Pastor Shares Jesus Amid Student Fleeing Columbine High

My Father Is With Me All the Time

A Red Dot on a Watch Can Win a Lost Soul!

10-year Quest Culminates In A Father's Confession & A Changed Family

New Light From Another World

A God Thing!

Three Hundred and Some

As Far as East from West

From Russian Skeptic To Christian Seminary Student

God Can Change Your Life Too!

Pastor shares Jesus Amid students fleeing Columbine High

Art Toalston, LITTLETON, Colo. (BP April 21 1999) -- Denver-area pastor E. Michael "Butch" Caner has never seen the horrors of war, "but I assume it would have been something like this."

    Caner, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Aurora, was among several ministers brought to Columbine High School in Littleton as the nation's worst-ever school shooting unfolded April 20, taking 15 lives, including the two weapons and bomb-wielding youth clad in black trenchcoats who invaded the school.  Asked by a patrolman friend to the school grounds, Caner recounted, "It was a gruesome scene. ... Blood was everywhere, students were being carted off on gurneys and stretchers, parents were weeping.  "Some people kept asking, 'Why, God, why?'  It was specifically to these families we ministered most. They needed someone to assure them that God is not the author of sin and that he wanted to bring them peace."

    "We had amazing opportunities to share Christ," Caner said of his ministry at the scene, which extended to 9:30 that night.  "With the media swarming and secular counselors giving no hope, we really had the chance to share Jesus.  "It was ministry on the front lines, which is exactly where the church should be."  Rob Norris, director of missions for the Denver Association of Southern Baptist Churches and interim pastor of Littleton's Ken Caryl Baptist Church, located less than two miles from Columbine High.  Thirteen of the school's 1,800 students are members of Norris' congregation.  All of the church's youth were safe, but surely traumatized, Norris said.  One girl was in the cafeteria when shooting erupted by the two youth, identified as Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, who, after killing 13 others, including at least one teacher, killed themselves.  More than 20 others were wounded in the melee, which began around 11:30 a.m. and ended around 4 p.m.  Another of Ken Caryl's students was barricaded in a room with eight students and two teachers for several hours.  Deacons of the church visited each of the families the night of April 20, as did the church's bivocational youth minister, Steve Lee.

    "We have had a tremendous outpouring of support of people praying for us here in Denver," Norris said April 21, adding, "The Christian community has come together in this crisis."  Littleton, in terms of death count, now tops the now-familiar list of communities of Pearl, Miss.; West Pacucah, Ky.; Jonesboro, Ark.; and Springfield, Ore. that have weathered multiple school killings since the Oct. 1, 1997.  The tragedy surely will yield opportunities to point people to faith, especially those asking, "Why?" Norris said.

    "Although we may never be able to understand why, we do have some answers," he said, "and those answers are in Jesus Christ -- and that's a vital message to get out to people."  In their upcoming Sunday sermons, pastors in the area "will have a special opportunity to share truth, comfort and point people to the cross," Norris said.  In a brief interview at 5:45 a.m. on the local ABC-TV affiliate, Norris and Caner also were able to offer the association's telephone number as a clearinghouse for people seeking spiritual counsel in the wake of the shootings.  Among Southern Baptist congregations in the Denver area with students at Columbine High are Riverside, Bear Valley and Christ Baptist and Centennial Community Church.  All the churches' students were reported safe, Norris said.

    Nick Lillo, pastor of Centennial Community Church, a congregation located about four miles from Columbine High School, said the church staff gathered to pray after learning about the unfolding crisis "and then we sent a number of them, mostly those involved in our youth ministry, to Leawood Elementary School.  That's where authorities were sending kids from the school and where parents were told to go."  On April 21, Lillo said the church staff was setting up counseling appointments for kids and families.  A 7 p.m. prayer service also is scheduled.  No members of the church were among the slain or wounded.  "We think we have everyone accounted for," he said.  Lillo said as the days go on his church's efforts to help the community cope with the tragedy will be twofold.  "First, we are concerned with how we can help those people in our church who have been traumatized by this -- not just physically, but emotionally," Lillo said.  "Second, we want to serve the community -- as a whole -- as best we can.  There are a lot of people in our community who have no spiritual connection . . . no spiritual dimension to their lives."  Lillo said churches in the community seem to be responding well to the crisis.

