That's a great story Phil.  Thanks for sharing.  That could be thought on
for a very long time.

Vicki

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 11:10 PM
Subject: [ECHURCH-USA] Romans 8:28


>      Many of you likely have never heard of a man by the name of
> Lester Roloff.  Brother Roloff, as most people called him, was one
> of the most unusual preachers on the planet.  He has been dead
> since the early eighties when his private airplane crashed
> unexpectedly, and for no reason that was ever determined by
> officials, and Brother Roloff went home to be with the Lord.  His
> ministry was headquartered in Corpus Christie, Texas.
>
>      Brother Roloff started a home for girls there many years ago.
> He was a Baptist preacher, by the way, but it was hard to tell
> sometimes because he walked closer to God than  just about any
> Baptist I ever knew.  The home for girls started out being for run
> aways, drug addicts, and eventually Brother Roloff would even go
> and take the worst mentally ill cases from Texas state hospitals
> and bring them to his ministry headquarters and work with them.
> His ministry had an overall 95 percent success rate.  Eventually,
> he started a home just for unwed mothers, a home for the elderly,
> another one for boys, most of whom were criminals and former drug
> addicts, some even were murderers, and he branched out into a
> couple of other southern states; planting other such homes for
> boys and girls in trouble.
>
>      Now that I have told you who he was, you'll appreciate the
> following story I heard Brother Roloff tell this week on a radio
> station that still plays Brother Roloff's sermons.  By the way, I
> heard Brother Roloff preach many times back in the seventies here
> in Denver.  Brother Roloff was more of a story teller than a
> theologian but that man could preach.  I still have some of his
> sermons on tape, too.
>
>      Brother Roloff was preaching this week on Romans 8:28, All
> things work together for Good to them that love God, to them that
> are called according to His purpose.  The story goes this way.
>
>      Brother Roloff said a man was a coal miner and worked deep
> underground.  Of course, back when this story happened, life was
> much different and the coal miners then, as they are today, are
> rough and tough men.  One man was a Christian and he witnessed
> often to others in the coal mines.  When things went wrong, or
> even when good things happened, this Christian man would call out
> loudly, and say, "Romans 8:28" and the men would laugh and make
> fun of him.
>
>      One day the men were sitting on the ground and waiting for
> their turn to climb into the cage and be lowered hundreds of feet
> to their work area.  An old hungry skinny dog came up to where
> they were sitting, and grabbed the Christian man's lunch bucket by
> the handle and quickly ran off into the woods.  This Christian man
> was nick named by the other miners as Romans 8:28 so when he
> jumped up and began chasing the dog to get his lunch back, they
> all yelled, There goes Romans 8:28.  What do you think about that
> now Romans 8:28?  They all got a big laugh watching Roman's 8:28
> running into the woods and making fun of him.
>
>      the cage came up and these men climbed on board and went down
> to their work areas but Roman's 8:28 had to wait for the next cage
> ride to the bottom of the shaft because it took him awhile to
> catch the dog and get his lunch back.
>
>      When all the men climbed on to the next cage to ride to the
> bottom, something went terribly wrong with the equipment and the
> cage plunged all the way to the bottom of the shaft.  they all
> died but Romans 8:28.  Yes, Romans 8:28 was the only survivor.
>
>      The passage that is so often quoted during times of tragedy,
> is really a miracle passage of promise to the Believer in Christ.
> It often brings comfort but in this case, it brought a miracle of
> life.  It sure made me think differently after hearing this story
> the other day.
>
> Phil.
>
> Victory Isn't Something You Have; It Is Who You Are.
> www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
>