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CONNIE: As the crazed gunman waved his homemade bomb in the air, Lloyd Prescott purposely put himself in harm’s way. What would make a man volunteer to be a hostage? Is it the “Christian thing to do?” Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 75 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko. Welcome to the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Lonnie, your message today is titled “The Word Became Flesh”--which is taken form the beginning of the Gospel of John. Are you implying that Jesus became a hostage for our sakes?

LONNIE: Well, it was certainly something like that.

CONNIE: We’ll be looking at a story from John’s Gospel today, I take it.

LONNIE:You’re absolutely right about that. John’s Gospel starts out in a very different way from any of the others, with what you might call a kind of philosophical overview of what it meant for Jesus to come to earth as our Savior. John brings out the profound depth of what it meant for the Son of God to take on human flesh and live with us.

CONNIE: The other gospels begin with stories about Jesus’ birth, or about how He was baptized and began preaching the gospel. But John actually focuses first on the preparatory mission of John the Baptist, doesn’t he?

LONNIE: Yes, because that fits in with his whole theme of showing how Jesus’ life and death was a part of God’s plan from the beginning of creation. He makes it plain that God sent a prophet to prepare people to receive His Son.

CONNIE: John the gospel writer and John the Baptist both point squarely at Jesus and say, “Behold—here’s the Lamb of God. He’s here to do something very special—to bear the sins of the whole world.

LONNIE: And also to reveal to us what the Father is like. What’s especially wonderful is how Jesus reveals God’s care and concern for us. He comes down to our level and lives with us, reaches out and touches us, bringing healing, forgiveness, peace--the things we all need most.

CONNIE: That’s how the Gospel becomes real, in our world today too, isn’t it?

LONNIE: It certainly is, and we have a special guest joining us by telephone today. I’ve invited Steve Boalt to join us, because he’s a man whose life has been dedicated to reaching out and touching people with the goodness of God….

LONNIE: Steve, thank you for joining us today on the Voice of Prophecy.

STEVE: It’s great to be with you Lonnie.

LONNIE: Steve Boalt is no stranger to the Voice of Prophecy family, particularly for those of you who have been involved with The Family Reunion video cassettes, because he is the host. You’re no stranger either, Steve,to religious broadcasters and evangelists through out Christendom, because you’re there every year with the National Religious Broadcasters.

STEVE: Well I love serving the Lord, and serving the poor especially, and then using the methodology of media, particularly radio, in impacting the lives of Christians and motivating them to get involved in serving the poor line.

LONNIE: I just wanted to follow up on that, Steve, for just a few minutes, because there is another passion that just consumes your life as well now, isn’t there?

STEVE: There’s a passion that really consumes my life, and it was motivated because many years ago, when I became a Christian as a teenager I attended a Youth for Christ rally, in Cleveland, Ohio where I grew up. The young speaker was Bob Pierce, who showed us films of his work in Asia, and I was motivated to not only dedicate my life to serve the Lord for the rest of my life, which I have done. But to become involved in a very passionate way with the needs of the poor, in addition to everything else I do, and that was a really important decision that I made Lonnie.

LONNIE: So what particular avenue… How did you get involved in hands-on serving the poor?

STEVE: Well when I became a Christian, my church went down to the Cleveland rescue mission every month, actually several times a month. I was able to go sing, play my trumpet, and learn how to speak at the rescue mission and we got involved with them initially that way and in those years there were mostly aging Anglo men and they where addicted to alcohol. The whole profile of homelessness and addictions has changed now, but through the years I’ve been involved with rescue mission work and I got involved with the Fred Jordan Mission. They became my charity of choice.

LONNIE: You’re the one that helped me and Jeannie get down there at a Thanksgiving occasion to serve the poor on the streets of Los Angeles.

STEVE: Wasn’t that a great experience?

LONNIE: I’ll never forget that.

STEVE: You know when we read Matt. 25, Jesus said in the Peterson’s Translation, “I was hungry and you fed Me. I was thirsty and you gave Me a drink. I was homeless and you gave Me a room. I was shivering and you gave Me clothes. I was sick and you stopped to visit. I was in prison and you came to Me.” A little later it goes on to say, “Then the king will say I’m telling you the solemn truth who- ever you did one of these things to someone that was over-looked or ignored that was Me, you did it to Me.” That’s what Jesus tells us to do to the poor.

LONNIE: So you have discovered that you actually see Christ in the poor.

STEVE: Well, we know that Jesus is resonating at the right hand of the Father in heaven. But I think in a very specific way the word of God talks about when we serve Christ, we are serving the poor and when we are serving the poor we are serving Christ. I will never forget the experience of George Macfee. He is a blind leper, and one of my many ministers in the third world in Kingston, Jamaica. He lives in the Saint Monica Home for destitute poor and lepers. He learns poetry; he’s blind; his body has been ravaged. George has no nose, his fingers are stubs, but he is the happiest Christian I have ever met, Lonnie. He writes his own poetry; he quotes poetry. When I see George Macfee, I see Jesus through him just radiating out in a very powerful way. He really impacted me.

