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Everyone Has to Make a Choice
ne might assume that growing up in the home of Billy Graham would automatically lead to being a follower of Jesus Christ, but that’s not so. There comes a time in everyone’s life when they have to make a choice whether they are going to accept or reject God’s love and provision. That involves confession, repentance, receiving Christ by faith and choosing to follow Him as Lord.
leaders came from 150 countries to attend the 10-day conference. I went there to help handle logistics for the conference right after I had graduated from Montreat-Anderson College in May. During the conference, I celebrated my 22nd birthday and my parents took me out to eat at a little Italian restaurant on Lake Geneva. After that meal, Daddy and I walked along a pathway beside the lake. My father, who hates confrontation, turned to me and, somewhat nervously, said: “Franklin, your mother and I sense there’s a struggle going on your life.” I stared at him but I didn’t say anything. He had caught me off guard and I wondered how he knew this.
Though my folks insisted I go to church every Sunday, as far back as I can remember, my parents never crammed religion down my throat. They tried to instill in all of us kids the importance of a personal relationship with God. We had daily Bible readings and prayer and I even made a decision for Christ at age 8, but I’m not really sure I understood what I had done. I say that now because I had a rebellious streak that stayed with me in various ways until the time my father confronted me when I was 22 years old.
A Loving Confrontation
Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse
Franklin Graham
In July, 1974, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association sponsored the International Congress for Evangelism in Lausanne, Switzerland. About 2,500 Protestant evangelical
Dad went on to say “You’re going to have to make a choice either to accept Christ or reject Him. You can’t continue to play the middle ground. Either you’re going to choose to follow and obey Him or reject Him.”
“I want you to know we’re proud of you, Franklin. We love you no matter what you do in life and no matter where you go. The door of our home is always open and you’re always welcome. But you’re going to have to make a choice.”
(Cont. on Pg. 3)
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(Continued From Front Page)
“Something Was Missing in My Life” I felt angry. Maybe I was mad because he had seen right through me. I’d always thought I was so clever and could fool my parents. After all, I went to church, sang the hymns, and said the right words. But my sinful life was no secret. I couldn’t figure out how he knew about the struggle that had been going on inside me for some time. But he did. I knew he was right. That challenge weighed on me, and, in the next few weeks as I helped with my dad’s summer tour, I had a struggle going on inside of me. I felt I was a Christian. I was the son of Billy Graham, I went to church, and I memorized Scripture. But something was missing in my life.
December 2010 bed. I’m not sure what I prayed but I know that I poured my heart out to God and confessed my sin. I told Him I was sorry and that if He would take the pieces of my life and somehow put them back together, I was His. I wanted to live my life for Him from that day forward. I asked Him to forgive me and cleanse me, and I invited Him by faith come into my life. That night I finally decided I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. My years of running and rebellion had ended.
God’s Purpose for My Life From that point, I began to seek God’s will and purpose for my life, apart from just helping with my dad’s ministry.
I decided I wanted to further my college education by finishing my business degree at Appalachian State Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse University. Toward the end of my Franklin Graham time at ASU, I had gotten to the point where I only needed to do a research Forgiveness and Cleansing internship for the final college credit needed for graduation. I did research for Drs. Lowell and Richard Furman, who wanted One night, instead of going to the bar for a couple of beers like to start an organization that would send doctors short-term to I usually did, I went to my room early. I sat on my bed and developing countries. smoked a cigarette, picked up my New Testament and reread the third chapter of the Gospel of John. It was my job to find out whether that was a true need. This The words of my father a few weeks earlier haunted me “Franklin, you’re going to have to make a choice either to accept Christ or reject Him.” At that point, all I knew was that Franklin Graham was a sinner who had been running from God. Suddenly, I had an overpowering conviction that I needed to get my life right with God. I read John 3 again where Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” Nicodemus was a respected religious leader in his city. Yet, all of his religion and learning were not enough to gain entrance into heaven. Nicodemus had to be born again. All I knew was that I wanted the big empty hole inside of me to be filled. I was tired of running. I put my cigarette out and got down on my knees beside my
research led to the realization that there was a major need for this in the world and was the beginning of World Medical Mission, which later became part of Samaritan’s Purse.
What is important about my story or my journey is important about every person’s story. That is, God has a plan and a purpose for each of His children. That makes every person very special--whether or not they happen to be born into a famous family. God’s plan and purpose for me can be traced back to that time in 1974 when I decided to surrender and let Christ run my life.
Franklin Graham President and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
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Merry Christmas 4 Seasons Vacation Rentals & Sales...... 25 AA Boot Store...........................................34 All American Hearing Center..................8 Appalachian Brian Estates.......................9 Appalachian Music Shoppe...................35 Ashe Abattoir, Inc....................................11 Ashe County ADAP................................25 Ashe County Ford...................................48 Ashe Custom Framing & Gallery..........24 Ashe Pregnancy Care Center.................13 Austin & Barnes Funeral Home............41 Badger Funeral Home............................14 Bald Mtn Baptist Church.......................26 Barr Insurance Agency...........................43 Basic Finance.............................................8 Beech Mountain Ski Resort...................34 Belladonna Full Service Hair Salon.....25 Beverly Guy Accounting.......................13 Blue Ridge Air.........................................11 Blue Ridge Insurance Service...............26 Blue Ridge Mountain Rentals..............17 Boone Rent-All.........................................4 Burger King............................................33 Burgess and Sons..................................36 Castle Auto Repair................................41 Cheap Joes Art Stuff.............................34 Classic Homes.......................................24 Cornerstone Christian Bookstore.......35 Dan’l Boone Inn....................................17 Denton Insurance...................................1 Dogskin Automotive............................17 Dr. Pepper..............................................44
From These
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High COuntry Businesses
Foggy Mountain Gem Mine.............43 Full Circle Wealth Management......20 Glenbridge Assisted Living..............14 Golden Corral.....................................17 Goldsmith...........................................18 Grace Lutheran Church....................22 Grashal Outdoors................................3 H&W Oil Company.............................8 Hampton Inn........................................2 Hardee’s..............................................43 Heather Burgess Financial Mngmnt...25 High Country Cabinets....................33 High Country Hospice.....................37 High Country Insurance..................14 High Country Signs..........................36 Highland Landscape Supplies........17 Hobby Barn........................................25 Howard’s Creek Baptist Church.....37 Jeff’s Plumbing..................................11 Jefferson Landing..............................41 Jefferson Rent-All...............................9 Jo-Lynn Enterprises, Inc..................26 Jones Hardwood Flooring................4 JUMP..................................................16 Lewis Construction.........................24 Libby’s...............................................31 Los Arcoiris.......................................46 Lucky Penny.....................................35 M.C. Adams Clothiers....................34 Mack Brown Chevrolet...................29 Main Street Marketing....................21 Margate Health and Rehab............32
Meineke Car Care Center............................24 Melissa Goodman, CPA..............................33 Miller’s Supply Inc......................................42 Modern Toyota...............................................2 Mount Vernon Baptist Church...................10 Mountain Advantage Tree & Landscape..29 Mountain Aire Seafood...............................37 Mountain View Nursery.............................38 Mountaineer Heating & Cooling..............18 Mr. Original Gyros......................................17 My Free Dining............................................39 Nationwide Insurance- Andy Harkins....22 Nationwide Insurance- Park Terrel..........37 New River Building Supply......................40 Parker Tie..............................................7 & 47 Pet Place.........................................................8 Pollard Glass Co.........................................24 Precision Cabinets......................................22 Precision Printing.......................................13 Regency Properties....................................18 Scott Brothers..............................................27 Sears.............................................................25 Sheets Brothers...........................................38 Smoky Mountain Barbecue......................35 Stick Boy Bread Company........................13 Studio K Youth Ballet.................................5 Subway........................................................30 Suddenly Showing and Growing............35 UPS Store.....................................................24 WJ Office City...............................................6 Watauga Building Supply.........................38 West Jefferson Business Association........24
“I love a good story! That’s why we take the time to find interesting people from all walks of life who are willing to share their stories through this publication. Because of the diversity of writers, we are not always able to endorse everything that is said, but we are happy to share each unique story. As we enter into this Christmas Season, may your hearts be warmed by the love of God that each of these folks has experienced.”
