Author: rmerik

I am 27 years old, single, I live with my grandparents on a reservation. I want to reach out, not only to my Native American brothers and sisters, but to everyone who will allow me to share my story.

My parents died in a fiery car crash, they were trapped in the car, the car caught fire, and they burned to death in front of me years ago. My Father was drunk, so was my Mother. One day I realized that being burned to death was not as horrible as waking up in Hell, to be there for eternity! I was never raised to know God, our Savior and Creator, Jesus Christ. But the day I saw my parents inside the burning car, it was as if God showed me that Hell is a real place.

A week later, still crying; still talking to a God I did not know, I purchased a Bible, it was suggested I purchase a “study Bible” because it would help me to understand and it did. Not only did I spend months reading the Bible, I spent months studying it too. I soon came to truly know Jesus Christ, my Savior. Never in my life had I ever tried to sing, yet I found myself reading the words to the song “Amazing Grace”, the Grace that the book of Romans, in the Bible talks about. I don’t even read music, but I could sing “Amazing Grace “and some kids at the reservation came to hear me sing. I learned a few more songs and the kids came to hear me sing of God’s love and God’s Grace, what sweet melodies they are and I began to also share stories from the Bible. My Grandma and Grandpa sat at the table and I told them about Jesus and they believed. My younger sister believed too.

Everyone has an opportunity to seek God, if they come to the truth that Jesus Christ died for our sins. They can enter into God’s Kingdom. When people reject Jesus Christ, they enter an eternal torment. I still cry for my Mom and Dad but I know that a day will come when Jesus will wipe away my tears and I will enter God’s Kingdom for eternity.

CON-TRACTS 

Editor: Paul Bero, Michigan Prisoner #192686
Artist: Jamie S. Michigan Prisoner

Testimony of Melody Red Sky

The Bible in John 3:16 says that God loved us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to pay for our sins. Pick up a Bible today!

This tract is © 2013. However, we invite anyone to reprint it for free distribution.

I hope this tract has been a blessing to you. If you would like to read how others have experienced the life transforming power of God please write to me at the address below. We now have over 100 testimonies of those whose lives have been transformed by God’s amazing Grace and over 100 con-tracts, please send us your testimony as well.

Bro. Otto Ball
c/o Crossroads Ministry
P.O. Box 363
Hyde, PA 16843

Greetings from Michigan; the “Winter-Waterland”.

My name is Frank Z. Peterson, I am 78 years old, I have been in prison in the past, in four different states, although long ago. I used to have a really bad temper and had a bad habit…..I’d stab people I got mad at! To relax after work I’d love to go fishing, to just sit under a tree, throw out a fishing line and wait for a fish to bite while listening to the birds chirp and feel a nice breeze was a wonderful thing for me. Every time I ended up in prison all I could think about was my release date and a date with a place to fish. Well, when I moved up here to Michigan I found quite a few nice lakes to fish in. Hubbard Lake, Clear Lake, I’d drive around by Oscoda up to Guinn, back down to Swarte creek area, up to Sanford Lake and all over, I loved it.

On my 76th birthday I rented a small row boat and went out to fish that way for a change. I had a life vest but never put it on. I rowed about 30 minutes then tossed out the anchor, baited my hook and cast out. I sat there drinking a cold beer, my radio playing music, relaxing. My fishing rod suddenly bent down, I had me a big old fish. The fight began. I’d reel him in a little, he fight harder to get away. It was about 20 minutes of trying to pull him in when all of a sudden I felt dizzy and I blacked out for a second, then I fell in the lake. I felt faint, I couldn’t grab hold of the boat, I felt myself go under, but I got back up, trying to grab the side of my boat. My left eye seemed to go black, my right eye was blurry. I went under again; I figured I was as good as dead now. Somehow I got back up and got into my boat, I then passed out for over an hour.

When I woke up I was sober, sober and scared as heck. I sat there another hour, just sat there. I rowed back to shore then went home. That night I had a long talk with God for real. I ended up going to church the next Sunday. That God is a mystery. The preacher preached about being “Fishers of Men”. I took it to heart and I am fishing for men, hoping you too will turn to Jesus Christ as your Saviour.

CON-TRACTS 

Editor: Paul Bero, Michigan Prisoner # 192686
Artist: Russ Jones

The Bible in John 3:16 says that God loved us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to pay for our sins. Pick up a Bible today!

