Story Time | Religious Site

INTRODUCTION TO STORY TIME

Each life is a story. I have mine and you have yours. As we live out the story of our lives, our stories intersect and interact. This interaction can take many forms, everything from a casual acquaintance to a lifetime relationship. Imbedded in all these lives are a vast number of stories of every variance and description. Some of these stories should never be told. They are too tragic and painful. Others should be told because they have the potential to benefit and inspire. These are the stories that I plan to share with you on this story time page. Most of the stories that I share here will be based on personal interactions with acquaintances I have known and experiences in ministry over the years. I hope you find them interesting and inspiring. In keeping with the theme of my website, the stories I share will somehow connect to biblical truths.

Before I write my first story, I want to remind the visitors to this page that the greatest story that has ever been told is the story of Jesus. The story of the life of Jesus and His crucifixion was captured in an epic move titled "The Greatest Story Ever Told" which was produced and directed by George Stevens in 1965. Hopefully, the story of Jesus has touched and changed your life as He has changed my life.

Jesus Won't Let You Walk Far

When I became the pastor of Poydras Baptist Church in Louisiana in 1972, several people mentioned a member who was a shut-in lady. Her named was Ruby Anderson. She was bed ridden and unable to attend church. I went to her home to visit her and was greeted at the door by a young lady who appeared to be in her late twenties or early thirties. It was apparent that she had some oriental features. After I introduced myself as the new pastor of Poydras Baptist Church, she invited me in and led me to a bedroom where Mrs. Anderson was lying in a bed. She was frail and weighed less than 100 lbs.

I introduced myself to Mrs. Anderson and told her I was the new pastor of Poydras Baptist church. Immediately, she beamed with joy and excitement. She said, "Oh, Bro. Winburn, I'm so glad you are our new pastor. Thank you for coming to see me." This was the first of many wonderful visits. In all the visits I never once heard a complaint from her lips. She never complained of being in pain or feeling badly. She always wanted to know if someone had accepted Jesus as Savior. She wanted to know about the people and the activities related to the church.

Over the subsequent weeks and months, I visited Mrs. Anderson regularly. She told me many stories about her life and her merchant marine husband, Mr. Anderson, who was deceased. They had lived in the Vieux Carre, the French Quarter section of New Orleans, and were active members of the Vieux Carre Baptist Church. A young oriental woman who lived in the quarter became pregnant with twins. The father was an American man, but He was totally removed from the picture. I am not sure of the details, but Mr. and Mrs. Anderson entered into an agreement to adopt the twins at birth.

After adopting the babies, The Andersons decided that the French Quarter was not the best place to raise the children. They moved to St. Bernard Parish and rented a home. When I became pastor of Poydras Baptist Church, St. Bernard Parish was 98% Catholic. The family that the Andersons rented the home from was Catholic.

One of the first things the Andersons did after they settled in was to spread the news that they were going to start a Sunday School on Sundays to study the Bible. There were only two Baptist churches in the parish at that time. When the news got out about them starting a Sunday School in their home, some members from Violet Baptist Church came to visit them. Violet Baptist was one of the two Baptist churches in the parish. These visitors told the Anderson that when the Catholic family found out they were starting a Baptist Sunday School in their home, they would kick them out.

With great delight, Mrs. Anderson told me what Mr. Anderson said to these faint-hearted Christians from the Violet church. He said, "We're going to start this Sunday School. If they kick us out, I will take one of these babies in my arms and mama (Mrs. Anderson) will take the other baby in her arms and we will start walking. Jesus won't let us walk far."

The Andersons started the Sunday School. They were not kicked out. That Sunday School became one of the key components in the establishment of Poydras Baptist Church.

This story has thrilled me and emboldened me over the years. I never worry about being kicked out. If I am kicked out in the service of Jesus, I don't believe He will let me walk far. I hope you have this same confidence in Jesus.

Man, You're Something

Cal Smith sung a song titled Country Bumpkin. Some of the lyrics are "Hello, country bumpkin, How's the frost put on the pumpkin? I've seen some sights but man you're something. Where did you come from country bumpkin?" The writer of this song was accurate when he wrote, "man you're something." Mankind is something and as to the question, "Where did you come from country bumpkin," the answer is from God.

