A Story To Tell

 You have a story to tell

I’m going to warn you right now, today may be a bit long. It is a simple question. It is a simple answer. It is also one that needs explaining for some to understand. The question?

I read this.

 "Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."." Matthew 28:16-20

"He was talking to the disciples, right? He was talking to Pastors, right? I know He would not be talking to me. Who am I? I did not go to Bible college. I did not memorize the Bible. I am a nobody who works in security."

The truth is this. Yes, he is talking to us. Me, you, and all of His children. The question we will be diving into is this. How? How do I talk to people about God?

The answer? Tell people about Him. Forget what you think you do not know, and just tell them your story. You have a story to tell. Even if you do not think so. Here is mine.

My name is Peter. I was born on August 17, 1969. I have pretty much always known God. Well, I have always known that God exists. I never accepted that all there was to life was going off to school, work, paying bills, and going home. I always believed that there had to be more than merely existing.

I grew up in small-town America. It was a different time. I do not believe that my Grandmother even had locks on her door. My earthly Father left when I was 13 months old. Therefore I never knew him. I, my mother, and my aunt, all lived with my grandmother and grandfather in a big three-story home.

Growing up was the best time of my life. My grandmother taught me the importance of caring for others. We always had a big, Thanksgiving-style dinner on Sundays, where we took turns bringing dinners around town to certain others who had no one to cook for them. Me and Billy would be outside and playing all hours. We never had to worry about the evils in the world. We would just live. Play. Have fun. Get involved. I would not change a thing.

My grandmother also "made" me and my best friend, Billy, go to Sunday School on Sundays. We were in church plays, took part in bake sales, learned to sing songs, and where to find the Books in the Bible. My grandfather had Parkinson's Disease, so grandma didn't go often, but she did attend the big occasions. With the help of others, in my early life, even Grandpa made a couple.

However, I did not understand who God was, or who Jesus is, until I started, completely unintentionally, a Spiritual quest. I was 19 years old. I was working as a Security Guard at a local mall. I was working with two individuals. Both claim to be Christians, and both claim to be "Born Again." Both tell me two COMPLETELY different things.

First was a young man named James. He told me that he was attending a church in the inner city. When I asked him about it, he asked me "Ever see the movie "Blues Brothers"?" Yup. He said that's it. Singing, dancing, healing. Praising God for hours. It was a true celebration. Every Sunday. He told me about Jesus dying for me, and that I had to be born again, receive the Holy "Ghost", and speak in other tongues, to be saved. I agreed to attend. It was, without doubt, an experience. Not really my cup of tea.

Then there was an older gentleman named Dwight. He shared with me that, Jesus died for me, and that I had to be born again, receive the Holy "Spirit", and learn the ways of God, to be saved. I asked him about this "speaking in tongues" and baptism. He told me that speaking in tongues simply changed your language to speak on spiritual things. He showed me where the Bible talks about it serving no purpose to speak unknown tongues. If people, including you, do not understand what you are talking about, what profit does it have? Good point. So what about this Baptism thing? He told me that it is a step of obedience and an outward sign of my Faith. I was showing the world that I had decided to accept the gift that is Christ's sacrifice through the water Baptism. He told me that God Baptizes with the Spirit. But that man could by no means do that. He invited me to attend his Church. I did.

Now this was the Church I knew. Sing songs. Sit, and listen to the Pastor teach. It was indeed, through that church that I accepted Christ into my life, and was indeed Baptized in the name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Now about this time, I hungered for knowledge. I wanted to grow in Faith. I wanted to learn all I could. I still listened to James, and heard of amazing things that God was doing, not just in my life, but the lives of many around me. Then I started seeing supernatural things happening all the time. Things that had no other explanation but God. There were two that were a major shift in my journey.

A mutual friend Jimmy, friends with both me and James, came to me right after I was baptized, and said, “James sent me to you. He told me you can help me. I want to learn about the Ten Commandments and who Jesus is.” I was thinking to myself, “ME!?!?!?” “Why did James send you to me?” Say it with me, “I know He would not be talking to me. Who am I? I did not go to Bible college. I did not memorize the Bible. I am a nobody who works in security.”

