after him and, as short as I am, I just about disappeared myself. It took quite a while for that snow to become manageable and for life to get back to normal. And it wasn't the last snow dump of the winter. But for those of us who have lived through some pretty long and tough winters, there is one word that sustains us through it all. You know the word: spring.

If you're a teenager, it's got to be one of the ugliest sentences in the English language. You ready? "You're grounded!" Or if you're a traveler who flies very much, it's not a very nice word for you either. "All flights have been grounded." And if you're a Christian, it's not a fun word either. But there's a way to be grounded without being ground under.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hope When You're Grounded."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes to us from somebody who was really grounded. I'm in Philippians 1:13, and the Apostle Paul is in prison. It is not his choice, of course. It is, however, his new assignment from the Lord. He is there for reasons he doesn't deserve to be. He has been following Christ, serving Christ, and he is there on trumped up charges. But listen to his perspective.

He says, "As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ." Paul had a lot of assignments in his life, a lot of places God sent him to minister, a lot of places to preach, a lot of enemies to oppose. But this was probably the toughest assignment the Apostle Paul ever had - to be in chains. But look how he put it. "I am in chains for Christ."

Now listen, it's a lot easier and a lot more fun to be in charge for Christ. And most of his life Paul had been in charge, but now he's in chains. He's used to being the one who makes it happen wherever he goes, and now he's in a situation where it appears he can make nothing happen. He's chained all day to one of the Praetorian guards. He can't see the people he loves. He can't be with the people he's reached for Christ. He can't go and witness, he can't stay and preach a sermon to people who need to know what Christ has done.

Maybe you know something about being in chains yourself. You've been, well, we could say, grounded by the Lord. Oh, they may not be the chains of a prisoner - they could be the chains that have been imposed by an illness or the limitations imposed by finances or by having to wait or by any kind of circumstances that are beyond your control. Can I share with you how Paul was in chains for Christ, because I think you can be that way in your chains for Christ.

First of all, trust the One who gives you the assignment. He's assigned you to this limited playing field. So, trust Him. Number two - look for the ways that God can use your inactivity. Paul found that the gospel was advanced right into Caesar's throne room through the guards that he was chained to.

When my wife was grounded with hepatitis for nine months in bed, she said it cleansed her schedule, gave her a chance to get closer to the Lord, to be a witness from her bed to the grace of God when an active woman is down. She looked for the ways that God could use your inactivity.

Number three, remember your mission is the same wherever you are. Oh your surroundings change, your situation changes, but your mission - your assignment - never does. Paul says in this passage "It served to advance the gospel." Well, that's your mission wherever you are...to advance the gospel. It's the same whether you're in charge or you're in chains. It's the reason you're there.

And fourthly, capture your environment for Christ. That's what Paul did. He said, "Well, I'm going to make this a Jesus' place, even though it's not the place I'd like to be."

To be in chains is a burden. But to be in chains for Christ gives your chains meaning. You may be grounded, but you can be grinning too.

Seven years of junior high band concerts. Yep, that was the special joy Karen and I had since all three of the Hutchcraft kids were in junior high band. Oh, it wasn't always a supreme musical experience, but hey, it's our kids, right? Let's imagine you have never heard of the brilliant composer Ludwig von Beethoven before. And I say to you, "Beethoven was a genius. His music is some of the most beautiful ever written." You're a little skeptical because you've never heard any of his music, but I suggest a way you could remedy that. See, the junior high band is having a concert this week, and they're performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony. So you go, and you come back to me and you say, "I thought you said this Beethoven guy was a genius! I just heard his music. It wasn't brilliant!" Now what's the problem here? It isn't Beethoven - it's the way the band played his music. Just because they don't play his music well doesn't mean the man who wrote the music wasn't a genius!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hypocrite Hang-up."

I've devoted my life to telling people about the Genius who can harmonize our lives, who wrote the music that's supposed to guide everything we do. His name is Jesus. But many people - maybe you - can't bring themselves to a point where they'll put their trust in Jesus Christ to be their own personal Savior from their personal sin. And one of the biggest reasons? Christians who are hypocrites.

That's why I'm so glad for today's word for today from the Word of God, where Jesus clarifies what, and who, is the real issue in this whole Christian thing. Mark 2:14, our word for today from the Word of God, "As Jesus walked along, He saw Levi sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow Me', Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him."

Jesus sums up here the central decision we all have to make by issuing a clear, two-word invitation that He gave to so many people: "Follow Me." Jesus basically is saying, "I'm the issue. Your decision is about me." He repeated that invitation so many times when He was on earth. And listen, He's done it millions of times since then and I think He's extending it to you today.

As for those Christians who aren't a very good advertisement - well, they're like that junior high band trying to play the Beethoven symphony. Unfortunately, some of us don't play Jesus' music very well. But it has nothing to do with Jesus. He's still the Genius who forgives our failures, who loves us with a "never leave you" love. He promised, "I'll never leave you." And who can take us to heaven when we die because He walked out of his grave and conquered death.

