But You O Man of God (eBook)

Jerry Thomas (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
256 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-9647-0 (ISBN)

Infos

But You: O Man of God is an intriguing read that will take you through three, joined at the hip, stories. The first entitled 'The Journal,' provides a mystery that needs to be discovered. The second part of this novel entitled 'To the Beginning,' will take you on a ride back to the first century where you get to walk with Paul the apostle, aka Saul of Tarsus on his journey from being the most oppressive persecutor of those who followed Jesus in his day to becoming the most prolific writer of the New Testament. The third installment is entitled 'And Beyond,' and it is the story of our modern-day church, and how that ties the characters in 'The Journal,' with your walk alongside Paul the Apostle together for us to see what has happened in our modern-day church, and what we need to do about...that.

Jerry Thomas lives in the same city he grew up in, is a US Navy veteran, and is very active in his church. Like anyone's life there is a multitude of information that could be written about him. Some very positive things as well as some negative. But the bottom line on this prolific writer of Christian fiction is that he genuinely tries to live his life with truth and honesty as his guide in all areas of his life. He is nowhere near perfect, and he will be the first one to tell you that, but he does wake up each morning with a joyous attitude, and a heart for helping others. The best way to discover what Jerry Thomas is all about is to read one of his novels. What is in him comes out in his writings.

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But You: O Man of God is an in-depth, very "e;I can't stop turning the page"e; novel where you will get to enjoy a mystery that unfolds in "e;The Journal,"e; which is the first of three parts in this intriguing read. The mystery is a plot that unfolds accidently after re-reading one man's forty-year block of personal journaling. "e;What to do about that?... is part of the mystery. The second part entitled "e;To the Beginning"e; is the story of how God uses the Apostle Paul, aka Saul of Tarsus, as he records his transformation from being the murderous offender of Christ's followers to the most outspoken leader for all of Christ's church in the first century. This is one profound, and very interesting way to depict the truth of our dear, used by God, Paul, who called himself "e;the chief of all sinners."e;Your journey then continues to the third part "e;And Beyond,"e; where you will be taken on a walk between the shadows that will be exposed in "e;The Journal"e; and the Apostle Paul's exploits in "e;To the Beginning."e; These chapters tell the story of what so often has taken place in our current church setting, and what to do about that. You'll be given the opportunity to examine the YOU in this epic novel..."e;BUT YOU: O MAN OF GOD."e;

Textauszug

CHAPTER 1

Hello and Goodbye

“Yeah…so what?” Was all one might get out of Mark Garner when asked if he believed in God. Mark’s first six years of his education were at a parochial school, so he had to sit through religion classes year after year. That then, might be the catalyst that brought him to the faith that there really must be a God who created everything. He also believed in Jesus, though what he believed about Jesus might be up for grabs. He never disputed any of the teachings they tried to bring to him in those religion classes, but he didn’t get much out of them either. His attention span was not even working part time when it came to God topics, so other than believing in God, he just put all that other stuff, in his whatever box, and went on with his life, but there was a reason for that.

He and his sister grew up in a very difficult home, and from an early age they both were wearing an invisible sign around their neck that might read… “Survive today…just survive this one day.” You see although he and his sister had been taught from the catechism and the Bible…it didn’t take, and starting from his seventh grade he attended public school. So, from that time on he didn’t have to sit through any more religion classes, for which he was elated, but at a minimum Mark Garner did believe in God.

Mark was all the way into his thirties when a major recession was in full swing in the country, and specifically in his city and he could not find work. He succeeded at becoming very hungry… very quickly. So, one night while in bed he started to complain to that God he said he believed in and guess what? That God showed up on Mark’s heart step. He was touched spiritually like he never had before, and his thoughts dove right back to some of those religion class teachings he had all but forgotten about. He remembered the story of Nicodemus and how he came to Jesus, and what Jesus told him. Mark decided that he should probably do something about that.

Through a series of events then, Mark was drawn to a storefront church way across town. He had never experienced anything like that. The only type of church he could attest to was a large type building with a church tower, wooden pews, and stain glass windows with a large pulpit, you know, a church? But this was just a normal business type building with maybe a hundred chairs spaced out across a tiled floor, and a small short stage where their pastor would preach.

That first Sunday when Mark walked into that church, he came face to face with this six-foot six-inch man who greeted him at the door. “Hello,” he said shyly looking up into the face of this man looking down at him. That giant turned out to be the pastor, and he ended up presenting himself as a kind, patient, caring, well versed man of God’s Word. Mark wasn’t looking for this church, he just found himself there as he was walking the area. Funny how that works, isn’t it? After service, Pastor Jimmy Lee Cambridge approached Mark and asked if he might meet with him one day the next week just to talk and get to know him. Mark agreed, and that was the beginning.

