Through the security door I gave her a brief distinction between authentic Christianity versus man’s religion and Helen seemed to listen quietly and intently, giving an open ear to what was being said.  Basically I told her that Christianity is God reaching out to us and that man’s religion is the exact opposite.  It was not convenient to continue communicating in that manner however, so I decided that it would be better to come back and speak with her face to face.  It was in the month of December so I asked if she would like me to call back early in the new year and she said, “by all means.”    

It was the second week of January when I called again.  Once again the security door was locked but this time Helen told me to let myself in with a key which was hidden nearby.  Doing so, I met her sitting in her wheelchair in the kitchen.  Looking to be somewhere in her late seventies, she told me she was a widow, having lost her husband two years earlier, an ex-Roman Catholic and confused about life in general, but certainly more so now that she was on her own in wheelchair confinement.  I could see she was also riddled with arthritis and as a result, she had limited arm, hands and finger movements.

In spite of her problems Helen was a very easy lady to talk with.  She questioned the purpose of life with its trials and sufferings telling me that she doubted God’s existence, believing that the world would be otherwise, if He did exist.  I asked her why she thought that would be the case and she replied, “Well, He would intervene and put a stop to it all.”  I responded by saying that God has intervened in a major sense through the sending of His Son Jesus into the world, but that there is a day up ahead when He will come again to put a stop to it all.

She told me her memories of growing up in her church were those of the priest filling them with fear and guilt if they dared to question, or disobey the church’s teachings.  As such, her concept of God, if He did exist, was that of a dictator, “just like those priests.”  Helen is not the first person to see God as being like a dictatorial religious father, minster or priest and she was truly blessed when I told her that the best picture we could possibly get of Him, was through studying the nature and character of Jesus Christ.  I then briefly described that nature and character.

I said to Helen that God is not like any human religious leader, He is like Jesus Christ and, “Christ Himself wants so desperately to confirm that for you.”  Due to that faulty concept Helen had of God, she found it difficult to believe the God I was sharing with her from the Scriptures.  I told her she was in grand company with such difficulty, because that’s exactly what we see in the gospels with His followers.  They too were brought up under heavy religious burdens - so heavy that they were unable to bear them – getting no relief from their leaders either, who according to Jesus, “ wouldn’t lift a finger to help.” 

In the three hours I was with her, Helen liked what she was hearing, so I told her that is why the word “gospel” means “good news.”  I told her that Jesus came to set us free – spiritually, mentally and morally, and that when He returns, this freedom will include a new body - one without paralysis and arthritis or any other sickness.  She then asked me if the Bible was a trustworthy book, saying that in her church days she was lead to believe that it wasn’t.  She was taught that it could only be understood, “by what the priests tell us.”  I simply replied by saying that viewpoint contradicts the Bible itself.

Helen continued to welcome me as I visited with her over the next few months and we built a great friendship.  One day she told me that the arthritis had moved to her neck, giving increased discomfort, so I prayed for her and she said, “your prayer helped me a lot.”  I reminded her that it was the reality of God ministering to her and she agreed.  Soon after that she said she was ready to pray and ask the Lord to enter into her life as Lord and Saviour.  When we did so, once again Helen told me she that she felt His presence as being very real, giving a wonderful peace within.

By now God was making Himself increasingly real to her and she asked me one day to go and pray for her brother-in-law who was dying of cancer, “but his wife won’t acknowledge it.”  I did visit, but Helen was correct, his wife wouldn’t allow me to disturb him because he was doped up with drugs. 

Then eighteen months from that first visit, Helen was told she was no longer able to live in her own home, that she would have to sell and move into a nursing home.  This was devastating news for her accept.  It had been the family home for well over forty years and to have to now leave was traumatic for her, not to speak of the stress she had to go through in dealing with ambitious real estate agents putting it on the market etc.  In fact she never got over it, it broke her heart.

Helen was not happy in the nursing home.  She understood every one’s best intentions for her, but moving from the family home to a small bedroom, communal dining room, communal living room etc, was a cultural shock for her.  She struggled with the reality of herself, sound in mind but trapped in a diseased, paralysed body having to live with so many old people who’s minds were unsound, some almost childlike.

One day I walked up to Helen who was sitting in a chair, and she said, “What’s the matter with your eyes.?”  I asked her what it was she was seeing and she said, “They are positively glowing.”  I responded by saying that this was Jesus’ way of showing her and confirming to her that in spite of her circumstances, He would never leave her and that she would continue to experience the reality of His presence and peace in that place.  On subsequent visits, Helen gave witness to the truth of that.

I called on another day to find her very down in her spirit.  She was saddened by the recent death of a home-nurse’s child who was killed in a car crash, plus the death of her brother-in-law.  We spoke for two hours and towards the end she said, “I think I will die very soon too.”  I had been thinking the same thing as well, for some period of time.  My only response was to ask, “Helen, if that were so, where would you go?”  She said, “I would go straight to Jesus.”  It was a blessing for me to inform her, that  if what she said (her death) were true, then she would be more alive than she had ever been.

