Everybody's Got Something!

September 18, 2022
 
Reflections From the Heart of Allan Redenius
 
Several years ago, I attended a seminar for pastors.  Yes, even they, me included, need a time of learning and refreshment.  It didn’t take long and, as you might expect, every one of the twenty coalesced into one harmonious group, willing to share deep personal experiences.  Here are three of those shared experiences.
 

• The instructor for the day began by sharing his agenda and all he wanted to accomplish.  To that, one of the participants asked of him, “I’ve been a missionary in Tanzania for many years.  Your agenda for the day seems overzealous.  Can’t we approach the day as they would in Tanzania?”  To that, the instructor asked, “And how would that be?”  The missionary replied like this.  “The Tanzanian way is to start slow and then taper off.”
• In the evening, we all shared our own personal baptismal experiences.  One young woman started to cry.  As tears rolled out of her eyes, she shared how on the day of her baptism, her youth pastor sexually abused her.  We all cried with her.  It was my privilege to, in some way, help erase her bad memory with a good memory as I re-baptized her that evening.
• Another experience was a man who shared his memory of being spanked by his father at his baptism.  You see, his father was a preacher in South Africa.  The custom in his church was to baptize by immersion.  So, the young boy (the preacher’s son) not knowing the sanctity of the moment, ran down the aisle and did a cannonball into the baptismal font.  We all laughed and laughed.  Then we stopped laughing as we realized he was crying.  That night, we also re-baptized him in a very solemn moment.

 
I learned from those experiences that “everybody’s got something.”  An emotional scar can stay with you all of your life.
 
If you are carrying a burden in your life, give it to Jesus.  In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
 
Giving it all to Jesus…..
Pastor Allan
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