Have you ever thought about your Christian heritage?
Of course there are people like Martin Luther, etc. and other great people
throughout history to whom we should be very grateful for the part they
have played in getting us the gospel, but then there are those people closer
at hand that we often forget or take for granted.
On our journey to Auckland from Wanaka, we have not met with lots of people, but have rather focussed on just a few. Among these people were two of my old Sunday school teachers, a former intermediate (junior high school) teacher, and two people who have been both directly and indirectly responsible to one degree or another for our growth in God. Interestingly enough it's not always the people we have the most contact with who have the most impact in our lives. We wanted to say "thank you" to those people because if it wasn't for them, we may not be where we are today.
Many people have heard me say that "if it wasn't for Kenneth Copeland we wouldn't be here today." Well, that's true. There was a time when Chise and I were ready to pull the plug and die because of some shocking realizations regarding the attitudes and commitment of certain parties. However, we decided to forgive the Philistines* and give God "one more chance." To cut a long story short, what we saw at Kenneth Copeland's Minister's Conference in 1992 changed our lives. Here were people who lived in covenant. Person after person crossed the stage telling of Kenneth and Gloria's personal involvement in their lives. We determined to live like that-to live to make others succeed. And here we are today. (*Philistines=uncircumcised-strangers to the covenant.)
What most people don't realize is that if it wasn't for a young couple in a small country town in southern New Zealand, we would probably have never heard of Kenneth Copeland to the extent that we would want to go to his Minister's Conference.
The brother and sister-in-law of a friend, I met them for the first and only time when they invited me to talk about Japan at their evening meeting. Not only did they give me more financially that night than my "home church" had ever done, but they continued to send me tapes by Kenneth and others which in reality started to change my life. They also paid the majority of the cost of a keyboard which is still being used by Christians in Japan today.
We went and saw the wife and four kids on our way up to Auckland. Her
husband left her a couple of years ago. Why? I don't know all the details,
but I can say that it was probably a devil together with bad decisions and
lack of help from others. Noone is exempt from the attacks of Satan-everyone's
weakness (and strength!) is different. That's why we need each other! With
me it's often depression that tries to beat me. "What's the use of
saying this to people?" "Why bother?" "There are so
many hypocrites and idiots playing power games in the churches-why don't
you give up and forget everything?" But Chise doesn't allow that for
long at all! "You're not going to sleep until you speak in tongues
and fix your attitude!" "I don't want to speak in tongues!"
"Do it!" And I eventually do. I ask forgiveness, put the devil
in his place, and then go to sleep. Devils are so predictable and boring!
BUT! They will beat people up and destroy their lives if we let them. We
must protect and help each other-use the gifts and resources of God to help
each other to succeed in what He has asked each of us to do.
"So, what about the story, what happened to the guy?" He's not back with his wife and is probably still a mess. But, everything is subject to change. At the moment, however, one of the people who has impacted our lives, and consequently your lives, is trying to raise her four kids-two teenagers and two under eight-without her husband, and is trying to sell her house because she can't afford to make the payments. The rest of the church turned their backs on her when they closed down the church after the trouble began. Sadly, that kind of reaction is far too common!
So, how can we honor her? We can ask God and do what he suggests for
her. Have you ever learned anything from us? If you have, then Liz is part
of your Christian heritage. (If not, then that's OK, too!) Of course there
are many other people that we have all learned from as well, so why don't
we ask God if there is a way that we can honor them, too. He will show us
who, what, where, and how etc.
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