-Ben Cox, Owner Main Street Marketing
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A Candle and a Conversation
I have been making candles for 25 years. For 17 of those years, I have lived in Boone. Larry and I have three grown children and one adorable grandson. I own and operate High Country Candles in downtown Blowing Rock. I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn’t believe in and know Jesus. I have loved Him my whole life. But I remember a major moment when God won me over. I had been so determined to do this whole God thing the “right way.” I kept focusing on not messing up and following the rules. I held such high expectations that I put on myself. About 10 years ago, my ‘religion’ walls came crashing down.
Embracing God’s Forgiveness One day, I sat down in frustration and said “I am so sick of me.” Then there was a knock on the door. My son came in crying and apologizing for doing something wrong. I said “I forgive you.” He asked me how I could forgive him. I told him, “I’m your mother.
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It’s my pleasure to forgive you.”
As I said these words, I was blown away with the forgiveness of God. I had heard about God’s forgiveness my whole life, but had never experienced the feeling that comes when you embrace it. I understood more fully what it means to crawl up in God’s lap and have Him hold me. His love for me is so much more powerful than what I can do for myself.
Ministry Outside the Church Walls Several years ago, I realized that I had several false assumptions about Him specifically related to what it meant to be in His ministry. For the longest time, I assumed that the only place where ministry happened was in a church building, or at least at an official church sanctioned setting. The Lord has been teaching me that ministry can and does occur every day of my life. He has taught me that I don’t just sell candles. He desires for me to serve people. He has appointed me to the role of listening to people’s stories. He has made the candle shop into a ministry that attempts to love and serve people of all walks of life. I am so blessed to be able to serve in this way. People come in and share about joyous times, as well as deep wounds. Many times, this leads to times of prayer together. I am able to ask God for HIS blessing for their lives. There are so many people that come in, many of them who live hours away. They have come back months later to update me on their situations and it is always such an amazing blessing to hear what God has done. They let me know how our short interaction and time of prayer affected them and I get the opportunity to let them know the same. I am so blessed by their openness and by their willingness to share. One woman even let me know that before coming to the shop, she had decided to take her own life. After hearing about the grace of God, she changed her mind. God is amazing! We spend most of our time outside of an official church setting, so we can assume that most of God’s ministry through us is done outside of that setting as well. I am looking forward to see what else he has for me to do in this ministry he has given me.
Cyndi Ziegler, Watauga County
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This is God’s Business
y brother, Terry, and I had worked at Parker Tie about 13 years before buying the business from Bill Brown and Earl Hardin. We prayed about it, and I felt in my heart the whole time it was what we were supposed to do.
God’s Business Plan God has helped us with this business, and we are learning every day. God has amazed me. After trying for some time to run the business myself, I finally realized that I had to have God’s help. When I got to that point it was amazing how much easier the business became. I ask for God’s guidance every morning. For any major decisions, I talk to Him first. I have learned that this is how God works with me: He puts something in my mind and it won’t leave until I act on it. When we bought the business, the plumbing and electrical sections were in the main store, but we moved them to what was the warehouse at the time. I was worried that it wouldn’t support one full- time person, but now we have
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three full-time employees for that area. It’s been the same thing with the kitchen and design center. We had the warehouse across the street full of bathtubs and windows. I just knew that it was made for a kitchen showroom and it has done great. Now we are expanding again. God put it in my mind to buy 30,000 square foot of the Thomasville building. It’s full of bathtubs now, but it’s going to be new showrooms for hardwood floors, bathrooms and a full array of ceramic tiles. All of this came by God’s guidance. I don’t know of any other building supply stores that haven’t had to lay off folks, but our people are working overtime. It’s the LORD’s blessing. He’s surrounded us with great people that He chooses to work here.
God’s Blessings Over Time Since we bought the business in 1995, we’ve had some wonderful things happen. We’ve seen seven people saved and join the church. We have two preachers, several deacons and some Sunday school teachers working here. My wife and my pastor work here as well so I have to “walk straight”. It never ceases to amaze me what God has done over the years.
Power of Prayer We have a unique situation at Parker Tie, when we have sick employees or people come into the store with prayer requests, we can stop and pray. I’m thankful for praying employees. When my wife, Barbara, had brain surgery in 2003 and was in Charlotte Memorial Hospital for 18 days, we had employees who went to our prayer room upstairs, the “upper room”, every day at the same time to pray for her. The doctor told my wife and me that it was a malignant brain tumor but it turned out to be a pocket of infection from a tooth that had abscessed. The doctor didn’t know that at the time, but the Big Doctor did. When we went back to the doctor in Charlotte for a checkup after the surgery, he told my wife that he hoped she knew she was a miracle. She’s back working and doing well. We praise God for it. We trust God daily to “provide and guide”. I keep telling myself that, “Those who are for us are more than those against us.” This is His business. We’re not sure where the bathtubs are going next, but it will be good because the LORD is in it. All the glory goes to Him.
Rick Woodie, Ashe County
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He Never Gave Up on Me
hen I was first asked to be interviewed I thought “panic”! Then, I decided that this is a good thing. I don’t ever want to pass up a chance to brag on my Lord and the good care he has always taken of me. God has blessed me with a great family, a wonderful church family, good health and an abundance of energy that I am sure he wants used in His work.
God’s Protection in My Life My walk with God has not always been so sure. I was saved when I was thirteen in a little country church here in Ashe County. Since then, I have kept God busy. Looking back, I can see His hand always protecting me even when I stepped out on my own and didn’t listen. I lead a very sheltered life until I got to college where I was exposed to all the things that interfere with one’s walk with God. But, Praise the Lord, I chose not to drink or do drugs and that left me flying on fresh
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air when some of my friends weren’t. Looking back now, I see how it was God who kept me from these things. I could always feel His breath on my shoulder; He was beside me protecting me. I am sure He has wanted to “jump ship” a few times too, but He has never given up on me. That is the one thing that amazes me. Why hasn’t He just squashed me like a bug?
Learning to Listen Right now, I think God is trying to teach me to listen especially in my prayers. This world is spinning so fast that I am constantly running to and fro. How can he speak to me (my heart) if I am not quiet long enough to hear him? I love life. I love God. I strive every day to please him. Some days are more successful than others. I am just a worker bee trying to get home and not be bumped from the flight.
Sandy Blevins, Ashe County
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Living the Gospel Where I Am
grew up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. My parents are Christians and taught me to pray when I was young, but we didn’t go to church together. When I was 11 years old, I started to visit different churches with my friends and their families. By then, I had reached a point where I was praying and interested in the things of God.
Real Relationship With and In Him But when the things of God started to become real to me was related to being part of a home group. When I was 15, my uncle started doing a home group Bible study. All of a sudden, the words of the Bible seemed alive. I could feel Holy Spirit working in me. And that was when I actually began following the Lord. I began a trusting relationship with and in Him. And I began living my life for Him.
Social Work, Mission Work: All for His Glory I came to Boone in 2001 in order to attend ASU, and ended up staying. I graduated with a degree in Social Work. I always really wanted to do international social work. I also wanted to do overseas missions. I began to realize that those two things do not have to be different from each other. That realization came to me as I was taking social work and Russian at the same time in college. Therefore, in order to better prepare myself for what the Lord might have for my life, I minored in Teaching English as a Second Language. Since college, I’ve really wanted to be involved in Eastern Europe and especially in the former Soviet Union. I truly felt as if God had put that in my heart. I knew I was called to go over there, but I wasn’t sure when. I waited for a few years. Waited and worked. And then finally at age 26 it finally felt like it was time to go. I was fortunate enough to receive a Fulbright Scholarship, which is an academic fellowship program focused on mutual cultural understanding. The purpose of the program is something that really resonated with me. It is God’s heart for people to understand and connect with each other. It was obviously also very appealing that the Fulbright scholarship paid all my expenses for the trip.
