A Hero of Faith

A Hero of Faith

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The Apostle Paul provides a Hall of Fame for the Heroes of Faith found throughout scripture. Paul addresses as many as he can from Abel to Samuel as he himself admits he does not have the time or space to address them all. Each however were commended for their individual faith. I wonder if we were to create a modern Hall of Fame for the Heroes of Faith who might be inducted.

Perhaps the likes of Corrie Ten Boom, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jim Elliot, David Wilkerson, or Dave Roever would come to mind. All individuals who if you research their stories were great men and women of faith who continue to inspire believers in their faith.

Does the name Rick Jones come to mind? I didn’t think so. Unless I personally knew Rick, I could not convey this story to you now. Rick is short in stature and likely would be missed in a crowd, some say he resembles Carl Fredricksen from the movie “Up.”

In the late 1960’s, Rick was inducted into the United States Army by means of the draft. Rather than shoot himself in the foot or run to Canada, Rick faithfully entered the service of his country. Rick was a born-again believer serving Jesus Christ. He was not one to hide his faith from others in his unit. He would often go to the club sipping coke while they consumed their beer.

Rick built a relationship with the base Chaplain and his assistant. The assistant happened to belong to the Assemblies of God as did Rick. Rick heard a group from Teen Challenge was coming to the base. When he heard this, he went to the Chaplain and requested grilled hot dogs and ice cold coke be served to the men who attended the service.

Rick then went to his units lead officer and requested his unit attend church that Sunday evening. This was not a very popular move on Rick’s part. It turns out on Sunday evening about 45 young men marched off to that service. When it came time for the altar call about 30 of those soldiers raised their hands to give their hearts and lives to Christ.

Imagine the joy that must have welled up in Rick’s heart seeing the transformation in these young men. After training Rick went off to work on the Space Shuttle while the others were sent to Vietnam. He later heard that his unit while patrolling the Ho Chi Minh trail were ambushed and roughly 30 men lost their lives.

Rick Jones is a Hero of the Faith. He did not simply place his faith in his duffle bag. No, he wore it on his sleeve for all to see. He exemplified the life and work of Jesus Christ sharing the Gospel by building relationships with men who in turn built relationships with Jesus Christ. These men heard the Good News because of Rick’s faithfulness and today reap eternal life as a result of decisions made one Sunday night in basic training.

Rick has recently resigned his church after a full life of ministry and service. He now resides in Philadelphia assisting his son, Rev. Rich Jones, revitalize an inner-city church High Point Assembly of God.

By Rev. Charles Lefort as told by Rev. Rick Jones