by Randy Willis

Jimmy Day & Elvis Presley 1955

Inscribed: “To my lifelong friend Randy Willis, Jimmy Day.” Jimmy said they were paid $150. Elvis split it five ways—$30 each. They paid for their food, motel, and gas out of that. The performance was at The Reo Palm Isle, in Longview, Texas. 1954 is incorrect. It was 1955, according to Jimmy Day.

Jimmy Day told me the above photo was taken in 1955, not 1954. Jimmy was part of Elvis’s 1955 band for this tour. He also backed Elvis on the Louisiana Hayride. The tour included a stop at the Skyline Club in Austin on October 6, 1955. He was joined by his friend Floyd Cramer. The regular three-piece band of Elvis, including Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and DJ Fontana, also accompanied Elvis.

Elvis, Jimmy, and the band also performed at my Alma Mater. This was part of the Louisiana Hayride tour booked by Tillman Franks. The performance also took place on Thursday, October 6, 1955. They played in Evans Auditorium at Southwest Texas State College (Texas State University). Jimmy lived not far from there, in Buda, Texas, in the later decades of his life. Johnny Horton is also a headliner with Elvis at The Skyline Club. Five years later Horton would die in an automobile accident on the way home after playing the Skyline.

Above article from the Austin American-Statesman, October 2, 1955.

L to R: Jimmy Day, Scotty Moore, Elvis, Bill Black, and Floyd Cramer. Drummer D.J. Fontana is hidden behind Bill Black’s upright bass. Arkansas Municipal Auditorium.  May 27, 1955. This was Elvis’s band in 1955, which remained his supporting band for much of the year. Elvis performed 295 shows in 1955.

Elvis Presley played two shows in Texarkana, Arkansas, on Friday, May 27, 1955, at the Arkansas Municipal Auditorium. Johnny Cash joined him, and some consider the concerts to be among the most outstanding in Texarkana’s history.  Elvis asked Day and Cramer to move to Hollywood. They declined. They both desired to be session musicians in Nashville.

My Frienship with Jimmy Day 1949-1999.

My friendship with Jimmy Day began when I was born in 1949.

My half-sister, Johnnie Ruth, brought home her teenage beau, Jimmy Day, to meet our parents in the autumn of 1949. Our home was located near Longleaf, Louisiana. In our home, Jimmy Day learned his first licks on a lap steel guitar from my Dad Julian Willis. I was born on December 19, 1949. Six days later, Jimmy Day received his first steel guitar as a Christmas gift. He was 15 and Johnnie Ruth was 14. In two weeks, they would celebrate their birthdays together. Daddy played Happy Birthday to them on his lap steel guitar.

My grandpa and namesake, Randall Lee “Rand” Willis, could play anything with a string on it by ear. Grandpa, at age 12, received a fiddle from his father, Daniel Hubbard Willis Jr., on his first cattle drive from East Texas to the rail yard in Lecompte, Louisiana. Grandpa became known as the best fiddler in the Longleaf, Forest Hill, and Glenmora area. Only one of his three sons, my dad, Julian Willis, inherited the love of stringed instruments.

Grandpa, Randall Lee “Rand” Willis, and my Uncle Howard Willis. The Old Willis Home Place on Barber Creek near Longleaf, Louisiana. My Uncle Howard was a master storyteller. He mesmerized me with his stories. It was from him that I got the desire to write stories. Uncle Howard’s eldest son, Donald Lee Willis, was the first to suggest that I write our family’s history. I was named after Grandpa.

However, it was during World War II that Daddy fell in love with the Hawaiian steel guitar. On a layover in O’ahu, Daddy discovered the fluid “vocal-like” sounds of the Hawaiian steel guitar. Many today don’t realize the modern steel guitar was conceived and popularized in the Hawaiian Islands.

The steel guitar was invented around 1889 by a Hawaiian teenager named Joseph Kekuku. The instrument was played on his lap. Kekuku plucks the strings instead of strumming them. A steel bar is run over the neck of the guitar.

Over the years, on my family vacations to Hawaii, memories of Daddy flood my mind. They do when I hear the chorus to the iconic “Aloha Oe” on a Hawaiian steel guitar. It would be a lap steel in C6 tuning that Daddy would first teach Jimmy Day.

For four decades, my family has traveled to Maui. In those years, the Hawaiian steel guitar has blessed us. It has also been a reminder of why my father loved the steel guitar. Sadly, Lahaina burned in August of 2023. The historic Banyan tree below, although severely scorched, has shown remarkable signs of recovery. The Lahaina Banyan Tree has become a symbol of hope and resilience for the community.

The Pioneer Inn Grill and Bar (across from the Banyan tree) was destroyed by the fire.

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But another Island, Iwo Jima, nearly ended Daddy’s dream to learn to play the steel guitar. A hill on this dormant volcano, known as Mount Suribachi, almost cost Daddy his life. Iwo Jima was declared safe on March 26, 1945, but it wasn’t. It was a costly victory for the U.S. Marines. But three thousand Japanese soldiers were still hidden in subterranean networks and caves, requiring the U.S. Army to root them out in the following days.

