Rev. A.J. Ogden

All of you have heard people joking about preachers being a dime a dozen. But it so happens that this old preacher was a little more expensive than that. The mid-wife who walked 2 or 3 miles through the woods to deliver me, charged my mother a mighty huge fee for her services. Mrs. Collins told mother she could pay one dollar down and twenty-five cents a month, until the total bill of two dollars was paid. Yes, times were hard on January 2, 1926. A dollar was as big as a buggy wheel. Mother finally got me paid out with much difficulty.

Now you know how much I’m worth, don’t you? Every time I start feeling kind of proud, I just remind myself of where I came from…that will knock the false pride out of me in a hurry. Then as I thank God for mother’s sacrifices, my wife’s love for fifty seven years, and all who have had a part in my ministry, I just feel so very blessed. Never could I have been worth anything without my precious wife and a few Christian friends who helped and encouraged me along the way.

Unworthy though I am, Jesus left His home in glory, came to earth and died for me and you on that old rugged cross. Can you imagine that kind of love? He suffered the Hell I deserve so I could enjoy the Heaven He deserved. What a Savior! Listen to Him describe it in John 3:16, “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.”