Lori Piestewa was the first woman killed in the Iraq war. She was a Native American and a single mom with two children. She died in an Iraqi ambush, and her good friend Jessica Lynch was wounded, captured and rescued. You might remember that. She was determined to help fulfill Lori Piestewa's dream - to have a house for her parents and her children. Jessica Lynch contacted the TV program, "Extreme Makeover," to see if they could make it happen. Their popular program showed them doing amazing makeovers of people's homes in a very short time, re-creating them into houses that were far beyond anything the owner's ever dreamed. They did it again for a war hero's family, moving them from their deteriorating trailer home into a wonderful new home. Given the good TV ratings of the show, apparently a lot of people loved to watch those amazing transformations.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Miraculously Changed."

Bill Carroll was a hopeless alcoholic - since someone got him hooked at the age of ten. He moved from lost job to lost job, from jail to jail, from one desperate measure after another to meet his need for alcohol. One day a fellow prisoner recommended a remedy for the shakes that Bill had developed - cocaine. Bill Carroll actually ended up digging the gold fillings out of his teeth to pay for that cocaine.

Ultimately, he decided this life wasn't even worth living anymore. He was headed to Lake Michigan in Chicago to end his life. But as he walked by a rescue mission, he heard a song about Jesus that his mother had sung to him. He wandered into the meeting and he heard the liberating news about how Jesus Christ can forgive your sin and change a life. He went into that mission hopelessly addicted. He came out with an extreme makeover from the inside out. From that day, he never again had the slightest desire to touch the alcohol or the drugs that had ruled most of his life. And oh, how grateful I am because Bill Carroll was my wife's grandfather, who was here for me to love because of the makeover miracle by Jesus Christ.

For 2,000 years, the Carpenter of Nazareth has been transforming lives. Not reforming - transforming. In the words of 2 Corinthians 5:17, our word for today from the Word of God, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" It's a spiritual makeover from the inside out that only one man can accomplish - Jesus Christ, the man who died to cancel your sin and who came back from the dead with the power to give you a new life. It's not something a religion can do - any religion. Because religion tries to make us over from the outside in as we comply with its rules. What Jesus offers is a personal relationship with Him where He comes into your soul with life-changing power.

Without Him, I'd be the selfish only child who cares only about me. But He's changing me. He's given me the great joy of living for others instead of myself. He turns greedy people into generous people. He tames a temper that has inflicted so much hurt. He breaks the power of those dark things that have controlled you.

But you have to want Him in your life...driving your life...changing your life. While you've probably known about Jesus for a long time, maybe you've never given yourself to this man who gave His life for you. The good news is that you don't have to spend one more day without Him, without this life-transforming miracle. It can be today. Tell Him, "Jesus, I believe Your death was for my sin. I want that new beginning from You, I'm Yours."

Listen, go to our website today and there you'll find the information to be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com.

There's power in that cross of Jesus to transform you into the person you want to be, that you need to be, that the people you love need for you to be. He's been doing extreme makeovers for a long time. He wants to do it for you. Actually, He died to do it for you.

So, what can you do when you realize there's an accident about to happen and you can do nothing to avoid being part of it? Well, your best bet is to try to limit the damage.

My wife knows. She was driving down a snow-covered hill. Snow was still falling. She proceeded cautiously as she neared the bottom as there were cars ahead of her. She looked in the rearview mirror and she saw a car coming over the top of the hill that she had just driven over, but this one was coming at a fairly high rate of speed and he was not adapting to the weather at all. This was years ago, but man, we still remember it.

That car slammed down the brake and of course when he did that, he started to lose control. My wife knew that car was headed for her; it was out-of-control. She couldn't cross the line into the other lane. There were cars coming that way. There were cars ahead of her. What could she do? Speed up so she wouldn't be rear-ended? But then she'd lose control of her vehicle and run into the others. She made the right choice. She pulled over, gripped the wheel so she wouldn't be out-of-control and hit others. And sure enough, the car behind her hit her. But, she did not hit the others in front of her. She was smart enough to be the one who maintained control when others weren't.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Under Control in an Out-of-Control World."

Well, Our word for today from the Word of God; 2 Timothy 3, where the Apostle Paul says this in verse 1 - "Mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control..." And it continues. Then he turns to us as believers and to Timothy at that time and says, "But as for you, you continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know from those whom you have learned it." (2 Timothy 3:14)

Hang onto the wheel when everybody else is out-of-control he's saying. Yeah, don't let go of that wheel! Don't you lose control. The world's losing control! It's ignoring the boundaries. They're driving fast on slippery pavement. Don't you speed up just because they are.

