Tell Us A Story!

[tyndale1946]

I was reading my Bible this morning and realized that it is full of stories... As the Bible so is our lives, full of stories... About our service to God and each other... We have all had low times and high times and times in between... We have touched others and have been touched by others... No matter what your denomination is, you have stories of what moved you, who moved you and how you were moved... Being a child of God no one should go through this world alone... I've been telling stories since I've been on here and will tell one a little later... But until then you have the floor and our attention... So tell us a story!... Brother Glen

 

[1689Dave]

I was reading my Bible this morning and realized that it is full of stories... As the Bible so is our lives, full of stories... About our service to God and each other... We have all had low times and high times and times in between... We have touched others and have been touched by others... No matter what your denomination is, you have stories of what moved you, who moved you and how you were moved... Being a child of God no one should go through this world alone... I've been telling stories since I've been on here and will tell one a little later... But until then you have the floor and our attention... So tell us a story!... Brother Glen

Thanks for the opportunity to share some of my adventures in God’s providence. In my early Christian experience I ran in Pentecostal circles. And this lasted until a pastor who hated his wife drove her away thinking she would divorce him and remarry. And thereby activate the Matthew 19:9 “except clause” loophole, allowing him to remarry. This happened but it had a devastating effect on my faith.

I knew Christ was real, but I could not find him in any of the churches I sampled. So I returned to my music career thinking if I ever did find the reality I expected, I would re-engage my efforts to follow him.

It wasn’t too long until I received an invitation through old friends, to join a recording group in London England. We moved there but knew as soon as we stepped off the plane it was a mistake. Drug abuse and hanky-panky were the norm. And I knew I would risk my marriage to remain.

Years before I wrote a song about a guy ditching it all and moving to the north woods to live off the land. And during off-hours with the band, I recorded it and some other songs. So having quit the band, penniless and stranded, and needing a way back to the States, I played a taped copy for a publishing affiliate. They were working on a movie about – guess what? A guy ditching it all and moving to the north woods in Canada.

So they gladly bought the song and a few others, gave me front money and a publishing contract and the rest is history.

As I said in my testimony in the new member section, I gave it all up to thankfully follow Christ in Matthew 6:24-34 fashion.

 

[tyndale1946]

Yes!... It has been my experience in walking with the Lord over 50 years... I can look back and see that he was walking with me and sometimes carrying me through life's trials... May be relating to others what we have been through will help others go through it also... I can tell you how many times I've fallen flat on my face, the Lord picks me up, dust me off, and off we go again... Until I blow it again!

I remember when I lost my first wife to Kidney Cancer after 30 years of marriage and everything just overwhelmed me at once and I was so angry at God... I said... I'M FINISHED!... I SURRENDER!... YOU TAKE OVER!... And did he ever!... He sent me my second wife!... But there is always more to a good story!... Later... Brother Glen

 

[Deacon]

This story requires a bit of background.

I have been working in the same cardiology office, performing nuclear stress test for 20 years.

We get a wide variety of clients. It’s my job to make them comfortable with the study and perform the test safely.

One day the front desk women snickered at me. One of the girls mentioned that a patient was a sharp looking gentleman and asked if he was married. He replied that he was not that kind of man... and then mentioned that he was attracted to the guy with the goatee (me). They tried to get a rise out of me but failed

Later that week a very large (close to 400 lbs) man limped up the sidewalk, looking like the world had beaten him down. It was my job to walk him on the treadmill. It was going to be quite difficult for him.

In the stress lab I prepped him and asked him a bit about himself. He was a former alcoholic and drug abuser (attending AA meetings regularly) and burdened with many social problems.

I mentioned that I have a few close friends that have some of the same problems. One leads meeting at my church. I encouraged him and even was able to briefly share the hope of the gospel with him.

He walked poorly on the treadmill but better than both of us expected. He was quite tired and sweaty when he finished.

As he prepared to leave he opened up his arms as if to hug a brother. He thanked me for encouraging him so much. I’ve never seen him since.

