8 minute read
Community
Divine Appointments
in Dodge Center
In preparation for Eric Flickinger’s Which Way, America? meetings held last fall in southeast Minnesota, I moved to the area in 2020 and began working with local churches. The Dodge Center church went all in, sending Bible study invitations through the mail, conducting Facebook advertising, handing out fliers, and inviting everyone they met to study the Bible with them and come to the series.
Many church members, like Denzil, had divine appointments as they followed up with Bible study interests. A business executive, Denzil had spoken at evangelistic series around the globe and had taught others about sharing Jesus. Now for the first time, he was leading someone individually through a series of Bible studies. He connected with Malcolm, who had watched the It Is Written Hope Awakens series in 2020. The two began studying the Bible each week through the pandemic outside on a park bench. Soon, Malcolm was connected with a local church and baptized. What a celebration that was! Refreshed by the experience, Denzil grew even more motivated to continue studying with others.
During the same time, Paul purchased a satellite dish to receive lots of channels to watch. He was disappointed to learn that he was only able to get one station: 3ABN. Paul watched It Is Written and other Christian programs for two years, and then showed up at the Dodge Center church asking to be baptized. Denzil and the pastor met with Paul to clear him for baptism, and were impressed that Paul knew so much about the Bible! During a new believers class, Paul always had an experience to share of how he was witnessing to others.
One day, Paul was driving along and saw a man roofing a house. He pulled into the driveway and struck up a conversation with the roofer, Brandon, hiring him to do his house, too. When Brandon showed up at Paul’s home, Paul began to do what he always does: witness. Paul told Brandon about Jesus and invited him to church.
Brandon went to church that weekend and heard Donna, Denzil’s wife, giving a sermon. At the end, she asked if there was anyone who wanted to study the Bible. She watched as Brandon nodded his head yes.
As soon as she was done, Donna rushed over to Denzil and sent him to connect with Brandon.
Brandon started studying with Paul and Denzil each week, and soon Brandon’s son joined in. Donna connected with the group and began studying with Brandon’s daughter. She found the experience joyful as she built a relationship with this young lady.
Denzil followed up on another lead and after several attempts, finally found EJ
home near the beginning of the series. He invited EJ to a meeting where Eric would be livestreamed. Unfortunately, EJ fell sick with COVID-19 before the meetings and was unable to attend. After the meetings, Denzil reconnected with EJ and his girlfriend, and they began to study the Bible together. During one of their studies, Donna was doing a health presentation at the church, so Denzil invited EJ. While touring the church, EJ and his girlfriend asked if they could come to church, and what time it started on Sunday. When Denzil told them they worshiped together on Saturday, they discovered that EJ’s sister also kept the Sabbath and went to church on Saturday!
EJ had felt as though he was carrying a weight on his shoulders when he came to church the following Sabbath. After attending church and speaking with his new friend Brandon, EJ felt the weight lift, and he began to smile. EJ had not spent much time smiling recently. When he returned to work the following week, he was so happy that his coworkers asked him what had happened. He told them he went to church!
Brandon and his son were baptized together at the end of the Which Way, America? series in Dodge Center. It was
an incredible moment to see these two make this decision together. Brandon has now partnered with Paul, and Denzil is studying with EJ.
As each church member ministers to others, it’s amazing to see how God blesses those connections to draw more people to Him. And along the way, their lives are impacted too. “I am experiencing a deeper relationship with Jesus than ever before through this,” Denzil said. “There is nothing better than sharing Jesus and seeing others grow with him.”
JACK PHILLIPS is married to Crystal. As outreach coordinator for It Is Written, Jack has held Bible studies and taught Bible workers across the country and around the world.
BY JOHN BRADSHAW, president
When I walked into the radio station where I worked at the time, I saw what seemed to be an unusual photograph on the front page of the newspaper being read by our receptionist. I thought it might have been a picture of a swan taken at a nearby city lake. Having slept most of the day after working an overnight shift, I had not heard the latest news.
The photo was in fact a picture of the space shuttle Challenger1 breaking up high above the Kennedy Space Center. The shocking tragedy was made worse by revelations it would never have happened if clear warnings had been heeded. Potential problems with O-rings in the shuttle’s right rocket booster had been made known. The accident was 100% avoidable.
That knowledge today is cold comfort. The seven astronauts who perished cannot be brought back. While the knowledge gained from this devastating experience was used to prevent further losses, the past cannot be changed. Quoting the poet Agathon, Aristotle once wrote, “Even God cannot change the past.” It is true—He does not. Though he had ample opportunity to change his mind, when a desperate teenager shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the wheels of war were set in motion. World War I2 gave rise to World War II, out of which developed the Cold War. How might the world While the past be different today if one young man had acted differently? Yet what’s done is done. Many years cannot be altered, and millions of deaths later, the bitter facts of 100-plus years of conflict remain unchanged. the future most Yet while Agathon’s observation is correct enough, the God who does not change the past definitely can. has done much to change the future. The Bible states that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The consequences of sin are grave, Paul writing later in the same book that “the wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23). Yet in spite of the enormous cost of our
past transgressions—“Christ died for our sins,” according to 1 Corinthians 15:3—God is willing to forgive our sins, grant us salvation, spare us from eternal death, and give us a glorious future.
Through the prophet Isaiah, God wrote, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins,” (Isaiah 43:25). David wrote, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us,” (Psalm 103:12). And Isaiah 55:7 says, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon,” (Isaiah 55:7).
If truly received into the heart, the assurance that God forgives sin will bring with it the presence and power of Jesus, and the promise of a renewed, transformed life.
No doubt, a misrepresentation of the forgiving grace of God could lead a person to carelessness: “If God is only going to forgive me anyway, then what does it matter if…” At the other end of the spectrum are those who attempt to contribute to their salvation: “I believe God will forgive me, as long as I…” Both approaches are damaging, unbiblical, and self-centered. Cheap grace is an acknowledgment of God’s goodness absent a change of heart, while salvation by works takes the work of salvation out of the hands of Christ. The grace of Jesus is minimized as the works of the individual are seen to merit God’s mercy. Cheap grace and salvation by works are merely opposite sides of the same theological coin. When salvation becomes dependent on an act of the sinner, it matters not what that act is. Surrender of one’s life to the will of God is not regarded as necessary.
While the past cannot be altered, the future most definitely can. In place of death, God offers life. In place of regret, God offers satisfaction. In place of doubt, God offers confidence. All are received through faith in Jesus. Surrender to Christ cannot change the past, but radically reimagines the life ahead. No longer an impediment to future spiritual security, your past becomes part of a testimony to what God is able to do in the life of a sinner.
Claim the future Jesus offers you. Faith in Jesus—faith that His death was for you, faith that He forgives sin and grants everlasting life—will turn God’s promises into reality in your life. Jesus is coming back soon. Your past need not keep you from a bright and glorious future!
®
1 Learn more about the Challenger explosion at itiswritten.tv/samson 2 Watch a program about the start of World War I at itiswritten.tv/war
