god is fabulous

7/27/2019 God Is Fabulous

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A Note From

Frances Gardner Hunter

When I wrote God Is Fabulous, the worldwas a different place. Now it seems everything haschanged cars, computers, televisions, life ingeneral. !ven my name has changed since then"#he one thing that hasn$t changed, though, is thee%citement I felt as I first sat down to write this

boo& thirty years ago.!very time I read this little boo&, my heart is

filled with the 'oy and overflowing peace that(esus brought into my life, 'ust li&e that first day Imet )im. I &now that you will have the samereaction when you read it for the first time or thetwentieth.

I meet many people who tell me that the thrillof serving (esus is 'ust not li&e it was when theyfirst were born again. It$s my belief and my prayerthat when you open the pages of this boo&, (esuswill fill you up with the same e%citement andanticipation you e%perienced when you first as&ed)im into your heart, and that you will once againremember the fact that truly...

God is Fabulous!


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Foreword

Frances Gardner is the type of *hristian who if as&ed to pray for rain would carry an umbrella to her place of prayer. )er endless enthusiasm and immovable faith &eepher ready for immediate action for the sa&e of (esus *hrist.

#he effervescence of her personality, her refreshinghonesty, and her ability to deal directly from the level ofhuman interest, has enabled this *hristian writer to preparea boo& applicable to scores of people floundering in afaulty faith. #he style of writing is fresh and entertainingand stri&es where people act and react. #he *hapter on

prayer is a typical e%ample of her distinctive style. It is bothamusing and enlightening.

In my wor& as the *rusade +irector for the citywideand area wide crusades of the Ford -hilpot !vangelistic

ssociation, I am constantly searching for people alivewith the spirit of evangelism. Frances Gardner has provedto be such a one. In our preparation for the /outh 0iami*rusade, she labored diligently to assist our efforts. God isusing her written and personal witness to win countlesssouls to her fabulous /avior.

We of the Ford -hilpot !vangelistic ssociation haveappreciated her support and friendship, and it is withunmas&ed confidence that we predict beneficial inspirationfor all who read the pages of this boo&.

Jimmy Sowder


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Table of Contents

*hapter 1ne I 0eet (esus *hrist. 2*hapter #wo (ust s l m 32*hapter #hree I Find #he )oly /pin 45*hapter Four I 6earn #o -ray... In #he 7athtub 89*hapter Five l m 7apti:ed 88*hapter /i% I 6earn #o Witness 8;*hapter /even I Find Witnessing Is !%citing 24*hapter !ight 0y /piritual 7rainchild Is 7orn 58*hapter Nine #he 9>


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Chapter 1

!eet Jesus Christ

" ha#e come that they may ha#e life$ and that they mayha#e it more abundantly% &John 1'(1')*

"For all ha#e sinned and fall short of the +lory ofGod% &,omans -*.-)*

"For by +race you ha#e been sa#ed throu+h faith$ andthat not of yoursel#es/ it is the +ift of God$ not of wor0s$lest anyone should boast% & phesians .(234)*

#hree very short verses of /cripture, but three veryimportant verses in my personal encounter with (esus*hrist. It is my prayer that God will allow these threeverses to be very important in your life, too. Important

because of what they can do for you.I$d li&e to share with you how I met (esus *hrist

personally. nd my only reason for writing this boo& is a prayer that it will reach the millions of people who areunsaved *hristians li&e I was. 0y prayer is thatsomething in this boo& will come across to ?1@ in such away that you will loo& at your own life in an honestappraisal of how you stand with (esus *hrist. I sincerelywish I had made an appraisal of myself earlier in life.

I had been a *hristian all my life. I was raised in achurch, went to church for many years, helped ma&e thegreat decisions of *hristianity such as +o we have tunafish or creamed cheese for sandwiches, but it too& meforty eight years of life to discover how to get the mostout of life after most of life was gone.

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+on$t let this happen to you"s I loo& bac& now, I can see that God spo&e to me

many times in my life, but for many years my hardheadedself approved ability to do things myself made me buc& )iswonderful outstretched arms without reali:ing that what Iwas doing is probably the biggest prevailing sin in theworld today A the sin of ignoring God and of compromising with *hristianity A or putting it off until tomorrow

because of not being ready.I had drifted away from church during the last ten years

because, as I told every minister who came into my office, Icould be 'ust as good a *hristian outside of church as Icould be inside* ?ou can, but you won$t" *hurch honestly

bored me, and my most awful thoughts came to me whilesitting in church. 1bviously I wasn$t listening in spite ofmy so called *hristianity, so I began to find e%cuses for notattending church. fter a few years I didn$t even find it

necessary to ma&e e%cuses.!veryone 'ust accepted the fact Bso I thoughtC that I was

a mighty *hristian without going to church. nd, anyway,after wor&ing eighteen to twenty hours a day for si% days, Iwas entitled to sleep on /unday, wasn$t ID fter all, I didhave to ma&e a living to support my children, didn$t ID

#he 7ible says "5ou shall ha#e no other +ods before

!e*% Well, I never did. ?ou wouldn$t either, would youD6i&e the god of money. . . the god of e%citement.. .the godof coc&tails before dinner. . .the god of cigarettes. . .the godof dancing se%y, stimulating dances for the physical thrill itgives.. .the god of clothes. . .the god of dirty 'o&es.. .thegod of swear words 'ust to show people you$re cool...+id you ever place any of these gods first in your lifeD

Well, I$m glad you didn$t, because I +I+" nd because Iwas compromising with *hristianity I still went along in

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my little ivory palace with a slightly tarnished halo aroundmy head.

7ut God has an interesting way of dealing with peopleli&e me. I shall always feel that God loved me very much

because )e really went out of )is way to bring me into )isfold. I wonder if any maveric& was ever bro&en who &ic&edas hard and as long as I did.

0y only son was married in 1467$ and shortly beforehis marriage I was in an automobile accident. 6ittle did Ireali:e what would result from this, but three months afterthe accident I made the horrible discovery that I had lostthe sight of my left eye.

?ou may thin& this is an awful tragedy, but I consider itthe greatest blessing of my life A it too& a tragedy li&e thisto bring me to a reali:ation of what didn8t ha#e in life*

A Fri+htenin+ 9isco#ery

Euite accidentally at two o$cloc& in the morning on a/aturday night I discovered that I could not see out of myleft eye. #his was a tremendous shoc&. I had been out fordinner and coc&tails with a friend, and had started to read

before I went to bed. lthough I had my glasses on, Isuddenly reali:ed I couldn$t see.

I was dumbfounded, but when I put my hand up to myglasses I found that the lens of the right glass had poppedout. I reached into my evening bag and, sure enough, thereit was" I replaced it in the frame and started reading. bouttwenty minutes later the startling thought struc& me, 1nlythe right lens popped out A how come I couldn$t seeanythin+:%

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/omething prompted me to shut the right eye and holdit with my finger BI never could win& that eyeC, and to myhorror I discovered that the left eye was without vision.

I promptly decided I had had too much to drin& and,li&e /carlet 1$)ara, thought, I$ll worry about thattomorrow. #omorrow came bright and early and with it therecollection that I had had only one drin&, and that I haddriven home. /o I made the same one eye test I had triedthe night before, and it confirmed the truth I$d tried toavoid.

I couldn$t see"1n /unday I didn$t &now where to reach an

ophthalmologist, so I called my optometrist and told him Icouldn$t see. )e told me to drop by and see him the ne%tmorning on my way to wor&. I don$t believe there has ever

been a day as horrible for me as /unday, 0ay >5, > 52. Iread medical articles in every encyclopedia I could lay my

hands on and before the day was over I &new I had acataract of some &ind.

#hat day was the birthday of the husband of a friend ofmine, and I had a party for him. )ow I lived through it Idon$t &now. I was smiling on the outside, but on the insideI was dying. 6ittle did I &now it then, but I actually wasdying A because I thin& this is the event that triggered my

dying to self. God was really wor&ing in my life.+uring the four and a half years which preceded thisaccident, a certain minister had been bringing printing 'obsinto my office, and while I en'oyed his conversationimmensely, I was deaf to his entreaties about *hristianityand attending church. /till, I developed a tremendous li&ingfor him and his theories even though I didn$t practice them.

#here was one thing he did, though, that didn$t set rightwith me. )e always tal&ed about the 6ord, and I as&ed

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him one day why he didn$t say God instead of the6ord. I didn$t tell him so, but I really thought he sounded&inda &oo&y tal&ing about his 6ord. !ven though hewas a young minister, I thought he was probably some &indof an old fashioned fuddy duddy.

God Closed n

I bring in the fact that a particular minister prayed forme for four and a half years at this time because God wasreally closing in on me, even though I didn$t &now it.

I went to the optometrist before I opened my office thene%t morning and told no one what I suspected Bbecause Icould always handle every situationC, but I did tell my headgirl that I had a little eye problem.

It was several hours before I returned to the office, andeveryone &new that something had happened.

nd something had"#he initial e%amination revealed the horrible truth that a

cataract had covered the lens of my eye. #he optometristtoo& me to an ophthalmologist who said surgery wasnecessary. BI had already started having blindingheadaches.C

7ecause I was so all powerful, I said 6et$s get it over

with, when can I go inD #his was on 0onday, and I wasscheduled for surgery on Friday morning.

