One replied, “I just got out of the hospital, and how good it was to hear from a longtime wonderful friend!” (Must have had amnesia!)

Another said, “We had difficulty at first remembering who you were, but after some thought, we remembered. Please give our love to your father. He is a wonderful man.” (What creative memories!)

One reply was unexpected, “It was really great to hear from you again. We will be in Salt Lake City this summer, and if you have a spare room, we would like to stay with you two or three days!” (Now that’s what friends are for!)

Anne and I want to take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas. We are blessed to have so many wonderful friends. We hope you each have a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous and blessed New Year. You are always in our thoughts and prayers.
Love,
Ron and Anne

Jay Leno said, “Did you hear that the atheist have produced a Christmas play? It’s called “Coincidence on 34th Street.”

Since then, I have learned that money may make one rich, but being wealthy is something totally different. My dad left his kids wealthy.

A spiritual legacy is one of the greatest possessions you can leave your kids.

I was reminded of this several years ago when I drove into our hometown to take care of some family business. This was years after mom and dad had both gone home to be with the Lord. The kind lady who checked me into the motel saw the name on my credit card and ask if I was related to Brother Corzine, known as “The Country Preacher”. I told her I was his youngest son. She proceeded to tell me the story that when she was a young girl how my dad had led her to Christ. You see, he was a part time school bus driver. One day she boarded the bus early, and as she sat there all alone he took out a New Testament and began to talk to her about trusting Christ. She said she would never forget him, or the day she prayed to receive Christ.

That story really didn’t surprise me. All my life I’ve heard stories from people about the way my dad impacted their lives. My dad lived a long and fruitful life. His good and godly example helped shape me partly into the man I am today. My 61 years of life and over 40 years of ministry have been influenced by his legacy.

That’s the way it is supposed to be. When God told the nation of Israel to pass His teachings from one generation to the next, He established the definition of legacy. In Deuteronomy 6:6-25, God tells the parents of children to “teach them [the words of God] diligently to your sons and talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”

God uses His people to build His Kingdom, and He wants each succeeding generation to know what He did and how they can be included.

I learned faithfulness from my dad. I learned how to be a gentleman. My dad took divided churches and brought them together. He was a consensus builder. He was kind and sensitive and he taught me how to deal with people out of kindness. He encouraged me to memorize scripture and taught me how to outline a sermon. He was a man of integrity and character and I wanted to be like him. He always taught me to stand for what’s right even if no one else does. My dad showed me I could, without compromise, stand against anything that was wrong, but still be kind in my opposition. I’ve not always succeeded in that, but I’ve tried.

I always knew God led my dad and mother in the moves we made. They built into me the confidence to always trust the Lord’s guidance.

Only God knows the number of people who have been touched as a result of the faithfulness of my dad. I know I am dependently wealthy today because of him.

Who knows, maybe one day my son and daughters will be wealthy too.

He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital – the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.??Around dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited. Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.??”Who was that man?” he asked.

The nurse was startled, “He was your father,” she answered.

“No, he wasn’t,” the Marine replied. “I never saw him before in my life.”??”Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?”??”Well I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his Son just wasn’t here.

When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.”

I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey. His son was killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him. What was this Gentleman’s Name?

The Nurse with tears in her eyes answered, Mr. William Grey………….

The next time someone needs you … Just be there. Stay.

Author Unknown

It was a cold winter’s day that Sunday. The parking lot to the church was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car that fellow church members were whispering among themselves as they walked to the church.

As I got closer I saw a man leaned up against the wall outside the church. He was almost laying down as if he was asleep. He had on a long trench coat that was almost in shreds and a hat topped his head, pulled down so you could not see his face. He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too small for his feet with holes all over them, his toes stuck out.

I assumed this man was homeless, and asleep, so I walked on by through the doors of the church. We all gathered for fellowship for a few minutes, and someone brought up the man lying outside. People snickered and gossiped but no one bothered to ask him to come in, including me.

A few moments later church began. We all waited for the Preacher to take his place and to give us the Word, when the doors to the church opened. In came the homeless man walking down the aisle with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces. He made his way down the aisle and up onto the pulpit he took off his hat and coat. My heart sank. There stood our preacher…he was the “homeless man.” No one said a word. The preacher took his Bible and laid it on the podium.

“Folks, I don’t think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today.” Then he started singing the words to this song: “If I can help somebody as I pass along. If I can cheer somebody with word or song. If I can show somebody that he’s traveling wrong. Then my living shall not be in vain.”

“Oklahoma,” they answered.

“Great to have you here in Tennessee.” the stranger said. “What do you do for a living?”

“I teach at a seminary,” he replied.

“Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I’ve got a really great story for you.” And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple.

The professor groaned and thought to himself, “Great… Just what I need… another preacher story!”

The man started, “See that mountain over there? (pointing out the restaurant window). Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question, ‘Whose boy are you?’

“Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, ‘Whose boy are you?’ He would hide at recess and lunch time from other students. He would avoid going in to stores because that question hurt him so bad.

“When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, ‘Whose boy are you?’. But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd.

“Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, ‘Son, whose boy are you?’

“The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, ‘Whose boy are you’. This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to that scared little boy…

“‘Wait a minute!’ he said. ‘I know who you are. I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God.’ With that he patted the boy on his shoulder and said, ‘Boy, you’ve got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.’

With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him, ‘Whose boy are you?’ he’d just tell them, ‘I’m a Child of God’.”

The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, “Isn’t that a great story?” The professor responded that it really was a great story! As the man turned to leave, he said, “You know, if that new preacher hadn’t told me that I was one of God’s children, I probably never would have amounted to anything!” And he walked away.

The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over and asked her, “Do you know who that man was that just left that was sitting at our table?”

The waitress grinned and said, “Of course. Everybody here knows him. That’s Ben Hooper. He’s the former governor of Tennessee!”

Someone in your life today needs a reminder that they’re one of God’s children!

You can spend your whole life building, something from nothing
One storm can come and blow it all away — BUILD IT ANYWAY

You can chase a dream that seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way — DREAM IT ANYWAY

CHORUS: God is GREAT, But sometimes life ain’t GOOD
When I pray — it doesn’t always turn out the way I think it should.
But I do it ANYWAY – I do it ANYWAY.

This world has gone crazy — and it’s hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today — BELIEVE IT ANYWAY

You can love someone with all your heart for all the right reasons
In a moment they can choose to walk away – LOVE THEM ANYWAY

You can pour you soul out singing — a song you believe in
That tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang – SING IT ANYWAY