The raising of the American flag atop Mount Suribachi became a powerful symbol. It represented hope, victory, and the bravery of American forces. It also highlighted the sacrifice of American troops during World War II.

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Angered by the death of his first cousin, Robert K. “Bobby” Willis, Julian Willis was “hell-bent” that he did not die in vain. Bobby was on the USS Arizona during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. My father, Julian “Jake” Willis, now had his opportunity for revenge. It would prove to be a “bitter pill” for the rest of his life.

Warning! Graphic Images.

Revenge is a “bitter pill.” I found these photos deep in a storage chest after Daddy died in 1995. I had heard of them from Daddy’s brothers and mother, but I did not realize they still existed. They were attached to the obituary of Bobby Willis, which is above. I doubt Daddy knew he still had them. I’ve hesitated to post them before but now feel they are necessary to demonstrate the futility of hate. I have never shared these before. Please do not share them.

Five months later, the Empire of Japan surrendered. World War II was over, but not the scars in Daddy’s mind. Daddy learned to smoothly slide between notes on tunes such as “Amazing Grace.” This took his mind far from the shores of Iwo Jima. It would be training horses and playing the steel guitar that would be Daddy’s escape. Unfortunately, there was a third: alcoholic beverages.

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press. Six United States Marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima. Three of the six Marines in the photograph would be killed in action during the battle. 

Daddy, Julian “Jake” Willis atop Mount Suribachi after the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II

When things in life seem like they cannot get worse, they often do.

Before Hawaii and before Iwo Jima, my Dad, Julian Willis, served in the Aleutian Islands. He was then transferred to Woodward, Oklahoma. The United States Army Air Forces built an airfield there in the fall of 1942. They continued building it in early 1943 as an aircrew training field. Daddy was made a Staff Sergeant there on June 8, 1943.

The facility opened in March 1943 during World War II and was known as Woodward Army Airfield.  The airfield was a considerable employer for the sparsely polluted area near the Northeastern corner of the Texas Panhandle.

It would be here that Daddy would make a decision that would trouble him for the rest of his life. He met a beautiful young woman. She was from the neighboring county of Ellis, on the Texas Panhandle’s border. Ellis County only had a couple of thousand people. Her parents own horses, and she loved horses like my father did.

Dorene Richardson and Daddy married on August 6, 1944, in Ellis County, Oklahoma. Note the herd of horses in the background.

He knew his days were numbered stateside as the war raged in the Pacific. On August 6, 1944, they were married. He did not realize he would soon fly out to Iwo Jima, one of the most dangerous places on earth. His journey would take him by way of Guam and Hawaii.  

Although Daddy and Dorene’s romance was a May-December type, they were both young and in love. Daddy was lonely as Christmas approached.

During that time, Daddy and Dorene wrote many love letters. He ensured all his military pay and savings went directly to her. They would have a nest egg if and when he returned from overseas.

When the war ended in 1945, he sailed to San Diego from Iwo Jima.

After arriving in San Diego, he still had to go home to Longleaf, Louisiana, after rendezvousing with his wife. The reunion was all set by mail. Daddy was beside himself with anticipation. The military had done its part. The rest of the journey was his responsibility.

In San Diego, he bought a used Harley-Davidson motorcycle and headed straight to his reunion with his sweetheart in Oklahoma.

When he arrived, she was gone. He never saw her again.

In San Diego, he bought a used Harley-Davidson motorcycle and headed straight to his reunion with his sweetheart in Oklahoma.

After Daddy died in 1995, I found the bracelet she gave him. She had given it before leaving for the Pacific. It was in a coin purse. The bracelet read, “HAND OFF. HE’S ALL MINE DORENE.”  His military dog tags were also in the coin pouch. There was a ring with JW stenciled. An Army Aviation pin was also found there. Daddy kept the bracelet from Dorene until he died 51 years later.

It was all in a larger box with their marriage license, with her name, Dorene Richardson.  The box contained military discharge papers and the New Testament. It also had a photo of his mother with his two brothers as boys. There was a diary entitled “U.S. Army Snapshots.” With essential dates and events during the war.  And a Bible that was given to him in basic training. And also, a photo of Daddy’s mother, Lillie Hanks Willis as a teenage girl when she married at age 16.

I found this wedding photo of my father, Julian Willis’s mother, Lillie Hanks Willis. Daddy kept a copy of it when he served in World War II. She was only 16 years old. Grandma had the tiniest waist.

My grandmother, Lillie Hanks Willis, and her sons Howard (born 1915), Julian, my father (born 1919), and Herman (born 1918). circa 1922-1923

In 1986, I witnessed the full impact of these events in Daddy’s life. This happened on his deer lease near Llano, Texas. Ironically, on the 100th anniversary of his late father’s birthday. Or was it just a coincidence?

Julian Willis was an emaciated soldier at the end of World War II. He would find some solace in his childhood home, the Old Willis Home Place. His mother, Lillie, would cook him hot meals. She told me she would hear him weeping in the middle of the night.

