The Redmadafa
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down the edge, trying not to fal . An apparent gust of wind—
Urium—pushed him back on the trail. He fell in behind them
and waited to make his move.
People were lined up a mile long down the trail. They roared
loudly at the sight of the racers emerging over the first hil . Arms and heads waved back and forth, others jumped up and down.
Rammer, Trax, Petra, Tank, Mumba and several others raced
up the trail and entered the crowd. Trax pulled ahead as they
entered. Petra moved from behind Rammer and took the lead.
Tank, gaining momentum in the straightaway, passed them all
and shot to the front. Mumba’s three heads moved back and forth
like a logger sawing a log, he was in the lead and then he wasn’t.
It was the closest race in history. Every face in the stands
jumped up and shouted at the top of their lungs. Wind from the
racers whipped by and twirled people around. Trax jumped back
in the lead, then Rammer. Mumba stretched his heads forward
for a moment and then Tank cut in front. They could see the
finish line.
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From the crowd, wearing a bright red shirt and with a deep
voice, came a long drawn-out shout. “You’ve got’em Rammer.
You’ve got’em!” shouted Rooter.
Rammer’s heart exploded. Adrenaline rushed through his
body propelling him instantly to the front. Rooter threw Jambles up in the air spilling Brumpel Melon slushy and Blossom Berry
cotton candy all over the crowd as he yelled, “Drop the hammer,
Rammer!”
Rammer raced for the line and was overtaken by Trax who
was then overtaken by Tank. Petra slipped passed them all and
regained the lead. Petra reached his head out to clip the long red ribbon that stretched across the finish line vigorously rippling in the wind. Tank’s horns inched passed his head and Trax’ mane
inched passed his horns. Rammer’s nose inched passed Trax.
It was Trax; it was Tank; it was Petra; it was Rammer; the win-
ner is…
And so goes the race of life. I hope you enjoyed The Redmadafa and its message of hope, love, and salvation. Although this book does not follow the timelines of the Bible accurately, nor do its characters, its central message of hope, forgiveness, and salvation do. I believe God has a divine purpose for every person on the
face of the planet. He created every one of us in his image and he has plans for us to prosper and plans to give us a future so we can all go on to accomplish Great Things.
This is contrary to what many of you were taught in public
schools. The theory of evolution—and that is exactly what it is, ‘A Theory,’—is now being taught as, ‘Fact,’ when there is absolutely no proof to any of its claims. The theory of evolution is another lie straight from the mouth of Lucifer himself. He wants you to
think you came from nothing, that you are nothing, and will
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never accomplish anything. Just like the river of fire is opposite of the river of life, so is the theory of evolution, the opposite of what the Bible says about the life God has planned for you.
I am the oldest in my family. I have a sister, a half-brother and a half-sister. My mom was sixteen and my dad seventeen when
I was born. They both came from broken homes, homes filled
with violence and abuse. They tried to provide for my sister and I but they were young, and were still dealing with their own pain and childhood struggles—after al , they were still children themselves. My parents turned to alcohol (Thunder Juice), as many do at a young age, and things got a lot worse from there.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, the character of ‘Rammer’
tel s my story. Rammer is me when I was young and the character
of ‘Coach’ is me now. When I was young, there were many nights
that my house was filled with violence. When I turned twenty,
my parents divorced and I left home and joined the United States Marine Corps—it was the best decision I ever made. It got me
out of an abusive environment and helped me to grow into a man
filled with honor, integrity, justice and courage.
At the age of nine I met The Augur—Jesus. At the age of
eleven he called me to the ministry. His calling on my life was
hard to accept for many years. How could the son of an alcoholic and a drug addict preach a message of hope and love, when I was
filled with so much hate and anger? Four years in the Marine
Corps and time on my own, allowed God—His Majesty, to slowly
take away the bad and wisely usher in the good. He brought peo-
ple into my life, people like Sharon Reichle, Reverend Thomas
and Bonnie Block, people who took me in as a young man and
loved on me and showed me the love of Christ that surpasses
all understanding. People like Nancy Sheppard, the character of
‘Aunt Nanny,’ helped me realize that God would never make me
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love him, he can’t; that is the one thing he cannot do. God loved me so much that he gave me the freedom to chose him or reject
him—Christians call this Free Will.
There have been many others along the way that have influ-
enced me, taught me and loved me even when I did not deserve
it. But that is the beauty of love. It keeps no record of wrongs. It does not boast; it is not proud. It always trusts, hopes and perse-veres. It truly never fails.
The Redmadafa is taken straight from Ezekiel chapter 17.
The year was 1992. I was a young Marine in Camp Lejuene, NC.
I was attending a small church and they asked me to be the youth leader. My first Friday night service was a few weeks away and
I needed to prepare a topic to speak about. I had never spoken
in front of a crowd before and deeply regretted that I agreed to being the youth leader. I struggled for weeks thinking about what I was going to say. It was Wednesday night, two days from my
first service, and I had no idea what I was going to speak on. I couldn’t sleep, so I began to pray. As I did, I heard his still small voice say, “Get up and I’ll show you.”