This tract is © 2013. However, we invite anyone to reprint it for free distribution.

I hope this testimony has been a blessing to you. If you would like to read how others have experienced the life transforming power of God please write to me at the address below. We now have over 100 testimonies of those whose lives have been transformed by God’s amazing Grace and over 100 con-tracts, please send us your testimony as well.

Bro. Otto Ball
c/o Crossroads Ministry
P.O. Box 363
Hyde, PA 16843

 

Why do so many people want crosses removed from public places? What problems do crosses cause?

Most people will tell you that the cross represents Christianity and Jesus Christ who was on the cross. But, if that is true then those very people are actually admitting that history and the Bible are true. If history and the Bible are true I need to ask this question: What is the problem?
Did you know that thousands of people were put to death by the Romans in the days of Jesus Christ? Did you know that the Jewish historian, Josephus wrote, in history, about Jesus being crucified? Did you know that thousands of people have been put to death on crosses in Egypt, Germany, Assyria, Greece, as well as in other countries? Even in the 1500s Japan put some people to death on the cross. The amazing fact is this: out of MANY THOUSANDS of people who were put to death on a cross, only ONE name is really remembered and known all over the world!

Why is it that for centuries, out of all those people who died on a cross, only ONE name is remembered? People who are not Christians will know it was Jesus Christ that died on that cross. Theists will tell you that it was Jesus Christ. Go to a foreign country and they’ll tell you it was Jesus Christ. Even most children can tell you it was Jesus Christ on that cross. Historians, besides Josephus, wrote about Jesus Christ.

My friend, Jesus Christ is not a made-up story. He was written about not only in the Bible, but by various historians of His time. History is a record of FACTS.

So, what is the problem with a cross in a public place? Crosses were used long before Jesus Christ was nailed to one. Crosses represented DEATH, the death of the person on the cross. Crosses in military cemeteries are there, not as a sign of Jesus Christ, but as a reminded that the soldier died for us, for our freedom. That is a fact!

Do YOU know who Jesus Christ REALLY is? He is God, who came to this earth as a human. He went to that cross out of His love for us, to give up His life, as a payment for our sins. Without the death of Jesus, we face eternity in Hell. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven!

Pick up a Bible, read the four Gospels first. Find a Christian to help you to understand without the death of Jesus Christ, you are lost in sin!

The Bible in John 3:16 says that God loved us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to pay for our sins. Pick up a Bible today!

I had a pretty good opinion of myself until a friend invited me to take a walk down the Roman Road. He used a single book in the Bible to open my eyes to my relationship with God, and I haven’t been the same since.

He warned me that the trip might hurt, and he was right because he started by revealing my real status before God.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God… Romans 3:23

Then I learned of sin’s penalty.

For the wages of sin is death… Romans 6:23a

He went on to tell me that God loves me so much he offers an alternative called “Eternal Life” …but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ… Romans 6:23b.

Then he showed me how God provided his son Jesus as an atoning Sacrifice for my sin. Jesus took my penalty! But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

I wondered if God would accept me. He assured me with even more good news. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:13

My friend showed me what I should do to receive Eternal Life. That if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved… Romans 10:9

We prayed together, and I gladly accepted God’s gift of Eternal Life through Jesus Christ.

This true story is about my ex-wife, Marilyn. I married Marilyn in 1967. We had one child, Pam, in 1970. I had met Marilyn in 1966 while I was in the military. She was the first girl I really fell for! Those bright blue eyes and pretty smile, with a sense of humor, country girl, she caught my interest!

While in Alaska for two years, Marilyn just wanted to work. She got a job in Anchorage with the Post Office. I was honorable discharged and we came home to Michigan, where Pam was born.

In 1974, Pam needed a 16+ hour open-heart surgery and a pacemaker implanted, followed by three more surgeries in a very short time, due to defective pacemakers. Marilyn lived right in the hospital room with Pam, in an Ann Arbor, Michigan hospital. Marilyn was always a caring and good mother.

