Here’s another story from a recent Intersections participant.  The idea is to tell your story in a short printed format as a way to prepare for opportunities God gives you to share your faith.  See dozens of stories in addition to Connie’s at this link:

100 Word Essay

Living Life God’s way is My Goal

I have been in church since I was a baby.  I have been a children choir leader, member of the choir, MYF President, and did many active things for the Medodist Church growing up.  I grew up with a mother who never gossiped or said anything bad about anyone.  I was corrected all the time if I did something unkind. When I left home I realized not all men were like my dad who was also a Christian man.

I excepted the Lord when I was 14 years old with two of my best friends at that time.  I have found having the Lord in my life makes me a better person and love for all.  I am a risk taker so I sin from time to time and have to get back to basics.  I lost 3 jobs 11 years ago and really had God by my side.  It was extremely hard as I lost them due to lies, jealousy, and doing too good of job.  Next I got ovarian cancer stage 4 and my limp-nods were full of cancer too.  Cancer just returned last year.  I am cancer free at this time.

I found CCC church, put myself in a Journey group, Gathering, and a Woman’s Bible study called “Rock Solid” to work on getting God closer to me.  I always tell God I am yours and help me follow you.  We all are sinners and have to work at not being a “Hypocrite”.   It was a blessing for Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and me to loose my jobs and get cancer, as I can be more of a witness for God the Father.  People can’t understand why I am so happy.  You put Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit together and you come out with grace, compassion, and forgiveness in your heart and mind.  It is so much better to have Sunshine in your life instead of darkness.  God is the light in our lives.

Connie

Don’t miss the final Summit 2012 event tonight at 7:00pm in the Student Center at Old Mill.  Bring a friend and bring your questions.  Enjoy our new monthly format for Gathering.

The Goodness of God in a World of Injustice

Many struggle to believe the Gospel because they see the Church making such small impact in our world. Is the Good News really Good News if it isn’t bringing transformation to our communities?

Question Mark / Friday Night Gathering

I asked Jesus into my heart at age 5.  As a teen I thought I was a “good Christian” because I could list the sins that I didn’t do, but as the list shrank and my guilty feelings grew, I drifted away from God.  For years I lived for myself, but many people were praying and God didn’t give up on me.  My life was a depressing mess when I realized I needed to put God first.  I made big changes, gave my life back to Jesus, and felt the love of complete forgiveness and grace.  I feel so thankful for what he did for me, making me clean again, blessing me, and carrying me through life’s difficulties that I want to live my life for him.

- Christina

I asked Jesus into my heart in the toy aisle of the Four Star Drug in Waverly, Nebraska when I was 4 years old.

My older brother and I and our mom were driving home one night from Lincoln and I was in the backseat. My mom and brother were in the front seat talking about what it meant to ask Jesus into your heart. I was listening as they talked. My mom explained to my brother that when you ask Jesus into your heart, you believe that He is your personal Savior and that he died to forgive your sins. Then you become a Christian and Jesus lives in your heart forever.

We stopped at the drug store to pick up some things, and when we went inside, I stole away to the toy aisle and looked to make sure no one was around. Then I prayed and asked Jesus into my heart. This was the beginning of a wonderful journey that I am still on today as a follower of Jesus Christ. Amen!

-Michael

I always went to church.  As a child,  I loved the stained glass windows, sitting next to my grandmother  and listening to the choir.     As I grew up in church,    I thought I was a Christian and life was wonderful and perfect.    Until it suddenly  wasn’t anymore.   It was then that I realized that I didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus and I didn’t know where my faith was.     But, I did know that I should pray and I did so –  night, after lonely night.   And, one day, a friend came by and helped me to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  I have never been alone again.

- Deborah

I’ve been doing another blast of Intersctions training.  Just finished lesson 4 – Tell the Stories.  People send me their 100 Word Essays about how their relationship with God got started.  Here’s another story from Terri.  As more of my class sends me their stories I’ll pass them on!  I never get tired of reading these.  Thanks for sharing, Terri!  You can see all the 100 Word Stories I’ve been collecting by hitting this link!

