The Journey Continues: Changing our World
“My journey” for the next two weeks is written by Bill Oxley, a guest columnist. He gave his testimony recently with a group of pilgrims at a Walk to Emmaus weekend and has agreed to share his presentation on “Changing Our World.”
Bill writes: It was a late Sunday night in early 1977, and I was living in Oxnard, Calif., after my discharge from the U.S. Army the previous August. I had just driven the 50 miles up the Pacific Coast Highway that snakes along the California coast from Westwood, on the west side of Los Angeles, where I had been visiting my girlfriend Flo, now my wife for more than 43-and-a-half years, where she was attending UCLA.
There was a 7-11 store on the outskirts of Oxnard that I drove past when coming back into town, and I decided I would stop to get something to eat. I moved into the left turn lane and pulled off the highway, stopping in front of the store. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard and saw it was exactly midnight. I can still, to this day, vividly see the image of the bright, red, green and white 7-11 sign. At that very moment, a voice in my head said, “Just go on home and get something to eat there.” Which I did. The next morning, I heard on the radio that a few minutes past midnight, a man with a gun walked into that same 7-11 store to rob it and shot the clerk in the back when he tried to escape. I believe that God has the power and authority to change circumstances and events in our lives. What He did for me that Sunday night is one of the reasons I am standing here today.
I want to introduce four fields of ministry for discussion on Changing our World. This requires a plan of action formulated to bring the world to Christ. The four fields are as follows:
1. Ourselves;
2. Bringing other people to Christ and the Church;
3. Our ministry to Our City, Our State, and Our Nation; and
4. Reaching out to other people and Nations of the World.
One, ourselves: Before we can effect change in our immediate area of influence, we must allow our thought processes, our minds, and our hearts to be transformed spiritually.
The Bible tells us in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good, and acceptable, and the perfect, will of God.”
My earliest recollection of God was around eight years old. My Grandmother White, my mother’s mom, had suffered a stroke several years before and was paralyzed, unable to walk and bedridden. This is how I always remember knowing her.
I was sitting at her bedside one day, and, after she had said something, I do not recall, I had said “Thank God for that.” To which she replied, “I have thanked Him a good many times.”
Here she was unable to walk, reliant on my Grandfather and others for her care, but most importantly, she was reliant on God. I honestly knew little about God at eight years old, except knowing now, how the Holy Spirit transformed her.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we hear these words:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
I have thought about her and that conversation many, many times and am still in awe, that even in her circumstances, for the expression of love she had for her Savior, and the strength and importance of that personal relationship. Now that I know Christ, I wish I could go back and sit in that chair at her bedside and continue our conversation.
I would encourage each of you to take time every day to think about how God has been a constant in your life.
Two, We bring Others to Christ and the Church: There is only one way to bring a person to salvation; it is through the gospel. In Romans 1:16-17, Paul wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and to the Greek. For wherein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written the just shall live by faith.”
In Mark 16:15, Jesus said: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Why did Jesus emphasize that the only way to salvation is through hearing the preached gospel?
In my personal life, the first time I said yes to Christ was in my sophomore year in high school, on a weekend with my Methodist youth group, at Mountain Home, within the pine-tree-covered mountains of San Bernadino County near Big Bear Lake. I would reaffirm that relationship years later while in the U.S. Army, choosing to be baptized on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
But, between then and a few years ago, I was particularly good at wandering in and out of God’s sphere of influence and did not have a spiritual home. But the one thing I know now is that God never abandoned me. And He will never abandon you!
It has been noted that prayer and preparation help us be messengers and disciples to others.
It is more involved for us than merely saying believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. We must say to a person:
1. Believe, that Jesus is who He says He is
2. Repent, and turn from the course you are on, and.
3. Be obedient and follow Christ, for the remission of your sins to be saved.
But how do we bring others to the Church? One way is by invitation.
After my Walk in February 2018, three years and 51-and-a-half weeks ago, I attended a Fishers of Men’s Breakfast at a local church in San Marcos. As I was going out to my truck to leave, the church pastor met me in the parking lot and thanked me for coming to the breakfast and extended an invitation to attend Sunday services in the future. I was in search of a spiritual home after my Walk and shortly thereafter I started attending Sunday services at that church.
After a few weeks there, I was asked to join the greeting ministry as a door greeter. And for the past two-and-a-half years, I have served as one of seven trustees who oversee the financial business of the church. I am truly blessed that God has led me to this church.
I also belong to two reunion groups that you will be hearing more about next week.
You know, I thought for years that it was simply good enough that I carried God inside of me and didn’t need to go to church. But in this season of my life, I have realized the importance of being a member of a Church family and sharing Christ with others. I’ve also learned, it’s never about us.
End of week one; this will be continued next Sunday.
