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Christ Presbyterian Church Boise

3 weeks ago

Testimony of Mary Holder Naegeli, Presbyterian pastor & friend of pastor Phil Moran:

"A milestone today offers me the opportunity to give witness to God’s faithfulness. Fifty years ago today, I surrendered to Jesus Christ, actively received his salvation and indwelling Holy Spirit, and committed my life to serving him. This after six months of resistance following a sermon of invitation I heard in Seattle in January of 1970. The problem was pride, conceit, self-sufficiency, and fear within me, preventing me from trusting God with my life. But the pursuit was on, and finally I just gave up because God wouldn’t let it rest. I was in high school at the time, and new Christian friends came out of the woodwork to support my new faith. My appetite for reading the Bible was voracious, and I read the whole thing in six months (yeah, I ended up skipping Ezekiel because I just couldn’t get it the first time). From then on, through difficulties and triumphs, disappointments and serendipities, God has remained true to his Word, steadfast in love, and patient in correction.

I share this today because I want “young people” to know that the invitation to surrender to Jesus holds great import for your life, and that the Christian faith, which has stood the test of time historically, also is proven to be durable and strong and true enough to last your lifetime. My parents thought it was a fad and phase I was going through (and it’s true, there was a powerful surge of the Spirit in 1968-1970 that birthed a renewed charismatic movement), but this “phase” has lasted fifty years and appears to be going strong ☺

God has not always felt present—I have had a couple of “dark nights of the soul” during that time period—but I have only learned that God is pouring out blessing every day and some days it’s just hard to see. But that’s okay, so long as I do not lose heart or doubt God’s motives and purposes.
“The Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us…” (Rom. 8:26). “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness,” (2 Cor. 12:9). “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you" (Rom. 8:11). These are Scripture verses that make my heart sing.

God is good. What God does is good. My goal in life is to align myself to God’s will and Way in gratitude for what he has done for me." ... See MoreSee Less