Texas Longhorn Head Coach Darrell Royal refused to pray for victory before games. Over lunch at Cisco’s, I asked him if that was true. I read that in one of the million quotes someone said he said. Coach Royal confirmed, “I think the Lord is neutral about these things.”
Therefore, I amended my prayers before the games: “Lord, may the best team win,” believing my team was the best. If we lost, the referees’ bad calls cost us the game. How the referees could override my football theology was beyond me.
Is that what praying before football games is all about? Not hardly.
Rick McDaniel wrote a Huffington Post Blog. He outlined the many parallels between the Bible and Football.
“There is much in the bible that supports the qualities needed for playing football. Many stories in the Bible tell of battles, perseverance and of commitment. Romans 8:29 tells us God wants our character to be formed like Jesus and football is a character-building enterprise. Learning how to win and lose gracefully happens playing football. Working hard toward a worthy goal and paying the price of self-sacrifice is learned playing football. Getting along with people who are different from you and appreciating their differences is learned to play football.”
Rick Daniel adds, “The temptation of materialism (which only applies to the NFL not any other level of football) is simply a challenge many other Christ-followers face.”
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This has changed since this article. In 2021, the NCAA made a significant change. They started allowing athletes to be paid for the use of their name, image, and likeness in endorsement deals.
Something extraordinary is happening among sports teams across the country. College football players, teams, and coaches boldly declare their faith in Jesus Christ. But, it did not begin this year.
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In the last few months, we have heard an array of college football players declare their faith in Christ. None use politically correct terms, such as a “higher power.”
“It just kind of popped out to me,” Quinn Ewers said Friday during his Sugar Bowl media availability. “Whenever God made us, he put you know the abilities that rose Jesus Christ from the from dead in us. He’s in us. He’s not just the God of the future. He’s a God of the present. He’s in the midst of all of us. It related to me and I think it’s a powerful, powerful verse Luke 17:21.”
Nor will they say,’See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:21)
During his Sugar Bowl media availability, Quinn Ewers spoke about the Bible verse Luke 17:21. He is the quarterback for the University of Texas Longhorns, and he has the verse tattooed on his forearm. He said that the verse is powerful and relates to him.the quarterback for the University of Texas Longhorns spoke about the Bible verse Luke 17:21. He has the verse tattooed on his forearm.
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard said on New Year’s Day, 2025, “First and foremost, I gotta thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me this opportunity to be on this stage in the Rose Bowl. And he added, “Younger me would be in awe right now.”
“First and foremost, I gotta thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me this opportunity to be on this stage in the Rose Bowl.” – Will Howard Ohio State Quarterback
Players knelt and prayed before the team’s playoff victory over the University of Texas at Austin. While this act is common for them before games, this was a remarkable display of faith.
Nearly every Ohio State football player took a knee and prayed before the playoff game with Texas.
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The same day, Arizona State’s heartbroken Cam Skattebo walked off the field. They had just experienced a devastating double overtime loss to the highly favored Texas Longhorns in the Peach Bowl. Texas freshman running back Nick Sanders approached him. He shook Skattebo’s hand before asking if he could pray for him. They knelt before millions of people and prayed.
The 2025 Peach Bowl had an attendance 71,105 and 17.3 million plus viewers.
The next day, after these two games, ESPN reporter Molly McGrath interviews Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13). The game was between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Georgia Bulldogs at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
Riley Leonard feels Notre Dame and Ohio State are the two teams that publicly display their faith the most. Leonard wears eye black in the shape of a cross under his left eye during games. He also sports a wristband with a cross. He’s been known to wear a wristband, citing one of his favorite Bible verses, Matthew 23:12.
Riley Leonard told the media. “First and foremost, I want to thank my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”
“First and foremost, I want to thank my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.” – Riley Leonard
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And it’s not only the players. The Boise State Broncos lost to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl. After the game, head coach Spencer Danielson said he “always gives Jesus the glory.”
“Jesus Christ is the only true God. He died and rose from the dead three days later. That’s the champion that I serve.” said 36-year-old Boise State’s head coach Spencer Danielson
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Faith and college football have a rich history. One of football’s founding fathers was Amos Alonzo Stagg. Initially, he intended to become a Presbyterian minister. However, he fulfilled his calling as the head coach at the University of Chicago.
He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfield College (1890–1891), the University of Chicago (1892–1932), and the College of the Pacific (1933–1946)
Amos Alonzo Stagg was a pioneering coach. Stagg believed that athletics could help players develop spiritual integrity and Christian virtues.
