Mak's Testimony: 8.31.25

FC’s mission is to culture like Christ, and the vision is Jesus. Pastor Josiah announced that Faith Academy’s first day of school will be September 3rd, and he invited any staff members to join him on the platform. He introduced each of them and asked us to unite with him in prayer for them and the students attending. To God be the glory. At offering time, Pastor Josiah asked each regular attender to consider supporting Faith Academy for one year at $50 a month. He modeled that commitment himself.

Then Pastor Josiah introduced a young woman, Mac, who shared her testimony of “how far God has brought me. He is sovereign and faithful in my life,” she announced. Mac’s family was a military one, and they moved a lot. When she was four, her mom left an abusive relationship. That divorce gave her her first perspective of what love was not. When she was twelve until she was fourteen, her step dad sexually abused her, and in order to keep her quiet, he threatened to abuse her younger sister or to kidnap Mac. So she did not report his abuse until one day she told her best friend whose father was a pastor in the service. By the time she arrived home that day after school, the abusive step dad had been arrested, and the family was safe. 

At fifteen Mac, her mom, and sister began attending church, “The Lord had His hand on my family even before we loved Him,” she stated. What a powerful statement because He came for each of us before we were even conceived. He even prayed for us in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed for His disciples and for those who would believe later.

“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in

you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you

have sent me.” John 17:20b-21 (NIV)

Mac was a good student in high school and graduated with over a 4.0. She had many scholarships but chose a school because of a boy she was dating. After that relationship fizzled out, she participated in the party life with alcohol and drugs. At home she had a praying mother, who convicted her heart. Mac advised praying parents and grandparents to keep on praying.

Mac was searching for love, but her heart was not satisfied with the love that man could give her. Her heart’s hole was too big. She got married, but that marriage was struggling. Mac and her husband sought counseling from a pastor she admired. He said they did not love each other and that they should get a divorce. They divorced. 

Later she discovered that that pastor had several affairs. This situation resulted in church hurt.

When we put a person on a pedestal instead of having the Lord as our primary source, we are bound to be disappointed. Mac admonished us to evaluate our lives and identify where we have made idols of people, positions, or things. They will disappoint us!  I can relate to this advice because I had to evaluate my life and how I felt about my career. The pastor invited us to identify our idols. I felt the Holy Spirit, and I almost audibly said, ”Is my job my idol?” That year I retired after forty years of teaching high school. Nothing and no one can replace the powerful, loving, almighty God!

Mac stated that she was at the end of herself and that she had to lay it all down. What does that mean? Do we have any secret hiding places where we treasure something or someone more than the Lord?  It means that we need to take a hard look at what we value and see if what we say and what we do match up. Do we have verses on our FB identification and then post pictures that do not honor God? Do our proclamations and demonstrations reflect the Lord and His love? How do our words and actions connect?

Pastor Josiah emphasized the issue of being lukewarm. Do we have one foot in the church and one foot in the world? Are we trying to have the best of Jesus and the world? They do not make good partners. We need to choose who or what is our lord, Jesus or the world. How does this verse relate to your priorities? “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33 (NLT) When you lay it all down and make the Lord your first priority, “He will give you everything you need.” Our connection with Jesus is not transactional like a contract. It is relational.

As we make Jesus our vision, may we be salt and light in this troubled world.

Calendar:

9/7-prayer night at 6:00

9/12-LB potluck, worship and Meet to Swap with proceeds going to the Young Adults and the FC Youth

Blessings,

Larry and Annette