I recently came in contact with a pastor of a small church in Saint Claire Shores while trying to sell some stuff on Craigslist. We stood around talking for a while and he told me about the church that he pastors and we started feeling each other out regarding beliefs and such. I'm not sure why initial meetings like this always seem to start with quizzing each other on doctrinal stance, but this instance didn't deviate from the norm. Long story short, I told him that I'd be getting back in touch with him soon and that I'd be inviting him to one of our services that didn't interfere with his own. This was near the end of May.
Well, a few weeks ago, I called Bro. John up and invited him to service, and he came to our Sunday night service the first Sunday this June. It was a good service, and Bro. John spoke briefly, and I'm sure felt welcome. I would be totally remiss if I didn't mention the way this man can play the piano. It was wonderful. Several people mentioned to me that he seemed to fit in very well, and I agree, just like dealing with home people.
I went out for some coffee with Bro. John after the service and we sat down and had a good discussion for a couple hours. We talked about the futures of each of our churches and how we could positively effect our churches. He also told me his own testimony, which I hope he tells at my own church one day, so I won't repeat it here. It was an excellent night, and I gave him my promise that I would visit his church as soon as I had a chance.
This last Sunday I had an opening in my schedule and I visited his church right after our own morning service. I find it more than a little bit ironic just how simple it is to get from my own church to his. Turn left out of the church parking lot, head east about 10 miles, it's on the right. I arrived only ten minutes before the beginning of the service and as I arrived, Bro. John met me at the door and welcomed me in. I sat down and several of the folks in the church came over and introduced themselves and they all made me feel very welcome. I was very much impressed by the people there and their outgoing friendliness. The only person who was late I found out later was late because he was witnessing to people, trying to bring them along to church with him.
The service was very good. The people there were all involved with their worship and the Spirit of the Lord was evident in their midst. I have to admit, I've only heard maybe half of their songs before, but I sang along and so did everyone else. I was asked to say a few words and I spoke on Psalms 34:1-3 for maybe five minutes, partially because it is a passage that I have been trying to implement in my own life more, but because this church exemplified Psalms 34:3 so well.
Bro. John preached an excellent message out of the book of Ruth and drew some interesting points out of it that I'm not sure I've ever really thought about before. He also spoke about Jesus healing the daughter of the woman from Caanan, and his thoughts here were very good also. I particularly liked the references that he made to bread in both passages and overall the message was very encouraging.
After service, I stayed around just a bit and spoke with several people. They all invited me to come back soon and told me they were glad I had visited. Also, I spoke with Bro. John and his parents and it turns out that they had attended a wedding at one time at our old 8 mile church, and that Bro. John's sister is a graduate of TCA, which both myself and my wife are as well.
I don't know exactly what will come of the seeds that Bro. John and I have sown, but my hope is that a mutually beneficial relationship between our two churches is forthcoming. I'm looking forward to visiting his church again soon, and having him visit ours as well. As I said when I spoke at his church the other day, it's always a blessing to meet new brothers and sisters in the Lord, especially when they are practically in your back yard.
Showing posts with label testimonial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label testimonial. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
A Gift
I can't remember exactly when it began, but it was sometime around the beginning of this year. Almost every day that I've woken up, I've done so with a song in my heart. The song isn't usually something that I've been thinking about, or even a song that is one of my favorites, but it seems that for the most part whatever song I do wake up with has a significance for the day. Even one night when I couldn't sleep and I woke up at 2:30 am, for about an hour I had so many songs about Jesus calming the stormy seas that it was the most enjoyable bit of insomnia that I can remember.
I'm thankful for this gift, and I just wanted to say so.
I'm thankful for this gift, and I just wanted to say so.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Be Still
I wrote one other post that was more of a testimony (I'll Keep Holding on to Jesus) and now I find myself doing that again. I'm not trying to do anything other than share how God has worked in my life and to life Him up. Perhaps this is not the greatest forum for my personal testimonies, but until something better comes along, I will occasionally make use of my blog for such. It is my blog after all.
Friday morning June 27, 2003, I received a call from my boss asking me to come and see him. I wasn't expecting to be laid off, but when I got that call, I knew that that's what was happening. I only spent about as much time in his office as it took me to drive over there, and I walked out with papers that stated I was no longer an employee of the company I'd worked at for over four years. To be honest, the worst part of it up until that time was just how taken off guard I was.
As I was driving home that morning, still before lunch time, what had happened was just starting to sink in, and I was started getting upset. I had only been out of work before for a week in my entire life, and I didn't have two children and another one on the way at that time (my wife was 8 months pregnant at this time). Needless to say this wasn't a good time for me to be out of work, and work in the IT field was just starting to dry up, especially in Michigan, so I knew finding another job wouldn't be a simple undertaking. I was starting to ask myself why this was happening to me.
I remember think all these things for about the first mile of my way home before the Lord impressed on me the second half of Psalms 37:25 "yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." Over and over in my head I heard these words repeating themselves. I knew that God was really speaking to me and was comforting me and by the time I arrived home, I had a faith that God would take care of my situation and saw me where I was.
