Saturday, July 12, 2008
Denied
It's 7:45 AM on Saturday morning and I have plans to help a friend move some of his heavy furniture from a storage building to his house in about an hour. So I woke up early with intentions of fixing a pot of coffee and relaxing for awhile in front of the TV, computer, a book, or the pool. Sounds nice doesn't it? A quite house, steam rising off the mug of a freshly poured cup of coffee that's being cradled in a pair of grateful hands. And as many of you know, everything, be it TV, computer, a book, or a chair at the pool, is better with a hot cup of rich coffee! I think I heard an "Amen" out there. But my problem this morning, which is the reason behind me having the hands free to type, is that when I opened the "coffee cabinet" there was only decaf.! Decaf. coffee in the morning is like non-alcoholic tequila on a Friday night in Cancun. The decaffeinated coffee bean is made for caffeine addicts who either "need" a cup of coffee before bed or "need" to drink coffee all day. It's not the way a cup of coffee should be! I feel sorry for those people who are so addicted to coffee that the have to supplement their cravings by tricking their senses of smell, touch, and taste with a product that doesn't do what it is intended to do. Coffee's intent is to put the drug of caffeine into my body. Sure, this drug is capsuled into a hot, fresh, steaming, delicious, all satisfying package. But it's not the drink I need as much as the drug. Because as much as I LOVE my coffee, I'm still sitting here empty handed with two bags of Decaf. sitting in my cabinet. So my Saturday morning turned out far worse than what it could have been......it could have been so beautiful!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
My Road to Damascus
A group of us at church are sharing our testimonies with each other, so I thought I post mine on this site as well.
My testimony could take 30+ years to tell if I were to give all the details. God's hand has been guiding me to Him since He first released me into this world. But for the sake of time and entertainment, I'll just hit the high (and low) points:
I grew up in a Lutheran church, baptized as an infant, confirmed as a teen, and quit going to church as soon as my parents would allow. Church was hot, boring, caused social anxieties, and made no sense to me. So I set off into my adult life with plans to make it on my own. I was a typical high school and college student who went to every party I could find. I was never "really bad", but I was a very typical teen who loved to "party". Check out any '80's teen movie for a quick reference to my life style. (By the way, I'm confident that the Lutheran Church is not to blame for my choices early on).
I met Angela in collage and she was a big step in getting me off the "road that leads to destruction". We both worked hard, bought our house and cars, made decent money, payed our bills, had two children, and some pets. We were almost the "perfect family". We were taught that if we did all the above we'd live happily ever after...and it was looking like we were heading that way.
I had a busy work schedule and as a result, Angela started going to church on Sundays without me. I was cool with that because I was sure I didn't want to go, so she went her way and I went mine and after church we'd meet back up. This was okay until she started "pushing" Jesus on me (not really pushing, but it always feels that way). I felt a wall starting to build between us, and I felt strongly that I wasn't going over to her side.
About 6 months after these events started, my Grandmother passed away. This was on Sept. 10, 2001. My work load required me to work all day on this Monday after I got the news of my Grandmother's passing. The visitation was to be in Iowa on Wednesday, so Angela and I decided to drive all night Monday to arrive in Iowa by Tuesday afternoon. Jacob was 4, Carley was 6 months. About 16 hours into the drive, Carley was still steadily screaming. She had gotten sick because of her 6 month shots she received the day before. So Angela and I (and the kids) were very tired when we heard the news report on the radio. The World Trade Centers were hit by planes! When we finally reached our hotel after 22 hours of driving and 36 hours without sleep, we were pretty miserable. Soon there after we had to take Carley to the hospital because she was so sick, and we got word from the doctors that it looks like she might have Leukemia (she didn't though).
That last paragraph is when I left my "self-established" world and stepped into my Hell! This is my equivalent to Paul getting knocked off his horse (Acts 9:4). My conversion came a few months later, but it was due in large part to Sept. 10-12, 2001. As a result, I began searching for God. I started going with Angela to church and tried to understand what was being taught. It still didn't make sense, but I did see people with a true passion for Jesus so I new I was missing something.