#he surgeon told me that they would remove the lens ofthe eye and that for four to si% months I would have the eye

patched, and then a contact and glasses would allow 39 39vision.

I cried.

7ecause my two children have been raised without afather, I have not allowed myself the lu%ury of crying very


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often mother alone has to be strong. I as&ed the doctorif he would allow me the privilege of being completelyfeminine for a few minutes and then I$d be all right.

I cried.nd I cried real hard.

I returned to my office after as&ing God to ta&e goodcare of me, and bluntly announced what had happened. #heyoung minister who always tal&ed about his 6ord wasthere by coincidence or was God wor&ing in my lifeD

7ecause I was struggling for composure, I announcedthat the girls could Huit crying on my time since I was

paying them. #hen I said to the young minister, #hey probably thin& you$ll be the first one at my bedside when Icome bac& from surgery. Now why he should be at my

bedside when I had never dar&ened the doors of his church,and had repeatedly told him I didn$t need to go to church,I$ll never &now A or do ID

I made all the frantic preparations necessary beforegoing to the hospital I was due to arrive at five o$cloc& on#hursday night, 0ay 39, but I didn$t get there until seveno$cloc&"

#here has been placed in every human being a Godshaped vacuum. @ntil we have filled that God shapedvacuum with a personal relationship with the 6ord (esus

*hrist, we do a lot of other things to try to fill the vacuum. Nestled deeply and firmly in our hearts God has placedeternity and nothing will ever satisfy us until we fill thatvacuum with )im.

bout a Huarter to five all of my brave thoughts haddrained right out of my toes. 0y God shaped vacuum

began getting bigger and bigger. /ince a martini was the

only antidote for fear that I &new of, I began downing oneafter another. I wouldn$t admit to anybody that I was

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scared, but in my heart I was absolutely petrified" #hedoctor had e%plained all the gory details of the operation,which is very simple today, but it wasn$t at that time. Noneof this appealed to me one single solitary bit.

I continued to down martinis and light one cigaretteafter another. I finally got to the hospital two hours latewith much too much to drin&" @nfortunately, at that timethis was the only way I &new to try to fill that God shapedvacuum. )ow I praise God and give )im my everlastingthan&s that the void and the vacuum are filled today"

9ustin+ ;ff !y


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I called the nurses in to ma&e sure that they &new whata great saint they had on their hands. I read that verse very,very dramatically, "The =ord is my shepherd/ shall notwant*%

I closed the 7ible.I religiously thought I was spiritually prepared for

whatever happened ne%t. ?ou may as&, Why did you onlyread one verseD When I had my gall bladder ta&en out, theoperation lasted 8 > 3 to 7 hours. I had read all si% verses ofthe 34 -salm for that surgery. #he eye operation would 'ustta&e about thirty minutes so in my little sinner$s mind Ifigured out that all I had to do was read one verse for athirty minute operation.

s I closed the 7ible I thought, I$ll give God a brea&.I$ll pray. !ven though I was forthy eight years of age I didnot &now how to pray. I could say the 6ord$s -rayer

bac&wards and forwards but I honestly didn$t &now how to

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s I rela%ed with my counterfeit glowing halo, I wassuddenly 'olted into reality and thought, What did thatsayD I remembered that I &new only two verses ofscripture by memory and -salm 34 > was one of them and Ihadn$t really read it. I reached over and grabbed my 7ible.I opened it to the 34rd -salm.

Nothing was there"#he page which had the 34rd -salm printed on it a few

minutes ago, was totally blan&" Now there was nothin+ onthose pages. #here was no printing, no words, no nothing"It was snow white"

I was in the printing business. 1ne thing I &new was,once in& is laid down on a piece of paper, it is impossible toremove"

God had done a miracle"God had supernaturally wiped all the in& off the page.

God had spo&en to me in a way I could easily understand.

s I stared at the white blan& page where the 34rd-salm should have been, I suddenly saw something I willnever forget because it is indelibly burned on my heart.

I saw the finger of God descending from heaven and Isaw )im begin to write where the 34rd -salm had been.#he words were written in the brightest red I$ve ever seen.God had dipped )is finger in the brilliant red blood of

(esus and had written a very special message 'ust for me."Frances Gardner% Bthat was my name thenC was on theleft hand side and on the right hand side )e wrote, " lo#e

you*%1f all the people in the world God said )e loved me*I thin& in one world shattering moment I got a glimpse

of what my life had been A a constant, 1h, God, 5;> do

this for me" nd never a thought as to what I could do for)im.

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I didn$t &now what I was doing really, but in thatmoment I said, God, I ta&e bac& that prayer, and I don$tcare how much it hurts tomorrow, I promise ?ou thiswhen I get out of this hospital, I will spend the rest of mylife seeing what I can do for You, and not what You cando for me.

6ittle do we reali:e what we say in times li&e this, andhow much truth is spo&en during trials and tribulations.

s a drun&en sinner in a hospital bed, I had said thesecret of the *hristian life A not what God can do for you

but what you can do for God"#here are many promises made on a hospital bed and

unfortunately there are more promises bro&en when peoplewal& out of the hospital door than any place else but thiswas one thing I meant.

I wasn$t sure who God was, I was still in shoc&. 1nething I &new without a doubt in my heart, though, was that

God loved Frances Gardner. wasnKtalone any more?I returned from surgery the ne%t morning at about

eleven, and there, standing by my bed, was the youngminister who served his 6ord. I was so doped up I didn$tma&e much sense, but one sentence came out. #he first

place I$m going when I get out of the hospital is to your

church" I$ll never forget the funny smile that came on hisface"God &new that one of )is sheep was lost and )e had

sent a shepherd to find her and lovingly bring her into thefold.

0y recovery was e%cellent, and in 'ust ten days Ireturned to wor& wearing all sorts of fancy eye patches. I

had one for every dress I owned. !ven though I wore a broad smile on the outside, I had discovered that something

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was missing from my life. #his &ind of an operationdestroys your depth perception. I couldn$t drive my car. Icouldn$t get my food into my mouth without spilling it allover me. It can be a frustrating time with a patch over youreye twenty four hours a day"

7ut I remembered what I had promised God in thehospital, and before my operation was two wee&s old, Iwent to church. I was so wea& I could hardly ma&e it, butsomewhere God had given me a taste of the living waterand it started a compelling desire for

01

God( for no one can do these si+ns that 5ou do unless Godis with him*"Jesus answered and said to him$ 8!ost assuredly$

say to you$ unless one is born a+ain$ he cannot see the0in+dom of God* &John -(13-)

I thought, 7orn againD 0y mother is dead. 0y motherhas been dead for years. )ow can I possibly be born

againD

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I never felt so miserable in my whole life" I was glad he&ept on reading because Nicodemus apparently had thesame problem that I did. )owever, I felt li&e the pastor wasreading my mind instead of the 7ible.

"Nicodemus said to Him$ 8How can a man be bornwhen he is old: Can he enter a second time into hismother s womb and be born:

"Jesus answered$ 8!ost assuredly$ say to you$ unlessone is born of water and the Spirit$ he cannot enter the0in+dom of God* That which is born of the flesh is flesh$and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit* 9o not mar#elthat said to you$ 5ou must be born a+ain*

In that one split second, I &new something that I hadnever &nown before. I &new for certain that I wasn$t bornagain. I felt awful. I had no idea how to +et born again orbe born again or find born again"

0y first thought was I certainly can$t tell God. God

thin&s I$m a *hristian. fter all those years that I$ve goneto church, God thin&s I$m a *hristian. I can$t let God &nowthat I$m not.

0y first inclination was to go home and hide under the bed so even God couldn$t find me or see me. In my heart I&new that I had never been born again. I &new that I hadnot really been a *hristian.

I was so sha&en up that /unday, I didn$t even listencompletely. 7ut he did say something about (esus standingat the door of my heart, &noc&ing, and as&ing me to openthe door. )e continued with something about as&ing forforgiveness of my sins.

Well, I thought, that bit about the forgiveness of sinswas about the most stupid thing I ever heard. I am

absolutely without sin. fter all, wasn$t I donating printing 'obs to churchesD nd wasn$t I being a real good little Kdo

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bee$D nd don$t forget the tuna fish sandwiches I made forthe church suppers.

#he 7ible says, "All ha#e sinned and fall short of the +lory of God*%

It doesD I wondered, I don$t remember hearing that before. fter all those years of sitting in those otherchurches, all I remember is something about 0oses floatingdown a river.

#he pastor stopped tal&ing.#hen he did something I had never seen before he

made an altar call" I had never been in a church where people sang at the end of the service.

#hey began to sing, (ust s I m. I thin& everysinner has heard that song, so I thought I would 'oin in. Isang only four words, (ust as I am. I burst into tears. Not

'ust regular tears, but real soul searching tears" I boohooed and I boo hooed.

