Trucking Along

Sometimes at the beginning of the New Year, we hear about New Year's resolutions, which I would say in some cases are well-intentioned; but we know that true life change comes from the giver of
eternal life. John 5 states:
24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.

Hear and believe.  The Bible tells us that if we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved.  God wants us to really hear from Him, to receive His Word into our hearts and then to act on what He has said.  We are called to be more than merely hearers, but doers of the Word, indicating that we have heard and believed.  He has a plan for us, and wants to recast our lives in His image, so that Christ might be powerful in us.

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There are powerful words in the 6th chapter of the book of Romans that can remind us how God wants to take us as we are, to redeem and transform us, and to fill us with His nature in salvation. We
can read this:
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

A man from Gordo, Alabama used to take an truck out in the mud and go drinking.  But, God has redeemed the truck - and its owner, Terry Billings, according to a Baptist Press article provided by Grace Thornton of The Alabama Baptist.  The article opens by saying:

Terry Billings saw his old truck sitting in the field, weeds growing up through it. Then he heard God whisper that He could take that old truck and make something new out of it.

Billings was not a regular church attender at one time; in fact, far from it.  But, after attending his son's baptism, he started going.  He was all set to leave church one afternoon and spend a restful afternoon drinking, but God intervened - at Walmart:

"All of a sudden, I felt so visible, like everything I'd ever done was so visible," Billings said. "His eyes were on me. I tell everyone I had a Damascus Road experience that day, but it was a blue light special -- I got saved right there in Walmart at 45 years old. And my life has never been the same."

He became a pastor, and now serves Forest Baptist Church, which, according to the article, has "been among some of the top in the state for baptisms in recent years" among Southern Baptist churches.

He also received direction from the Lord to redeem that old truck, which is now known as the Heaven Bound Mud Bogger. Billings is quoted as saying: "God gave me this vision to reach out to people who are getting ignored -- the good ol' boys. I've always been one of them," adding, "I was an alcoholic and God reached out and touched me. If He hadn't and if people hadn't, I wouldn't have been saved. So there's nowhere that's too far for me to go to reach them."

He and some friends began to rebuild the truck, and donations began to flow in for the project, to the tune of $100,000! The Heaven Bound Mud Bogger is described as "a massive truck with a picture of a cross on the side and verses about finding eternal life in Jesus. On the tailgate it says, 'Covered in mud, but washed in the blood.'"

The truck now travels to a variety of events. They will, as the story says, "set up tents, share tracts and then connect with the local Baptist association so they can do follow up." Billings says, "Every time I stop anywhere, everybody in the gas station or Dollar General unloads and goes out to look at it. Then I get to tell them my story and what Jesus did for me," adding, "All it takes is a trip to Hardee's, and we have church."

Sammy Gilbreath of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions is quoted; he says that mud bogging "...becomes a great evangelistic tool reaching into a segment of our culture that is not being touched by any other phase of evangelism," adding, "I'm thrilled Terry is doing it. I think it will draw attention and spark ideas and creativity for other people too, and that can cause a domino effect."

We can consider a few things relative to this story.  First of all, think about this: what do you have at your disposal that can be used to direct people to Christ?  Terry Billings had an old truck and God gave him a creative idea for using it for His glory.  But, perhaps there is something you have - a physical item or a spiritual gift, that can be used for Him.  Remember, he is the God of creativity.

Of course, one of the most powerful things that you have is your story; your testimony - what God has done in Your life?  That can be a key component of sharing what it means to have a relationship with Christ.

Just as the old truck was able to be restored, we can think of how God wants to restore us, to remake us in His image.  God specializes in taking what (or who) is seemingly not usable and bringing glory to Himself.