Daddy never spoke to me about the war or patriotism. I saw it in how he behaved when the American flag passed by at a rodeo. He stood and took off his cowboy hat. He placed his right hand over his heart. He would often bow his head and silently give thanks. The Star-Spangled Banner received the same respect.

Daddy climbed Mount Suribachi while on Iwo Jima after the U.S. Marines captured the summit. He taught me how to climb mountains, too! But there was one incident, only one, in which he opened up to me.

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I arose on a cold morning at 5:30 on March 15, 1986. It was at our deer lease, owned by E.J. Moss, located between Llano and Fredericksburg. This is at the intersection of Texas Highway 16 and Ranch Road 965.  There is a Historical Marker there today. Mr. Moss’s eleven ancestors received this land and almost half of Llano County after the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. It was their reward from General Sam Houston for the victory over the Mexican forces. General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna commanded the Mexican forces.

But it was another war on that frigid morning that was the subject. More powerful than Santa Anna’s army. More powerful force than the Comanche Nation that once ruled supreme in Llano County. A teenage Comanche on his first raid, Quanah Parker, once rode horseback on the Moss Ranch.

On this frosty morning, the Japanese Empire was the subject matter. And I discovered a woman was still haunting Daddy’s mind.

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Daddy opened his travel trailer door before sunrise. I threw a pound of bacon into our cast iron skillet near our campfire. He had sweat on his brow and looked haggard.

Mornin’ “Rand,” he said. A name he seldom called me. It was his father and my namesake’s nickname.

“You look tired,” I said.

“Didn’t sleep a wink,” he yawned.

I pointed to a pot of boiling coffee on the campfire. “It’s darker than midnight under a skillet,” I said, knowing that’s what Daddy preferred. Sugar or cream was never part of the mix with his Louisiana Community Dark Roast Coffee.

I never was one to pry with him. “Do you know what day it is?” He sat next to the campfire and looked puzzled. “My namesake and your Daddy would have been 100 today. That sparked something in him that I had never seen and never did again.

“Sometimes, I can’t sleep when I think of that damn war.” He began to open up. He talked about the loss of his first cousin and dear friend, Bobby Willis. Bobby died on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. “No man should hate as I did.” He also discussed the loss of his squad after basic training in a plane crash. He was not on the plane because he was in the hospital with yellow jaundice. Why was he spared? He also spoke of what he had seen and done on Iwo Jima. It was the first and last time he ever mentioned those details.

“What a sacrifice,” I said.

 “It was my duty. The ones who sacrificed never made it back. They were the heroes, not me.”

But then, he looked down and said under his breath, “Dorene was the hardest.” He stood and added, “It’s getting late; let’s head up Loneman Mountain and build that deer blind.” As we climbed into his old 4-wheel drive Ford pickup, he mumbled, “Damn, Preacher.” I had no clue what he meant, nor was I about to ask. As we climbed Loneman Mountain, he turned towards Enchanted Rock nine miles to the west. His mind became calm. His focus shifted to building the deer blind. He also concentrated on the view to the west.

That complete story of that “Damn preacher” is for another time, but it is all too familiar in today’s headlines. It would drive him closer to Jesus but far from organized religion. Daddy never shared that story. However, my mother did. Daddy never belonged to another church. This was true except for weddings and funerals until he died. Once again, music, hunting, fishing, and horses became his solace.

On that day, daddy gave me two words of advice. He said, “When a person marries, they should live at least two hundred miles from their parents.” This was a reference to his mother-in-law, Nina Lawson living with him and my mother when they first married.

The second piece of advice was, ‘You will remember you were too hard on your children. Or perhaps, you were not hard enough. You will think of this when they are grown. They will turn out okay either way.” I suspected that remark might have related to how hard Daddy was on me, but I was not sure. It could also be about my half-siblings. Still, I am not sure. But what I am sure of is that Daddy had a hard time in forgetting the past. Especially when he perceived someone had done him wrong. It “stuck in his craw” until he died.

Daddy’s inability to forget the hurts of the past has been a warning to me. I think of this as I write of the past. I have to read and claim this scripture often:

“Forgetting the things of the past and pressing on to the high calling of God.” Philippians 3:13-14

I often remembered that day at the deer lease. Five years later, in 1991, I founded Operation Warm Heart. This initiative provided food and clothing to those in need in Austin. I soon discovered many of our homeless were veterans without spiritual or physical care for their tortured minds. Our “greatest generation” poorly understood post-traumatic stress with words like “combat fatigue or “shell shock.” When I visited the deer lease with Daddy, I got a small glimpse of PTSD.

Operation Warm Heart feeds and clothes hundreds on this day. I had over 500 volunteers.

My question to myself was “What can I do?” The answer was to start by helping one person. That answer I found in Matthew 25: 38-40.

Jesus answered what our responsibility to mankind in Matthew 25:38-40: “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

My Dad, Julian “Jake” Willis on his dear lease with my three sons, Aaron (with the shotgun) Adam, and Josh. 1986

As Trail Boss of the Brazoria County Trail Ride for many years, he took the initiative. He arranged for a local pastor to lead a church service on horseback. This happened on Sunday mornings for 15 minutes before we rode out. I watched each year as Daddy bowed his head with his hat in his right hand. Every cowboy and cowgirl did the same. Such is the cowboy way.