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Relationally Living the Gospel
I found myself in Bulgaria for 11 months. I went as an English teaching assistant at a local English language high school, working with 9th and 11th graders who were trying to improve their English speaking. I was torn between the awareness that I wasn’t officially on a “missions trip” and the belief that God had called me to be in Bulgaria for a season of my life. And once again, I realize that those two things are not opposing ideas. I knew that if I stuck close with my relationship with the Lord, He would show me why He had me there. And I believe that one of the reasons he brought me there was to teach me to be me. I went to Bulgaria and attempted to be who I really want to be, no matter where I am. At the heart of living is to relate to people and follow the Lord. This is true in Bulgaria, America, and everywhere.
Steph Schaffner, Watauga County
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Restoring Brokenness Through My Marriage
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ost of my friends know that my husband and I met and married in a whirlwind. We got engaged two months after we met, then were married four months after that. When I look back, I feel I should apologize to my family for giving them heartattacks. I’m sure there were plenty of rumors about whether I was pregnant or insane or something. What many people don’t know, however, is what an instrument of healing he was for me. I feel led to share this incredibly personal story, not to shock you, but to share how good God is. “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.” Joel 2:25-26
They say “The Lord works in mysterious ways,” and he does, but sometimes when you look back, it’s amazing how it all falls perfectly into place. When I was younger, I was so hungry for love that I bought into all the things that society and peers tell us. I was fairly popular in high school, and I did well in school. But I was heavily into the party scene.
Spinning Out of Control It wasn’t until college that it started spinning out of control. When I was a freshman, I was at a party of football players, cheerleaders, dance team (which I was on), and various other sports, when I blacked out. I came to the next day in an apartment, and realized that a terrible thing had happened. Another dance team freshman was there, too. She ended up leaving school the next week. I can only guess that we were drugged, since there were two of us in the same place. I still have no idea what exactly happened, but I stuffed the pain in the back of my mind, pulled myself up, and went on. I quit the dance team, and got involved with my music friends instead of the jocks, but the scene wasn’t too different there. Lots of partying, etc. Many other awful things happened as a result of my self-destructive lifestyle.
Searching for Truth As I was searching for God, a supposed Christian guy
came into my life, and started “helping” me discover Christ. His motives, however, weren’t entirely pure and it was very confusing. You can imagine. God used all that I was learning, in spite of this guy, to prepare me to receive Him. In 1994, I finally realized that Christ died to set me free from my sin. All I had to do was turn from my ways, accept Him as my Savior and commit to allow Him to change me. And boy, is he faithful to do it.
New Promise, God’s Faithfulness There is a little more to the story, but here is the bottom line. Two of my friends and mentors, Reed and Tab, had waited until their wedding day for their first kiss. My heart leapt when I heard this! It was so foreign to me, but it was so incredibly romantic and pure, that I decided it was what I wanted. For once, I wanted to do this relationship thing right! So I made a promise to God that I did not want to kiss another man until he was my husband. I made the decision that I would NOT be taken advantage of again, and I knew God would bless me for desiring to do things the way He was calling me to. I went on a few dates after that, and when I shared my desire to wait for any type of physical relationship, I judged the guy’s reaction. If he said he would respect my decision, but didn’t really have a passion for staying pure himself, I was gone. A few times it was extremely hurtful, because I really liked the guy, and they didn’t really understand why it was so important. However, I knew my God would be faithful! Then came Judd. He says he knew the minute he saw me that we would be married. We spent so much time together in the next few weeks, and one night, talking in his car, I knew he was the one. J: “I want to tell you something, but you’re going to think I’m crazy.” S: “No I won’t, come on.” J: “OK, I’ve decided that the next time I kiss a girl, I want it to be on the altar at our wedding.” S: (speechless! Tears escaping down my face) “REALLY?!!” J: “I know, it’s pretty insane, but I feel really strongly about it.” S: “No, no. Actually I’ve said the same thing, and I’ve been waiting for someone like you.” J: (sheepish grin) “Oh? Cool.”
(Cont. on Pg. 13)
The rest is history. You should have seen my Italian Catholic family when the church erupted in applause as we kissed. I was sure I’d fall down and faint right there on the altar. It was beyond romantic! (And let me just tell you, in this case, you don’t have to test drive the car before buying!)
Washing Through the Word This story is why I will NEVER doubt that Judd is my soul mate. The one I was made for. I never understood the scripture in Ephesians before God brought me this wonderful man after His own heart. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Eph 5:25-27 How can a man cleanse a woman by washing her through the Word? With this act of obedience to God, my husband, along with Jesus, erased all the abuse that had been done to me in my past life, and presented me to himself as a radiant bride, holy and blameless. I am bursting with thanks to my God, and my husband, for their faithfulness!
Sarah Pinnix, Watauga & Ashe Counties
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The Truth Found Me
t the age of 13, I was living in Sharon, Massachusetts, with my Orthodox family when I went through my Bar Mitzvah. It is the “coming into manhood” of the Jewish faith.
Running from Faith I lived a normal home life, met girls, and attended the synagogue where I was trained by an Orthodox tutor. All my friends and I were geeks – we were smart and we loved music. Because of my love for music, I walked away from my Jewish-ness. When I was in school I skipped classes a lot and did a lot of reading. Among other books, I would read the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). I came across the Abraham and Isaac story, which was about God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the promised son he’d waited for years to be born. I thought, “What kind of God is this?” I couldn’t fathom how a religion would ask a man to do this. At that time, I didn’t have the New Testament, which tells the rest of the story, why God called Abraham to do this strange act. I didn’t understand about the wood and the sacrifice or the ram that was the substitute. I didn’t understand that it was a picture of the Messiah.
My Life Apart I was a member of the 60’s rebellious generation, and I became deeply involved in drugs. In the early years, I was in a short-term marriage, but due to alcohol and drugs, I burned through the marriage, through my friends, and ended up in jail. My parents and friends grew tired of my behavior. My spiral downward continued for many years. One day on the way to a party, my buddy and I were drag racing. He lost control of the car and it rolled sideways into someone’s lawn. We kicked our way out of the windows and found people gathered in front of the house. We learned that the people in the house had been
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praying for the community’s teenagers. These people prayed for us. This turned out to be one seed of many that was planted in me and I have never forgotten it.
Seek and Ye Shall Find In my search for truth, I studied many of the world’s religions. It didn’t occur to me at the time but it was, in fact, the “Ruach HaKodesh”, the Holy Spirit, leading me. It never occurred to me there was a supernatural entity drawing me. After years of drugs, a divorce, studying everything from New Age to nonmainstream beliefs, I was suicidal. I didn’t see any purpose in life. As the LORD would have it, I ended up on a dude ranch in Florida with another vagrant who, according to the owner of the ranch, was a Jesus freak. Peter read the Bible all the time, and, soon, I began reading it with him. When we got to chapter five of Matthew where Jesus spoke the Sermon on the Mount, I realized Jesus was teaching the way a rabbi would teach. I saw that Jesus was Jewish and a rabbi. Suddenly, everything I’d heard in my life connected. My life was a mess, and I’d accomplished nothing. I only knew sin. After that, I eventually met and married Kathy, who was a Gentile believer in Jesus. She took me to a Messianic Jewish Fellowship, and I knew I was home. At long last, I had learned that salvation is by grace through faith. It is not the result of my works as my upbringing had led me to believe. In time, the LORD returned me to my Jewish roots, but now I had the understanding that salvation is a person, Jesus Christ, and is not reliant on being born into one nation or another. After searching so many years for the truth, the truth, Yeshua (Jesus) found me. Now I live for him.