You know, the world has always been, let's say, oh, ten miles distant from the church, because the world has always been farther from God than the church is. The church is always going to be a little more moral, a little more righteous. But as the world moves away from God, the church maintains that same distance. So very quickly many Christians today are where the world was only a few years ago.

You know what? It's time to grab the wheel and to say, "I'm not moving any further." Maybe you'll take some hits like my wife did, but you've got to say, "I won't be responsible for causing any damage myself." Other believers may see divorce as no big deal, as an answer. But you say it's not an option for us. Others may treat the truth lightly. I'm going to work harder than ever to hold the wheel and tell the truth.

Others may devalue sex and love by playing with sex or flirting with technical virginity, but my eyes are on Jesus and the purity He represents. Maybe others are building a material kingdom here on earth, but I'm not going to be trapped in that rat race. I want to set a level at what I need and give the rest away.

You can count on it: the world is speeding away from God's standards, but Ephesians 6:13 is still in the book. And it says, "Put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground." Yeah!

So, hold on! Maintain control! Because of your allegiance to Christ's standards, you'll be the one who is under control in an out-of-control world.

Marty McFly met a strange scientist with a machine that promised interesting results - the ability to go back in time. And he did. He went, as the title of the movie about it said, "Back to the Future." He had a most amazing experience getting to know his mother and father when they were teenagers. His dad, George McFly, was a milquetoast, bossed-around kind of guy, afraid to stand up to anybody. Marty always knew him to be that kind of a guy, until he was transported back to the night that would determine the course of the rest of his Dad's life - and his Mom's. One decision - whether or not George McFly will stand up to the bully who is attacking his girlfriend - who is to become Marty's mother - is the turning point of George's life. And Marty is there to help his Dad make the right and courageous choice. It totally changes the course of George McFly's life. He steps up, defends his girl, and neutralizes the bully who wanted her. So instead of the life Marty has known with a pretty unsuccessful, wimpy dad, he returns to his life with a strong and successful dad because of that choice. A very different life because of one decision that changed the future.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Choice That Changes Many Futures."

Some of us might wish we could somehow go back to the crossroads moments in our lives for a do-over. But that's only in the movies. What is possible is to make a choice now that will change not only your future, but the futures of many others.

The choice that changes many futures revolves around the man who made this simple but profound promise: "I am making everything new!" (Revelation 21:5). Those are the words of Jesus Christ, the man who has changed so many lives, so many families over so many years. I know I got a new dad because one day he acknowledged he had the spiritual cancer that the Bible calls sin - that he needed Jesus Christ in his life to forgive him and change him. And Jesus did change him - dramatically. I know. I lived that change. That transformed man planted seeds in me that have come up in my children, and now in my grandchildren. It all would have been so different had it not been for that day when my dad placed his life in Jesus' hands.

Psalm 102:18, our word for today from the Word of God, comments on this potential we all have to profoundly leave our mark on the future. It says: "Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord." One man or one woman who gets right with God can inject a life-changing, life-stabilizing faith into many who will come after him.

For you, for those you love, and for those who come from your life, so much depends on what you do with Jesus. The miracle begins when you recognize your need for the forgiving, life-changing work of Jesus Christ, as my dad did - the miracle made possible by Christ's death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. If there's never been a time when you've opened your life to this amazing Savior, if you've lived enough days without His love, His forgiving, His power in your life, why don't you tell Him that you want this to be the day you begin your personal relationship with Him. "Jesus, I believe You are the Man who died for my sin and only You can forgive my sin and remove my sin. So here I am, I'm Yours."

I would invite you to check out our website today to help you know how to cross over into the love of Christ and to be sure you belong to Him. That's why we have it. It's ANewStory.com and it could be the beginning of your new story.

Every life leaves a legacy. Every life marks the lives of many others - including people you'll never meet. There is no greater legacy you can leave than a life that radiates the love and the power of Jesus Christ. It begins with you the day you begin with Him.

Sometimes when I'm in a store and it's time to pay up, I'll say to the cashier, "Listen, I want to show you something from a museum." And I pull out some cash. I say, "Do you accept cash?" You should see the look! I get this bewildered kind of look, and they're like, "Well, of course we accept cash." Well, it may be the first cash they've gotten in several transactions though. It's probably a given that they see more 'plastic' money than 'paper' money these days.

