I am not going to force my belief upon you. I’m not going to go door to door with the assumption that only my belief is the correct one, and be vain enough to try to get you to believe my ways. I’m not going to stand on a platform and preach Hell and damnation so I can scare you. I’m not going to lead a revival of emotions to trick you into coming closer to God. I’m not going to have a weekly altar call that requires non-believers to go to the front of the church and be confronted by a good deal of emotion and confusion. If you invite me to one of your functions, I will seldom speak of my Lord Jesus Christ unless the conversation is first initiated by you. I am NEVER going to reject seekers of Christ and His things, no matter how different they are from me. I am not going to post a bunch of nonsense on the social media pages that is popularly spread amongst people that makes them feel good when they share the posts. I’m not going to act holier than you; nor am I going to act lower than you; I’m just going to be myself.
But, be forewarned, I am a very strong Christian leader, with constant and true faith in my Lord Jesus Christ. I take my assignments for the jobs He has given me to do very, very seriously. Almost all of my waking, and some of my sleeping moments involve planning and leading activities to reach the goals of my Lord. That’s why I sometimes don’t make good conversation. I am always thinking of the Lord’s work; social niceties often are difficult for me to navigate. And by the way, the closer I come to God through my Lord Jesus Christ, the more righteous and holy I do become. Yet, I always remain me; maybe a little bit better than before me…but I am still me.
I do not look like a Christian leader. I am extremely cognizant of my deteriorating looks. I do the best I can, but it is never enough to look my part. But, those that get to know me spiritually, honor and uphold my journey and respect my decisions. Most look to me to guide them to the places they should be in Christ’s world. We baptize more people yearly, on the average, than do the churches in our area. Though our creeks run cold most of the time, we’ve got access to warm water tanks, should old bones need it. Yearly, people we don’t even know knock on our door and ask for Bible Studies. We have many Bible studies with many student groups who are always different. I write Bible Studies specifically for the participating students of each group, guided by the Holy Spirit, in order that they are spiritually restored and moved closer to God. With the professional help of Joanne, we are able to counsel sexual abuse victims, drug and alcohol addicts, prisoners, oddballs, and your general broken people found everywhere amongst the unchurched.
Our ministry has missionaries and our teachings in every country of the world. Many of our missionaries are in dangerous places that we must continually watch out for to ensure their protection. We are known by the various governments, have been vetted often by the United States Pentagon, Army, CIA, and law enforcement agencies. Many foreign governments also monitor our teachings, and continue to allows us to place them on their internet; many have embraced Christ as their Savior because of these opportunities! We even have a pin in our ministry map for a place called “Hell.” We suspect it is a foreign country name, but that is how it was reported, so we stuck a pin in it! We proudly provided many Bible Studies, including our books to soldiers in danger in the Iraq wars. We also provided a training and counseling place for Chaplains during this wartime, and we were honored to gather together almost 500 chaplains with the Army and Pentagon into a group ministry. All of us were blessed to figure ways of accessing and including God in the midst of horror and despair. What a ministry life we have lived!
So, all of the new people meeting us, that’s what we do. We do our jobs very well for the LORD God and we try our hardest to be perfect in delivering His teachings to others. Sometimes our personal lives suffer, and people leave because they cannot rise up to the spiritual level that Joanne and I must maintain. It breaks our heart each time; sometimes more than others. But, we have to choose the life that God demands us to live and pray for those that must leave our presence that the seeds we have planted are not thrown away, but quietly waiting a regrowth and regeneration. Prayer is all we have in many situations.
I am me. I am different than most. But, if you are a part of Joanne’s and my spiritual life, you know us and love us just as much as we love you. It’s the way God made people in His Kingdom, and it promises to be just a small foretaste of what will come when this old earth comes to an end. I can hardly wait for the pains and disappointments of this life to be over on that Promised Day and finally be able to stand in the presence of my Lord!