Then surprisingly, to myself, I said sure. “Come on over to my house on such and such a day, and we will talk about it.” Uh, what did I just say? So he did. I did not even know where to find the Ten Commandments. {Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5} and quickly looked through the Bible until I found them while hiding in the kitchen. I found out that day, that even the simplest things of God, are not that simple to those that do not know God. With what little knowledge I did have, and through the process of reading God’s Word together, it planted a seed in Jimmy.

Now Jimmy was a pro-Boxer and would train all the time. He would get up at 4 a.m. and run up a mountain. He came to me one day and said, “I accepted Jesus today. On the top of the mountain.” All the praise and the glory to God.

Now remember, all I knew when this happened was Jesus came, lived, was beaten, and hung on the cross for me. He rose from the dead and all I have to do is believe and He will be with me when I die on this earth. I learned the Ten Commandments at the same time as Jimmy did.

Here is the other. One day, while I was at work, now as a Corporate Investigator, a young lady who worked for one of the businesses I was part of, came to me and said.. "Pete? I know you go to church. I understand that you know about this God stuff. My Sister, who is ten years old, has just been diagnosed with Cancer. Could you ask your church to pray for her? Please."

I asked to meet with the Pastor. I asked him if he thought God gave man the power to heal. He said, to my absolute shock, "No." I asked him to explain. He told me that he believed that the signs and wonders of the Bible were that in the Bible. They were only granted to the twelve to justify them and prove that they were truly sent by Jesus and that when Jesus was raised from the dead, the miracles ceased. Still amazed, I asked if the church could at least pray for the little girl. Of course.

So that Sunday the Church did pray. The following week, the young woman came out of nowhere and wrapped both arms around me, sobbing. I thought the worst. I asked her how her Sister was. She said they just returned from the doctors who had to run extra tests because they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Her Sister? Completely Cancer-free. An answered prayer for healing, from a church that doesn't believe in healing. Now that is God.

So my growth in faith began to take off. Many more things happened that showed me God is good. God is alive and well. Yes, God still gets involved. True miracles are happening every day. I found myself having to move on from that church, due to the lack of belief from the Pastor, and found myself investigating religion itself. I spent time in Catholicism, Judaism, and Eastern Religions of various types. Then one day, I heard as clearly as you would hear me talking to you now, "Stop trying to learn from the creature. Learn from the Creator." Also "If you want to know God. Ask him." From that day on, that is what I have done.

I will never meet the same people that Jimmy the Boxer will meet. But he will be sharing the Gospel with them. I will never meet his friends or friends, but now they have a story to tell as well. I just had to be faithful and tell mine.

There are stories all around you. I remember one day we did a testimony day. The Pastor stopped talking and turned over the time to the congratulation. The concept was simple. "What did Jesus do for you?" It was a Testimonial Service.

As I sat back and watched, I was amazed, touched, moved, and even brought to tears on a couple of occasions. Of course, there were some as you would expect. "God saved me from drugs and alcohol." "God saved my Marriage." "God saved and loved one of my loved ones." "God healed me." ETC. All moving. All great testimonies.

A couple moved me even more. One held a sign and said, "I am worthless." Then went on to explain how she found purpose through Jesus. How she found self-worth through Jesus. Another, "I am alone." Went on to explain how they no longer feel that way through Jesus. It was incredible.

The new church that took over did this again. Some signs shocked me. One was a girl I have known her whole life. She was now a teenager and her sign said “I hurt myself.” I never knew. Another was a disabled person. Great lady, I never asked why she was disabled, and never really thought about it. She is just her. Her sign read, “I’m an abortion survivor.” I was blown away.

So me? My response? To tell you the truth, mine read “I struggle with anger issues and depression.” I thought about my story the whole time. What is my answer? How do I respond to this question? What has God done for me? To my surprise, my response is one word. One word I wanted to share with you all today. “Life.”

