Our Story (Part 3 - Terri's 1st Encounter)

   I could write so much here as I have kept journals since I was 9 or so.  But, in respect of your time and to highlight the most important things, I'll try to keep it brief.


   I grew up in a small town in FL until the age of 14.  I am the oldest of 4 children, 3 girls and 1 boy.  My family wasn't wealthy by any stretch of the imagination but for the most part we had enough. 


  I wasn't reared in a Christian home either.  We didn't pray at home, read the Bible together, or live by God's precepts, but Mom did  make it a point to take us to Church relatively often for a period of time.  I give her great credit because she didn't just drop us off to go by ourselves, she went with us.  For me, just as for Rusty, going to Church was a way of socializing.  We lived in the country and going to Church was a way we got to see people other than our family.  It was in Church that I heard of God and Jesus, sin and our need for repentance.  I wasn't sure what all that meant but every Sunday after the sermon, there was an invitation to walk to the altar to the song "Just As I Am" and ask Jesus to forgive me.


  I was 12 years old when there was a young lady visiting our Church who came to sing for us.  She sang the song "Jesus my Everything".   I'm sitting in the pew, tears streaming down my face, knowing that I wanted to know this Jesus that she sung so beautifully about.  At the end of that service, I went to the altar and asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and take over my life.  I was baptized not long after on a chilly Feb morning in a baptismal that had no hot water.  I remember coming up out of that water and taking in the deepest breath of my life.  I'm not sure if it was solely due to the cold water or the feeling I was taking the first breath of new life, but it's a breath I remember to this day!  A dear lady from Church, Mrs Banta, gave me a Bible as a baptism gift. It was "The Living Bible"  a paraphrased version, but it was very easy to read and understand for a 12-year old. I cherish that Bible to this day.  She also encouraged me to come to her if I had any questions about what I read, or about Christ, or about life in general.  She was one of God's faithful servants!


  Life for my family got really difficult not long after that.  Mom and my stepfather divorced (after many many years of fighting) and we found ourselves without a home and no money.  I was so happy to be out from under that man's roof that I was okay with not having anything else.  Again, God used Mrs Banta as a wonderful servant.   She gave us a roof over our heads, brought us groceries and made sure we had what we needed.  It makes me tear up today to know how much of a sacrifice that lady must've made for us. We were no relation to her at all, had nothing to give her in return, and yet, she gave to us unselfishly.  This my friends, is the love of Christ.  She not only helped me with my spiritual growth, but she met a very physical and emotional need.


  During this time, I grew especially close to Jesus. I would steal away to private places in the woods, in the pasture, along the river, where ever I could get away from everyone, take my Bible, read and pray.  Jesus was as real to me as anyone else.  He became the Father I didn't have.  I couldn't see Him with my eyes, couldn't hear Him with my ears, nor touch Him with my hands, but He was there, speaking and guiding me.  Every now and then I will open up that old Bible and look at the notes I used to write within it's pages and I'm amazed at the insight I had as a young child.  


  A big change came in my life again at the age of 14.  My Mom remarried and we moved from north FL to Swaziland, Africa.  Ripped out of my comfort zone, God put a missionary family in our life that had a great impact on me.   They modeled for me how a Christian family is to live.    It involved a lot more than just going to Church.  They sang songs of praise and hymns, they read the Bible and prayed together.  They sacrificed living a life of creature comforts to serve others. Oh, they weren't perfect!  No one is. That's the whole point of the Gospel and the good news. But they lived out their faith in a tangible way.

  I moved back to the States when I was 15 and because of the vast differences in the education system (I had been attending a college prep school for girls in South Africa), I was placed into 11th grade versus 10th where most kids my age were.  Being with "older" kids,  coupled with being the new girl in a new school in a new State (Indiana), and the great need to fit in, I turned away from living for Christ.  Boy, how quickly we forget and fall!


 In my High School memory book, in the section where you're to write your goals for the future, I wrote this list in this order:


 1.  I want to serve God.
 2.  I want to be married only once to a man who loves me and our children.
 3.  I want a nice house.
 4.  I want a nice car.


 This is important as you'll see when you read the rest of the story! :-)


Proverbs 22:5-7  "In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls, but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.  Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."

