Prisoner of Christ III

Warning: For those of you who may be interested, the following article is a little lengthy. I am hoping you will decide to read it anyway and be blessed in doing so.

On April 11th, my 52nd birthday, my wife Linda and I were shopping at the local Goodwill store.  I bent over to look at a book and felt something pop in my back. I didn’t have any idea at the time, but that would mark the beginning of a period which would end up being the most physically painful of my life.  After treating what we thought was an injury to my back for over a month, we found out through an MRI I actually had an infection which had progressed to the point where it was in my spine.  On the advice of the physician who was treating me I went to the emergency room that same day.  It was while I was being treated for the infection in my spine, my doctor found a spot on one of my kidneys.  He ordered a CT scan, which was how he found out I had a tumor on one of my kidneys.  A tumor which ended up being twice the size of my kidney.

After removing the kidney and finding it to be non-cancerous, one of the doctors who assisted in my surgery later informed me of a 70% chance of it being cancerous.  He also let me know that he and the other doctors were very surprised to see, as large as it was, that it was non-cancerous.

Needless to say, it was just another opportunity for God to let them know that He is able to do so much more than mere man. And what seems impossible to men is…NOTHING to God!

It was 77 days from the day I bent over in that Goodwill to look at that used book until I was released from the hospital. It is now going on four months since I found out about my illness.  And being self employed, it’s also been close to four months that we have gone without any income.

To say God has been faithful during this time would be a major understatement. And contrary to the popular teaching in modern day Christianity which says, “we need to give TO God in order to receive FROM Him“…Linda and I have gained an even greater revelation of God‘s Grace by watching Him provide for us in our absolute weakness.

It was in our weakness and our inability to do anything for God, or ourselves, where we saw Him prove Himself completely faithful.

Day after day we have watched Him provide in so many marvelous ways.

Some of you reading this have helped in so many wonderful ways, ways Linda and I will never forget.  For it was when we were at our absolute end, when I was still dealing with the daily debilitating pain of my illness, and we had no other options available to us, that we shared what we were going through with some of our closest Gracebook family.

Our thanks to Cindi Estep, Cheryl Lowry, Susie Golman Cox, and June Melanson.

After hearing what we were going through, these four wonderful sisters IN Christ took it upon themselves to help.  From my first diagnosis 40 days earlier, every doctor I saw urged me to get an MRI.  But being self employed, and having previously gone through some rough months, we were never able to afford medical insurance.

In a 12 hour period these wonderful sisters IN Christ raised enough money for me to get that (much needed) MRI.  The MRI, which Linda and I truly believe played a major role in saving my life.  The MRI, which finally exposed the real problem with my spine and was responsible for my being admitted into the hospital that same exact day.  Finally bringing much needed relief to over 40 days of almost continuous pain.

And if it wasn’t enough to watch how God provided for all of our daily needs, it was while I was still hospitalized, and just a couple of days after my kidney was removed, we received another unexpected gift from the Giver of ALL Things!

A “dear friend” of ours recently contacted Linda to talk to her about a job opportunity that he had…for me.  Turned out a good friend of his recently asked him to take over all the management responsibilities of his business.

Some of you may (or may not) remember a two part article I wrote the end of last year titled Prisoner of Christ I and II. It was in that article I shared, among other things, how Linda, her daughter, and I were at that time facing the real possibility of going to prison for something we knew nothing about.

We were co-managers of what we thought was a legitimate bookkeeping company, and working for a (so-called) brother IN Christ.  This man we knew for over 2 years as “Mitch” turned out to be a professional con artist who was using several different bookkeeping companies as a front for a huge money laundering operation he ran.

It was only “by chance” we found out we were in any kind of trouble.  A friend of ours, who was also a sister in Christ, and was a manager of another one of Mitch’s bookkeeping companies, mentioned to Linda that there was going to be a conference call that evening, and that we might want to listen in.  We didn’t have any idea what the call was going to be about.

Come to find out it was during this conference call we first learned that Mitch was in trouble with the IRS and that we might also be in trouble, and that our close brother IN Christ wasn‘t at all who he said he was. (Mitch was just one of six aliases he used to operate his phony businesses) It was also the first time we spoke with Rick, the attorney who would eventually represent us, about the reality of going to prison.

Several months after our phone conversation with Rick, (October 2010) we had our first face to face meeting at his Dallas office.

I will never forget that meeting, because he opened it by letting us know we were facing a minimum of two years in prison, and up to four hundred thousand dollars in fines, including interest and penalties!  Mitch turned us over and was by this time saying he didn’t even know us.  He was saying the bookkeeping business was ours.  And on paper he was right.  It was our names that were on all the businesses documents, not his.

And it was here, in our absolute weakness, that God showed up in power.