Julian “Jake” Willis

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The healing of a broken heart and psychological trauma would take Daddy much, much, much longer. Not even the marriage to a Godly woman, my mother, in 1948, would suffice. It would take a lifetime of intervention by the “Great Physician.” Daddy learned of Jesus through family and a tiny Baptist Church in Longleaf, Louisiana. Mother’s demand before they married in 1948: “It’s me or the alcoholic,” took care of that issue.

As Willie Nelson wrote and sang in The Healing Hands of Time, “They’re working while I’m missing you.”

Two other songs of Willie Nelson have had an influence in my life: “In God’s Eye’s and “Pretty Paper.” I launched Operation Warm Heart after hearing Roy Orbison sing “Pretty Paper.” The organization feeds and clothes the needy of Central Texas. It melts my heart to this day. Oh, if I could live the words in “In God’s Eyes.” Thank you, Will, for your kindness and servant’s heart.

Daddy and Jimmy Day

Mama and Daddy, aka Ruth and Julian Willis, with my Grandma Lillie Willis at our Longleaf home. In this same home, Daddy taught 15-year-old Jimmy Day how to tune a lap steel guitar. He also taught him his first licks.

Johnnie Ruth in the back with my other half-siblings: L to R: Jerry, Marjorie, and Buddy Duke. Our home was located in Longleaf, Louisiana. It was within walking distance of the Ole Willis Place on Barber Creek. It was also near the Longleaf Sawmill, where Jimmy’s father managed the sawmill commissary. Crowell & Spencer Lumber Company provided a home to Jimmy Day’s parents. Their home was located a few dozen feet from the commissary. Jimmy’s home was a brisk 15-minute walk to our home.

My sister Johnnie Ruth and I, 1950 in Longleaf. I was 10 months old. The next year, Jimmy graduated from Glenmora high school. At only 17 years old, he began as a sideman to the Louisiana Hayride’s “arsenal” of music stars. It would also end his relationship with Johnnie Ruth. She would soon marry another the same year at only 16 years old. Her rebound “stuns” my parents.

The Wigwam in Forest Hill, Louisiana, was three miles from Longleaf. The beer joint was located along the banks of an old mining pond. It was the first venue where both Jimmy Day and Daddy played the lap steel guitar. Another local musician, Harold Whatley, from Longleaf, continued to teach Jimmy steel guitar licks. Jimmy and Daddy played in Whatley’s band, although not at the same time.

The Wigwam in Forest Hill, Louisiana

Whatley later wrote a big hit with Mel Tillis about the Longleaf Crowell and Spencer Sawmill. It was entitled Sawmill, (go figure) and it was released in 1959.

Jimmy’s father managed the sawmill’s commissaries. He transferred to Crowell and Spencer Lumber Company’s sawmill in Longleaf. He moved from a sawmill in Huttig, Arkansas. It was there that Jimmy Day met Floyd Cramer in junior high. They became friends during that time.

It was at Glenmora High School that Jimmy and my sister, Johnnie Ruth, met. They were both straight-A students. Many years later, I asked Jimmy how their romance began. “By holding hands on the school bus,” Jimmy said. Longleaf kids went to school in Glenmora, which was five miles away. The bus rides took only a few minutes down Highway 165. Jimmy talked about running up and down Highway 165 because it was paved. All the other roads were red dirt roads in “our neck of the piney woods.”

A paved road was a big deal in Louisiana in 1949, although Huey P. Long promised to pave the roads in his campaign for Governor in 1928. Long made that promise in many places. One such place was at “Boy Scout Camp” on Spring Creek. It was within walking distance of our Longleaf home. My Grandpa and his three sons were there in 1928. Long also promised free textbooks if he were elected. Grandpa, Randall Lee “Rand” Willis, looked at his three sons. He said, according to Daddy, “There’s nothing free in this here life, boys. The only exception is the grace of God, and that cost Jesus his life.”

Jimmy mentioned several times that Johnnie Ruth was born on January 7. Elvis was born on January 8. And he was born on January 9. Johnnie Ruth was a day older than Elvis. Jimmy was a year older.

Jimmy Day, Glenmora High School. He was 17, in 1951.

Jimmy Day and I were having dinner one night in 1994 at the Broken Spoke in Austin. Jimmy told me, over a chicken-fried steak, that Floyd Cramer at first wanted him to teach him the steel guitar. Jimmy told him, “I’m the steel player; choose another instrument.”

Floyd decided on the piano.  Jimmy also told me that night about working with Hank Williams Sr., Patsy Cline, and Elvis. I was mesmerized.

In the beginning, Jimmy had considerable difficulty with his fretwork. His problems were solved when he saw Shot Jackson providing steel support for the Bailes Brothers. Jackson influenced Jimmy’s style greatly. They later became friends.   Jimmy Day later co-founded Sho-Bud steel guitar company with Shot Jackson and Buddy Emmons.