Our Story (Part 2-Rusty's 1st Encounter)

  Rusty grew up in a poor family in a very small town in Indiana. He is the oldest of 4 children, 3 boys and a girl.  Not only was the family poor monetarily, they were very poor spiritually.  The family did not go to Church together, pray together, or mention God other than maybe Christmas or in profanity.  It's not that they were unbelievers, they did believe He existed, they just didn't see the value of knowing Him.  Church was really looked at as an entity where hypocrites gathered to make themselves feel better.  Besides, money was scarce and Rusty's Dad worked hard to provide for the family.  Rusty's Mom was struck with cancer in her early 30's and lost her leg, so it took all she had to keep the family taken care of at home.  In their opinion, at best, God was a cosmic kill-joy watching people struggle from afar.

   Rusty did have some good friends though whose family went to Church. At age 10 they started inviting him to Church with them.  He jumped at the chance to go.  It was a social outing away from home and a chance to meet new friends.  He heard a lot about God and Jesus and was even moved during one revival service to seek forgiveness and walked up the long aisle (at least it seemed long) to the altar.  He "accepted" Christ during that service and he tells me that he walked home after that as if his feet never touched the ground.  He felt the touch of Christ on his life. 

  Unfortunately, there was no mentor ship, no discipleship, no follow-up.  Although Rusty became aware of Christ in a personal way and desired to follow Him, with no one to help him to grow in the Word, he strayed away to pursue the things of the world.

  I want to stop the story here today to talk about this last point because this is where our heart is and why we feel God has us in the mission we're in at the book shop.    Dear friends, if you have people coming to faith in Christ in your Church or in your sphere of influence,  PLEASE make it a point to help disciple and mentor them. They are babies and as such, are subject to attacks of all kinds.  Being left to defend themselves is not the model that Christ gives us in Scripture. False teaching is rampant and way more accessable to the casual believers and new converts than the solid truth is.   Just turn on the T.V. or walk into many Christian bookstores for examples!  And sadly, too many Churches are too busy with programs, projects, or whatever else to intentionally disciple new believers.  This is a tragedy!  God will make good on His promise to redeem and save a truly repentant believer who is doing their best to trust and walk with Him, but my goodness how much better and faster for a new believer if they have people helping them along the way!   Besides, this is how God modeled it for us during Jesus' incarnation as man on earth.

  And for goodness sake, don't take a child's submission to Christ lightly.  Rusty was 11, I was 12. But there are some younger.  We KNEW Christ that day.  We just needed some adult guidance and care giving to help foster our spiritual growth. 

Matthew 19:14:  Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

  The next blog to come is my first encounter. Stay tuned! :-)

Our Story (Part 1)

  Yesterday, my wonderful husband stood up in front of our Church congregation as a new elder and gave his testimony.   I have never been more proud of him, nor more aware of the target on him in the spiritual realm.  In God's awesome timing, He is ministering to me through the word of Ezekiel and I'm very aware of the prayer covering that I as his wife need to be diligent about.

   As a part of Rusty's testimony yesterday, he mentioned that early in our marriage, he was overcome with the feeling that he would die young. As a matter-of-fact, he felt he would be dead by age 40.  For many years he couldn't shake that feeling.  In his late 20's, he starting have seizures that couldn't be accounted for medically.  Epilepsy and other "normal" known causes were ruled out.  After his second serious seizure in 3 weeks, he was hospitalized for about a month while they ran all kinds of test on him.  Everything came back clear.  He was told then he'd have to be on seizure medicine the rest of his life. This didn't help to alleviate the feeling that he'd die young.

    I want to share the rest of the story he couldn't tell yesterday about how we both surrendered to Christ.  I will break that out in multiple blogs though.  This is because I don't want to skip sharing every detail that God wants me to share for whoever might need to hear it all, but also because the story is not just about his conversion, but also mine.  Although we were "reborn" in our late 30's, Christ's provenient grace started in our lives at a very young age.  He pursued us for many many years and I want to cover some of that. I feel lead to share this portion too because there may be some who sense His tugging at them but not sure its Him, or there may be parents, children, grandparents, who have been praying for their loved ones for many years and have yet to see an answer.  I want to encourage you via this blog. 

 So, this is just Part 1.  Just enough to hopefully whet your appetite for more.  We have an amazing story to tell of God's love, His longsuffering, His passion for us personally!  I will do my best to post a new part each day so as not to keep you waiting too long.

 Rusty is 51 years old now...so obviously he didn't physically die at 40.  But he did die to self  at 39 and how that played out will be told soon :-)

Psalm 107:21-23:   Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

 

What's your Prejudice?

