Thursday, August 9, 2007

THIS IS THE LORD'S DOING

This is just a quick follow up from this past Sunday's service. Since it was our first public meeting in over a year, it felt a little odd at first. I'll give you this one testimony. Pastor Carol's mother invited a woman from her job and she came.

During the service, the Lord took me completely away from what I planned and had us to share from Psalm 5, on what it means to truly trust the Lord.

At the end of the service, the woman came up to speak to us. She said she has not been going to church as often as she should, but in her own words, "after experiencing this, I'll be back next week."

Her words were so encouraging because everyone who attends Fruitful Life says the exact same thing. They all use the exact same terminology. They all said, including this woman, that it is an
experience.

She also said that what touched her was our relationship. She said, "As soon as I walked into the room, I knew that this couple was really together and united. I could just tell right away."

Then her next words were, "And just seeing how much this man loves his wife…" and she stopped and burst into tears. She said "I've never seen anything like this ever before. Even more than the
message and service, what impressed me the most was their marriage."

Then she smiled and jokingly said, "If you had a gimmick to attract people, that would be the only one that would work for me: Your marriage, your family, just seeing your sons helping you; everything is just so real…"

A few minutes later, she was being ministered to by one of our members named Traci.

After that, Pastor Carol told Traci, "I told you that God would use you to minister to people who come to Fruitful Life that would be going through the same things as you." It was a special revelation moment for Traci as well.

Last year we were reminded by Kristie Jursch, Bishop Raphael Green's executive administrator, to give it one more try. God gave her a dream where I was hitting a wall with a sledge hammer. I was down on one knee, exhausted and ready to quit. What she saw, but I didn't know, was that the wall was cracked on the other side. So in the dream, she told me to hit it one more time. This move into the hotel and returning to the Sunday service is our "one more time" swing of
the sledge hammer against the wall.

This woman was just one testimony, but she represents the trickle of water that comes through when a dam is cracked and beginning to break. We are so encouraged. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.

Thank you for your continued prayer support,

Pastor Chris Green