ptl@fluke.UUCP (Mike Andrews) (11/06/85)
Hi, Thought it'd be fun to hear from my Christian Family as to the works God is Personally doing for each of you and through you. Also, maybe we could share some of what our various denominations are doing - what all our parts are doing for the One Body we are in Christ. What do you think? It would be great to put on this net for everyone to enjoy. You've already heard how God has His Hand in the purchase of our new house, and the purchase of the car. Nice to see that God wants to help in every area of our lives. Also how He kept us safe on our Canadian vacation: like the car starting up again after dieing in front of a logging truck coming at us down the side of a mountain - later found we had a shot fuel pump. Also found we had traveled the 1500+ miles with a bad water pump, not losing any water, though the mechanic says the fan wobbled over an inch when he checked it on our return. [All I know how to do is change the oil and filter, put water in the windshield washer, and air in the tires - *not* your basic car buff.] There are many more things, bigger and smaller that God is teaching my wife and myself about. Growing up is tough stuff. Your prayers are requested and deeply appreciated. You are in mine. As for Church - my wife and I are Roman Catholics. We enjoy working as Eucharistic ministers, and sometimes I get the opportunity to lector. The Roman Catholic church has changed much in the last 20 years, very much for the better. As Eucharistic ministers, people get to help the priest distribute communion during Mass, and take it to the homebound or sick. Since communion during the Mass is now given in most parishes in both forms, bread and wine, the priest needs all the help he can get. As a lector, I get to read two of three Bible passages read during Mass, the priest reads a passage from one of the Gospels. My best friend Bob is on the parish council, and our parish has a very active one. The council makes financial decisions, helps set school and parish policies, and in general works with the priests to keep things running as smoothly as possible. And we all know how smooth that can be at times? Many parishes have activity groups that set up Bible studies [yes, contrary to popular belief, Roman Catholics do know what a Bible looks like :-) ; even the different versions], discussion groups focusing on current topics, joint groups with other denominations to see our similarities and build on our common beliefs (Jesus is our Lord, and He is our salvation; we can't earn Heaven, or buy it; and a living faith will show itself in work for the Lord). Some parishes are even starting up home groups, to increase the family aspect of Church. Kris and I are also involved in the Charismatic Renewal, believing that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is real, and just as much for today as when our Lord first sent His Spirit on the Apostles. There are many parishes with non-denominational prayer groups, Bible study groups, and some with prayer and healing ministries. I also work with a group under the legal title of Catholic Evangelistic Outreach. We put on the Jesus Weekends I've mentioned before. In the past 2-1/2 years God has put on over 54 Jesus Weekends. We'll go anywhere we're invited, for free, where the pastor or minister in charge approves and there is a group committed to do follow up. Everyone on the team is an unpaid volunteer. The fliers, equipment, etc are all paid for by donations. The head of Catholic Evangelistic Outreach is Episcopalean, the music ministry is Episcopalean, Four Square, and Roman Catholic (on occasion --- we don't have many good singers. This is not a result of being Roman Catholic, it's just that this bunch doesn't sing so hot. But the way I figure it, if God wanted to hear us sing with better voices, He'd have given them to us. So He must enjoy it.), and the rest of the team is Roman Catholic. It is GREAT! God has put together a real family here. So there's one input ... how about yours? The intent isn't to show one upsmanship or anything of the kind. Anyone serving God knows God doesn't work through perfect people, He works through sinners like you and me. That shows just how great His Power is, He chooses to do great things through weak and sinful people; and also shows just how deep His unconditional Love is, that He chooses to help a weak and sinful people come to Him to share in His undeserved Blessings. What a God - there is no other! God Bless, Mike Andrews -- ****************************************************************************** God said He would never leave me nor forsake me, and that I am His temple. A man is what he thinks. A body led by the soul is only 2/3 of a person : the soul tries to get rid of the spirit. A body led by the spirit is a whole person : the spirit works to make the soul help the body. And a spirit led by God the Holy Spirit is invincible. ******************************************************************************* ARPA : fluke!ptl@uw-beaver.ARPA UUCP : {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!ptl
emery@fluke.UUCP (John Emery) (11/11/85)
