The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
#1 This is a letter wrtiien to a friend:
Hello! It has been a long time since we have seen each other. I spoke with Randy a few months ago and asked for your email address. The Lord has laid on my heart to contact you and share some things with you. I want to share some history with you to setup why I am really contacting you. I am going to try and be brief but it may be difficult to do so.I walked the aisle when I was nine years old at our home church, Cherokee Heights, to accepted Christ as my personal Savior during Vacation Bible School. What I did not realize at the time was, I was pressured by my little buddies to do this and today I really do not know if I was actually saved at that moment. During a time in my life back in the 70’s and 80’s I was not living for the Lord as you know. I remember one occasion where you confronted me after you and your wife had found some beer in Randy’s refrigerator one weekend when his parents were out of town. You did not judge or condemn me; you just let me know to be careful. I want you to know that moment has stuck with me for years. I continued to live the life of making my own choices for my will and not God’s will. I was married and had a child (Joshua) and then divorced. I have to live everyday with that choice and the earthly consequence of not being there every hour and day for him. I was running with the wrong crowds doing my own thing, thinking only of myself. I knew I was doing wrong but the more I did it the less I thought about the right choices. In 1990, I met Jennifer. We married in 1992 and she is my beautiful and wonderful wife of 18 years this August. Jennifer was a Christian but her lifestyle along with mine was not fruitful at all. We had an elderly couple who lived next door to us who continued to love on us and mentored us and basically was a true witness of Christ for us. They invited us to church with them and we visited First Baptist Church Snellville. We started making friends and getting involved in the church. We started attending a Sunday school class, and eventually began teaching preschool Sunday School, became Directors of our pre-school and Jennifer is now on I believe her 9thyear of being Vacation Bible School Director. In 2000, one of our members had a vision to start a Sportsman’s Ministry and I was asked to help with the ministry and me being an avid hunter, I jumped at the opportunity. Steve Traylor who started this ministry had a love for men and the gospel. This ministry began to grow as our relationship did also. I consider Steve to be one of my best friends today. In 2004 my oldest sister, Patricia, passed on to be with the Lord. While she was ill and at home, I asked the elders of my church to pray over her and when we arrived the pastor asked Pat what he wanted us to pray for and she said “you may pray for whatever is on your heart because I know where I am going and I am ready”. Whooo! What a wake call this was for me. We prayed over her and prayed for God’s will. We prayed for healing, but if it was not in God’s will to heal her to please take her home quickly so she would not suffer and the cancer would not just eat her away . Now she was ill, but she was still a large woman and seemed pretty healthy for the cancer had not starting eating at her physical appearance. In 7 days Pat called her two kids and their wives and her husband in and told them what dress she wanted to be buried in, what songs to be sung at the funeral and where she wanted to be buried. Len, she passed that night. Through the whole visitation and funeral process I gave God the glory for the answered prayers and used it as a witness to God. Guess what? There was still something missing in my life and I knew God was working on me. I knew for a fact that I could not say the same thing Pat said if I was on my death bed. Well, he continued to work on me to show me I was still missing something. In January, 2005, our Sportsman’s Ministry had a mini-men’s conference and on Saturday, morning, January 8thwe had a gentlemen from the military as our main speaker. God was really working on my heart and by the time we got through the breakfast, prayer and music I was tore up and broken. When the main speaker got up to speak I was sitting in the middle back section and we made eye contact. Len, I cried the whole time he spoke and when the invitation came I jumped up and starting running down the aisle and he said “son, come on down you have wanted to come the entire time!” Len, I got right with God that morning in 2005 and asked the Lord to be my Savior and I wanted to learn to know Him to be my Lord. My life has changed a lot since God and Jennifer have come into my life. The Lord has really blessed us and our family. We are still attending the FBC Snellville and right now the Lord has me serving as the Lay Director of the Sportsman’s Ministry at our church. Through this ministry and Jesus we are able to reach men. Our mission statement for our ministry is to connect people to Jesus Christ; to bring together sportsmen who have a common bond to fellowship, worship, minister and serve one another with God’s word and to use the venue of the outdoors as an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Len, I wanted to share some of my testimony with you to let you know you have always played an example in my life and what a blessing you have been to me and I have never forgotten that. In a day where I was lost you showed me what it was like to be saved. When I was lonely you showed me how a man and wife love one another as Christ loved the church. Your example, your friendship and our Lord has always been there for me and I wanted to say, Thank You! I wanted to say thank you for planting that seed. I will never forget that and today, I give God all the Glory! I hope this letter blesses you as much as it has blessed me to write it.
