Somebody Died For You

 

In the previous Podcast I told about an encounter I had at a gas station where I believe The Lord prompted me to purchase gas for a woman. Little did I know that God was going to use this encounter as a spring board to propel me to impact people in high need areas in Waterloo, Iowa, South Chicago, and Rosebud Indian Reservation.

In this episode I really want to back up and share with you a few deeply personal experiences that God used to lead me into broken areas armed with His love.
Let me start with a short testimony…

I was born in a small town in North Central Iowa called Humboldt. We lived in a second home on a family farm. Within the first few years of my life my parents divorced and my mother, older brother, and I moved into town. I have a wonderful mom who worked hard to support us. In a few years she remarried to the man I know as “Dad”. As I grew up I found myself in trouble a lot. Especially during elementary school. I didn’t know how to handle conflict well. I felt rejected by my biological father.

I knew about God but didn’t really Know Him.

When I was 12 my biological father asked me to come and spend time with him in Oregon. I was excited to show him how good of a kid I was and what he missed out on all these years. When I arrived I soon found out that he lived in a home with nice people who struggled with drug addiction. I was heartbroken. He was in a relationship with a woman who was doing her best to keep me out of that home while I was out there. That was a tough six weeks for me personally.

When I came home I remember grabbing a King James Bible that I was given by our local Lutheran Church. I remember holding it up knowing that I couldn’t understand much on my own. But I remember saying out loud that I was going to start reading one verse every night to find out who God was for myself. I wanted to see if I believed in Him.

I thought Jesus was up in Heaven pointing His finger at me in disappointment for all of the bad choices I was making. I committed to reading a verse a day no matter if I was sick, staying at someone’s house, or traveling.

That was the best decision I ever made. I stuck with it. But I found a Jesus who looked much different than the one I thought I knew. Instead of pointing His finger at me in disgust He was holding His arms out wide for me.

Read Luke 15 for yourself. There are pictures of lost people over and over again. The Real Jesus risks and abandons everything for them. I was one of those lost people. He started changing me from the inside out. That anger left, the resentment left.

I went from a kid who had parents tell their son not to hang around me to a student that parents called to see if there child could hang around me. God not only changed me from the inside out, He placed a great family and supportive coaches around me.

Fast foreword to college. I played Football at the University of South Dakota. I still read my Bible every night. Even when we traveled to games. Every once in a while a player would come up to me and ask me what was different about me. I would tell them about Jesus. But on the weekends I would be drinking right next to them. I was one foot in and one foot out most of the way through college. I missed many opportunities there.

I moved to Waterloo, Iowa, got married and had our first child. I soon started teaching at an Alternative High School in Waterloo. I loved that job. I loved Jesus. I went to church every week. I watched the right kind of movies and even didn’t swear too much. You get the picture.

It was during this time that God started really working in me.

The first incident happened with a picture. This picture would flash in my mind many times every day. I would be taking attendance in class and I would see it. I would wake up in the morning and I would see it. Suppertime and bed time were no exception. For weeks I would see the same picture over and over again. In this picture I was standing before God in Heaven. I was standing before His throne. In that situation I should have been ecstatic. I would expect me to be jumping for joy. But in this picture I wasn’t. I had my head hung low in embarrassment.

The picture haunted me. I kept asking God what this picture was and why I was looking that way. As months went by the answer was unfolding through prayer.
This was the answer…

What was I doing with the precious blood of Jesus Christ? What was I doing to impact the many hearts that He placed around me? Just being a good guy wasn’t enough. How was I impacting their hearts for eternity?

I was heartbroken. I was coaching varsity football at the time. I had great relationships with my players. I also had great relationships with my students and colleagues at Expo. But nothing of eternal value was happening. I started to pray and ask Him these questions. Now What? What do you want me to do?
Soon I believe He led me to start a Fellowship of Christian Athletes group. That summer I switched jobs. I started teaching at a Jr. High in Cedar Falls. We shortly started a FCA group. Kids started coming and learning about Jesus. An Eternal Impact. I thought I was a pretty good Christian.