R.C. Slocum has received multiple awards, including the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award
Coach R.C. Slocum
On November 7, 1944, incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented fourth term as President of the United States. On the same day, a boy was born in the tiniest Louisiana village of Dido. Dido was once in the heart of the outlaw and pirate-infested “No Man’s Land.”
The boy’s father was overseas fighting for his country in World War II. The following year, the boy’s parents divorced. His mother remarried, and the family moved to what amounts to project housing in Orange, Texas. He faces disappointment, heartbreak, and tragedy.
But his faith sustains him through it all. At age ten, he accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and surrenders his life to Christ.
The boy becomes the winningest coach in Texas A&M history and serves that great university for 53 years. He wins countless awards and accolades and becomes friends with Presidents.
How does a poor kid from nothing more than a spot on a red dirt road do all that? By the rich mercy and grace of his Lord and Savior.
Today, at age 80, he stands with his “Proverbs 31” wife and helpmate of 25 years at his side. He is a shining example to football players and coaches and exemplifies excellence and character to all of us.
His name is Coach R.C. Slocum. —Randy Willis
4th of July Week – July 8, 2002. 41st President George Herbert Walker Bush, Nel Slocum, Coach R.C. Slocum, and 43rd President George W. Bush. (Photo courtesy of R.C. and Nel Slocum)
Walker’s Point (Bush compound) Kennebunkport, Maine. The estate served as the Summer White House of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States.
R.C. Slocum and his wife Nel have been blessed. They spent much time with former President George Herbert Walker Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush.
Nel Slocum explained this to me in a text: They went to “Greece three times [with George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush]. There were many functions and many private home visits. RC joined 41 on golf trips, bird hunts, and other activities. We have met people from all over at their apartment at the Bush School (on campus). RC and 41 had the same personality. The President, Barbara, and I all had birthdays the same week in June. We celebrated those together a few times….like my 50th birthday (in Greece).
“Dr. Seuss wrote a book he titled, Oh The Places You Will Go. Whoever thought that two from similar backgrounds would be so loved by two from their backgrounds? We have been so blessed….mostly because of RC. He is the best human I have ever known.”
A Few of R.C. Slocum’s Accolades
R.C. Slocum is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame and the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame. He also belongs to the Texas A&M University Athletics Hall of Fame. He is in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the Museum of the Gulf Coast. And the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award.
At the close of the Southwest Conference era, Slocum’s winning percentage of .865 (44-6-2) was the best in league history.
R.C. Slocum had 64 players drafted by the NFL, including eight first-round selections.
The Cream Rises
When raised on a farm, you are often taught life’s lessons with country idioms. Daddy used to say, “The cream rises, and the clabber falls.”
It means great people naturally rise to the top. As a boy, I learned an interesting fact after milking our Jersey cow. The cream rises if you leave milk fresh from the cow in a cool place. It moves to the top of the bottle with little fanfare.
Clabber is milk that has soured. The noun has all but vanished from modern English.
As a Hayseed Cowboy, please grant me the use of the idiom “The cream rises” when writing about Coach R.C. Slocum. Hundreds, if not thousands, have written of his legendary accomplishments at Texas A&M spanning 53 years.
R.C. Slocum is the all-time winningest head football coach in Texas A&M history. Coach Slocum finished his head coaching career at Texas A&M with an overall record of 123-47-2 in his 14 years.
Coach Slocum and Coach Darrell Royal, the winningest coach in Texas Longhorn history, were good friends. Both are legendary coaches, but more importantly, they are two of the best men I’ve ever known. I consider it a great honor and privilege to have called them friends. If I were forced to choose two words to describe both, it would be character and integrity.
Both would tell you that these qualities matter more than their many victories on a football field.
Coach Slocum was the first to incorporate “Life Skills” into his program of teaching the fundamentals of football.
There is a common misconception that the University of Texas and Texas A&M football coaches and players hate each other. Nothing could be further from the truth. Now grant it; it’s one of the greatest rivalries in football history.
Coach Slocum said, “This game is not about hating the other school. It is about two great universities playing each other in a football game. He added, “I never talked to my players about hating the other team. There is too much hate in this world.”
Coach R.C. Slocum, Coach Mack Brown, Coach Darrell Royal, and John David Crow (1957 Texas A&M Heisman Trophy winner).
Coach Slocum has often said, “The most important thing in my life was growing up in a Christian home.” I asked him when and where he accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. He said, “Around age ten in Orange, Texas.”
I responded, “That’s your story. You used your platform for the glory of God.” And it is about the individuals that his life and example have influenced.
