Wednesday, March 6, 2013

One Seed...



I know I haven't blogged in a while, but I didn't really have any thing to say.  I've been laying low as I got hit with the flu, and I'm still in recovery mode.  Cancer and the flu are not a good mix.  Yeck.  

But I heard something today while I was at my bible study that I wanted to share with all of you.  
I love stories like this.

So our teacher Michele Telfer (amazing!) is teaching a class on the book of Acts, which in essence, means we're learning about the Holy Spirit.  And she spoke this morning about God using ordinary people to do extraordinary things.  In fact, I heard Michele speak at a conference a few years ago, and this was the first time I had ever heard that phrase before.  The moment I heard it, it sunk into me.  Deep.  And it's never left me.  

Well, she asked our class this question: "Who has ever heard of Mordecai Ham?"  No one's hand went up.

She then began to tell us this story.

Mordecai Ham was a preacher who, back in 1934, held a revival meeting in North Carolina.  Another gentleman knew of the revival meeting and wanted a young boy he knew to go with him.  The 16-year-old boy had no interest in going.  However, in order to entice the teenager, the older gentleman told the boy he could drive his old vegetable truck to the meeting.  Well, what teenager could resist that offer?  So off the two of them went.   

The teenager in the story is Billy Graham.  The older gentleman who brought him to the revival meeting is kind of a mystery.  Oh, his name is probably written down somewhere, but his name is not a household name.  (Neither is Mordecai Ham's for that matter).  Yet he's the one responsible for introducing the young Billy Graham to the Lord.  Kind of a big deal, don't you think?  Dr. Graham is responsible for the salvation of, oh, I don't know, thousands upons thousands of people.  But no one remembers the older gentleman's name.  

And that's the point.  
No one needs to remember your name in order for you to change a life.  

I love stories like this because I think I have been quietly obsessed with becoming "someone" who somewhere changes lives.  I admire so many people who do that.   You know my prayer, "God, use me!  Let's have fun together!  Blow my mind!"  

But the bottom line is that we don't have to be a preacher or a teacher or a writer or an actor to have a platform in which to share our faith.  We could be a guy with an old vegetable truck who offers to take some kid to church.  And look how that one turned out.   

My girlfriend Tara who is also in the class told us about a couple she met on a plane.  They started chatting, they invited her to their church and after she met them there, they bought her a Bible.  Guess what?  She lifted up that very same Bible from close to 20 years ago and said, "This is the Bible they bought me."  Because of that one plane ride, Tara's kids, husband and so many of her friends  have come to know the Lord.  In fact, I watched this girl baptize bunches of girls in a hotel pool at 10 o'clock at night at a retreat just a few years ago.     

Who knows what flowers will bloom when you throw a seed into the ground.
Got one?





2 comments:

  1. Thanks Ruthie! I, too, love stories like this and I so hope that I'm throwing a few seeds that will bloom along the way. Blessings and hope you are feeling better each day.

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  2. Hi Ruthie..its Amy Clark, I sit with you at KnowBeDo...I just want you to know that in reading all your Blog posts you inspired me to start a Blog, as a ministry (and to force myself to learn computer skills !) In keeping up with the blog I am keeping the Lord before my eyes, always searching for photos, topics and Bible verses to send out, so thank you, you are an inspiration to me, I am praying for you Ruthie, you are touching so many people, you are making a difference for the LORD, have a Blessed Day, xo Amy

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