EXTREME MAKEOVER

by Pam Greene (Bradenton, FL)

I don't like to speak in front of crowds, but I absolutely love encouraging the body of Christ; so I write. 

I went on the Encounter in November.  God met me in a very personal way. Two years ago this month, I was attending another wonderful church. The pastor thought it would be a good idea for me to go to a "Grief and Loss" class because I was divorced, and divorce is a great loss.  I reluctantly attended the class, but wound up receiving much more than I ever imagined I would.  How could I know that two months later my mother would be diagnosed with cancer?  Or, that my Dad would be killed by a drunk driver on July 20, 2006 and Mom would die on July 31, 2006 from bone cancer.

Of course, God knew all along the real reason I needed to attend that class.  He was preparing me for the loss of my parents.  I remember Pastor Vin stating one Sunday that God begins and ends things with us if we are following His plan.  In November of 2005, God began to make me very uncomfortable at my church.  I could not understand why, as I had been going there for almost 4 years.  Out of obedience, I left (without an explanation from God).  I happened to be at a concert this past January with one of my nieces.  She ran into a friend of hers from school whose name is Jared.  This young man had the biggest smile and his eyes just shone with the love of Christ.  So, I asked him where he went to church and he told me WOCIC.  In January of 2006, I began attending WOCIC.  My life has dramatically changed! 

So, let me get back to how God met me, Pam Greene, in a mighty and personal way at the Encounter.  I decided to bring my mom's Bible to the Encounter because my Bible simply has no more room to take notes!  Saturday morning as I was sitting in my chair, I opened up her Bible and I found a piece of paper with my mom's handwriting on it. It happened to be notes she had taken the last time she was able to attend church. The title of the sermon that Sunday was "Extreme Makeover."  Mom's handwritten notes read, "Nature forms us, sin deforms us, only Jesus Christ can transform us and truly set us free."  That was confirmation to me straight from heaven that I was exactly where I was supposed to be at the exact moment that God had appointed  - FREEDOM in CHRIST! 

My mom had written down those notes not only for herself, but God used them to minister to me at my Encounter. Isn't God amazing?  I encourage every man and woman who has not attended an Encounter to go.  True freedom is attainable from Jesus Christ. You will mount up with wings like eagles and soar!!!!