I made sure to let the front desk women know that I hugged the big sweaty guy, just to let them know the kind of guy I like.

Rob

 

[Deacon]

Years before I wrote a song about a guy ditching it all and moving to the north woods to live off the land. And during off-hours with the band, I recorded it and some other songs. So having quit the band, penniless and stranded, and needing a way back to the States, I played a taped copy for a publishing affiliate. They were working on a movie about – guess what? A guy ditching it all and moving to the north woods in Canada.

So they gladly bought the song and a few others, gave me front money and a publishing contract and the rest is history.

So what’s the movie’s name?
I’d like to see it just to hear the song. Is it worth watching?

Rob

 

[Mr. Davis]

Haven't been on the Board for quite sometime. Long journey with the Lord. Today at Church was the breakthrough. Galations 5 was on the overhead screen. Knew I needed the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Knelt by my bed, heart aching. Asked Him to thoroughly cleanse my mind. He did that and more! He renewed a right spirit within me and gave me a new zeal for the Lord!

 

[tyndale1946]

Haven't been on the Board for quite sometime. Long journey with the Lord. Today at Church was the breakthrough. Galations 5 was on the overhead screen. Knew I needed the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Knelt by my bed, heart aching. Asked Him to thoroughly cleanse my mind. He did that and more! He renewed a right spirit within me and gave me a new zeal for the Lord!

Glad to see you are back Mr. Davis... I know in my life that the Lord allows us to go certain things that he knows we need to draw us closer to him... He knows us better than we know ourselves... Welcome back brother... Brother Glen

 

[1689Dave]

So what’s the movie’s name?
I’d like to see it just to hear the song. Is it worth watching?

Rob

After a few years of waiting I heard the movie landed in court in a lawsuit between my publisher and the owners of the original soundtrack. They were big money and well known on the world stage. My music lost out in the squabble and their soundtrack remained. But my joy is in how God providentially delivered me and my wife from dangerous toils and snares through a song he had given to me years earlier.

 

[1689Dave]

I have several stories I could tell, but this one stands out in my thinking. The car with no brakes.

I drove into the downtown area, parking in my dentist’s parking lot. After my check up, I pushed the clutch in while pressing the brake pedal. The brake pedal went clear to the floor. Not working at all, without any signs leading up to complete brake failure. I could have rear ended other cars, hit a train, or mowed down pedestrians had the brakes not failed then and worked only one more time! The Lord providentially called my attention to the brake problem in the safety of my dentist’s parking lot from where I received a tow to the repair shop.

 

[Deacon]

I have several stories I could tell, but this one stands out in my thinking. The car with no brakes.

I drove into the downtown area, parking in my dentist’s parking lot. After my check up, I pushed the clutch in while pressing the brake pedal. The brake pedal went clear to the floor. Not working at all, without any signs leading up to complete brake failure. I could have rear ended other cars, hit a train, or mowed down pedestrians had the brakes not failed then and worked only one more time! The Lord providentially called my attention to the brake problem in the safety of my dentist’s parking lot from where I received a tow to the repair shop.

Back when car's were simple I experienced a similar problem - clutch went to the floor.
I took a towel from the back of the car, wrapped it around the cable contention enough to get some grip, and drove to an auto shop where I purchased a hose clamp and a $1 screw drive to fix the problem.
God IS good.

Rob

 

[HankD]

Many years ago when I was the assistant pastor of a Baptist Church in Massachusetts the pastor and I went on visitation to a gentleman's house whose children came to Awana (though he did not attend church). He had been drinking a little and was in the process of chopping up whole chickens when we visited.

we witnessed to him and he became angry and chased us out of the house with his cleaver.

Long story shortened, he was later saved and became a faithful worker in the church.

 

[1689Dave]

I hope I'm not taking too much opportunity here, and thanks to any who read this. but this also stands out in my experiences in God's providence along the way.

