I debated as to whether to put this on my blog and then remembered what Jesus said in Matthew 28 and so here it is. I changed the name of the woman that is the main character in the narrative to protect privacy!
God has his faithful people in all the different religions so if your faith is mentioned here, I don’t want you to be offended. I am sure there will be many in the New Creation from all kinds of different faith backgrounds and even people in remote places of the world that never heard the name of Jesus. God alone is the Judge and I am thankful to know that!
As she enjoyed her dinner one evening at a nice restaurant, Jane noticed a group of people come in and sit at a large table. She eavesdropped a bit and overheard them talking about the sermon they had heard at church. Before long, the group was joined by a lady and gentleman. Jane quickly figured out the gentleman was a popular preacher she had heard about before.
As the couple were talking with the other people at the table, Jane noticed the pastor and his wife wore jewels and gold that had most likely been bought out of tithes from their church.
“That’s just not right!” she thought, and added this to the growing list of reasons in her heart that she did not fit into any known church. She always accepted invitations to attend services with her Catholic mother, Jehovah’s Witnesses sister, or Jewish convert brother. Many times she even visited her grandmother’s Pentecostal church.
She always wondered what was wrong with her, though, and why she was scared during their whooping and shouting. She was driven over the years to solitary Bible reading, even having communion alone while listening to old Gospel records. As she read her Bible, she asked questions like, “Why don’t Christians keep the Jesus’ Sabbath day?
God leads through amazing circumstances, and began introducing Jane to people. A classmate in her water aerobics class invited her to attend the local Adventist Church. Soon after, a flier arrived in the mail (that she still treasures today) announcing a Bible prophecy seminar. Jane decided to go.
Jane journeyed to Highline Seventh-day Adventist Christian Church in Burien the first evening of the series. So many questions were answered and she felt so comfortable at church that she hasn’t missed a single fascinating meeting, or Sabbath, since!
In the transformational months following, she sold $5,000 worth of jewelry, tearfully prayed out loud for the first time, reconciled with a long estranged sister, plans her travel around Jesus’ Sabbath, celebrated her baptism, and loves returning tithe (knowing the pastors won’t buy gold with it).
Most of all, she says, “I have peace in my heart, and know that I won’t have communion alone anymore.”
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Jane’s story is just one example of how God is changing lives in western Washington. Seattle Metro is the evangelism focus of the entire Pacific Northwest for 2013. We are working together with our sister conferences and the North Pacific Union Conference to specifically Reach Seattle Metro with the love of Jesus and to share hope for a better future.
The offering for WA: Special Project, in addition to the camp meeting evangelism offering, will help fund coordinated Bible prophecy meetings beginning Friday, October 4, throughout western Washington.
We invite you to pray about how God wants you to support Reach Seattle Metro through your prayers, involvement and financial support. Let’s partner with the Holy Spirit to Reach Seattle Metro and help change people’s lives for eternity.