A few weeks later I visited again.  I walked into Helen’s room, but it was empty.  I knew that she was now experiencing the reality of life after death and as such there was no more pain, sickness, sadness or death for her to experience.  The promises of Christ for Helen were now fulfilled.  “……and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be their God.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”  Revelation 21:3-4. 

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.

I asked him if he would like a New Testament to read, but he declined, telling me he already had three Bibles in the house, plus a Bible Commentary.  Some people express great pride to me when they make similar statements, but this was not case with this man, he had a rather sorrowful expression on his face.

I then asked what church he was associated with and when he told me, he added that he hadn’t been there for some years.  With that, he invited me inside.  I knew the Spirit of God was upon Jim at that moment because when this is not so, I don’t get invited in.  In fact, some people will often slam the door in my face or hurl some abuse, or both.  He led me into a lovely big loungeroom and asked me to take a seat while he made us a coffee.  When he came back with the coffees and took his seat, Jim asked me more about the work I was doing, seeming to be genuinely interested, asking one question after another. 

Based on those questions, I asked Jim what his perceptions were of the church and of Christianity in general.  He quietly replied that in his experience it was too political.  Then he told me that he used to attend church regularly with his wife and family, and that he was an elder for many years. He paused in thought and then more words were spoken between us about church politics, me being rather ignorant of it at the time.  Little did I know however, that in less than four years I was going to experience the very unpleasant realities of that in my own church.

He went on to tell me that he’d put his heart and soul into serving his local church as a young man and was still doing so into his early forties.  He didn’t tell me what specifically happened but I could see that he’d had a severe negative experience in his church and that this had deeply hurt him.  He shared with me that he’d lost time from his wife and family, as well as his business.  Not only that, but his children, who were going to be Christians, had now become Buddhists.  His wife was from Thailand, and was a practising Buddhist. 

Jim made some remarks about the behaviour that he’d observed when among Buddhist people, telling me how different they appeared to be in their religious practice and everyday lives, in comparison to the many church-goers that he knew.  His wife used to go to the church services with him, but often made comments about the glaring conflict between the message of the gospel of Christ and the behaviour of many in their gatherings. 

Jim was a genuine person.  During this time I was also praying to the Lord, asking Him to give me specific wisdom for this man.  At such times it’s always very easy to give “stock” answers from the Bible, but I knew that to be unwise.  Then the Pharisees came to mind, so I was now able to bring them into our conversation.  He was more than familiar with the gospels, which tell us of the on-going problems Jesus had with most of those people. 

So we spoke about how these Pharisees saw themselves as the religious elite, a pious, controlling group who had, in their thinking, all the knowledge of God, but how Jesus shows us that it was all in their heads and none in their hearts.  We spoke about their love for religious legalistic behaviour and the fact that this type of people have always been alive and well in church gatherings right down through church history. 

Praying for continuous wisdom, I then spoke of the problems we can create for ourselves by confusing man’s religious behaviour with that of Jesus Christ.  I then asked Jim if he had a personal relationship with Christ.  I asked him if Jesus was his Lord and Saviour.  He said yes.  Following that, we had a long conversation about his beliefs, some of which by now had become a mixture of Bible and Buddhism, but he listened silently and gave positive responses when I shared the differences. 

I explained to him that basically Christianity is not a religion, but rather, it is a relationship – a relationship with God in the name of Jesus Christ, as He reveals and teaches us of Himself from the Bible.  I explained that the Bible shows us that Christianity is God reaching down to us in Christ, encouraging us to surrender our lives to Him, but that many people don’t want that, they want to be in control of their lives and the lives of others, just like those Pharisees.  Jim related to the latter part of that statement.  I then encouraged him to open the Scriptures every day and look to Christ and trust His word and reality, no matter what others may do or say in His name.    

He then spoke of his health (angina) problems, his family and his business, sharing that his son runs a major part of it interstate and that they employ a lot of people from one particular Christian denomination, not his own.  The presence of God was in the room with us.  As mentioned earlier, at the beginning Jim appeared to be somewhat sorrowful, but now he was relaxed and peaceful.  He acknowledged this as being of Christ.  I got up to leave and he asked me to stay and have another coffee with him.  I did.  During this period he spoke more about his family, married daughters, business and then he brought the converstion back to Jesus Christ. 

I asked him if there was anything he would like me to pray for and he said yes.  So I waited on God, He gave me the words to say to meet Jim’s needs, prayer for him to trust God’s written word, trust His living reality, prayer for his health, protection for his wife overseas and for his children and business success. On the way out Jim showed me his home extensions taking place and spoke enthusiastically of how he was going to use the extra space.  After we shook hands that day, I never saw Jim again, but it was an honour to be sent by God to speak with such a man for a couple of hours. “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”   John 6:37. 

© 2009 – 2010, Roger Williams. All rights reserved.