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I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A FOOL 
 by John Goetsch 

    It  has  been said that "everybody is somebody's fool." ˙I am 
not any different than anyone else.  I have always  been  a  fool 
for something.  
    
    On  July 31,  1967,  ˙I was sitting in the auditorium at Camp 
Chetek in Northern Wisconsin, listening to Dr. Eric Folsum preach 
a message from the Bible on Hell.  He read  scripture  throughout 
the  message  that  told  about Hell being a place of everlasting 
torment prepared for those who never personally ask Jesus  Christ 
to  save  them.  At  the  close of the service he asked those who 
wanted to be saved to come forward and  have  someone  show  them 
from the Bible how to be saved and go to Heaven.  
    I felt very uneasy, ˙and those scriptures on Hell were really 
convicting my heart.  But,  I couldn't walk down that aisle,  why 
everyone knew that John Goetsch was a Christian.  I had grown  up 
in a Christian home,  had gone to church and Sunday School all my 
life.  I went to Vacation  Bible  School  and  Youth  Camp  every 
summer.  I  had  been  baptized  and  was a member of the Calvary 
Baptist Church in Watertown, Wisconsin.  In fact, I was president 
of athe youth group in my church.  But as I walked  out  of  that 
auditorium that night, I could not get away from those scriptures 
on Hell.  
    That  night and the next day I was miserable.  ˙I kept asking 
myself,  "Am I going to Heaven or Hell?" Everyone else seemed  to 
think I was going to Heaven, but I wasn't sure.  
    The  following night,  ˙I couldn't listen to the preacher. ˙I 
didn't hear a word he said.  I kept asking myself over and  over; 
am I really going to Hell?  Again at the close of the service the 
invitation  was given,  ˙but  I couldn't seem to move.  Something 
inside kept saying, "You're good enough,  You're better than most 
of these other people,  they are the ones that need to be saved," 
and I listened.  Later that night we watched a  gospel  film.  In 
the darkness of that room that night God began to speak in plain, 
simple terms to me.  He said,  "John, if you don't get saved, you 
are going to go straight to Hell,  no  matter  what  anyone  else 
thinks, you are not saved!" 
    Right  then  I realized I had been a fool for the devil.  ˙He 
had tricked me into thinking that I had been good enough.  As the 
film ended, I ˙turned to a pastor who was sitting behind  me  and 
asked  him  if  he would help me.  Pastor Don Phaffe took me to a 
small room and there on my knees on August 1, 1967, at 10:30 p.m. 
I personally asked Jesus Christ to  save  me.  I  claimed  Romans 
10:13 which says: "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord 
shall  be  saved," and Revelation 3:20,  "Behold,  I stand at the 
door, and knock;  if any man hear my voice, and open the door,  I 
will  come  in..."  The  Lord didn't trick me that night like the 
devil had.  At that moment Jesus Christ forgave my sin  and  gave 
me everlasting life.  No longer was I a fool for the devil.  
    I ˙went back to high school that fall with real joy and peace 
in my heart knowing I was on my way to Heaven.  During those high 
school ˙years I became very active in athletics playing football, 
basketball, ˙˙and track, ˙and was achieving some success ˙in ˙all 
sports. ˙By the time I reached my junior and senior years, I ˙was 
completely ˙wrapped up in sports, ˙with little time for ˙anything 
else.  
    One  day  in Sunday School my Youth Pastor asked us to ˙write 
down ˙some goals for our lives. ˙My goal for High School ˙was ˙to 
make all-conference in football. ˙For my College goal, ˙I ˙˙wrote 
down that I wanted to play College football, and for life my goal 
was to get into some facet of professional sports.  
    Things went well and my senior year I captained the ˙football 
team ˙to a 5 win and 3 loss record, ˙quite respectable since ˙our 
high ˙school ˙had not won a single football game in ˙three ˙years 
