Writing the Vision

By Terry G. Nelson Sr.

This book was written to share Gods love by way of stories, inspiring messages, and more in hopes that the readers life will be changed and that he or she will be drawn to the book of the greatest stories ever written, stories that are the truth and inspired by God. Others have been inspired by these writings, and many others will. This book puts into story form Gods love and sometimes the wrath of God. It will touch your heart and the hearts of others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 10, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512750683

Terry G. Nelson Sr.

Mr. Nelson is new to the game, but the stories he presents in this book are written as if he has been doing this for a long time. What he does and how he writes is amazing and is a gift that has to be shared with others. God has given him a gift that has to be used for God’s glory, and he is doing just that. So read and be inspired.

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Copyright © 2016 Terry G. Nelson Sr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-5069-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5070-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5068-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016911907

WestBow Press rev. date: 8/10/2016

CONTENTS

Be Blessed

The Story Teller

The Cross

The Dark Forest

Change Your Life and Others

All Children Need a Father

Genesis

Connection Lost

What Would You See If You Open My Book?

Fight the Power

What’s Wrong with This World?

The Life of Ben

The Secret of Successful Prayer

The Dream

My Greatest Passion

Just What You Need

Write the Vision

The Greatest Marriage Ever

Always Love for Family

Crime Number Twenty-One

Marriage and Fellowship

The Family Connection

We Should Always Pray and Be Positively Positive

The Event

Lessons Learned

The Story Teller Returns

Imagine Being in the Room

Just What You Need 2

The Letter

The Power of Gospel Music

Fire in the Woods

It’s a Good Day

A Heart of Gold

Who Do You Treasure? What Is Your Pleasure?

When the Watch Stops

The Church Has Brought Joy to My Life?

Numbers in a Dream

Are You Ready

No Way Out

How Can You Make Life Better?

The Last Interview

Is Thanksgiving the Only Time to Be Thankful?

My Shadow

About the Cross

Wait, Slow Down

Before His Time

Judging in a Room Full of Mirrors

A Christmas Story

God’s Strength Has Empowered My Life

Ten Colorful Quotes to Live by

From the Mind of an Eight-Year-Old

I Heard the Choir Sang

About The Author

BE BLESSED

Good morning. I just want to give myself to God another day, for He has awakened me once more. He blesses me daily, and He is my Lord and Savior. My Father promised me that He would never leave me or forsake me. But there have been times in my life when I turned away from Him and never thought I would get it together—times when my life was in shambles. I chose to smoke, drink, and do the things that were contrary to His will for my life. I took control—or at least I thought so.

Nothing in my life ever got any better, but I had a lot of fun doing my own thing. It was not that I didn’t know how I should live, but I thought like a lot of us do: I’m straight; I got this; I’ll be all right. You see, I lived in sin for a large part of my life, but God continued to keep me in His care in spite of myself. I trusted in myself. And today I am thankful to be alive, and I can only give God the glory for it.

There are so many of us leaving this world today without knowing Him or having a relationship with Jesus the Christ. For He is love; He will walk with you and talk with you. My Lord will speak to your heart, giving you a new way of thinking. My God is the healer of everything that ails you.

So when you have some spare time, read His word, listen when He calls, and know that God loves you. A man once asked me, How can you believe in what you cannot see? Well, it’s called faith. If you jump from a tall building, gravity, which you can’t see, will let you know it’s there. The wind blows on our faces. We cannot see it, nor do we know where it comes from or where it goes. There is so much that we can’t see, but we know it exists. So I ask, Is the Creator of all things not greater than what He created?

May God bless and keep you always!

THE STORY TELLER

There was once an old man who would come out of his house every afternoon and sit under the large oak tree in his yard. This is where he did his best reading. One day one of the children in the neighborhood stopped at the gate and said, Hey, Mr. Gordon, what are you reading?

He replied, Come on in, Joe, and let me tell you a story.

Mr. Gordon told the most amazing stories, and soon all the children in the neighborhood were sitting with him every afternoon under the old oak tree. He would serve them ice-cold lemonade every day. Every time one of the children would ask him what he was reading, he would always have the same answer. Putting the book to the side, he would say, Let me tell you a story.

Train a Child

The children loved coming to listen to old Mr. Gordon and hearing the stories he told. One day while listening to one of his stories, Lil Sam asked, Why does your grass feel like plush carpet? The children loved just sitting and lying on the grass while Mr. Gordon told his stories.

Mr. Gordon said, It’s a special grass found nowhere else in the world. But they were so amazed at his stories that they didn’t think much about it. One day a new girl from California moved into the neighborhood. She was a little sad about having to make new friends, and she had heard of New Orleans but had never been there.

Start Now

One of the other children, after remembering one of Mr. Gordon’s stories, befriended her and invited her over to Mr. Gordon’s house that afternoon. She said, Girl, you have to hear the stories he tells. All the children loved Mr. Gordon.

While he was telling a story, the new girl, who was named Joyce, asked, What is that book over there?

Mr. Gordon only said, Quiet. Let me tell this story.

Now, as it turned out, there were about thirty children from the ages of eight to twelve who gathered in his yard every day. Mr. Gordon told stories of real life—stories of great love, great romances, love lost, love gained—stories of how lives were changed. War stories, stories about the good and the bad. But all his stories ended on a good note. They were amazing stories, and he never told the same one twice.

One day, while all the children were sitting intently and listening to Mr. Gordon, a parent walked up to the gate and said, Hey, Charles, it’s time to go. He called his son three times before the boy heard his father’s call.

As they walked home, the father asked, What are you kids doing over there every day?

We listen to the old man tell these amazing stories, Charles said.

The father stopped in his tracks and said, What old man?

Mr. Gordon, he replied.

Son, he said, "let me tell you a story. This is crazy! About thirty years ago, when I was about your age, there was an old man who lived there. His name was Mr. Gordon, and he would tell us all these stories and we would always be at his house. Our parents would even leave us with him when they ran errands. He kept this book and never told us what it was he was reading. But one day he forgot it by the tree, and being a child, I had to see what it was. I picked it up, turned it over, and saw the words, ‘Holy Bible.’ When I opened it, there were Mr. Gordon’s stories—stories that never left us.

He always told us that his stories were alive and will be told to our children. Mr. Gordon’s place was the only spot in the ’hood that was safe, and no one can explain, to this day, why it still looks the same when no one has lived there since he died. Even the grass is still the same. It always has a fresh cut, but we never see who cuts it.

The father, tears welling up in his eyes, looked back at the house and could for a moment only see a bunch of children sitting around an old oak tree, and then all of a sudden, there appeared the figure of Mr. Gordon, sitting there just as he remembered. He told his son, Mr. Gordon changed my life by teaching me the ways of Christ.

Mr. Gordon spent a large part of his life bringing change to the lives of others by telling the stories of the Bible. It is time for us to do the same because all the stories lead straight to Jesus. To know Him is to be amazed.

THE CROSS

What Is the Cross to You?

Before Christ gave up His spirit for us on the cross, it was only a symbol of death and means of execution for criminals, those who opposed the governing bodies. But what the governing bodies didn’t know was that this symbol of death would become a symbol of everlasting life. It came to represent good and to benefit us in our everyday lives. Look to the cross!

How Do You See the Cross?

Some of us wear crosses around our necks yet don’t realize what it is to have a personal relationship with Christ, who died for us. I listened to a great man of God one Sunday. After finishing a sermon,