Soon after Pam was allowed home, Marilyn was diagnosed with Lupus blood disease. In the early 1970s not many doctors knew or understood Lupus, making Marilyn’s health concerns quite frustrating at times. Then, within a year, Marilyn had her first of five cancers. Her first cancer was of the lymph node in her neck. That surgery left half of her face paralyzed for over a year. She did okay for a few years, then, after I came to prison, more cancers entered her 5-foot 105-pound body. Marilyn became a Bible-believing Christian after I came to prison. Her faith in God was nothing less than amazing. Then, cancer number two, cancer number three and cancer number four entered her in the next few years. Her faith in Jesus Christ, her strength got her through some very rough battles. The chemotherapy weakened her small body, but not her faith in God! She fought those cancers over a period of years, and with God’s help she won each and every battle!

Pam had a daughter, Emily, in 1988. Emily brought more joy to Marilyn, she was a grandma now!

Marilyn was hospitalized a few times from Lupus-related problems that hit in between those cancers, but she won every battle with God’s help and strength. To make matters worse, her finances were in terrible shape. Yet God provided time and time again.

In 1993 cancer number five hit and hit hard! Stomach cancer! Marily had her stomach and part of her esophagus removed. She spent 10+ months in ICU/recovery. She was on some very strong medication. She did not give up. She trusted God. God got her through it all. I think she simply refused to give in to death. She had things to do! It took a couple of years but she got her health and strength back. Marilyn divorced me during her fifth cancer. As I look back, I understand that she just needed to. After she got healthy again she began to write and visit me for over a year. Then, due to her health, finances, and other things, she stopped writing and told me it might be better for me to ‘move on.’ Yes, I got very lonely. I wanted to be married, but deep down I loved and cared for Marilyn. I prayed for her every day.

In 2011, Emily gave Marilyn the new position great grandma, when Lily came into the world. Wow! That also made Pam a grandma!

In 2013, Pam went in for surgery to change her pacemaker. The surgeon messed up and this ‘simple’ one-day surgery turned into a five-day, two hospital, three surgeon emergency! I panicked. It was a few years since I phoned Marilyn, but I had to know about Pam so I dialed Marilyn’s number. She accepted and we shared two really great phone calls the next two days. Pam healed and was sent home okay.

In the 1970s, I had a good job with an auto parts company, but I love tropical fish. I convinced Marilyn we should open up a small pet shop in Bay City. It was called B & C Aquarium. We had everything except snakes, dogs & cats. Marilyn was not too amused the day I ordered a dozen tarantulas! But, she ran that pet shop for seven years. I’m not sure if she missed the shop when we closed its doors, but I know she met a lot of people. She looked forward to many coming in to talk.

Marilyn was a fighter, a doer, a loving person. Her faith in Jesus Christ brought her through far more trials than are in this tract!

On March 21, 2015 God must have said, ‘Marilyn, good work, you come home now.’ Marilyn was admitted to the hospital the first week of March. She could not breathe good. Her heart was not beating right. In her two weeks of being hospitalized, her condition would change from good to poor a few times. The hospital phoned Pam about 1 AM to come in and spend what looked like Marilyn’s final hours. A few days before that, though, Pam and Marilyn shared a few hours when Marilyn was wide awake and alert, feeling good, and they enjoyed some girly talk together. It was a blessing. But now Pam arrived at the hospital, and even though Marilyn was not alert, Pam knew Marilyn was aware Pam was with her. Marilyn soon took her last breath.

Later, one of ther nurses went up to Pam and said, ‘It was a blessing you had your mom’s last two hours with her.’ Pam said it was like God immediately put on her heart that it was not two hours God gave her with Marilyn, it was 20 years! Because in reality, death was knocking 20 years ago, during that cancer number five. Yes! God gave Pam and Marilyn those last 20 years!

I will miss Marilyn Jean! I still have my family. I give God the glory in Christ Jesus! Pass this true story on to someone who needs hope. Seek Christ today.

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away…So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:10, 12

Today if ye hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Hebrews 4:7

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. II Corinthians 6:2

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23a

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. John 3:16-17

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:19

…The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Mark 1:15

Jesus saith… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

Jesus said… I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? John 11:25-26

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. II Corinthians 5:17

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. John 3:36

Lord Jesus…I confess that I have sinned against God. I repent and turn from my sins. I believe that You died for my sins, were buried, and rose again the third day, that I may have eternal life through you. I receive You now as my personal Savior and Lord. Thank you. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

The memory of the just is blessed. Proverbs 10:7

My daughter, Pam, was born in 1970. My wife’s pregnancy was excellent, nothing but good on every doctor visit. I had just gotten an honorable discharge from the military. About a week before Pam was born we were notified by the insurance company that due to an error the military made in paperwork, we had no insurance.

