I’m part of the men’s ministry in our church and we put on a steak feed with owner of Buck Knives, Chuck Buck. It was a great evening and well attended. I just wanted to share a story he shared with us.

Buck Knives is a Christian owned organization that makes world class knives for outdoorsmen. Since the ’70’s, they’ve been including, as part of their warranty card that comes with the knives, a plan of salvation. Chuck shared some customer letters he’s received over the years.

One told a story of a woman who wanted to commit suicide. She went down to the hardware store and bought a knife to kill herself. The knife happened to be a Buck knife. So, she went home, entered her bathroom and opened the knife box. The warranty card fell out with the plan of salvation. She read over it and then felt God’s peace move over her. That day she recommitted her life to the Lord.

Here’s the message they print and bundle with each knife:

If you are a new Buck knife owner, “welcome aboard.” You are now part of a very large family. Although we’re talking about a few million people, we still like to think of each one of our users as a member of the Buck Knives Family and take a personal interest in the product that was bought. With normal use, you should never have to buy another.

Now that you are family, you might like to know a little more about our organization. The fantastic growth of Buck Knives was no accident. From the beginning, management determined to make God the Senior Partner. In a crisis, the problem was turned over to Him, and He hasn’t failed to help us with the answer. Each product must reflect the integrity of management, including our Senior Partner. If sometimes we fail on our end, because we are human, we find it imperative to do our utmost to make it right. Of course, to us, besides being Senior Partner, He is our Heavenly Father also; and it’s a great blessing to us to have this security in these troubled times. If any of you are troubled or perplexed and looking for answers, may we invite you to look to Him, for God loves you.

“For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son; that whoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John: 3:16

It’s always great to see people putting their faith into action. What a great company.

I became aware of this through my friend Kevin Bussey. It’s a testimony from Tony Dungy, the coach of the Indianapolis Colts.  

“Athletes in Action celebrated its 19th Annual Super Bowl Breakfast with Tony Dungy as the first-ever Super Bowl coach to appear in person a day before the most pivotal juncture in his coaching life.”

“Dungy was greeted by multiple standing ovations from the record crowd of 2,500 people clearly appreciative for his many expressions of his faith to the worldwide media in Miami this week in advance of Super Bowl XLI.

“I’m very proud to be the first African American head coach in the Super Bowl along with my friend Lovie Smith,” Dungy said, “but more than that the fact you have two Christian coaches who show you can do things a different way.”                                                                                                                                [BP News]

What an amazing testimony from a godly man. It really took the Super Bowl experience to a different level.

Once upon a time, in a land of boredom and drudgery, exciting news spread: “There is going to be a race! And all who run this race will grow strong and they’ll never be bored again!” Exciting news like this had not been heard for many a year, for people experienced little adventure in this ho-hum land, beyond attending committee meetings, waiting in lines, sorting socks, and watching sitcom reruns. 

Excitement grew as the day of the race drew near. Thousands gathered in the appointed town, at the appointed place. Most came to observe, skeptical about the news. “It’s too good to be true,” they said. “It’s just a silly rumor started by some teenaged troublemakers. But let’s stick around and see what happens anyway.”  

Others could not resist the invitation, arriving in their running shorts and shoes. As they waited for the appointed time, they stretched and jogged in place and chattered among themselves with nervous excitement. At the appointed timethey gathered at the starting line, heard the gun go off, and knew that it was time to run. Then something very curious happened. The runners took a step or two or three across the starting line, and then abruptly stopped. One man fell to his knees, crying, “I have crossed the starting line! This is the happiest day of my life!” He repeated this again and again, and even began singing a song about how happy this day was for him. Another woman started jumping for joy. “Yes!” she shouted, raising her fist in the air. “I am a race-runner! I am finally a race-runner!” She ran around jumping and dancing, getting and giving high fives to others who shared her joy at being in the race. 

Several people formed a circle and prayed, quietly thanking God for the privilege of crossing the starting line, and thanking God that they were not like the skeptics who didn’t come dressed for the race. 

An hour passed, and two. Spectators began muttering; some laughed. “So what do they think this race is?” they said. “Two or three strides, then a celebration? And why do they feel superior to us? They’re treating the starting line as if itwere a finish line. They’ve completely missed the point.” A few more minutes of this silliness passed. “You know,” a spectator said to the person next to her, “if they’re not going to run the race, maybe we should.” “Why not? It’s getting boring watching them hang around just beyond the starting line. I’ve had enough boredom for one life.” 

Others heard them, and soon many were kicking off their dress shoes, slipping out of their jackets, throwing all this unneeded clothing on the grass. And they ran—past the praying huddles and past the crying individuals and past the jumping high-fivers. And they found hope and joy in every step, and they grew stronger with every mile and hill. To their surprise, the path never ended—because in this race, there was no finish line. So they were never bored again.

Jimmy  felt alone. After spending time with him weekly, I began to figure out why. He was one of four kids being raised by a single mother who worked all the time. He was alone most of the time. So when summer came, I knew he had to come with us on our Adventure week trip.

Jimmy was always ready for adventure, but quiet when things got serious. One night at camp, he tripped over a rock and injured his leg. So early next morning, we broke camp and started to hike down the mountain. It soon became obvious that Jimmy wasn’t making it down hopping on one leg. With some ropes and creativity, Jimmy was soon strapped to one of our guide’s back and we were headed back down.

With nothing else to do but hike, we all started to talk. Jimmy began to open up and share about his life. I shared about how important my relationship with Christ had made in my own life. Then everyone began to share and this went on for the next three hours.

It turned out that his leg was broken. At the end of our week, Jimmy shared that he had committed his life to Christ because of our conversations hiking down the mountain. It is amazing the way the Lord works in all circumstances. From something broken, God made something whole.