   I recently went to see the movie "The Help" and it brought to surface some long-ago memories for me. I grew up in the deep south and remember very well the day the "colored" school was closed and "they" were brought to our school.  I learned at a very young age about prejudice which was very much alive and well in South Africa where I lived as a young teen-ager.   I made it a priority back then to get to know people of all color and love them for who they are, not what color they are.

  It is hard to believe that people can be so ignorant and outright mean to each other.  But, we are.  Sometimes it's fear, sometimes it's a feeling of insecurity of one's own status in life, and sometimes it's just down-right evil at work.  The color of one's skin is just one of many reasons we come up with to separate ourselves from others.  For those of us who pride ourselves on not having a racial prejudice, what other prejudices might we harbor?  

  As I watched the movie, I realized that there are definite sub-cultures all around us.  We may or may not be aware of them.  I am not aware of them for the most part. So as I drove around our town this week, I made myself really see the different neighborhoods that I saw.  Trailer parks, upper scale neighborhoods and "middle" income homes are all here.  I made myself pay attention to my own emotions and thoughts as I drove through the different neighborhoods.  In full disclosure, a confession of sorts, here is what I discovered:


 Trailer parks:  My first thought was, why would anyone choose to live in a trailer park?  I would never choose it.  Then, I took that thought captive and realized a few things.  1)  I used to live in a trailer as a child.  I only realized it wasn't the only way to live when I spent the night with friends who had houses that went in many different directions, not just in a rectangle :-).  I wasn't unhappy and only felt inferior when others made fun of me.  2) Many people may not "choose" to live in a trailer park. That's their only affordable option.  and 3) Some people do choose to live in a trailer park because they like it!  In FL, there are plenty of people who have given up their big houses to live in beautiful trailer parks that become communities of friends.


  Upper scale neighborhoods:  I am probably more prejudiced against these!  And again, I've lived in such a neighborhood.  So how hypocritical is that???  Many people I know who live or have lived in such a high-priced neighborhood, have sacrificed marriages, families, and souls to keep up the appearance of living richly.  Not all of course, there are many who live in good balance and can still live so extravagantly.  I know many who give a lot of their fortune away and live this way.  I also know that when I was living in such a neighborhood, there were some people who would not come to our house because they felt inferior, or thought we thought too highly of ourselves--even though they were invited to freely come (sounds like Christ's invitation to us to the wedding feast doesn't it?).  So there is definite prejudice against the wealthy.  It's especially popular and acceptable to be prejudiced against the rich these days.


  Middle income neighborhoods:  This is where I feel most at home. I can understand and relate to people the most in this social status.  But even then, there are many struggles in these homes with the balance of work and family. 


  You know what I don't see in my town?  Homeless.  I know that sub culture is around and from what I hear, growing fast.  But I don't see them.  I can't relate to the homeless at all as thankfully, I've never been homeless (although, at one time when I was 14, if it weren't for a dear lady who was a great friend of my Mom, I might very well have experienced it). 

 Jesus spent most of His time on earth with the sub cultures of this world.   He even chose to live as one of them.   He brought them hope, healing, love, mercy, grace and truth. He wasn't afraid to touch the leper, eat with tax collections, defend the prostitutes, lift up the children and chastise the self-righteous.   I am a follower of Christ, I need to be sure I do the same! 


  What's your prejudice?

Prosperity Theology?

  I am not against being happy, wealthy and healthy.   Being in an unhappy, poor and unhealthy state is not comfortable.  It's not fun.  It's not a goal of mine in any way, shape or form.  Being unhappy is such an epidemic in our culture today, that the pharmaceutical companies, alcohol and illegal drug business is booming!  Psychiatry is a lucrative field to be in these days.  What about those who abuse food for comfort?  In spite of all of the luxuries and abundance of material things, entertainment and food in this country (USA), the latest statistic from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention states that 10% of Americans 18 or older, or 23 million people, are affected by depression.  It is quite possible that this number is low as many suffer in silence and don't show up on any statistics.  Instead of listening to our conscience and changing our choices and behaviors, we treat the symptoms.


  Sadly, there are also many "Christian" leaders using their skills of positive speech, influential platforms and book-writing to help people overcome sadness by "thinking or saying positive things".  Some even go as far as saying if you send in so much money, God promises to return it 100%!  This is called Prosperity Theology.  Pews and stadiums are full of people seeking happiness and prosperity, even if it means going to Church to find it.  There is a lot of money being made in Christian book sales, donations, and tithes on the promise of success and prosperity.  We own a Christian Book Store and could probably have paid our year's rent in 6 months if we sold these books (but we don't).