Later, Coach Slocum told me, “The first Sunday after I was named head coach, I went down front at the end of church and asked the preacher if he and the church would pray that I would use my position to glorify God.” He also asked the church to pray that he would be an honorable representative of the Lord.
I asked him what his favorite scripture was. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding,” he replied. (Proverbs 3:5)
He then added another scripture, which was inscribed on a coffee cup. A nurse gave him this cup in the hospital while he was being treated for cancer. It read, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). His son later gave him a bracelet with Philippians 4:13 on it too.
Once you’re no longer a young whippersnapper, you ask questions you never have. “Coach Slocum,” I asked, “Have you decided where you will be buried once you relocate to Heaven?”
“The College Station Memorial Cemetery. It was designated as the Aggie Field of Honor,” he said. “My only request was they don’t bury me next to John David Crow. I don’t want to carry his golf clubs.”
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I shared with Coach Slocum how Dr. W.A. Criswell, the late pastor of First Baptist Dallas, had influenced me. Dr. Criswell and I were born on December 19, forty years apart. Indeed, that’s my 15-minute claim to fame. I’ve heard Dr. Criswell’s sermon, Whether We Live or Die, more than a dozen times. Dr. Criswell’s TheScarlet Thread Through the Bibleruns throughout the Bibleand is another favorite.
To my surprise, Coach Slocum told me Dr. Criswell once asked him to speak at First Baptist Dallas. This was the most prominent Baptist Church in the world at the time. This would be like Moses asking me to hike Mount Sinai with him.
Now, I had to know the details. This is the church Billy Graham belonged to for 55 years.
The occasion was the 1992 Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas. The Aggies were the Southwest Conference champions. A&M’s opponent was the Florida State Seminoles, coached by Bobby Bowden, a devout Christian and friend of Coach Slocum.
Dr. Criswell had invited Coach Bowden to speak, too. Coach Slocum called Coach Bowden and asked, “Are you going to do it?”
Coach Bowden replied, “Yeah, do it too.” Coach Slocum expressed his apprehension about speaking in such a gigantic, distinguished church.
Coach Bowden asked, “What are you going to do wait until your good enough?”
Sometimes, it takes an older, trusted Christian friend and mentor to give us that “shove.” They can remind us to do what we’ve promised the Lord. This holds true even in the church where the greatest evangelist since the Apostle Paul belongs.
I’m still waiting for that hike up Mount Sinai.
Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas. Coach Bobby Bowden and Coach R.C. Slocum
Brandon Leone
Brandon Leone was a four-year Letterman on the Aggie Football Team
The cream has consistently risen in Coach Slocum’s life. In fact, its influence extends to the lives of too many to mention in this article. This brief article, however, can only highlight a few.
Former Four-Year Letterman on the Aggie Football Team Brandon Leone recently wrote online on “X.”
“@rcslocum a blessed retirement. One word when I think of him is IMPACT! Way more than the wins on the field, Coach made a huge impact on so many off of it!
I can tell you personally he changed my life forever. I was a broken boy and left A&M a man!”
Coach Slocum responded, “This statement means so much to me. This is why I coached. I still remember those long talks we had. “You can’t do anything about your past but you can make your future good” You have done that. Love you Brandon.” R.C. [R.C. Slocum]
Texas A&M Aggies Running Back Brandon Leone
Dat Nguyen
Dat Nguyen played linebacker for seven seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He also played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies and earned unanimous All-American honors. He is in the College Football Hall of Fame. He started 51 straight games for A&M, more than anyone in history.
Dat Nguyen spent most of his childhood in the Gulf Coast town of Rockport, Texas. He earned All-State honors and was recruited and received scholarship offers from Michigan, UCLA, Notre Dame, Texas, and Florida.
I spoke to Dat Nguyen on January 18, 2025, while he was driving his automobile. We discussed Coach Slocum’s influence and why he chose Texas A&M.
Nguyen said, “I was so overwhelmed that I decided to pray the first prayer of my life. I was leaning toward Michigan but could not decide.”
“Well, then, why did you choose A&M?,” I asked.
“The following day, when I awoke, three words came to my mind: Gig ‘Em Aggies.”‘
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I asked Dat Nguyen about the team devotionals. He said, “It was about prayer from day one.” He added that Coach Slocum said, “This is not about fame.”
The team met and prayed for approximately 30 minutes before every game. Coach Slocum held them in a designated room in the hotel where they were staying. If they were playing at home, they were held in a local hotel where the team stayed.