That summer my wife, daughter, son and I were going to Des Moines, Iowa to an amusement park. We stopped in a gas station. I had no idea that my life was about to change forever.

My family went in before me to the bathroom. I was walking in behind them. As I entered the store I looked to my right and see a tall man with black hair and a black and grey plaid jacket at the counter. He had black working boots on. I looked to the left and saw the back of a beautiful little girl. It was like that moment just stood still. This little girl was about 4 years old. She had beautiful blonde hair. As I looked she swayed back and forth, back and forth, from one foot to the other. Her head was looking down at the ground. On one hand she looked beautiful and normal but something wasn’t quite right.

The man who I’m guessing was her father started yelling. I’m guessing he had been drinking. He started screaming, “Get over here! I thought I told you to stay away from the CANDY! Damn It! I froze. The hair on my body started to stand up. I hate seeing people yell at kids. I looked at the girl and she slowly turned around. My eyes couldn’t believe what I saw.

She had a major facial deformity. Her bottom lip was turned out and was extremely large and purple. Her head hung low and she had drool coming out both sides of her mouth hitting the floor.

You would have thought a Great Christian Guy like myself could have gone over to the dad and said, “Looks like you are having a rough day could I pray with you?” Or I could’ve said something nice to this little girl.

Do you know what I did? I turned around and walked out the door? I was scared to get involved.

I BROKE! I was inside the van. My family was still inside in the bathroom. I started screaming at God. I started hitting my steering wheel. Snot was coming out of my nose. I was screaming that something has to change. I said, “If this is who I am I am nothing. I’m nothing as a Father, nothing as a husband, or a coach!” “If I can’t take your love into a broken situation than I’m not doing this anymore.” Something has to change. I’m sick of being a fraud.

To say I did some soulsearching after that is an understatement. I believe The Lord started prompting me to intentionally go into dark and broken areas. Not to bring judgement and a “Here’s what you need to do to be like me” attitude. But bring His Love and light.

I was nervous. I was from a small town in Iowa. Did he want me to pray for people I didn’t know? I would be uncomfortable. But I would flash back to that picture of the girl in the gas station. I wouldn’t go back to that. I couldn’t go back to that.

I prayed about this for about six months. How would we do it? Where do we go? What do we say?

Then I believe the Holy Spirit spoke something to my heart. I didn’t hear it with my ears. But it was loud and clear in my heart. He said, “Are you against drugs and violence in your community.” I snapped back in my head. That is a terrible question for You to ask me! You know my story and background. I absolutely am against this in my community.

Just then He flashed a picture in front of my eyes. It was the clearest most vivid picture ever. It was me sitting in my favorite recliner. Reclined all the way with a remote in my hand. At that point I knew what He thought of my answer.

I knew He was saying “Get Going!”

I knew life for me was never going to be the same again!

In the following episodes we will share some of the very first encounters along with some of my thoughts at the time. You will hear some amazing stories of when God really showed up as well as some epic failures by me. My hope is that you will take steps to follow Him as He leads you to impact the lost and broken in your area.

I also can’t go on without acknowledging the great support network that God has put around me. From my family, to friends, teammates, and especially the Heartland Vineyard Church who has supported this since the very first day. God has certainly placed strong talented men and women around this ministry from the beginning.

Dear Papa,
Thank you for every ear that is listening to this. Bless them. Draw them near to You. Reveal Yourself to them just as you did to a lost 12 year old boy over 30 years ago. Let the truth and the love of Jesus Christ surround them. Let the Freedom purchased by the cross lead them in Love.
In Jesus Name,
Amen

Here are this week’s prayer requests and praise reports. Please call 319-435-1758 to pray for someone you heard on this podcast, share a praise report, or share an area in your city that you would like God to impact in Jesus Name.

See you next time!