Monday, November 4, 2024

60 Second Testimony

60 Second Testimony

I attend a Bible study on Thursday nights. We are currently working our way through a book on discipleship, focusing on sharing our faith; in common church vernacular - witnessing. For me, "witnessing," or as I call it, sharing my faith, is more a way of life than it is an intentional action. I share things about many relationships I have in my life. I never walk up to someone I do not know and say, "I would like to introduce you to my grandchildren!" Some do this. I'm not one of them.

In that same line of thought, nearly everyone I know are aware of my grandchildren. Many know their names, ages, and latest exploits. It's what you do when you are in relationship with someone. You share your heart ... all of it.

However, there may be an opportunity which may arise where you feel compelled to share what God has done in your life. You may see someone struggling to find their way through a difficult stretch of living. In those moments it would help to have something prepared to "break the ice" in order to get a conversation started. Our text for the current study suggests having a "60 Second Testimony." By having a concise opener memorized for easy recall, it takes some of the pressure off. It's simply sharing something about Someone you are in relationship with in order to help a fellow human cope with circumstances.

Below is what I've settled on for my 60 Second Testimony. It only took 65 years to come up with this. I weeded out a lot of jargon and confusing Christianese to get to this place. Take a look:

I spent much of my life confused about who God is. I never wondered if there was a God. I could see in nature there had to be a Creator. I just could not get my head around who He was by what I heard said about Him by those who claimed to be His children.

It wasn’t until I came to the end of myself that I cried out to Him, and from that experience began learning who He really is. Through this process I came to know Him, and the life-transformation He offered through all that Jesus did to provide a way back into fellowship with God, the Creator, the Father, the One who loves me most.

Now I spend my life trying to get others to see the God that I have come to know, so they, too, can have a relationship with Him. He stands ready to hear our cry and will move heaven and earth if necessary to bring you back home.

I would love to hear you comments. I won't argue with you. You may think it's the worst thing ever. You may think it's the best thing ever. Either way, I would not disagree with you. It's simply my way of verbalizing what I have come to know about God up to this point. But, I'm always trying to learn more. If you feel you have something which can help me see more of God, please share it with me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Blessings!

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Sunday’s Blessing – 11/03/2024

Sunday’s Blessing – 11/03/2024

May you realize the whole message of scripture is revealing the Creator to His world
So you may know the meaning of your existence: to show God’s glory in your world
So you may experience the reality of the Spirit: to empower you to be a witness
So you may live by faith: walking in the grace and mercy of the Father

Live in pursuit of the knowledge of God by asking, seeking, and knocking
And find what the Father has prepared for the Body of Christ, the Church
Which is revealed to you by His Spirit
So that you may share it with those you encounter in your life

Sunday, October 27, 2024

Sunday’s Blessing – 10/27/2024

Sunday’s Blessing – 10/27/2024

May you realize this day that God’s plan to redeem you is already in place
That you understand He has called you out of darkness
That He has obliterated sin through Christ
That He has restored you as a son/daughter of Him

May you find your life-plan inside of God’s plan
That you may know His plan for you because the Spirit has revealed it
That you may walk out this plan as He directs your steps
That you may see the desires of your heart completely satisfied

Sunday, October 20, 2024

Sunday’s Blessing – 10/20/2024

Sunday’s Blessing – 10/20/2024

May you come to understand the fulness of being Identified with Christ
That you would die to self
That you would be buried with Christ
That you would be raised to walk out the life of Christ in the earth

May you fully realize that Christmas, nor Easter, contain the full manifestation of Jesus’ work He completed to provide our restoration to fellowship with the Father
That you would also live an ascended life, far above all rule, power, dominion, and names
That you would occupy your place, seated next to the Father
That you would welcome the Holy Spirit sent by Christ to empower us to be witnesses

May you reveal the Kingdom of God as you live your life
Each day, relying on the new grace and mercies given by the Father
Speaking the truth in love
Loving your neighbor as the sacred gift of God

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Sunday’s Blessing – 10/13/2024

Sunday’s Blessing – 10/13/2024

May the Lord help you to take every thought captive
So the 70,000 thoughts you have per day will be productive
So the positive thoughts you have will far outweigh the negative ones
So that you may move toward developing the mind of Christ

May the indwelling Spirit of God give you wisdom
So you may divide between soul and spirit in your thinking
So you may discern the thoughts and intents of your heart
So that you may become like the image of the Son of God

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Perspective

Perspective

In a perfect world, skies would always be blue
The sun would always be shining, flowers always in bloom
No problems to concern us, no worries to bring us down
No noises to distract us, only songs and pleasant sounds

No pounds added from eating chocolate
Or lack of sleep to cause fatigue
Just sweet fellowship with those we love
And a wonderful life to lead

This world does not exist except in dreams and times of wonder
The real world comes with challenges, a vigorous fight and sometimes thunder
So we must choose our steps, our goals, our dreams
To not become lost as we live out every hour we have with purpose

One thing must remain a conscious thought as we forge our way forward
It’s vital to our sense of joy, excitement, and determination
Mistakes do not define us as each day we can begin anew
Until we realize the good days where things went well far outweigh the bad

Just as in this lyric, where each phrase was not a perfect rhyme
The meter is not very consistent, maybe not even existent
But the message it contains rings true if you’ll only listen
Don’t let a bad yesterday make today unworth the living

Saturday, October 5, 2024

Sunday’s Blessing – 10/06/2024

Sunday’s Blessing – 10/06/2024

May you hear the sound of the Lord in your life
So when He speaks you will hear
When He beacons you will respond
When He sings over you, you dance

May you discover you life song
Which harmonizes with the rest of the Body of Christ
Which draws others toward the peace in your life
Which sounds off the grace and love of God