In first encounter with any church, Michigan teen has back and legs healed

Two years ago, in the middle of the EACH initiative (editor’s note:  see www.EACHtoday.com for explanation), I attended an evangelism training session at a local congregation.  It was a rather small crowd, and included 2 college kids that I had never met before.  Turns out that one of them had not been to church before, and had been invited by his friend.  The message that evening was about Jesus healing

the blind man, a powerful story from the Gospels.  Immediately afterwards, this college kid who had never attended before came forward to receive Christ, saying something to this effect: “I want to know that Man.”  After the pastor prayed with him, the kid...

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Mo Thomas

Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan

Too-accurate coincidence of timing prompts willingness to donate

A few years ago, Joe Van Hagen of Royal Oak, Michigan opened some mail from a charity that he and his wife were donating to at that time.  The letter mentioned that the charity was fundraising for some new buses, since the old ones were wearing out badly.  The letter said that if everyone who received this letter donated $100, they would be able to replace all their buses.  Joe didn’t have the money at that time, so he decided not to contribute.  The next letter he opened was a completely unexpected $1000 check from

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(Submitted by Joe Van Hagen)

Coincidental Roses for a Jailbird

Joan Wyss of Royal Oak, Michigan brings flowers every week to the jail ministry at the Oakland County Jail.  Often she brings daisies or carnations. This week she was in the florist’s shop and let herself be led by the Holy Spirit, as she likes to do.  She felt led to buy roses this time.  She brought them to the jail for the worship service for incarcerated women.  After the service, one of the prisoners talked to Joan.  She said she had just today completed a nine-day novena (editor’s note: A novena, in the Roman Catholic Church, is a form of devotion consisting of special prayers or services on nine successive days.  The Latin word for Nine is Novem.)  She said the novena in the name of the Little Flower (the nickname of Saint Therese of Lisieux)... 

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Thanks to Joe Van Hagen of Royal Oak, Michigan for bringing this story to our attention.  Joe is also a member of the Oakland County Jail Ministry with Joan. 

What God’s Voice Sounds Like – (reported experience #7)

(this blog has grown up and is now a full website.  Please go instead to www.wtness.org.)
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God spoke to me one day.  Loud and clear…  "You are going to move somewhere far away."

 

My job was a nightmare.  Actually, my boss was a nightmare.  He seemed to want me fired, and to be trying very hard to set me up for it.  Things were a mess.

I'd actually had a string of bosses who'd been difficult to work for, but this one took the cake.  It didn't start out that way, in fact it started out quite differently.  When I'd first arrived for my assignment in Memphis, my boss and I got along fantastically... in fact, all the bosses in the region were great.  Everyone focused on working together as a team, and doing our jobs, rather than the petty little things people sometimes spend their time focusing on instead of their jobs.  I remember telling my co-workers if I hit the lottery I would keep working because I enjoyed my job so much.  

That all changed virtually overnight.

First one boss, then another, then my own boss were transferred to different positions.  Almost overnight, I had a whole new set of bosses and suddenly I felt as if I went from "can't do wrong" to "can't do right."  I wondered how the same person, doing the same work, could suddenly find himself disrespected vs. respected, criticized vs. praised.  How could this happen to me?

Now I had been languishing now for several years, still not able to figure out what went wrong.  I struggled with boss after boss until I just couldn't see any hope for the future with this company.  I'd never been in this position before and I didn't see it changing for the better anytime soon.  In fact, I was convinced my best option was to take a company buyout as those were rumored to be on the horizon.

But God had a different plan for me.  First of all, He saved me.  He had been working on me all along, but I had been resisting.  I'd called myself a Christian all of my life, but had never actually given my life to Christ.  I just lived the way I wanted to live, while still claiming Christ as my Savior... going to church, yet judging others, claiming I was a good person and trying to be "good" on my own, my own way.  I had claimed Him as Savior, but I hadn't accepted Him as Lord, and I was living like I was my own god.  Then my life fell apart due to the way I had been living and He showed me just who I am, a sinner... and the seriousness of my sin.

When I realized how I had sinned against a holy God and Him alone, I knew I deserved punishment, I expected punishment.  However, what I found was grace, amazing grace... and the sound was so sweet,...

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 Steve, Southfield, Michigan

Prayers work even for the grouchy

Father Peter Fennessey of the Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan tells this funny story of an answered prayer… a migraine headache is instantly cured, with extra benefits. 