I was unemployed the rest of the year, and in January of 2004 I was starting to wonder what I was going to do. My third child had been born the August before (less than a week after the country-wide blackout of 03) and all my expenses were rising. I'd used up some of my savings and my unemployment insurance was running out. Still I was holding on to what God impressed on me so many months before and I was trusting God to provide.
In the middle of January I received a call an HR representative from the company I used to work for asking me to come in and interview for a job. I had had very few leads so I went in the next day and interviewed. It went good, but after the interview I didn't hear much for a couple weeks so I didn't think I got the job. I was really starting to get frantic during that last week in January because there just weren't that many IT jobs still and that was also my last week qualifying for unemployment insurance. I really wasn't getting anywhere when I got a call telling me that I got the job and would be starting on Monday. So I moved from unemployment right back to employment with my old company without a break in income.
In December of 2007, after working almost another four years for my company, this was all happening again. I received notice that the contract for the project that I was working on wasn't going to be renewed. This was right at the beginning of the auto companies trying to cut costs and somehow I found myself on the front lines of cost cutting measures. The problem was that in January of 2008, IT jobs in Michigan were even rarer than they were four years earlier, and I really had no clue how I was going to find another job.
I had put my resume out on just a couple job sites, and I received exactly one call in January about it. The job was an excellent fit for me, and even the auto company I contract to wouldn't change, I would just be working for a new contract house doing much of the same stuff. The job was even in a building I was very familiar with, so that was a bonus too. I interviewed early the next week, was talking to the recruiter that I was dealing with and the final results is that on January 29, 2008, I ended my stint at the first company and began working for my new company and even managed to double dip on that day, technically being an employee of both companies for a day.
All the while as I was wondering what my next move in my career would be in December and January, I was reminded of that same scripture, "yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" and not only that, the scripture Psalms 46:10 also came to mind. It was as if God was telling me, "I took care of this once. Be still and allow me to take care of this again."
It may seem trivial to you that not only am I thankful for the years of employment I've enjoyed in the IT field, but that maintaining employment is important to me. If you have experienced job loss and unemployment, you know that employment is an important part of life. I'm thankful for a God that cares enough about me to not only provide for me when it comes to employment, but also cares enough to comfort me when things are not going my way and remind me that this aspect of my life too He controls.
Friday morning June 27, 2003, I received a call from my boss asking me to come and see him. I wasn't expecting to be laid off, but when I got that call, I knew that that's what was happening. I only spent about as much time in his office as it took me to drive over there, and I walked out with papers that stated I was no longer an employee of the company I'd worked at for over four years. To be honest, the worst part of it up until that time was just how taken off guard I was.
As I was driving home that morning, still before lunch time, what had happened was just starting to sink in, and I was started getting upset. I had only been out of work before for a week in my entire life, and I didn't have two children and another one on the way at that time (my wife was 8 months pregnant at this time). Needless to say this wasn't a good time for me to be out of work, and work in the IT field was just starting to dry up, especially in Michigan, so I knew finding another job wouldn't be a simple undertaking. I was starting to ask myself why this was happening to me.
I remember think all these things for about the first mile of my way home before the Lord impressed on me the second half of Psalms 37:25 "yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." Over and over in my head I heard these words repeating themselves. I knew that God was really speaking to me and was comforting me and by the time I arrived home, I had a faith that God would take care of my situation and saw me where I was.
I was unemployed the rest of the year, and in January of 2004 I was starting to wonder what I was going to do. My third child had been born the August before (less than a week after the country-wide blackout of 03) and all my expenses were rising. I'd used up some of my savings and my unemployment insurance was running out. Still I was holding on to what God impressed on me so many months before and I was trusting God to provide.
In the middle of January I received a call an HR representative from the company I used to work for asking me to come in and interview for a job. I had had very few leads so I went in the next day and interviewed. It went good, but after the interview I didn't hear much for a couple weeks so I didn't think I got the job. I was really starting to get frantic during that last week in January because there just weren't that many IT jobs still and that was also my last week qualifying for unemployment insurance. I really wasn't getting anywhere when I got a call telling me that I got the job and would be starting on Monday. So I moved from unemployment right back to employment with my old company without a break in income.
In December of 2007, after working almost another four years for my company, this was all happening again. I received notice that the contract for the project that I was working on wasn't going to be renewed. This was right at the beginning of the auto companies trying to cut costs and somehow I found myself on the front lines of cost cutting measures. The problem was that in January of 2008, IT jobs in Michigan were even rarer than they were four years earlier, and I really had no clue how I was going to find another job.
I had put my resume out on just a couple job sites, and I received exactly one call in January about it. The job was an excellent fit for me, and even the auto company I contract to wouldn't change, I would just be working for a new contract house doing much of the same stuff. The job was even in a building I was very familiar with, so that was a bonus too. I interviewed early the next week, was talking to the recruiter that I was dealing with and the final results is that on January 29, 2008, I ended my stint at the first company and began working for my new company and even managed to double dip on that day, technically being an employee of both companies for a day.
All the while as I was wondering what my next move in my career would be in December and January, I was reminded of that same scripture, "yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" and not only that, the scripture Psalms 46:10 also came to mind. It was as if God was telling me, "I took care of this once. Be still and allow me to take care of this again."