    "I would appreciate people praying for us," he said.  "I think it is a huge challenge for our church as we attempt to reach a culture that is moving away from moral absolutes," Lillo said.  "We're experiencing the consequences of that."

My Father Is With Me All the Time!

Like so many today, I was saved as a young teen. My life in the years to follow was anything but that of a born again Christian. I enjoyed a good party and would attend one everytime I could. I drank beer, was interested in sex, and wasn't emune to telling a lie or two if I felt it would advance my own cause. Still, I considered myself a "good" person. Good, that is, by society's standard.

    Something changed my life while I was in college. I read a book. I would like to tell you it was the Bible, but it wasn't. It was, however, a book about the Bible. And in that book, the title of which I have only recently remembered, I became awaire of just how much God loved me. The book told me about the ugly reality of sin -- and not just those sins I thought I had commited when I first bowed my head and resisted a sinners prayer, but all those terrible sins I had commited since becoming a Christian. How well I recall thinking: "God cann't possibly forgive me for committing those sins? I did them when I was suspose to be saved!" Then I read on.

    As I continued to read, the reality of sin in my life took on new meaning. No longer was sin something someone else had done and that I might be guilty of, sin was the very things I HAD done and WAS absolutly guility of doing. Things I deserved to be punished for! Even worse, God knew about my sins -- all of them. I was imbarrased and assahamed. Not that other knew but because I knew God knew.

. . Despite all that I had done, and my having failed to be the kind of Christian God wanted me to be, I read these words: "My dear children, I write this to you so that you might not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" (1 John 2:1).

. . Tears swelled from within my heart and burst forth from my eyes. I well recall realizing I was all alone in that room and glad of it -- I didn't want anyone to see me cry like that. But with those tears came a cleansing unlike the most refreashing bath in the world.

    I didn't get up out of bed. I just laid there clutching that book to my chest -- weeping so hard that my whole body shook. As you might imagine, I begged God to forgive me. Over and over I beg Him in a louder and louder voice. He did!

. . As impacting as that day was in my life, it wasn't the end of sin problem. I've sinned over the years too. The difference now is that I'm awair that God is awair of my sins each and every time I suscomb. No longer am I sinning with a heart predisposed to doing wrong -- when I sin now, it bothers me until I do something about it! That's the difference being a Christian makes.

. . Today, Jesus is with me all the time. And I spend my days trying to live His model and do His work. In fact, Jesus actually helps me avoid those things which would lead me to sin and fall into the kind of life I was living back before and during college -- a life which dishonors God. Best of all, the Holy Spirit tells me when I have sinnned so I can correct the problem and seek forgiveness right away.

    It's kind of like having your father with you all the time. And come to think of it, that's exactly what He is . . . a Father who is with me all the time!

Red dot on wristwatch opens doors for witness

By Barbara Denman

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP April 14, 1999) -- As she works in the hospital arena where people are conscious of blood-borne diseases, patients often ask critical-care nurse Sandi Martin about the red dot on her wristwatch, thinking that blood has splashed onto the watch face.

    Martin's quick response to patients has always been, "... don't worry, this blood is 2,000 years old. This dot reminds me of Jesus, who paid for my eternal salvation with his own blood.'" Most people respond to Martin with a smile and nod while continuing to gaze at the dot.

    Martin has found the red dot an effective witnessing tool. "Maybe from the encounter people will begin thinking about the state of their own salvation. And from that time forward every time they see my watch, it waters the seed. It's a gift that keeps on giving."