Growing up, as a kid, in a small town, Billy and I did stuff all over the place. One day we were walking on the train tracks. There was this trestle in town that we always walked on. It was old and missing some planks. A neighbor fell through it once and broke his back. It sits very high over a rocky river. One day we were walking on it, and I fell through. But I didn't fall. There I was, feet dangling, wondering what just happened, when I found myself being pulled up by, well, "nothing." I was fine.

Fast forward, to later in life, I'm driving down the road in my 77 Toyota Celica GT Limited Edition Sports Car. I'm coming back from picking up my girlfriend at the time, Katrina, from School. I fell asleep and hit a tree airborne and rolled it down the road. We find ourselves standing outside the pile of twisted metal. I remember being ticked off, looking at the wrecked car, when the Police arrived. I will never forget the look on the Cop's face when he said "Good thing she wasn't in the car." I told him she was, and he pointed out that the battery was embedded in the passenger seat. He said we should both be dead.

There are a few more times I know, beyond any doubt whatsoever, I should be dead. But that's not the "life" I'm talking about. Now I know, God always knew me. But I had no concept of salvation until I was 20. Oh, I knew God was real. I even prayed to Him. I learned in Sunday School. But I did not understand

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." 3:16-18

I read

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father but by me."

But I had no idea

"If you had known me, you should have known my Father also: and from henceforth you know him, and have seen him." John 14:6-7

I had no idea that Jesus said

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

Or

"So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." John 10 1-5, 7-11

So I learned that there is no other way. There is no other Truth. There is no other key. You can be as religious as you want, but without accepting Jesus's sacrifice, you are not His. You are NOT a child of God. I learned that this simplistic, open invitation to accept Jesus's sacrifice, was made open and simple to ALL. Available to all. It is not exclusive, but INCLUSIVE. Available to all who seek the Truth. So I did and was Baptized the way Jesus told us to be.

But this is not the "Life" I'm talking about.

No. The “life” I'm talking about is the reason I am here, to begin with. I breath. I exist. I am here because God loved me first. God looked down from Heaven and saw three people. The first was a man named Percy. The second was a woman named Dianna. The third was a man named ??? Let's call him John Smith. He, on an appointed time, on an appointed day, whispered in John's ear. "Buy this land. On this land, build a building. Call that building 'The Store.' In that store place the selves in this manner, and place these products on these shelves." So John did. Then on an appointed time and appointed day, God whispered in Percy's ear, "Go into 'The Store,' go to Isle 3, and buy Peanut Butter. " Then He whispered in Dianna's ear "Go into 'The Store,' go to Isle 3, and buy Peanut Butter. " So they did. They met and fell in love, hence, here I am.

Now God wrote in The Book, I will be this tall. I will have this built. I will have brown eyes and brown hair. I will have this plan and purpose for my life. I shall be called Peter. Now my mother and father never really got along. He left when I was 13 months old. But that's OK. It was not his job to raise me. It was his job to bring me about. I'll say that again. Someone needs to get this. It was not my earthly father's job to raise me. It was not my mother's job either. It was my grandmother's. It was my father and mother's job to bring me into the world.

Now my father wanted me to be called Livingstone Steven Carlock. I kid you not. He was not there at my birth. When the nurse came in and asked my mother "What shall we call him?" My mother had no idea why, but said "Peter." Here I am. As God wrote in His Book, and exactly the way He planned me to be.

"For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book, all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!" Psalms 139: 13-17

I know. Long introduction. However, our stories to share begin with us. Who were we? Who are we now? What have we witnessed with our own eyes? Believe me, you DO have a story to tell. More of mine, and much more to come. Won’t you join me as we go into the season of Thanksgiving? Hey, maybe it will remind you of things you are indeed thankful for.

May the comfort of the Holy Ghost, and the peace of our Lord Jesus, be with you all. May God bless and be with you, always.

Until next time, be blessed, be a blessing, and Jesus is Lord!