Jesus never said, "Follow My followers." He never said, "Follow My leaders," or "Follow My religion" or "Follow My rules." He said, "Follow Me." The only reason not to be a Christian is if you have something against Jesus. And there wasn't a trace of hypocrisy in Him.

All that's going to matter when you keep your appointment with God is what you did with Jesus, God's one and only Son who died on the cross to pay...not for His sins, but for yours. Honestly, there's just no place to hide when it comes to Jesus. Either you commit yourself to this Man who died for you or you turn your back on Him and you walk away.

It's all about Jesus. And maybe you're ready to surrender all the baggage that has kept you from experiencing His love for yourself. Forget all those people that in your mind are between you and Him. It's Jesus and you, because it's Jesus you're trusting, not Christianity, not Christians. Maybe you're ready to begin this relationship you were created for. I hope you are.

Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours. You died for me. You're alive and I'm giving myself to You." And then, would you go to our website? I've laid out there how to be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com.

On Judgment Day, it will just be you and Jesus. Today it's you and Jesus. There's an old hymn that puts it this way: "What will you do with Jesus? Neutral you cannot be. For someday your heart will be asking, 'What will He do with me?'"

So this friend of mine pulled out his wallet and said, "Ron, can I show you my pride and joy?" And he did. There was a picture of a little dusting compound called Pride and a dishwashing detergent called Joy. So, here were these two household items. I was fully expecting to see his children, but then, of course, I have strange friends.

Actually, most people do produce a picture of their children or their grandchildren when they say, "Would you like to see my pride and joy?" That's the way it should be. But if we were to judge our greatest source of joy from the time we spend on things, maybe we should put a picture of our desk and say, "Here's my pride and joy, or our house, or our car. Or, "Here's a picture of my paycheck" or my name being in print. Or, "Here's my sporting equipment for what I spend so much of my time doing." Maybe we need to stop and evaluate what really is our greatest fulfillment factor... or what should be.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Greater Joy."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God. We're in the book of 3 John. Yes, Virginia, there is a third John after first and second John. And if you would like to read a book of the Bible pretty quickly, well you've got your choice right here. There are only about 13 or 14 verses in 3 John. So look it up! I'm reading to you from the fourth verse. It says: "I have no greater joy..." John says, okay, here's his pride and joy. Can you imagine him pulling out his wallet and saying, "Okay, I'm going to show you my pride and joy"? "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

We know that John here was talking about his spiritual children. But he was saying that the greatest fulfillment factor I have in my life is to know they're walking in the truth. Notice he didn't say it's that they know the truth or they're giving the right answers, or that they're quoting the truth. He says, "They're walking around in it. They're living it."

Now, if you're a parent as I am, you need to remember that God's value system puts the highest priority on the spiritual welfare of your children. How are they doing? Are they walking in the ways of Jesus? That's one way to find out how you're doing as a follower of Christ. Could it be that something else has replaced your children - pushed them to the edge a little bit? You didn't mean for it to happen. You're not even aware of it; it has been subtle. But somehow something has edged out your children as your main fulfillment factor. It could be your career. Maybe it's education or pursuing some goal in that area. Maybe it's just in improving your lifestyle. You're trying to do it for your kids, of course. But somehow it's taking so much time that your kids are crowded out. Maybe it's even church work that has left your kids virtual orphans a lot of the time.

Remember, somebody else could do that job at work - that job at church. It might be a very noble goal you're pursuing, but you are the only daddy. You are the only mommy they will ever really have. And they will reflect the amount of investment you have placed in them spiritually. No greater joy than them? Is it your greatest investment to see that you're doing all you can to see that your children walk in truth: Time to pray together, to apply the Bible together, to serve Christ together, to talk about Christian values, to talk about a Christian lifestyle together?

They are your greatest responsibility, don't let anything else take their place. They're supposed to be your greatest fulfillment. And, I hope, your very greatest joy.

I have to confess, I didn't exactly go storming into the Computer Age. I was sort of carried into it. Yeah, you know, back in the days when I was getting into that world, I was returning from my first trip to an Indian reservation, and I had a heart full that I wanted to write into a report. So, as usual in those days, I pulled out my trusty pen and paper and handwrote my report. It took the whole trip from Arizona to New Jersey. Well, after one of my friends read my report, he called my wife and said, "I don't want Ron wasting any more time writing things like this by hand. He has to get a computer." My wife agreed, but she indicated we didn't have the funds to get a computer. My doctor friend said, "That doesn't matter. I intend to buy a computer for him!" I was stunned, and shortly thereafter, the owner of a wonderful personal computer. Ever since then, what a difference, huh? I mean that's greatly impacted my life!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Biggest Spiritual Mistake In the World."