Escape from a Death Cult:

Once, while young in the faith, I fell into what would become one of the deadliest Word of Faith cults in North America, the Glory Barn Faith Assembly in northern Indiana. God providentially delivered me by what most would call a twist of fate.

At first I ran into this group through another Pentecostal group. Later, after a job transfer into their area, I began fellowshipping with them. Nothing stood out as unusual. They had the typical adrenalin driven praise and worship most Pentecostal churches have. But I left the area after a year when my job ended. After a couple of years my wife and I returned to the area and they had grown from around 100 to perhaps a 1000.

During this time, we heard about a few people dying of treatable reasons. But they blamed this on lack of faith. Or their faith must not have been genuine. But it wasn’t too long when God led us away from this danger in a most unusual way.

One night they presented the Limited Atonement doctrine so they could teach against it. They were Amyraldian or 4 point Calvinists. This was the first I ever heard of Limited Atonement. But the doctrine, even presented in the most disagreeable way, spoke to me. And after hearing the universal atonement theory in contrast, it dawned on me that we had come to a fork in the road.

I needed to make a choice. If Limited Atonement is true, then everything they said about faith and healing is false. And it would explain why some died of treatable conditions. After a group discussion on the way home, it was our last involvement with them.

Maybe a year passed when we began hearing about their unusually high infant mortality rate. And others dying of easily treated illnesses. Over one hundred preventable deaths happened over a ten year period reaching into the late eighties, the main teacher being one of them. The culprit was the missing L in TULIP for those who know of the 5 points of Calvinism.

Looking back, my wife and daughter, born breech, would have been among the casualties had we continued placing our faith in our faith. But faith in Christ directly led us to a doctor for the Amish who had plenty of experience in breech cases.

 

[tyndale1946]

I don't know where to begin but I guess I will start at the beginning... I do not remember a time I didn't believe in God!... I remember my Dad testing the waters, searching for his belief and ending up in Kingdom Hall ( Jehovah Witness)... I was not to hear the whole story until much later.

Dad was the youngest son of a family of nine... He had a brother who looked out for him called Murrell, who he referred to as Bud... Dad was raised an Old Line Baptist and how his brother found out how he ended up in Kingdom Hall, my Dad must have told him... Now he was in Harlingen Texas and Dad was in San Diego, California, he settled there to raise a family after WWII... His brother when he heard that got on the phone and called a friend his that was also an Old Line Baptist in Chula Vista, a suburb of San Diego!... He said go to this address and get my brother out of that mess!

Well I know it worked because I remember my parents joining the church and being baptized when I was seven... I also remember being raised in the church they joined and getting to know all the members... Did I join?... I'll leave that story for later... In 1965 after joining the Marine Corp, the branch my Dad served in, at the age of 19, I headed to Vietnam, and that's another story... Brother Glen

 

[1689Dave]

It would be good to hear how others in the forum came to Christ.

 

[tyndale1946]

It would be good to hear how others in the forum came to Christ.

Dave I fully agree and having been on this board as long as I have, I cannot understand why there isn't a testimony forum?... So in a way I decided to start one so those who want to get to know each other can... I know you are a brother or sister in Christ or may be you are still looking... But tell us a little about you personally and here is a venue for it... Tell us a story!... May be the powers that be on the BB will start one?... I'm testing the waters!... Brother Glen

 

[1689Dave]

Dave I fully agree and having been on this board as long as I have, I cannot understand why there isn't a testimony forum?... So in a way I decided to start one so those who want to get to know each other can... I know you are a brother or sister in Christ or may be you are still looking... But tell us a little about you personally and here is a venue for it... Tell us a story!... May be the powers that be on the BB will start one?... I'm testing the waters!... Brother Glen

Thanks for the opportunity to share the story of my conversion to Christ.

I was 20 and lost, not seeking any religion. But I began experiencing what I recognize now as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And my thoughts turned to Christ throughout the day. I began telling people that I didn't know what was going on but I think Christ is real and that he is dealing with me. This continued over 3 days. I had never been at peace like this or ever this happy. I did not want it to end but it took a turn.


