Story of Redemption with Daniel (Facebook contact)

[James Nored]

I received a Facebook message a couple of weeks ago from a young man named Daniel. He grew up in a family that did not attend church, and his life is quite a bit messed up. He said that his girlfriend, Rebecca (one of our members), had helped him start attending High Pointe about a year ago. He said that he wants to follow God, but did not know how.

So on Sunday, I met him at Starbucks (Rebecca was sick) and we went through part 1 of the Story of Redemption. It was clear that starting at the beginning was where he needed to start. In fact, he said this.

Two other things led to his interest in having a study. First, he said that he had heard me talk about studying with people in my sermons. Second, he had heard my sermons on forgiveness and needed to practice this. He shared that he had recently found out that his mother was an alcoholic. She had hid this from the family and had gone through rehab.

All of this shows that the things we do--being a part of Facebook, preaching, talking about Bible studies, inviting people--add up and create opportunities to share the gospel with people.

I am looking forward to getting Daniel and Rebecca hooked up with other young adults I'm studying with, such as Tiffany and Will. I also plan on bringing in some people are learning how to go through the Story of Redemption to share in our study. Daniel said that that would be fine.

I'll keep you posted of this study?

Your thoughts?

[James Nored]

Well, Daniel and Tiffany broke up, but the good news is that Daniel continues to want to study. We have gone through the first four weeks of the Story of Redemption, It is clear that most of this is new to Daniel, as he did not grow up in a Christian home.

Last Wednesday night, Daniel came up and joined Tiffany, Will, and their friends Justin and Lea, in a Bible study. I wanted him to meet this larger group of young professionals/college students.

Daniel is seeking God. Please keep him in your prayers!

[James Nored]

About three weeks ago, Daniel and I had an appointment set up that he missed. I tried calling and texting him for a couple of weeks, and I could never connect up with him. He was busy with school, and maybe had other things in his life that were going on.

But last week he gave me a firm time, and we got together on Tuesday. We went through part 5 of the Story of Redemption, which talks about discipleship and community from the Sermon on the Mount. When I talked a bit about receiving the Spirit at our baptism to help us keep God's commands, I could tell that Daniel was interested in making this commitment. I asked him to be thinking and praying about this.

We met today at Starbucks, and I asked him what he was thinking. He said that he was ready to be baptized. So we went through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection in the rest of Matthew. We talked about the great commission at the end of Matthew, and then baptism from Romans 6:1-4.

One thing that I have been doing more of is making the call to mission a clear part of discipleship and "becoming a Christian" right from the beginning. Just as Jesus accepted God's mission at his baptism, so we accept the call to be agents of healing, blessing, and faith sharing at our baptism. I am finding that this not only helps prevent a transactional view of salvation (where one gets one's salvation and goes on living however they want), but the call to mission also has a great appeal. This is particularly true with younger people, I believe.

I am endebted to Keith Matthews, the professor of my Ministry in the Postmodern Matrix D.Min. class at Fuller, for giving me some good reading on this subject. In particular, I have found James Choung's True Story helpful. He has some very good ideas of a shorthand presentation of the gospel story that stays true to the overall story. I am working on my own shorthand diagram, drawing upon some of his ideas. His emphases are amazingly similar to the emphases found in The Story of Redemption, but I like his emphasis upon mission as part of the conversion process.

With Daniel we talked about how his experiences with addiction in his family and the life changes that he has made can be used by God to reach others for Christ. He is excited about taking up this mission.

Daniel is planning on being baptized on Sunday. He is going to invite his family to come, and his previous girlfriend may be back in town too (she attends at High Pointe). I gave Daniel parts 6, 7, and 8 of the Story of Redemption to take home and read through before Sunday. Please be praying for Daniel and his decision!

[James Nored]

Daniel was baptized into Christ on Sunday, 12/13/09. It was such a great day! I spoke on "The Community of the Christ Child," and how Christ draws together all people (wise men and shepherds). We had a graduation for Dyanmic Marriage, and then Daniel was baptized.

Daniel will be transferring to Texas Tech in January. We will get him hooked up with a church in Lubbock. And we will try to reach out to his family that lives here in McKinney. I will miss him. But I am so glad that he has put Christ on in baptism. He has come from a long way off, with almost no church background. It is great to see his tranformation. He is very excited about his new walk with Christ. Please pray for Daniel as he starts his new life in Christ.