Terri’s story…

I grew up learning about God: sitting in Sunday school class, learning hymns in worship service, reading the Bible, feeling drawn toward God and desiring to be a good person.  One evening, my mother explained my need to receive Jesus personally. Slightly panicked, I replied, “I’m not ready yet.”  I sensed that this would be a life-changing choice that demanded much of me. In time, I opened myself to Jesus and have discovered that the only step toward readiness was recognizing my need. It’s a daily “following” that focuses my life and grounds me in love and purpose.

Great comments on the Tough Questions video about The Bible or the Qur’an.  The excitement that seems to be out there about the Tri-Faith initiative here in Omaha makes for an interesting context to consider the religious pluralism of our day.  Dialogue, mutual understanding and respect are all values the Christian Bible upholds and so as Christians we must reflect the person of Christ as we encounter non-Christian religions.  But what can get lost in today’s environment is an appreciation for the clear differences between us.

There is a role for respectful critical realism.  On the issue of whether Christianity can ever be claimed by Islam as a foundation for it’s message, practices and world view – it’s the Christian Bible that raises the most penetrating challenge.  Islam just doesn’t contribute anything essential to the message of the Christian Bible.  Jesus is the clear fulfillment of what the Old Testament scriptures point to.  He is the key.  Reject the Christian Bible’s view of Jesus and you simply sever the connection between Judaism and Christianity and the connection between Islam and Christianity.  It’s more honest to simply say  - these are three radically different faith systems that cannot be theologically or historically integrated.

Check out this sermon from Pastor Mark from 2009 comparing Christianity and Islam.  Includes an interview with a Muslim convert to Christianity.

If you want to read further about the vivid contrasts between Christianity and Islam, this title by Timothy George is excellent!  It’s respectfully done and clearly presented (brief too- 145 pages).  It simply asks the right question about Christianity and Islam.  If you give it a read, let me know what you think.

WOW!  The buzz around CCC staff teams this week is how incredibly engaged people are with Project 4:4.  Isn’t it great when literally thousands of people all jump on board with a great idea?  This week has been like grabbing a brand new high-tech gadget and pushing the on-button for the first time!  COOL!

Thanks for all of you who have been doing the daily readings, watching video accelerators and tuning into tough questions.  Isn’t God’s word amazing, rich, puzzling, energizing?

This week’s Tough Questions Video #2 got my engines started.  Did the Bible borrow its Creation Story?  As I’ve tracked with the comments earlier in the week I just wanted to chime in with a comment or two on the blog.

Bill’s comment helped me see the need to sum things up a little better from the comparison of the Genesis account and ancient Mesopotamian creation mythology.  Could Genesis have borrowed from the Enuma Elish or Atrahasis – YES.  Possible.  But very very unlikely.  The dating of the written accounts doesn’t determine the antiquity of the account itself.  It’s entirely possible that humanity knew its story of origins long before Moses.  Long before 1400 BC.  In God’s timing of giving us scripture, he saw fit to actually have it written down at the same time the other 4 books of the Pentateuch were inspired through Moses.

The more critical issue is what Pastor Mark brought out so well in his message.  The world view of Genesis is so distinct and unique to all other ancient Mesopotamian (or otherwise) literature.  The details we do have about how creation took place come from an entire world view consistent with who God is and how he does things.  Human imagination just can’t deliver something on the same scale as a real God telling us what we need to know about how things really happened and why.

Keep the comments coming.  Next week we’re going to look at the puzzling question of why Isaac and NOT Ishmael and talk through the implications for the birth and development of Islam!  Look out!

Our second Tough Question will try to tackle what seems to be a difficult stigma of women in the Old Testament.  Watch for the marriage of Isaac to Rebekah as you’re reading next week and look me up on Project 4:4!