In Genesis 1:26, 27 the Bible says, "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to our likeness ... so God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.'" Man is truly something because he is created in the image and likeness of God. Theologians and Bible scholars have tried to interpret what it means for us to be created in God's image and likeness. They have cited things such as man's intellect and his ability to reason and make decisions, his moral understanding and responsibility and the freedom that we possess.

One thing is clear in scripture, man is the crown of God's creation. He is unique and stands apart from all else that God has created. We should be grateful for the place that God has given us in His creation. Every nationality and every race among the human family bears this same image. To dehumanize any race or place make one race superior to another is an evil distortion of the doctrine of the creation of man.

Whatever the full meaning and implications of our being created in the image and likeness of God may be, there are two things that are especially applicable for us as we live out our lives. First, the fact that we are created in the image and likeness of gives us value. We need to see the value that God has given to us as the crown of His creation. Every person and every life should be given the upmost respect. If we truly value life, can we choose to destroy it without necessity or cause? Can we scorn any human being, even though we may reject their actions and grieve over their choices. I believe life in our world today has become cheap, something to be discarded or destroyed if and when life becomes inconvenient or stands in the way of our selfish, egotistical, evil purposes or objectives. May God help us value life.

The second meaning or implication of being created in the image and likeness of God is that we represent God in our world. Bearing His image and likeness we are God's representatives and agents in His world. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, "Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ..." An ambassador represents a country, speaks and acts on behalf of his country. Only mankind created in the image and likeness of God can represent Him and act on His behalf. In the Bible God uses animals. God actually used a donkey to speak to Balaam, a prophet who was enlisted to curse the children of Israel. A talking donkey can be used of God but cannot represent God as man does.

The obvious question for all of us who profess Christ as our Savior, how are we representing God in our world? Are we bearing His image in such a way that we are bringing glory and honor to His name. This is our challenge each day. God help us to realize our value and our responsibility as mankind created in His image and likeness. And just remember, "Man, You're Something."

Presents and Presence

The story that I am about to relate is a true story that happened on December 25, 1956. I am not proud of the story. I think back on it with deep regret. I decided to share it because it happened on Christmas day and pertained to a Christmas present.

I grew up very poor in terms of money. We basically didn't have any. We had a farm with plenty of land. We grew the majority of our food. Animals provided meat, milk and butter. At Christmas time any presents we received were practical things, things like an apple and an orange, maybe a couple of pieces of hard candy and an article of clothing such as an under shirt.

On Christmas morning of 1956 my mother presented me with a Bible for a Christmas present. This is the regrettable part of the story. When my mother gave me the Bible, I threw it in the floor and said, "I don't want a Bible." Sadly, I was voicing what I really felt. At 12 years old, I wanted a bicycle, a baseball glove or a baseball. I wanted the things that other kids received.

I can still remember the look of hurt in my mother's eyes. I never read the Bible. It was stored away somewhere in our house. Eight years later, at the age of 20, I received Jesus Christ into my heart and life. It was not on Christmas day. It was in the spring of the year when Cedar Creek Baptist Church conducted a series of revival services. The speaker was an Indian preacher from North Carolina.

Everything changed in a glorious way that Monday night. What I received that Monday night in 1964 was more than a present; it was a presence, the very presence of the living, resurrected Christ.

I went home that night after the revival service, went to sleep and got up and went to work Tuesday morning at Sonoco Products Company. I told my co-workers that I had become a Christian.

The second thing I did as a Christian after telling others about my experience of receiving Christ was to obtain a Bible and start reading it. It was not the Bible that I had thrown in the floor on Christmas day in 1956, but it was a Bible.

I love the Bible today. It is nothing less than truth without any mixture of error, and, yes, it is infallible and trustworthy. The theme of this website is a statement of how I view the Bible. My website theme is "The Unequalled Power and Potential of Biblical Truth."

I rejected the present my mother tried to give me on December 25, 1956, but praise God, I received the presence that God wants to give to all of us by sending His Son to be our Savior. The presence of Christ in my life turned rejection into love for the present my mother gave to me many years ago.

I pray that Christ is a living presence in your life. If He is a living presence in your life, no doubt you love the Bible.

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