    Martin first learned of the "red dot" witnessing tool from her pastor at First Baptist Church, Middleburg, Fla. The concept was the brainchild of David Burton, director of the Florida Baptist Convention's personal evangelism department, after he attended a concert by singer Larnell Harris who told participants that he kept a green dot -- for money -- on his watch to remind him to pray and give to missions.
    As he was driving home from the concert, Burton began thinking of the color red, for the blood of Jesus and the number "2" for 2,000 years ago. He began placing a red dot sticker over the number "2" on his own watch to remind him of the 2,000 years since Jesus' birth, the sacrifice of Jesus for him and others, and to find an opportunity to share his faith by 2 p.m. daily.
    The dot also brings curious questions from people throughout the day. "It's an open door because people begin the conversation," Burton said. "It's easy, simple and non-abrasive. Jesus never made anyone mad at him because of the way he shared his good news
message."
    Recently, while taking his order at Wendy's, an employee questioned Burton about the red dot. Calling her name on her employee badge, Burton shared with her the significance of the dot. "I didn't shove a tract down her throat, but I was able to tell her that 'I know I'm going to heaven when I die, do you?' in one short interaction while she was taking my order and making change. I may never see Becky again, but I seeded her life. Maybe one day someone will knock on her door and she will remember the message of the dot and be more open to making a personal decision for Christ."
    During the past 10 years, Burton estimates he has distributed more than 75,000 red dots to individuals at churches, evangelism conferences and witnessing seminars. The response received from people of all ages and all walks of life has verified his belief that the witnessing tool works. One lawyer was asked by a judge in court to explain the dot, which allowed him to share the gospel message with an entire courtroom of people.
    Around the nation, others are recognizing the effectiveness of the red dot. In Birmingham, Ala., hundreds of students involved in First Priority, a ministry affiliated with North American Mission Board aimed at public school campuses, are using the red dot as a witnessing tool. Materials from LifeWay Christian Resources featured the "Red Dot Ministry" in its youth Sunday school publication "Good News for Youth."
    "Everywhere I go, people hold up their hand and say, 'I've got your red dot,'" Burton said. He plans to brandish the dot on balloons, T-shirts, hats, business cards, mouse pads and bags. "It is my heart's desire to use it in the next few years as a catalyst for personal soul-winning."
    For more information, contact Burton at (904) 396-2351 or by e-mail at Dburton@flbaptist.org.

10-year Quest Culminates In A Father's Confession and a Changed Family

By Connie Cavanaugh (Baptist Press, March 12, 1999)

 

COCHRANE, Alberta, Canada (BP) -- At 19, Hermann Brandt had his final conversation with God. Or so he thought. "God, I've tried Christianity and it doesn't work. If you want me, you come to me," he prayed.

    Brandt, now 33, grew up in a minister's home in South Africa. He tried to live the Christian life but knew he was a hypocrite. "I felt like a liar. I finally got brave enough to say, 'I'm going to stop trying.' I felt enormously relieved!  I no longer needed to perform and pretend."

    That was the beginning of a 10-year quest during which Brandt threw himself with unbridled passion into everything the world had to offer.  He still dropped in at church occasionally, but by the time he was 24, church and everything that goes with it were no longer part of his life. "I let my fleshly desires rule. It was easy and exciting and momentarily fulfilling," Brandt said.  "I was suddenly one of the guys for the first time in my life and I spent time drinking and socializing."

    Brandt eventually found this life was just as empty as the one he had rejected. "I had a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach after spending the night in the pub with my drinking buddies," he said. "I knew this was not where it's at either, but I kept on for years."

    Meanwhile, Brandt's wife, Wilmien, quietly pursued her relationship with God, remaining faithful in prayer, submitting to her husband and never retaliating no matter how bad things got.

    "I quit church altogether but Wilmien stayed faithful to the Lord -- stayed rock-solid. I wanted to corrupt Wilmien, to pull her down to my level. Deep down I knew there IS a God. I knew Wilmien knew him. I had an incredible desire in my heart to really know him too ... but everything she did ticked me off!  She loved Christian radio. I hated it. She went to church and took our son, Carl, against my wishes."

    For 10 years, through many moves and the loss of more than one of her husband's businesses, Wilmien remained faithful. Finally, the Brandts emigrated to Camden, Ala. Wilmien, an occupational therapist, was under contract and had a work visa.  Brandt was Mr. Mom, caring for the house and 6-year-old Carl.

