“For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.” Psalm 103:11 NKJV
A casual encounter opened multiple doors. Staying at the University Park Motel our first night in Greenville, South Carolina, where I was to attend Bob Jones University, the son of the motel owners invited my wife Mary and me to go with him to Hendersonville, North Carolina for the Hendersonland Youth for Christ rally. Ken Joner was to sing. Learning that I sang, he asked me to join him in a duet: “It Took a Miracle” by John W. Peterson.
The chorus: “It took a miracle to put the stars in place; it took a miracle to hang the world in space; but when He saved my soul, changed and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace.”
The Youth for Christ director, Paul Figuly, invited me to assist him in directing Hendersonland Youth for Christ as my Bob Jones University student extension ministry.
Later, when asked to conduct a series of evangelistic rallies at Rock Hill, South Carolina’s First Baptist Church, I invited Ken Joner to lead the music, and the two of us again sang “It Took a Miracle” as a duet.
Preparing for the evangelistic outreach at Rock Hill, Pastor C. Michael Warr asked me to develop a message that could be shared with every age group that would present the Gospel. After spending much time in prayer and searching the scriptures, the Lord gave me “God’s ABCs of salvation”: A – Admit you’ve sinned (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23); B – Believe on Christ (John 3:16); C – Confess Christ publicly (Romans 10:9-10).
They were then published in “The Gospelizer,” and sent to every Youth for Christ director and the chairman of every Christian Businessmen’s Committee.
God’s ABCs are now made available free to listeners of Telling The TRUTH radio, a two-minute broadcast aired twice daily on 70 stations and heard in 25 states, and anywhere, anytime via podcast.
Thousands of copies are requested and distributed each year. They are made available through Fair Share and every TTT outreach effort.
About a year after the Rock Hill, South Carolina evangelistic outreach, serving on Youth for Christ International staff, I was asked to speak at Greater Washington DC Youth for Christ on a Saturday night. The following evening, Ken Joner, then a pastor in Maryland, invited me to speak at his church, and again we sang together “It Took a Miracle.”
The song begins: “My Father is omnipotent, and that you can’t deny, a God of might and miracles is written in the sky.” It concludes: “The Bible tells us of His power and wisdom all way through, and every little bird and flower are testimonies too.”
February 7, 2026, God willing, will celebrate TTT Christian Youth Ministries’ 60th birthday (and counting). It can be a reunion and renewal – over these 60 years, thousands of youth and adults have participated with TTT Saturday nights and other evangelistic youth efforts.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy … He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:8, 10-12 NKJV
Commenting on Psalm 103, Warren W. Wiersbe wrote: “Were it not for the death of Christ on the cross, there could be no forgiveness of our sins. Yes, God is like a tender Father, but His pity is not a shallow sentimental feeling. A holy God demands that His law be satisfied, and only His perfect Son could provide that satisfaction (Romans 3:19-31).”
Will you share God’s ABCs of salvation? Together, let’s keep evangelizing youth! You can experience God’s great mercy. Have you?