I couldn$t stop crying"#he music went on and on and on and on. #hey sang,

(ust s I m three times, five times, ten times, twentytimes, fifty seven times"

#his is a miserable church" I thought.Won$t theyever stopD I couldn$t stop crying. It was violent sobbingwhich shoo& my very being from my head to my toes. I did

not have a tissue in my poc&et or my poc&etboo&. 0y nosewas dripping, my eyes were running, my ma&eup was amess"

What an encounter" For the first time in my life Irealized I was not a Christian. I certainly didn$t admit itto anyone A not even myself" What a horrible discovery toma&e when you$re forty eight years old. I remember

thin&ing, I can$t let God &now about this, because )ethin&s I$m a *hristian. 1h, foolish woman, God &new it all

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the time. I was so confused and in such a state of shoc& toeven thin0 that I might not be a *hristian, that I didn$t&now what to do.

Finally it was over" I ran out to my car as I lit acigarette. I blew smo&e all over that church and saidvehemently, I$ll never come bac& to this dumb churchagain. Never" Never" Never" I want a church that ma&es mefeel good" I don$t need a church that ma&es me feelmiserable.

Guess where I was the ne%t /unday morningD I wasright bac& in that same little church" God had lovingly

placed one drop of the living water of life upon my thirstytongue, and once you$ve tasted the precious living water oflife, nothing else will satisfy. I had no choice e%cept to go

bac& to the same little church. 7ut I was prepared this timeI had si% Lleene% with me"

#he pastor was most unusual because he had done

something during the wee& that I could not believe. )e hadvisited all my personal friends and had as&ed them all aboutme and they told him everything they &new so he

proceeded to tell the entire congregation during the churchservice.

!very word he spo&e was directed at me, 'ust me.!verything pointed at my life and me.

"For all ha#e sinned and fall short of the +lory ofGod*%Not me, I thought. God, remember the tuna fish

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#he pastor continued to read, "Thou shalt place noother +ods before me*%

1ur money says, KIn God We #rust.$ I thought, I trustmy money so that means I trust God. I$ve never been to achurch where they did or said these &inds of things. Ididn$t li&e it.

"Thou shalt place no other +ods before me$% herepeated. What do you put first in your lifeD *igarettesD

I thought, I don$t li&e you. I felt as if his finger was pointing directly at me.

0artinisD ?es" )is finger was pointing at me"F@ND )is finger was getting longer and more

pointed" Whatever he said and wherever his finger went, he pointed directly at me"

With an artificial grin on my face, I thought I hateyou" I$ll never come bac& to this dumb church as long as Ilive"

#hen they started that song again" I lost my composurecompletely and burst into tears as they rose from the pewsand starting singing (ust s I m.

I ran out of the church.s I got outside and caught my breath, I stomped my

feet again and said, I hate this church. I$ll never come bac&" I$ll never come bac&. I$ll never come bac&. I lit up a

cigarette and blew smo&e all over the church as I continuedto carry on. I$ll never come bac& to this dumb churchagain" I 'umped into my car, gunned the motor andscratched out of the par&ing lot, throwing gravel all overthe place.

When I reached the haven of my own home, the firstthing I did was to ma&e myself a martini so I would feel

better. #hen I had another one and I felt a little better.

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#he church where I had previously visited once ortwice a year seemed safe enough. #hey didn$t do any ofthose strange things. #hey never made me cry. I was going

bac& there.#he following /unday, I got in my car and drove over

to my safe, comfortable church. I drove into the par&inglot, and suddenly my car turned right around" I drove downthe street and turned into the par&ing lot of that 'un&y oldchurch"

!ven my faithful old car was against me"I wanted to go bac& to the comfortable church, not

here"/ince I was already in the church par&ing lot, I reached

over to pic& up a new bo% of tissues laying on the seat ofthe car and resigned myself to giving this place one moretry.

#he compelling force in my life had begun, a force so

strong and so powerful that nothin+ was to stand in the wayof total commitment. #he compelling force that drove mewas a desire to see that I &new everything there was to&now about this man (esus *hrist, and a desire to see thateveryone &new )im personally even as I thought I did.)owever, even though I had met )im casually, I had notmet )im personally.

I started going to church every /unday morning andwas so spiritually charged up A but completely miserableduring the altar call wee& after wee& A that it seemed tome my soul was absolutely torn out of my body.

I begged... I pleaded... I cried... /unday after /unday,and said, God, ?ou &now I want to be a totally dedicated*hristian A what$s the matter with ?1@D Why don$t you

ta&e 66 of meD ?ou see, I &new something was not rightin my life, but I didn$t &now what it was.

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#his went on /unday after /unday for months andmonths. I couldn$t wait to go to church, and I couldn$t waitto get home afterwards because I was so torn up inside, and

because I never too& along enough Lleene% to wipe mytears. #he 7ible says, "5ou must be born a+ain* )owstupid can some of us beD 1ver and over again I as&ed Godwhat was the matter with )I0.

7y #han&sgiving of > 52, God had restored my left eyeto 39 39 vision with the help of a contact and glasses, and Iwent to church very grateful for what )e had done for me.

s I sat there and listened to the sermon about than&ing the6ord for what )e had done for us, God continued to dealsternly with me, but only because of )is great love and

because the )oly /pirit was really wor&ing on me to showme the way.

=o#in+ !yself

When the sermon was over, I didn$t dare loo& down because I was afraid to" I &new I didn$t have a stitch ofclothes on" +o you &now what it$s li&e to be sitting inchurch absolutely na&edD It$s horrible. God had strippedme of my outer clothing to show me e%actly what I was,and all I could say was,

What$s the matter with ?1@, God, you &now I wantto be dedicated >99 percent A and I wasn$t even bornagain"

(ust about this time a young man named !d Wa%erfrom *ampus *rusade for *hrist came into my office andgave me a little boo&let entitled #he Four /piritual 6aws. Iread this with e%treme interest and thought, Is that all you

have to do to be born againD nd I decided, #his is reallyeasy.

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I was so e%cited with that little boo& because it made being born again so wonderfully simple that when I wenthome that night I put my children to bed early and eventhough I lived in Florida and it was a hot sultry night, I

'umped under the blan&et with a little flash light, turned iton and read the little boo&let, because I didn$t want anyoneto &now what I was doing. #he first thing it says is, (esus,forgive my sins. I stopped there and said, 7ut (esus you&now I haven$t sinned. I thought sin was something 7IGli&e murder.

#hen I &ept reading. I open the door to my heart and Iinvite you to come in. I waited. I was e%pecting a big

boom, a clap of thunder, lightning, firewor&s or ane%plosion of some type, but nothing happened"

thought entered my mind, I must have opened thedoor the wrong way. I said, (esus, I$m sorry I opened thedoor from the right side when it must open from the left. I

beg your pardon. I open the door to my heart on the leftside and I invite you to come in. Immediately I said, ?oudidn$t come in.

#hen I thought, It must be an overhead door. I said,If it$s an overhead door I open it and I invite you to comein. #hen I added, ?ou didn$t do it"

!very night I repeated this process. I wore out more

batteries than you could believe"nd nothing happened"When I went to church the ne%t /unday morning I was

determined after as&ing (esus to come into my heart allwee&, describing doors of glass, crystal, precious 'ewels,colors and everything else, I &new )e hadn$t come inBbecause I &ept saying, 7ut you &now I haven$t sinnedC. I

went to church this particular /unday morning and made afervent statement with every ounce of my being crying out

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to God. I am not coming out of this church until I knowthat I know that I know that Jesus Christ is living in myheart.

#hat /unday I could not wait for them to sing Just As Am* 7ut they didn$t sing it" #hey sang, "Ha#e Thine ;wnBay$ =ord* Ha#e Thine ;wn Bay*% I thought the pastorwas a traitor. While we were singing that song, Godreminded me of sin in my life. nd in the loving,wonderful way that God has, )e nudged me and said,


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#hen, being a business woman, I made a deal with God.#here are many people who don$t thin& you can ma&e dealswith God but I stand as living proof that you can. I said to)im, God, I$ll ma&e a deal with ?ou. I$ll give you all ofme Bwasn$t that generousDC in e%change for all of ?ou.We made that deal and I got the best end of it"

/omeone had as&ed me once when I was saved. I hadanswered, /aved from whatD Finally I reali:ed that I had

been saved from sin, a thing I had refused to admit that Ihad ever committed, even though the 7ible says, "A==ha#e sinned and fall short of the +lory of God* It also says,"The wa+es of sin is death*% I had been spiritually dead allthese years because I could not admit that had sinned*

nd only then$ because I had finally received God$sforgiveness for my sins, could I as& (esus to live )is lifethrough me, and be the 6ord of my life. t last I understoodwhat the 6ord meant.

7ut, interestingly enough, when salvation came, it cameso Huietly I don$t even &now the date.

No lightning. No thunder.(ust peace and calm.

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Chapter .

Just As Am

fter church, I went home thin&ing of nothing but(esus. I had stopped at every store which was open andtried to beat (esus into everyone. I didn$t want to thin&about anything else. I didn$t want to thin& about my

printing company, my business, my friends, my house. Iwas so totally out of this world that it was unbelievable.For the first time in my life I reali:ed that God loved me.When God wrote in my 7ible, Frances Gardner, I loveyou it was the first time I was aware that God &new Ie%isted as a person. Now, I was saved and I 'ust bas&ed inthe love of God. I could 'ust feel God$s arms around me.

