Wheeler Mission's Blog

I had the joy of visiting the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina a few weeks ago. While there, my wife and I toured the Billy Graham Library. God has used Mr. Graham greatly, yet the entire focus of the work which takes place at the headquarters, and the Library, is not on the evangelist himself. It is on the Gospel.

We were told that Mr. Graham would like to preach one more time. If you were to ask him about his sermon topic, he would simply say, “the Gospel.” Why is the Gospel so important?

Romans 1:16 gives us the reason: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes.”

The Gospel has power. Because we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s holiness and perfection, we need a way to be able to come to God. The Gospel provides that. Humanity cannot produce a perfect righteousness of its own, we “fall short.” But God provided away for our unrighteousness, our sin, to be put on God’s perfect Son, who took it away by nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14.) Christ took our sin, and gave us His righteousness so that we could have peace with God. That is the Gospel. That is Billy Graham’s message. That is the message of Wheeler Mission Ministries.

If your schedule allows some travel to North Carolina this summer, I encourage you to visit the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte. It’s a trip worth making!

Rick

Labels: Billy Graham, Gospel

Thank God for mothers who pray

“Thank God for mothers who pray!” Those were the first words out of Bill’s mouth when he came to testify about how God was at work in his life. He confesses to misleading and lying to his family while in his addiction. Now, with his mom at his side, he thanks her for never giving up on him. She has unceasingly kept him covered with prayer and now she is able to put her arms around a son who has been clean for more than a year.

Bill has experienced the answers to many prayers over the past year or so. He said while in addiction, his life was marked by nothing but selfishness, but then he made a major turn. The first few verses of Psalm 40 describe Bill’s journey.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.”

Prayer is a powerful tool. If you are a mom with a wayward child, I encourage you to endure through prayer. God hears your cry.

Labels: Hebron, prayer

Job transfers. Military transfers. Both have to do with making an extreme change in one’s life and seem more and more common in this day and age. Scripture talks about another kind of transfer in Colossians 1:13 & 14.
“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.’ Wow. Talk about night to day.
I heard six men give testimony to this type of transfer in their lives at a graduation ceremony from Wheeler’s Addiction Recovery Program. They describe their former life as “desperate, hating myself and everything around me, a user of drugs and people, lying, misleading my family, living through my darkest hour and focused only on myself. I was destroying lives.”
Each of these men came to find forgiveness in Christ and the transfer began. A new way of life began. Deep changes in heart, attitude, and mind were developed and men found themselves transferred into a new life – a life in the Son. Now, they describe their lives in new ways.
“God is good. Those aren’t just words. It is truth, and I am living proof of that.”
“God restores. Jesus Christ is the only One who can fulfill you.”
“I know that I must endure, and I know that there is where I will find peace.”
God has begun a good work in the lives of these men and I am confident He will bring it to completion. I thank God for this transfer!

Rick

Labels: transformation