Dan Allender is one of my favorite author’s and speakers for a number of reasons. One of the top reasons: he tells great stories. I still remember stories I heard him tell over ten years ago. The stories were memorable for their rootedness in real life, and for the deep messages embedded in them. I’m challenged by his intelligence, no doubt, but it is his authenticity in storytelling that keeps bringing me back.

His book To Be Told, encourages us to see our lives as stories that need to be told. This book motivated our sermon series this spring. Read this book. He goes into the topic at far greater depth than we could in a short sermon series. What he has to share is vital to living a meaningful, passion-full life.

Another author I turned to as I prepared to teach was Frederick Buechner. In his autobiographical work, Telling Secrets, he is amazingly forthright and honest as describes a difficult season in his life, wherein he wrestled personally with himself following a daughter’s fight with anorexia. I was deeply moved by this book. I felt like I was across the kitchen table from a wise older man as he shared his story and, through the story, gave me vital nuggets of wisdom.

May we all willingly share some of our secret struggles. May we tell of God’s amazing grace in the midst of the struggles. And, may we proclaim from the rooftops God’s amazing deliverance from the struggles so that the world around us celebrates His renown.

Peace,
Shane

Several years ago I was able to spend a month in central Africa.  A lot of stories came out of that trip.  One story I almost forgot was my run-in with a witch doctor.  An Iowa farm boy doesn’t usually run into an African witch doctor.

During one of our gospel messages this witch doctor was sitting in his house and overheard the gospel through our sound system.  God grabbed hold of his heart and led him that night to trust in Jesus alone as His Savior.  Word spread and the next day we arranged to meet with this new believer.

This man had been tormented for years as a confessed follower of Satan.  He had recently tried to murder one of his 6 kids.  Fortunately, his wife was stronger than him and was able to defend the child.  The man went on to tell us for the last several years whenever he slept at night it felt like his body was on fire.  His life was a life of torment.  When we walked into his tiny house he told us, through the help of an interpreter, he finally had peace.  The night after he first began following Jesus was the first night he slept like a baby, he was tormented no longer.  This man was overjoyed at the instant peace which came through Jesus.

Being a witch doctor was not only this man’s religion but it was also the source of his income.  It was a big day of obedience when he decided we must burn all of his evil witch doctor trinkets, potions, etc… which he previously sold to people in the village.  This man had a hard time supporting his family for a while but he could always look to that stake-in-the-ground moment when he first slept through the night resting in the power of Jesus.

Witnessing this tranformation became a stake-in-the-ground for me.  I witnessed first hand the supernatural power of God in the spiritual world.  Our God is very powerful and has no problem transforming a life.

(the picture is of us burning the witch doctor’s things…the former witch doctor is standing in the background as a joyful follower of Jesus)

That’s one of my stories…one of my stakes-in-the-ground…what’s one of your stories that needs “To Be Told”??

-Tim Kimberley