Ron Archer - What Belief Can Do: How God Turned My Pain into Power and Tragedy into Triumph—and How He Can Do the Same for You

PRAISE FOR WHAT BELIEF CAN DO

Ron Archers story is captivating. As a trick baby, his life was miraculously spared, and theres no question in my mind it was for Gods Kingdom purpose. Ron is one of the most gifted communicators I know. I believe with his eyes fixed on Jesus and with a love for God and all his neighbors, he can help lead the too-often overlooked and least of these into a Promised Land life. He has supernaturally been transformed by the power of the Gospel, and he wants everyone to experience the divine encounter Jesus referred to as being born from above. I dont think youll be able to put this book down, and everyone who cares about the future of freedom will want to hear him share not only his heart, but the heart of his heavenly Father.

JAMES ROBISON

Founder and president, LIFE Outreach International

Fort Worth, Texas

For the past few years, I have been tremendously blessed by the ministry and friendship of Ron Archer. In his new book What Belief Can Do, he shares his own horrific life experiences with a transparency and humility that will grip your heart and revive your spirit with a fresh impartation of hope and inspiration. This book will literally be a game changer for everyone who reads it. In this literary work, Ron demonstrates the possibilities, growth, and potential that can be accessed when we tap into the power that lies at the core of what we believe. Read this book and experience the power!

JENNIFER R. BIARD

Senior pastor, Jackson Revival Center Church

Jackson, Mississippi

Dr. Ron Archer is a dynamic communicator, servant leader, passionate entrepreneur, and global icon. Dr. Archers transformational life story will fill you with incredible hope and inspire you to believe in God for what seems impossible. It is a game changer.

LARRY KAUFMAN

Lead pastor, Grace Mennonite Church

Berlin, Ohio

Ron and I met thirty-seven years ago as college freshmen at Baldwin Wallace College (now University). Ron was very much engaged in campus ministry, teaching Bible studies and leading prayer meetings, as well as being involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes (where Ron arranged for me to give my first public testimony).

I entered Rons world early into his budding ministry on campus and at Good Shepherd Baptist Church. It was Rons involvement, witness, teaching, and preaching that became the catalyst for my coming to faith in Christ and subsequent call to ministry at Baldwin Wallace. I quickly became an extension to campus evangelism and started driving carloads of students across town on Sunday mornings to Good Shepherd Baptist Church in Rons old station wagon (with the floor rusted out on the drivers side).

I read Rons new book, intending to skim each chapter to get the essence of the story I thought I knew after thirty-seven years of friendship, but I found myself drawn into an unfolding journey toward Christfilled with trauma, drama, powerful overcoming, and rising to levels of greatnessthat I could readily identify with from my own journey toward and in Christ. It is a must-read for all, especially those who find themselves in the throes of life and needing the inspiration to rise above present circumstances and discover and actualize Gods purpose for their lives.

BISHOP JOSEPH WILSON

CEO and president, Power 2 Become Ministries, Inc.

Miracles happen when we believe. Ron Archer is a living testimony that the circumstances of birth do not define us when we believe. The paths that the world draws us into are seductive and easy, unless we believe. What Belief Can Do is Ron Archers journey from destruction to destiny; from crushing racial oppression to worldwide influencer; from child of the gutter to man of God. Ron Archer is a walking miracle of God, and this book reveals how God is always at work to bring that same miracle into all of our lives. Get it, read it, and believe!

JOR-EL GODSEY

President, Heartbeat International

A roller coaster of emotions and injections of reality all in one life as God orchestrates it. An account that extinguishes excuses for failure like putting a fire hose to a single matchstick. An account that screams purpose, perseverance, and passion from start to finish.

ERIC PETERS

Senior pastor, Power in the Blood Assembly, Barbados;

International field representative, Samaritans Purse

A story of redemption which has inspired and brought new hope into my life. Reading it was like going from the valley of the shadow of death to places of resting water and green pastures. I am so proud to have met Dr. Ronaldo Archer; it fills my eyes with tears and my heart with deep gratitude. I am also grateful to have met Skeezix, his heroic mother, his intrepid aunt, and his sister. Thanks so much for this amazing book.

RANDY GUILLN

Pastor and business consultant,

son of God, husband, father of seven kids

M y mother didnt know how to hide a gun very well.

Maybe she thought her ten-year-old son wouldnt go snooping around the master bedroom and find the snub-nosed revolver in her nightstand. Maybe she thought it was more important to keep a gun nearby in case Dick Archer, her estranged and abusive husband, came back to the house bent on hurting or even killing her. Whatever the case, I knew Mom had a gun, and I knew where to find it.

And I had a mind to use it, too. Even though Dick Archer was no longer around to beat me or my mother, life was far from easy at home. Mom was doing all she could to keep it all together, struggling to put food on the table as best as she knew how, but she often took her frustrations out on me. There were moments when Mom thrashed me pretty good if I did something to tick her off, so I became the quietest kid you could imagine. Whatever Mom wanted or demanded of me, I did so without complaint. I didnt want to get another spanking or tongue-lashing for doing something wrong.

And then there was the all-black elementary school I attended in our urban neighborhood close to downtown Cleveland, Ohio. At one time, I had loved school, but now I dreaded taking a seat in my classroom because I stuttered like Porky Pig.

My incessant stuttering and inability to finish a sentence opened the door to unmerciful teasing by other kids. I was in the schoolyard for recess one morning when my classmates decided to play Ring around the Rosie. Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by a half-dozen kids. They encircled me and started a chant they had obviously practiced:

His name is Renardo, he is a retardo.

He sits on the steeple and spits at the people.

That nursery rhyme made the rounds at my elementary school. I heard it repeated many times in the schoolyard. There was nothing I could do except swallow the indignation as best I could.

Ignored, berated, or beaten at home and teased at school, I had really had enough. Nobody knew how desperate and alone and scared and miserable and hopeless I felt. All I could think was If the next ten years are anything like the last ten years, then I dont want any more years.

I was supposed to dream of becoming a Cleveland Browns running back like Jim Brown, or of becoming a fireman or a policeman, or maybe of blasting off into space as an astronaut someday.

But I didnt have any of those dreams. I didnt have any dreams, and thats why there was nothing to live for.

At this, my lowest point, I had no vision of who I could become or what I might achieve. I had no inkling that pain wasnt the end of my story, that one day God would redeem the mess of my life, and that my story would inspire millions in their own struggles. I did not know God, and I had no concept of the tremendous power of beliefof belief in myself and, more important, of belief in God. I had no idea what that belief could do. All that would come later.