Before our meeting with Rick, Linda was instructed by Mitch not to bother mentioning one of the companies we did bookkeeping for.

Well, Linda being who she is, brought everything with her into his office, including the checkbooks and accounting records for this particular company.  A company we found out that Mitch was deliberately hiding from Rick.

It was here where God turned the tables and gave us instant favor with Rick.  In fact, we left the meeting friends, with him as our new attorney, assured that God was using him to get us the help we needed.

We have now known Rick for a little longer than a year. And since meeting him on that first conference call we have become very close friends with not only him, but his entire office staff.

And it’s Rick who is the “dear friend” I mentioned earlier, the one who took over management responsibilities for his friend‘s multi-million dollar company.

It was the surprise phone call Linda received from Rick, asking her if I would be interested in a new position as a Territory Manager while I was still in the hospital recovering from surgery.

I still have a hard time grasping the fact that less than a year ago we were facing the possibility of spending two years in prison and a fine we could never pay.  And how we have watched God transform the nightmare we both lived last year into a wonderful “new beginning” for us both.

I have worked most of my adult life in the trucking industry.  For over twenty years I worked as a driver.

The last three years I have been involved in direct sales for a company that specializes in selling a top brand of residential fire safety equipment.

This new opportunity is with a manufacturer who specializes in marketing their own line of “big rig” accessories! And with my background it seems like it will be a great fit!

The name of the company is Hana. (Just for fun, Linda looked up the meaning, as it is spelled in the Bible; Hannah‘s meaning: “Grace, God has favored me.”)

And we know that God causes ALL THINGS to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

It’s hard to believe a little over a month ago we didn’t know about this wonderful opportunity!.  In fact, neither of us had a clue as to where or what it was I would even be doing for a job.

But we did know ONE thing. That He would never leave or forsake us, and that He would continue to provide for our daily needs in whatever way He chose!

My big plan was to get healed up enough so I could go back to work. A friend of mine said he could get me on as a truck driver working in the oil field.  The pay is good, but it also required going over the road, with only three days home time every three weeks!

But God once again came through and showed us His exceeding abundance in a plan of His that we never even knew existed!

For I KNOW THE PLANS I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

There is not one thing we will ever face in this life, good or bad, that is a deterrent to God’s saving and keeping power!  He has proven to us time and time again as our EVER PRESENT HELP in time of trouble.  He is our NOW God! Our wonderful I AM!

All He asks in exchange is that we yield ourselves to Him, and simply trust Him right where we are Today!

All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things.  And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.  Only let us live up to what we have already attained. (Philippians 3:15-16)

It’s His Grace that does ALL the rest.  All that He asks is that we don’t hold back because of fear!  That we come to Him in our weakness and offer ourselves as a living sacrifice….PLEASING TO GOD!  And that we remember, as long as we profess to be His, than we are the bond-slaves of the ONE who gave everything, so that we might walk in newness of LIFE!  The ONE who became sin…SO THAT we might become the righteousness of God IN Him! (II Corinthians 5:21)

As I write this I am still experiencing some pain.  Where it was just a few short weeks ago that I needed a walker to walk, now I can pretty much do everything I need to in order to function normally.  I still have a ways to go, but Linda and I are still believing for a 100% restoration in my back!  We give God all of the Glory for everything He has done!

And its been through all of this we have received an even greater sense of what matters to God.  All of the things we used to see as having so much value no longer do.  And we are so grateful to God in opening our eyes to what really matters in this life.

And what is it that matters to God?

Well, it is NOT houses, land, money, or materialism.  It’s not power, prestige, or position. And it isn’t tithing, religious doctrine, or any other performance based works we do FOR him.  And it’s certainly not in what Jesus called, “running after what the pagans run after!”

WE…are ALL that matters to Him!  And with the exception of God Himself, WE should be all that matter to each other!

As long as we see Him as our ALL IN ALL we have no reason to fear losing anything in this life!  It’s here where we also SEE the meaning of what A.W. Tozer spoke of.

“The way to deeper knowledge of God is through the lonely valleys of soul poverty and abnegation of ALL THINGS Though free from all sense of possessing, [followers of God] yet possess all things.  ’Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

I have made my choice!  I am His prisoner!  And as His prisoner I realize He is able to do with me whatever He chooses, and whenever and however He chooses to do it.  Even if it means facing the possibility of spending time in a real prison or spending 77 days on my back.  We share in His sufferings that we might also share IN His Glory! (Romans 8:17)

Because the truth is we are all prisoners (slaves) of either one thing or another.

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.  You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:6-18)

It was during our time of absolute weakness, the times we found we were not able to rescue ourselves, where we learned the ALL sufficiency of His Grace.  It was in those times of sharing in His sufferings where He revealed Himself in GLORY and POWER as the ONE who truly is our…EVERYTHING!