He Survived Jumping Off the Golden Gate Bridge

The following comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals

Kevin Hines was depressed and decided to end his life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. Miraculously, he survived. Hines said, “The millisecond my hands left the rail and my legs cleared it, I had instantaneous regret for my actions.”

“I fell nearly 250 feet, 25 stories, closing in on 80 mph nearing the speed of terminal velocity in 4 seconds. In those 4 seconds, I said to myself, What have I just done? I don’t want to die! God, please save me! I realized I made the greatest mistake of my life. And then I hit the water.”

He crushed three vertebrae on impact, and then started drowning. He prayed, “I don’t want to die, God, I made a mistake.” A sea lion kept pushing him to the surface until the Coast Guard rescued him. He’s one of 35 people who’ve survived that jump while 1,800 others have died in the San Francisco Bay since the bridge was opened in 1937. Hines’s story is chronicled in a documentary, The Ripple Effect.

In Acts 16:25-31, we find another man who wanted to end his life. Paul and Silas had been arrested and were singing praises to God in jail. The Lord sent an earthquake, which opened all the prison doors. The jailer thought the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword and was about to fall on it. Paul cried out, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!” The jailer, realizing something supernatural just happened, asked, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”

If you’ve thought about ending your life, God says to you, “Do yourself no harm! I have a plan and a purpose for your life.” Psalm 42:5 (NLT) says, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him.” That’s the answer. Put your hope in the Lord and praise Him. He’s the one who can give you a reason to live.

BIBLE STUDY: End Times & Bible Prophecy

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When Failure Was Actually a Success

Dale Bourke was attending a publishing conference when her friend, Bruce, offered to give her a ride to the airport. As they were about to leave, the hotel doorman told them the hotel shuttle bus had broken down and if they could take another passenger to the airport. They said they would and the man jumped in the back seat.

Bruce asked the man where he worked. The back-seat passenger mentioned the name of a Christian publishing house, which was affiliated with a campus organization. Bruce said, “I have fond memories of that campus ministry because I attended a retreat by them in 1972 in New Hampshire. I became a Christian at that retreat.”

Bruce went on to explain that a year later, when he gave his testimony, his entire family came to the Lord. His sister eventually became a Wycliffe missionary and translated Scripture for a people group in Africa.

But he wasn’t finished explaining the domino effect of the retreat. Bruce’s parents became publishers of Christian books and published some of the most popular Christian books over several decades. Bruce later became a publisher of a major Christian publishing house that has printed and distributed books in numerous countries. The impact of that one retreat had reverberated throughout the world!

The man in the back seat was stunned. Then, he timidly admitted, “I led that retreat. It was my first time as a conference leader and I felt like a total failure. Until this moment, I’ve always believed it was one of the biggest failures in my life.”  (Dale Hanson Bourke, Second Calling, Integrity Publishers 2006, 208-209).

The conference leader felt like a total failure because he was looking at his own inadequacy instead of God’s ability to cause the increase (1 Cor. 3:6). One apple seed can produce an apple tree, which can produce an apple orchard.

We can learn a valuable lesson through this. We usually can’t see how God will use our obedience to reach people we don’t even know. If you’ll serve the Lord with gladness (Psalm 100:2) and leave the results to Him, you’ll never feel like a failure.  

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The Copy Cats

This comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals

President Calvin Coolidge once invited some friends to dinner at the White House. The guests didn’t know how to behave with the proper table manners, so they decided to just copy whatever the President did. 

When the coffee was served, Coolidge poured his into a saucer. The guests pulled out their saucers and did the same. Coolidge poured some cream and sugar in the saucer, so the guests added cream and sugar to theirs. Then Coolidge bent over, placed his saucer on the floor, and called for his cat.

If you choose to be a copycat, make sure you’re copying the right cat. Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” Some people spend their lives trying to become like the celebrities and movie stars they worship.

When Kay Kent of London was eighteen, she wanted to look exactly like Marilyn Monroe. She bleached her hair platinum blond, had plastic surgery, and hired makeup artists to fix her face like Marilyn. With the growth of her obsession, she learned to talk like Marilyn, walk like Marilyn, and dress like Marilyn. She turned herself into a carbon copy of Monroe. The Lookalikes Agency in London gave her a contract in 1982 and she was soon making $100,000 per year. She later became depressed and turned to liquor and pills. On June 12, 1989, she died of an overdose, just like Marilyn Monroe. She chose the wrong cat to copy.

Paul copied Jesus. He said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Paul followed Him. He acted like Him. Suffered like Him. And we’re also to follow in His steps (1 Pet. 2:21). Don’t copy the wrong cats. There’s only one cat worth copying and that’s the Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5).

BIBLE STUDY: Frequently Asked Bible Questions

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The Polish Swimmer at the Olympic Trials

The following comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals  

In the 1930s, a Polish immigrant’s son lived in a dreary apartment in Chicago. Because the boy only spoke broken English, he had no friends and no one to encourage him.

One day as the youngster was walking home, a man standing outside the YMCA called out to him. He worked at the facility and invited him inside to see the Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool. He asked the young man if he could swim. The boy said he could not. “Would you like to come here after school and learn how to swim?” the man asked.