Jimmy Day & Webb Pierce 1951

Five months after graduating from Glenmora HS, Jimmy Day started working with Webb Pierce. Jimmy recorded his first sessions with Webb Pierce. The move and touring with Pierce ended Jimmy’s relationship with Johnnie Ruth.

I never ask Mama if she played a role in the breakup. She said no. She had given Daddy an ultimatum just three years before: “The Honky Tonks or me.” But I can’t imagine Mama remaining silent on that subject or any other one. Longleaf Baptist Church, where we attended every time the doors opened, had an issue with a lifestyle involving alcohol. Nevertheless, Johnnie Ruth would marry another the same year. She played piano and the church organ for decades in her local Southern Baptist Churches near Alexandria and Beaumont.

Jimmy Day introduced Web Pierce to Floyd Cramer. It would be the beginning of two fascinating pioneer careers in music.

They both played on Pierce’s number one hit, This Heart Belongs, just before Jimmy’s 18th birthday.

L to R: Jimmy Day, Floyd Cramer, Webb Pierce, Tillman Franks, Faron Young, and Uncle Jimmy Burrage. Tillman Franks said, “We were all picking cotton when Webb Pierce and The Southern Valley Boys arrived in Luling, TX in 1951.” Webb Pierce started with the Louisiana Hayride in 1949, the year after it began broadcasting. (Tillman Franks Collection)

Jimmy Day & Hank Williams Sr. 1952

In the spring of 1952, Jimmy began a six-month stint backing Hank Williams Sr. In November, less than two months before Hank’s tragic death, he asked Jimmy to join his new band. Hank planned to assemble the band the following year.

Jimmy Day was 17 when this photo was taken on December 7, 1952. They would play Austin’s Skyline Club in 12 days. Day agreed to be a part of Williams’s new band, the month before this photo was taken, beginning in 1953. It never happened. In two weeks, Hank would die. The Skyline show was Hank’s last public appearance.

Elvis hired Jimmy Day two years later for his 1955 tour. Elvis and Jimmy Day played the Skyline Club in Austin, Texas, on October 6, 1955.

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With the advent of the pedal steel guitar in 1954, Jimmy began moving away from the lap steel guitar. This shift occurred during his tenure with Lefty Frizzell. His final gig playing the lap steel guitar was at the Louisiana Hayride, where he backed Elvis Presley.

As mentioned before, Jimmy told me that Elvis asked him to play the steel guitar in his new band. Jimmy told him his dream was to go to Nashville, so he declined. Jimmy could make far more money as a session musician than as a sideman in a band.

He then added as he smiled, “If I’d said yes, there might be a steel guitar in rock and roll today.”

The following year, 1955, Jimmy Day backed Patsy Cline at the Grand Ole Opry. Jimmy played steel guitar on several of Cline’s recordings. These included her 1961 album Showcase. The album included Crazy, written by Willie Nelson and Walkin’ After Midnight.

But it was Patsy Cline’s Sweet Dreams Jimmy spoke of most. Jimmy loved the song and the production. Many great musicians, including Jimmy Day, graced the production of Sweet Dreams. The group included Harold Bradley and Owen Bradley. Owen Bradley also produced the song. Floyd Cramer, Grady Martin, Walter Haynes, Bob Moore, Buddy Harman, and Hank Garland were among them.

Jimmy became known as “Mr. Country Soul,” thanks to his E9 tuning on his pedal steel guitar, the legendary Blue Darin. Jimmy was not as famous for his playing on the C6th neck. However, he became a pioneer and legend for his soulful sound. He played on many country hits on the E9th neck.

Jimmy Day & Jim Reeves Mid-1950s

Jimmy worked the road with Jim Reeves. He did many great recordings with Reeves. One of these recordings was titled According to My Heart. Jimmy worked with Ray Price and was featured on many intros and instrumental turnarounds on Ray’s songs. Tunes like Heartaches by The Number, City Lights, Loveless Mansion on The Hill, and many others. I thought of Jimmy the other day. I was listening to the radio when I heard Jimmy’s opening riff of Ray Price’s Crazy Arms.

Jim Reeves and The Blue Boys, 1958. L-R- Peewee Kershaw, Jimmy Day {Front Left}, Jim Reeves, Royce Morgan and Billy Harlan.

Backstage at the Louisiana Hayride in 1953. L-R Horace Logan (the Hayride’s announcer), Floyd Cramer, Mitchell Torok, Jimmy Day and Jim Reeves.

Jim Reeves and band in October 1956 Jimmy Day who had been recently replaced in the group by Louisiana Hayride regular, Sonny Trammel. Jimmy resigned to become a Seventh Day Adventist’s minister.

Seventh Day Adventist was the religion of his first wife Clarice Williams from Mira, Louisiana. Their “Christian Sabbath” was a Saturday. Only 22, Jimmy had already backed stars such as Webb Pierce, Hank Williams, Elvis and Jim Reeves. Clarice later became a resident of Gilliam. A few months earlier in March 30,1956 their son, James Clayton “Jimmy” Day, Jr. was born in Vivian, Louisiana.

