Giving your testimony at church

I am giving my testimony at church this Sunday along withsome others.  The rules have been thesame as long as I can remember: tell about your life before Christ, tell abouthow you came to know him, and tell about life since.  But my life doesn't really fit that neatly however.  Does yours? 

I came to know Christ in a childlike way when I was only 4years old.  But it stuck.  It was real, which was proven by my lifeafter.  Our church life was occasional,and my dad would say later in life that he wasn’t a true believer yet.  My parents divorced when I was 9, but somehowby God’s grace, I received a call to ministry when I was 10.  I knew I was going to become a pastor (whichI did).  Life went downhill after thedivorce economically and in most every way. But by age 13 I had the classic teenage “re-dedication” of my life toChrist.  It was the time when I made myfaith my own.  By 17 I was headed off toBible college, then marriage, then seminary, church job, kids, adoption, etc. 

The point is, I didn’t have a very long “before.”  What I have is an amazing God who chose tograb hold of me at an early age for no apparent reason.  I know a God who tapped a nobody on theshoulder to do ministry, and then gave him the ability to  pull it off. I worship the God of providence (provision plus direction), who at everyjuncture of my life, provided what was needed to move in his direction. 

Through his son Jesus, he has given me a future and a hope.

needing "the mercy rule"!

ouch. my son's baseball game yesterday was a slaughterfest. i'm not even sure if that's a word, but it certainly fits. inning 4 just didn't seem to want to end. and we were in the outfield. missing fly balls, making errors, and generally daydreaming. after a while of this (and I mean a LONG while) we finally hit the "mercy rule". you know, the point in kid's sports where the game is called because one team is up by a ridiculous amount.

some parents were mad; i thought it a good life lesson. because that's how my life feels at times. i think i'm plucking along, doing rather fine. (maybe even dong great, thank you very much!) but then out of the blue, a curveball (metaphorically speaking!). and then i am down for the count. failure, dissapointment, much grace needed.

and much grace is exactly what God offers! in the form of his son Jesus! not-even-remotely-deserved-favor. but i get it anyways--if i want it! thank God for the mercy rule!