(From my column “Looking Forward and
Glancing Back” in the SGT monthly newsletter, August/September, 1987.)
In the past
we have shared the struggles, challenges, blessings, and miracles at Stained GlassTheatre. We’ve told you of our past and the way God has met our needs as we
were obedient to His will. Now, we want to begin to share the challenges and
blessings of the present and of the future as they are happening. We want you,
our SGT supporters, to walk along with us through the good and the difficult to
truly be one with us and the future.
As we are
preparing now to begin our fifth season, A
Season of Praise, we view this next year as the most exciting and
challenging we’ve yet faced. As you must have read in our special announcement,
we have stepped out in faith and made the decision, we believe under God’s
leadership, to purchase a building. This decision was not made lightly, but
after much prayer, counsel, and a continuing sense of the leadership of the
Holy Spirit. As we looked at the events which brought us to a point of decision
making, we were overwhelmed by the obvious signs of God’s hand guiding us. I
would like to share with you, as I’ve done in the past, some of these very
personal moments which led to such a major decision.
It began on
a Saturday morning several months ago. Terry Beasley and I were at a business
men’s prayer breakfast (FGBMFI). As guests stood to introduce themselves, my
spirit was quickened as a young pastor, Merrill Pember, spoke. I felt a sense
of the Holy Spirit urging me to speak to this man whom I have never met. This
was the first of a series of events which turned out to be God’s wonderful way
of bringing two unknown parties together in order to accomplish His work.
Though there was nothing particularly unusual about the first event, there was
about the second. A few moments later while we were eating, Charles Fuller, the
president of the fellowship, came over to my table and said the Holy Spirit was
directing him to ask me to give a brief testimony. I was surprised, but agreed.
Now the really unusual thing about this was that, as I found out later, it was
while I was giving my testimony that the Holy Spirit also spoke to Merrill
Pember with a sense that he should speak to me. When we met and talked a few
weeks later, we both felt that God had put us together for some reason, but we
didn’t exactly know what. Merrill was the pastor of Christian Life Center. He
and his wife, Vicki, were working on beginning a Christian TV station in
Springfield. We thought maybe God planned to use us in that area some way, but
we weren’t sure. We only knew that God was leading, and we wanted to be sensitive
to His will.
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| Merrill Pember 1987 |
It was
on the night of the banquet, June 9,
that God began to reveal to us His purpose—a special blessing, a great gift! After the banquet was over and
people were just standing around chatting, Dennis Stachura, Merrill’s Associate
Pastor, mentioned to me that we should see their church and all the stained
glass. As he described the building to me, it seemed like a perfect building
for SGT. So I asked, “Is it for sale?” Dennis said maybe, that there had been
some talk of relocating the church. I spoke to Merrill. He said to come on by
and look. That night on the way home, I drove by the church. As the church came
into view, I pulled to a stop to get a better look. My heart almost stopped. I
knew—the Holy Spirit told me—this was it, this was the reason, this was God’s
special gift to SGT—your “Promised land.” Needless to say, I could hardly sleep
that night. A few days later, Terry, Jim, and I toured the inside, and then we
prayed with Merrill. Merrill wisely said later, “We’re not trying to make
anything happen. We don’t even know if we are to move, but if God is in this,
He will affirm it.” And affirm He did.
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| Christian Life Center 1987--Our "Promised Land" |
As we
explored detail after detail, the building seemed perfect in every way, even to
the beautiful stained glass windows which appear to be an affirmation of our
name. The size of the auditorium with seating for 200 is exactly the size that
we have felt for a long time would best serve our needs and dreams: parking
lot, offices, sound and light booth, basement, reception area, kitchen,
restrooms, space upstairs for dressing rooms and costume construction, etc. The
church building has recently been completely rewired and brought up to code,
even to emergency exit lights. The sanctuary has new carpet, and all of the
beautiful, curved pews are the original pews and have been refinished. It
sounded too good to be true. But what about the cost? We wouldn’t have been surprised
at a hundred thousand plus, so you can imagine our near disbelief to learn that
we could have it for sixty thousand! That’s right! Not only did the building
seem perfect, but so did the price. All that was left to do was pray. I prayed,
we all prayed and prayed, seeking an answer. It seemed right, but was it God’s
will?
The answer
came in several ways: 1) an assurance beyond doubt in our spirits, 2) a peace and
joy that we felt, and 3) an understanding of the conditions of purchase. This
final understanding of what we should do came after much prayer about whether
we should go into debt or not. A nagging question kept haunting me: Would the
purchase of this property, which seemed so right, be the exception to our
commitment to God that we would trust Him and not go into debt? Until I had the
answer to this question, I would not know for sure what we should do. God gave
me His answer. He gave me clear understanding in my spirit that He would not
honor our going into debt. He had made this very clear to us in the past and
showed me that there was no exception by giving me a vision of the church and
land surrounded by a wall with corner towers topped with dollar signs ($). Like
Joshua and the walls of Jericho, we must tear down the wall before we can “go
in and claim the land.” We had God’s answer. The land was ours, but there was a
price to pay. We are truly excited beyond words. It is a dream come true—a permanent
home for Stained Glass Theatre. A home where we can truly become a “SHOWCASE OF
PRAISE.” The dream is before us and so is the challenge. We know that we must
tear down the wall of dollars that stands between us and our dream. We know
that we must raise the full purchase price in one year, pay cash, and move into
our “Promised Land” debt free. The “dream” is magnificent—the “challenge” is
awesome. But God has spoken to us through His Holy Word, just as He did to
Joshua when He said in chapter one, verse nine, “Yes, be bold and strong!
Banish fear and doubt! For remember, the Lord your God is with you wherever you
go.”
COMING NEXT: THREE
INCREDIBLE DAYS IN SEPTEMBER
A beautiful story of God’s miracle-working
power!