Mark was over a decade younger than Pastor Cambridge when they first met. Mark’s life, up to that point, did not show off a smarter-than-the-average-bear kind of guy. But in truth he was a very bright man, and certainly smart enough to know the difference between most of the rights and any wrongs that this world seems to ignore, although few ever saw much of that in Mark. He simply chose to look like he had an inferior intellect to get away with his rebellious desires. But he had had enough, and he was thirty-two years old when he gave up his riotous life he had been living to totally embrace this opposite lifestyle. It did not take him long at all to clearly understand that this Pastor Cambridge was the man who could help him move in the right direction. It has been said that the percentage of persons who are willing to totally accept the true Christian walk after the age of thirty decreases exponentially, but Mark was one who defied the odds.

Now it only took a couple of sessions of mentoring from Pastor for Mark to be absolutely positive that he was in the right place. It took over two years, however, for Mark to be versed enough to minister God’s grace to others semi-successfully, and it took an additional year before Mark would be considered absolutely qualified to be a minister of God’s Word as lay leader. He had been mentored well, and given opportunity to prove that he knew how to use God’s Word by demonstrating what he had learned in a variety of circumstances. He had been shadowed by Pastor Cambridge until he was able to stand on his own. Another interesting point is that Mark had not even completed high school up to the time he walked into Pastor Cambridge’s church, so those in-depth studies he was given by Pastor that he was completing with excellence surprised everyone, including Mark himself. Sometime during that training though, he was also encouraged to apply for his GED, and he passed that with flying colors as well.

Mark did confess later that he felt a small charge of intimidation because the pastor was so large. Mark, up until meeting him, always positioned himself to be the one who was in charge, but he could instantly see that he was not going to get away with that here. It took Mark a while before he was totally convinced of his own inferior thinking compared to God’s holy, perfect, and understand-it-or-not ways. Mark Garner did finally learn how important it was to submit to God and His ways.

Mark will say to you today, “Thanks be to God for all He has done for me!” But he will also say with no reservation, “Thanks to that six-foot six-inch man of God that He placed in my path. It was because of him that my life was turned around so that I was able to become a true disciple of Jesus.”

Pastor Cambridge was in his mid-forties when they met, and his whole life and his entire ministry was wrapped around the one Scripture Jesus told His disciples… “teach them to obey all that I have taught you.” His sermons could come from anywhere in the Bible, but almost always ended with how to apply that teach to the last command Jesus gave his disciples when he ascended into heaven. After seminary he spent the next several years as assistant pastor of a church in New York. Then the denomination helped him and his wife, Martha, start a brand-new church here. That had been about a dozen years prior to Mark walking into his life looking shy and disheartened. From that first Sunday morning when Pastor Cambridge invited Mark to meet with him, to the better part of two and a half decades later, the two of them became workers together in the harvest field.

Mark’s first meeting with Pastor Cambridge was years ago now. In time they became each other’s prayer and accountability partners, before Mark’s dear mentor said goodbye to this world and went on to be with the Lord. But Pastor Jimmy Lee Cambridge will forever be in Mark’s heart and mind. He has, and will testify often, of how God used Pastor Cambridge to bring his life from a sinning, not knowing or caring man, to a forgiven teacher of God’s grace. Thus, enabling Mark to help others just like himself find and seek the ways of Christ.

During those twenty plus years of serving God together, literally hundreds of stories can be testified of God’s wonderful ways and blessings. Memories that are used even today to bring hope to many. Pastor Jimmy and Mark spent many hours and days walking the streets bringing the good news to many people and to anyone they would meet along the way. And it was through Pastor’s leadership that many others also learned to minister outside the church. Some ministered in the jail, some in the rescue mission, the crisis pregnancy center, and anywhere else God would lead. Even to holding evening church services to really low-income members of a broken-down trailer park, where most of them living there had no transportation to be able to come to church on Sunday. So, it came as a pretty great surprise that during one of their last one-on-one weekly prayer and accountability meetings, that his beloved pastor confided in him, “I’ve been a pastor now for over forty years, and sometimes I can’t see much fruit from my efforts. What do you think?” Mark tells the story now that he was totally awestruck when he heard his pastor make that statement.

“What do I think?” Mark said when he was able to speak. “What do I think?” he said again incredulously. And Mark went on to try to spell out all the things he could remember of what this six-foot six-inch humble man of God had been a part of, ending with a hope that he, Mark, could replicate just some of what Pastor Jimmy Lee Cambridge had accomplished for the kingdom of God.

It was also during that same meeting, Mark recalls, that Pastor told Mark that he was only asking God for seventy years. “What an ominous thing to say,” Mark remembers thinking, since he knew that Pastor was already sixty-nine, so he countered with, “What if God gives you seventy-one years? What then will you ask God for?” He remembered that both of them laughed about that then. It was about a month later that Pastor was diagnosed with bone cancer, and that he was in a very serious stage, indicating little chance of survival. He did allow some treatment, but in the end chose to let the...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 2.5.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-9647-0 / 9798350996470