Arthur “Isacc Israel” Shaiken, Ashe County www.starcovenant.com
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God Answers the Prayer of Agreement
hen my husband, Joseph, and I started out our marriage, it was a rocky road. It seemed like Satan himself was trying to cause trouble between us. I learned that when there is a problem, you have to look inward and stop looking outward. If God has allowed a problem to come your way, it’s for a reason. God is such a good God and He knows exactly what we need and how to get us through that need or where we need to be in our Christian walk.
Word of Faith Brings Hope
Because my husband was not a Christian, I had begun to pray for his salvation. When I heard Oral Roberts talk about “agreement in prayer” God wrote it on the tablet of my heart. From that day on, it became like a living word in my heart and I proceeded to walk in that way. I began to call upon different elders and prayer warriors to pray in agreement with me for Joe’s salvation. Every time my church came together, I asked them to pray in agreement. As a point of contact of my faith, I took one of my husband’s pictures to church. It was anointed with oil, passed around and prayed over. I began to believe for his salvation and confess that “my husband is saved” everywhere I went. One Sunday the LORD spoke to me. He said, “Don’t ask him to go to church anymore. Take your son and go pray at the church”. I did what the LORD told me to do. At one service, I had my pastor anoint a prayer cloth. I took it home and put it in his pillowcase. I
got on my knees beside our bed and, in faith, began to pray in agreement with what my pastor had spoken that morning. On that Sunday afternoon, I released Joe into God’s hands. Later, a community revival was held at what used to be Ashe Central High School. I testified to those present that my husband was saved. My pastor, Rev. Alan Miller and Rev. Kenneth Clark prayed with me as the chairs were being folded and put away after the service. We met in the lobby and lifted our hands in the air praying that salvation would come to my husband. I felt as if the world had lifted off my shoulders. I left with peace in my heart.
Answered Prayers Two years later, my church, Living Hope, held its homecoming at Graceland Highlands Park in Virginia. My husband agreed to go. When the preacher, Rev. Brandon Canter, asked if anyone wanted to make a change in their life, to my absolute shock, after opening my eyes, I saw my husband up front beginning to cry. I felt like my knees would buckle upon seeing my husband receive the LORD as his Savior. I began to cry and joy came into my heart. Praise went from my mouth and I lifted my hands with gladness and thankfulness to my LORD and Savior Jesus Christ for answering all of our prayers. Ever since then I’ve never missed a day thanking God for saving Joe. It was God who carried me through the waiting time. I prayed with people all over the country, I called prayer lines. When you “get in agreement”, with any two believers, as the Word says, God will do something. He sees your faith working and He says, “I see that believer working,” He will do something. God says, “If you will believe me and do what I say, Life will come to you.” I am so thankful that when God gets ready for you, your spouse, a loved one, or any one you are praying for to hear Him, He will open your ears in your valley and bring LIFE….His Life, His abundant life in His son Jesus Christ. Glory to God.
Barbara Boyden, Ashe County
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Expressing Worship through Art
was born during my father’s time in seminary, and I grew up in a church environment. My parents are loving and faithful believers. I don’t remember not loving the Lord. But over the past few years, I’ve learned that there is a difference between believing in Him and having a deep relationship with Him. I grew up attending private Lutheran schools. I truly enjoyed it while I was there. Whether it was Sunday School classes in church or theology classes in school, I enjoyed learning and growing, I was very proud that my dad was my pastor.
“I Finally Felt That He Was Alive” A turning point in my approach to the Lord came during my freshman year of high school when I went on my first mission trip to Belle Glade, Florida. We had just moved to a new church, and I was learning new styles of worship. It was a time of stretching and learning for me. On this mission trip is when I first realized that God wanted a relationship with me, not just for me to believe in Him. I knew He was real, but I finally felt that He was alive.
Worship Through Service While on this trip, we did construction, working in soup kitchens, prayer walking, and worship. It was so challenging and rewarding to stay in a worshipful and serving mindset during the entire week with a group of people. I came home looking at everything in a new light. The experience gave me a heart for missions and serving. When I’m serving, I can really feel the Lord in way that is different than studying about Him.
Worship Through Art Another thing that draws me close to God is my art. I graduated from Appalachian State University in 2009 with a BFA degree in Studio Art, where I double concentrated in Painting and Sculpture. And although I’ve always grown up doing art, it wasn’t until
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recently that I embraced the idea of using my hands to honor the Lord. ASU was the first school that I went to that wasn’t a Christian school. I grew up sheltered, so it was difficult to find a way to be open and honest about my beliefs in the secular world. I wasn’t used to that. I tried to disguise everything. I moved into a world of creating art that was very abstract. And I was too timid to go into detail about it with people. And as I did more research, I found out that in the art community in our society, there is a term called “Christian art,” that is considered a lower form of art. It is in its own category that isn’t respected as much. This made me shy away from expressing my faith in my art because I wanted to be in the “art world”. Eventually I realized that my fear was silly. I didn’t need to be ashamed of my faith that influenced my art. I realized that I was willing to go overseas for missions, but was afraid to talk to people about the Lord in the midst of the art community. I ended up doing my Senior Show with a major focus on the Lord. It was very liberating for me. Soon after graduating, my pastor here in Boone asked me to paint in a Sunday morning church setting. This was a significant challenge for me; something I didn’t feel I was ready for. But when I finally did it, something new clicked in my heart. It has led to a new way to feel the presence of the Lord and a new way for me to worship Him. On that Sunday morning, the more I painted for Him, the freer I became. And ever since that morning, I view all of my art as a form of worship. It has freed me to see that we use gifts that He gives us by giving those gifts back to Him. We can all use our hands to honor the Lord. We each have our skills, passions, and hobbies that we can use to worship Him.
Ben Wesemann, Watauga County benwesemann.wordpress.com
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A Lifelong Journey
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y journey in Christ began at three months of age when God, through the waters of baptism, washed and claimed me. As I grew in the faith, I had mentors and parents who helped bring me to an understanding that I belong to God. My primary identity in the world is that I am a child of God. In my journey, there was never a lightning bolt type of moment. God chose me first in baptism, and my journey of faith is one of gradual and continual conversion to the way of Christ. It is a daily choosing to follow in the steps of Christ.
Jesus Made Real to Me Jesus became real to me in a fresh way when I was living and working among a homeless community in Atlanta during a summer while I was in seminary. I encountered Christ among the people I was serving in profound ways and learned why they are counted among God’s greatest treasure. Although it was true that I could offer assistance to people in need, it was I who felt enriched and blessed by the people in that community. I grew up about an hour from Boone in the southwestern part of Virginia in a town called Emory and was raised in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). My great-grandfather was a Lutheran pastor in North Dakota and Minnesota, and I can’t remember a time in my life when the church was not central to my formation. As a youth and young adult, I appreciated the Lutheran church, because it encouraged me to ask questions about faith, about the church, and about God. No question was off-limits, and this helped create a safe space to struggle and wrestle with God like our ancestor Jacob did until eventually he was blessed.
Joy in Serving My call to Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church here in Boone is my first call out of seminary, and I am entering my fourth year of service. A year and half ago I married Joseph Bolick, a Lutheran pastor who serves Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Johnson City, TN. We live in Butler, TN and both commute back and forth. My call at Grace Lutheran is primarily with campus ministry. It is a joy to serve among the college age group, especially because that was such a time of
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newness and struggle for me. During my own college years, I sensed that God was calling me to ministry; the call was being affirmed through peers and church leaders. However, questions from others, particularly classmates at Furman, about whether women can serve in ministry led to some doubts in my own life. After years of struggling with and discerning a call to ministry, I consider it a joy and privilege to be present with people in their times of joy and in their times of deep crisis and grief. One of the reasons that ministry is so fulfilling is because of the clear message that I am privileged to share…the message of God’s abounding and steadfast love for us…the message of the empty tomb which in the midst of hopeless situations brings astounding hope and grace.
