Greetings! And WHAT'S THE POINT?

[Reinheimer]

Hi!

My name is Dean Reinheimer and the Lord saved me in 1992. The person who led me to salvation by grace alone thru faith alone later became my wife. As is often the case (I understand) with new believers, I followed her lead to her church. It was a "name-it-and-claim-it, blab-it-and-grab-it, confess-it-and-possess-it mega church in the SW suburbs of Chicago.

Even as a BRAND new Christian, SOMETHING didn't seem "right" about an offering being taken threre times in a service, but they had a great band ("worship team"?), a lot like what we used to see on The Tonight Show.

I was regularly listening to a little radio program on my way home work in those days. Pastor So-and-so was teaching some things outta Galatians that REALLY caught my attention. He closed every program with something like, "If ya llike what ya hear on the radio, why not come out to our church and 'smoke us out'." Then he would give the phone#. Eventually, I called and what REALLY got my attention was that the gravely voice on the radio was THE SAME ONE THAT PICKED UP THE PHONE!!! Quite a bit different from what I was used to at that OTHER church! There, the ushers appeared more like bouncers and approaching the pastor was like trying to gain an audience with the Queen of England! That phone-call-thing tipped me over the edge and my wife and I made the 45-minute trip to Pastor So-and-so's church for about five years.

I "cut my teeth" in the "Grace message" at that church... one in which there was no singing, no communion, and of course, no water baptism. Services consisted of a 45-minute "Bible study" (read lecture), 15 minutes of coffee and such and another 45-minute "Bible study".

I learned a lot about pride in a believer's life when we saw the church split. My wife and I made the decision to not return to that pastor's leadership.

I had heard about the Berean Bible Institute beginning classes about that time. I so wanted to go... to "learn how to be a pastor," but my wife, being the kind of creature God designed women to be, did not wanna pull up her roots in IL.

Fast-forward several years... my wife left me... (and THAT'S another testimony to the Lord... for another time) I was "freed up" to attend BBI near Milwaukee.

I drove up there New Years Day and stumbled upon a room for rent. I trusted God to provide the rest... and He did.

During my time at BBI, some of the other students credited me with coining the term "doctrine-head," as I made some observations within the "Grace movement." It was during my three-and-a-half years at BBI that the Lord started to get a hold of my heart. He showed me I had no business determining within myself that I was going to be a pastor... but that He would take care of that, if it was His will! I cannot speak highly enough about what the Lord was doing (and STILL IS doing) at BBI. One man there in particular was used by the Lord to help me realize my own "doctrineheadedness and START to bring me out of it. Furthermore, the Lord used him to begin to really open up a fresh and God-glorifying understanding of God. I think I will be indebted to Pastor Dan Wolgast, to his leadership & mentoring for a long, long time.

The Lord saw to it that I graduated from BBI in 2005.

In the Spring of 2006 the Lord landed me in a little town between cornfields just north of Muncie, IN. I remarried in June of that year.

The way I see it, God saw some needs in me to learn more humility and dependency on Him. In November, just five months after He gave me a wonderful wife, I was stricken by the return of a seizure disorder that had been totally absent from my life for about fourteen years. Eventually, I had to give up my job and was told not to drive anymore. My beloved and I were still without a home church and I was spending a majority of my day at home, playing "house-husband"  .

Needing to be fed, I stumbled upon Moody Radio. Its interesting to see how close that ministry really is to the Mid-Acts Dispensational (MAD) position (saving, of course, a few well-discussed positions ).

I have come to the a place in my own walk with the Lord and with my own understanding of MAD, where I continue to ask myself, "What's the point?"

I mean, here in this little town where there is like, no money, no jobs and and LOTS of the "stuff" that comes along with such communities, I (easliy) imagine a single mom of two little boys who are living in a Buick. What difference is the MAD position gonna make to them? I would surely trust some (not all) ministries to offer her the unadulterated saving gospel of Christ's death, burial and resurrection for the salvation of her soul... but after that, what? When she cannot feed herself or her family and has no place to live, what difference is it gonna make to her when the Body of Christ began? or why the Apostle Paul was give a new and different message & ministry? or why water baptism is no longer included in God's program for today?

The fact is, if you are offering the true Gospel of Salvation (you know, the one that the Apostle Paul labored more than the twelve [cf. I Cor 15:10] to share across eastern Europe); If THIS is the ministry we share with others, are we not being Pauline? OK, THEN what do we do for the troubled, distressed souls in the midst of a fallen, sin-cursed world? How do we minister to them from a MAD position where its gonna make a difference?

I guess I'm not seeing the "why" and if I'm missing something (& I usually do), what am I missing?

Is there help/counsel/guidance/assistance out there?

[Christine]

Hi Dean,

Thank you so much for sharing your testimony with us. I am always so curious as to how each individual came to the Grace message, and I rejoice with you in Gods faithfulness to lead you along, step by step.

As to your dilemma...I think we have all asked those same questions at one time or another. I think it helps to look at it from Gods point of view instead of from the point of view of "what difference does it make?" Doing things Gods way always makes a difference, and while we are NOT going to solve the worlds problems or feed ALL the hungry, we CAN assist those that God brings across our path with the abundance with which He has given to US.

We oftentimes forget that we aren't in this for what WE get out of it, but for the glory of God. It is HIS plans and purposes that we are endeavoring to communicate to others, so that THEY might learn how to cooperate with Him in this present age of GRACE.

I honestly believe that we get into thought patterns such as these BECAUSE we live in a sinful world that EXPECTS instant answers for all of lifes problems. NO ONE promises those, but "churchianity" often acts like God SHOULD  be and WILL take us out of all our problems if we just come to Him to get saved. MY BIBLE tells me that this is when the REAL problems begin, ya know what I mean? We then become involved in a spiritual war that is fought with spiritual weapons..weapons that are promised to bring down every stronghold NOT based on Gods revealed will for today.

Instead, both the secular and the "religious" communities seek to box God into DOING that which He never promised to begin with. I think that we buy into that sometimes, and with wishful thinking, wonder why God didn't make things easier, ya know? Am I close here, or have I missed your point altogether?

We must always change our minds to think as God thinks, and he is working on the INNER man in this age of GRACE. Our focus always tends to gravitate to the outer man and the struggles and circumstances of life; many of which seem so unfair at times. Nevertheless, God HAS promised to make ALL things work together for the good of them that love Him and are called according to His purpose. Don't you think that the real issue comes BACK to whether or not we trust Him, with our own lives and with the lives of others?

Gulp....I know I have crossed over from just sharing, into some pretty personal issues that affect all of us here. You may think that I stopped preaching and began meddling....wink...and you would probably be right. However, these are things I have had to come to grips with in my own life; and which I am presently at peace with. I hope what I have shared will help.

In His completeness,
Christine