I think many of us got credit cards in order to make it more convenient to buy items. Instead of being more convenient, credit cards have caused us to buy a lot of things that we can't afford. Somehow when you're shopping with a credit card you... well, you kind of lose touch with reality. I mean, there's no real sense of what you've spent. It feels like you haven't spent anything until the bill comes. And, therefore, these credit cards that were supposed to make life easier somewhat, account for massive debts and financial
bondage in a lot of people's lives.

That credit card was supposed to give us financial freedom. Instead, it's enslaved a whole lot of people. Well, credit cards, like a lot of things in life, can turn out to be an answer that only creates bigger problems.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Answers That Aren't Answers."

Our word for today from the Word of God: 2 Chronicles 25. I'll begin reading at verse 7. It's an incident from the life of the King of Judah, the Southern Kingdom. His name is Amaziah. Maybe you remember that the kingdom at one point was divided into two parts; Israel was the Northern Kingdom, Judah the Southern Kingdom. Amaziah was the King of Judah, and he had a major enemy coming against him. So he's hired 100,000 fighting men from Israel.

Here's what it says, "Amaziah called the people of Judah together and he mustered those 20 years old or more and found there were 300,000 men ready for military service able to handle the spear and shield. He also hired 100,000 fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver." Well, that sounds like a good answer doesn't it if you're under military pressure? But it says, "A man of God came to him and said, 'Oh, King, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel. Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.'"

There's a pretty powerful principle in that story. Amaziah has spent his money on what he thinks is an answer. He's depending on it, but it did not have the blessing of God. The battle's going to be lost if you don't have the blessing of God on it. See, it isn't your effort that matters. It isn't the size of the answer that you have. If you are employing a solution that God can't bless, you can't win.

Now, right now maybe you have a need for love and you are letting an unbeliever fill it. It won't work! God says, "Don't be unequally yoked." See, there are things God can't bless. He can't bless you if your way of doing it is to disobey your parents. Or if it means playing with the truth, flirting with immorality, or running ahead of God's timing. Oh, you may see what looks like an answer. It might make social sense, it might make financial sense, business sense, emotional sense, but if it will cost you the blessing of God, you can't afford it. It's too expensive.

In verse 9 it says the Lord can give you much more than that. Don't waste your time, don't waste your life on an answer that isn't an answer, because it misses the blessing of Almighty God.

If you happen to watch the Discovery Channel on cable TV, you can end up seeing some real "reality TV" - including some pretty unusual fare. How about this one, "The Search for the Giant Squid"? No, that is not an adventure flick - it was a documentary about one scientist's quest to film what no one had ever filmed - the giant squid. For the whole hour, the viewer follows this man's almost lifelong pursuit. You watch as the likely target area is identified - as an expensive expedition follows clues that seem to be leading to this elusive prey - the giant squid. But at the end, you find out you got sucked into an expedition that ultimately failed to find what it was looking for.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Long Lifetime Search."

It's disappointing - a long search, an expensive search, that ends up not finding what it was looking for. For many of us, that could be our life story. Maybe yours.

It could be that you've been on your quest since you were a teenager. You've been through a lot of relationships since then - sampled a lot of experiences - maybe enjoyed a few achievements along the way - even found a pretty respectable status quo. But you still haven't found what you hoped you would find by now. In spite of all the places you've looked, you still can't honestly answer the million dollar question, "Why am I here?" You still haven't found what will give you the love you need and fill that hole in your heart.

At the peak of her fortune and fame, Chris Evert had 146 tennis championships behind her and she was married to the man she loved, but she said this: "We get into a rut. We play tennis, we go to a movie, we watch TV, but I keep saying, 'John, there has to be more.'" Maybe you know that feeling. The good news is: there is more. Much more.

In John 4:13-14, which is our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus is talking with a woman who has been searching for a long time. In her case, her search has taken her into a series of unfulfilling relationships with men. Since they meet at a well where they have each come for a drink, Jesus puts his diagnosis of her restlessness in these words: "Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become a spring of water, welling up to eternal life."

Jesus says that all our earth-sources of love and meaning are wells we have to keep going back to for more - and they never satisfy for long. But what He offers is a relationship with Him that puts the source inside us where it can't be touched, where it will never leave us thirsty again. Those words "thirsty again" may vividly describe how you have felt after you've gotten everything that you thought would satisfy the hole in your heart...but you're "thirsty again."

That "eternal life" Jesus promises did not come cheap. We're searching because we're away from our Creator - not by His choice, it's ours. We've done our life our way, not His way. And the only way that wall between Him and us could come down was for Jesus to pay for the sinning you and I did - by dying on the cross for them.