Pastor Sarah Lang, Watauga County Grace Lutheran Church
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My Search for True Love Led Me to Jesus Christ
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eing the middle of five children in a very impoverished family in Portland, OR, I looked all my life for the love I felt I missed. All five of us kids looked for love and acceptance.
Turbulent Life
After a violent divorce between my mother and father, my father took my brother and me to live with him. He couldn’t handle us, so he took us to our grandmother who lived in Snow Camp, NC. She was given custody of me and my four siblings. Not long afterwards, my mother picked us up and told us we were going camping, but, in fact, she took us to Oregon to live with her and her alcoholic boyfriend. I never saw my father again until I was in my 20’s. When he finally found me, he told me he’d never stopped looking for me. At five years old, my siblings and I were living with my mother and alcoholic stepfather. As I grew a bit older, I began running with a bad crowd breaking into cars and worse. At 13, I was arrested and charged with four felony counts and was facing 22 years in prison.
Life-Changing Advice After doing 500 hundred community service hours and two years of probation, my uncle stepped in and took me into his home. Although he was an agnostic, he gave me some advice that has stuck with me all my life: I can do anything I want to do. Eventually, I had to move back in with my mother and her abusive husband. I was a street-wise kid at 15 ½ years old searching for love. I thought I found it in girls, marijuana, and alcohol. It didn’t take long to see that I couldn’t live with my mother. I remembered what my uncle, a very positive and moral man, told me. I realized that I could control what I did. I went from failing in high school to making the A-honor roll. After leaving home to live with some friends for a couple of months, my mom’s husband came to tell me that she was dying of ovarian cancer. When Mom died, the family I was living with invited me to go to church with them.
Not Worthy of Forgiveness At that time, I hadn’t been to church since I was a kid. When the altar call came, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He told me to go forward, and I told Him that I wasn’t worthy of going forward due to the sin in my life.
It was soon after that I decided to join the Navy. While being in the military, I basically focused on myself. I went to college, lifted weights, and was totally self-absorbed. While on leave in Oregon about two years later, I had a bad jeep wreck that almost took my life and the life of my best friend. I still bear the scar across my forehead of that terrible wreck. Even that near-death experience didn’t cause me to change my life.
Gift of Bible Brings Hope, Redemption After my recovery, I returned to the Navy and was stationed in the Philippines. As I was leaving one command to transfer to another, a young Navy man handed me a Gideon Bible. I laughed at him and smartly asked what he wanted me to do with it. He told me that I might need it one day. A period of time passed after I received that Bible, and I wanted to leave the ship for a while to go party with some friends when I realized all my friends had gone back out to sea. I went back to my room to take a shower, and,when I opened my bag, I saw the Gideon Bible. I opened it to the book of Matthew and started reading Jesus’ words, the ones written in red. The Holy Spirit convicted me at that moment of my need for Jesus Christ. When I got to my command in Florida from the Philippines, I had stopped partying but I didn’t know what to do. Another young Sailor came up to me on the street and said “let me tell you about Jesus.” Shortly thereafter I was saved, joined a Baptist church, was baptized and started discipleship training. A few years ago, the LORD led me and my family to Ashe County to live.
Love Can Only Be Found In Jesus All those years I was searching for a love in this world that I could only find in Jesus Christ. I now teach the youth at Big Flatts Baptist Church. I recently announced my call into the ministry and have been invited to become a member of the Gideons, something I asked the LORD for many years ago. I think everyone’s story is pretty much the same. Everyone is looking for the love that can only be found in Jesus. Only one thing can make anyone truly happy. It’s filling the void in their lives with Jesus Christ. My life verse is, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world”. I know, now, that I can’t do anything without Jesus.
Will Smith, Ashe County
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God Is My Strength
osing my father, Norman Cheek, was one of the most difficult things that I have ever had to go through. Last year was very hard, but God has taught me several things through this process. The grieving makes me think back to my childhood.
“Each Day is a New Day to Feel the Same New Birth” I came to know Jesus when I was 10 years old. I will never forget the experience of being a newborn Christian. I couldn’t wait to grow and learn. I couldn’t wait to get to know God more. The Bible came to life in a way that it never had before. There was so much energy and excitement. I was eager to soak up all I could. We lived across the street from the church building. I used to wake up early on Sundays, get ready, and walk across the street before my parents were even awake. I was so excited about the opportunity to worship God with other people and learn more about Him.
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I have such fond memories of growing up in a loving family, as well as a loving church family. Since then, the Lord has shown me that He wants to continually revive me and teach me every day. Each day is a new day to feel that same new birth.
God Is My Strength After my father died, we ended up selling the Toyota business. He started the business over 30 years ago. And I worked side by side with him every day for 25 of those years. I still work at the Toyota dealership. It’s now Modern Toyota of Boone. I serve as the Internet Sales Manager. This process has been a reminder that God is my strength. I’d be nothing without Him. He has been there for me and has been real to me. The Lord sustains us and makes us stronger through trials. I am thankful for His presence in my life.
Donna Bare, Watauga & Ashe Counties
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Following the Call
asey and I are both from Boone and both grew up with Christian families to support us and to make sure that we were attending church each Sunday. But for me, church was a big part of my life that I just did for status and because I liked being around people, it was also a good place for me to go and talk to others. I did a great job of acting out the role of being a Christian. I even taught the RA program and was at my church every time the doors were open. Most people would have thought that I was a Christian simply because of the amount of time I spent there and by the majority of my actions. I do remember committing my life to Christ at an early age and trying to do all the right things, but as a teenager I turned away from God until I meet a wonderful girl who is now my wife. God knew what He was doing; He sent me Casey, and she made sure that I was going to make some changes in my life! She was a high school freshman and I was a senior. We began dating on April 20, 1999 and have almost been together ever since.
Too Much of the World We had a brief separation (August to May) during my sophomore year in college. It was during this time that I experienced too much of what this world had to offer and used the time to be a typical college guy. I began to get heavily involved with alcohol abuse. I was still attending church and playing the Christian role in my life. During this time, Casey had attended a Beth Moore conference. She called me one night while she was in Nashville to tell me that God had spoken to her and told her that I was the one she was to marry. I responded with, “Well that’s good; I am in a relationship now, but thanks for telling me.” I then hung up the phone and continued with my binge drinking and secret lifestyle. I can remember various times in my life where God had shown me that I was messing up. I would try to straighten out for a little bit. At one point, I went and spoke with a local pastor who shared his own struggles with me from his younger days. That helped some, but I was just not ready to change. I decided that I was hurting from not being with Casey, and I began to think that she could fill the void that I
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had in my life. However, even after Casey and I got back together, I found that the void was not filled and I still continued to make the lifestyle choices I had made while we were broken up. She knew nothing about my secret lifestyle. Many times after dropping her off, I headed to my usual drinking spot. It got to a point in my senior year of college that I would drink almost every night.
A Calling to Ministry Casey had taken a vow of sexual purity at 14, and we still thank God today for Ann Cook and her “True Love Waits” course. This was an area where I had struggled with before I met Casey, but thanks to God using Ann in our lives, we were able to stay sexually pure until the day of our marriage on May 21, 2005. I will say that her purity was one of the greatest gifts she has ever given me. It was during our engagement that God spoke to me and showed me that my actions did not match my beliefs, and it was on September 26, 2004, that God revealed to me that my lifestyle needed to change. On this same day, I also felt called to something greater. Our church (Perkinsville Baptist Church) was going through the Purpose Driven Life Study by Rick Warren about that same time. Even though I sensed the call to ministry at that time, I kept it to myself and never told anyone, including Casey. Over the next few years, I had what most people would consider very good jobs, including a job at Skyline Telephone Company as a Customer Service Supervisor. In the meantime, I had agreed to be a deacon and soon after became the interim youth minister. Following the birth of our first child and after completing a 40-day fast in April, I knew I was called to full-time ministry. By June, I had become the official youth minister (10 hours per week) while still being employed at Skyline. On August 12, 2007, I went forward to announce God’s call on my life to be in full-time ministry. Even though Casey and I had no clue where life was headed, I knew what I had to do about my career at Skyline. After much prayer, but without hesitation, I called my boss on Monday morning and told her I needed to speak with her. I explained to her what I was going to do and I resigned from my job at Skyline that same day. Skyline was kind enough to allow me to work there through December 2007. In January of 2008, I began pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Gardner-Webb University’s seminary.