It may seem trivial to you that not only am I thankful for the years of employment I've enjoyed in the IT field, but that maintaining employment is important to me. If you have experienced job loss and unemployment, you know that employment is an important part of life. I'm thankful for a God that cares enough about me to not only provide for me when it comes to employment, but also cares enough to comfort me when things are not going my way and remind me that this aspect of my life too He controls.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
I'll Keep Holding On To Jesus
I've been sitting here and thinking about the year 2009 and all that it has brought us. I can't speak for everyone, but personally I've been shaken more this year than in any other year since 1999. Without getting into specifics, I'd like to compare and contrast them.
Both 1999 and 2009 were transitional years for me where change was very much the norm. In both years I suffered personal loss, disappointment, frustration and much more. In both of these years I can say that important parts of my life came crashing down all around me and my faith was shaken and tested. Both of these years had a very similar impact on my life and left me reeling. However the real difference between the two can only be measured in my reaction to the trouble I experienced.
In 1999 when life became more than I could handle, I became very despondent and turned inward. I was hurting and I blamed God for what had happened to me. Resentment built inside me and I began running from God. It took a long time for me to stop running and to start turning to God instead and even when I stopped running, the hurt remained for a long time. I didn't willingly give that up, and it wasn't until years later that He just took that hurt from me and the wounds that I suffered in 1999 were finally healed. During 1999 it often felt that God didn't even know who I was.
In 2009 when life became more than I could handle, I did get very sad but this time I turned to Jesus. I was hurting, but I recognized that God is in control. My faith was strengthened because I began running to God. I've had a constant friend who has walked beside me and someone to bear my burdens for me. I've given the problems and the pain away and He took that hurt from me and the wounds that I've suffered in 2009 haven't been nearly as severe as they could have been. During 2009 I've known that God not only knows who I am, but also that He cares for me.
Why do I write about these two years in my life on my blog? Because I know that this year hasn't shaken only me. I know that there are many people out there for whom this has been a year of struggle and hardship and if this describes you, I want to remind you that God is there with you and that He cares for you. I know that He watches out for me, and you too can know this with out a doubt.
So many songs have been written that express this so well. "His Eye is on the Sparrow", "Sheltered In the Arms of God", the song I borrowed my title from "I'll Keep Holding On To Jesus" and so many, many more. However the second verse in the song "Til the Storm Passes By" caught my attention today, and I want to reproduce it here for you.
Many times Satan tells me there is no need to try,
For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by,
But I know Thou art with me and tomorrow I'll rise,
Where the storms never darken the skies.
Do not give in to the lie that things are terrible. Remember that He is wonderful and anything that seems to be terrible looses its significance. If you are feeling pressed under the weight of the world and you are beginning to despair, I want you to pray this simple prayer.
"Jesus, I love You. Jesus, I need You."
He is there for you, always.
Both 1999 and 2009 were transitional years for me where change was very much the norm. In both years I suffered personal loss, disappointment, frustration and much more. In both of these years I can say that important parts of my life came crashing down all around me and my faith was shaken and tested. Both of these years had a very similar impact on my life and left me reeling. However the real difference between the two can only be measured in my reaction to the trouble I experienced.
In 1999 when life became more than I could handle, I became very despondent and turned inward. I was hurting and I blamed God for what had happened to me. Resentment built inside me and I began running from God. It took a long time for me to stop running and to start turning to God instead and even when I stopped running, the hurt remained for a long time. I didn't willingly give that up, and it wasn't until years later that He just took that hurt from me and the wounds that I suffered in 1999 were finally healed. During 1999 it often felt that God didn't even know who I was.
In 2009 when life became more than I could handle, I did get very sad but this time I turned to Jesus. I was hurting, but I recognized that God is in control. My faith was strengthened because I began running to God. I've had a constant friend who has walked beside me and someone to bear my burdens for me. I've given the problems and the pain away and He took that hurt from me and the wounds that I've suffered in 2009 haven't been nearly as severe as they could have been. During 2009 I've known that God not only knows who I am, but also that He cares for me.
Why do I write about these two years in my life on my blog? Because I know that this year hasn't shaken only me. I know that there are many people out there for whom this has been a year of struggle and hardship and if this describes you, I want to remind you that God is there with you and that He cares for you. I know that He watches out for me, and you too can know this with out a doubt.
So many songs have been written that express this so well. "His Eye is on the Sparrow", "Sheltered In the Arms of God", the song I borrowed my title from "I'll Keep Holding On To Jesus" and so many, many more. However the second verse in the song "Til the Storm Passes By" caught my attention today, and I want to reproduce it here for you.
Many times Satan tells me there is no need to try,
For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by,
But I know Thou art with me and tomorrow I'll rise,
Where the storms never darken the skies.
Do not give in to the lie that things are terrible. Remember that He is wonderful and anything that seems to be terrible looses its significance. If you are feeling pressed under the weight of the world and you are beginning to despair, I want you to pray this simple prayer.
"Jesus, I love You. Jesus, I need You."
He is there for you, always.
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