After my interview with Dat, I texted Coach Slocum to thank him for putting us in touch. I wanted to express my admiration for Dat Nguyen. Coach Slocum replied, “He is an amazing man. He started 51 straight games for A&M, More than anyone in history.”
Dat Nguyen has served on various boards of directors of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Coach texted me, “He has been an inspiration to so many, “Coach Slocum said.
My last question to Dat was, “What is your favorite verse in the Bible. He said Proverbs 3:5-8.” He added, “I love the proverbs and psalms.”
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-8)
Dat Nguyen and Coach R.C. Slocum
Dr. Rick Rigsby
Today, Dr. Rick Rigsby is an internationally acclaimed motivational speaker and best-selling author.
Before that, Dr. Rick Rigsby spent over two decades teaching at various colleges. Most of his teaching career (1992-2007) was at Texas A&M University. In addition to academic duties, Dr. Rigsby was hired by R. C. Slocum as the Life Skills Coach for the Aggie football team.
Dr. Rigsby and Coach Slocum met on an airplane headed to College Station. As a result of that “chance encounter,” Dr. Rigsby became A&M’s Life Skills Coordinator. Coach Slocum later described their encounter as Divine Providence.
In an interview, Coach Slocum stated their goal: “What are the things we would like a young man to become?” He asked Dr. Rick Rigsby, a speech communication assistant professor at A&M, to teach A&M football players about honesty and character. The job would soon expand to much more than that.
Dr. Rigsby would become their coach, motivator, instructor, chaplain, and officially, A&M’s Life Skills Coordinator. He would teach them honesty in their relationships, how to live, manners, and how to handle interviews. The results are legendary in and out of the world of sports.
I spoke to Dr. Rigsby on January 20, 2025. He was everything I had heard and read, plus one of the most engaging people I’ve ever talked to.
He began by saying of his friend and former boss R.C. Slocum, “Everything he did reflected his faith.”
Dr. Rigsby shared things Coach Slocum would teach, such as “We win with class, we lose with dignity.” And questions like, “What can we do to give these men a competitive edge for the rest of their lives?” And “Keep everything in perspective.”
Dr. Rigsby added, “He always looked at the bigger picture, far beyond football.” Coach Slocum told him, “I’m not going to be remembered by how many games I won and lost. How these young men turn out will determine my legacy.”
Like Dat Nguyen, I asked him about the team devotionals. He said, “R.C. Slocum always sat in the front row. We never met on Sunday. He preferred the players be in church on Sunday. His emphasis was never himself but others.”
“When and where were you saved,” I asked.
“On the side of the road near Chico, California, in November of 1978. I was 22.
In closing, Dr. Rigsby told me, “If R.C. Slocum called me today and said we have a mountain to climb. I’d be at his house before we got off the phone.”
Just one more question, I promise, “What’s your favorite scripture?”
“I have a hundred, that’s like choosing your favorite child,” he said. “It depends on the circumstances, but if push comes to shove, it would be Galatians 2:20-21.”
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20-21).
Nel Slocum, Dat Nguyen, Coach R.C. Slocum, Dr. Rick Rigsby, and John Harvey Slocum (Coach Slocum’s youngest son). November 7, 2024, Coach Slocum’s 80th Birthday. Photo courtesy of Dr. Rick Rigsby.
College Campus Revivals
CBN News reports, “Revival Sweeping Through College Campuses Impacting Tens of Thousands: ‘It’s a Movement.'”
“10,000 Students Pack Texas A&M Arena, Hundreds Born Again: Jesus Is Changing Lives.” CBN News
Texas A&M football players sometimes pray before games using Psalms 37:5. It says, “Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.”
Where does revival begin? It begins in the heart of a coach. On his first Sunday as head coach, he said, “I walked to the front. It was at the end of the church service. I asked the preacher if he and the church would pray. I wanted the church to pray that I would use my position to glorify God.”
Where does revival begin? It begins in you. It begins in me. Revival starts with one person. They are not ashamed of their faith in the Lord. They will humble themselves.
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Texas A&M Aggies defensive back Jaylon Jones says a prayer. This occurs before the game. The Texas A&M Aggies will play against the Arkansas Razorbacks. The game is on September 24, 2022, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Dedicated to Coach R.C. Slocum
Coach R.C. Slocum
My connection with Coach R.C. Slocum did not begin in Texas but in two tiny country villages on Louisiana’s red dirt roads. Five years apart, Rigsby Hargrove, M.D., delivered Coach Slocum and me in Oakdale, Louisiana, at Hargrove Clinic.
