One of my friends is the most inspiring person I know. Really. He has been led so directly by God, and whenever I’m in his presence I feel as if Jesus must surely be right there beside him. It’s really awe-inspiring. And I surmise sometimes that if he had lived in Bible times, he’d surely be another Daniel. Or a Joseph. Or an Enoch. Someone who is associated with being righteous. Of course, I know, we can’t stand in judgement of others (thank goodness!) and that none of us knows the heart of another, but surely, this guy simply drips God’s grace and kindness and I always leave his presence feeling a little empty. And like I’d prefer to just stand next to him than have to walk away. Oh, he also happens to be our pastor. But not one of those fuddy-duddy pastors. Nope. He’s amaaaaaazzzzzing. He is loved by the youth in our church. And by the oldies too. Which of course, is quite rare. And he was our friend before he was our pastor. So, I can vouch that this guy aint acting.
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But you see now, I’ve totally lost my plot. What I was going to tell you about was how awe-inspiring his talk was this weekend. He told us a few stories about his experiences in Richards Bay (a seaside little town, about two hours from Dundee) over the past few weeks, where they’re holding a campaign and introducing people to Jesus. How God intervened on numerous occasions and His provision for the youth who are there running the drive. And then Heino (that’s my friend’s name) said, “Let’s read from God’s Word” and asked us to turn to John chapter one. You might know the text. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…” and so forth. So, there we all are, looking down and reading from our Bibles. About a minute or two into the reading I realized that I’d never heard those texts before. Of course I’d read them before and it had held some meaning for me. But I’d never HEARD them before. If you know what I mean. It all just sounded so NEW and FRESH to me – as if it was the first time I’d ever heard them. It was then that I looked up from my Bible, to Heino. And noticed that he wasn’t even holding his Bible in his hand. He was reciting the scriptures, word for word, from John 1 v 1 all the way through to John 1 v 51. I was truly flabbergasted and humbled by the experience. Surely, you could have heard a pin drop in the church. Not a single person walked away from church un“touched” by the experience. I’m not saying that it was a miracle or something supernatural. It was just so extraordinary, yet so unassuming on Heino’s part. He wasn’t bragging or being all “look at me – I’ve memorised a whole chapter of scripture”… He was simply so familiar with the Word that he didn’t need to even hold his Bible in his hand to share it with us. He told us the story from God’s Word, word for word, as if he had lived it himself.
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How I wish that I had such an intimate knowledge and experience of God’s Word as he so clearlyhad has. What an inspiration to me. I walked away from Church this weekend totally inspired by the “reading” of God’s Word. And determined to read it for myself again too.
.
But you see now, I’ve totally lost my plot. What I was going to tell you about was how awe-inspiring his talk was this weekend. He told us a few stories about his experiences in Richards Bay (a seaside little town, about two hours from Dundee) over the past few weeks, where they’re holding a campaign and introducing people to Jesus. How God intervened on numerous occasions and His provision for the youth who are there running the drive. And then Heino (that’s my friend’s name) said, “Let’s read from God’s Word” and asked us to turn to John chapter one. You might know the text. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…” and so forth. So, there we all are, looking down and reading from our Bibles. About a minute or two into the reading I realized that I’d never heard those texts before. Of course I’d read them before and it had held some meaning for me. But I’d never HEARD them before. If you know what I mean. It all just sounded so NEW and FRESH to me – as if it was the first time I’d ever heard them. It was then that I looked up from my Bible, to Heino. And noticed that he wasn’t even holding his Bible in his hand. He was reciting the scriptures, word for word, from John 1 v 1 all the way through to John 1 v 51. I was truly flabbergasted and humbled by the experience. Surely, you could have heard a pin drop in the church. Not a single person walked away from church un“touched” by the experience. I’m not saying that it was a miracle or something supernatural. It was just so extraordinary, yet so unassuming on Heino’s part. He wasn’t bragging or being all “look at me – I’ve memorised a whole chapter of scripture”… He was simply so familiar with the Word that he didn’t need to even hold his Bible in his hand to share it with us. He told us the story from God’s Word, word for word, as if he had lived it himself.
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How I wish that I had such an intimate knowledge and experience of God’s Word as he so clearly
3 comments:
Now that sounds like a great weekend! I wish I knew the Bible like that, too.
That kind of knowledge always impresses me.
I love the way you describe this man - that he drips God's grace and kindness. I hope to some day be described like that!!!
Sounds like this was a great time of worship.
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