Today, Jesus - the One you were made by and made for - is offering to be the end of your search. He's what you've been looking for your whole life - that search ends at His cross. You can tell Him right where you are - "Jesus, I'm tired of looking and I'm tired of not finding. You're right - I've blown it with God. But I believe You died to bring me to Him. I am Yours beginning today."

That wonderful relationship begins, for you, a whole new story. Which, by the way, is the address of our website - ANewStory.com. I would urge you to go there as soon as you can today. Find there the information that will help you anchor this new relationship with Jesus Christ.

You're so very close to the answers you've been searching for so long. His name is Jesus. Don't live another empty day without Him.

Ok, question for the day. What's the difference between a melting pot and a stew? Oh, yeah, there is a difference! You see, a melting pot is where all the ingredients blend together and pretty soon you can't tell what is what. In other words, the ingredients lose their separate identity.

And how about a stew? Well, you've got the beef, the potatoes, the carrots, the onions, and whatever else might be in the refrigerator. They all pretty much stay what they are. The beef still is beef, the carrots stay carrots, the onions stay onions, the potatoes stay potatoes, and they'll make a pretty nice mixture.

Now, did you know that your church - your family - is probably more of a stew than a melting pot, and if you're not careful, the pot will boil over.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Walls Where There Should Be Bridges."

Our word for today from the Word of God is written to the saint's stew at the Church of Rome. Now, you've got to understand, this letter to the people of Rome - the Christians that we call the Romans in the book - are an interesting group of people. They're not all alike. In fact, in that church you have slaves and slave masters. You have probably the very rich of Rome and some of the very poor. You have very religious Jews from a scrupulous Jewish religious background. And then you've got people who've come from a totally pagan Gentile background who have come to Christ. It's really a saint's stew.

And guess what they're doing? They're arguing. The carrots are arguing with the beef, and the beef's arguing with the potatoes, and they are arguing over everything from what food it's Christian to eat, to what days it's Christian to take off and honor. And into the middle of this saint's stew Paul comes with his admonition in our word for today from the Word of God, Romans 14:19.

And since you live in a group of Christians who are very different, even in your family, you need this word too today. "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification." Edification - that's a big old $100 theological word for making other people more important; for building them up, not tearing them down. Paul says you've got to work at it. He says you don't fall into this "make every effort." This is strain, this is really, you know, a lot of sweat and effort into this. Make every effort to do what leads to peace. Don't waste any energy on trying to get all of God's kids to be alike. He didn't make them to be alike; don't try to make them alike.

You know, God loves variety. That's why He created different fingerprints, different snowflakes, and that's why He makes His church a stew. The beef shouldn't become potatoes. The potatoes shouldn't become carrots. The carrots shouldn't become onions. Some of us pray loud, and some of us pray softly, and some of us are black, and brown, or white. We have different views on the 10% area of Christianity that Christians disagree on. But we're pretty much the same in the 90%. Why don't we emphasize the 90% we agree on? We worship at the same cross; we celebrate the same empty tomb. We're all family; we're going to be in heaven together forever.

Why do we let there be walls where there should be bridges? Now, you can be what God delights in - a bring-us-together person. Are you one of those? Emphasize what unites us as followers of Christ, not what divides us.

They'll know we are Christians by what? By our love. I'll tell you, there are enough people stirring up God's saint's stew. Why don't you keep it cool?

When our oldest grandson was 15 months old, he was our favorite entertainer. Who needed TV? Who needs some show you have to buy a ticket for? No, the show he put on was free! It seemed like he had a new trick every day. His parents used to throw a blanket over his head and ask, "Where's Jason?" He would pull that blanket off, flash a big smile, and his parents would say excitedly, "There's Jason!"

Now Jason took that to another level. He doesn't need the blanket. All we have to say is, "Where's Jason?" And he promptly puts both his little hands over his face. Of course, he's peeking between his fingers a little bit. I guess he thought he was hiding. Then, he pulls his hands away and shrieks with surprise and excitement. And we responded on cue, "There's Jason!" We loved it! Let me tell you a little secret. The whole time Jason thought he was hiding - we knew exactly where he was.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 4:13, and it exposes our little games of hide-and-seek with God. We cover our face and we think He doesn't know where we are - and He knows all the time. God's Word says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" So, there's nothing you've done that God hasn't seen. There's nothing you've thought that God doesn't know. And there's nothing you are that God isn't aware of.