(Cont. on Pg. 29)
God’s Overwhelming Provision
God has since blessed us with great family and church support. I was able to work two part-time jobs while attending Seminary and Casey was blessed with a business opportunity to open Suddenly Showing, a maternity and nursing boutique. She was later blessed with an investing partner and has been able to expand into Suddenly Showing and Growing, now offering maternity and children’s clothing. God has tremendously provided throughout our journey and even provided us with a car for my transportation needs to and from Seminary the day after the car I was going to drive blew up! We were also blessed with the birth of our daughter during this time (who is now two) in addition to our son (who is now four). As such, we are eternally grateful. Thanks to God, our families, and Perkinsville Baptist Church, I will transition to a full-time position at Perkinsville Baptist Church on January 1, 2011, as Associate Pastor of College and Youth Ministries. Lord willing, I will also graduate from Gardner-Webb in May 2011. We are looking forward to seeing where God leads us on this journey.
Michael Gragg, Watauga County Associate/Youth Pastor Perkinsville Baptist Church
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I
Abiding in Christ
moved to Boone 7 years ago with my wife, Miel, and we have three children. I work for ASU in the ACT program (Appalachian and the Community Together). This is a program that matches student volunteers with needs in the community. Visiting and talking with non-profit organizations helps us determine what the community needs most and hopefully allows us to meet those needs through individual student volunteers, larger groups and academic classes that have a service-component.
I feel blessed and proud to live in this area with so many great people. The High Country is an incredible place to raise a family, filled with many examples of God’s splendor, rich cultural histories, and a host of people dedicated to making the community better for everyone. While I know I fall short often, I strive to be one of those people.
Connecting People, Building Community I believe that one of my roles in God’s kingdom is to help connect people to each other and to community information. This realization played a role in a recent personal endeavor of mine known as ToddsCalendar. com. Launched in December 2009, ToddsCalendar.com is an online Community Calendar, designed for posting events and announcements. It is a platform for the whole community to talk to each other, and it is free and available to anyone. The idea was born out of a simple desire to put all of our community happenings (from kids’ events, to yard sales, to festivals, to business events) in one easy-to-use and searchable location. It is my desire that it will have
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the kingdom-building purpose of honoring God and connecting people.
Living a Life Rooted in the Gospel Much of my journey towards this role can be traced back to the year after I graduated from college. I grew up in a family that taught me Christianity, but like a lot of people, I explored a number of other religious expressions in college. Soon after graduating, I went to Michigan and lived and worked on a 200-acre Mennonite farm and Peace Center for a year. Being exposed to this way of life for the first time was very inspiring. So much of what I saw was rooted in the gospels. The command of Jesus to love your neighbor was obeyed in a literal way when the entire community helped a local family rebuild a barn that burned down due to an electrical spark. Even the passage in Genesis, “by the sweat of your brow you shall eat” came alive in a very physical way as we labored for hours each day with horses, axes, wood, and in the dirt to grow our own food.
Christian Life is About Abiding in Christ For the first time in my life I saw the gospels and the Scriptures lived out in what seemed like a radical fashion. But the longer I lived in the midst of this culture, the more I realized this was a simple, biblical approach to living. I was living with committed Christians who were trying to follow Christ in a humble way, and this greatly helped me become stronger and “own” my own faith. It transformed my thinking about my attempts to live out what I believed…..and since then I have been trying to grow (ever so slowly) in the Lord. It has been fulfilling to discover each day that the Christian life is not about activity, but about relationship; not about performance, but about abiding in Christ. In an attempt to live out the balance of working hard to connect people in several different ways and living simply in these beautiful mountains, I am reminded of the reassuring words of Jesus in Matthew 11: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Todd Mortensen, Watauga County www.ToddsCalendar.com
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My Special Day
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y name is Sam Petersen and I am now twelve years old. My family first started going to Bethel Baptist in Cary, NC when I was about three years old. I started Awana Cubbies when I was four. I heard about the plan of salvation many times in Awana and in other church services. We memorized verses in Awana. One of them was Romans 3:23, which states: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” It was then that I knew that I was a sinner.
The Time Was Right In the summer of 2009, when I was ten, I went to a Vacation Bible School at my Grandparent’s church in the mountains, Pleasant View Baptist Church. On the last night of VBS, the pastor preached a message about the plan of salvation and gave an altar call. When I heard it this time, it was different. When he asked, “If you know that when you die, you will not go to heaven, raise your hand?” I felt my stomach starting to hurt and I had to raise my hand. I knew that I needed to ask Jesus into my heart. I did not go to the altar because I did not have my parents or grandparents sitting with me.
The Special Day The next day on Sunday morning, June 21, Pastor Dwight Shepherd preached the message and gave another altar call at the end of the service. I was sitting with my Grandma and I told her that I wanted to go to the altar. So I went, and my Mom, Dad, and Grandparents prayed with me. I asked God to forgive me of my sins and to come into my heart. It was a special day; all my family was with me. It was also Father’s Day. My pastor,. Tom Farley, at Bethel Baptist in Cary, NC, suggested that I write my testimony. I read this testimony on the day of my baptism, July 12, 2009.
Sam Peterson, Ashe County
*Sam’s grandparents are Walt and Dee Petersen and David and Janet Barr, both who reside in Ashe County.
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Learning is A Lifetime Affair
t 10 years old I was in church and baptized, but as I grew older and got my first job, I stopped going. I fell into the habit of going to church and then leaving again, but, after getting married and settling down, I felt like God was calling me to join a church.
husband and I bought a condominium in Ashe County, I knew that God was pulling at me to get into a church again. I was unsure as to where to go in Chapel Hill or Ashe County, and then the storm.
Sovereign Protection It was autumn in Ashe County and late one night there was a terrible storm. The rain was horrendous. Work was being done on our condo and scaffolding leaned against the house. As the storm worsened, I got out of bed and began to pace the floor.
As a good member, I got involved with the church and was put in as a deacon but basically did nothing but sit on a pew. I shudder now when I look back on that time because I didn’t really know God. I’m not sure I understood that you could be saved.
Son’s Challenge Bobby, my son, who was growing in the LORD, stopped by to see me one morning in Chapel Hill. He asked if I knew what would break his heart, and, at my hesitation, he explained that he would be heartbroken if he got to heaven and I wasn’t there. While I thought I was a Christian, Bobby saw that I didn’t have a close, intimate relationship with God. With Bobby’s question still in mind and after my
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blow.”
I walked to a window and felt what I can only describe as the wind from one of those “church hand fans” blow across my face. The window opened and I heard a non-audible voice say, “The window is going to
Just as I stepped back, a scaffolding board came crashing through the window but didn’t hit me. It was after this that I seriously started questioning myself. Here was a God that I didn’t know, but I knew
(Cont. on Pg. 33)
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HE warned me that night. It was evident that I had experienced an amazing miracle and there was more to God then I realized. This started my journey of getting to know the God of the storm.
Getting to Know the God of the Storm I found a women’s Bible study listed in the newspaper and began attending and studying The Word with other Christian women, many who have become close friends. I realize now that when I heard God’s voice in my heart that dark, stormy night it caused me to question my salvation and knew I was in dangerous territory. I asked myself if I was really saved or just going through the motions. Since then, He revealed to me that I do belong to Him and I am to live for Him and Him only. I’ve learned that I am to praise Him for everything and that He can even take our sin and use it for good. How many people are sitting on a pew, like I did, but Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you.” I am so thankful the LORD knows me. He got my attention and has drawn me to him. I’m still learning but I’ve come a long way and I’m thankful to Jesus my LORD.