>9,999 pound weight had been ta&en off my shoulders.I went to bed and the peace of God flooded my soul./uddenly I began to cry. I cried and cried and cried 'ust asif I was bro&en hearted" I &ept thin&ing to myself, Whyam I cryingD I$m happy"

I couldn$t stop.#he ne%t night, the same thing happened. I cried and

cried and cried. 0y pillow would be soa&ing wet. I thoughtof everything in my life I had done wrong" I told God overand over again that I was sorry for every thing I had everdone and I promised I would never do it again" Not 'ustsaying, I$m sorry, but turning away from it. #hat is truerepentance" Instead of tears of sadness, I felt such 'oy andrelief that I cried tears of happiness. I cried every night formore than two months" God tears washed me )e washedall the desire to sin out of my life.

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#he euphoria I felt after finally being saved lastedtwo glorious days. I floated around the printing companyall day long. #he third day I was running from one press toanother and when I loo&ed down at my chest I could bothsee and feel my heart beating. I thought I would e%plode"

I said, (esus, ?ou$re in there" #hat$s not my heartbeat"#hat$s the heartbeat of (esus *hrist"


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1h, foolish sinner, God wants each and every one of us'ust as we are. !ven though my *hristian e%perience doesnot span many years, it spans a lot of people, and I havenever yet met one who by himself got rid of some badhabits.

#he most ama:ing thing about *hristianity is that thereis only one thing a human has to do, and that is to surrenderor yield his life totally to (esus. 1f course, this is the mostdifficult thing in the world to do, and something many

people fail to accomplish.In this particular phase of my life, I believe God dealt

very &indly with me. In most things I had to put up a fightand struggle, but I was so stupid I really didn$t thin& therewas anything wrong with any phase of my life now that Iwas a *hristian.

!ven though I had denied all the sin in my life, sin hadcertainly been there. I smoked five packages of cigarettes

a day. 6ighted cigarettes and or cigarette butts lay allaround in the ashtrays in my office, in my house and in mycar. I dran& martinis li&e they were going out of style and Iswore li&e a trooper. I never said four consecutive wordswithout a swear word coming out. 7ut the day I was bornagain, God cleaned up my mouth. /ince that moment, noswear word has ever crossed my lips. No dirty 'o&e has

ever entered my mind. I had been the life of every coc&tail party because I &new more dirty 'o&es than anybody else.fter meeting (esus, I couldn$t remember a dirty 'o&e if my

life depended on it.God cleaned up my mouth.God cleaned up my mind."Therefore if anyone is in Christ$ he is a new creation(

old thin+s ha#e passed away/


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"And do not be conformed to this world but betransformed by the renewin+ of your mind% &,om* 1.(.)*

I didn$t have the same old mind that I had as a sinner. Ihad a brand new mind" I couldn$t swear. I couldn$t thin& ofdirty 'o&es again. I couldn$t even listen to them because )ecleaned up my ears A my ears used to love to hear all that&ind of dirty tal&. From the day I was saved I could notlisten to anything that was even close to being filthy.

)owever, God didn$t get rid of all my bad habitsimmediately. I$ve heard some people get miraculouslysaved, cleaned up and delivered all at once. It too& longerfor me.

0y daughter was a teenager and I en'oyed wor&ingwith young people. I began wor&ing with the youth in thechurch. #hey were in and out of my home constantly. Ialways dran& my nightly martini and smo&ed incessantly infront of all of them because I felt there was nothing wrong

with either activity. Nobody had ever told me there wasanything wrong with smo&ing. I was still smo&ing five

pac&ages a day A one cigarette after the other frommorning to night.

s the days went on, a verse in the 7ible &ept comingto my mind " beseech you therefore$ brethren$ by themercies of God$ that you present your bodies a li#in+

sacrifice$ holy$ acceptable to God$ which is yourreasonable ser#ice% &,omans 1.(1)*7ut, I couldn$t Huit smo&ing. I was smo&ing four

cartons a wee&. I couldn$t even buy them all at the samestore because the employees would comment, ?ou 'ust

bought a carton. I was truly a cigaretteholic. I made all&inds of e%cuses as to why I was out of cigarettes so

Huic&ly, always adding, I don$t really smo&e that many"

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/uddenly, I began to feel uncomfortable smo&ing infront of my pastor. !ven though he had never oncecommented on my smo&ing, I discovered I could no longer&eep chain smo&ing when he came into the office. Finally Icouldn$t even continue smo&ing the lighted cigarette infront of him. I had to let it burn itself out.

1ne night as I was wor&ing late, he stopped at myoffice with the ne%t wee&$s bulletin for printing. I had 'ust

bought a new carton of cigarettes and had opened the first pac&. I had 'ust lit the first cigarette when he wal&ed intothe room. I had an urge to eat it, lit end and all, so hewouldn$t see me smo&ing. )owever, since he had caughtme red handed, I Huic&ly said, I$d Huit this stin&ing habitif I could"

)e didn$t give me a lecture at all. )e 'ust pointed afinger to heaven and said Huietly, Why don$t you as& )imto help youD

/urprised, I replied, For a little thing li&e cigarettesD)e said, little thing li&e cigarettes.I continued, stin&ing little thing li&e cigarettesD stin&ing little thing li&e cigarettes" he said.?ou$ve got to be &idding" I thought God only

handled the big things, li&e earthHua&es or hurricanes. Ididn$t &now )e cared about little things.

#he pastor left me sitting in my office, holding thecigarette and watching the smo&e as it curled up to theceiling. When the smo&e got high enough, I got my eyes onGod and I cried out, God, I$m a mess. ?ou &now I can$tHuit. 7ut if I$m not presenting my body a living sacrifice,holy and acceptable unto you Bbecause that was the verse Ihad read that morning before I left for wor&C, ta&e away

the desire.

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With that, I put my hand down and I put the cigaretteout.

?ou$ll be glad to &now that I have never smo&edanother cigarette nor have I ever had a desire to smo&esince that time"

7ecause I &new it was finished, I too& a little piece of paper, wrote the date on it and put it on top of the pac&ageof cigarettes and sealed it with scotch tape. t three o$cloc&in the morning when I finished wor&ing, I went by my

pastor$s house and threw the cigarettes up on his porch.When he came out the ne%t morning, he said, I &new whoit was and I &new e%actly what happened"

fter the births of both of my children, I had tried toHuit smo&ing. !ach time, I bro&e out in a horrible s&in rash.I itched all over and scratched continuously. I spent manythousands of dollars on s&in problems. #he rashdisappeared both times after I started smo&ing again so I

gave up trying to Huit smo&ing. /uddenly in a split second,the cigarettes were out of my life forever! nd I didn$t

brea& out in a rash, either"-eer pressure was turned on. #al&ing about (esus and or

God was not popular. I remember my daddy saying up untilthe day he died, We don$t discuss religion or politics inthis house. #hat$s a personal thing. ?ou 'ust never discuss

it with anyone.s hard as it was for me to stop smo&ing beforesalvation, it was harder for me to be Huiet about (esus andwhat )e had done for me after I was born again. I sharedmy e%citement with everyone whether they wanted to hearor not. /ome were Huite patient with me. ?ou$ll get overthis. I$ll give you a couple of months. ?ou$ll be bac& to

the parties again. We$ve seen others go through this samething. ?ou$ll soon see this is 'ust a fad.

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n uncomfortable feeling began to happen to me whenI would drin& my favorite martinis. I loved martinis. I lovedthe dry taste. I never put the vermouth in them because I

'ust li&ed the gin straight. Gin and olives, that was all Ithought was in a martini. 1h, how I loved the gin and theolives at the bottom. #hey were so good" I never thoughtthere was anything wrong with drin&ing. -eople used toalways say, +rin& a little wine for your stomach$s sa&e./ince it was a Huotation from the 7ible, I thought drin&ingwas very acceptable.

I certainly wasn$t an alcoholic, although each time Idran& a little more than the last time to feel good. #hehigh that I would get after drin&ing a few of thosedelicious drin&s was great. 1r so I thought" fter a shorttime with (esus in my heart and reading God$s Word, Ifound myself going much higher on God than I ever wenton martinis.

0y girlfriend was an alcoholic. /he certainly didn$t plan on being one, but she would drin& one after another.

s her saturation level was reached, she needed more andmore and more. I thought if I dran& with her, maybe she$dHuit. I still never thought there was anything wrong withdrin&ing.

God was dealing with me. 0an could have tal&ed his

head off and I would never have listened. /ince I washaving so much fun as a *hristian, I reali:ed the world ofalcohol was not a real world at all. It was a fa&e, a poorimitation of life. God$s world was the real one and that$swhere I wanted to be A where I wanted to stay.

Nobody really tal&ed about (esus very much in thosedays" 0ost people didn$t &now who )e was even though

they often used )is name in vain" I got so e%cited aboutwhat had happened to me, I had to tell everybody. (esus

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really opened my mouth and I haven$t shut it since, and Idon$t intend to"

I was never shy or timid before I got saved. I didn$tsuddenly become shy or timid afterwards either. I usedevery opportunity to share my e%citement. !verywhere Iwent, I tal&ed A the cleaners, the grocery store, thegasoline station. /ome people noticed the difference in my

behavior and would as& what caused the change. I gladlytold them in great detail about my new e%citing life.

