Jesus Works!

By The Rev. L.C. Forgood and The Rev. Dr. Deborah Clark

Is your church stuck? Are you not seeing people’s lives transformed by Jesus through you and your church? Be inspired by these real stories from one local church of how Jesus Works!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Dec 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781483476322

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Clark

Copyright © 2017 The Rev. L.C. Forgood; The Rev. Dr. Deborah Clark.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-7631-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-7632-2 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 11/14/2017

Acknowledgements

This book wouldn’t have been possible without the following

My wonderful wife.

My supportive parents.

My great church family.

And of course

My friend and co-laborer, Deborah, who inspired the writing of these stories. Without her these stories of lives changed for good by Jesus wouldn’t have been written down. Thank you!

Dedication

This book is dedicated my Christ Church Anytown, USA family who have been willing to get out of their comfort zone to risk, sacrifice and work to see so many Lives Changed For Good by Jesus. You are a fantastic local church!

Epigraph

Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners. – Jesus (Mark 2:17)

Preface

God does some pretty amazing things in people’s lives. I have the privilege of being the pastor of a great local church in America. We sum up the vision for the church this way: A church Where Lives are Changed for Good! We focus on seeing Jesus change our broken lives for good (better) in this life and for good (permanently) in the next. I love telling stories about how God is changing the lives of so many people and the truth is I couldn’t make up more interesting stories to explain how Jesus works in our lives.

Over the years when I attended various meetings or run into old friends who ask me how I’m doing or inquire about things at church, I simply answer by telling the latest stories of what God has been up to in people’s lives. I have noticed these stories often encourage the other pastors or church members whose churches were stagnant doing church work instead of the real work of the church; they begin to believe that they could start seeing Jesus work in their churches too.

A few years ago, while going through a difficult time in my life, I regularly met with a friend and professional counselor. Every time we’d meet she would ask What’s the latest at Christ Church? I would go on for a while telling the most recent stories of changed lives. At some point along the way, she said that she had an idea that she believed the Lord put on her heart and wanted to run it by me. She told me that she believed the Lord wanted her to write down my stories in a book to be able to share with more people. My response was something along the lines of, You mean I get to just talk and tell the stories and you write it all down and do all the work to make a book…well of course!

Although I believed these real stories of lives changed by Jesus would encourage and inspire readers to go and do the same, (and make a great little book), I would never take the time to sit and write them down. So therefore, I am thankful to my friend and counselor for listening to the Lord and being obedient to Him. She is a faithful and strong woman of God who has helped me in so many ways, far beyond writing these stories down.

Though the stories in this book are all true to my recollection, I have changed the names to protect the privacy of my friends at Christ Church. I am so thankful to all of those men and women who have let Jesus work in their lives.

I hope that as you read these stories you will be encouraged and refreshed. If you’re a pastor or