Neither one of us ever lived in Oakdale. Dr. Hargrove was the closest medical doctor to Dido, where Coach Slocum’s mother lived, and Longleaf, where my parents resided.
Our roots intertwined 100 years earlier. On May 12, 1854, Calvary Baptist Church in Bayou Chicot formed a mission church in Lone Pine. It was named First Baptist Church Lone Pine.
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Coach Richard Copeland “RC” Slocum was born in Oakdale, Louisiana 1944.
Coach Slocum texted me, “My birth father was Roscius Clinton Newell from Jonesborough, Tennessee. My adoptive father was Morris B. Slocum from Lone Pine, LA. My birth name was Roscius Clinton Newell Jr. (little R.C.) became Richard Copeland Slocum.”
Coach Slocum’s mother lived in Dido, Louisiana, between Lone Pine and Pitkin, Louisiana when he was born. She grew up in Dido. Dido is 30 minutes from Longleaf, where my parents lived when I was born.
The above photo was taken at Longleaf Baptist Church the year before I was born. Pictured are my parents, Julian and Ruth Willis, and half-sister Marjorie. The Church is 23 miles from Dido, Louisiana, the first home of R.C. Slocum.
R.C. Slocum said, “The single most important thing in my life was that I grew up in a Christian home.” He has belonged to the same church in Bryan, Texas, for over a half-century. Coach Slocum attends a men’s weekly Bible study.
Dido is only seven miles from Occupy Baptist Church. My fourth Great-Grandfather, Joseph Willis, established the church in 1833 and is buried there.
My three sons Aaron, Josh, and Adam Willis. Joseph Willis’s grave is at Occupy Baptist Church, seven miles from Dido, Louisiana.
Roscius Clinton Newell, the birth father, was in the Philippines at the time of R.C. Slocum’s birth. He was serving in World War II at the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Soon after the war was over, R.C. Slocum’s parents divorced. His mother moved with R.C. to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to live with her sister. Within a year, Slocum’s mother remarried. His stepfather, Morris B. Slocum adopted him and changed his name to Richard Copeland Slocum. The Roy Slocum mentioned in the documents below was R.C. Slocum’s stepfather’s brother.
The Slocums settled in Orange, Texas, where his stepfather worked in the shipyard and later as an auto mechanic. They lived in a duplex in a low-rent housing project that had served as military housing during World War II. Orange had an enormous shipbuilding industry for the World War II effort. The concern was where to house all the incoming workers and their families.
Riverside Housing Addition was the government’s answer. It was the largest residential project ever undertaken in the United States. The federal government acquired 348 acres on the west bank of the Sabine River at Orange. Coach Slocum said, “It was like living in the projects. It was a rough place to grow up.” Coach Slocum used his experience growing up in the projects. This experience helped him understand his football players from a similar background.
Riverside Addition was located along the Sabine River. It was within walking distance of the shipyards. This location complied with fuel and tire rationing demands of World War II.
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My 4th Great-Grandfather, Joseph Willis, established Calvary Baptist in 1812. He founded the Louisiana Baptist Association in 1818 in Cheneyville, Louisiana, four miles from Lone Pine.
I attended Longleaf Baptist Church in Longleaf, Louisiana, until we moved to Clute, Texas, when I was four.
Coach R.C. Slocum’s grandfather donated the land for Lone Pine Baptist Church. His cousin, Marilyn Slocum Litton, lives about a hundred yards from that church at Slocum Corner. Coach Slocum said, “I spent a lot of time in Lone Pine as a kid.”
Over the years, Coach Slocum returned to Lone Pine, and I returned to Longleaf. We traveled the same roads in Central Louisiana.
G.W. Strother is Greene Wallace Strother and JD Strother is John Strother, his older brother. They were maternal great-grandsons of Rev. Joseph Willis, my fourth Great-Grandfather and the first evangelical to preach Jesus west of the Mississippi River. The Strothers were my cousins. The Slocum and Willis families have been intertwined for over a century.
Who does revival begin with? You! But, first things first: Be sure you know Him as your Lord and Savior.
Choose your Destiny
Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied. —Proverbs 27:20
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There are insatiable desires in man of appetites, recognition, money, and lust. Many are always wanting more, bigger, and better things. This is nothing new.
For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. —2 Corinthians 11:14
The eyes of man are never satisfied, the scripture records. Our restless heart that cannot find contentment in worldly possessions. We seem to be always seeking more.
