THE ALMIGHTY GOD
Rick volunteers with prison ministries, and in his work has become friends with a pastor of a store front church, the Pastor’s church is called “Almighty God Tabernacle”.
On a Saturday night several weeks ago, this pastor was working late, and decided to call his wife before he left for home. It was about 10:00 pm but his wife didn’t
answer the phone. The pastor let it ring many times. He thought it was odd that she didn’t answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again in a few minutes.
When he tried again she answered right away. He asked her why she hadn’t answered before, and she said that it hadn’t rung at their house.
They brushed it off as a fluke and went on their merry ways. The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office, which was the phone
that he’d used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke with wanted to know why he’d called on Saturday night. The pastor couldn’t figure out what the guy
was talking about.
Than the guy said, “It rang and rang, but I didn’t answer.” The pastor remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he’d intended to
call his wife. The man said, “That’s OK. Let me tell you my story. You see, I was planning to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed,
‘God if you’re there, and you don’t want me to do this, give me a sign now. At that point my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID, and it said,
‘Almighty God’. I just got the courage today to call back.”
THE PASTOR AND HIS SON
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 got into 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 responded,” Son, it’s very cold outside and its pouring down rain.” The boy gave his dad a
surprised look, asking, “But Dad, aren’t people still going to Hell, even though its raining?”
Dad answered, “Sad, I am not going out in this weather.” Despondently, the boy asked, “Dad, can I go? Please?” His father hesitated for a moment and then said,
“Son, you can go. Here are the tracts, be careful, son.”
“Thanks, Dad!”
And with that, he was of and out into the rain. His 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 street was totally deserted.
Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door. 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 , this little boy said, “Ma’am, I am sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to give 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 or this Gospel tract. Then I went up to my attic to
get my rope and chair. I wouldn’t be needing them any more. 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. 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.