In article <2408@cal-asd.fluke.UUCP> ptl@fluke.UUCP (Mike Andrews) writes: > >Hi, > >Thought it'd be fun to hear from my Christian Family as to the works >God is Personally doing for each of you and through you. First of all, I wish to thank Mike for sharing his experiences with us and hopefully inspiring others to tell what God is doing for them in their church and personally. I would like to share a few things that God has done for me. Much of what he has done for me has been in my personal life. However he is starting to open up opportunities for fellowshipping with others. Of course the first miracle was when he drew to his Son, Jesus. I felt joy and love in a way that I never knew in my life before. I was living a new life after I had put Jesus first in my life. It was great. Now I would like to share something else I experienced in my life: defeat! Just when I was getting comfortable with my new life, I started experiencing the life of a born-again defeated christian. I wasn't defeated by doubting my salvation. I knew I was saved and trusted in God's grace through the sacrifice of Jesus (This is a story in itself that I would like to share later). The first problem I had was that I could not help from comparing myself with others. I tried so hard not to do the very thing I was doing. I would see someone who was living apart from God and inwardly I would become angry at them. I knew that I was a child of God yet I was sinning by what I felt inside me. I kept telling myself to love the sinner and hate the sin and that Jesus had died for all sinners as I was a sinner also. Yet inside I was being defeated. Even among christians, how easy it was for me to think that they were not living the perfect christian life. Yet I knew that everything I was thinking was completely wrong. Yet the impulse to think these thoughts remained. Another defeat I was experiencing was that of an unfulfilling spiritual life. My spiritual "highs" seemed to come and go like a rollercoaster. A period of great spiritual joy would be followed by a period of emptiness. I would long for the joy I had felt when I first came to Jesus. I continually looked back to those times and turned to the things that had inspired me: special songs, certain bible verses, a particular atmosphere. I kept remembering how much I had looked forward to going to church and how much peace was present inside of me. Yet these things did not touch me the same way as they had once done. Finally I didn't seem to be doing a very good job in God's work. I tried to show the love of Jesus to others but this didn't always work. I wanted to be a light through which Jesus would shine. Yet when my opportunities came I didn't feel quite inspired enough. Sometimes when I knew in advance I would be in a situation in which I could show what a loving child of God I was, I would try to inspire myself by praying extra hard to God and just trying to get in the right mood. It wasn't coming naturally however. I would give up because I didn't want to seem phony. The charity work that I once felt in my heart as a joy, became something I did just because it was the right thing to do. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I was always praying to Jesus to help me overcome my problems of comparing myself to others, of being spiritually unquenched, of not being effective in God's work. Yet I was not seeing results. I knew what the problems were and it was my will that I not do these things which were damaging to my relationship with God. Here is a sample of a daily prayer: "Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me the will to live for you daily. Lord, I ask that you help me to live a life of love. I ask that you fill me with your love so that I may be a light to others. Help me to overcome my shortcommings." It seemed that this prayer came up over and over again. Then I saw the light. The Spirit lead me to the answer. The answer was shocking: Give Up! Yes, Give Up. In other words, stop trying and start trusting. Notice my prayers: "Lord *help me* to overcome...". That was the problem, I was trying to help Jesus do what he promised to do himself. I thought I had faith in him yet I did not trust him enough to let *him* to the work instead of me. Yes, Jesus had already won the victory in me. I, however, was getting in the way trying to do what only his divine power could do in me. Sure I had enough faith to know I was saved, yet I didn't have enough to let him work the victory in me. If you would have asked me then, I would have told you, "Sure I have enough faith in Jesus." But I didn't. The victory started happening when I realized the answer: Jesus. It is that simple: Jesus. He is my life. It is Jesus that I live through and by concentrating on his presence within me and his power, the victory comes naturally. God's word states it as a fact and if we don't belive in his power, we call him a liar. Jesus has not only set me free from the penalty of sin, but also from the power of sin and the power of doubt. Jesus clearly said, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:34-36). He stated that he set us free, and all we have to do is trust. Things have started to change. No longer do I pray, "Jesus, help me to overcome" but "Jesus, thank you for overcoming and I trust you will continue to do so." Instead of prayers of grief, they have become prayers of praise. No longer do I try to get inspired so that I may experience God's love, but I turn to Jesus and trust that he will give me God's love. And it works, it's great! Now I continually turn to Jesus as the sole source of victory: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:2). I know now that if I have to try for the victory, it is not real. That is one story of what God has done for me. He is now leading me on to bigger and better things. My faith is expanding to fellowship with others. Although I'm not sure at the moment where he is leading me, I can see some exciting times ahead and I trust him completely. faithfully in Christ, John Emery fluke!emery
ptl@fluke.UUCP (Mike Andrews) (11/11/85)
Hi, Just want to thank John over the net for a great article, but more importantly for sharing himself an