One day I was driving home from work and I turned my radio off and prayed. I prayed out loud to Jesus. I had recognition of my sins and my dependency on a savior, but my prayer felt like a stab in the dark...because I wasn't sure it was real (the prayer or Jesus). But something happened to me! No lighting strike or loud thunderous voice, but 5 minutes later when I got home I had a strong desire to read the Bible. So I read, and read, and read. Then I desired to learn from others so I asked, and asked, and asked. It was truly miraculous! I have so much confidence in the promise of God's gift of the Holy Spirit into a believer's heart, because I experienced it. I was a different person. Still the same old Greg as always, but also very much different. Just ask anyone who knew me.
The moral of my story is that I had little to do with my change. I had no initial desire to be a "Jesus freak"! I was scared (fear of the Lord) and as a result, I seeked God. That was my part. He gave me His Spirit which fueled my desire to learn, my love for Christ, my love for others, and my ability to encourage people about Jesus. So to God be ALL the glory!
My testimony could take 30+ years to tell if I were to give all the details. God's hand has been guiding me to Him since He first released me into this world. But for the sake of time and entertainment, I'll just hit the high (and low) points:
I grew up in a Lutheran church, baptized as an infant, confirmed as a teen, and quit going to church as soon as my parents would allow. Church was hot, boring, caused social anxieties, and made no sense to me. So I set off into my adult life with plans to make it on my own. I was a typical high school and college student who went to every party I could find. I was never "really bad", but I was a very typical teen who loved to "party". Check out any '80's teen movie for a quick reference to my life style. (By the way, I'm confident that the Lutheran Church is not to blame for my choices early on).
I met Angela in collage and she was a big step in getting me off the "road that leads to destruction". We both worked hard, bought our house and cars, made decent money, payed our bills, had two children, and some pets. We were almost the "perfect family". We were taught that if we did all the above we'd live happily ever after...and it was looking like we were heading that way.
I had a busy work schedule and as a result, Angela started going to church on Sundays without me. I was cool with that because I was sure I didn't want to go, so she went her way and I went mine and after church we'd meet back up. This was okay until she started "pushing" Jesus on me (not really pushing, but it always feels that way). I felt a wall starting to build between us, and I felt strongly that I wasn't going over to her side.
About 6 months after these events started, my Grandmother passed away. This was on Sept. 10, 2001. My work load required me to work all day on this Monday after I got the news of my Grandmother's passing. The visitation was to be in Iowa on Wednesday, so Angela and I decided to drive all night Monday to arrive in Iowa by Tuesday afternoon. Jacob was 4, Carley was 6 months. About 16 hours into the drive, Carley was still steadily screaming. She had gotten sick because of her 6 month shots she received the day before. So Angela and I (and the kids) were very tired when we heard the news report on the radio. The World Trade Centers were hit by planes! When we finally reached our hotel after 22 hours of driving and 36 hours without sleep, we were pretty miserable. Soon there after we had to take Carley to the hospital because she was so sick, and we got word from the doctors that it looks like she might have Leukemia (she didn't though).
That last paragraph is when I left my "self-established" world and stepped into my Hell! This is my equivalent to Paul getting knocked off his horse (Acts 9:4). My conversion came a few months later, but it was due in large part to Sept. 10-12, 2001. As a result, I began searching for God. I started going with Angela to church and tried to understand what was being taught. It still didn't make sense, but I did see people with a true passion for Jesus so I new I was missing something.
One day I was driving home from work and I turned my radio off and prayed. I prayed out loud to Jesus. I had recognition of my sins and my dependency on a savior, but my prayer felt like a stab in the dark...because I wasn't sure it was real (the prayer or Jesus). But something happened to me! No lighting strike or loud thunderous voice, but 5 minutes later when I got home I had a strong desire to read the Bible. So I read, and read, and read. Then I desired to learn from others so I asked, and asked, and asked. It was truly miraculous! I have so much confidence in the promise of God's gift of the Holy Spirit into a believer's heart, because I experienced it. I was a different person. Still the same old Greg as always, but also very much different. Just ask anyone who knew me.
The moral of my story is that I had little to do with my change. I had no initial desire to be a "Jesus freak"! I was scared (fear of the Lord) and as a result, I seeked God. That was my part. He gave me His Spirit which fueled my desire to learn, my love for Christ, my love for others, and my ability to encourage people about Jesus. So to God be ALL the glory!
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