A New Creation: A Testimony

"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor 5:16,17)
All scripture is from the New International Version, unless otherwise stated.
With the coming of a new year, most people make a promise to better themselves (resolutions). One study showed after the first week 25% of the people have failed at their resolution. After one month 36% of the people fail. After 6 months more than 50% of the people have failed at their resolution (http://www.proactive-coach.com/resolutions/keeping.htm). Why is that? Is it that they set unreasonable goals ( I will lose 2350 lbs), have unrealistic expectations (I will save a gabazillion dollars), or have a certain weakness ( I will limit my Pepsi consumption to only 20 cans a day).
Not to brag, but I would throw off all those studies. When I have made a resolution, I have managed to keep it, not just for that year, but for a long time after. I think the last resolution I made was: I will not buy a hunk of cheese and sit down and eat it. As I am trying not to break my arm patting myself on the back, I have not bought a hunk a cheese, or any type of cheese, and sat down unwrapped it and ate it. Now, those who don’t know me, I can’t eat cheese, therefore, I have kept that resolution. I set resolutions I know I don’t do so I don’t fail.
But, why do people tend to fail. For me, the answer is simple, they do it without Jesus. We try to make ourselves better without the one who can make us better- Jesus Christ. When we accept Jesus as our savior we become a new creation. The old person is dead, the new is alive. To give you an example, I will give a brief testimony of my life. For the first time, I will become vulnerable to all my readers (all 8 of you).
I was born September 17, 1971 to my parents Robert (Jack) and Trudy Vandenburg. (She’ll be happy I didn’t use her full name), in a small unknown town in Kansas. (Abilene, home of President Dwight Eisenhower and the Greyhound Hall of Fame). My parents later divorced and my pa moved to Missouri, where I would visit him and my stepmother Mary and brother David during the summers in my early childhood. I grew up with a church of Christ upbringing and Baptist upbringing in the summers.
Some studies show that if you watch a child when they are between the ages of 3 and 5, you will get a good idea on what they want to be when they grow up. When we would get home from church on Sundays, I would round up about 15-20 stuffed animals and give them a sermon. Most of the time it was the same sermon over and over, about God’s love to Daniel (imagine that) when he was in the lions den. I have always been interested in God’s word, and anytime I was at a book sale, I would inevitably find a Bible to purchase. I grew up knowing about Jesus, but not knowing Jesus.
In high school many of my friends and acquaintances assumed I was a Christian. I was always going to various church youth group activities and constantly talking to people about Jesus. I had close friends go into the ministry right out of high school. These same friends felt I should have entered into a seminary for ministerial training. This happened every year of my high school career, "Daniel, you should go to (insert name of Christian school here) and become a preacher" Even at graduation, I was given a Michael W Smith cassette. (Alisa, I still have that cassette, thanks) But I never felt the call, I knew the right words, I didn’t know the right attitude.
On the night of October 31st 1995, I went to bed. An hour and fifteen minutes after midnight I had "The Dream". I was surrounded by an army of demons and fighting them off with a staff. I would push a couple back and more would take their place. After a couple of minutes of this endless fight, a demon three times the size of the others pushed its way through the others. It knocked the staff out of my hands and thrust its hand into my chest. It grabbed my heart and started to squeeze it. While doing this, I heard a booming voice from above declare, "Change your ways or you will be dead in a year."
I immediately woke up, sweat soaked my sheets, I was breathing heavy, and my heart was racing. As I sat up, a white misty figure appeared at the corner of my bed and said, "Relax my son, I am with you now." Suddenly a wave of peace enveloped me, and I lay back down and fell asleep.
When I went to work (I worked at Hardee’s at this time), the woman I was dating at that time approached me and asked me if anything was wrong. I casually asked her what she meant, and she answered, "Daniel, you’re white as a sheet, there appears something is different." She wasn’t the only one that asked, most of the employees asked me if something was wrong, because I wasn’t my usual self. Since I was the shift supervisor that day, I sat in the office, most of the afternoon and early evening. Thankfully, the crew realized something was wrong and worked their tails off while I was struggling.
At 8 o’clock that night, I called Ken Mostue, then pastor of the Abilene Wesleyan Church, and I asked him if he was busy the next day, I had it off and wanted to talk to him. He said he didn’t have anything going on the next day and asked what it was about. I said, "I had a rough night last night and I wanted to talk to you about it, and I want to talk about Jesus and dedicating my life to Him." Ken answered, "I’ll be up right now, this is too important to wait." So I sat out in the lobby of Hardee’s from 8 until 10:30 talking about Jesus and committing my life to Him.
That night, I went to bed and had "The Dream Pt 2". Instead of fighting off demons, I was standing at a pulpit in a church. I was giving a sermon to a multitude of people. Again I heard a voice, the same as the night before, "Job well done, now I want you to lead my family." I had a restful sleep, but was at a loss of what to do. I was later baptized, and a woman in the church approached me and told me when I went under, she prayed to God to show her what He wanted for me, and she had a vision of me preaching in a church. I never told her or anyone about the other dream; that became public affirmation #1.
I became involved with various ministries throughout the church and community: Board member and later Vice President of Youth for Christ, youth leader of the Wesleyan church, voting Delegate to the General Conference, small group study leader, and various other things. I became proud and haughty. And then I had "The Fall"
In 1999, I opened my big fat mouth and inserted my foot, leading to a collapse of my spirituality. An elder in the church, was using the story of Cassie Bernall as a teaching tool. He said he wasn’t sure if he was faced with the decision she had if he would answer the same way. I stuck out my scrawny spiritual chest and said, "I would never deny Christ, I would answer yes." That was the start of the decline. After that day, my words may not have denied Christ, but my actions did. I did everything imaginable that went against Jesus’ teachings. The end result was my turning my back on God’s call and the receiving of a daughter. I felt I was no good as a minister, and useless to God. I had entered into the belly of the whale.
In 2002, I was working for the local newspaper. I was driving in the country listening to the radio station (KJRL at that time, now KJIL), I was having a rough day, everything on the radio kept making me feel worse about my situation. I kept thinking about the things I threw away, how God didn’t want me anymore, how everything was crumbling around me. Then a song on the radio came on and turned everything around for me. Richard Hayes announced the Mark Schultz song "Back In His Arms Again". After hearing it, I pulled over to the side of the road and wept. I poured out my transgressions to God and received His forgiveness. God used that song to bring me back to Him. I may have turned my back on Him, but He never turned His back on me. That night, I was talking to the woman I was involved with at that time about it, and she hunted down the CD and bought it for me, and then bought one for herself.
Throughout my journey, I have sinned against many people. I pray that they will find it in their hearts to forgive me, just as I have forgiven those that have sinned against me. I have forgiven myself for my transgressions, and I know God has forgiven me. I am now currently in classes for training as a pastor. God has blessed me greatly. If I boast now, let it be in Christ and not about me. It’s not about me anymore, it’s about Him.
I write all of this, so 1 you who read will know where I come from, 2 regardless of your paths in life, God wants to be in it and wants you to follow Him. 3 There is no such thing as sinning too much, God has a plan for you, stop doing things by yourself and turn to Him for help. And 4 God is just to forgive your sins when you truly repent and turn to Him.
I am a new creation. The old Daniel is dead. I am not the same as I was in 1971, 1987, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2006. I am constantly growing and learning. The Daniel of 1995 no longer exists. The Daniel of 2002 no longer exists. I am the Daniel of 2007.
If you have not yet made the decision to have Jesus as your savior, I urge you to make that your new years resolution. Resolve to make Jesus your personal savior, the sooner the better. Scripture is clear: We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23) and The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23). The first couple of steps are simple believe and confess. "But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart’, that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.’" (Rom 10:8-11) Once you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it’s time to start living like it. Don’t rely on yourself to conquer your addictions and problems, ask God to help you with them. Don’t be afraid to contact a local pastor, a local believer, or even me, I am here to help.
Jesus is Lord
Have a blessed and wonderful year
Daniel G Vandenburg

