by MIMADMIN | May 8, 2015 | Testimonies
When trying to decide how to best describe my situation in E2 ministry, I thought back to when I committed my life to Christ. I became a believer in 1996 when I was a freshman in college under the guidance of a staff member for Campus Crusade for Christ. What came to mind thinking about the past is the amount of time Clay spent with me before I finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together. We met for months on a weekly or biweekly basis until one day, it all clicked and the Holy Spirit revealed God’s plan to me. That was just the beginning- we met so many times over the next 3 years, discussing everything from basic salvation principles to whether we were pre/mid/post tribulation- all the things new believers (and college students) love to debate. After I left school I sort of lost initiative and didn’t really grow spiritually, much less witness to others. Thankfully that period didn’t last long as I was soon blessed to be able to spend time with Hank, a person who spent countless hours with me and other men—even more so than Clay did and I was able to learn from him and use his example to get back into the Word. Because of the time I spend with him, (10+ years!) I learn more than I ever could on my own and using his example, I have been trying to do the same with others. Hank is probably tired of me and my questions by now, I would suspect. Anyway, in all seriousness, I have been meeting with a...
by MIMADMIN | May 8, 2015 | Testimonies
A couple of weeks ago I needed to be in Boulder CO so I called my best friend from High School, Steve, who lives in Boulder to see if we could get caught up. He is a retired orthodontist, very bright and he and his wife are Jewish. I have talked to him about Christ before with no apparent results. As soon as I sat down at his house he let me know that he has been fighting lung cancer for the last five years and was happy that I had called because he wanted to get my take on the concept of an afterlife. We spent the next four hours going through the Gospel all the way from Justification to what the Bible says about afterlife for departed souls. I could tell at multiple points in our conversation that this Jesus talk was not lining up with his Jewish heritage and the Biblical ideas we were discussing were alien to him. He asked me many questions as we talked ie. “My youngest son is homosexual and I have affirmed him, what do you think?” “You make truth sound the same for everybody. Couldn’t it be different for everybody?” “Isn’t it possible that we just go to sleep when we die and never wake up?” And the questions just kept coming. I had some thoughts after my time with Steve. First, I was again struck with the excitement and privilege of sharing the Gospel. Second, was the joy of being asked by a dear friend to tell him about Jesus and finally how faithful God is. You see, I...
by MIMADMIN | May 8, 2015 | Testimonies
Two years ago I was asked to write an article for the YLN website providing a personal testimony for how I perceive God to be at work in Denver, CO. At the time, in my small sphere of influence, God was taking us through a valley of learning. We had a group of men organizing outreach breakfasts, but that fell apart for various reasons, our Bible study dropped to only two of us, and I found myself without a Timothy to meet with. I had come to the conclusion that E2 is the job of the individual and that outreach groups, Bible studies, and the other organized forms of gathering are merely mechanisms for E2. God had stripped us to virtually nothing, but two men willing to be faithful to opportunity. My friend Bill and I decided to start another study, with just the two of us if no one else was willing to come. Our goal was to be faithful, start small, and let God be in charge of the results. We invited anyone and everyone we could think of to our study. We had six men at our first study- five of them are still attending. Those men have invited others and today we are at nine. I have personally gone from zero to two Timothy’s and 3 other men in the group are meeting one-on-one with other men. In fact, we are having trouble finding enough Paul’s for the Timothy’s God has brought into the group. We also have an inductive study that started in March which has stemmed from the main study. Eight men have...
by MIMADMIN | May 8, 2015 | Testimonies
Years ago, in the Colorado mountains, God took a new believer, (me) and gave me a life application lesson from a very wise brother-in-Christ. The words impacted my life deeply and have given me great comfort over the years. “God is more interested in your availability, than in your ability,” said my brother (who has since entered into Glory). My immediate reaction was great – as I knew very little about the word of God and was new in my walk with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As I thought about it and put that phrase into action-it became evident that my brother-in-Christ knew what he was talking about! It was evident in all aspects of my life; leadership, husband, father, son, and a child of God – that God wasn’t interested in my ability. He was solely interested in my availability and obedience to the circumstances and situations He put in front of me! That’s right – obedience! My availability (obedience) was simply being willing to embrace what, where, and when God called me to be, regardless of whether or not I thought I was “able”. God’s word is very clear with regards to this view – I Corinthians 2:1-2 says, “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” Exactly! I could relate and completely understand Paul’s statement…. “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” I started approaching every...
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...
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