    "Carl was the brightest spot in my life," Brandt said. "I was overwhelmed by him. There was a tremendous link between us from the very beginning."

    God used fatherhood to keep the marriage together. Several times over the years, Brandt threatened to leave. "But the Lord would cause Carl to walk right into the middle of my situation. I felt the desperation of a little boy growing up without a dad.  Then I could not leave."

    Both Brandts were dissatisfied with the marriage. "We didn't meet each other at the same level on all fronts. Wilmien had God to meet her needs. I did not. I sought elsewhere for fulfillment."

    Brandt, a wildlife artist and graphic designer, was also a professional hunter. He began to look for American clients to take on safari in South Africa as a new business venture. His wife, fearing abandonment in a foreign country, was desperate.

    Then her husband stayed in bed for five full days, refusing to speak, and she feared the worst. But late on the fifth night he asked her to sit down for a talk. His words could not have been more shocking to a woman who thought her husband might be contemplating divorce.

    "Wilmien," he began, "the other day the Lord came to me and he changed my life. He told me I must commit myself to you 100 percent.  And that's what I'm doing now."

    They embraced, weeping, both sensing God's powerful presence.  Then Brandt told his wife this incredible story:

    While listening to a business presentation in a nearby city, Brandt heard an inner voice: "Hermann, I love you just like you love your little boy. This much I love you but so much more!"  He knew it was the voice of God.  It continued: "Everything you are looking for -- joy, peace, fulfillment -- you'll find in me. But I want one thing. You must be righteous."

    He instantly responded, "Lord, if that's what you're giving, that's what I want."

    At that moment, it was as though the heavy stone doors of a dungeon were flung open, flooding the interior with the light of day, Brandt said.

    "In my mind's eye, I saw a face, smiling at me." Brandt left the meeting and drove home.  He said he'd felt as if Jesus was sitting beside him in the car, bringing up his sins.  As each sin was
revealed, Brandt said, "I confess it."  For three hours, he confessed and was forgiven. When he arrived home, although completely drained, he was a new man.  He went to bed and stayed there for five days, afraid to speak, wondering if he would ever recover.

    Satan tormented him day and night, trying to convince him he had only imagined it, that it never happened, that God was a lie.  He prayed one prayer a thousand times: "Lord, give me peace!"

    On the fifth day, Brandt found his wife's Bible and opened it randomly to Luke 19:41 and began to read: "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes ... because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God."

    Jumping to his feet, he shouted, "So it was you!"  At that moment Satan left him, Brandt said.  He continued to read the Bible as God spoke to his spirit.

    Suddenly Brandt remembered telling God 10 years earlier that if he wanted him, he would have to come after him. And so he had.

    "When I look at God, I understand grace," Brandt said. "I don't deserve anything. God is God and I am nothing and I just love him to death. I would die for him. Today."

    As a first-year seminary student at the Canadian Baptist Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta, Brandt reflected on his marriage now. "I never imagined marriage could be so good. I never saw Wilmien for
who she was -- she's precious!"

New Light From Another World

I was watching an A&E documentary on prison life this week and was deeply moved by the plight of those who live such deplorable conditions.  As broke as my heart was, it was made more so when the television crew visited a Russian prison.  The following testimonial offers a ray of hope to those imprisoned.

 

  A minister visited a nobleman in a Russian prison.  He read a passage of Scripture and prayed, but his words were met with solemn contempt.  Before leaving, the pastor gave the man a Bible and urged him to read it.  But no sooner had the pastor left than the angry prisoner kicked the Book into the corner. "The Word of God, indeed" he thought! "Why isn't God dealing with those who are abusing me?"

    As the days passed, a terrible loneliness nearly drove the man out of his mind.  Snatching the Bible from off the floor, he opened it.  His first glance fell on these words in Psalm 50:15, "And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee."  He was surprised and touched by such a pointed invitation, yet pride prompted him to shut the Bible and drop it.