It was a sunny March day, only a little chill in the air, 1 PM. I was rinsing off my car in the driveway when my wife hollered at me to come in and eat. Just as I was finishing my meal, my wife told me, ‘I think it’s time!’ She was having some labor pains. I drove us to the hospital, half an hour away. When we arrived, my wife told the nurse she was in labor. The nurse rushed my wife off while another nurse gave me paperwork to fill out. With all the forms signed, I waited for the nurse to come back. She never did, not for about 40 minutes. Another nurse came up to me and asked me who I was. I gave her my name. ‘Mr. Bero,’ she looked at me, ‘we had to do an emergency C-section on your wife. You have a baby girl.’ What? She took me to my wife who was pretty much knocked out! A distance away, I saw a tiny baby in an incubator. It was my daughter. She had wires stuck to her chest. I was not allowed to stay but a few moments. They explained that just as my daughter was to be born her heart rate was lost, so they immediately brought her out of my wife by surgery. I was asked to leave so my wife could recover. I could come back the next day. That night at 1 AM the hospital phoned me. They told me my daughter was not doing good. They wanted my permission to take her by ambulance to another hospital three hours away, in Detroit. Due to our finances, my job, etc, we could not see Pam too often. And when we did, it was through windows about 20 feet from her. Pam was kept at this hospital for six months and not once did I ever get to hold or even touch her. My wife got to hold her when she woke up that first night. The economy was bad, I had a low-paying job, we had no insurance. But finally we got to bring Pam home. Things went really good as far as Pam’s health went until she was four years old. She went into heart failure. We were told Pam needed open-heart surgery. We were sent to an Ann Arbor Hospital to see a really nice doctor. He really cared about Pam. With no insurance, we signed papers.

That day came, it was about 4 AM. Pam was scheduled for a 10-hour open-heart surgery. Her heart would be removed to work on. It was the longest day of my life! Surgery turned into a 16+ hour ordeal. Due to a shortage of nurses no one came to report to us how the surgery was going, although we were supposed to get word each hour. We sat 16+ hours wondering and worrying. Finally, our surgeon came out. He apologized they had no one to give us updates. He told us they could not find a problem with Pam’s heart. They made a decision to implant a pacemaker in her. Within a year Pam needed three more surgeries, all due to defective pacemakers! Yes, Pam was hospitalized all this time. We had no insurance but Pam was doing great now! It was all we hoped for.

I do not recall the cost of the six-month ICU in the Detroit hospital. I do recall the day my wife gave me one of several itemized bills from Ann Arbor. The amount we owed on this statement was $775,000! My, oh my! But I love my million dollar baby very much. For a few years we’d send in small payments. It was the best we could do. The stress got to me a few times but when that little girl would see me come home from work she’d have this huge smile and run and jump on me and holler ‘Daddy!’ That alone was worth more than 100 times $1 million!

Years down the road, someone who heard about our medical bills sent my wife to talk to a representative of a crippled children’s organization. They felt this was caused at birth and we were eligible for help. Help did come, our bills were finally paid. We owed nothing!

Later in life, I ended up in prison. I had nowhere to turn to, except One! I picked up a Bible. I read and studied the New Testament. I love the book of Romans! If you just read chapters 3 to 8 you will be amazed at how simple God made things for us to be saved! Let me share a few verses from the book of Romans to prove to you how simple God made it for us…

Romans 3:10, 11 tells us that there is no human that is good, not one!

3:23 tells us we have all sinned. God condemns sinners. That means all humans are under condemnation!

3:24 but now, by God’s grace, we are forgiven, our debt is paid if we place 100% faith in the fact that Jesus gave up His life for us.

5:1 tells us by our faith in Jesus Christ (nothing else, only this) we are declared righteous.

5:10 tells us all humans are God’s enemies due to sin, but, we are saved when we place our faith in Christ Jesus.

8:1 says those in Christ are no longer condemned!

I hope you’ll read all of Romans!

The medical bills I owed to save my daughter’s life were eventually paid by an organization that helps people born with birth defects. Once they paid our bills, we were free of that debt! They never came to us asking for a few dollars or a favor. They took our debt and paid it in full.

