TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One: Tornado rips through center of my soul 1 Chapter Two: Sister receives her sight 5 Chapter Three: Co worker experiences miracle healing 7 Chapter Four: A lost sheep comes home 9 Chapter Five: Tiny card yields tremendous fruit 11 Chapter Six: God anoints a 13 year old girl 13 Chapter Seven: Released from fear 15 Chapter Eight: Solving the mystery 17 Chapter Nine: Giving 10 percent to God 19 Chapter 10: Moving as God moves 21 Chapter 11: Enemies become friends 25 Chapter 12: Reviving a country church 27 Chapter 13: Vision unfolds 29 Chapter 14: Small coin makes big difference 31 Chapter 15: Leaving bar stools for church pews 33 Chapter 16: Meeting “Big John” 37 Chapter 17: Discovering God’s perfect timing 41 Chapter 18: Mentoring Kevin 43
As we chatted, I sensed that the husband had gifts to be a preacher, and I told him so. “The Lord spoke to me, and by the sound of your words, I believe you need to be a preacher.”
Chapter Four:
politely, as I pulled out information from my briefcase on our insurance packages and explained my best-selling product. After we discussed insurance options, our conversation turned to God and church.
One of my first job locations was in Abilene, KS. As I drove through the small, residential town searching for a place to sell my insurance, I noticed a middle-aged man and his wife sitting on the front porch of their home. They were basking in the sun and enjoying theIday.stopped my car in front of their house and approached them.
“Hello, could I speak with you for a few minutes,” I asked. They were very polite and friendly and asked, “Would you like a glass of “Sure,”tea?”Isaid
interviewing with the manager of the company, I was hired a couple of days later.
A lost sheep comes home
9
Many years ago in September of 2000, I was out of work and was looking for a job. One day a good friend told me about an insurance company that needed a rep to sell its National Motor Club insurance in Kansas.After
“I just feel that maybe you should,” I persisted.
He shared that one of the local churches in town had asked him to come minister. “I was a lost sheep, but now I’ve been found,” he said as tears rolled down his cheeks. “Thank you, Jesus, for all the hard times I have gone through.”
10 He didn’t respond to this idea but continued to peer over the insurance brochures. “If you come back on the first of the month, I will purchase an insurance package from you,” he said. I was thrilled by that news and continued to press him on the preaching idea. “Has anyone ever asked you to be a preacher?” “No,” he replied, with a surprised look on his face. “Why would you ask that?”
He continued to share that three weeks ago, the woman I assumed was his wife, was only his live-in. “When you were here, she and I were just living together,” he sheepishly said, looking down at the floor. “Today, she is my wife. Because of your testimony, I was so convicted, that we since got married, and I have rededicated my life to the Lord.”
The first week of the following month, I returned to his home as I promised. He was waiting for me on his front porch. While I completed paperwork, he asked, “Do you have a few minutes to spare?”“Why sure,” I said. “Ever since you were here three weeks ago, I couldn’t get the pastor thing off my mind,” he said. “You made a remark that I needed to be a preacher. Well, believe it or not, I used to be a preacher, until a series of life events caused me to fall away from the faith. You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but it must have been God that sent you to me to encourage me.”
37 Chapter 16:
Meeting “Big John”
As I carried in the items he had ordered the week before, he stood next to some boys and said to them, “Get in the car, boys, it is time to go to church.” Shocked by the word “church,” I breathed a prayer, asking the Lord to help me witness to him. “Big John, I didn’t know you were a church goer.”
Several years ago while working as a salesman, I called on businesses where I met many interesting people with whom I shared Jesus. Most people were easy to talk to about God. But there were a few who bristled. John, for one. He was one of the biggest guys I had ever met. Every time I called on him, I was reminded of the song “Big Bad John.” He was a grumpy guy, not likely to take lip from anyone.
John owned a restaurant that was on my route, and I called on him the same time every week. He gave me a list of everything he needed for that week, but hardly ever spoke. I wanted so much to speak to Big John about God. But it never happened until after visiting his restaurant three weeks in a row. That’s when a “door” finally opened.
TORNADO, GOD AND A NEW LIFE
To this day, I have remained faithful to those words. That tornado in 1973 was a turning point for me. Not only did God save me; He cured me of the awful habit of smoking, removed my desire to drink, and rid me of my temptation to curse. Most importantly, He gave me the desire to tell others about my experience of connecting with Jesus amid the storm.
During this terrifying experience, I did something that I had never done before: I cried out, “God, save me! If you save me, I will serve you the rest of my life.”
The night a tornado helped me find God and a new way of life