    The next day, desperation compelled the man to seek the only companion to his solitude.  This time, he began to study the words he read.  Discovering himself to be a sinner, he opened his heart to Christ and was saved.  His waking hours which were formerly spent wallowing in self-pity and bitterness now were being given to his newfound Friend -- Jesus.  The shadows of death and injustice gave way to new light from another world.

A God Thing!

John, a dear friend and mentor in the faith, wrote me recently with this inspiring testimony of God's love at work today . . . I think you'll agree.

 

    My current job story was quite simple, yet awesome in the respect to the workings of God.  My job with an international container company was over when both sides determined the company had broken many promises to me and that they could no longer afford to keep me on the payroll.  That was in August of 1998.  The company, however, paid me
through the end of October.

    By the end of September, a volunteer opportunity at our church's new building happened to open up (a God thing).  With plenty of free time on my hands, I started working 6 days a week.  It wasn't really work, however, but a more like a privilege since I was serving our Lord.  I enjoyed every minute of every day.  The time completely took my mind off not having a job.

    Not having a job never really bothered me, a great many believers were praying for me, and God answers prayer.  My prayer was that God would open the door after the first of the year, when most of the major work I was doing at the church would be completed.  I also prayed that God would grant me a job in Louisville, in Packaging, so my family and I could stay in our wonderful church and remain close to my mother.  The secular "odds" were very much against me as Louisville, however -- it's not a packaging town.  Besides, landing a job that would pay what I needed, was even more remote.

    The year ended and the money we sat aside to keep us afloat was down to the break point.  Still, I never lost one night's sleep worrying -- I
knew God would provide!

    Almost immediately, a job in sales opened up where I could remain in Louisville.  I was accepted, and started working for the Hanson Group on February 8th.  Yet another example of answered prayer in my various jobs over my career.  God has, in fact, provide on many other occasions, but that's another story and another "God thing."

Three Hundred and Some

For several weeks now, Antioch Baptist Church in Hartsville, South Carolina, has been praying over, planning for, and promoting "FRANtastic Sunday" for February 21st.  The event would not only kick start a four day revival emphasis, and reach friends, relatives and neighbors with the good news of Jesus Christ, it was also hoped to establish a new high attendance record in Sunday School which stood at 263.

    My family and I accepted Pastor Tom Swilly's invitation to visit.  The fact that we're are a family of six didn't hurt either!

    Right away, I was struck by the faithfulness of Antioch's members.  Sunday School leaders had "planned" on moving into larger areas and extra chairs were waiting to be used.  God richly rewarded their efforts.  The teacher of one children's class had to find chairs wherever she could get them.  The young adults class which normally ran around 25 packed the fellowship hall with more than 50!

    During worship, the fruit of their labor was revealed.  More than 131 visitors gave birth to a new record -- 301!  Cheers and praises to God were heard all over the Sanctuary as the numbers were posted on the "brag board."  God had indeed done a mighty work and used these faithful people to do it!

    What makes this story so remarkable is where Antioch Baptist Church is located.  The 169 year old church is a "rural" congregation almost 10 miles from the closest store.  Their growth is the result of prayer and teaching God's Word.  Most of all, it was the direct fruitfulness which comes from every member, and not just the pastor, faithfully sharing the Gospel.

    It sound like something the Bible says, doesn't it!

 

As Far as East from West

Seated in a lone mountain cottage, a man of sixty years read the 103rd Psalm aloud. When he reached the words, "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities," his wife remarked. "I heard Dr. Guthrie preach on that thirty-eight years ago," she recalled. "He said forgiveness could be known here . . . I never forgot his words."

    "If it can," the husband remarked, "we'll have it," and he read on. At verse twelves, he read: "As far as the east is from the west, so far HATH He removed our transgressions from us." A moment's silence followed, then grasping his wife's arm he said, "If God says that, I am a pardoned man!"

    The man had taken God at His Word.  Amen!

From Russian Skeptic To Christian Seminary Student

"Jesus did not exist." "The Bible is a nonsensical book of children's stories to be referenced for parables and proverbs but certainly not for historical validity."