I got up and turned to Ezekiel chapter 15 and read it, along
with chapter 16. Nothing. I mean absolutely nothing. I scratched my head and laid back down. I heard him again, “Get up and I’ll
show you.” Reluctantly, I crawled out of bed and opened the Bible back up, this time to chapter 17. As soon as I finished reading it, I grabbed my small notebook and a pen and wrote The Redmadafa.
It was only five pages then, but I couldn’t believe it—he even gave me the name that night. I preached it that Friday night and everyone loved it. I preached it for several years after that, but then put it away and went on with life and ministry.
God called me back to the military in 2005 to serve as a chap-
lain. In 2010, my family moved to San Diego, California for our
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next duty station, where we attended City View Assembly of God.
Craig Cruz, the Men’s Ministry director and Royal Ranger Leader, asked me to be the guest speaker at an upcoming Pow Wow for
Royal Rangers, a church adventure club for boys—similar to Boy
Scouts but with a spiritual influence. I would be speaking over
three days, so I began to study and think about what I would
teach. The Redmadafa called out to me. I pulled it out, dusted it off and rewrote it; it completely transformed before my eyes.
After that service, I heard His stil , small
voice once again say,
‘It is time.” I always knew the day would come when I would write the book. It was a few months later that I sat down and began
to write The Redmadafa. And do you know what happened, as I began to write the third addition of the story? It completely
transformed again. Its central message and passage of scripture
stayed the same, but everything else changed. Why?
In 1992, when I first received the story, I was not ready to
write a novel. I was still filled with too much hate and anger. I had a small view of myself, life, this world, and God. But over the next 18 years, God transformed me. He took away my hate and
anger, and replaced it with love and forgiveness. I sat and listened to hundreds of people in my office, talking about life and the
struggles they faced. I saw victory and I saw failure. I saw people trapped in sin, and I saw people climb out of those sins and go
on with life and do Great Things. With God’s help and the help of His body—The Temple, the Church, I began to understand that
life was not all about me!
I give all glory and honor to His Majesty for never giving up
on me. And that is why I wrote this book. To give you hope. To let you know, that if God can take this old country boy, from the back woods of Des Arc, Arkansas, the son of an alcoholic and drug
addict, and use me to the glory of his kingdom to do Great Things, 365
Dr. Gary Warren Foshee
then he can use you too. I’ve done many things that I am ashamed of. There are a lot of skeletons in my closet. Things I wish I could go back and change, but you know what? If I did, I wouldn’t be
me. I wouldn’t be able to relate to the men and women He sends
to my office on a daily basis and help them the way I do.
So, I write to you now. Please give him a chance. Please don’t think you have to change before you come to him and ask him into your life. His plans for your life far exceed anything you could ever dream or imagine. Come to him now before time comes to an end.
Let me leave you with this: I hear all the time from people
that the reason they do not go to church or except Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, is because the church is full of hypocrites. Yet they go to football games, basketball games, movies, etc… They go everywhere else that is full of them, but they won’t go to church. I hope the church is full of hypocrites, because the church is a place for the lost, hurting and imperfect. I’m there and I am far from perfect. Don’t listen to that lie, don’t pass through that gate. Lucifer is the Father of Lies and the last place he wants you is in church, doing your part for the Kingdom of Christ.
Find a church that believes the Bible is the inerrant (without
error) Word of God. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and to come into your life. Get plugged-in, into the Truth, and go out in the world and do Great Things:
GREAT THINGS
At the end of history,
When the Book is closed,
His Majesty will I behold.
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And gaze upon His glorious face,
Safe and secure from this dreadful race.
For time recedes, the end has come;
It’s time to choose a side—the second Adam.
Look to the East, it’s the compass,
Look to the rainbow, it’s his promise.
Great Things, I have done,
Through the sacrifice of his Son.
Great Things, even greater,
Yes, you too, said the creator.
Now you’ve been told what to do,
Now you know his Word is true.
So rise up and take his strong hand,
Let His Spirit lead you, to the promise land.
* * * * * * *
Are you still here? Still wondering who won the race? It was the
long shot. He came from out of nowhere at the end and clipped
the ribbon beating Trax, Petra, and Rammer in a single bound.
It was the long shot. The one everyone had given up on. The
Winner…was…is—YOU!
God Bless and go Des Arc. Home of the Mighty Eagles!
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Document Outline
Front Cover
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Mount Viper
Chapter 2: The Temple
Chapter 3: Scorpion Pass Gate
Interlude: Battle For The Fiery Stones
Chapter 4: Bone Valley
Chapter 5: The Augur
Chapter 6: The Little Round About
Chapter 7: Yellow Bellies
Chapter 8: The Horn Swoggler
Chapter 9: Dead Man’s Drop
Chapter 10: Bamboozled
Chapter 11: The Sea Throne
Chapter 12: The Augur Returns
Chapter 13: The Redmadafa
Chapter 14: The White Wooly
Chapter 15: The Shadow of Death
Epilogue: The Big Round About