This next post from Talent For A Mission (copyright 2023 Deborah Lagarde) is from Chapter Two and goes into some detail as to why I chose to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior–and Redeemer. Why redeemer? Because as with all humans beginning with Adam and Eve having been tempted by “the serpent” aka Satan to commit sin, that sin or sins–and remember, all humans fall short of the glory of God except for Christ as human–provide a “debt” so-to-speak that must be repented, then pardoned or paid-in-kind in order to reach Heaven to be with God. When Christ shed blood on the cross as a sacrifice, it was to REDEEM all sins of all people who repented of their sins and accepted Christ as Redeemer along with Savior. And, in this part one of Chapter Two, I explain some of the sins I did that had to be redeemed through repentance. And these weren’t typical sins, either, but serious ones in my opinion! But here is the weird aspect of this–while doing these sins, God STILL had my back and saved me from some possible death scenarios! And one wonders why I accepted Christ? Hmmm…
Below is the first part of Chapter Two, which is rather long and will be posted in three parts over November.
Why Should We Write Novels to ‘Make Disciples of All Nations’?
It isn’t just because Christ gave all believers in Him this task to make disciples of all nations, using writing skills or not.
Consider this: Why do you believe on Christ?
Consider this: Did you grow up in a Christian household believing in Christ but at some point left that belief under your pillow or just threw it out? Or, as the servant with one talent did, bury it?
Consider this: Did you grow up believing on Christ, and then tragedy hits and you blame God or Christ and then just toss your belief to the side?
My own belief on Christ is my choice and, further, my dedication and my knowing Christ is real and is with me as I have witnessed His manifestation at one of the lowest points in my life. (Note: It was at this point and the manifestation that I then knew how these novels had to conclude.)
While I grew up Catholic, as I concluded my teen years I veered away from that belief in many ways. I turned agnostic and nearly atheist…but really, I knew God was somewhere… And a couple of near-tragedies while in that mind set did convince me that God was real…but was Christ actually the Savior?
Below is my own example, without going into all the details.
I originally posted this on my https://omegabooksnet.com website in my “Snippet” series, this one on snippets of spirituality.
I and those I know have had interesting spiritual, or what could only be described as spiritual, experiences. In a previous snippet I told about a scary outcome while involved in a Ouija Board event with two friends while “calling up the dead.”
This post is about what, I truly believe, were good spirits that turned bad situations into events that awakened good spiritual tidings and not only impacted my writing of these novels that make up The Prodigal Band Trilogy, but blessed my life even more.
In 1971 heading up into Canada along the New York State Thruway with at least five other left-wing activists as well as atheists in a car with nearly bald tires in bad stormy weather the vehicle skidded off the highway into a guard rail, then was sent across the northbound lane covered with traffic into the island between the north- and south-bound lanes. I had told myself we were going to die, that we’d be hit broadside by on-coming traffic. But we weren’t. The vehicle had minimal damage and a tire did go flat, but the vehicle was hauled into a repair shop and an hour or so later we were back on the road.
While standing outside the vehicle I asked those around me: “Now why would God save a bunch of atheists?” They laughed.
But from then on in, I was no longer an atheist! I knew God had to exist! What else would have prevented us from being killed in a car crash? Oh, and did I mention that guard rail, where, on the other side of it was a hundred-foot drop?
Then in 1972 I was with this same leftist group and another woman and I were putting up posters for a conference of like-minded leftists in Cleveland (later moved to outside Detroit) to be held in a few months. Late in the afternoon while in Manhattan we slipped into Manhattan College on a Sunday and started putting up posters, then got into an elevator to go to upper floors.
The elevator stopped between the second and third floors. Stuck. On a Sunday. And guess what? The following day, Monday, was Yom Kippur!
Anyone that knows anything about living in and around NYC knows that ALL community colleges and other educational institutions are CLOSED ON JEWISH HOLIDAYS! So, who the heck was going to rescue us that Sunday evening or the following day when the school would be closed?
And another thing. We had no water, no food, no toilets–and I had my menstrual period! And the elevator was cold! I was almost freezing in that elevator. As my friend tried to see if she could get us out of there, all I had to try to keep myself warm were those posters which I covered myself with. With the bucket of poster glue, we had a way to urinate.
So, on Monday morning of Yom Kippur around 6 am or so we heard a person outside the elevator shaft, a janitor. We called for help, and he got us out of there!
Was this ‘man’ an angel? To this day I believe he was. After all, if a college is closed on Yom Kippur, then would some janitor be working there?
After that event, I definitely believed in God! And though I did go to the conference (which was infiltrated by the FBI according to sources I knew back then), I left the conference early because I had a job to go to the following day, so I flew back to NYC that afternoon. Then I quit the group.
Then in 1997 having already published Battle of the Band which ends with a spiritual scenario, what I witnessed was a miracle of truly Biblical proportions. It happened on the last Saturday of February, 1997. No way would I make this up just to embellish a novel!
As to that last paragraph which mentioned a “miracle,” this event which caused me to fully commit to Christ will be mentioned in the next post, Chapter Two, part two.
Use the menu above to purchase books or download the FREE PDF The Prodigal Band or the FREE PDF The Murder Rule, read snippet posts, and more. Cheers!
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