LONNIE: Now, Steve, what I’m really interested in and what I’m hearing you say, is that so much of the world’s religions teach us to reach up to find God. But, the Christian story is that God came down and incarnated himself into us, and I see you following that and modeling Christ to get down to the grass roots, the mud, and the gutters of the street in a incarnational type of ministry.

STEVE: Well, we all like to be well cared for and I think there’s a measure of pride in all of us, but the word of God talks about humility, the humility of Christ. I’m reminded of the passage in Philippians 3. Where the word says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, better not be robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant.” I think we, as Christians, need to learn not to be executives, but learn to be servants.

LONNIE: Mother Teresa out there.

STEVE: Absolutely! I believe that the word of God teaches servant leadership, and I think you exemplify that, Lonnie, in your leadership, and I so admire what you have done as you have followed on from the Richards family and the ministry there. I’m so blessed with the ministry of The Voice of Prophecy.

LONNIE: Very generous, thank you. Steve, tell us a story about something that happened out there that really profoundly impacted you, maybe for just the simplicity of reaching out and sharing a loaf of bread with someone.

STEVE: I remember; as you have been to the Fred Jordan mission on skid row for the feedings of the five-thousand, and we do it for twenty-five thousand moms and kids. I remember one day I had served all day, I had hosted the platform, and I had done everything. We had fed the thousands, and I was on my way, away from the mission, totally exhausted, and a very irresponsible, alcoholic-drug addict came up to me and said, “Give me a dollar”! And I told him I really don’t have any money, I don’t bring money with me to skid row, and he preceded to curse me out and be very vile and rude to me. I was reminded that is not a problem. They murdered Jesus. I don’t have any problems, and literally I needed to see that as Jesus sees him, not as he is now, rude, and abusive, and alcoholic, and drug addicted. But I need to see him as Jesus sees him after he’s converted, because the cross of Christ, the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin, and transforms life. That’s what the ministry of rescue is all about, saving lives!

LONNIE: Powerful! Thank you, Steve.

STEVE: Thank you, Lonnie.

CONNIE: Wow! What a story. Steve, thank you for coming on our program today and blessing us with your testimony. That’s where the rubber meets the road in Christianity, isn’t it? Hold that thought now, as Charles Haugabrooks sings “Reach Out and Touch.”

CONNIE: Yes! Reach out and let the smile of God touch someone through you today. That was Charles Haugabrooks, the song was taken from his CD “God’s Touch Through You.” More information about Charles and other artists heard on our broadcasts is available on our web page at www.vop.comYou’ll also find transcripts of programs there, and you can listen to any of our recent daily or weekend broadcasts over the Internet as well.

Today as we delve into the Gospel of John, we’d like to offer you a little pocket-or-purse size copy of the Gospel that you can carry with you wherever you go. This little New International Version of John’s Gospel is so neat--keep a copy with you to read whenever you have to wait in line, or to share with a friend. To receive your free copy, just give us a call at 1-800-872-0055. That number again is 1-800-872-0055. Why not call today and ask for your copy of the NIV Gospel of John?

You know, when we think of the story of Jesus coming to earth to share God’s love with us, it seems like a natural thing. But to people 2000 years ago, it wasn’t what they expected at all, was it Lonnie?

LONNIE: No it certainly wasn’t. You know, Ken Wade and I were just talking about that. Ken, you were telling me about the type of religion that was predominant in the world before the birth of Jesus. There certainly wasn’t any lack of gods, was there?

KEN: You can say that again. In fact the Romans had a god for every purpose--each little village in Italy had its own special gods, and then there was the Greek pantheon with its hundreds of gods--most of whom had been adopted by the Romans as well. And the Egyptians had another set of gods. The Persians another set. The list is virtually endless.

LONNIE: But what were these gods like? Did they come down and walk around with people, blessing them, giving their lives for them?

KEN: Quite the opposite, actually. You know probably one of the most famous stories out of Greek Mythology is the story of Hercules, of course Walt Disney retold the story recently in a cartoon adventure, which didn’t really tell the story the way that the Greeks did. It did show some of the things, like the twelve labors of Hercules. What a lot of people don’t realize is that these labors were all centered on the idea of gaining immortality. So when Hercules went out to kill the Lion of Nemiah, he had to kill the nine headed Hydra. He had to clean the Ogian stables, which had never been clean, and so he redirected a whole river to accomplish that. All of these things that we hear about Hercules being this great strong man, were intended to achieve immortality.

CONNIE: But do you think Ken…I mean is that really just an antiquity thing, or is it something we’ve been doing through all the ages even to the present day? Hasn’t humanity always struggled against death? Aren’t we always trying to achieve immortality?

KEN: Well I guess it kind of goes back all the way to Eden doesn’t it?

LONNIE: Ken, you were actually telling me a minute ago about this new search for life and the fountain of youth, cloning cells to try and make sure we could perpetuate life.