0y family thought I had gone cra:y. 0y son, #om,came in one day and said bluntly, 0other, you$re going tocurl up into a fu::y ball and blow over in a corner and dieif you don$t Huit all this church stuff. ?ou$re not any funany more. ?ou used to tell dirty 'o&es. ?ou used to smo&eand drin&. Now, you don$t do anything that$s fun anymore.

I said gently, )oney, but I$m really living now. I$m

really living" Not too long after that, I overheard somebody tal&ing

with my daughter, (oan. What$s the matter with yourmotherD /he$s acting so strange these days.

(oan replied, 0other$s going through the change oflife as I entered the room.

#hat$s right. #hat$s right, I$m going through a change

of life, I inter'ected, but a different &ind of change of lifethan any of you are thin&ing about. When (esus came intomy heart, )e really changed my whole life.

1ne evening, I visited my girl friend. )er husbandthought I had flipped my wig and become a religiousfanatic. )e made a martini, set it on the counter in front ofme, loo&ed me straight in the eye and insisted, Well, holy

(osephine, you have probably gotten so holy and pious thatyou won$t ta&e a drin& any more.

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)ow do you tell your old friends that you don$t drin&any moreD

I loo&ed at that drin&. #he most ama:ing thought cameinto my mind, I don$t want it. I really don$t want it. !ven

'ust yesterday, I loved that dry taste of a martini. Now, Idon$t want it at all.

I didn$t &now what to do. I felt li&e I was bac&ed into acorner and didn$t have the courage to fight. -robably

because I was still partly a spiritual chic&en, I cried outagain for God to do something for me.

I loo&ed up to God Huic&ly and thought, 1h God, whatdo I doD +o I pic& it up and drin& it to be sociableD

I didn$t want it"#he )oly /pirit had done a cleansing 'ob on me and I

didn$t want to touch that drin&. I also didn$t want to offendmy host.

/hould I pic& it up and hold itD No, that$s compromise

and od never honors compromise!#he 7ible had become my one and only reading

material. I remembered -aul saying, " am not ashamed ofthe +ospel% B >5C. I closed my eyes 'ust for amoment. I was desperate. When I loo&ed bac& at thatmartini glass, God had chan+ed it into a sna0e$ the sign ofevil in the 7ible" nd the -erson who had changed my life

so drastically had made another change only because I hadyielded my all to )im.God spo&e to me as loudly and clearly as I have ever

heard anything, "Alcohol has no part in your life*I had to ma&e a choice. +o I please God or do I please

manDI loo&ed at my host and very calmly said for the first

time in my life, No, than& you. I don$t drin&"Instantly, the sna&e changed bac& into a martini"

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#he world had put the pressure on.God too& the pressure off.

No one has ever offered me a martini since that night"/omehow they &new without my ever saying anything thatI 'ust didn$t drin& any more. I didn$t ) J! to drin&

because I had only to remember and recall the presence ofGod to be lifted up to the highest plane, and how couldanyone ever be downhearted or sad when in )is presenceD

When the *hristmas season came the first year after myconversion, many of my friends did not invite me to theusual *hristmas parties because I had really changed. 7ythe second year they were beginning to reali:e this was nota temporary thing, but that something had really happenedin my life. 0any of my friends 'oined in the same wal&,and many watched my life in ama:ement, but could notenter the same narrow gate. )owever, they invited me totheir parties the second year with the reminder, We$ll have

*o&e for you, or, ?ou can drin& your eggnog plain.I didn$t en'oy going to coc&tail parties any more

because the conversation was so inane and so shallow, so Iwent only on rare occasions. nd it ama:ed me to see whathappened. /uddenly everyone was as&ing me Huestions,and the highball glasses were sitting on the tables and thedrin&s were going flat because the ice cubes were melting

in them. friend too& a picture behind my bac& at a party onenight and it was real interesting... the only person with aglass in their hand was me" nd the e%pressions on theirfaces as they listened to my testimony told a veryinteresting story.

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=oo0in+ For Eic0s

I thin& people who drin& are loo&ing for &ic&s and aretrying to get themselves on a higher plane than they areduring an average day, and so they resort to the artificialstimulation of alcohol to give them &ic&s. If only theyreali:ed the truth of !phesians 7(12( "And do not be drun0with wine$ in which is dissipation/ but be filled with theSpirit$% they would find that a spiritual &ic& is a

permanent state of being A a way of life, if you please Athat replaces any and all of the worldly things in a heavenlymanner.

0y heart cries out daily because of those who are so blind they cannot see the life that wins. !ven though theyare ama:ed at the change which has come because I as&ed(esus to live )is life through me, they reali:e that thechanges were made because )e was willing to accept me(ust s I m, and today the story is turned around

because they, too, accept me (ust s I m. 7ut what adifference in the two meanings" s the wonderful words of-aul say in -hilippians > 3> "For to me$ to li#e is Christ$and to die is +ain*% 7y dying to self I have really learned tolive.

nd no one ever as&s me to smo&e a cigarette or drin& amartini any more.

(ust one month after I met (esus, my >4 year olddaughter, (oan, accepted (esus. /everal months later, wewere tal&ing about the changes in our lives. I turned to herand as&ed, What made you turn to God so Huic&ly andaccept (esus 'ust one month after 0omma didD

/he simply replied, 7ecause of the chan+e I saw in

you"

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Chapter -

find The Holy Spirit "Howe#er$ when He$ the Spirit of truth$ has come$ He

will +uide you into all truth***% B(ohn >5 >4C. but be filled with the Spirit% B!phesians 2 >;C." f we li#e in the Spirit$ let us also wal0 in the Spirit%

BGalatians 7(.7)*

It$s a marvelous thing that God doesn$t reveal all of )is&ingdom to us at one time I doubt if we could stand it inone big dose. 0aybe that is why )e gives us only a littleglimpse of truth at a time, because each tiny glimpse is sooverwhelming and so overpowering that a massive dosemight be fatal.

1nce the compelling force in my life had begun,

everything in my life was pointed in one direction only M all I could thin& of was (esus *hrist, the love of my life"!verything else fell by the wayside and was completelysecondary to this 0an who had changed my entire being my entire way of life M my entire way of thin&ing M myentire reason for living"

7ut I still had such a long way to go M and I still I do.nd then one day I was setting some type for a 'ob

which mentioned a desire to be filled with the )oly/pirit.

0y pastor always seemed to drop by the office 'ustwhen some spiritual crisis arises or does the 6ord send himthereD I couldn$t possibly imagine what being filled withthe )oly /pirit meant, so when he came in to pic& up somewor&, I 'ust as&ed him point blan&, What does it mean to

be filled with the )oly /piritD nd I hope in reading thisyou will remember that most of my life I had gone to

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church and /unday school, but I had never heard of the power of the )oly /pirit.

)e said, When you are born again and God forgivesyour sins, you become a clean vessel which the )oly /piritcan fill with power for your *hristian life. #his made nosense to me, and I wondered for a minute if he was &iddingme. I couldn$t understand what in the world the )oly /piritwas.

#hen I did what I always do when I discover somethingnew in *hristianity. I ran for the 7ible and loo&ed up everyreference to the )oly /pirit. I went to the 7ible store and

bought every little tract and boo& which I could findconcerning the )oly /pirit. lso, about this time our 7ible/tudy *lass began studying the )oly /pirit, and Idiscovered that in !phesians we are commanded to befilled with the )oly /pirit.

It$s ama:ing what happens to your life when the )oly

/pirit comes in. )e brings a power unbelievable to a non believer.

The " in+% of Christianity

#he ability to witness and to transmit the fact of God$slove is there A the ability to win others to (esus becomes a

reality A the ability to follow God$s will becomes a routinething. In other words, the )oly /pirit is the :ing of*hristianity.

!ach time I have sat down to write on this boo& I haveas&ed God to fill me afresh with )is )oly /pirit, and I haveas&ed the )oly /pirit to use my brains and my fingers onthe typewriter to bring this story to life so that anyone who

might read it will feel the vibrant living thing that*hristianity is. personal relationship with (esus *hrist is

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the only thing in the world that$s worthwhile, for the 7iblesays "See0 ye first the 0in+dom of God% &EJ )*

s I read that recently I wondered what comes second.I have never found time to do anything but "see0 ye first$%

because the see&ing and the searching is a lifetime vocationto me at any rate, and I doubt if there will ever be time tosee& anything else.

Not only that, the 7ible says the fruit of the /pirit islove, 'oy, peace, patience, &indness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self control. When you are filled with the )oly/pirit, you have 66 this Band heaven, tooC, and with allthe wonderful blessings of )is )oly /pirit, how could you

possibly want for anything e%cept more of the wonderful promises of GodD

A Special uality

#here is a special Huality to those who are filled withthe )oly /pirit. )e imparts a special vibrancy, a specialcome alive warmth to an individual, a special radiance, aspecial outgoing *hristian love which is distinguishable ina room, on a street, on a stage, or anywhere an individualhappens to be. #he defeated *hristians today and there aremany, many of them because they do not as& to be filled

with the )oly /pirit.#he )oly /pirit gives freedom from the things of the

world... the )oly /pirit brings every single part of you, both physical and mental, into an e%citing relationship with(esus *hrist" Without the )oly /pirit you will fail.