This change of occupation did not last, as shortly afterward Jimmy was again advertised as a member of Reeves’s band.

Jimmy Day & Ray Price 1956-1963

Ray Price played at the Grand Ole Opry. He was billed as “America’s #1 Recording Star.” Jimmy Day was billed as the “King of the Steel Guitar.”

Jimmy Day, Ray Price, and Willie Nelson on base. When Nelson formed his own band, he called it The Offenders.

Ray Price’s band L to R: Jimmy Day on the steel guitar, Paul English on drums, Roger Miller at the microphone, Willie Nelson, and Bill Graham.

Jimmy Day & Willie Nelson Beginning in 1962

Jimmy Day and Willie Nelson. The Esquire Ballroom in Houston.

Willie Nelson put a band together in 1966. He called them The Offenders. He was persuaded to rename them The Record Men. Thirty years later, the original Offenders got together again for a reunion session. steel guitar maestro Jimmy Day drummer and vocalist Johnny Bush, and bass player David Zettner. On-hand to lend support were fiddler Johnny Gimble, and pianist Floyd Domino.

L to R: Randy Willis, Willie Nelson, Miss Texas Holly Miles, and Johnny Rodriguez. On the set of Tales Out of Luck, Texas.

In 1995, Willie brought back The Offenders ensemble for a film entitled Tales out of Luck, Texas. Willie renamed the band The Repeat Offenders for the film. Holly and I were extras in the movie. Rodriguez sang. It is available on YouTube at the bottom of this page.

Floyd Cramer wrote the instrumental and performed his mega-hit Last Date in 1960. It sold over a million copies. Cramer became known for his “slip note” piano style, in which an out-of-key note slides into the correct note.

A select few musician’s talents are so highly regarded that their names become synonymous with their instrument. Floyd Cramer and Jimmy Day are two of them.

It was Cramer’s piano playing on Elvis Presley’s first RCA Victor single, Heartbreak Hotel, in 1956. Jimmy Day was a guest in the studio. Few guests were allowed.

Jimmy played the steel guitar for Web Pierce, Hank Williams Sr., Elvis, Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Jim Reeves, Johnny Horton, Willie Nelson, and many others. Jimmy moved to Buda, Texas, in 1978 as studios increasingly removed the steel guitar.

Or as George Strait and Allan Jackson later sang in Murder on Music Row, “For steel guitars no longer cry and fiddles barely play.”

Nashville’s loss was mine and Daddy’s gain as we reconnected in Texas with Jimmy Day.

“It’s the beer joints or me.”

Dinner on the ground at Longleaf Baptist Church, 1948. Mama’s first husband, John Duke, died in 1946, leaving her with four children. Mama told Daddy, “It’s the beer joints or me.” He chose the latter. Daddy and Mama married in 1948. Thank the Good Lord, or I would not have been born the following year. I was born on December 19, 1949.

My mother’s abhorrence to “Honky Tonks” was fueled by nearby Camp Claiborne during World War II.

In 1948, Mama insisted Daddy stop playing venues such as the Wigwam in Forest Hill. She said she would not marry him otherwise. It was not only the booze, but also certain females of “low repute.” Not all the women, but one was too many for mother.

As mentioned above, alcohol and Daddy did not mix well. He got into a fight at a nearby bar. This bar was the Ranch House, outside Camp Claiborne. There were also numerous pawn shops and “Cat Houses” near Camp Claiborne.

Daddy hopped onto the Ranch House’s bar counter when a bartender refused to serve him. As he walked down the bar, he kicked every beer bottle into the mirrored wall behind the bar. Daddy had worn out his welcome at that establishment. Go figure. He never returned. Mother grew up next door to Daddy on Barber Creek near Longleaf.

The stories of Daddy’s drunken brawls were well known to Mother long before 1948. Daddy trained as a boxer in World War II. The sport was not part of his training but rather a recreational and moral building activity of the military. He was a fan of Max Baer. He once told me, “Baer could have whipped anybody if he had taken training more seriously.”

Daddy was also a fan of Joe Louis, as everyone else on earth, except Adolf Hitler. Daddy training as a boxer, and Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey was a one-two punch that did not impress Mother.

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Over a half-million men received their initial military training at Camp Claiborne. This was just north of Forest Hill during World War II. The military overlooked the construction of bars with prostitution outside the 23,000-acre base. This oversight occurred in spite of the fact that soliciting sex near a military base became a federal offense at the beginning of the war.

Not all military leaders ignored the issue. General George S. Patton threaten to flatten Phenix City, Alabama, known as “Sin City” with his tanks due to the massive influx of prostitutes to the town. I’m not sure if Patton’s threat was based on his religious beliefs which included reincarnation. But what I am sure of was Patton was a pragmatist. The “ladies of the evening” were infecting troops stationed with sexually transmitted diseases.

What the U.S. Army overlooked outside the Camp Claiborne training center, my mama, my grandma, and Longleaf Baptist Church did not overlook. They all three considered “beer joints” as places to be avoided like a plague. They also thought “scarlet women” should be avoided like the New Orleans yellow fever epidemic. Mosquitoes transmitted that epidemic. It drove our patriarch, Joseph Willis, to the Longleaf area from the swampy area of Bayou Chicot in 1828.

