JUNE 23 "ARE YOU AN EVANGELIST II ?"
I have here just a short
version of Francine
River ’s testimony
...Meanwhile, our marriage was
falling apart. We thought being closer to family would help, but the only way
to move to Northern California would be for Rick
to start his own business. So we sold our home and gave away everything that
wouldn’t fit in a small rental. Rick headed north and moved in with his parents
while looking for an office. I stayed in Southern
California until the children finished the school year. Only one
rental was available, and Rick grabbed it. It didn’t take long to find out we
had landed in between two Christian families. A boy of about eight was waiting
to help us move in. We saw him as a pest; he turned out to be an evangelist.
“Have I got a church for you!” he said. Neither of us was eager to go, but with
the stresses of starting a new business, moving, and our marriage crashing and
burning, I was desperate enough to try anything, even a small church unattached
to a denominational hierarchy. At that first service, several members
introduced themselves. They made me feel part of their family. The pastor
taught straight from the Bible, including providing historical background and
explaining how the Scriptures apply today. I feasted and drank deeply. I
brought our three children. Rick wanted no part of it, so I asked the pastor if
he’d be willing to teach a home Bible study. Rick agreed to attend. Baptized
together on the same day, we soon found ourselves in God’s transformation program.
The first thing God did was take away my writing. The first thing God did was
take away my writing. Frustrated, I didn’t know why the old ways didn’t work
and why everything I wrote now felt hollow. I was still reading romances, but
they didn’t satisfy. I prayed God would give me a passion for his Word. My
prayer was quickly answered: romances all started to seem dull, while Scripture
came to life. As I turned my will and life over to Jesus, I found the love I
had been seeking, that soul-changing, life-giving, ever-faithful love that we
all long for. Are you an Evangelist?
Many will wonder, who was the great and mighty Evangelist God used to
reach someone who would become such a prominent write, to reach millions, was
it Billy Graham that called her, showed up at her door stop? No, it was an 8
year old boy with an enthusiasm for what God was doing in his life and in his
church. Evangelize simply means to propagate, to spread and we only propagate
and spread what we are enthused, excited about, are you an Evangelist?
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