My talk starts at about 1 hr 42 min. But, I encourage you to watch or listen to the whole service. So much was moving, beautiful, and insightful: Todd’s worship leading, Sarah talking about Rosh Hashanah. God encouraged us through Susan, Jim, Esther, Gilbert, and Bill. And Brent blowing of the shofar called us to receive what God is saying and doing in this season.
Here are some of the memorable points from Jamie & Donna Winship’s story:
- Jamie is told by the group leader they plan to drive him out to the desert, give him a trial with an Islamic cleric, and then execute him. Jamie concentrates on staying in the present moment and focusing on Holy Spirit’s leading. He resists going with his imagination into the terror of the leader’s plans for him.
- When Jamie reluctantly obeys Jesus and tells the leader “I’m not afraid of you - and I actually want to befriend you”, the atmosphere in the car (fear and intimidation) immediately shifts with God’s tangible presence. Everyone feels it! And the leader smiles and decides to test whether Jamie really wants to be his friend.
- As Donna later prays about entering the car the leader will send for them then next night, she experiences what she calls “the grace for the place”. The grace in the moment to trust God and enter into a dangerous situation. While it turned out to be one of the most difficult nights of her life, God was with her and brought her through it.
- Donna explains: “So yeah, at that point, I would say we had really made this paradigm shift from a transactional religion to a transformational relationship with God - and realized that it's not information that changes you, that brings lasting transformation, but it's experience. And we had a bank of experiences to our credit.
Those experiences came from taking the time to really pursue a listening, experiential relationship with God and not just an informational one where we knew about God.”
This shifting from a “transactional religion” to “transformational relationship” with God is key to how Donna and Jamie live their remarkable lives. I believe this is what the apostle Paul was seeking to convey in Romans 12:2 (The Mirror Translation):
“Do not allow current religious tradition to mold you into its pattern of reasoning. Like an inspired artist, give attention to the detail of God’s desire to find expression in you. Become acquainted with perfection. To accommodate yourself to the delight and good pleasure of him who will transform your thoughts afresh from within.“
Gratefully,
Russ Fochler
P.S. Here are links to the two Paul Young Podcasts where the Winships tell the stories I shared in the last two talks:
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