"Greetings to all of you at AIT and the Grace Life Family,
For several years now I have wanted to write a short note of
thanks to all of you - especially to Pastor Jeff for his faithful and
bold preaching of God's Word, and share how it has mightily impacted
our lives, and shown us the beauty of our Lord so wondrously. I know
that hundreds of such letters must pour in, so I will try to keep this
brief, but my heart is burdened to share a note of encouragement, as I
just finished listening to Pt 1 and Pt 2 of John the Baptist from Luke
3, and despite an incredibly difficult time in my life, was so filled
with joy.
My wife and our 7 year old son and I live in a small town in the
mountains of British Columbia, Canada - after moving here from the
Pacific Northwest in 2009. I was a "false convert" for most of my adult life - baptized,
attending church, etc, but eventually realized that something was
wrong, and began to have a strong desire to be "clean" and free from
the sins in my life, and to draw near to God with a hungering
for His Word - especially after marriage, as I began to observe my
wife, realizing I didn't "have" what she had. After a lengthy time of
repeating prayers, and listening to guys on TV, the Lord sent a
faithful minister of the Gospel who preached the whole counsel of God,
and I saw my true condition before a holy God. The Lord saved me and
gave me a new heart and I knew what it meant to be a new creature!
Shortly after that time, in 2007 in an ongoing search for
more preaching of the old, old, Gospel, we began to listen online to
Pastor Jeff, and I can't express my joy and gratitude that the Lord
would send us a sound preacher - from thousands of miles away! With a
lengthy time of unemployment, I began to learn and grow listening to
the series on Hebrews and Ephesians. It was through those messages that
I came to understand the great truths of the doctrines of grace -
something I had rejected before - and also the importance of expository
preaching. What joy fills my heart as I write this!
Our lives were transformed, bit by bit, truth by truth. We slowly
became "strangers and misfits" to many in the professing churches
we attended.... as we looked for just a crumb from the table of the
true Gospel. The words - sin, salvation, repentance, the cross, justice
and wrath are virtually unheard of in most of the churches we have
visited.
Now our meager bookshelves are lined with books from dead
preachers, evangelists and missionaries of centuries past, and we joy
in reading to our son about other "strangers" and "pilgrims" down
through the ages. The preaching of the Gospel has grown very, very dim, here, and
while we share with others - including trying to point local pastors to
Gospel saturated resources, there are still just the three of us, and
the more we share and stand for the truth - the more it seems we stand
more and more alone - especially among church attending family
members. We pray that God will raise up others in our midst and perhaps
one day we will come down and visit and ask for your assistance
in building a Biblical church. What a day that would be!
Though we face very difficult times of sorrow and loss in our
lives that I won't mention here, we know that three thousand miles
away there is a biblical church, where the true Gospel, and the true
Christ are being proclaimed, and we can turn there for sound preaching.
We pray that the Lord will open more and more doors for you, as you are
faithful in what He has given you.
You are all in our prayers, and one day perhaps we will have the
pleasure of meeting in person, perhaps at a True Church Conference."
In Christ alone,
The Grahams