KEN: Oh yes! There’s a website out there called “The Life Extension Foundation.” I was reading there about conquering aging with cloning, and of course their idea being that by taking human cells and cloning them, you can do what they call “Therapeutic Human Cloning” to replace body parts essentially. So that you can eventually just not die at all I suppose.

LONNIE: This struggle just goes on through genetic research, and all other means to try and achieve that.

KEN: Man wants to live forever.

CONNIE: Ever since the first death sentence was handed down in Eden, when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, human beings have been looking for a way back to the Tree of Life--a way to become immortal like God. But God Himself chose the opposite course. Coming down from heaven, to live in mortal flesh, as Lonnie shares with us in today’s message, titled, “The Word Became Flesh.”

The Word Became Flesh

“He came in like a confused tourist. I thought he was an idiot.”

That’s how Virginia Savage described her first encounter with Lloyd Prescott.

She had every right to imagine that there was something wrong with the man who had just walked into a situation everyone else was praying to get out of.

In the room with Savage and Prescott were eight other hostages, and a wild-looking man armed with a pistol and a homemade bomb.

The gunman had just herded his hostages into a seminar room in the Salt Lake City Public Library on March 5, 1994. He was about to close the door when Prescott walked up, waving a piece of paper. “What do you want me to do with this?” he asked.

The gunman recognized the paper as a copy of the demand letter he had told someone else to mail. “Put it in the mail,” he ordered.

Prescott stepped away and handed the letter to a library employee, then returned to the doorway. “You’ve got me scared to death,” he said, entering the room and closing the door behind him.

The other hostages thought he must have taken leaven of his senses. Why on earth would he be joining them in a room with a crazed gunman who had vowed that police might be able to put him in the morgue, but no one was going to put him in jail?

But Lloyd Prescott was anything but crazy. Two minutes earlier he had been sitting quietly at his desk in the sheriff’s department when someone had come running in announcing that a man was taking hostages in the library next door. Jamming a service revolver into the back of his pants, he quickly threw on a windbreaker to cover the weapon, dashed into the library, and figured out a way to get himself into the room with the hostages.

For the next five hours he sat quietly with the rest of the hostages, hoping that negotiators could work out a peaceful settlement. But when the gunman let it be known that he was about to start killing hostages one by one, Prescott knew he had to act. “I didn’t know if the bomb would go off,” he said later. “If it did, I hoped the other hostages would be able to get below the table. That way, the bomb would only take out me and him. Or he would shoot me.”

The bomb would only “take out” me and the gunman, he said.

Knowing that it might be his last act on earth, Sheriff’s Lieutenant Lloyd Prescott quickly drew his gun and pumped four slugs into the hostage-taker.

As quickly as it had begun, the crisis ended. Because one man had the courage to put himself in harm’s way to rescue others. He was willing to lose his life if it could save others’ lives. It would have been a lot easier--and safer--for him to stay at his desk next door.

Did you ever stop to think that it would have been a lot easier for Jesus to stay in heaven than to come down to earth?

Heaven’s a pretty neat place. It’s the place we’d all like to be. A place even better than the Greeks thought their hero Hercules had attained by his twelve labors.

In heaven, Jesus was worshiped as the Creator and ruler of the universe.

But John 1:14 begins the telling of a dramatic story even grander than the heroic account of Hercules, or of Lieutenant Prescott.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)

Those simple words “The Word became flesh” reveal the story behind the Gospel story. The Word that became flesh is Jesus. John’s Gospel begins by telling us that Jesus willingly got up from His “desk” in heaven and put Himself in a terrible hostage situation.

The world itself--and everyone on it--was being held hostage in a terrifying confrontation between good and evil.

When Adam and Eve first sinned back in the Garden of Eden, our world came under the control of a crazed “gunman” named Satan, who has held the gun to our heads ever since.

He’s referred to in the Bible as "the ruler of this world" [John 12:31]; "the god of this age" [2 Cor. 4:4]; and "the prince of the power of the air" [Eph. 2:2].

In his dispute with God over the right to rule, he has taken our world under his control, wreaking havoc and torturing and killing the people God created.

God could have chosen to just let him go on with his mad rampage against creation. Or God could have wiped out the devil and the people He had taken hostage.

But He loved us too much to do that. He couldn’t just let the hostage crisis “go down” without getting involved.

That’s why Jesus got up from His “desk” in heaven and came down here.

But there’s one difference. He didn’t hide a revolver behind his back when He came to earth. When the Word became flesh, He did it as a tiny, defenseless baby. He didn’t bring any of heaven’s weapons with Him, except His dependence on His Father.

That’s why the climax of the story came out a bit different than the confrontation in the Salt Lake City Library. Jesus didn’t draw a gun and pump four slugs into Satan’s heart.

He walked into the room unarmed, and placed Himself at Satan’s mercy.

But Satan has no mercy.

The Word became flesh, and Satan pounded nails into that flesh!

That was the shocking thing about what Jesus did. In the popular religions of His day, men hoped that by some Herculean effort they might cheat death and become immortal. But Jesus chose to leave His godly splendor behind and become mortal flesh.
All because He loved us.