Joyce Mauer, Ashe County
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I
A Call to the Nations
grew up in Boone and have lived here my entire life. I met my wife, Nicole, when she came to Boone in 2001 as an ASU student. We have been married for 7 years. I own and operate Solid Ground Grading Incorporated with my brother Chad. We have had this business for 6 years. Nicole teaches swimming at ASU and coaches a county swim team. A Calling to the Poor and Displaced Even though Nicole and I have both been followers of Jesus for many years, we were challenged in a very specific way a few years ago. We were involved in a small group Bible study and in the midst of meeting with and sharing life with the people in the group, we were reminded about the importance of serving people in other nations. We felt a strong calling to the poor and displaced of the world. After feeling that call and pursuing opportunities, it didn’t take long before we went on our first trip together. In 2005, we did a two week trip in Sri Lanka
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after the Tsunami. This was just the beginning. We found that there is such blessing in serving people in great need. We are so fortunate that we have the freedom and ability to go and help. Since that trip, we haven’t been able to stop. We had the opportunity to go to Gulf Coast and help some people in Mississippi and Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. It was amazing to see how many people came so quickly to assist with the efforts there. The resilience of the Gulf Coast community is astonishing. When a major earthquake hit Haiti we knew immediately that we wanted to help out. Being self-employed and running the business with my brother, gave me the freedom to be able to leave on short notice and Nicole’s work allowed her that freedom as well. Within two weeks, we were in Haiti. With my experience as an equipment operator, I was able to assist Samaritan’s Purse with some of the early clean up of the destruction. We stayed from February to April. During those few shorts months, we had fallen in love with the people of Haiti. When we returned to Boone, our hearts knew that we wanted to go back. Even though Boone is our home, we had such a strong desire to go to Haiti as often as possible. We made the proper arrangements and went back in May, staying until August. And we are hoping to back as early as January. We have been learning and re-learning that many times you have to meet the physical needs of people before you can properly address their spiritual needs. Nicole and I feel so honored that God has called us to this lifestyle.
Robert & Nicole Higgins, Watauga County
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God’s Perfect Timing
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live in North Wilkesboro but work for Scott Brothers Heating and Cooling in Ashe County. We report for work every day at 8 a.m. and I’m the kind of guy who always gets there right at 8, but never early. However, on the morning of October 26, 2009, I woke up earlier than usual and I felt led to leave my house 20 minutes earlier than usual.
A Strange Sight As I was driving down the road, I saw a house that had smoke pouring out of it. When I stopped my car, I saw a woman who was holding a baby and crying hysterically. She told me her parents were still inside and that her mother was in a hospital bed, unable to walk. I asked her exactly where they were in the house, then ran up the handicap ramp and kicked in the door. The smoke and heat was so intense it drove me back. I thought that maybe, just maybe she had made it out, so I went and asked the daughter again if she was sure that her parents were still in there. When she said that she was sure I knew that I had to go back in there. I pulled my coat over my head and went back in. I dropped to the floor and felt around for the bed because
(Cont. on Pg. 39)
I couldn’t see anything due to the smoke.
Right On Time I pulled the mom (Linda Call) out of the room and through the front door just as something inside exploded. I got her across the street, but I knew that the man was still inside. I felt there was no way he could have survived that explosion and I knew there was no way I could get back in the house. Tears filled my eyes as I stood there feeling helpless. All of a sudden I heard someone shouting that they saw a man at the window. I ran over to the window with another man and we quickly pulled the man (William Call) out of the window. Very soon after we got him out of the window the fire engines arrived. I called work and told them I was running late, but then I started to cough really hard and felt like I couldn’t breathe without a lot of pain. I ended up having to go the emergency room where I was treated for smoke inhalation.
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Helping Others Like Christ Helped Us My boss told me to stay out of work but I needed to give them some tools for my job. Mike Carter is the Installation Manager at the company, but he is also my pastor. He baptized me and my wife that summer. When we met we prayed together for the people in the fire and for my health as well. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me as we considered how God had me at the right place at the right time to help someone just like Christ has helped us. The day after the fire I peeled off the melted vinyl that had dripped from the house onto my work jacket and went back to work. When I think about that day, I don’t think of it as being something major. I stopped and did what I should have done. It wasn’t about anything else at that point. I knew that it could have been my girls, my wife or my family in there and I would have wanted someone to do that for me.
Jason Norman, Ashe County
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God’s Strength is Unlimited
s the pitcher on the Ashe County All Star baseball team, I was at practice when my Papaw Lawrence picked me up to go to a revival service at our church, Bald Mountain Baptist. Evangelist Neil Hatfield was preaching. He used his cinder block example to show us how God would give us strength in our lives. As a young boy, it really portrayed to me what kind of strength God could give me throughout my life. From that point on, I started developing my relationship with God. I continued going to church and started digging deeper into God’s Word.
Soon afterward, I went on a mission trip to Philadelphia with a youth group from my church. It was on that trip that God showed me there are people, in many places, who need the strength that God gives. Philadelphia is only one of the cities where the need for God is great. College Life: God’s Preparation
I went to college at ASU and had a very heavy academic
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load, but I did attend Baptist Campus Ministry meetings sporadically. In my second year at ASU, I was approached by the campus minister and club president who shared with me that they saw leadership potential in me and encouraged me to attend the meetings more regularly. It was at that time I began going regularly to the Campus meetings, attending the small group Bible study and later in the year was picked to be on a selection committee, which focused on choosing students for leadership positions for the upcoming year. I also participated in the Baptist campus team, which is designed to minister to in-coming freshmen. Little did I know that all of this was preparation for a bigger plan God had in mind for me that coming summer. My brother and I have a lawn-mowing business, and one day, I mowed the lawn of a lady, Joyce Breland, who used to be my day care worker. She asked me if I had ever considered going into youth ministry. Their church’s youth ministry had dwindled from attendance
(Cont. on Pg. 41)
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in the 90’s to only a few members due to the church being unable to hire a full-time youth minister. She and her husband, Bob, recommended that I talk to their pastor, Rev. Steve Leashomb. After meeting with him, he asked me to go through the application process, which I did. As the LORD would have it, I was selected to serve the church’s youth. God’s Hand in My Life Over the past year, serving at Midway Baptist Church, God has made Himself real to me in two very evident ways. After attending a youth ministry meeting in Tennessee, He showed me that it was going to take time to establish a group of young people. He showed me that He is increasing the group according to His will. Secondly, He showed me the spiritual growth of the youth group when we went on a summer mission trip to a small town in Pennsylvania. Their attitudes were one of excitement, flexibility and a willingness to do whatever the LORD wanted done. The girls gladly taught a backyard Bible school and the boys re-sided a house for a widowed pastor’s wife and her family. We were far more blessed by serving the small community church in Hazelton than the people receiving the ministry. As the LORD would have it, the numbers of the youth are increasing and even adults are joining us to get in on the joy of ministering to individuals both in Ashe and distant places. As I look back now on the impact of the “cinder block” lesson the visiting evangelist demonstrated to us, and to an impressionable young boy, that evening at church, I can see how the weight of it has continued to reveal to me how much strength God can and does give to those who desire it and how much that can be accomplished in His name because of it. By God’s strength and grace, I hope to continue leading others to live a life that will glorify God.
Keaton Mash, Ashe County
December 2010
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December 2010
He is My Life
I
was raised in the Catholic Church and attended Catholic school until I was fourteen. At the church my father attended, the gospel was never really explained like my father heard it on the radio. When the preacher said you must be born again, you must have a personal relationship with God, my father thought, “I don’t have one,” but in his heart he knew he would find the right church that would tell him how to be born again. Eventually, my father found a church and was born again. He took all six of his children to a nearby Pentecostal Church. The first evening we were there, all six of us went to the altar. I wasn’t saved that night, but even at 12 years old I knew something was different in our household and especially with my father whom I lovingly called “Pa”.
