Praise to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and thanks to you for printing the testimonial letter by Charles Fleming in the Oct. 29 WN titled "For Years I've Been Religious; Now, I am Becoming a Christian."
The past two years in my nearly quarter-century walk with God are almost a perfect reflection of Mr. Fleming's statement: "When I look back I see that Jesus himself was not in me, in the sense of being the object of my worship and the one to whom I directed my petitions for help."
The simple acceptance of Jesus as the center of my life, the Alpha and Omega of all that I need, my first love and the Emmanuel worthy of all praise, came as a result of the changes in our church.
In the midst of confusion, anger and pain I cried out to my Savior and poured out my trunk full of attempted works for God at the foot of the cross. Then came the understanding; the veil was lifted from my eyes, the burden from my heart, the weight of guilt from my shoulders.
I now sing praises to the Lamb who was willingly led to the slaughter in my place; forgiving past, present and future sins. He is the one I now am compelled to serve out of loving gratitude, not indebtedness.
I pray daily that others in our fellowship will come to discover the simplicity in Christ and take the leap of faith into his awaiting arms.
Dwight Kirby
Marion, Virginia
dwitkirb@juno.com
My decision to attend the Promise Keepers rally in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 25-26 was made mainly out of curiosity. I had heard both pro and con about the PK movement and I wanted to see for myself.
Several friends had expressed to me their misgivings about the Promise Keepers movement because of all the emotionalism.
So, I arrived at Texas Stadium near Dallas with an "I'm going to see for myself" attitude. I didn't know what to expect or how I would react. As I began to experience the event and observe what was taking place, I realized that I was faced with a decision. Was I going to view this experience with the judgmental eyes of the Worldwide Church of God past or, was I going to to view it through the loving eyes of Jesus Christ.
I then realized that my view could only be in a positive light through the eyes of Jesus, because this experience caused me to be humbled, inspired and motivated.
I was humbled to view the uninhibited, childlike adoration of Jesus Christ by almost 70,000 Christian men. Men whom I once did not even consider as my brothers in Christ. There was no denying the fact that these were Christian men who loved their Lord and Master Jesus Christ.
They expressed it in all they said, with arms raised in affection toward Jesus, and yes, many times with tears flowing from their eyes. Yes, I was humbled as I was reminded that I am not so special just because I happen to be a member of the Worldwide Church of God.
I was humbled in the realization that I am special in the eyes of God because of the great price that was paid for each of us. I was humbled as I witnessed many of these men express more love for Jesus Christ in one day than I had expressed in all my years as a member of the Worldwide Church of God.
I was inspired as we greeted one another and became acquainted and shared our stories. I was inspired as we occasionally joined together in small groups to pray together. I was inspired as almost 70,000 of us joined hands, raising arms and worshiping our Savior Jesus Christ in hymns of praise and adoration.
I was inspired because the presence of the Holy Spirit was definitely evident. Everyone was focused on Jesus Christ and our commonality in Jesus. We were a brotherhood of believers no matter what our background or our denomination. There was only Jesus Christ and our common bond in him.
I was motivated by sermons of the caliber that could only come by the Holy Spirit. These sermons were filled with the meat of the Christian message.
Alan W. Ray
Lovelady, Texas
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