Passport in hand, I am ready to travel again. This month I will be making my first trip to the Koinonia House New Zealand ministry base for a few weeks of prayer, strategic planning and fellowship. In my ministry life, I have been a frequent world traveler but only to a limited number of places which are Israel and Europe (Oh and I took one trip to speak in a pastor conference in Guatemala).
It always gets me excited to go on trips and see the work of the Lord in different cultures in other parts of the world! Of course, having the opportunity in New Zealand to hang out with Dr. Missler, Ron Matsen, Bob Cornuke and the team is over-the-top exciting!
The worldwide reach of Dr. Missler and the Koinonia House is amazing. Koinonia House has reached hundreds of thousands through its newsletters, radio shows, podcasts, Bible study materials, video-on-demand and conferences. More than eight million Bible study resources have been distributed in the U.S. and in over 35 countries around the world.
At our last Strategic Trends conference, in Coeur d’Alene Idaho, I met a man who had traveled from Norway. He was a humble, joy-filled brother who has had his life changed by the teaching ministry of Chuck Missler. After only a few minutes together I knew I needed to share his story with you.
Hi I’m John from Norway.
“Chuck is a smart guy”, my heavy metal drummer son told me.
This sentence kept ringing in my ears for days and weeks.
When I came to Christ as a teenager, I was serious about living as a Christian. I got up early every morning for prayer. I kept falling asleep to such a degree that I missed the school bus more often than I´d like to remember.
I grew up with a father who was emotionally challenged as a second world war veteran, and with a mother who was striving to be both a bread winner and a home maker. It left my youth pretty dysfunctional.
I married shortly after turning twenty and worked hard to make a life for me and my family.
I had prayed for decades that God would make it possible for me to attend a Bible school to study the Word.
Because of me, who I am, my attempts to go into the Word and dig out the treasures I knew were there, I was failing again and again.
My frustration grew and I was ready to give up. The urge for studying the Word was waning.
I went through a divorce and had to work through that process. When I met my new wife, it gave me renewed hope and a new start in my relationship with God as well.
My son’s remark led me to listen to Chuck’s 66/40, and my appetite came fully alive.
This was what I had been looking for. The expositional teaching challenged and refreshed my whole being, and I rediscovered the Word and my Master.
Chuck had said; If you accept my statement, you will flunk the course. I took his challenge and did not flunk the course.
I found that reading and studying the Word is one of the best ways to develop the relationship with the person who identifies Himself as the Word.
I was triggered when Chuck encouraged me to become a Berean:
These Greeks were very happy to receive the message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if they were told the truth.
One of the goals of the Institute is to make “self-feeders”, it became an urge and a strong desire in me to move in such a direction.
Eventually I took part in the KI experience, the verse by verse and chapter by chapter Bible study. And it changed my life!
God’s word did exactly what it claimed. I was continually transformed by the renewing of my mind to be able to determine God’s will—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.
My inner baggage, which used to weigh me down, reminding me of my failures and short comings, and which impacted my behavior and my priorities, all this started to dwindle.
And I’m smiling to the future.
First and foremost, I wish to pursue my relationship with my Savior and Master.
I have discovered that I am created for a purpose. The person that I am, the way I am, that is how God wanted me to be.
I am unique and nobody’s copy. As God put me together I am the only one who can walk the path that he has given me.
And I will continue to.
Thank you Chuck!
Your continued support of the Koinonia House ministry keeps Chuck’s unique in-depth teaching of the Bible available to guide people worldwide into a deeper knowledge of our Lord and Savior. Koinonia House is daily sharpening Saints, Ministry Leaders and Pastors around the world in their calling.
Stand with us. In a world that is increasingly becoming more and more Biblically Illiterate you can partner with us in three ways.
- Pray.
- Consider sharing your story to encourage others.
- Invest financially to expand Biblical literacy.
Gunnar Johnson
The Legacy Project