New Life in Christ In time, Pa was introduced to the Brethren Assembly denomination. At 17, I was a junior in public high school when I attended a youth service at the Assembly. I didn’t understand when the leader talked about being born again. As my friend drove me home that evening, he asked me if I were to die that night would I go to heaven. His question made such an impact on me that when I got home, I knelt by my bed and asked Jesus to come into my heart and be my Savior.
Trusting Completely in God’s Provision In 1945, I married and my husband and I were members of the Assembly. In the late 1950’s, he got a good paying job with the Esso Gas Company and moved the four of us to Florida, where, much to my
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sorrow, our marriage failed. We were divorced. I was left with a mortgage, a living to earn, and two rebellious teenage girls to raise. Feeling the need to be surrounded by my family, I sold the house, packed up my life and with two kids in tow moved back to New Jersey. At that point, my life consisted of being a mother, attending church and working until I retired from a large hospital when I was 62. By the late 70’s, my daughters and I moved back to Florida. In 1988, my daughter, her husband, and my eleven-year old grandson moved to Ashe County. Soon after, I followed and then my other daughter and her husband moved in 1998. In 1993, I moved from Boone to where I still live today. During all the moving from the north to the south from the south to the north, a failed marriage, raising two daughters on my own, and having to live on a single income, I’ve learned to totally trust Jesus for every need I’ve ever had through every difficult time. I’ve brought all my needs to him in prayer these many years. He’s never failed to provide for me whether it be a place to live, a job, or clothes to wear.
He is My Life Praying and reading God’s Word has kept me close to the LORD. My church family at the First Assembly of God has been invaluable in my growth as an intercessor as well. In a culture where older citizens are not always valued, I’ve learned that there are so many needs that a “pray-er” is always in demand. Even at 84 years old, when a prayer request comes, whether it be from a loved one or for someone unknown to me, I go slowly (who needs a walker?!) to my quiet place and pray. I feel like it was a miracle to be saved when I was young and although I didn’t completely understand salvation, I did realize my need for a Savior. Throughout my life, the Faithful One sustained me. Jesus has been my life-time companion. I talk out loud to Him because He is my closest friend. The Bible verse I’ve leaned on for many years is 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care on Him for He cares for you”. Jesus has cared for me, he has never changed and although my life went through numerous changes, many unwanted and undesired, He continues to be the most stable influence in my life. He is my life.
Terry Chamberlain, Ashe County
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A Desperate Plea
I
grew up a PK. PK means preacher’s kid and, because I was one, my parents made me go to all the church services all the time whether I wanted to or not. When I was 8 years old, I went forward at the end of a Sunday morning service to receive Christ as my Savior. I did this, not because it meant something to me, but because I wanted to do it before any of my other church friends did. Needless to say, that didn’t take.
did. Only this time, we were involved in a terrible accident. The Volkswagen Beetle I was driving swerved into a ditch and flipped over several times landing on the roof. The car was totaled, but the four of us in the car escaped without a scratch. I remember looking into the sky and saying, “God, you now have my undivided attention.” Not long after that, I had a radical conversion experience and became a Jesus Freak myself.
Disillusioned with Christianity
All this took place in the summer after my 10th grade year. Not long after that, I began to feel like God was calling me to do something I said I would never do. I was feeling the call to full-time ministry.
There were many kind, loving and sincere people in my church. However, as I grew older, I began to perceive that the only reason that a lot of people attended church was because it was the socially acceptable thing to do. As a PK, with a behind-the-scenes view of some of the church politics that my dad had to endure, I became disillusioned with Christianity in general and the church scene in particular. I knew that as long as I lived under my parent’s roof I would be made to attend church, so I accepted that. But, I began to get involved with the wrong crowd at school and started making many bad lifestyle choices. It was in the church environment that God worked in an unusual way to get my attention. We had a Sunday School teacher that all of the teenagers thought was cool because we only talked about current events and sports in Sunday School. We also suspected that he drank and smoked pot, though he never told us so.
December 2010
When I went off to college as a philosophy and religion major, my plan was: college, seminary and then to begin to pastor a church just like my daddy did. But that’s not how things happened for me.
A Desperate Plea, Hope in His Word
Ben & Connie Cox - 1977
God Got My Attention Then he and his wife had, what I now know, was a true conversion experience. He went from being cool, to being a Jesus Freak who actually wanted to talk about Jesus and study the Bible. The youth group he taught was intrigued, but skeptical, and we made fun of him behind his back. But, through his influence, I began to be open to God in a way I hadn’t before. It was in that time frame, that I went out partying with my pals, drinking and driving like we always
In college, the philosophy and religion courses I was taking began to undermine my faith, instead of strengthen it. I began to question if the Bible was really inspired by God and started picking and choosing what I thought was valid and what wasn’t. That, coupled with some extremely disillusioning church experiences, led me to the place where I completely turned away from God.
I doubted God was real at all and I hit a downward spiral in my life that caused me to think I was going crazy. Because of my tormented mental and emotional state, I began to entertain thoughts of suicide. One night, in desperation, I knelt beside my bed and began to pray. My prayer went something like this: “God, I don’t know if you’re real, and I could just be talking into the air, but if you can hear me and if you care, I need some sign of hope. I can’t go on living like this. I have a Bible here, which is supposed to be your Word. Even though I know this is hokey, I’m going to open this up and I want you to speak to me through this.”
(Cont. on Pg. 46)
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(Continued From Page 45) When I opened the Bible, it fell open to a passage that was, as I remember, the only passage in the whole Bible that was underlined. It was II Kings 20:5 and it simply said: “I have heard your prayers and seen your tears; I will heal you.” At that point, a peace entered my heart that I hadn’t felt in a long time and that night I slept peacefully for the first time in quite a while.
Search for Truth Leads to Christ After that experience, I no longer questioned if God was real or if He cared, because something profound had happened to me. But I didn’t recommit to be a follower of Christ either. I decided I was going to study all religions and began my own personal search for truth. Like many in the generation I grew up in, “I tuned in, turned on and dropped out”. I was spiritual, but I had come up with an “all paths lead to God” religion that enabled me to live any lifestyle I wanted, while professing to be enlightened. I actually felt that I had evolved beyond Christianity to a higher spiritual plain. In this period of my life in 1976-1977, I met and married my wife Connie, who was also a spiritual seeker. After our wedding on May 7, 1977, we traveled out West, working and camping along the way. As part of our spiritual search, we began to read the Bible together. Before we read, we would pray and ask God to show us whatever truth He wanted us to see. In conjunction with this, I read a book by C.S. Lewis
called Mere Christianity. One day, when I was sitting in the mountains, by myself, overlooking the ocean in Coos Bay, Oregon, I read John 15. The second half of John 15:5 jumped out at me where Jesus said “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” At this point, I felt like Jesus Himself was saying, “Apart from me as I really am, you are nothing. I’m not the Jesus you’ve reduced me to. I’m the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and no man comes to the Father except through me.” One might say that was just my old religious tapes playing, but I knew something powerful was taking place.
“I Surrender” Right then and there, I raised my hands to heaven and said out loud, “Jesus, I surrender! I’m yours, on your terms, not mine.” In that same time frame, Connie had a similar experience and everything changed for us. Though we were newlyweds, still on our 6-month honeymoon, Jesus made an immediate difference in our relationship. In the fall of 1977, we felt led to move to Boone, NC, and we’ve been here ever since. Little did I know then, that the pastoral call I felt as a 16 year old would be fulfilled here. For 21 years, I was involved in full time pastoral ministry and continue to pastor on a part time basis as I try to build this business that I bought approximately 4 years ago. Connie and I have raised 6 wonderful children here and we’re both incredibly grateful for the difference Jesus has made in our lives.
Ben Cox, Watauga County
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December 2010