    That was the "party line" on Christianity and the Bible when Larissa Tiouliandina sought her Ph.D. at St. Petersburg State University in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the late 1980s.  Tiouliandina is now an M.Div. student attending the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.  What happended?  God's Word touched her!
    Tiouliandina had read portions of the Bible in other works of literature but had never seen one herself.  From what she did read, Tiouliandina got the idea that the Bible was a world-famous book and, considering herself an educated person, took a closer look.  A friend gave her booklet of the Gospels, which Tiouliandina expected would be full of inconsistencies and historical inaccuracies.  "But it had a whole mark of truthfulness about it.  Jesus did exist."  Still she thought, "Jesus was a good man -- just a little crazy -- like most religious figures, who really died for what he believed, but was not, of course, the Son of God."

    The plan of salvation and a prayer were printed in the back of the booklet her friend gave her. So Tiouliandina, "for the sake of the game," said she insincerely prayed the prayer of repentance and forgiveness. "But God heard it and did not leave me alone," Tiouliandina said.

    Two months later, Tiouliandina heard some friends discussing the Bible. She talked with them long enough to discover a Bible study group would be meeting on campus. "Intelligent Russians love a good argument, and I thought it might be fun to challenge these people a little and see what they had to say," Tiouliandina recalled, reflecting on her motives for attending the study group. "I suspected all Christians were either mentally unstable, very old or simply uneducated, " she said. But when she got to the meeting." Instead, she found they were a lot like herself. So she decided to stay--and then returned for the next week's meeting.
    The more Tiouliandina went to the meetings, the more it all made sense. "There was no weak link in the chain of logic. When I asked 'Why?' they could always show me a 'Because' in print." Every week she came with questions. And every week she left knowing a little more about Jesus. She saw something different in these Christians. They were unselfish and emanated an "inner light and source of happiness," she said.
    In Russia it is nearly impossible to work only one job and have the means to live. "Everyone is in competition for the same job, the same piece of bread," she said. So when the Bible study leader gave Tiouliandina his Bible, she found herself nearly in tears.

    "That was equal to at least two weeks of tuition, food, rent, everything." Still skeptical of Christianity, Tiouliandina went with the Bible study group to a contemporary Christian concert. "I was ready to hear old men singing religious chants. But the music impressed me. Music makes us vulnerable and opens our hearts. I found I could sing the words myself -- words to God."
    It was there she recognized the difference between herself and her Christian friends. "I went during the altar call and accepted Jesus. I was ready this time. It was like someone had turned on the lights in a dark room," she said.

    "Then all I had to do was tell people. I was under the notion that, just like me, people did not believe because they did not know. And if I could tell them, they would believe for themselves." But in Russia people did not talk about Jesus. "If you talk about a personal relationship with Jesus, it would be like talking about a personal relationship with Elvis -- you were immediately labeled 'crazy.'"

    But that didn't quench the desire she had to share her newfound faith. As a six-month-old Christian and graduate student, Tiouliandina began leading Bible studies herself.

    When volunteers from Immanuel Baptist Church in Danville, Ky., went to St. Petersburg to do some missions projects, Tiouliandina served as their interpreter. "They came very close to my heart," she said, and they promised to keep in touch with her. After six months of correspondence, the volunteers asked Tiouliandina to come to America at their church's expense. Church members told Tiouliandina they wanted to help with whatever she wanted to pursue.
    Tiouliandina began her master of divinity in pastoral counseling in 1997. Although she does not know where God will lead her after graduation, she is sure that "if the Lord brought me here, there is some sort of plan. I know I could always use my degree in math, but my heart is in ministry." As a seminary student, Tiouliandina is as convinced of her call to serve as she is of the historicity of Jesus Christ: "The Bible holds a very accurate description of him." (Copyright Media Management, Baptist Press, February 4, 1999)

God Can Change Your Life Too! God want to change your life too! If you would like to learn more, see our web page on Eternal Life, or if you have questions, e-mail Pastor Williams today.