One day, former retreat house director James S. was unable to sleep for hours because of a migraine headache.  So he went down to the gathering room to watch some TV, no matter what was on.  He hoped that any noise and motion would distract him from the pain. Surprisingly, despite it being the middle of the night, another priest was already there, watching TV.  This guy was a grouchy old fella, and  Father James was a bit afraid of him, so he took a seat several feet away,...

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Virgin Mary appearing to Chaldean Woman in Southeastern Michigan

(this blog has grown up and is now a full website.  Please go instead to www.wtness.org.)
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Yes, this title has the sound of a bad tabloid article, doesn’t it?  But today I spoke to a man named William who has been in her house and believes this is true.  William told me at a retreat at the Manresa Retreat Center in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan that he saw oil oozing from a crucifix, a painting of the Suffering Christ, a painting of the Virgin Mother, and from other Christian artifacts in this woman’s home.  It is this phenomenon

See the oil oozing from the far left of the painting.

Tray beneath picture is full of oil

that first draws people's interest to this story, so I'll say a bit about that, before talking about the Virgin Mary's words. The source of the oil has no scientific explanation.  For example, the painting is on a thin canvas, there are no hoses or tubes attached to it, and the reverse side of the painting is completely dry.  Over the course of the past four years (since Aug. 2008), over three hundred and fifty pounds of oil has emerged from these and other artifacts in this house.

While the oil is a very puzzling (and convincing) physical phenomenon, when I hear of something like this that is real (and I’m strongly leaning in this direction based on having met William and knowing the priest who informed him, and seen the video… link below), I don’t get caught up in the physical miracle.  When God makes things like this happen, it’s not stand-alone.  It is done to help people believe in some sort of message.  

Some of the jars of oil collected in three years.
Other oil has been given away to visitors.

In this case, the message is being spoken by an apparition of the Virgin Mary.  She is heard audibly by the Chaldean woman. 

 

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Turned to just the right hymn

Not long after the posting of Oct. 23, in which I felt led to “Take [more] care of the needs of others”, I was attending church at St. Columban in Birmingham, Michigan.  Our church music director Bob asked us to turn to page 628 in our Gather hymnal.  I grabbed the book and opened to a random page, and was surprised to find that it was page 628.  When something that unlikely happens, especially in church, I tend to pay attention.  I feel that the Holy Spirit may be trying to get me to notice something. 

Micheal Joncas

The hymn was “No Greater Love” by Michael Joncas.  The lyrics start with these words:

There is no greater love says the Lord

Than to lay down your life for a friend

It seemed to me that it was a reinforcement of the message I reported here on Oct. 23:  Set my own needs aside, and look out for others more than I currently do.

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God Showed Himself in an Unexpected Way

In December, 1986 I was out of a job, and I prayed intently that God would help me find just the right job. I felt confident that He would, because surely He’d have to agree this was my most pressing need. As it turned out, He must have thought there was another need more pressing: letting me know He really exists.     

Here is one of several coincidences that occurred during the several months I was unemployed:

I wanted to find out if any Human Resources positions existed at the large corporate offices of Perry Drugs in Pontiac, MI. Perry was getting good business reviews at the time. So, I drove there one morning, picked up some company literature and asked at the front desk if I could talk to someone about potential opportunities in the training or organizational development departments. The lady gave me a standard address to send my resume to, and politely bid adieu.  

Frustrated, I walked outside into the parking lot, and decided to ask the first person I met what the Perry working environment was like, so I could at least come away with something. The person I stopped was the Manager of Training and Development! I was elated when she gave me her card and asked me to call her the following Monday, when she’d have time to talk. The coincidence was invigorating, and I thanked God.

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“Take Care of the Needs of Others”

About a month ago, while praying on my couch at home, I heard I ‘voice’ (not audible, ‘heard’ in the back of my head) which I have come to recognize as the Lord’s voice say, “Think less about your own needs.  Think more about others’ needs.  You take care of their needs and I’ll take care of yours.”

Soft, confident, authoritative.  Not dictatorial.  Loving.  Friendly. Knowing. 