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#2
Written from a brother who received a blessing during the Christmas Season:
You and I spoke a few months back and I explained our situation. Work was extremely slow and money was very tight. I explained that we were scared and that we are trying to keep the faith, and we needed prayer support. You prayed for us right there on the phone.
Work is still slow and things are still extremely tight, but somehow with support from family and friends, we have been able to hold on. I suppose I am somewhat proud in that I do not like to ask for help – I want to make it by my own efforts – I want to support my family. I continue to look for work, advertise and talk to anyone and everyone about what I do trying to generate business. But these economic times have made it very difficult for someone in home improvement. However, in the past couple of weeks, I have been fairly busy – and that’s a good thing – and I hope it continues.
As I mentioned, I am somewhat proud and I am reluctant to ask for help from anyone. There were times my family had discussed going to the church and asking for assistance, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Little did we know that you had initiated a collection on our behalf in the Sportsman’s Ministry – and you did a great job keeping it a secret.
After you and Brother Terry left our house this past Tuesday, December 15th, I received the following devotional in my email:
Bible Study Verse
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (NIV)
Thoughts
In September I had the good fortune to have an antelope permit for the Prescott, Arizona area. It's tough to draw these permits and they are very special, perhaps once in a lifetime. One of my closest friends has a home in the area where I drew and opened his house to several of my friends holding two additional permits, my son, and myself.
The day of my hunt, it was like I needed shooting lessons. Four of us were on the stalk and twice I blew setups on the antelope we were hunting. Finally, about noon and after several miles and a third setup, I connected. Needless to say, we were tired! We had dogged this goat for about seven or eight miles all told and it was a hot September morning. I think the antelope was tired, too, and may have finally just given up in sheer exhaustion!
After the kill, we took photos, field dressed the antelope, and called to get help (a truck) getting him out. As we were doing this, I looked up and here came my friend and his son who had been watching us in their spotting scopes from a distance of a couple miles. They knew we had to be tired and thirsty and had thrown on their packs and hurried to where we were to assist us in carrying the animal out to the truck.
As I thought about that later, I realized what a treasure it is to have friends like that. Friends that you don't even have to call, but that will be there anytime you need them.
(Cliff S)
Action Point
We're sometimes tempted to be "Lone Ranger Christians". Yeah, we're tough. We can take on all comers alone. Bring it on Satan, we'll show you what tough is. Uh huh, those are usually the last words right before the fall!
All through the Bible, Christians and believers in God were in fellowship. In the Old Testament, the meeting place was the Temple. In the New Testament, the early Christians met in homes and in churches. They worshipped together and they fought together. They lifted each other up in prayer, songs, and the teaching of God's word.
The point? If you're not involved in fellowship with other Christian men and women, you're in trouble. Satan knows an easy target when he sees one. He's got you in his sights. On the antelope hunt, there were ten men sitting around the table talking, laughing, and sharing the hunt and their faith in Christ. That's called strength in numbers!
I realized this devotional was speaking to me. I was trying to carry the burden all by myself without any help from anyone. Sure, I was praying and asking for God’s help, but I was too proud to ask for help from my fellow Christians. As the devotional says, “If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” I was too proud to ask for help from my friends. I also realized, as the devotional states, that all of my friends in the Sportsman’s Ministry and in the church are a treasure. I never “called” but you all were there when my family needed help. I also realized that I am not a “Lone Ranger Christian” and that God puts people in our lives to help lift us up when we need it, to fight together, to share each others’ burdens and lighten the load, and to encourage each other.
I suppose to sum everything up – I have learned something very important this Christmas season - Even though the economy is slow and work is hard to come by for some and many are looking for work so they can support their families, there is always hope. Christ was born in a lowly manger, and he came to bring us hope - hope for our salvation and eternal life. He shows Himself through people in the church, through friends and neighbors. I also learned that you can pray and think that God is not listening because it seems like your suffering is getting worse. Then, when you least expect it, someone shows up with a gift that helps your family, then another and another. Before you know it, you are overwhelmed with love and caring from people you never even asked for help. Whether you have a lot or a little, you have nothing if it is without Christ. Christ is our Hope, in Him we have everything. It is Christ who has given us such wonderful friends and through you, He has revealed Himself. I am honored to say that our family has been tremendously blessed by the Sportsman’s Ministry and First Baptist of Snellville.
Words cannot express our gratitude for what you all have done for us. Our family would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and to say Thank You for your friendships. May God Bless you all! - -