If you want to be a failure in *hristianity, don$t as& to be filled with the )oly /pirit. If you want to be an

automobile that runs out of gas and can never run again,don$t as& for a refilling of the )oly /pirit. If you want to

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lead a useless life, don$t as& to be filled with the )oly/pirit.

7@# if you want *#I1N in your life, as& right now to be filled with the )oly /pirit. nd get the debris out of theroad, because action is what you$ll get"

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Chapter I

=earn to @ray

n the


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magnificent prayer which consisted of three words, #han&?ou, 6ord.

nd then I cried.I went home that night and wondered why I couldn$t

pray, and then I felt that I had really let God down. #hewonderful God of love who answers prayers, the God whohad never let me down, and I couldn$t even tal& to )im outloud"

fter I got home that night I as&ed God to teach mehow to pray. I as&ed )im to fill me so full of )is )oly/pirit that I would be 'ust running over with prayer. nd Igot into the bathtub. /omething about the soothing Hualityof water Bor bubble bathC made me decide this was the

perfect place to learn how to pray and, anyway, nobodycould hear me.

I have prayed more prayers in my bathtub than probably any other single place. #he Huietness and the fact

that my family never disturbs me ma&es the bathtub a perfect place to pray.

For the ne%t si% months I was probably the mostscrubbed, bathed woman in Florida. s I discovered how to

pray, a new dimension came into my life, and not only did Idiscover how to pray, I discovered how wonderful it is to

pray, and how easy it is to pray and &eep in constant

communion with our heavenly Father.#here is one thing I would li&e to caution the readerabout, however, in connection with learning to pray in the

bathtub.In my energetic urge for *hristianity, and the surge for

maturity, the 6ord decided to use me as a soul winner. I hadno problem witnessing about what (esus could do in a life

because of what )e had done in mine, and because I alwaysas&ed the 6ord to fill me with )is )oly /pirit and to spea&

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through me, many individuals have been led to (esus. 7ut Idiscovered that when they accepted *hrist, the ne%t stepwas to as& them to pray a prayer of repentance, and Icouldn$t help because the only place I could pray was in the

bathtub"I often wondered what some new *hristian would have

thought if I had said, Would you mind 'umping into the bathtub because that$s the only place I can prayD

I never did, though, and I finally did learn how to pray publicly.

@rayer Times

#here are many &inds of prayer times. #here is the timewhen it$s 'ust time to pray. I$m not real cra:y about this&ind because I li&e to pray when I feel li&e praying.. .either

because I feel very strongly on some sub'ect or because ofsome tremendous need in my own life or the life of another.

0y children always as& me to say the blessing at thesupper table because they &now that$s when they get to findout about all the fabulous things that happened during theday, and as a result our house has the most unusual grace

period imaginable. ctually, this is our devotional time because it$s the only time we are all together, and this is

when we bare our hearts and our innermost thoughts. #he prayers that have been answered as the result of this areunbelievable.

1nce in a while we do remember to as& that the food bless our bodies as we present them a living sacrifice, holy,and acceptable to God. +inners have become cold uponoccasion when everyone felt led to pray, but I have never

had a complaint about a cold dinner caused by warm prayers"

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-robably the greatest miracle in my life occurred because of prayer A not 'ust lu&ewarm prayer, but fervent prayer A but this is a separate story in itself.

6earning how to tal& to God can be a fabulouse%perience, if you will let it. nd tal&ing to God can ma&eyour entire life fabulous.

I have a little prayer which I send up to God everymorning when I wa&e up, but let me caution you don 8t

say it unless you mean it? 7efore I open my eyes in themorning I say, Well, 6ord, what fabulous things are wegoing to do todayD

nd do you &now whatD !very day is fabulous? 6ast#han&sgiving I went to *learwater, Florida, to be acounselor at the state youth convention and by the time Ireturned, I was e%hausted. We had a death in our church,had a special guest at the morning service, and went to achurch dedication service that afternoon, so I was

completely ground down. 1n 0onday morning I said,God, do ?ou thin& we could have a dumb, dull, stupid day

because I$m so tiredDnd do you &now whatD

I had a real dumb, dull, stupid day" 7ut by #uesdaymorning there I was bac& again saying, What fabulousthings are we going to do todayD

I would li&e to challenge each of you who read these pages to as& God what fabulous thing )e$s going to dowith you today.

7ut remember, if you don$t have the courage to accept)is fabulous offerings, don$t pray.

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Chapter 7

Am


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smart he was... he &new the decision had to be my veryown, and not something someone tal&ed me into doing.

I was real busy lining up all my spiritual children forthe big event, but in the bac& of my own mind was the ever

present thought of my own baptism.1ur church didn$t have a baptismal pool and since I

lived in Florida where many people had swimming pools,the bapti:ing was often done in such pools. I couldn$t help

but feel this was the living end to put on an old white choirrobe and wal& into a friend$s pool and get your hairdoruined when I 0new I had been bapti:ed many years ago.

nd, anyway, I was forty nine years old, and it$s ridiculousto be bapti:ed with a bunch of teenagers when you$re thatold.

0y pastor came by the office and I said to him, I havea swimming pool, so why should I go to somebody else$sDWouldn$t you li&e to come over to my house some night

after dar& and bapti:e me in my own poolD I thought thiswas a very simple way not to publicly be bapti:ed. 0y

pastor loo&ed me right in the eye and he said, No.#hat was all he said.7ut God continued to deal with me, and I could thin& of

nothing else. I &ept thin&ing I heard the words over andover, ?ou$ve got too much pride to be bapti:ed, haven$t

youD nd again I tal&ed and tal&ed to God, trying to tal&)im out of being bapti:ed publicly at my age.7ut it doesn$t pay to argue with God. I always win

when I do, but I only win because I give in to )im. Withme the only way an argument with God can possibly end isfor )im to have )is way in my life.

I finally went to my minister and announced I wanted to

be bapti:ed along with my daughter because I &new whereI was going, and while I didn$t feel the 7ible said anything

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about failure to be bapti:ed &eeping you from eternal life, Iwasn$t going to ta&e any chances. When I sat in his officeafter church one night and told him this, I felt a thousand

pound weight had been removed from my chest.#he /unday came when we were all to be bapti:ed, and

we were to be at the swimming pool for a public service atthree o$cloc& that afternoon. number of the teens wereover at my house as we dressed for the service, I felt the

presence of God so strongly I &new I had obeyed )im withmy decision to be bapti:ed.

I felt I would burst A my heart actually seemed to beatas though it would brea& out of my chest. I tried to remaincalm because some people have emotional reactions tocertain things, and others don$t, and I don$t feel the degreeof your *hristianity depends on the emotional feelings youhave. I &new that no one noticed anything unusual aboutthe way I felt until one of the boys said, )ow come you

have your dress on bac&wardsDI had put on my bathing suit and slipped a shift over it,

and in my utter calm I had put the dress on bac&wards.It was a short drive to the swimming pool and when we

arrived I was shoc&ed to find such a large crowd there. #heminister wal&ed into the pool and one by one bapti:ed theyoung people. I have a vague recollection of being ne%t to

the last, or last, I$m not sure which because somethingreally happened to me that day. man in our congregation led me into the water Ba

problem with my second eye had started and was gettingvery serious, so seeing was a real problem for meC. Iremember stretching out my hand to reach the minister

because I couldn$t see anything without my glasses on A

and I don$t remember anything else. #here is a very vaguerecollection of him as&ing me if I had accepted (esus *hrist

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as my /avior and 6ord, and I thin& I said, ?ou 0now Ihave.

I must have been immersed, but I don$t remember ite%cept that I was soa&ing wet he must have called out myname, but I didn$t hear it he must have wal&ed me to thesteps because I couldn$t see to wal& by myself someonemust have helped me from the pool, but I don$t rememberanything e%cept the rushing of waters over my face. 7eforethey closed over me, my soul went right straight into theever loving outstretched arms of God.

It seems to me we sang #han& ?ou, 6ord, for sa#in+my soul, but it was all ha:y. 0y usual tal&ative self had

been awed and silenced by the overpowering presence ofGod. I couldn$t wait to get away all I wanted to do was gohome and read my 7ible. I felt I would scream if anyonetal&ed to me because I didn$t want to ever brea& the spell ofthe presence of God. I went home, grabbed my 7ible, and

with the arms of God wrapped tightly around me, I read )iswonderful words all afternoon.

I thin& baptism is the thing that sealed me and boundme forever.

