Hebraic Musing – Have you shared your Testimony? Here’s mine.
My name is Joe Brusherd. I’m a retired CPA, Int’l consultant and been a
CFO for a variety of companies.
Some 80+ years ago
I grew up in Cicero, Illinois, as the
oldest of eight children. After college,
my career started as a CPA. My wife and
I raised six children which has since multiplied to a family tree of 49!
For the first 37 years of my life I had a limited
understanding of God; never tried to figure out God’s purpose for my life
despite these Three Questions and Answers from my first grade catechism
class that stuck with me:
Q. – Who made
me?
A. – God made me.
Q. – Who is God? A.
– God is the Supreme Being who created
all things.
Q. – Why did God make me? A. – God made me to worship Him; and
to praise Him forever.
During those years my selfish ways, my anger, my
unclean thoughts plagued me; and in desperation I agreed to go on a Marriage
Encounter weekend to enrich our marriage, which desperately needed
enrichment. After that experience in
1976, I became a curious seeker of the God I had known as a child. I enjoyed the fellowship with other couples. One couple I especially admired and respected,
Bill and Mary Blessing, had something I wanted, and they frequently referenced
their “Cursillo” experience.
On a Thursday in August 1977, friends of Bill Blessing
drove me the 80 miles for a three day “Cursillo” retreat. As I got out of the car I asked, “Aren’t you
coming in?” They answered, “No, we were
just giving you a ride” and they drove off.
That act of sacrificial love was just the beginning.
On the second day a priest, Father Tony Tascheta,
spoke and his message, presentation and style was awesome. I kept thinking that
he missed his calling; he should have been a VP of Sales! I was
in a daze, so we went to the Chapel.
As we walked into the Chapel, I saw Father Tony Tascheta on his knees
praying and thanking Jesus for all the words Jesus had given to him to speak to
“the men out there.”
My knees gave out and I found myself kneeling, crying
crocodile tears into a puddle on the terrazzo floor and crying almost out loud
“Jesus Christ, you are real. I need to learn more about you.”
At that moment I knew I would never be the same. The peace in my inner being was
unimaginable. I no longer had feelings
of desperation that resulted from knowing I was a sinner and, most of all, that
I had been trying to hide by sinful ways from God, my Creator.
At the closing ceremony we entered big hall; I saw
Bill and Mary Blessing in the audience.
They had cut their vacation short to be there for me. I fell
apart. As part of the closing ceremony,
we each had to stand up as the Holy Spirit led and tell what the weekend meant
to us. Eventually I went to the podium,
froze, fell apart and finally blurted out “I
talked to Jesus!” That’s all I could
say. It was not much of a speech, but it
meant volumes to me. I was never so
choked up in my life.
Very late Sunday night the Blessings gave me a ride
home and I immediately woke up my wife and said, “Peggy, guess what happened to
me on the weekend?” She said,
“What?” I told her, “I talked to
Jesus!” And she said, “Does that mean
you are ‘Born Again’?” I answered, “I
don’t know what you call it. All I know
is that I talked to Jesus. … And I want
you and all the kids to experience what I experienced.” She smiled as she replied, “Too late
Joe. We already have. We’ve all been praying for you. (…for 10 years.”)
That was in August 1977. I was 39 years old. I know how blind a man, a husband and a
sinner can be. I found out why Jesus
told Nicodemus “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless
they are born again.” That’s how
Jesus came into my life.
And since my family was already “Saved”, it’s now my
job to save the rest of the world as evangelist/teacher.
Points to
ponder
What’s your Testimony? I’d really like to read it! (Yosef1@cox.net)
Do you have it in written form, ready to
tailer to the situation?
“Whoever
acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in
heaven.” Matt.10:32
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)” Weekly “Hebraic Musings”
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