prior to that. ˙Offers began to come from various colleges asking 
me ˙to play football. ˙Our basketball team was ranked 7th in ˙the 
state ˙of ˙Wisconsin, ˙and I was looking forward to breaking ˙the 
school ˙record in the shot put in track that  spring. ˙Sports was 
my god and I just didn't have time to serve Christ too.  
    On January 20,  1970, in the middle of my senior year, I ˙was 
sitting in one of my classes and my chest began to  hurt. ˙I ˙had 
never felt any pain like it before, ˙but I put off thinking about 
it ˙because ˙we had an important game that night. ˙The pain ˙grew 
steadily worse that afternoon and evening and that night I played 
the ˙worst ˙basketball ˙game I had ever played ˙in ˙my ˙life. ˙˙I 
disgraced ˙myself ˙and  ˙the  ˙team. ˙˙Physically  ˙hurting  ˙and 
emotionally upset, I went home to bed. However, as soon as I laid 
down ˙flat on my back, ˙the pain became sharp. ˙It seemed ˙as ˙if 
someone was taking a knife and cutting inside my chest.  
    At  ˙3:00 ˙˙a.m. ˙the next morning my parents took me to ˙the 
hospital. They put me in a bed and I stayed in that bed,  ˙unable 
to move, ˙for the next 3 months. I ˙had a virus of the heart sac. 
My heart sac was filled with poisonous liquid and was the size of 
a basketball. ˙I missed the rest of my senior year,  ˙the rest of 
basketball, and all of the track season.  
    All of the time I was in that hospital I never read my ˙Bible 
or ˙prayed once. ˙I ˙was bitter against God because He had ˙taken 
everything I had dreamed of away.  
    For ˙the ˙next two years I ran from God and rebelled at ˙even 
the thought of surrendering my life to Him. I gradually worked my 
body ˙back ˙into ˙condition until it was ˙strong ˙and ˙completely 
healthy.  
    Three weeks prior to my first college football game, ˙I ˙felt 
the ˙same ˙pain ˙in my chest I had felt two ˙years ˙before. ˙˙The 
doctors, ˙after two weeks of tests told me that I had an enlarged 
heart, ˙˙almost ˙two times the size it was supposed to be. ˙˙They 
informed me that I would never play sports again.  
    I  was crushed. ˙All I had ever worked for was gone. ˙I ˙went 
back ˙and told the coaches that I would never play again. ˙˙As ˙I 
walked ˙across ˙the practice field that morning I looked ˙at ˙the 
footballs ˙lying there and walked away knowing I would never pick 
one up again. At that moment my heart broke and I gave my life to 
Christ. ˙I told the Lord I had run from Him long enough and if He 
wanted my life, He could have it all.  
    I drove home and parked the car in the garage. My mother came 
running ˙out and said, ˙"John! ˙John! ˙you can play football!" ˙I 
said, ˙"No, ˙the doctors told me this morning that I would ˙never 
play again." ˙She replied, ˙"I  know, ˙but they just called. ˙The 
tests ˙were read wrong. ˙You are perfectly healthy and can ˙start 
playing tomorrow!" ˙I ˙bowed my head and thought, ˙"If only I had 
been ˙willing ˙to give God my life two years ago when ˙He ˙wanted 
it..." 
    Though God allowed me to play 3 years of college football and 
4 years of college basketball, I never again let myself be a fool 
for sports and put anything before Christ.  
    I ˙went to Maranatha Baptist Bible College and it was while I 
was there that God called me to be a preacher and into Evangelism 
to help others, ˙like you, ˙find Christ as your Saviour and serve 
Him.  
    I Corinthians 3:18 ˙says, "Let no man deceive himself, if any 
man among you seemeth to abe wise in this world, let him become a 
fool (for Christ), that he may be wise." 
    Today, ˙˙friend, ˙˙don't be a fool for the devil any ˙longer. 
Right ˙now ˙in simple faith ask Jesus Christ to ˙come ˙into ˙your 
heart and life, ˙repent your sin, and ask Him to give you eternal 
life.  
    If ˙you ˙have ˙been saved, ˙don't be a fool to ˙the ˙temporal 
things of this life. ˙Dedicate your life to your Saviour and be a 
fool for Him. 

From the S.O.N. BBS, WI 

d didn't trick me that night like the 
devil had.  At that moment Jesus Christ forgave my sin