|
armydude -> A little about me... (6/20/2008 7:23:29 PM)
|
I was looking through some old documents that I have and I found this. Sometimes it's a good thing to remember where I've been, not only as a warning, but also as a blessing. After all, God has been SO good to me, and He's not about to stop now.
When I was in the 8th grade, a pastor came to my home to talk with my brother and myself. He was a very soft spoken pastor, and I can point out areas in my life today that he has influenced. He asked me if I knew where I was going if I were to die right then and there. I did not know. He said that unless I accepted God’s free gift of salvation, my eternity would be a terrible one. Needless to say, he had my attention. He laid out the plan of salvation, and asked me if I wanted to accept Jesus as my Savior. I did on that night in August of 1988.
Several times over the next few years, I would forget about this, and God would remind me through a church, Christian camp, or some other way. Whenever I realized that I had drifted away from God, I would beg for forgiveness, and always be delighted to realize that He had been waiting for me the entire time.
When I was deployed to Iraq in 2003, I renewed my dedication to God. This was not when I was saved initially, but it was when my salvation, and the importance of it became real to me. I believe what set it off was when the chaplain said that just across the border were people that wanted to kill us simply because we were Americans. He went on to say that the only thing that would save us was our faith in God. This hit home for me. During the deployment, I started singing in church services that were held by the chaplains. I even witnessed to a local worker, and was told by my superiors that it was a bad idea. Oddly enough the only person not offended was the local worker. He did not become a Christian (while I was there), but he did thank me for telling him the truth about what I believed.
When I was stationed at Fort Campbell, even before being deployed to Iraq, I was told by several of the church elders that I needed to give into the call to preach. My response was, “NOOOO! I’m not called to preach!” When I was deployed to Iraq, camped at Kirkuk, I took 20 minutes to explain to a chaplain that I was not called to preach. His response (I remember it word for word today) was this. “You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
When I returned to Fort Campbell, Loverly and I started attending a nondenominational church off post. It was there that I asked for the chance to help the senior deacon because another deacon had been relocated by the Army. I was asking for a chance to work and was given the title of “deacon in training” (along with the work). As a deacon in training, I was responsible for working with the sound system and for alternating Sunday School lessons with the senior deacon. I also was expected to bring a scripture to the church before the message was preached. As a deacon in training, I also was responsible to be ready to preach if the pastor was not there. I was only called to do this one time. I was called on Thursday and preached that Sunday.
It was at this time that I started to get the nudge that I was doing the right thing. I would look forward to the Sundays that I was able to bring a scripture. I still denied the call to preach for several months. In July of 2005, I got the call loud and clear. I accepted that I was called to preach, but I still argued. I knew that I was not qualified, and I felt that I could take my time to become qualified. Several times from July 2005 to April 2006, I was told that God does not call the qualified, but He qualifies the called. By this time, I had forgotten what happened in July, and had actually started to go back to the life I had lived before even coming to know Christ.
In April of 2006, I went to Charleston, SC for what was billed a face to face encounter with God. I was skeptical. I did not know what to expect from whatever I would see there. But on the way down, I was reminded of what I had (quite angrily) said to God over Christmas of 2005. He had said that I was called to be an evangelist, and that I would not be happy until I heeded that call. I was angry and said, “You heal my knees and I’ll preach.”
At the encounter, God first told me that I am His child regardless of what I do. Instead of doing what I expected, which was make me want to ignore His calling, it made me want to do what He wanted. After all, I had been lovingly accepted without condition. This love made me want to make my Father happy. That night I prayed to ask for forgiveness for not listening for so long.
The first day of the encounter, I had a bad issue with my knees. We were asked to use our chairs as alters as we prayed which meant that we knelt in front of our chairs. When I tried to stand up, my knees had locked in the kneeling position. I had to have help to even get up. One of my fellow encounter participants told me that if it hurt that bad, I should just sit on my chair while everyone else knelt. I refused because I will not let myself be treated differently than anyone else.
It was late Saturday afternoon when it happened. I had knelt several times that day in prayer, and each time it got a little easier, and a little easier. Finally I was able to literally bounce up from the kneeling position. It had finally hit me. I was healed. I almost forgot my promise, but God has reminded me of it often.
I was ordained into the ministry in April of 2007. At times it’s a challenge, but it is something that I would not trade away at all.
|
|
|
|