Excerpt from a Kindred Interview, Pt. 2

Here's the other part of the interview that really touched me...

"Linda, can you briefly tell me how Phil died, because I have not yet met this man?

He was not ill, that we knew. In the evening he'd settled down to watch baseball, which you know he loved, had his pizza there, his Bible in his lap. Phil got up and walked to me in the office, and collapsed in my arms. I knew he had gone to the Lord then, but they took him to the hospital in the routine, not very pleasant manner that happens when there is a sudden death at home. That was July 29, 2008.

Do people often ask you how you get through this? From one viewpoint, you had no preparation for losing him, but yet you had a mature faith in Christ which is a life-preserver for any event.

I hold 3 tenets that best sum up my life before Christ:

1. I am resolute in my commitment to His inspired, Holy Word and its many Truths.

2. I am confident in His perfect timing.

3. And I am content in my circumstance because of the first two tenets, and because of Christ Jesus' continuing mercy and grace upon me.

My point is this, when we accept God's authority we release His power into our lives. He is the object and the focus of my faith. It is not about quantity of faith, but qualification of faith, which is in and from Him.

Turning to Jesus Christ - that has been the nature of my walk these 30+ years, with my husband, and now solely with Him. To do anything different based on feelings or circumstance would truly not glorify and give honor to Him.

This loss I have experienced is not void of feelings. I remind myself that Christ gave us feelings. It is part of our humanness. Christ, Himself, exhibited His feelings when He walked in the flesh. He wept and grieved over this fallen world (John 11:35). I weep and grieve over the loss of my husband, but not as one without hope. I can and do rejoice for the wonderful life God has given Phil.

Since Phil's death, everything that could go wrong, has. I am living on the solid Word of God and His promises are magnified in my life. ...Philippians 4:6,7 in particular sums up my walk before Him, which has grown deeper and more broad than I could have ever imagined.

The peace of God that transcends all understanding guards my heart and mind in Christ. I turn to our Lord with gratitude, and thanksgiving and in turn He guards my heart and mind, and my soul sings. I am confident in approaching God because I know He hears my prayers (1 John 5:14)."

What a beautiful example of resting in the Lord's embrace.

Excerpt from a Kindred interview, Pt. 1

The latest WM Kindred newsletter features an inspiring interview of one of the church's members, Linda Presley. I felt it was so inspiring that I'd share excepts of it on the blog for all to read.

Linda and her husband, Phil (former pro baseball chaplain) were both called to believe after they were married. They attended EV Free Fullerton under Swindoll as they grew in the faith. Below is Linda's description of the ways they have been called to serve.

"Did that church nurture your faith?
Hearing Chuck Swindoll preach the Word was a turning point. They had amazing ministries there and we all felt the love and compassion of that Body. The sermons were amazing; that teaching has been the foundation to our life and walk in Christ. A heritage in the faith is what Pastor Swindoll gave our family and his church. That's where Phil and I cut our baby teeth in personal ministry, because we were so well taught and well trained.

What were some of the things you participated in there?
...I was looking to find what I could do to be involved in His salvation plan.

Phil and I always were a team. We got into a variety of things. We were trained and worked with the Red Cross as Spiritual Caregivers. In local emergencies we were "first responders," getting calls at all hours of the day and night to minister to people who'd suddenly been thrown into a crisis. Prior to this, part of the training I received at EV Free was in mentoring women facing crisis pregnancy. We also worked in missions, homeless outreach, and community outreach. We didn't just stay "in the church" - our faith was part of our daily lives, in all places and times, even in the so-called secular world.

It's amazing that you and Phil were such a team for ministry, considering that when you married neither of you had the faintest interest in this.
We lived and worked and worshipped "shoulder to shoulder" in God's purposed plan for us...

Phil had a statement that he wrote on a mirror in our office: "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all."

Phil and I coached, mentored, supported, encouraged, prayed, worshipped and studied the Word together throughout our lives as believers in each and every task the Lord brought to us. We knew we were called out, together as a team. We were wrapped securely in two things: God's love and the full armor of God. With all this activity, none of it came without resistance, struggle around us, and pressure, but we really felt thrilled and free to be allowed to do this.

It is interesting to me that you and Phil didn't stay with one ministry to the point of boredom or habit.
As we opened our lives to Him and accepted His authority completely, He brought opportunity to serve. We did not create one thing out of another, or try to "build a ministry." He simply opened the door and allowed us to walk through it so we could glorify Him, not us. The military prayer chain was one of the opportunities that God set before Phil, through devotional time that we had before Christ in prayer and petition.Then weeks later, God set upon Phil's heart to minister in New York City at Ground Zero, and he was able to go there for three months. As it grew, the military prayer chain encompassed over 20,000 daily prayer warriors, that also met the needs of our men and women in battle both spiritually and in practical ways."

The Presleys' commitment to living out Christ's love and compassion in the world by surrendering time, lifestyle, money, mind and more is truly inspiring to me, and I hope to you. More on the tenants of their life in pt. 2.

Romans 5:3-5

So as most of you know, I have been studying the book of Romans with a few other friends. Slowly but surely we are getting through it and relaying to one another what we felt the Lord was saying to us through each chapter in His word.

Yesterday I read Romans 5 for the 5th time or so over the last few weeks, I am continually drawn back to Romans 5:3-5. Probably more than anything because it mirrors the part of the book of James that I love, but I also believe that for me, the Lord continues to pull me back to it because of my own personal trials that I continue to face with my seizures. Romans 5:3-5, "And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance proven character, and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."It made me think again about trials/tribulations and how I might allow them to grow me. Remembering that it means to have, as the commentary notes the, 'ability to remain under tremendous pressure and weight without succumbing.'. Sometimes I just want to 'succumb' because I feel so tired and weary, but I'm always grateful for the strength that I feel God gives me when I remember to pray without ceasing and turn to Him, not myself or medical books or medicine, for relief.

Lately I have been trying to remember to be prayerful when I find myself worrying or feeling uneasy. It has helped me a lot. My next step that I want to take is to be more diligent about reading His book. I need to live by my own words when I say that, "...if you pray and don't read and study God's word then you are just talking to God and not listening to what He has to say back to you...." Not that He doesn't speak to us in other ways, but I just know from my own experiences that He speaks a lot louder and more clearly AND more often when I'm in His word. There are many other wonderful pieces within this chapter but that particular part was what spoke to me.

After having sent those above notes to my friends yesterday that are also studying Romans with me, I then later in the day had a terrible outbreak of what I call my "background noise" seizures. I struggled with them for pretty much the remainder of the day. Later in the afternoon I opened my email and read one of the emails that Kris had wrote me back about her own thoughts on Romans 5. She explained how she loved Romans 5:3-5 as well (among many other beautiful notes she made). It made me reflect yet again on what I had studied earlier in the day especially in light of how the rest of my day had gone. I read my own email (the one above) again, and there it was....God speaking to me through His words in Romans 5:3-5.... I had prayed several times throughout the day yesterday and wasn't really in the right frame of mind to think about praying for much more than, "please Lord, make it stop..." When I read Kris's email and then my own again, I think the Lord used them both (mainly with His words) to really put His hand on my shoulder and to comfort me and remind me that there is a reason for it all.

Today is a new day. I have continued to not feel too hot today in terms of my seizures, but I remember to continue to pray and I am off to seek more of His word for guidance and peace. If it were up to me, I would never have another seizure again, but since it is up to God then we will just have to wait and see what He has in store.