A Conviction To Share: Sustain Me According to Your Promise

I have been a disciple since May 28, 1980. I was converted at Boston University and have a Bachelor's degree in Music Theory and Composition. God brought me from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Lenox Massachusetts where I studied music at Tanglewood through a program at Boston University. In my freshman year at BU, I was baptized at 10 minutes past midnight in the original building of the Lexington church of Christ - which changed its name to the Boston Church of Christ . They had a goal to baptize 100 people in their first year which started in June 1979. I happened to be number 101! Everyone was so excited that they surpassed their goal for God. The zeal and sincerity was infectious. Everyone truly counted the cost and was "all in." Back then in college, we had Sunday morning and Sunday evening worship services. There were also all church Wednesday night and Friday night services. We all were in a Bible Talk on another evening, shared our faith daily and had discipling partners both mentoring us and ones we mentored very soon after our baptisms.

I remember learning verse a day for the First Principles class (Acts Class). A seven week course with a midterm and a final had 49 verses for us to learn! That was a verse per day that we learned by heart. The standard was high and we internalized it with all our might! I believe the habit of getting into the word and loving what I was learning has helped me over the 30 years I have been following Christ. In my opinion, the curriculum was erring to the side of doctrinal foundations - and not enough on personal responsibility to grow in the faith and knowledge of Christ. But all Bible teaching is vital and it helped me stay faithful regardless. By God's grace, over the years, I caught up on learning how to grow in my own faith according to the needs I was experiencing. A lot of people fell away because they were never taught how to use the scriptures to "give joy to the heart" or "light to the eyes" when down emotionally. The Bible "restores our soul" and "makes wise the simple". I think a lot of people would still be in God's family today if they learned better as very young disciples to apply the word and pray "Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. May my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word. May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise." Psalm 119:116, 169-170. In those acrostic 176 verses God's word and promises are mentioned in 172 of them.

God helped me survive the failure of my first marriage when my ex-wife fell away from the Lord after our daughter was born. I was able to sahre about my daughter here >>

Also I was on the original Stockholm, Sweden Mission team that was the first "foreign speaking" mission team around the same time as Paris, France. And our mission planting had to be re-planted a few years later. I learned a lot through that tough time and remember not falling away because Hebrews 6 was etched on my heart and in my memory. I did not want to crucify Jesus all over again. Yet, I still sinned with self-pity and an inflated, arrogant sense of under-appreciation from others for what I knew I had done for God and the church. Years later, I apologized to the mission team leaders for my attitude and for not being all that I should have been in Sweden. Hindsight is 20-20. God's foresight is our hindsight. He knew my character was flawed and allowed everything happen that did! I am so grateful now. Sometimes you feel as though you are just treading water, yet in God's eyes you're exactly where he intends. I shared this one time on that >>

Q: What are you doing now and what has God taught you?

Presently I have a great family by God's grace. I have been married 20 years now to my wonderful wife, Lori. We have seen our two boys grow into young men who are studying the Bible. My oldest son, John was recently baptized into Christ! We have a daughter too. Lilliana is ten. John is seventeen and Aaron is fourteen. Currently, I work in Higher Education as the Transportation Manager in Worcester. I am active in leading parts singing and the worship band in Worcester, Massachusetts. Currently, we are preparing to teach "John 3:16" to the church here (click here >> to find out more) . Working with the Disciples Today team means a lot to me as well. My first article>> was in 2005. I was the Arts Channel Editor back then and now I am the content editor. It makes very glad to help people know what is going on around the world. Many, many young members do not have the blessing of the historical perspective that older members have. It is a blessing to work with Roger and Marcia Lamb too - as well as many others who have been around longer than myself! There is so much experience we have aggregately as a church! We need to pool our wisdom and work hard to spread the word together. Mike Taliaferro's team at ICOC HotNews >> is a similar blessing too.

"Communicating what God has taught me" is a responsibility every disciple should internalize as a conviction. Sometimes that turns into confession and a request for prayers. Sometimes it is praise to God's honor as we see new beauty in Him that we were blinded to. Sometimes it is edifying thoughts from scripture we can give to others! The tools are numerous and the online resources are very helpful. Social networks and the internet are great ways to share and connect with other people with the latter. Yet, the main focus should always be to have close personal, face to face contact. Even scripture taught that as a high priority. If the Bible was written on the internet, God would still say "I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with 'my iPad' (pen and ink). I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face." III John 1:13-14. And here is II John 1:12: I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use "my laptop" (paper and ink) Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. God came down, face to face through Christ. That has to be our focus! Digital media is only an extra tool to help saturate our communication attempts. I believe it can be a hindrance however, just like "TV church" conveniently became for society.

The internet and Facebook are only tools to get information circulated. They will never take the place of face to face discipling. However, to share good news, Bible studies that people can personally wrestle with God over, and announcements are wonderful ways to use digital tools. Most of my material is Bible Study. If you can get the scriptures and study things for yourself, the internet has allowed you to see some things to grow in.

The problem I see is that the electronic age is pulling people away from face to face interactions. I am guilty of it too - and must remember to be diligent in having good heart to heart conversations all the time. God himself chose to speak face to face when he gave Moses the decalogue.See Deuteronomy5:4 >> or Exodus 33:11 >>

Anyhow, Podcasting is growing in the church. See sample here >> . And our approach should be a "SATURATION PROCLAMATION!" Get the word out, plant seeds by all possible means... And for sure, add a lot of Face-to-Face evangelism, disci[ling and fellowship! That's what good friends should and do.

Jerry Maday

Worcester County Church of Christ >>

Please submit your stories and articles to us here and volunteer for DisciplesToday!

To see some of Jerry's work, see categorized links below...

Public Worship from Worcester
Acappella Quartet - http://www.dtodayarchive.org/content/view/2068/44/
Small Ensemble - http://www.dtodayarchive.org/content/view/459/44/