As usual, it said a lot in a little.  Here are all the things it said to me (in addition to the direct and obvious message):

•  It reinforced the idea that as a Christian, I must die to myself.  (John 12:24, Luke 9:23)
•  It reinforced the idea that the time I spent worrying can and should be replaced with action to meet the needs of others, and that it will render the worry useless.  (Luke 12:22, Matt 10:19)
•  It helped me to trust more in the Lord’s promise to...

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To read more stories like this, click the link "Sound of God's Voice" below this posting, in the Categories area.

Rose cremated with body of Father Jack Trese emerges from furnace virtually unscathed

(this blog has grown up and is now a full website.  Please go instead to www.wtness.org.)
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Less than a week after his death on Oct. 20, 2004, longtime pastor of St. Columban Church in Birmingham, Michigan, the beloved Father John (Jack) Trese, was cremated.  A rose was put onto his casket by parishioner Kevin Degen, and the button to start the process was pushed, with much grief, by Jack’s longtime friend, Sister Mary Fran Gilleran, IHM, president of the IHM congregation in Monroe, Michigan.  Also in attendance was Pat Lynch, president and co-founder of the Clawson, Michigan site of Lynch & Sons Funeral Home.  Pat saw the rose go on.

Pat Lynch, Funeral Director

Father Jack Trese

About three hours later, after the furnace had burned its contents for that time period at 1700 degrees Fahrenheit, Pat Lynch was in attendance for the removal of the ashes.  He said to me by phone on Oct. 13, 2012, “When I retrieved Jack’s ashes from the crematory, I saw the very same rose that had gone in.  It was virtually unscathed.  It’s never happened before that I’ve ever heard of.  My reaction?  It was unbelievable.  Remarkable.  Quite a beautiful thing.  I don’t recall who else was present at the time, but Sister Mary Fran was not one of them."

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The Shirt Story - God Rewarded Generosity

This happened in 1993.

I had been trying to hold out before buying any more business shirts for work, but all of them were starting to show fraying around the collar and thin fabric at the elbows. So I told my wife Mary I wanted to go shopping on the weekend to get ten new shirts to replace the old ones. At $30 a shirt, that would be about $300. She said OK. 

Just before the weekend we ran into some friends from another church we hadn’t seen for a while. We had several minutes to chat, so we caught up with all that had happened in the past several months. The husband admitted they were in lean times. He had lost his job, and he had borrowed a computer from a friend to work on resumes and cover letters since he couldn’t afford to even rent one. Then he said, laughing, that the Lord was trying to teach him patience, because the computer’s hard drive broke while he was using it and he didn’t want to return it to its owner in this condition, but it would cost him $300 to repair it, and he didn’t have $300. 

   

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-Bill Schaef, Royal Oak, Michigan

Young mother feels personally forgiven by Jesus after cheating on her husband

It started out with me being pregnant with my daughter. Before my daughter, I ended up having 8 miscarriages. So I never really got my hopes up about the one that was about to come to me. Before I knew it and the doctor gave me the clear, I was due in June of 2010. I ended up having a healthy baby girl. After I had her, I was diagnose to a disease that most women get right after having a baby. It was called post pardem(sp) disorder. I had really crazy thoughts about hurting myself, and wanting to even hurt the precious little baby girl that my lord has blessed me with. I had really evil thoughts. And I'm still married (and still am to the father of the baby). At this point I had really bad depression, and more evil thoughts kept coming across from me. I didn't want to tell anyone I was sick, or even if they knew I was acting different. So at one point I did mention to my husband that I couldn't be trusted alone with my daughter, and then he knew something was up. I went and got help from the doctor and that's when I found out what I had. After that I started to secluded myself from my husband and my daughter. LIke I didn't even want to be around them. I didn't even want to be around my own family because I felt like a completely stranger to myself. Like their was another person created inside me. So I started to talk to my husband's best friend completely out of the blue while I'm still fighting this disease. I ended up meeting him for a lunch. And we slowly started to talk more and more. And then things led to one thing and another. And I ended up having a six month affair, because I created this fantasy of a whole another life with this man, like I said I felt like I wasn't even in my body. Like another personality was created. I was hardly home, and then one day, I started to go get help, and get on medication. Because my husband wanted me to. So once the meds started working, I started to find myself feeling a little better, like I wanted to be around my family again. Like I was finding the old me.

Then I realized what I was doing was wrong, and I ended the affair with the man and...


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-    Rachel T    9/12/2012