We need to get some discussion going on here. But onlookers, please note the board's rules. This board is for people of like faith to share encouragement. This is not a place for debate or criticizing of one's faith in God. So please refrain from that sort of posting.
Ok, so how about getting a thread going where we can post personal testimonies of things God has done in our lives or things we've witnessed. Kind of like "the sweetest thing" thread up top, only from a faith perspective.
I'd be very interested in reading some encouraging accounts of God's goodness. So who's first?
how about
God lets me catch lots and lots of fishes in the fall
Well...I guess that's a start. ;)
There have been numerous times in my life when God has taken me in his hands and just carried me along. This is an accounting of the most recent.
I live in Dexter, MI. In March of this year we had a tornado.
I was working at the Church when it hit. We went into the basement and waited it out. I prayed for God's deliverance for us at church, and for my wife who was home alone. When it was over we came up stairs to find that the damage was extensive. I went into the chapel and gave thanks for the protection we were granted.
Later that night I came home to find my property had been ravaged by the storm. We lost over 100 mature trees of various kinds. We don't have a basement. There were trees down in my yard falling in every direction except on the house. In fact every one that fell, fell away from the house. My wife was safe. My house, garage, and boat were pretty much unaffected by the storm. There was a large limb that came down between the boat and the garage and it touched neither. The bird feeders next to the house on shepherds hooks still stood untouched.
The next morning I stood in what was my back yard, and prayed again. I asked God to take charge and deal with this because I knew that it was beyond anything I could do. And so He did, and still does. Over the next several weeks hundreds of volunteers from all over came to help. It was overwhelming to witness. We still are cleaning up and replanting. We will be for quite some time. But God saw us through in our time of need.
As for the rest of the Dexter area? Not one person was injured enough by the tornado to even go to the hospital. Property damage around town was horrible. People are still rebuilding. Some are still out of their homes. But not one person was hurt.
Through Him all things are possible. Phil 4:13
Praise God.
Something recently happened in my church that has made me really see God at work. Our church houses homeless people at various times throughout the year. Typically a church is asked to do this once a year. Because of our location and a special relationship we have with the shelter system, we have been asked to take in the guests last minute due to a church backing out with little notice. We agreed (please don't think this is pride). We did it because we just couldn't let people be on the streets. Anyway, we had them here last week and it went well. I was afraid my volunteers would be so strapped for time, that we wouldn't get enough volunteers to handle the week. But when I asked for a show of hands the Sunday prior a miracle happened. EVERY SINGLE HAND WENT UP. So all in all it was a good week. But that was just the beginning.
During that week, I got a call from the shelter. They told me they were unable to find a church to do the job coming up in 2 weeks. They reluctantly asked if we would consider doing it again with only a week's break. I admit, I was extremely reluctant to ask our small church to volunteer for another week of housing the homeless considering we've done it twice this year already since August. Ugh. I was fearful. But I dipped my head into a Bible study that was going on during the week and talked to the dozen people in it. I told them another church bailed and they really needed our help. I asked who would be willing to pitch in and handle another week. Well you guessed it. They said YES. So far we have a few less volunteers than we need, but overall it's looking like the church is once again stepping up to help those in distress. Now if you ask me...that's God. I say that because we are human. Just about all of us would probably rather take it easy that week and take care of our normal lives. It's a big inconvenience to stay overnights, prepare meals for 30 every day, clean bathrooms, etc. It's a lot of work. Yet God inspired the hearts of the people to put that all aside and say YES to helping 30 women and children who would have nowhere to go otherwise.
I just love seeing God at work in the hearts of people who are willing to let Him in. When we are willing to let Him in, that's exactly what happens. Pretty cool stuff.
Oh, and this isn't about patting our church on the back. We are a church of normal sinful people just like anyone else. I give all the credit to GOD for moving the way He did. Give Him a chance.
Tom thank you so much for taking the time to make the world a better place. It can be done if most of us just decide to do it.
Quote from: djkimmel on December 08, 2012, 05:34:41 PM
Tom thank you so much for taking the time to make the world a better place. It can be done if most of us just decide to do it.
It takes faith and if you have faith, God will always be your co-pilot. Thanks Rev.
BD. ;D