I couldn't have afforded to buy a computer. The only way I got one was that someone who cared about me gave it to me as a gift. Had I tried to pay my friend for it, had I tried to work for my friend to earn it somehow, it would have no longer been a gift. Right?

Tragically, most of the religious people on this planet are making the mistake of trying to earn from God what He says we can only have as a gift. In fact, I believe that's why so many people observe their religion's ceremonies, attend their religion's meetings, and try to live by their religion's rules. They are trying to earn eternal life in heaven by doing good things and being good people. And it's a good thing to live a good life, but it's a deadly thing to depend on your good life to get you into heaven.

That's the message of much of the Bible, including our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 6:23. God says, "The wages of sin is death." In other words, what we get paid for running our own lives is spiritual death--eternal separation from God. That's the bad news. But then God says, "But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Now, notice - eternal life isn't the reward of God that we earn with a good life. It's the gift of God which we cannot possibly earn. We can earn hell; we can't earn heaven.

In fact, God says in Ephesians 2:8-9, "It is by grace (which that's undeserved love) you have been saved. It is the gift of God - not by works..." Could it be any plainer? We can't get to heaven by Protestant works, or Catholic works, or Jewish works, or Moslem works, or Buddhist works, or Hindu works. God couldn't make it any clearer. It's not by works! The computer my friend gave me could have only been mine if someone else paid for it. The heaven you want to go to when you die can only be yours if someone else pays the death penalty for your sin - and someone did! Jesus, God's only Son!

All I could do to get what my friend had purchased was to accept it. All you could do to have the eternal life Jesus purchased with His life is to accept it. So the eternity-deciding question is this, "Has there ever been a time when you have told Jesus, 'Lord, You are my only hope of having my sins forgiven...of going to heaven when I die. I'm turning from the running of my own life and I'm welcoming You into my life right now - the One who died for me, the One who walked out of His grave under His own power. I know, Jesus, you have the power to change me. I know you love me enough to have paid for my sin. I'm putting all my trust in you.'"

If your trust is in anything else - including your religion or your goodness - you'll never see heaven. Only Jesus can take you there. So tell Him right now. Put your total trust in Him. Tell Him you're putting your trust in Him today.

Our website is there to help you be sure you belong to Him. That's reason enough to go there isn't it? It's ANewStory.com.

Look, you'll never be able to earn heaven. It's a gift - one that God's Son paid for with His life. But the gift won't be yours until you reach out and receive it.

When you live around New York City like I did for 30 years, you take people on lots of tours. We've had friends visit us from all over the country - all over the world - and, of course, they all want to see the sights of New York that they've heard so much about. Well, we got to take many of them to the Statue of Liberty, the late great World Trade Center, Times Square, Broadway, the United Nations, Central Park. And something interesting actually happened to me as I introduced others to the place that I knew so much about and that I'd seen a lot of times. In a sense, I sort of discovered those places for myself in a new way, and I was actually energized by watching their reactions to seeing it all for the first time.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Surprising Secret of Exciting Faith."

Those places that I knew so well actually became more special to me when I introduced others to them. Just kind of like what happens when you or I introduce someone to the Savior we've known for so long. That's why Paul prayed what he did in Philemon verse 6, our word for today from the Word of God. Interesting verse. Here's what he said, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."

Now there are a lot of reasons to tell people about the life and the love that you found in Jesus Christ, not the least of which is that their eternity depends on them understanding what Jesus did on the cross for them. But here Paul gives a reason we may not think much about or we don't hear much about, and that is that in sharing your relationship with Christ you actually begin to really understand your relationship with Christ as you never did before.

If you remain silent about Jesus, you can just coast along in a comfortable but shallow spiritual rut. But once you step up to your responsibility to get this life-saving message to the people around you, something awakens in your own soul. You have to find ways to explain what Jesus did without all that religious vocabulary which I call "Christianese." And that vocabulary that we use so casually, allows us to believe without thinking a lot about it. We just kind of agree with the words. But as you struggle to explain a relationship with Christ to someone else who doesn't know all those words, you actually start to better understand that relationship yourself. It's like me taking tours of where I lived - it becomes more special to me as I tell someone else about it. As I see the wonder of someone else discovering what I discovered a long time ago. When you tell others about Jesus, He starts to mean even more to you.

And if you're like most believers, you're actually missing this life-changing, faith-expanding experience. Surveys show that up to 90% of Christians never talk about their relationship with Jesus Christ. Which means 90% are missing what Paul calls "a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." And the lost folks in their circle of influence are likely to go into a Christless eternity, an unthinkable eternity because of the silence of the Christian they knew. Please don't let that be you.

It's time to start blowing the lid off our relationship with Jesus by telling people about that relationship - about explaining it to others! Because when you show someone else this Jesus that you know, He'll mean more to you than He's ever meant before!