NLDC BACKSTAGE: MAY 2008
It's a Slow Fade
There’s a song that I’ve been listening to recently by a band called Casting Crowns, and in this song there is a particular line that stands out to me that says, “People never crumble in a day, it’s a slow fade.” Sin is something that enters our life slowly through a series of seemingly small compromises and wrong decisions; it doesn’t enter our lives and take over right away. It gives us the illusion of having some kind of control while it slowly wraps itself around us, leaving us in bondage sin. It even tricks us sometimes into thinking that there is no hope, nothing anyone can do to set us free.
2 Samuel 14:14 says, “Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.” WOW!! Take a second and read that verse again. There is never a time that God will stop looking for ways to set us free! Jesus died so we could be free. Then, on top of that, God does things like planning for people to cross paths or making sure someone hears a song on the radio. He will never stop trying. So be encouraged that whatever stuff you may be struggling with now, he will always look for ways to set you free. For 8 years I struggled with an addiction and the despair of never being truly free was breaking me in half, but the whole time God kept thinking of ways to get me out and now I can say that today I have true freedom like I never knew before I allowed Christ to set me free! You can have this freedom too; all you have to do is seek it out. God’s just waiting to give it to you.
– John Brooks, team leader
Testimonies from the Road
We helped a church with a homeless outreach service they have every week. During the service, I started to feel a burden on my heart to pray for the people to receive whatever they needed from God that night. The pastor gave an altar call and one man came up. We prayed with him, and he received Jesus into His heart. He said that he’d lost his wife and son because of a drunk driver. He had been angry at God and himself. I can’t imagine what he’s been dealing with emotionally and the battles he’s probably been fighting mentally since that happened. He let go of his anger that night and gave it all to God, and hopefully he has fully forgiven himself. God never ceases to amaze me.
– Brittany Gause
This week we helped a church with their food bank program. Some of the people stated to arrive about an hour before they started passing out food, so we entertained the people waiting by doing a bunch of skits. Afterwards, a few of them came up for prayer, and then the food passing out began. We all played a part in helping people get food, getting out close to one hundred crates of food. The Pastor had it open for if people needed prayer, he would pray for them. Later, the Pastor announced that there were at least five new salvations. What an incredible experience it was to feed people both physically and spiritually.
– Beth Sheets
