March 2010
Dearly Beloved of Our Lord:
May the mercy, grace and peace of our Lord, Savior, and King – Jesus Christ be filling your hearts! We all are so blessed to be able to live in His presence throughout each and every day. We both have been especially blessed to be available to various men and women, old and young, who pass by and through “Portland’s living room” – Pioneer Courthouse Square. There seems to be a special grace for people to meet one another here and to stop and share time together.
Destiny and Destination ~
We meet many people who have received Jesus Christ into their lives who believe that their destiny is the new heaven and the new earth. Sometimes they just say that they know they will be in heaven because Jesus has saved them through the cross. But few of these people have any idea of what their destiny is as they live their lives here on this earth in this present life. They believe they know their ultimate destiny but do not know their present destiny as a child of God filled with, and led by the Holy Spirit. When we meet these brothers and sister we spend much of our time in personal discipleship with them.
Sometimes people pass by and they have a hostile reaction to our presence in the “living room” at the Square. Usually these people are having what I call a “religious reaction” and are identifying our presence with some series of experiences with “bad religion.” Our desire is to meet such people and engage them in a meaningful conversation instead of a religious presentation. We focus on “conversation” and not on “presentation.” It seems that we live in a culture which is full of “presentations” but very few “conversations.”
Ron’s Testimony ~ David is a young man in his late twenties who spent many of his younger years using various drugs and became lost in his journey through life. Then, through a series of events, he encountered Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit. And he also encountered a lot of religious ideas. One day as I was spending some time in personal discipleship with him I happened to say this to him: “There is a very fine line between religion and relationship and your destiny is shaped by which side of that line you are living on.” He paused and stared at me for what seemed like a full minute and then said that he had never thought of that. I spent about twenty minutes sharing from things Jesus said in the Gospels and what Paul wrote in Ephesians. Jesus told us to go and make disciples. (Matthew 28:18-20)
Karl came up to me on day. He was in Portland looking for work since he had been unable to find any in central Oregon. He was filled with joy and shared how he had met Jesus a few years ago at the age of 50. He had become a disciple in fellowship with many other mature men and we shared a joyful time together in fellowship. He had been filled with the Holy Spirit and enjoyed praise and worship. He also knew that he had an eternal destination. As a young believer he was eagerly seeking to know and walk in his destiny even though he was presently unemployed.
One day a young man came by who seemed to be somewhat drugged and yelled at me, “Go to Hell!” Before I knew it I was prompted to return this statement, “That’s where you will be without Jesus in your life.” The reply stopped him in his tracks. He turned and tried to come back to me but his friends dragged him away. I have seen such exchanges turn into deep meaningful conversations but not this time.
About half an hour later a much quieter exchange turned into a fifteen minute conversation with a young man in his late teens who had grown up in church. Very quickly our conversation turned to the importance of knowing the difference between religion and relationship with a strong focus on what Jesus said and did from the Gospels. This young man had heard many presentations in church meetings and from various brethren whom he had met but he had not deeply considered the importance of relationship with God through the Holy Spirit on a day-by-day, moment-by-moment 24/7 basis.
Karen’s Testimony ~ It was a beautiful Friday at the Square and I was sitting facing North at the MAX stop. An old man and a young woman in her thirties were seated behind me facing the sun. I overheard the older man telling her daughter that he did not want her on the streets homeless. He seemed to be homeless also. He wanted to get an apartment and have her move in with him at his apartment. She did not want his help and she said she had some mental issues. I handed her a Street Roots resource booklet which we give to the homeless which lists places to get food, housing, medical help, employment, etc. She thanked me for the booklet and I asked her if she would like prayer. She said yes and I asked if she believed that Jesus died on the cross, rose from the dead, and that He was alive. She said yes. I told her that Jesus came to bind up the broken hearted and that He bore our pain. I told her that we sometimes have flashbacks of painful events. We can ask the Lord to take the pain, our sin, and fear and give us the ability to forgive others and ourselves. I asked her if she wanted prayer for anything specific. She said her children had been killed. When she said this I did not ask her any more questions except to give a word of comfort that her children were in heaven. I prayed for her for the healing of her mind, emotions, and the restoration of her soul. I talked with her about how to walk with Jesus with repentance and forgiveness. She smiled, thanked me, and left. The older man came to me and said he was her father and thanked me for praying for her.
We Welcome and are Encouraged by Your Prayers and Support!
We share these stories so with the hope that they would be an encouragement to you. Each and every soul we meet is valuable to our Lord and He blesses us with many opportunities for conversations, prayers, and personal discipleship. As a special prayer request, would you please continue to pray for our son Matt who has just finished a series of chemo treatments for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma? He will get a scan in March and our prayers are for an excellent report.
Thank you for your prayers, your encouragement, and your financial support which give us much strength as we continue in this open-air ministry in our city.
~ Ron & Karen
E-mail: awakening1s@comcast.net
Home Page: awakening1s.net
church @ 24/7
Ron & Karen Rohman
PO Box 14292
PORTLAND OR 97293