Sermon Illustrations
Soldier Hears and Later Finds God
Roy Edgemon writes in The Ways of God:
While in Okinawa, Japan, I would end each radio ministry broadcast with an invitation to call in questions and requests. One night a military man called, asking me to come see him. When I arrived the next morning, I noticed that he wore a Congressional Medal of Honor, rarely awarded to the living, on his Special Forces uniform.
He said, in Vietnam, "I was the only man in my outfit left alive. I'd pulled out of two burning choppers the charred bodies of friends I'd served with. I had a broken leg, arm, and back. I looked up into the sky, and said, 'God, I'm about to decide whether to try to hang on or die. Would you just let me know if you exist?' Then, God spoke to me. I didn't hear a voice, but he said, 'I am God. I care for you and will spare your life. You're going to find me.'"
The soldier went on: "Listening to you speak last night, I realized you're the one I need to talk to. Tell me how to find the God that spoke to me in Vietnam."
I told him how to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior. "Would you tell my wife?" he asked. She also received Christ. Then their 10-year-old boy opened his heart to the Savior.