Gray-haired Heroes of Faith

SINCE LAST SEPTEMBER, I’ve been a discussion leader in the Alpha evangelism program on Thursday nights at our church. It’s an international program that’s been around since 1990. You probably know about it.

Each night participants streamed into the auditorium and made their way to their tables. Well, not all of them streamed-in. There were two people who struggled to swing their legs out of their car and then they’d wrestle with their walkers to get them out of the back seat. Once mobilized, they proceeded to, and I can’t think of a better term, ‘snail’ their way toward the front double doors where they’d noisily wrestle with each of those too. Others would usually come to their aid.

Eagle in flight above the clouds

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Living Water – John 4:1-29

People die without water. When someone is far beyond thirsty, a glass of water is worth more to them than all the world’s gold. At age 16, I got heat stroke in Florida…after fishing all day in the hot sun because I forgot to bring drinking water. That was just a single day.

Waterfall-Scripture_Med_300

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“Follow Me!” – John 1:35-51

The Lord has placed people in our lives who, like John, Andrew, and Philip, introduced us to Jesus. Sometimes He sought us out, as He did Philip. In Christ, God called us saying, “Follow Me!” He already knew us before we followed Him. He still knows our thoughts, our character, the meditations of our heart, and where we are at all times.

Follow Me

We continue to follow Jesus because He is the Lamb of God, the Messiah, the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the Son of God, the King of Israel, the Word incarnate. Knowing that He is always with us is a great comfort. He knows our anxious thoughts and the challenges we face. Lord, let us see You in all we do today. Help us to overcome our challenges, and to give You thanks when You do!

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Dr. Rob Oberto is the award-winning author of “Intimacy With God: Extraordinary miracles that opened a skeptic’s heart to God” available from Amazon.

©2017 Rob Oberto, All Rights Reserved.

 

Saved from Suicide, Gifted with Tongues

loneliness

Carolyn was distant, aloof, and alone in her far-off world.

There were four of us who were her co-workers, but none of us, employed at this regional grocery retailer, was her friend. It wasn’t that she rebuffed our efforts to engage her in conversation, or that she was in a drugged induced haze. It was more like our voices couldn’t reach her. The only voice she seemed to hear was hers, singing quietly to herself – while barely audible, it was pleasant.

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Oh God, HEAL ME!

Stomach flu, or gastroenteritis, is, to put it politely, unpleasant. I seemed to have suffered from it more often than other children. I dreaded the experience. No one, I’m sure, ever happily said, “I have a stomach flu and can’t wait for the finale.” But it appeared to affect me more severely than most.

Fortunately, three decades passed without contracting this type of flu again. Those dreadful memories had long since faded. But then, one Sunday morning, my stomach felt a little queasy. I shrugged it off, but it progressively worsened—you know where this is heading. Around mid-afternoon the feeling became vaguely familiar, but I didn’t know why. Eventually it hit me: “Oh no, I remember this!”

A few hours later, and right on schedule as I recalled the process, it was time to head to the, um, loo.

God was watching.

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“Smack up against God’s grace”

“Pastor Rob, a man arrived requesting to talk with a minister,” my secretary announced one early Monday afternoon.

I met Ted (not his real name) in the waiting room. He was clean cut and in his mid-thirties. I had just spent two hours helping sixteen people with food and other types of assistance. “This shouldn’t take long,” I thought as we walked back to my office.

Ted sat down and came right to the point, “My wife threw me out of the house. I’ve been living in my truck for the past three days, and it’s all my fault.”

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Intimacy with God: Give Thanks

Fantasy is popular today.  There are fantasy movies, fantasy games, fantasy books, and of course fantasy football. We love it because anything goes. It’s all just made up. Worlds are created where anyone can do, or be, anything. The only rule is that there are no rules. And just when we assume there is a rule or two, something impossible happens to break them. It’s why I’m not a big fan of the fantasy category – no tension.

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The Heart’s Longing for God

Billy Joel’s song “The River of Dreams”[1] vocalizes his heart’s deep longing for something. Something he thought he would never lose. Something undefined . . . but sacred. Something taken from his soul. “In the middle of the night” while he slept, says the singer, his heart went searching through fear, doubt, and truth. His mind was tired, but his heart pressed on . . . searching for that undefined, sacred, something.

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