23 August 2006

another win for the Kingdom



this is a really cool story that's a good reminder why we do what we do. donna frank wrote this up and sent it to me. (thanks donna!)

    Alliece Cole almost always asks people what brought them to Healing Place Church. In Mary’s case it was a TV commercial. Mary explained to us that she and her husband had been having problems for some time. Without getting into details it sounded pretty serious. One day she saw a commercial advertising the Easter event at the River Center. She had heard about Healing Place, experienced a water giveaway and had listened to Pastor Dino online once or twice. She decided to attend the Easter service, but her husband refused to go. The following week she decided to attend HPC, once again without her husband. By her third consecutive week her husband stated that he was going with her; to find out who she was meeting at church. She said that it felt like everyone left the building that day except she, her husband and Pastor Dino. The message was so on track that her husband asked if she had met with the pastor and told him all of their business. She assured him that she had not talked to anyone about anything. That brought Mary back the next week, along with her now-willing husband.

    They started attending service regularly and decided to see what the church was really about. They took Spiritual Formation class together, and then Basic Christianity. They got plugged in and now both are active volunteers with Cooking For Christ. Wanting to stretch herself a little, Mary recently started volunteering with ICU. God is good!

    Mary will be the first one to tell you that their marriage is far from perfect. They still struggle and face challenges, but at least now they are facing them together with Christ.

    God finds people wherever they’re at. God found Mary in front of her television and within 30 seconds He changed the course of her life. Through that 30-second TV spot, her husband returned to church, their marriage is being restored and her family is seeing the difference that a relationship with Jesus can make.

    I don’t say this very often, but thank God for television. Thank God that HPC is progressive enough to use the tools and technology that we have to promote the Gospel. Information is powerful…the Truth is all-powerful. Let’s continue to spread the Good News and watch people like Mary change our community. All glory to God!

1 comment:

agardana said...

Amen! It's all about speaking the language of those around you so they understand. Isn't that what the Holy Spirit did at Pentecost? We are "in the world" for a reason, God helps us to not be "of it."