I have invited my friend Jackie to guest blog today with some sweet tea of her own. As long as I've known Jackie, the gospel has been the central focus of her life. Her heart is so tender to those who are still living their lives apart from God and His saving grace. Her story is one of a little girl dealt a painful and unfair lot in life, searching for love and stability in the sinking sand of the world, and finding hope in Jesus when she thought all was lost. The redeeming love of Christ is what she lives for now. She will stop and share the gospel at a moment's notice. She will give her last dollar and spend hours and hours to help just one more lost soul come home. She hasn't forgotten where Christ found her, and she lives each day loving him back. She and Mark are a ministry powerhouse. I'm so glad to have her share about her knight in shining armor today. If you'd like to hear more of Jackie's story and how God is using her today, She will be speaking at The Gathering at Biltmore Baptist Church this month. Information and tickets are available here.
"I think back to the 1st time I heard the voice that belonged to the man that one day would become my husband. It was a Saturday morning and I was sitting in a 12 Step recovery meeting. He said his name was Mark and he shared how God had changed his life, I never heard a man talk about God the way he did. I had been a Christian for less than a year and I was fairly new to Asheville, I was a single Mom of a teenage boy and had let go of my dream of one day being married. I think sometimes God doesn’t answer prayers until you are ready to live without the thing you ask for. Luke 9:23
As content as I was with being single, there was something in my spirit that came alive every time Mark shared in that meeting. After several months I got up enough nerve & invited him for coffee. He said, “Yes” and to this day, I thank him for saying yes. It was never my dream to marry an alcoholic/drug addict. I had enough of that kind of dysfunction growing up. I was not looking for a husband but fortunately, God’s plan for my life is so much more beautiful than anything I could ever dream up for myself. Jeremiah 29:11 I know the devastation that addiction can have on a family & I could tell you countless stories of who he used to be but rather than focus on the negative, let me tell you about the man of God he is today. 2 Corinthians 5:17 I see a man who did not have a great role model as a Father, become an amazing role model for my son, I have seen my husband go without so my son would not have to. I have heard my husband pray for my son and treat him as if he were his own. I have watched my husband become the Godly leader of my family that God created him to be. He is loved and respected in his church, his workplace, the community and at home by his family.
I think of the kind of husband he is to me and how I never thought an honorable man like him, could ever love a girl like me. Most men would not want me to tell my story but Mark not only prays over me, he encourages me to go out and tell my story of transformation because he understands what it is like to be lost, full of hopelessness and broken and he knows that sometimes God puts people on our path who can bring us closer to God and share the love of Christ. As I listened to my husband share the story of his friend who invited him to church, I was reminded of my friend Tammy who kept inviting me to church. I can't imagine how different our lives would have been if not for the love of friends who kept inviting us to church even when we said, no. If you remember nothing else from this blog, please remember this, my husband was a hopeless drug addict full of shame and now he is a Godly husband and Father who has been radically changed by Jesus. Mark experienced this life change because God used his good friend to invite him to church and he heard The Gospel. I wonder how different our city could be if all of us loved our friends, family, neighbors and coworkers enough to invite them to church and share The Gospel of Jesus Christ with them. We are all called to be a witness. God will honor your prayer if you ask him for boldness. Acts 1:8 I am so grateful to the man who invited Mark to church, had that event not happened I don't know that you would be reading this blog about a changed life. It is my prayer that in reading this that lives will be changed and God will be glorified. "
Here is a video of Mark and his powerful story of redemption and grace:
God is Bigger Than My Shame - Mark Oerther from Biltmore Baptist Church on Vimeo.
Recent Comments