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Incident
happened in 1961 |
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There is
one special leading of the Lord in my lifetime that thrills me as much as, or
more, than any other. It happened during a youth camp where I was the
evangelist. When I preach a salvation sermon, I sometimes make the point that
a person must be born into God’s
family by spiritual birth, saying something like this: ‘Physical birth brought
you into the Smith family, the Jones
family, the Johnson family. But it
takes a spiritual birth to bring
you into God’s family’. |
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That truth
is based upon the third chapter of John’s Gospel. As often as I can, I make that
third name one that is familiar in the congregation, or at least typical of
the area. If there is a strong ethnic group represented in that church I
often choose a name that is obviously of that ethnicity, like ‘Friesen’ in a
Mennonite area, or ‘Swensen’ in a Scandinavian area. |
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At
Rivercrest Bible Camp in |
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I remember
thinking to myself right while preaching, What
an unusual name to include! Somewhere I have heard it before, but it is
difficult to say that name, let alone to remember it! (Actually, I
realized later, I had seen the name ‘Gilliland’ months before on an
application form that had crossed my desk at the |
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When I
gave the invitation, there was a young lady who came to the altar crying. I
prayed with her. She said: ‘Oh, pastor, when you included ‘the Gilliland
family’, I knew that God was speaking to me.
My name is Wanda Gilliland!’ |
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God had
chosen to slip an unusual, unfamiliar name into my mouth, to achieve His
wonderful purposes. I wish this were the norm, rather than the exception! |
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From:
Charles W. Shepson, Quite miracles and
other true stories of God’s guidance, provision and care, published by
Christian Publications Inc., Camp Hill PA, printed in the USA, 2001, pages.
111-112 |