  But, what does Christ and the Apostles in Scripture teach?  Did Jesus walk around preaching that the Christian's goal in this life is to live happy, successful and sickness-free on earth?   He healed people--yes, but it wasn't for their own benefit so they could go just live life happy and wealthy.  He healed people to reward their faith in Him, to demonstrate that He was God in human form, and to bring others to saving faith as they witnessed the miracles and went out and told others.  Actually, in Matthew 19:23-24 Jesus made an astounding comment:  “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”  Jesus wasn't saying that being rich meant you could not go to Heaven, but He is warning that being wealthy makes it harder to live in faith and trust in God.  This teaching is totally opposite of what the Prosperity Gospel preachers are touting and making so much money and building mega Churches on today.  Jesus' entire sermon on the mount as told in Matthew 5 flies in the face of the Prosperity Gospel preachers of today.


The Apostle Paul, asked God to heal him of an ailment but God's answer was no.  Here is how that entire conversation and resulting response by Paul is recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10:


  "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong". 

 Also, 10 of the 12 original disciples (minus Thomas and Judas Iscariot) were killed for their faith.


  Do you think the stadium would be full of people today if a preacher preached "delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties"?  Or telling believers that by following Christ, they could very well loose their life...and should be willing to do so if necessary?


  But Jesus tells us that the Truth will set us free!  Being a follower of Christ means to "deny ourselves and take up their cross and follow Him.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it." (Matt 16:23-25)  Christ would not sell many books today based on that advice would He?  


  I'm not saying that Christians need to live in a depressed state. Not at all!  As a matter-of-fact, Christians should be the most joy-filled people on the planet because this life is but a vapor, a mist, and we are living this life temporarily and storing up for ourselves, treasure in Heaven that will last for an eternity!  One day, Christ will return and put all things to right and we will be living with Him in the perfect state of being!  To me, being "happy" is knowing that all of His promises for the future are true, and that today is temporary.  True prosperity in this age means obeying His commands and following Him as closely as I possibly can.  As Christians, we are pilgrims on this earth.  This is not our home and therefore we will always feel out of place and homesick while here.  I for one do not want my best life now and forfeit what God has for me in eternity.  That doesn't mean we'll be miserable here, but we won't be completely satisfied in our souls until we're home where we will be extremely prosperous in Christ!



  Do you have more questions or want more info on the Prosperity Gospel teaching/teachers?  Check out this site:   Got Questions.org

Delighted

  Rusty and I just love to delight our family and friends during visits.  We've found over time that it really doesn't take a lot to do that. Just spending quality time with people, ensuring we have plenty of their favorite foods, a comfortable place to sleep (and that's not always a requirement) and focusing on them while they're with us is usually all it takes.

  Where our grandsons are concerned, they are so easy to delight.  Plenty of cardboard boxes to build tunnels with, matchbox cars to play with,  fruit snacks, wrestling on the floor, and even quiet time on our laps delights them to no end.   That in turn gives us great pleasure to see them so happy.  To see the sparkle in their eyes, to hear their genuine and unabashed laughter, to feel their tight hugs and hear them say "Papa and Neena, we love you", has to be the greatest joy to our hearts.

   But for a select few other people in our life, no matter what we do, they never display delight.  You can go the extra mile to ensure everything you know about their likes are emphasized while their dislikes are minimal, and yet, it doesn't appear to matter.  They are so consumed with worry, sadness, stress, and self, that they can never seem to escape those feelings and enjoy the moment.  Some  appear to never be happy about anything unless they can be miserable about something. It really breaks our heart and we just want to shake them (no, that wouldn't be delightful to them but it would us ;-)) and have them see the good and quit focusing on the negative. 

  But today it hit me. How many times does God want to delight me with the everyday things like a beautiful sunset, shooting starts, beautiful array of birds in my bird feeder, or a clear sun-filled day, and yet, I'm too focused on the "burdens" of life or just too "busy".  All He wants is to see the sparkle in my eyes, a squeal of laughter, time spent with me on His lap, and to hear me say "Father, I love you".  How many times do I disappoint Him and go around with my "woe is me" focus?  I wonder sometimes why He doesn't shake me more to get my attention.  He does get my attention though and uses many different ways to do it.  But I'm praying about doing a better job of letting Him delight in me as I delight in Him and all that He has done, is still doing, and will do in the future for me and for you.