On the evening of the 3rd day my happiness turned into remorse. God convicted me of sins I didn't even know existed. Alone, I began praying, sobbing and asking his forgiveness. And I asked Jesus into my heart. Perhaps this was something I heard along the way, or possibly remembered from singing "Since Jesus Came into My Heart" as a Sunday schoolboy. I don't know. But I fell asleep exhausted in tears that night only to awake the next day convinced Christ had saved me.


I woke up beside myself, possibly a fanatic. And it was infectious. I began telling friends and loved ones that Jesus is real and I've not known peace and love like this before. I saw a whole string of conversions in and around people I knew. I wrote letters to some who then found Christ and remain in the ministry today. Many of us converged on the coffeehouse scene where we began learning about our new life in Christ and were went down to the river for baptism.

 

[just-want-peace]

I grew up going to church from "before memory". I accepted Christ somewhere about 7-8 years old. Always a good(?) boy, never giving my parents any trouble (only child), or never rebelling beyond staying out later that I was supposed to or something equally as un-glamorous.

Stayed this way into my 40s, and was never quite content with my life. Best way I can define my life during this period is that I was TOO good to enjoy being bad, but TOO bad to enjoy being good; IOW miserable!! In retrospect, I can see His guidance & protection as I bounced through life, totally unaware of such at the time.

Sometime mid 70s we had a program at church (sorry, cannot remember the "name" of the program) that changed my life and I opted to live on the "good" side and stay away from any lures of the "bad" side. Been much, much, more content and happy since then (now pushing 82).

This brings me to an encounter with God that still amazes me. I was in mid 50s or so when I suddenly felt this internal drive to become a pastor. Now I'm still working as an engineer, and I am extremely private and a strong introvert. The call felt that I was to do this pastoring part-time while continuing to work.

Well, of course pastoring meant going COMPLETELY against my personality, and getting into personal relations that scared the bejeebers outta me. Only God knows how many "reasons" I concocted to refuse this assignment, but it continued for about a month.

I finally said "OK God, I'll do it, but I still don't like it!"

Well, lo & behold, as soon as I conceded defeat, the "call" left and has never returned.

Only thing I can figure is that God was just testing me to see if I was willing to follow Him or not, sorta like Abraham & Isaac!?

And we think Trump is un-predictable!!

 

[tyndale1946]

Like I told everyone on here I was raised in church... Started going with my folks when they joined with two younger brothers and younger sister... I am the oldest... I tried to live up to it but failed, time and time again... My Dad was a deacon and the church clerk and the song leader... I was a deacons kid but not like the preachers kids... Though I didn't feel like one, that was the label I wore... At the age of 12 my younger brother joined the church and was baptized but not soon after quit and stopped coming... Why?... I never found out and he never said so, and he never joined another... He'll be 70 this year.

In 1964 the Vietnam Conflict was on the horizon and after finishing boot camp I headed out in May of 65 with Charlie Company 3rd Tanks with the Marines on my way to Vietnam... I arrived in July of 65 after hoping on the Navy bus headed across the ocean to Hawaii, then Okinawa... Hopped on a C-130 transport plane, which delivered me to Da Nang in Vietnam... Looking all around me I was definitely in a war zone at the age of 19.

It took a while to get use to the place with, gunfire, explosions and never forget the different things that could kill you and want to kill you... Not to forget the wicked weather that fried you at times with intense heat and drowned you during the monsoons... The wind at times blew so hard it rained sideways... I was from sunny California and did this adjust my barometer.

I had been there for seven months and we had held the perimeter around our compound and would engage in a firefight every now and then but nothing major, until February of 66... The Major of our unit Major Christy (who we deemed Major Christ) was tired of sitting around and not being in the thick of the battle... So when Operation Beaver came he was chopping at the bit... So he gathered all of us together and said, WE NEED TO SHOW EVERY ONE WHAT TANKS CAN DO IN VIETNAM!... So he signed us up!