Man has a hole in his heart. It’s a void, an emptiness. We can never fill it with relationships or money. Nor an endless array of entertainment, stimulants. Family and religion cannot fill this emptiness either.
Why? Only God can fill the “hole in our hearts.” Jesus Christ can and will satisfy that sense of longing and emptiness. We are designed—created—for God alone to occupy our souls: our heart, our mind, our will, our emotions.
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. —Psalm 139:13
We need a personal relationship with the Lord of Creation, Jesus. This means a one-on-one connection with God in the Flesh. Jesus, the Christ of the Bible, fulfills this role. He alone can fill the longings of our hearts.
Millions try pills, drugs, and alcohol. History is littered with those who have taken this route. Some try education, career, family, and religion. My friend, only Jesus can fill the longing in our hearts. He alone can fill the hole in your heart—your soul —your mind.
Jesus loves you. He came to this earth because of that love. Jesus was beaten, and a crown of thorns was pressed into his head. His beard was plucked out. He was nailed to a cross naked. Shedding his blood, God’s blood for you and me.
His coat was gambled for. And dying high on that hill called Calvary—while his beloved mother wept. His disciples, who had witnessed His miracles, all fled—save one. Despised, mocked, and rejected, he prayed.
Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. —Luke 23:34
All of this for you and me. That’s how much he loves you and me.
Do you want joy and peace, and a sense of purpose? Do you long to know why the Holy God in Heaven created you? Is his intent to jerk you up by the “nap of your shirt” and then condemn you with a smirk? Not hardly.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. —John 3:17
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Is your heart broken? Have your dreams failed? Are you overwhelmed? Are you oppressed? Jesus said in Like 4:18:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed. —Luke 4:18
Join me on the most extraordinary destiny ever offered to mankind.
This most extraordinary destiny ever offered to mankind.
You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness. —Habakkuk 1:13
The Lord God in Heaven cannot look upon sin, for He is Holy. Yet He loves us, sinful man, and has provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him. To spend eternity with Him.
This is the story of this most extraordinary destiny ever offered to mankind.
Let’s begin with the last invitation in the Word of God, it is in Revelation 22:17:
“And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” —Revelation 22:17
Are you thirsty? Then come. Let him who hears come. And whosoever will, can come.
The invitation is to you—to me—to “whosoever will”—to everyone!
Bring your disappointments, failures, fears, and heartaches. The Holy Spirit says, Come to Jesus, our Savior.
God loves you. He wants to save you. He will save you. Come to Jesus, and drink the water of life freely.
Christ suffered, He bled, He died because He loves you and me. Listen to the still voice of the Holy Spirit, bidding you come to Jesus.
Don’t wait—come today! The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:2 today is the day of salvation.
The Ends of the Earth
Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. —Isaiah 45:22
All you ends of the earth” includes the Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert.
All you ends of the earth” are those in darkest Africa.
All you ends of the earth” are the isolated tribes in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
All you ends of the earth” are presidents, world leaders, and kings.
All you ends of the earth” is the polished lawyer, the gifted doctor, and the brilliant college professor.
All you ends of the earth” is the prostitute. It is the drug dealer. It is the rapist. It is the thief. It is the murderer.
All the ends of the earth is me—and you. Come today!
Why a Bronze Serpent
“So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was if a serpent had bitten anyone when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. —Numbers 21:19
Bronze represents judgment. The serpent is destructive, deceptive, and the most dangerous creature you will ever encounter. He is our adversary and the father of all lies. His name is Satan.
He does not appear with horns, a red cape, and an ugly face. Instead, he appears as an angel of light and says, what harm can what I offer do? No one will know. No one will be hurt.
It’s your body. You are in control. You can be your own god. You can be like god. No one can tell you what you can and can’t do. He is Satan, and he comes to destroy God’s most cherished and loved creation: You.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. —John 10:10
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Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. “Take a little cocaine,” Satan whispers. “It will make you feel good. No one will know. You’re not hurting anyone.”
The Greek term pharmakeia, in the Bible, is the root of the word “pharmacy,” in English. Pharmakeia is used in the New Testament (Galatians 5:20; Revelation 9:21; 18:23) to describe sorcery, witchcraft, and drug-related magic.
Jesus says, He has come that we may have life and have it more abundantly. Choose an abundant life in Jesus today.
You don’t need hangouts, hangups, or hangovers. You need a personal relationship with the Lord of Creation, who created the Universe and you. Jesus is His name.
In that relationship lies your future, your blessed Hope, your salvation, and your joy. And your Christ blood bought destiny. Choose your destiny today. It has already been paid for with Jesus’s blood on the cross of Calvary. But you must accept God’s free gift of eternal life. That is done through faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.