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Chapter 6

=earn to Bitness

When (esus came into my life, )e opened my mouth,and I haven$t shut it since" nd I don$t intend to. I had themost burning desire to share what had happened to me witheveryone I met, and the 6ord who always honors a sincere

heart crossed my path with another of the men in my life.1ne day a young man wal&ed into my office and whenI loo&ed up from my des& at him to as& him if I could helphim, all I could see were the eyes of (esus loo&ing at mefrom a different face than I e%pected. I Huic&ly decided that*hristianity had gotten the best of me, and I was reallyimagining things, until he opened his mouth and said, I$m

!d Wa%er of the *ampus *rusade for *hrist./omehow in the way we never Huestion, God$s )oly/pirit had told me here was a brother in *hrist, before Iever &new who he was. I am a debtor of !d Wa%er, a*hristian of (ewish bac&ground, for the time he has ta&ento help me mature as a *hristian.

s I loo& bac& on it now, he must have thought I was a batty old lady, but he reali:ed that the drive and thecompelling force which possessed me was a dedication to(esus *hrist. I nagged and nagged and pleaded and begged,-lease teach me how to Krecruit. What I really meant was#each me how to lead others to (esus, but in myunchristian 'argon I didn$t &now what to call it e%ceptrecruiting for God$s army. -oor !d was so busy trying toactivate the campus program in the 0iami area, he reallydidn$t have time, but finally he promised he would comeover to my house and teach me how to recruit.

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I was almost hysterical. )e had told me I could invitethree other people from the church, but somehow I invitedseven, and I made the eighth person. !d brought anotherstaff member of *ampus *rusade and we divided into twogroups to learn how to recruit.

Four Spiritual =aws

!d showed us how they present the Four /piritual6aws which the *ampus *rusade for *hrist usesinternationally. #his is a simplified presentation of the planof salvation. !d carefully e%plained every step and assuredus it would wor& and turn our church upside down if wewould try it.

I had been literally dragging people to church with me because I had read that -aul said, " ha#e become all thin+sto all men$ that mi+ht by all means sa#e some% BI*orinthians 33C. I felt that everyone in the whole city of0iami simply had to go to church and hear the claims of(esus *hrist, but to win someone to (esus... that wassomething else.

I studied the Four /piritual 6aws and read and rereadthem. 1ur church formed a G1 *ommittee. +uring ameeting the minister gave out G1 cards or calls we were

to ma&e and present the Four /piritual 6aws. church friend and I Bwe were &nown as the G1 G1

girlsC made a promise to God that before the wee& was overwe would go and ma&e a call and present the Four /piritual6aws.

0onday came and I called and said, 7arb, I$m so busyat the office I$ve got to wor& tonight. *an we call it off

tonightD

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7arb said that was all right with her, we would go thene%t night. #he ne%t night she called me with some phonye%cuse... nd the ne%t night was the midwee& service, soneither of us had to ma&e up a phony e%cuse... #hen thene%t night I called her and gave her a phony e%cuse. ndon Friday she called me because she was having company. .. nd we both decided /aturday would be a bad time to go.

N+ /@++!N6? I# W / /@N+ ?" nd we had promised God we would ma&e a call before the G1meeting at 5 99 -.0. on /unday. fter church on /undaymorning, I called 7arb and said, We pledged A and we

'ust ha#e to do it. nd she agreed.Well, I tried to thin& of everything to ma&e us so late

we couldn$t possibly ma&e a G1 call on anyone becauseI was /*


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nd then I saw a light in the house.... nd then I saw that the door was open.I reminded God that maybe she was out and had 'ust

left the door open and could I please turn aroundD merely states that God loves you and has a planfor your life.

BI won$t argue with that.C No. 3 states that all have sinned and come short of the

glory of God.BI won$t argue with that.C

No. 4 states that (esus *hrist is God$s only provisionfor man$s sin.

BI won$t argue with that.C No. 8 states 7ehold, I stand at the door and &noc&. If

anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in

to him.BI won$t argue with that either.Cnd then you as& the person you$ve been tal&ing to if

he Bor sheC would li&e to invite (esus to come into their life.7arb as&ed the woman if she would li&e to invite (esus

into her life. nd she said, ?es.7arb and I both felt as though we had been struc& by

lightning"

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We had &ept our covenant with God, but had forgottenthat )e would be with us, so we were not prepared forsuccess. 1h, how pathetic it is when we don$t put faith inGod$s promises.

7arb loo&ed at me, and I loo&ed at her, and we boththought, /he$s &idding. /o 7arb as&ed her again andwhen she said, ?es again, we loo&ed at each other and inthe same instant we reali:ed how little was our faith. Godhas never let me down, but I often wonder how many timesI have let )im down.

We came to our senses then, and 7arb said the onlything either of us could thin& of to say 6et$s pray. /hedid, and we felt the presence of the )oly /pirit as )e isalways felt when someone is led to (esus.

We said our good byes with tears in our eyes becausethis had been a tremendous e%perience for all of us. s wewent down to the car, we than&ed our 6ord for )is tender,

loving care which had directed two sincere women whodidn$t &now what they were doing, but &new what theywanted to do.

We flew bac& to the church and practically tore our pastor apart because we were so e%cited because we had ledour first person to (esus. We followed this up two nightslater with another thrilling win for (esus, and I did the

tal&ing that time./ince then the 6ord has blessed 7arb and me manytimes, but I often wonder if any convert will ever do for uswhat the first one did.

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Chapter D

Find Bitnessin+ s citin+

#here is no thrill in the world which compares withleading someone to (esus" What happens in your own lifewhen you have faced a person with (esus *hrist and hehas accepted )im is indescribable.

+o let me give you the only hint I can concerningwitnessing +on$t ever try to do it on your own, or you$llfail" s 7arb and I went on G1 calls, we never tal&ed inthe car, but prayed, and as&ed God to fill us with )is )oly/pirit and let the words that were to come from our lips be)is words, and not ours. 1nly when you are yielded to )is)oly /pirit can you be an effective witness.

1ur young people wanted to learn how to win others to(esus, so one night after a midwee& service we held atraining class. #he pastor was called out, so he as&ed me tota&e over and show the young people how to present theFour /piritual 6aws.

I presented them as I would in anyone$s home, and as Igot to the fourth law concerning *hrist$s invitation, Ireali:ed I was tal&ing to a group made up of about 7'

percent non *hristians. I stormed the gates of heaven with prayer as&ing God$s guidance, because how could theseyoung people be successfully taught to be soul winnerswhen they were not *hristiansD

God$s very presence was in the room that night as )etouched the young people one by one and they opened thedoors of their hearts to invite (esus in. nd I felt my cuprun over because my physical daughter was now also myspiritual daughter, for she, too, accepted (esus.

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;n The


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covering it with a shift. I &ic&ed off my shoes and wal&edacross the sand to the first group I saw.

nd what a group" #hey all were nineteen to twentytwo years old.


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acHuainted with the world$s greatest surfer. (esus *hrist,I said, because he didn$t need a surfboard he 'ust wal&edon the water.

#his made an impression on them, and they promptlyas&ed me to go to an le )ouse with them.

I declined. Ne%t, I as&ed them whom they &new the most about

0ohammed, 7uddha, or (esus *hrist. #hey all got realsmart alec&y and answered, 0ohammed. +oesn$teverybodyD 1ne thing to remember during a survey Adon$t reply to or comment on any answer regardless of your

personal feelings.t this point I gave a little testimony of my own life

and one young fellow said, -ut me down for (esus *hrist,0a$am.

The "oly #pirit had come to walk on the $each. Ihad been sitting there wondering what I was doing on the

beach when I hate the sand, the salt, the water, the bree:e,and so on. #hen I remembered how (esus witnessed on theshores of Galilee, and I decided if it was good enough for)im, it was certainly good enough for me. nd anyway, if)e was living )is life through me, who was sitting on the

beachD#he transition Huestion had been answered, so I as&ed

them how a person becomes a *hristian. t this point threeothers 'oined the group, so I now had seven. #henewcomers 'oined not because of a personal invitation fromme, but because the original four grabbed them into thegroup.

#heir answers would have bro&en your heart"I was born a *hristian.

0y parents are *hristian, that ma&es me a *hristian.(ust go to church and you$re a *hristian.

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It$s something about feeling guilty about something orother. I don$t &now what you have to feel guilty about, butit$s something or other, and if you feel guilty, you$re a*hristian.

If you go around with *hristians A it$s somethingabout fellowship that ma&es you a *hristian.

If you behave and lead a good life, you$re a *hristian. Not one of the young persons sitting there &new how to

become a *hristian. Not one had ever been told that hemust be born again.

Not one &new about accepting (esus *hrist as /aviorand 6ord.

Not one &new that sinners have to be forgiven of theirsins"

In a world where communication is present in all formsradio, #J, telephone, newspapers, maga:ines, it bro&e myheart to reali:e that none of these young people had ever

heard the communication of (esus.bout this time the lifeguard came up and was going to

arrest me for selling on the beach without a license. I toldhim I wasn$t selling anything. I was giving it away. 1ne ofthe young men who originally had intended to roast me ona spit 'umped up and said

#a&e your hands off of her A she$s telling us the most

interesting things about the 7ible we$ve ever heard.#he lifeguard unhanded me, and I whispered a prayer ofthan&sgiving to God.

I continued and the stillness of the beach was asurprising thing. I loo&ed up and about twenty people werenow listening. 0y cry went up to heaven as I said, ?ou doit, 6ord, because I don$t really &now what I$m doing.

nd the 6ord of my life, as always, came through. Iread the Four /piritual 6aws and eight young people

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nodded their heads in an acceptance prayer and a prayer offorgiveness.

