by MIMADMIN | May 8, 2015 | Testimonies
Since becoming a Christian and catching the vision that Paul provides in 2 Timothy 2:2, I have focused most of my prayer and efforts in the work place. As an employee of a large company the “fishing pond” was always well stocked and God provided many opportunities for ministry. My vision of the ministry was always outside of my local church, and not inside. In fact, I would occasionally volunteer to serve, or sign up for bible study to see if God would open up doors, but it never seemed to go anywhere. It was usually difficult to find men who had a vision for taking the gospel to the market place and to partner up with like-minded believers to challenge and encourage each other in Christ. Ultimately, I viewed my local church as a place to worship, hear biblical teaching and help expose my family to God’s word beyond our own study time. I concluded that the only place for ministry was in the market place. Well, recently God has changed that and I have been the beneficiary! It all started when our church announced a new mentor program and the need for volunteers. Initially I had no interest because I assumed the goal would be to follow a program versus minister to a man according to his need. However, after prayer and conversation with a few friends, I decided to throw my name in the hat to be matched with a guy. As expected, the church had a defined program with specific chapters of the Bible to read and a book to discuss. The program was designed...
by MIMADMIN | May 8, 2015 | Testimonies
One day we were traveling in a train towards Rayagada, it is in the State of Odessa (Orissa). A Christian brother asked me why I was taking so much risk to reach Rayagada for gospel program. Some Online Services use the information we collect in construction-jobs.info -specific ways.. He said, “Do you know that there was an Anti Conversion Bill passed by the Odessa government; you will be in the problem, why do you knowingly invite suffering?” Yes, it is true that there will be a problem, but as servants of God we need to preach the gospel in all the places to reach the unreached with the gospel of Jesus Christ, for this very reason we are called to overcome every hard situation. “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body (2nd Cor 4:8-10).” Lord Jesus Christ was called Suffering Servant of God in the Holy Bible, but people wanted a conquering hero, not a suffering servant. Because of this very reason, many did not accept Him, but went astray. It is easy to make the same mistake today. We assume God will work through the power structures of our day, so we spend lot of time and energy trying to influence them. But the truth is, God often prefers to use the weak and the lowly to accomplish His purposes in the world (Luke 1:46-55). We are called...
by MIMADMIN | May 8, 2015 | Testimonies
Note to self: Heard it said… “What is down in the well will come up in the bucket.” As I look at my own life… I would be the first to say that if I truly examined what came up in my bucket….from my well – I would definitely not drink from it, but rather discard the contents immediately! Have you ever said something and wondered afterward…where in the world did that come from? That was my outside voice… I’d like to rewind and try again? James, when writing about the power of our words has much more to say: “Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs, neither can salt water produce fresh.” James 3:11-12 Here is the factual truth: “What is down in the well – will come up in the bucket.” Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.” What do the contents of my well look like when I retrieve my bucket? I submit to you my brothers, that unless God changes the dark, dirty, stagnant contents of my bucket – it’s futile! Romans 12:1-2 speaks to the direction of our hope – God! My mind must continually be “transformed” in order for my contents of my bucket to have that which “proves what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Easier said than...
by MIMADMIN | May 8, 2015 | Testimonies
At the ripe old age of 11, I believe my cognitive processes had matured sufficiently for me to realize I had somehow landed on the planet without a purpose. Further, I recognized an internal issue that I couldn’t quite identify, but it was a wrecking ball in my life and I had no solution for it. To kill the pain, my drugs of choice were athletics, cool cars and friends. When those blew up, which they did on a regular basis, so did my self esteem and sense of well being. My parents were world class. Since the two of them were well respected in the community, that washed over on their kids, but that did not fully compensate for the internal disconnect that plagued me. Fortunately, God paved the way, first leading my parents to Christ. My folks story began at a dinner party where their hosts testified to the change Jesus had made in their lives. Both of my parents along with several of their friends responded to Jesus that night. Even us youngsters could see that something had changed with the folks. Subsequently, my parents began to encourage us to consider the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My first clear recollection of hearing that Jesus could make a fundamental change in my life coupled with an opportunity to respond was at a summer camp in the mountains. They docked us dessert if we didn’t memorize Bible verses so that wasn’t going over too well. Unexpectedly, the last night several of my friends professed Christ. One of them was my brother. That definitely gave me pause. I went...
by MIMADMIN | May 8, 2015 | Testimonies
God works in so many different places, and uses so many different people for one purpose; to glorify His name and draw more people to the body of Christ. I remember listening to a young missionary from China describe how He, and a small group of people were spending their days getting to know the local people in a rural town in China. He described how they would meet in someone’s home for “church” to hear the message of the gospel. He told story after story how one person would commit their life to Jesus, and then another, and another. I was fascinated by the stories because they illustrated that God was drawing people to Himself in China the same way He was doing it in my neighborhood. It was a great illustration of 2 Timothy 2:2, “The things which you have heard and seen from me in the presence of many witnesses, teach these to others, so they will be able to teach others also.” The message of Jesus moved from one person to another “and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). God uses all different types of people to accomplish His work. One of the groups participating in spreading the message of Jesus in our community is Young Life, and my wife and I have had the privilege of spending time with them and seeing first-hand how God works through this group of amazing Christ followers. I was not familiar with Young Life growing up, so I did not know much about what they do, however, as I have watched over...
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