"Trust in the LORD and do good;
   dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
  Take delight in the LORD,
   and he will give you the desires of your heart.
   Commit your way to the LORD;
   trust in him and he will do this"

Psalm 37:3-5

Chosen

  There are many Biblical doctrines that I really grapple with.  I think this is by God's design.  He wants us to pursue Him and seek Him fully.  And since He made me, knit me together in my Mother's womb, He knows I love a good mystery and I have the personality to seek out the harder things that I don't understand. Maybe not at first.  I tend to sit back and meditate on things a bit before trying to dig in and analyze. But analyze I do!  I didn't set out in life to be analytical. Sometimes I think life would be so much simpler if I would just accept things at face value and never question, never dig, never want to know. 

  One such doctrine is divine election.  The doctrine that is clearly evident if you read Scripture much at all.  This is the teaching that we didn't choose God, He chose us.  And knowing the depravity of our human hearts, our self-focused nature from birth, I can see how we would naturally be unable to choose to lay down our life and follow Christ. This has to be a supernatural event. Something that isn't conjured up in our own will and mind.

  Oh my goodness I know I'm treading on controversial ground here.  This is a hotly debated, and often dividing point within the Body of Christ. I hate that we divide over secondary doctrine.  I don't fully understand that if all of us within the Body are being taught by the Holy Spirit, in humbleness and sincerity, how we can come up with different views on doctrine, but that's a topic for another blog!  In all honesty, even within my own mind, I'm divided on this topic myself.  I can see both points of view in Scripture.  And since I know that God is Just, and Holy, and Righteous, and Loving, and His ways and thoughts way above ours, I know that His Word is right, and my understanding is limited.  I fully submit to that!

  I believe with all my heart and mind that God is Sovereign.  There is nothing that happens in all of creation that isn't seen by Him, that isn't "allowed" by Him (not that He causes things to happen, but He has control of the boundaries), or that anything comes as a surprise to Him.  He knows the beginning and the end.  Because He is sovereign and knows beginning from end, He knows whom of us are His.  That doesn't release us of all reliability though. There is plenty of Scripture that shows man also has a role in this.  All you have to do is go to an online tool such as www.biblegateway.com and type in the word "chose, or chosen" and you'll see both sides.

 The point of this blog today is to show a couple of things.  1) The Christian faith is not a blind, put your brain on the shelf faith.  You can spend your entire life digging, reading, researching, and exploring Scripture (and you should!) and God will lead you down amazing paths of knowledge.  2) We in the Body should be able to debate, discuss, and explore these types of hard truths together without dividing.  Oh how Satan loves to divide us!  And 3) I'd love to have anyone who reads this blog who has done some in-depth study of the doctrine of divine election to chime in.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who has grappled with how to harmonize the truths of being chosen by God AND (notice, not versus) man's responsibility to choose life eternal.  

 Here are just some of the Scripture reference of God's choosing us.

  Jesus called his disciples and chose 12 whom he named apostles (Luke 6:13); you did not choose me but I chose you (John 15:16); I have chosen you out of the world (John 15:19); I know the ones I have chosen (John 13:18); I chose you and one of you is a devil (John 6:70); show which of these two you have chosen (Acts 1:24); Jesus gave orders to the apostles whom he had chosen (Acts 1:2); greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord (Rom. 16:13); Paul is my chosen instrument (Acts 9:15); chosen in him before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4); we know he chose you (1 Thess. 1:4); God chose you from the beginning for salvation (2 Thess. 2:13); God chose the poor to be rich in faith (Jas. 2:5); make your calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:10); those with him are called, chosen and faithful (Rev. 17:14); God’s purpose in choosing (Rom. 9:11); God made a choice among you (Acts 15:7); God has chosen the weak and foolish things (1 Cor. 1:27); a remnant chosen by grace (Rom. 11:5); chosen according to the foreknowledge of God (1 Pet. 1:1–2); God chose the low-born, despised and non-entities (1 Cor. 1:28).

Day, C. A. (2009). Collins Thesaurus of the Bible. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

  For those who'd like to listen to a great question and answer session about this topic from John MacArthur, you can do so here:  Doctrine of Election Question & Answer Session with Dr John MacArthur