I didn$t drive bac& home after that A I 'ust floatedhome on a cloud.

n A Hospital ,oom

1ne of the most thrilling conversions I ever witnessedoccurred in a hospital room.

I had been as&ed to call on a man who was seriously illin the hospital, and when I as&ed for information so Iwouldn$t go blundering in, my pastor said, /ometimes

blundering is a blessing. I said, #han&s a lot, littlereali:ing the wisdom he had used.

0iami often has severe rainstorms and this was duringthe rainy season. #hat particular night it rained over eightinches. #he highways were flooded it too& me twentyminutes to get from my office to a location which normallywould ta&e me three minutes. #he water was completelyover the highway, and it was pouring so hard it wasimpossible to see.

0y night vision is not good, so I don$t drive often atnight. I wondered if the 6ord wanted me to turn around andgo bac& home to my nice, dry, warm house, and I as&ed

)im. I heard nothing, so I said, Well, if ?ou want me togo, ?ou$ll have to help me drive this car, and please, please

prepare his heart for me as I ma&e this long drive. gain Ihad as&ed God$s )oly /pirit to go with me.

It too& me two hours to drive what normally wouldhave ta&en thirty minutes, and when I finally reached thehospital and par&ed the car, I stepped out into water nearly

up to my &nees. It was almost li&e a hurricane. I wassoa&ed before I got two feet from the car.

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0y clothes stuc& to me li&e glue Band I$m too fat to begood loo&ing in glued clothesC, my shoes were ruined, myhair was dripping down in my face, and I$m sure I loo&edas far removed from an mbassador of *hrist as anyonecould. I shivered as I entered the air conditioned hospitalBno wonder, I had accidentally gone into the morgue"C, butafter regrouping myself, I finally found the right room.

#hree other men were in the ward, and as I tal&ed asilence fell over the whole room. It was a thrilling moment

because the )oly /pirit completely filled the room. #al&ingto the patient, I reali:ed that God had prepared his heart andthat he wanted (esus in his life. /o I merely loo&ed at himand said, Would you li&e to accept (esus right nowD ndthen we prayed first I prayed, and then for the first time inhis life he prayed and as&ed God to forgive him for alifetime of sins.

7lundering was a blessing in this case. fterwards I

was informed that this man had sneered at anyone whodared to mention (esus *hrist in his presence, but with God

preparing his heart, my blundering was a blessing"

#en n Church

1ne of my greatest delights after winning someone to

(esus is to watch that person grow and mature as a*hristian. #he 6ord blessed whatever ministry I have byallowing me to be instrumental in leading my best friend to(esus.

In my 7.*. Bbefore *hristC days and +.6. BduringliHuorC days I spent a lot of time martini ing with acouple whom I en'oyed very much. /hortly after meeting

them, I became aware of the fact that for the tiny little person that she was, the wife could consume more alcohol

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than any person I had ever seen. nd somehow or other shenever showed the effects of one martini or ten. /he nevergot drun&, or very seldom got drun& in the accepted senseof the word, but I often wondered how she could consumewhat she did without getting sic&, or passing out, orsomething.

)er alcohol problem became increasingly worse overthe years and I tried to caution her Bas we dran& martinistogetherC that she should cut down because it 'ust wasn$tgood for her to drin& so much. /he$s a very beautifulwoman, with gorgeous, big brown eyes, and I warned herthat if she continued to drin& the way she was, it wouldn$t

be long before she wouldn$t be pretty any more, but thisdidn$t seem to fa:e her. /he went deeper and deeper intothe bottle.

1ne time my friend$s husband as&ed me to see what Icould do about her alcohol problem because he had to go

out of town for several wee&s. I decided I would drin& rightwith her, and then get her to stop before she was blotto" Ifailed to consider my own low tolerance for alcohol, and so

before the wee& was out, she was still going strong, but Iwas completely baggy eyed and hung over. #hen I decidedto &eep her so busy while her husband was away that shewouldn$t have time to drin&. 6ittle did I &now that after an

evening of ta&ing our children places, she would go homeand spend the rest of the night drin&ing alone.nd then I found (esus" nd when you first find (esus

and your friends are not on that road, your friendshipremains the same for a short while, but then the love for(esus overpowers everything else in your life and youdiscover you don$t have anything in common with non

*hristians.

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1nly once on the *hristian road did I ever considerloo&ing bac&. nd that was for this friend. 7ut when youreally discover (esus *hrist, nothing is worth loo&ing bac&for, and momentarily I regretted the fact that I had to leaveher bac& there because I couldn$t loo& bac&. #here wasonly one way for me to go, and I &new it"

/he continued to drin&, and as she continued to drin&,she watched the ama:ing change that was occurring in mylife. /he began to call me in the middle of the night andwith a tiny little voice crying, )elp me, Frances, you$vegot to help me. I have tal&ed for hours on the telephonetrying to get her to leave the bottle alone, at anywhere frommidnight to four o$cloc& in the morning.

/he was attending a church half heartedly where thegospel is apparently not preached, but in her groping forsomething she started the search which was to ta&e herwhere she is today" /he was intrigued with the way I was

reading the 7ible, so she dusted hers off, and startedreading, too. 7ut she only read in hers what she wanted toread. We have spent many hours on the midnight telephonediscussing our different interpretations of the 7ible.

#he bottle became bigger and 7IGG!< and my heartreally ached for her. I yearned to have her find the lovingarms of (esus *hrist who could protect her from all harm. I

had a reluctance to invite her to church with me, so I onlywent into ecstasy over what each /unday did for me,hoping to ma&e the claims of *hrist sound so appealing thatshe would want to come with me one /unday.

nd then it happened" 1ne /unday morning a little tinyhung over voice called me and said, ren$t you ever goingto invite me to your churchD I could have cried" /o I said,

*ome today, and she said, If I can pull myself togetherin time, I$ll be there.

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I went to /unday school and didn$t learn a thing thatmorning. ll I did was pray" I prayed first that she wouldget there. #hen I prayed that the minister would preach the&ind of a sermon that would grab her, and then I prayedthat God would open her heart so that she, too, could havethe abundant life.

God answered all of my prayers./he got there all right" 7ut she smelled so strong of

whis&ey she almost &noc&ed me over. /he apparently hadhad a crying 'ag because she showed the effects ofweeping.

/econd, my pastor must have preached 'ust the right&ind of sermon M or did God 'ust use him in the right wayD

#hird, God crac&ed open the door of her heart. s in/unday school, I didn$t hear a word of the sermon, becauseI prayed the whole sermon through.

/he returned the ne%t /unday after crawling in the

bottle all wee&, only this time she didn$t smell of alcohol./he continued coming every /unday and conversations

concerning (esus became everyday occurrences, but the bottle became a bigger and bigger problem.

0y pastor and I had prayed for her so much, becausewe saw a really lost soul, and because I loved her so much.

nd then we had an evangelist for a wee&$s revival at

the church.If anyone had told me two years prior to this that Iwould sit in church for eight nights straight, I would havetold him he was off his roc&er, but there I sat eight nights ina row. I had given my friend a copy of the Four /piritual6aws to read, and she came to several of the revivalservices. I could see that she was getting closer and closerto accepting (esus, and then one night during the invitationhymn, my pastor stepped down from his usual place in the

pulpit. #his put the three of us in a line A he was on oneside of the room, she was in the middle, and I was on the

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other side. /omehow in that room she got caught in acrossfire of prayer between the pastor and me, and sheturned to me and said, *an$t I be a *hristian without

accepting (esusD I said, Well, not hardly. /he cut me offand said, 1h, well, it doesn$t ma&e any difference, andstepped forward to accept (esus.

7eing an emotional woman, I cried, because here wassomething I had prayed about for so long. /he was now mysister in *hrist.

I$m not going to tell you that all of her problems endedthat night. 0aturing as a *hristian is sometimes a slow,tedious process. nd I thin& God often tests us to prove ourdesires.

#he alcohol still continued to be a problem, and shetried to Huit several times. Finally alcohol ceased to be a

problem because it ceased to be$ but this happened onlyafter she finally yielded herself completely to (esus.

It is interesting how it finally happened. /he had beeninvited to a coc&tail party and didn$t want to go because asshe said, ?ou &now I$m wea&. . .#hey$ll offer me a drin&and I$ll ta&e it, and when I ta&e one, there I go again"

I said, When they offer you a drin&, say KNo, than&you, I don$t drin&,$ and before anyone can say a word,really get some prayers up to God as&ing )im to bac& youup.

/he has never touched another drop"#oday she is one of the strongest *hristians I am

privileged to &now. nd our *hristian love is far greaterthan our martini love ever was.

0any people have as&ed me why I have such thrillinge%periences as a *hristian. If you haven$t guessed theanswer by now, let me tell you it$s only because I allow)im to use me, and )e will use ?1@, too, if you will onlylet )im.

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Chapter 2

!y Spiritual


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been praying that God would show me the way to ta&e*hristianity to the &ids in high school he also &nows whenyou as& God for a big reHuest li&e that you$d better startduc&ing if you don$t mean it, because )e will really give itto you. I &new that God would give me the answer beforeschool started, and so

god is fabulous

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