“For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” —2 Corinthians 11:14
You and I have been bitten by sin, like the Israelite’s who followed Moses out of Egyptian bondage.
The Israelites had to choose whether to put their faith in God. It was a simple act of faith, but a life-or-death decision. We too face such a choice.
Those who looked lived. Those who looked were healed. Those who looked were made whole. Those who looked were saved. They didn’t wait until they were better people. They didn’t have to touch it. They just looked.
Jesus tells us in John 3:14-15 that this is a picture of Him being lifted up on the Cross of Calvary.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. —John 3:14-15
The bronze serpent represented the people’s sin. According to the Scriptures, Christ was made sin for us.
Will you look to Jesus?—will you put your trust in Him?—the One who died for your sins.
Will you put your faith in Jesus?—the One who shed His lifeblood for you—and me.
My son Aaron Willis’s Automobile Accident
Some years ago, my eldest son, Aaron, was in an automobile accident. His back was broken so severely that the doctors said he might not ever walk again.
Several vertebrae in his lower back were fused. After that, he was able to begin the long task of healing from the spinal fusion surgery. He was encased in a rigid plastic back brace from his neck to his waist.
Later, his doctor agreed to let him briefly remove the brace and shower as long as someone was with him.
I was driving to pick Aaron and his brothers up for the weekend. Unbeknownst to me, his brother Josh helped him remove the brace as instructed by the doctor. Aaron could take a hot shower in his shorts. Josh was with him, but was much smaller than Aaron at that time. Aaron’s doctor approved all of this.
I began to exit to stop at the Austin post office on St. Johns, off Interstate 35, when a small but clear voice said, “You need to go now.”
I passed the post office exit. I drove as fast as possible to Wimberley, an hour away. I wondered what that warning was about.
There were no cell phones then. As I entered their mother’s home, I asked his mother where Aaron was. She said in the shower.
I ran to it, and the moment I entered the bathroom, Aaron said, “Dad, I’m dizzy.”
I stepped into the shower and placed my arms under his arms from his back. He immediately passed out.
I told Josh to help me move him to a bed while their mother called 911. His dead weight was more than I could have imagined.
We got him onto his bed without re-injuring his back. I knew if he had fallen, he probably would have been paralyzed.
I prayed as I followed the ambulance to the emergency room at Austin’s Seton Medical Center. I noticed the symbol on the back of the ambulance.
It was the American Medical Association’s (AMA) logo of a serpent wrapped around a staff.
The sign of healing medicine reminded me of the bronze serpent on the staff lifted up by Moses. Christians believe that’s where the symbol originated.
But, more importantly, it reminded me of Jesus being lifted up on a cross for my son. God’s son suffered in place of my son.
To this day, I cannot see that symbol without giving thanks to the Lord for that warning. I remember the shed blood of Christ lifted high upon a cross. It was for my sins, your sins, and the entire world’s sins.
When we arrived at the hospital’s emergency room, the doctors gave him intravenous (IV) fluids. They also gave him two bottles of Gatorade for dehydration.
The hot shower, combined with pain medication and dehydration, caused his blood to rush to his feet. This resulted in him fainting.
Look
Will you look to the One lifted up on a cross for you and me? Will you look to the Great Physician—Jesus—to heal you of all your pain, emptiness, and disappointments?
Will you look to Jesus? He took your place on the cross and died for your sins. Through Him alone, you can be made new, whole, and born again.
Choose
Jesus hung between two thieves (criminals) on a cross. One rejected Him, but the other put his faith in Him.
“Will You remember me when You enter Your kingdom?” one thief asks.
Jesus replied, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
Both of those men were guilty of crimes serious enough to warrant the Roman death penalty. One put his trust in Jesus, and the other chose not to.
The question is, which thief on the cross are you? The one who said yes or the one who said no?
Now, there was the third cross that day. It was for another criminal named Barabbas, and he represents us.
Jesus was crucified on a cross meant for Barabbas—it was your cross—it was my cross, too.
Come
Come just as you are.
Will you say yes to Jesus—today?
There’s a Scripture that I love, and it explains things so clearly even I can understand.
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. —Romans 10:9-10
You can settle this question in heaven and on earth today. Say yes to Jesus. Accept His pardon, just as that one thief did on the cross. There are no prescriptive or mandated words. Praying is just talking to the Lord.