Joseph Willis was the first non-Catholic preacher to venture West of the mighty Mississippi River in 1798. Joseph Willis was a Baptist in Louisiana. This was almost a half-century before the Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1845.

To add “insult to injury,” my sainted grandmother, Lillie Willis, was a hostess at Camp Claiborne’s Officers’ Club. Grandmother lived at the Old Willis Home Place, five miles south of Camp Claiborne. Our beloved homestead was built in 1865 by my great-grandfather, Daniel Hubbard Willis. This was at the end of the “War of Northern Aggression.” Joseph Willis established Amiable Baptist Church in 1828 near the Old Willis Home Place.

My Grandmother Lillie Hanks Willis in the center at Camp Claiborne (a U.S. Army military camp during World War II) located in Rapides Parish near Forest Hill. She worked there during WWII as a host in the Officers’ Club.

The Ole Willis Home Place, August 5, 1906, located near Longleaf Baptist Church (near present-day Longleaf, Louisiana), on Barber Creek. My Great-Uncle Robert Kenneth Willis Sr. (1877-1951) has the reins in his hands. Robert’s first wife Eulah Hilburn Willis (1884-1919) is in the backseat. She died in the influenza pandemic of 1918/1919.

My Great-grandmother Julia Ann Graham Willis (1845-1936) is holding a catfish and is standing next to the wagon. Robert and Eulah’s baby girl Flossie Litton Willis (August 5, 1905 – September 1985) is held by an unknown lady. Flossie told me before her death that this photo was taken on her first birthday.

Daddy still played church socials and house parties, but never a bar again. And for good reason.

As mentioned, Daddy and alcohol were a “Molotov cocktail.” One gig at the Wigwam, band leader Harold Whatley unplugged Daddy’s amp and said, “You’re too loud.” Enraged, Daddy slugged Whatley on stage and quit the band. The audience responded by throwing beer bottles. They remained friends, though. Mama heard that story along with everyone else in Rapides Parish.

Daddy would visit with Jimmy Day about the days long past, playing at The Wigwam in Forest Hill, Louisiana. They talked about the chicken wire surrounding the stage and Harold Whatley. The chicken wire did not always stop the beer bottles that people threw at you if they broke. Jimmy Day and Daddy spoke a few months before Daddy’s death in 1995. Jimmy mailed Daddy a photo of him and Elvis dated 1955, on stage at the “Reo Palm Isle” in Longview, Texas, with the inscription, “To my first teacher, Julian Willis. Keep on pickin’—Jimmy Day.”

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As Jimmy Day’s name gained notoriety, he, as a musician, would often be on the marquee with the headliner. After joining Willie Nelson’s band, Jimmy returned to the Longleaf-Forest Hill area, where he and I once lived. The reason was to play Lake Shamarie Club in 1968.

After the Wigwam became the Lake Shamarie in 1968, Willie Nelson and George Jones played there. This was at Jimmy’s suggestion. It was three miles from where I lived as a child, in Longleaf, and Jimmy Day lived as a teenager.

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Over the years, I employed Jimmy Day to back many artists that I booked and managed. Jimmy died in 1999. He was a dear friend for half a century. I miss asking him to play the Steel Guitar Rag. Even though, I knew he must have played it a million times. But most of all, I miss my friend Jimmy Day.

On stage at Willie’s 4th of July Picnic in Luckenbach, Texas. Pictured L to R are Steven Fromholz, Jimmy Day, me, and Johnny Gimble in the distance.

I stood on stage at Luckenbach with Jimmy Day, Willie’s former wife, Connie Nelson, and Willie and Connie’s two daughters Paula and Amy Nelson. Jimmy looked at Paula and Amy and said, “You girls would not be here if I had not introduced your mama to Willie.”

I added, “Jimmy, you nor they would be here if my Daddy had not taught you the steel guitar.” The girls had no clue what I was saying. Jimmy responded, “You got that right” as Paula joined Willie to perform her set at Luckenbach. (Photo courtesy of Jimmy Day)

Unknown lady, Connie Nelson, Amy Nelson, Randy Willis, and Paula Nelson. On stage at Luckenbach. (Photo courtesy of Jimmy Day)

An unnecessary backstory: I made arrangements for Paula Nelson to lease this bus from Johnny Lyon, my friend. She was on tour with the Stray Cats at the time in California. Paula’s need for a bus was for Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Luckenbach Celebration. The same bus was used in the movie Selena not because it was glamorous. It was in the movie because it was not, due to the fact it was 150 years old. At least it looked that old. Paula ended up trading Lyon two onstage passes for the use, at Lyon’s suggestion. Lyon drove the bus to the show.