In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus has a message for each of seven churches, and in a sense, for all believers. All seven messages follow the same pattern. He reviews what people see when they look at these folks and then He tells what He sees, which is often very different from the image everyone else sees.

Take the church at Sardis, for example. Here is Jesus' blunt spiritual X-ray: "I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead." Ask anyone else about these folks and they would tell you, "Oh, they're really alive over there!" Ask Jesus and He says, "I know they're really dead."

Those two sobering words are used with every group of believers - "I know." And what Jesus knows about you, that's the real you. That's the real deal. That's the untouched photos. That's the truth. Among these people in Revelation are some who are busy for the Lord. But Jesus looks underneath and says, "You don't love Me like you used to." He sees another group who appear to be totally together and successful but He says they're settling for spiritual mediocrity and "lukewarmness." As Samuel said so perceptively, "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

So, hide-and-seek games don't work with God. He knows where you really are all the time. Now at first that might seem like bad news, because there are some things you're not very proud of. But the good news is there is one Person in your life with whom you have nothing to hide - nothing you can hide.

You can experience the wonderful freedom of coming to your Heavenly Father with the real you. You don't have to hide yourself in spiritual God-talk; in saying what you're supposed to say, feeling like you're supposed to feel. You come as you really are, feeling like you really feel, needing what you really need - to a Savior whose love (thank God!) is totally unconditional! And as you bring the real you to Him, you'll find Him becoming more and more real to you. And you'll find yourself experiencing His forgiving, His cleansing, His healing in parts of you you've never opened up to Him before.

This God who knows all about you, this Savior who knows all about you and loves you anyway... isn't it time that you made the Savior your Savior if you never have? By going to His cross where He died for you, to say, "Jesus, for me" - those two words, "for me" - "you're doing this for me, and I'm Yours."

Our website will help you be sure you belong to Him. That website is ANewStory.com.

Take off the mask. Quit trying to cover your face. God already knows exactly where you are and He's ready to change you.

When you hear about the weather on the East Coast, you almost always hear about a place called Cape Hatteras. It's a barrier reef off the coast of North Carolina; it's been called the Graveyard of the Atlantic. And it's probably the storm center of the East Coast. In fact, when you look at the map or hear the weatherman in the morning he'll say, "There's a blizzard off of Cape Hatteras. There's a hurricane off of Cape Hatteras. There's a major storm system off of Cape Hatteras."

It's a place where most hurricanes coming up the East Coast make landfall. Oh, you have the ocean on the front side of this barrier reef, and then there's a quieter bay on its backside. When a hurricane hits, it can do a lot of damage. I talked to some people when I was there, and they told me a surprising reason why the hurricane does so much damage. Most of it doesn't come from the hurricane coming in from the ocean, which I would have thought; it comes after the hurricane leaves from all the water that was pushed back into the bay. It's that backlash that kills the island, not the front of the storm. It's sort of like postponed destruction.

Maybe you've faced some gale-force winds lately in your life. But because of the way you're handling it, you may face something worse than the storm, and that's the backlash from the bay.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Running From What You Should Be Facing."

Our word for today from the Word of God is about people under pressure; people who are being hit with perhaps emotional, or financial, or medical, or family hurricanes; storm centers like Cape Hatteras. Isaiah 30:15 talks about ways that we can handle that kind of pressure, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength." Listen to what He says, "'But you would have none of it. No, here's how I'll handle it.' You said, 'No, we will flee on horses. Therefore, you will flee.' You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses. Therefore your pursuers will be swift.'"

Now, what He's talking about here is handling pressure in that time-honored way, "Run for it! Escape! Get on a fast horse and get out of here." It may very well be that trouble has hit you, and you've been trying to run from it rather than face it. You haven't resorted to horses, but there are a lot of other ways to run. To run from your family problems, from personal doubts you've been having, maybe a problem you've been postponing dealing with or a confrontation you need to have. Perhaps you run to your friends, or you just turn up the music, or get real busy, or use drugs or alcohol, maybe just deception - you kid yourself, you run to your recreation, you get lost in your work. Or maybe you've been running from the Lord's personal dealings with you.

But see, the backlash from the bay is going to catch you. That's why the Bible says your pursuers will be swift. The backlash is building. You can't postpone it. The Bible says, "Your strength is not in running from it. Your strength is in repenting, in resting, being quiet, in trusting.

Stop running from what you should be facing. You've got to face the pressure, face the storm, face the issue, and if need be, face the Lord. Trade in that false and temporary security we feel by trying to escape. Trade that for the real security of the peace of Almighty God.