We joined 4th Tanks and with 21 heavily loaded 90mm, 30 cal, and 50 cal guns, including a flame tank we joined the fray... Off I went to my first test of real combat... Most of our tanks weighed in at 50 tons or more... The terrain was at times muddy, real muddy... Heavy tanks and mud as bad as it was... How bad was it?... We got 19 out of 21 tanks stuck in up to four foot of mud... We could not move and darkness was setting in... Our tank was stuck at a 45 degree angle... If we fired our main gun, the recoil would drive us further in the mud, our main gun was useless as were the rest of our smaller ones... We were SITTING DUCKS!

I had finished my watch and had fallen asleep on the back of the tank, when I was shook by our tank commander... He was surprised, he though I was dead!... To find out later a mortar
round exploded 20 feet above my head... That didn't wake me up but he did... I'm a heavy sleeper!... During the battle 3 out of the 21 tanks were destroyed and 9 marines died... We were to learn later that the Vietcong with a primitive weapon consisting of a sliced bamboo pole and an inner tube to launch a rocket, destroyed 3 tanks... How bad were we stuck and how did we get out?... It took Sikorsky Vietnam War Transport Helicopters with cables to pull us out... Our tank unit since I was there was never used again... In 1968 after returning from Vietnam I joined the church I grew up in at the age of 22 and was baptized... Joined my dad as a song leader and never forgot how the Lord delivered me from Vietnam without a scratch... I been trying to serve the Lord over 50 years... Brother Glen

 

[tyndale1946]

Like I told everyone on here I was raised in church... Started going with my folks when they joined with two younger brothers and younger sister... I am the oldest... I tried to live up to it but failed, time and time again... My Dad was a deacon and the church clerk and the song leader... I was a deacons kid but not like the preachers kids... Though I didn't feel like one, that was the label I wore... At the age of 12 my younger brother joined the church and was baptized but not soon after quit and stopped coming... Why?... I never found out and he never said so, and he never joined another... He'll be 70 this year.

In 1964 the Vietnam Conflict was on the horizon and after finishing boot camp I headed out in May of 65 with Charlie Company 3rd Tanks with the Marines on my way to Vietnam... I arrived in July of 65 after hoping on the Navy bus headed across the ocean to Hawaii, then Okinawa... Hopped on a C-130 transport plane, which delivered me to Da Nang in Vietnam... Looking all around me I was definitely in a war zone at the age of 19.

It took a while to get use to the place with, gunfire, explosions and never forget the different things that could kill you and want to kill you... Not to forget the wicked weather that fried you at times with intense heat and drowned you during the monsoons... The wind at times blew so hard it rained sideways... I was from sunny California and did this adjust my barometer.

I had been there for seven months and we had held the perimeter around our compound and would engage in a firefight every now and then but nothing major, until February of 66... The Major of our unit Major Christy (who we deemed Major Christ) was tired of sitting around and not being in the thick of the battle... So when had a chance to show what tanks can do, he was chopping at the bit... So he gathered all of us together and said, WE NEED TO SHOW EVERY ONE WHAT TANKS CAN DO IN VIETNAM!... So he signed us up!

We joined 4th Tanks and with 21 heavily loaded 90mm, 30 cal, and 50 cal guns, including a flame tank we joined the fray... Off I went to my first test of real combat... Most of our tanks weighed in at 50 tons or more... The terrain was at times muddy, real muddy... Heavy tanks and mud as bad as it was... How bad was it?... We got 19 out of 21 tanks stuck in up to four foot of mud... We could not move and darkness was setting in... Our tank was stuck at a 45 degree angle... If we fired our main gun, the recoil would drive us further in the mud, our main gun was useless as were the rest of our smaller ones... We were SITTING DUCKS!