Lyon, wanted to see Willie and Waylon sing Lets Go to Luckenbach, Texas for the first time at Luckenbach. It would also be the last time. Lyon missed Waylon Jennings’ set after falling asleep in the back of the bus. He suddenly became sleepy from an unexplained odor of “smoke” on the bus. I forgot to explain the Nelson Family “tobacco rider” to him. I gave my friend Johnny Lyon a hard time after that. He was a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and had his own band. He once fired a band member for smoking pot in the parking lot after a gig. I threatened to tell all his friends he got stoned. He never seemed to see the humor in my joke.

Jimmy died in 1999. His legendary steel guitar, Blue Darlin’, and amp were turned on in front of his casket as they played his Gospel LP In Jesus’ Name We Prayed—I wept. Jimmy loved the Lord.

Thanks for the memories, Jimmy. I love and miss you, my friend.

Marty Stuart, me, and Jimmy Day. Austin City Limits rehearsal.

On this night at Coupland Dancehall, in Coupland, Texas, I hired two friends to back Johnny Rodriguez. Benny McArthur (with George Strait’s band) and Jimmy Day. Craig Dillingham (Tanya Tucker’s current beau) on the right was my guest. Jimmy and Craig would perform together towards the end of Jimmy’s life.

Easter Service at Willie Nelson’s Luck, Texas.

The Louisiana Hayride and Hayride Tours

Both Hank Williams Sr. and Elvis rose to stardom on the Louisiana Hayride. The platform was like a “launching pad.” Elvis was influenced by Hank Williams. Elvis himself acknowledges Williams as a major influence.

Elvis becomes “too big of a draw” for the Texas honky-tonks like the Skyline. This was a year after he performed at the Skyline Club in Austin, Texas on October 6, 1955.

Colonel Parker bought Presley out of his contract with the Hayride for $10,000 in April of 1956. The agreement obligated Elvis to appear at a special Hayride charity show in December of the same year.

On October 11, 1956, Elvis drew 26,500 people at the Cotton Bowl. Most of them were teenagers. This was during the State Fair of Texas. Elvis played before his largest crowd to date. Colonel Tom Parker was now in the “driver’s seat” of Elvis’s career and booked the Cotton Bowl performance.

Elvis’s movie “Love me Tender” was released on November 21, 1956. It was a box office success, second only to “Giant.”

His last performance on the Hayride in Shreveport was at the end of a year. The year was filled with grueling travel for Elvis. He traveled almost continually in 1956. In addition to 8 appearances on the Hayride, Elvis performed 143 concerts in 79 cities in 1956. Add to that 11 network TV appearances, and Elvis was seldom off the road in 1956.

On December 15, 1956, in fulfillment his Louisiana Hayride contract Elvis performed for a benefit. Henry Clay, general manager of station KWKH, announced Presley’s appearance on the 15th. He revealed that the show was being moved from Municipal Auditorium to the Youth Center at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds. This change was made to accommodate the expected large crowd.

Elvis would receive no fee. All proceeds from the Hayride show would go to the YMCA expansion project in the Shreveport area. There would be no reserved seating. Tickets, priced at $2 in advance ($2.50 at the door). Hayride stars David Houston and Buddy Thompson opened for Elvis.

It was Elvis’s last Hayride performance and his last in Louisiana. It was during this last show that the phrase “Elvis has left the building” was born. The Louisiana Hayrides’ master of ceremonies was Horace “Hoss” Logan. He introduced Elvis earlier.

Logan spoke to the frenzied crowd of 9,000 to 10,000 at the end of the show. He was trying to calm them by telling them, “Elvis has left the building.” It became the standard way to disperse the crowds safely at the end of Elvis’s concerts. And prevent the audience from waiting for encores.

Elvis’s last Louisiana Hayride performance was moved from Municipal Auditorium to the Youth Center at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds. December 15, 1956.

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Your heart should be so hidden in Christ that a person has to seek Him to know you. —Randy Willis

Randy Willis draws on his family heritage of explorers, settlers, soldiers, cowboys, and pastors. He upholds the tradition of loving the outdoors. He shares this love in the adventures he creates for readers of his novels. He is the author of two biographies and his new memoir, To the Best of My Recollection.

Randy Willis has written many books, including Destiny, Three Winds Blowing, and Beckoning Candle. He also wrote Twice a Slave, Texas Wind, Louisiana Wind, and The Apostle to the Opelousas. He also wrote The Story of Joseph Willis and To the Best of My Recollection, and many articles.

Four bestselling authors’ books, including Randy Willis’s Twice a Slave, have been chosen as a Jerry B. Jenkins Select Book. Jerry Jenkins is a 21-time New York Times bestselling author. He has written more than 200 books. The Left Behind series, his best-selling work, has sold more than 70 million copies.

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“Many today have just enough religion to inoculate them from knowing Christ.” —Randy Willis

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 blood. You can say yes to Jesus’ free gift right now.

Our greatest need is forgiveness. Christ came to forgive us, but we must accept that free gift.

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)

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 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!”

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Tales Out of Luck, Texas with Willie Nelson, Jimmy Day, Johnny Rodriguez, and Randy Willis.

Randy Willis, Willie Nelson, Miss Texas Holly Mills, and Johnny Rodriguez. On set during the filming of Tales Out of Luck, Texas.

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

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