Crooked Arm, a
powerful chief of the Cree tribe, was known far and wide for his daring
exploits in war. In a battle with the Blackfoot Indians, his arm was badly
wounded. When it healed, it remained stiff and crooked. So his people called
him “Maskepe¬toom,” which means “Crooked Arm.”
Chief Maske¬pe¬toom
had only one son, whom he dearly loved. One day he sent his son and another
brave to a valley where the tribe’s horses were kept. They were to take care of
the horses, but the brave treacherously killed Crooked Arm’s son and sold the
horses. Then he returned to camp and told the chief that his son had been
killed when he fell from a high cliff and the horses had run away.
Somehow Chief Crooked
Arm discovered the deception. Fierce anger filled his heart, and he vowed to
kill the lying brave.
It was at this time
that he had a visitor. In the evening the visitor sat with them around their fire,
talking to them about Jesus. He told them of God’s great love for them and for
all people. He explained that God had sent His Son to die for them. He told
them how, when Jesus was dying on the cross, he prayed for the cruel men who
had nailed Him there, saying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what
they do” (Luke 23:34).
“God will forgive
your sins if you trust in Jesus as your Saviour,” said the visitor. Then he
added, “You must forgive others, as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.”
Chief Crooked Arm
listened carefully. The words were beginning to pierce his heart.
One day the chief was
riding out on the prairie with some of the men of his tribe. In the distance
they could see others approaching. The eagle-like eyes of Crooked Arm spotted
among them the brave who had killed his son. Grasping his tomahawk, he urged
his horse into a gallop. Pulling up in front of the brave, he stared silently
at the young man. His face was impassive, his lips a thin, hard line, his eyes
black pools of bitterness. He sat straight and unmoving in the saddle.
The young man
trembled before the chief’s gaze and dropped his eyes. Everyone waited tensely,
expecting at any moment that the chief would lift his arm and deal the fatal
blow.
Finally, the chief
spoke: “You killed my only son. You deserve to die by the law of the tribe.”
The chief made a
valiant effort to control his emotions and then spoke more quietly: “I have
been told about the Great Spirit. If the Great Spirit forgives us, we must
forgive others. We must even forgive our enemies.” The chief’s voice shook.
“You are my worst enemy! But, as the Great Spirit has forgiven me, I now freely
forgive you.”
So saying, he put his
weapon back in his belt, wheeled about and rode off in a cloud of dust.
To forgive his enemy
was the hardest thing he had ever done. It was his bravest deed.
So Chief Maskepetoom
became a humble follower of the Lord Jesus. He did not wage war anymore.
Instead, he learned to read the Bible in the Cree language and began to tell
others about Jesus. He even went to evangelize his old enemies, the Blackfoot
tribe. Formerly, he made raids on them with hate and murder in his heart. Later
he visited them with love and compassion. Christ had transformed the Chief.
God’s holy Son, the
Lord Jesus, did something greater — much greater — than what Crooked Arm did to
his enemy. Not only did the Saviour forgive those who sought His life, but He
actually died on the cross for them. “God sent not His Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that
believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God” (John 3:17-18).
Bible Truth Publishers.com
Bible Truth Publishers.com
Kin Cheoss was a Waco
Indian born in 1800. He grew up along the
whites and how they
were driven from their land in Texas
into Western Oklahoma , Kin Cheoss found it hard to
believe anything good would ever come from the white
man. Yet Cheoss would often find himself crying out in agony, "Come, O
Great Spirit and tell us."
One day a chief from
the Wichita
tribe, named Soda Arko, told how he had
seen this white man
with his own eyes while on a trading trip to the Seminoles.
He told his fellow Indians
that this white father-Talker had promised to visit
them the following
spring. Kin Cheoss longed for that day; he began to make
medicine after the
custom of his people, hoping to bring the white father-
Talker sooner.
In June of 1877 the
promised white father-Talker arrived. John McIntosh, along
with A.J. Holt and
John Jumper, came and preached about the wonderful Lord
and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. The sermon lasted for several hours and the Indians
soaked up every word.
Even before the sermon could properly have been said
to come to an end,
many Indians began falling on their faces crying out for this
wonderful Saviour to
save them. After the message, along with several others,
Kin Cheoss knelt in
prayer to make a public profession in Jesus Christ. Arising
to his feet, with
tears streaming down his face, Kin Cheoss told how he had glad
peace and was for the
first time in his life supremely happy. Along with the
others who trusted
Christ for salvation, Kin Cheoss was baptized in a nearby
creek by John
McIntosh.
Kin Cheoss gave up
the practice of making medicine to an unknown god and
began to share about
the great peace he found in Jesus Christ. A.J. Holt would
later write of Kin
Cheoss that he "was one of the most sincere and spiritually-minded
persons I have ever
met. That he was a true child of God, I have never
once stood in doubt.
Long ago he departed, in the regions beyond he is
watching and waiting."
Holt pastored for a
short while the church that was organized in the area of
those tribes. Due to
Indian hostility, Hold was relocated to a different field.
Before leaving, he
met with Kin Cheoss who was now a very aged man and
knew his departure
from this world would be soon. This would be the last time
these two would see
each other this side of Heaven. Cheoss gave Holt a
farewell speech, part
in sign language. "You may go, me stay, you live long, me
soon lie down and get
up no more. When me lie down and get up no more,
Jesus come and take
me to Him. Then me be very happy. But me watch for you
come. By and by after
long time, you lie down and get up no more. Then you
come up and I see you
come. Then I come and take you by the hand and lead
you up to Jesus and
say, 'Here Jesus, this is the father-Talker that told me
about you.'"
By W.G. Carter
John 14:6 “Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me.”
John 3:36 “He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not
the Son shall not see
life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Romans 5:1 “Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord
Jesus Christ:”