I had finished my watch and had fallen asleep on the back of the tank, when I was shook by our tank commander... He was surprised, he though I was dead!... To find out later a mortar
round exploded 20 feet above my head... That didn't wake me up but he did... I'm a heavy sleeper!... During the battle 3 out of the 21 tanks were destroyed and 9 marines died... We were to learn later that the Vietcong with a primitive weapon consisting of a sliced bamboo pole and an inner tube to launch a rocket, destroyed 3 tanks... How bad were we stuck and how did we get out?... It took Sikorsky Vietnam War Transport Helicopters with cables to pull us out... Our tank unit since I was there was never used again... In 1968 after returning from Vietnam I joined the church I grew up in at the age of 22 and was baptized... Joined my dad as a song leader and never forgot how the Lord delivered me from Vietnam without a scratch... I been trying to serve the Lord over 50 years... Brother Glen

 

[1689Dave]

Like I told everyone on here I was raised in church... Started going with my folks when they joined with two younger brothers and younger sister... I am the oldest... I tried to live up to it but failed, time and time again... My Dad was a deacon and the church clerk and the song leader... I was a deacons kid but not like the preachers kids... Though I didn't feel like one, that was the label I wore... At the age of 12 my younger brother joined the church and was baptized but not soon after quit and stopped coming... Why?... I never found out and he never said so, and he never joined another... He'll be 70 this year.

In 1964 the Vietnam Conflict was on the horizon and after finishing boot camp I headed out in May of 65 with Charlie Company 3rd Tanks with the Marines on my way to Vietnam... I arrived in July of 65 after hoping on the Navy bus headed across the ocean to Hawaii, then Okinawa... Hopped on a C-130 transport plane, which delivered me to Da Nang in Vietnam... Looking all around me I was definitely in a war zone at the age of 19.

It took a while to get use to the place with, gunfire, explosions and never forget the different things that could kill you and want to kill you... Not to forget the wicked weather that fried you at times with intense heat and drowned you during the monsoons... The wind at times blew so hard it rained sideways... I was from sunny California and did this adjust my barometer.

I had been there for seven months and we had held the perimeter around our compound and would engage in a firefight every now and then but nothing major, until February of 66... The Major of our unit Major Christy (who we deemed Major Christ) was tired of sitting around and not being in the thick of the battle... So when Operation Beaver came he was chopping at the bit... So he gathered all of us together and said, WE NEED TO SHOW EVERY ONE WHAT TANKS CAN DO IN VIETNAM!... So he signed us up!

We joined 4th Tanks and with 21 heavily loaded 90mm, 30 cal, and 50 cal guns, including a flame tank we joined the fray... Off I went to my first test of real combat... Most of our tanks weighed in at 50 tons or more... The terrain was at times muddy, real muddy... Heavy tanks and mud as bad as it was... How bad was it?... We got 19 out of 21 tanks stuck in up to four foot of mud... We could not move and darkness was setting in... Our tank was stuck at a 45 degree angle... If we fired our main gun, the recoil would drive us further in the mud, our main gun was useless as were the rest of our smaller ones... We were SITTING DUCKS!

I had finished my watch and had fallen asleep on the back of the tank, when I was shook by our tank commander... He was surprised, he though I was dead!... To find out later a mortar
round exploded 20 feet above my head... That didn't wake me up but he did... I'm a heavy sleeper!... During the battle 3 out of the 21 tanks were destroyed and 9 marines died... We were to learn later that the Vietcong with a primitive weapon consisting of a sliced bamboo pole and an inner tube to launch a rocket, destroyed 3 tanks... How bad were we stuck and how did we get out?... It took Sikorsky Vietnam War Transport Helicopters with cables to pull us out... Our tank unit since I was there was never used again... In 1968 after returning from Vietnam I joined the church I grew up in at the age of 22 and was baptized... Joined my dad as a song leader and never forgot how the Lord delivered me from Vietnam without a scratch... I been trying to serve the Lord over 50 years... Brother Glen

I thank God for your survival. I had some friends who did not make it. Against all odds, I registered as a civilian Conscientious Objector in 1970. They drafted me into civilian service where I worked for the Mennonite Central Committee in a program they developed for treating emotionally retarded teens. It was stressful but nothing like what you and many others went through.