The boy accepted his offer, learned to swim, and spent hours every day at the pool. As the months passed, the young man became a proficient long-distance swimmer. He entered a swimming contest and won the competition.

A few weeks later, the teenager won again. Two years later, after becoming the best distance swimmer in Illinois and then in the Midwest, he was excited to receive a letter bearing the Olympic seal. It was an invitation to join twenty of the nation’s best swimmers to compete to represent the USA in the upcoming Olympics! The two fastest swimmers would receive spots on the team.

On the day of the competition, the swimmers waited for the start signal and dove into the pool. As the swimmers swam their laps, the young man from Chicago kept up with the leaders for most of the race. However, he slowly slipped behind and was unable to keep up with the fastest swimmers. He finished in 4^th place, which meant he would not be going to the Olympics.

But if you think about it, finishing in 4^th place is nothing to be ashamed of. Not for someone with only one arm.

The apostle Paul wrote, “Whatever you do, do it wholehearted as though you were doing if for the Lord and not for people” (Col. 3:13). The Lord calls you to do your best, even if you have a disability such as only having one arm. In God’s eyes, finishing in 4^th place can be the same as winning a gold medal in the Olympics.

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The Pressure That Sank the Submarine

The following comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals.

On April 10, 1963, the nuclear submarine Thresher went too deep into the ocean and was crushed by the pressure of the surrounding water. A submarine needs thick steel bulkheads to withstand the pressure of the water as it dives, but few walls can withstand the pressure of the deepest oceans.

Amazingly, in those same deep waters where that steel submarine had been crushed, little fish swim without a care in the world. How is that possible? Why aren’t they crushed since they only have a thin layer of skin? God created the fish with an internal pressure that’s perfectly balanced with the pressure from the outside. The Lord gave them what they need to live at that depth.

We are all surrounded by the pressures of life. Financial pressures. Strained relationships. Stress at work. Traumatic events. Illnesses. As the pressures accumulate, how is it possible to keep from being crushed?

God will give us what we need to live at that depth. Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He’s talking about the stressful issues of life that can crush us. Sure, Jesus overcame the world and its pressures at that time, but what about today?

Suppose Jesus could enter into us and neutralize the pressures of life, just like the fish isn’t crushed by the pressure of the water. That’s exactly what He wants to do. The peace of God that’s in Christ, which surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7), counteracts the stress of life’s difficulties. The pressures are still real, but they don’t affect us like they do other people because the Spirit living inside us is greater than the pressures trying to crush us.

BIBLE STUDY: What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?

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Are You Willing to Be the Patient?

A surgeon named Dr. Evan O. Kane searched for a candidate to undergo surgery so he could prove that appendectomies could be done under local anesthetic. At last a patient was found, who was prepared for surgery and wheeled into the operating room. A local anesthetic was applied, leaving the patient able to talk and respond as the surgery progressed.

As he had done hundreds of times, Dr. Kane skillfully removed the appendix and finished the surgery. During the surgery, the patient complained only of minor discomfort. The volunteer was taken to a hospital room, recovered quickly, and was dismissed two days later. Dr. Kane had demonstrated that local anesthesia was a viable and sometimes preferable alternative—thanks to the willingness of a brave volunteer.

What I didn't tell you was that the courageous volunteer for surgery by Dr. Kane—was Dr. Kane. Dr. Kane performed surgery on himself and removed his own appendix!

Sometimes the surgery we need most can only be performed by ourselves, on ourselves. The surgery I’m talking about is the operation to remove your anger. “All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice” (Eph. 4:31). But that might not be the only attitude that needs to go.

What other attitudes do you need to remove? Is it greed? Is it jealousy? No one else can perform the operation. You must be the surgeon. You must volunteer to be the patient. The instrument to be used is the scalpel of repentance. It might be painful at first, but you’ll quickly recover. And then you’ll be free from the attitude that used to control you.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION: Is the 1611 King James Version the only perfect translation?

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Why Did He Raise the Wrong Hand?

In 1962, a newspaper showed a picture of new United States senators taking the oath of office. One of the senators raised his left hand instead of his right hand at the swearing-in. 

Someone wrote a letter to the editor criticizing the senator for being unpatriotic. “He’s not qualified to be in office. He doesn’t even know his right hand from his left.”

The critical person must have been embarrassed and ashamed after he found out the real reason why the man raised his left hand. The senator was WWII war hero, Daniel Inouye, who was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Medal of Honor. He lost his right arm in battle while fighting the Germans. He raised his left hand for the swearing-in because he didn’t have a right hand.

Critical people usually make judgments based on misleading or incomplete information. Have you ever judged someone only to find out later there was a lot more to the story? Jesus said, “Do not judge lest you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged . . . And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own?” (Matt. 7:1-2). The “speck” is only a small piece of information but not the entire story.

Before you criticize someone, make sure you know all the facts. It might change your mind—and it will keep you from looking like a fool.  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com

BIBLE PROPHECY:  What is the Beast with 7 heads and 10 horns in the Book of Revelation?

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