Skip to main content

Listen to this...

 In the early fall of 1967, I had a friend about 10 years older than me, who took me under his spiritual wing. He invited me to go to Boston for a youth meeting on a Saturday night. It was at that rally, my spiritual eyes were opened when the Gospel was presented ... I was a sinner, needing the Savior, Jesus Christ who gave His life for me to take my penalty for sin and cleanse me. That night I received Christ as my Savior and Lord. When Ray offered to take me to Boston for a Christian Youth Rally, my reasoning was to go to the large city which intrigued this 14 year old. The Lord God had something else in mind. He used the largest city in New England to have me sit in Tremont Temple near the Boston Common and hear John Debrine proclaim the Good News of salvation in Christ I desperately needed to hear. Through Holy Spirit conviction I had a transformation experience. At this point in my life I went faithfully to church on Sundays with my family. It was here we met Ray and his dear mother. I may have heard the Gospel message there but it never penetrated my heart if I did. About a month prior, Ray took me to Worcester, another nearby city to hear the same speaker in an outdoor youth Rally. Hear me, dear ones! It was the same message, by the same speaker and a heart stir by the same Holy Spirit but a different result. No conviction to respond but an interest of the message I was hearing. That was the first time I remember hearing the Gospel message. Ray told our family of John Debrine's morning radio show called Songtime. While getting ready for school in the morning and then while eating breakfast, the message of new life in Christ rang through the kitchen radio. Looking back at it now, I can see how the Holy Spirit was drawing me in toward the Savior, so that when the proclamation of the need for Christ hit my ears that Saturday night in September the Holy Spirit clearly said that's you, Mike and now is the time to respond. That spiritual encounter started a series of encounters while listening to Songtime every morning before school.

Those early encounters with God began a series of events that must be told. You must hear them. So this ends part one. Get the next episode right here real soon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Prayer for Christmas Eve

O God our Father, you have brought us again to the glad season .....when we celebrate the birth of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant that his Spirit may be born anew in our hearts this day .....and that we may joyfully welcome him to reign over us. Open our ears that we may hear again the angelic chorus of old. Open our lips that we, too, may sing with uplifted hearts. Glory to God in the highest, .....and on earth, peace, goodwill toward all; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The United Methodist Book of Worship, no. 276.
Post a Comment
Read more

MMB Monday Morning Blog 8-26-24 Seasons

There are four season in the year. In Florida, where I currently live, the season are here too but not like in New Hampshire where I'm from. Florida has HEAT. I remember visiting my parents back in the 90s at their winter home in Wachula around Thanksgiving. We already had snow before our drive south. As we hit Virginia and North Carolina it was apparent we were no longer in the frozen tundra. My parent's mobile home had two bedrooms. It wasn't big enough for us and our two sons. They did, however, have a pop-up trailer under the carport, so it was fine. To stay in a pop-up in Northern New England in late November mas near impossible. You would begin to shiver in about 5 minutes. Nights would reach a low of 0°-20°F. But not so in Florida. After a great Thanksgiving feast we went shopping at the local Walmart. They no longer stay open on Thanksgiving. As I walked into the store I was hit with culture shock. The store was in festive colors and lighting for Christmas but one t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reality ... REALLY?

Welcome to the new reality. It's everywhere in our world not just our country. It's been a path we've been on since before the turn of this decade.  Before 2000, it was called untruthfulness but today it has taken many forms. And it escapes from many mouths of people no matter what their stance in this life. News reporters, politicians, store owners, restaurant owners, etc have all adopted the terms. You may even have a co-worker who has adopted the new normal.  Another word beside untruthful has slowly taken center stage in the era we live and that word is "lie". It appears we tell people what they want hear rather than what is truthful. So we hear statements which may include untrue components and when called out about it we hear words like misinformation or disinformation . There's also unverified or unsubstantiated statements. I see there is more claims like these are made by those twisting words to make the subject they spin is true. Reality in 2024 is...
Post a Comment
Read more