Open
Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” — Revelation 3:20
Ask
Self-improvement will not qualify you for salvation, for God’s Word says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10)
Comparing yourself to others will not work either: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
We seek to commend ourselves to God. However, God says our good works are like filthy rags in His sight [Isaiah 64:6]. If we are ever accepted in the eyes of Holy God, it must be through Christ our Lord.
There is no other way for says in Habakkuk 1:13, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness.”
If you could be good enough to pay for your sins, think about this. Why did Jesus have to die for you?
Jesus bore your cross and my cross. He took our place on the cross. He shed His blood for our sins on that cross high on a hill for all the world to see.
The Just for the unjust. The Righteous for the unrighteous. The Godly for the ungodly The sinless Lamb of God for the sinner.
According to the Bible, we all have feet of clay and fall short of God’s glory. Our righteousness is described in the Bible as filthy rags. God’s grace (his undeserved favor) is available to us all. However, we must accept His gift of forgiveness. This gift was bought and paid for on the cross with Jesus Christ’s lifeblood. You can say yes to Jesus’s free gift right now.
Our greatest need is forgiveness. Christ came to forgive us, but we must accept that free gift. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. —Revelation 3:20
Jesus knocks, but you must open the door to your heart, to your life, to your future.
It’s not a prescribed list of words. In Luke 23:42, one of the criminals crucified with Jesus pleads, “Lord, remember me when You come into your kingdom. His heartfelt cry of faith from the cross saves him.
Jesus answers in the next verse with a promise. He says, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” The first person to accompany Christ to Heaven was this lowly thief on the cross.
Isn’t it time to decide which “thief” on the cross you are? Are you the one who put his faith in Jesus Christ? Or are you the one who rejected our Savior who gave His lifeblood for us?
The most famous 25 words ever written:
For God so loved the world. He gave His only begotten Son. Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. —John 3:16
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If these words are how you feel in your heart, then pray:
Heavenly Father,
I pray to You, asking for the forgiveness of my sins.
I confess with my mouth. I believe with my heart that Jesus is Your Son. He died on the cross at Calvary so that I might be forgiven.
Father, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead. I ask Jesus to come into my life as my personal Lord and Savior.
I turn from my sins and will surrender to your will throughout my life.
Your word is truth. I confess with my mouth that I am born again. I am cleansed by the blood of Jesus!
In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen!
Reach out and touch Him today!
For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well. —Matthew 9:21
Epilogue
I was headed to Temple Baptist Church with Grandma, and my owner’s manual: the Bible. It was Grandma Lillie Hanks Willis who first poured Jesus into me; sometimes, she even used words. That’s my dog Pedro wanting to follow me.
We attended Temple Baptist Church in Clute, Texas, every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. It seemed that everyone attended church in those days.
On a Wednesday night, my mother could not attend church. I walked to church from our home at 519 Coleman Street. My twelve-year-old sister Marjorie accompanied me. I was only eight.
I had no intention of that night being any different from any other. I cannot recall a word Pastor Bill Campbell said in his sermon. But I remember vividly another voice that spoke to my mind—my heart—my spirit.
It was not an audible voice. It was a still, gentle voice, tender but ever so clear, telling me to go forward and accept Christ as my Savior.
I recall my response to the Holy Spirit as if it were five minutes ago: “Lord, I am too shy. I would if my mother were here to go with me.”
I felt someone touch my left shoulder. My sister Marjorie was sitting in the back row with her friends. She could not see my face, for I was seated near the front.
She said, “I’ll go with you if you want me to.” I immediately stood and walked with her to the front of the church and made my decision public.
I know you do not have to have an experience like that to be born again. Nevertheless, I am grateful for that experience; it has never left my mind or my heart.
I was eight when I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior.
More Photos of Aaron Willis
Josh, Adam & Aaron Willis skiing a few years after the auto accident.
Aaron, Randy, Josh, and Adam Willis.
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Aaron Willis Hyde Park Baptist Church Austin 1991
Aaron and Alana’s daughter, Presley Willis Wimberley, First Baptist
Aaron and Alana’s daughter, Baylee Willis Wimberley, First Baptist
Alana, Baylee, Presley, and Aaron Willis, Maui, Hawaii
My Family
Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father. —Proverbs 17:6
L to R: Presley Willis, Baylee Willis holding Baby Violet Willis, Corbin Willis, and Olivia Willis holding Juliette Willis
Our family at Port Aransas, Texas
Our Family Costa Rica
Our Family Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
Our family is in my “backyard” in the Texas Hill Country. I took this photo.
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Many today have just enough religion to inoculate them from knowing Christ. —Randy Willis
