Frank was raised on a dairy farm in Southern British Columbia, Canada, along with five sisters and one brother. Life was good – a dog, fishing in the creek, church, Sunday School, youth groups and more. When he was 15 things changed – no more church for him. His Dad showed deep disappointment but did not over react. At 17 he was asked to leave the home because of his new priorities of drinking, dropping out of school, and other unacceptable behaviors. Things were out of control.
Out of desperation he joined the army and was posted to Germany. Here his life with booze and pretty girls continued. Even so, Dad was happy to see him when he returned home three years later. But his lifestyle did not change. He soon met and married a girl whose father also was a heavy drinker. He seemed to fit right in.
However, Frank did not forget his Dad’s emphasis on hard work. He started his first business when
he was in his mid-twenties, and it went quite well. Then he bought a large poultry farm which also did well. But his drinking would not disappear. Realizing that he needed help he went to Alcoholics Anonymous, but was disappointed to find that all they could talk about was God.
Frank DID want to change and even started taking his kids to church. He thought he was getting very religious until the drinking started all over again. In his thirties he sold his business and bought a nice big house on the hill thinking life would be perfect. He thought he had enough money to last for a lifetime. But it didn’t.
Then one Sunday morning he was sick in bed with a hangover. For the first time in years he found himself praying, “God I have everything I want, and I’m still unhappy. There has to be more to life than this. I ask that you do whatever it takes to get me right with you.”
Instead of getting better, things got worse. Their marriage was in a mess. Finances went down the drain. Finally, in order to stay alive, Frank had to take a job as a humble employee at a road building camp. His pride took a hit. The only positive thing in his life when he finally came home, was seeing his Dad. In spite of all the heartache he had caused he knew his Dad always cared and was happy to see him.
Shortly after one of these visits, he got a call telling him his Dad had passed away. By this time he was so hardened that he had no desire to return home because the one person he knew that loved him was gone. But he had no choice because he had been made executor of his Dad’s estate. After all had been taken care of, two things remained unclaimed – his Dad’s bedside Bible, and a book by Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth. He tossed them into his bag and went on a two-day drunken spree, before heading back to camp for work.
As the days went by, Frank started reading more and more of the underlined verses in his Dad’s Bible. What particularly attracted his attention was the passage where it said that when Jesus died on the cross, He died for all sins: past, present and future. This stopped him cold in his tracks. So it was all about Christ, not Frank being good enough.
Right there he got down on his knees and accepted Christ’s forgiveness for his past sins. He literally found himself jumping up and down on his bed yelling, “I’m free! I’m free!”
For the first time he was free of all the turmoil. Real change started to take place. AA helped him get victory over his drinking problem. Nearly a year later he met and married June, his childhood sweetheart. Soon he and June had a desire to serve the Lord together. They were able to go on an Amazon Jesus film project where they saw many people turn to the Lord.
June and Frank became aware of something not being right with Frank physically. On December 16, 1994 he was diagnosed with ALS, known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Life expectancy was short at best. He asked God to take away the fear of death, which he did. Knowing that he would soon go to be with the Lord, he spent time wondering what it would be like to be in the presence of Jesus. His thoughts also went back to his Mom and Dad who had loved him unconditionally through all the ups and downs.
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What about you? Are you wondering what life is all about? Do you, like Frank, feel that something is missing in your life? If so, you can find fulfilment and peace through a personal relationship with
Jesus Christ.
The Bible says (Jesus is speaking),
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him" (Revelation 3.20).
Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive us of our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of our will.
You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here's a suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to You and ask You to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.
On flight from LA to London, I decided to watch a mindless movie, Fast and Furious 6. It was a pleasant surprise to see the movie make a strong case for Family. The villain mocks the heroes that their commitment to family is what weakens them (relative to him, who uses others). That was secular celebrity, media, university, feminist culture mocking Christianity's "puritanical" view of the family. But the film portrays male heroism as fighting for family - even when your own woman shoots you to try and kill you. The film ends with heroes giving thanks to 'Our Father' for food, family, and, of course, fast cars. 
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