In my left palm is a white $200 pill. Its purpose is to prevent kidneys from producing testosterone, a food prostate cancer delights in eating. The prescription is to take four pills each day, totaling $800. What if this one pill could eradicate any form of cancer in every cancer victim in the world? Would the person holding its patent be willing to share it with the whole world? We hope so!

My world was rocked in 1966. No longer was I an agnostic! I had mental battles similar to those of Nicodemus, Peter, Paul, and others in the New Testament, as well as many brilliant scholars such as St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, C.S. Lewis, and even heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman. In 1966, as an aspiring basketball coach, I discovered the greatest health was to know Jesus Christ personally.

This “metaphorical” pill does not cost $200. It is becoming a new person, whether a male or female, with a new mind, heart, and soul. This is called The Second Birth. Changing from an agnostic to a Christ-servant was the most radical decision for me possible. Immediate family and friends were shocked. Our closest college couple was not sure they would welcome my wife and I into their home. They truly believed we had lost our minds.

To me, the very best thing I could do for the world was to live an abundant, joyful life by letting the spirit of Jesus Christ live in, through and out of me. To do this, I had to shed my negative religious experiences. It was necessary for me to understand Jesus did not die to make me miserable by taking away things I loved (as sports, dancing, card-playing, movies). He died to make my life full-color, not governed by rules and a holier-than-thou attitude.

Today I do not have a magic healing pill. However, in my right palm is my Words of Hope book. This book cannot heal anyone. What it can do is encourage you to seek hope, increase in gratitude, aspire to love, and serve people with kindness. Since 1966, my one, consistent desire is to share in a positive manner the message Jesus said so well: “I have come that you might have abundant life (real and eternal, in all its fullness), whereas the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.”

No matter if you are 78 and not in good health, or you are 19 and in great health, “abundant living” is, in my opinion, related to the three letters of PPR:

• What is my PURPOSE?
• What is my PASSION to fuel my purpose?
• What is my RESPONSIBILITY to make my purpose a reality?

As my high school basketball coach, Bill Taylor, often said: “Genius is taking the complex and making it simple.” Our team proved it on the court. Now even my difficult days prove my PPR works. 

My focus is to live for my primary purpose with gratitude, kindness, and joy. And if I am to die, I want to do it in such a manner people will see confidence, courage, and hope. They will know I will be with my Lord God, mother Crowell, Uncle Walt, Joe T, and many other loved ones.

Yet, while I have breath and with love, it is my intent to encourage others to place this hope-of-all-hope books, Words of Hope, in their homes – perhaps on a coffee table, bedside chest, or in an office. It can become a daily dose of God’s HOPE. Because Jesus is the GREAT I AM, it is my privilege to say Fredric James Crowell is a small part of reflecting that greatness.

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