The Power of Extraordinary Love
May 31, 2026
Dr. Paul Cannings
On April 6, 2000, Ricky and Toni Sexton were taken hostage in their home in Wytheville, Virginia, by a fugitive couple on a violent crime spree. Toni had taken her poodle outside when
Dennis Lewis, 37, and Angela Tanner, 20, sped into her driveway, pointed pistols at her, and ordered her back into the house. Yet, inside that home, the Sextons transformed their terrifying hostage situation into an opportunity to display Christian love.
Rather than responding with hatred or fear alone, the Sextons listened to their captors’ struggles, fed them, showed them gospel videos, read Scripture to them, and prayed and wept
with them. During negotiations with law enforcement, Ricky Sexton even refused his own release when Lewis and Tanner suggested they might end the standoff by taking their own
lives.
The standoff ended in an unusual way. Before surrendering to the police, Angela Tanner left the Sextons $135 and a handwritten note that read:
“Thank you for your hospitality. We really appreciate it. I hope he gets better. Wish all luck & love. Please accept this. It really is all we have to offer. Love, Angela and Dennis.”
(Illustrations for Every Topic and Occasion – Perfect Illustrations: For Every Topic and Occasion.)
This kind of love reflects God’s redemptive story toward mankind. Even if, by worldly standards, we considered ourselves “good people” before salvation, God declares that our righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Scripture teaches that we did not seek after Him (Romans 3:11),
that we were born in sin (Psalm 51:5), and that, apart from Christ, we were without hope and separated from the promises of God (Ephesians 2:12). We were destined for eternal judgment.
Yet, despite our condition, God demonstrated extraordinary love: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This is why the Bible says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7–8, NASU) It is this kind of love that transforms both the person receiving it and the person sharing it.
F. W. Farrar recounts how, when Dwight L. Moody was an ignorant, ragged, shoeless boy walking the streets of Chicago, he found his way into a Sunday school through one of those
unseen providences’ people often call chance. He was shy, sensitive, and nervous that the other boys would laugh at him because he could not locate passages in the Bible. His teacher noticed his embarrassment and, with quiet gentleness and thoughtful tact, spared him humiliation by helping him find the Scriptures.
That small, nameless act of love and compassion may have changed history. Without it, a life of extraordinary ministry and service might have been lost to the world. Dwight L. Moody went on to become a widely known preacher and founded Moody Bible Institute, a ministry that continues to impact people around the world.
Love may seem like a small act that leaves a person vulnerable, but when directed by God, it becomes a force powerful enough to change lives and influence the world. True love never fails
(1 Corinthians 13:4–8).