Jesus Christ came to this Earth. He was God Who took on a body. That is why He had no sin. Jesus Christ was the only pure and acceptable Payment God would accept. No one killed Jesus! We can find in the Bible (for example in Luke 23:46) where Jesus gave up His Spirit. In other words, Jesus gave up His life. No one killed Him. He sacrificed Himself as 100% payment for our sine. A 100% faith in Jesus Christ results in a 100% paid debt. God’s 100% guarantee!

Thank you, God, for saving me from my sin debt through Christ Jesus. And thank You, too, for my million dollar baby!

If you are, or have been in prison, the military, or a college campus, I think you will understand how GREAT it is to share a room with a GOOD BUNKIE. Sometimes around the early years of 2000 one of the Michigan prisons had a newspaper, an article on a good Bunkie include the following: A GOOD BUNKIE: Helps keep the room clean. Is quiet. Uses headphones to watch TV or listen to radio, at a sound level only he hears. Covers his mouth when he coughs or sneezes. Doesn’t slam the door. Doesn’t leave his dirty clothes on or near his Bunkie’s’ area. Takes full responsibility for any rules he violates in the room. If one Bunkie has some sort of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder he won’t let it interfere with his Bunkie. Now, mind you, the list went on….. to about 30 different areas. Even if some items seemed a little nitpicky, it still came down to the fact that we should all try to give respect to our Bunkie. Being a Bunkie does not mean you have to be best friends, it just means getting along peacefully with respect. Well if YOU can become a better Bunkie, why not work at it, it just creates peace in the room. What would be wrong with THAT? Unfortunately, no matter how GOOD of a Bunkie you are, being good won’t get you into Heaven! Oh, yes, we ALL need to live with each other peacefully, this world would be a really GREAT place if we truly had world peace. We should work together for that goal. However good we are, even if it benefits us in this life, it WILL NOT get us into Heaven! So then, how do we get into Heaven? Be good? NO! Go to church? NO! Say certain prayers? NO! Paying your tithes? NO! Feed the hungry? NO! Give money to charity? NO! Make a secret deal with God? NO! There is only ONE WAY into Heaven. Jesus Christ (who is God in the flesh) said this: “I AM THE WAY….” When you realize that NO ONE that has ever lived on this earth (except Jesus Christ) has been without sin, then you realize that YOU are a sinner! A sinner, in God’s eyes must end up in hell! But, because God loved us, He made a WAY for us to get into Heaven. Consider your sins, consider the WAY to Heaven.

Editor & Founder : Paul Bero, Michigan Prisoner #192686

 

The Bible in John 3:16 says that God loved us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to pay for our sins. Pick up a Bible today!

This tract is © 2012. However, we invite anyone to reprint it for free distribution to prisoners.

 

 

HELLO!

It’s me—your Master. I thought I’d write you a letter today because I see you’ve been wanting to hear from someone. You’re probably lonely and think that no one wants you, but—I want you! You scum, you moron, you lazy cheating, useless piece of dirt, cheer up, you are mine! I want you to spend eternity with me, that’s how much I hate you—you idiot! I laughed the other day when you used God’s name in a bad way, but I jumped up and down when you screamed, “Jesus Christ” in anger! I love it when you disrespect His name! Keep up the good work, you moron! Ha, ha, ha—did I ever put a smile on your face when I sent those girlie magazines down to your house. It made me happy to see you turn into a perverted lunatic, as you stared at each page. Women! Tell them you love them, use them, and then forget them. It is all that they are good for—that’s what I say. Forget those crazy ideas God has, that you should be married to one woman and be faithful to her. My way is more fun, even if you do get a disease. Use all the women you can and leave them. I’ll be sure you find out who is selling weed in your housing unit—be sure to buy some, you dope! Get high, feel a buzz, even if it only lasts a moment. Don’t forget—you mental midget—you’ll be with me for eternity. You fool! I saw you look at a Bible one day. It almost made me vomit. Leave that book alone—don’t even touch it—let alone read it. And don’t ever listen to them Bible thumping Christians! Stay away from them. You scare me sometimes, my son, I get scared that I will lose you. I want you with me—I don’t want to burn forever without you. Christians call what Jesus Christ did on the cross, “Good News,” but to me it is bad news because those who believe it won’t be with me. It worries me. I don’t want to suffer by myself. I hope to see you real soon, ha, ha, ha!

Your Friend, Satan