JITR: Not Just This Season

We are entering into the Christmas season and all throughout town, I have seen it proudly displayed: JITR for the season. Why? Why do we only talk about Jesus during the Christmas season, why don’t we as Christians talk about Jesus any other season? Why do we have to wait for Christmas to proudly proclaim our love for Jesus? What’s wrong with May 3, or July 25, or August 28 or October 25 or September 17. Why December 25? Daniel, that’s Jesus’ birth, duh.
Ok, but we need to be prepared in season and out of season (I Tim 4:2) Christmas time is a good time to spread the Gospel, but so is May 18. We can’t talk about his birth without talking about his purpose, which included his death. Can’t we do that March 31? Why December 25? What is so special about December 25 that isn’t so special about Feb 26.
We are in a season of confusion. December 25 has become so secularized that the whole purpose of Christmas has lost it’s meaning. The purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Lord Jesus, our savior. Not to celebrate some fat man in a red suit sliding down a chimney. It’s not about the gifts that we give to other people, but the gift God gave to us.
As we near Christmas day, look for other meanings of Christmas: Happy Holidays, Merry X-Mas, Goodwill towards men, Peace oil earth, Angels of all varieties, etc. People still try to keep a religious overtone towards Christmas while trying to keep secularism in it. What a shame.
Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, but why not tell of his birth on March 7. Then while discussing his birth, we can discuss his life. Why not do that on November 28.
When discussing Isaiah 9 why wait until the Christmas season, do it June 6. When teaching about Genesis 3, why not do that April 7.
Christmas songs are songs about Jesus and his birth. When we sing hymns in church we’re singing about Jesus, why not sing O Holy Night on July 18. Why don’t we sing Joy To the World on March 2. Definitely, don’t sing songs about reindeer, city sidewalks, or rooftops.
When we teach about gifts, why not teach Romans 6:23 on October 12. Why don’t we teach Ephesians 2:8,9 on June 23.
How many friends do you have or know that don’t know Jesus as their savior? Open up the gospel to them, and show them what Jesus has done in your life. And if you have to, do it Dec 27.
Christmas is about Jesus. One day at work, they were trying to come up with something for a Christmas slogan, and I piped up from my desk, "I can tell you what Christmas is about." And one of the ladies sighed and answered, "We already know what you’ll say, you’ll say it’s about Jesus and the angels." My answer was simple, "No, I would never say it’s about angels" Christmas is about Jesus, and not just one day but all days. Jesus Is The Reason For All The Seasons.
Have a Very Merry Christmas
Daniel G Vandenburg