What is faith? This story is a superb example of faith in God:
Pastor
John Collins, head pastor of Love That Cross Ministries,
is one of the 15 most influential pastors living today. Inspirational
Faith Magazine highlighted the
ministry of Pastor
John Collins. His faith
is unwavering and inspirational. His preaching is spiritual
and moving. His style is vibrant and animated. He is a fresh
and honest example for evangelism,
revival,
and renewal
that is sweeping the United States.
Pastor
John is a man
of God and he lives
to serve God. He was not always a Christian
and didn’t believe in God. For the past ten years, Pastor
John has grown into an outspoken,
dynamic evangelist, very much like a modern day Billy
Sunday of the 1930’s. Late last month, Pastor John Collins
heard God tell him to walk for Him. Pastor
John is quoted to say “Was sitting Sunday watching the Cubs play
when I felt GOD tell me to walk for him” and he believes that when God asks
Pastor
John to do something, Pastor
John obeys. Creating a sign which says “Blessed
are the peacemakers, BLUE LIVES MATTER, GOD MATTERS,” Pastor John
Collins walked 19 miles the next day in the July heat. Pastor John
did not look for attention
for that walk, but people did notice and have
spread that message across
the country by social media. “GOD MATTERS.”
Too many times, God
asks us to act for Him and we ignore Him or we don’t hear His voice. That quiet
voice is drowned
out by a chaotic world that is noisy and all too quick to turn its back on the One who
created it. Pastor John
Collins is not ashamed to profess his faith. Pastor
John does not ignore that quiet voice. Pastor
John does not turn his back on God. Pastor
John Collins will take a firm and unshakeable stand on
the difficult issues that are facing this country.
That stand takes guts and courage. That stand includes taking a sign across country,
19 miles, to tell people “GOD
MATTERS”.
Pastor
John is NOT a marathon runner. He DOES NOT devote hours every
day to working out to improve his stamina or increase his strength. Pastor
John is very much an average man of middle age. Pastor
John did not have time to have a professional sign created to catch
the eye or to promote the appearance of God’s task. Pastor
John did not have any specially made footwear or athletic clothing
to accomplish God’s task. Most people struggle to walk two miles on any
given day as a form of exercise for their health benefits. Pastor
John simply felt God’s call, got up the next day and began
walking. He did
not know when he started out just how many miles he
would walk. His goal was to walk to the next
town, carrying
a sign that stated “GOD
MATTERS”. That next town
was 19 miles away: not two miles or five
miles, but
19 miles.
What is so special about walking 19 miles carrying a
sign?
Most Americans
take about 20 to 45 minutes to go 20 miles in a car, depending upon where
they live. In a days’ time when Jesus Christ lived,
the average distance
covered by Jesus
and the
disciples was about 1 or two miles to get from one town to
another. Pastor
John walked those 19 miles unconditionally without any
special preparation in advance, without any special training, without
any specially designed clothing, and without any advance notice
to media to bring awareness to his mission. Pastor
John did it many of us because he
knows with all his heart that GOD MATTERS
in everything.
How many people have
the dedication to anything that would inspire us
to get up and go do something without any
preparation or planning in advance? Most churches take months
to go from
suggestion to implementation of a decision. Most people don’t have the
enthusiasm to participate in something like a marathon or
competition without months of preparation and planning. Pastor
John is dedicated to God. GOD MATTERS so much in Pastor
John’s life that he did what he was asked and then paid a
physical price of discomfort for days. The message here is that God really wants us
as a country and a people. He hasn’t given up on us even though society
on the whole has given
up on Him. Pastor John’s message is very simple: God should count in
our everyday lives, whether it’s while watching a baseball game or
when we are in the depths of misery. GOD
MATTERS and He
wants to be part of our lives unconditionally.
Pastor
John Collins will tell you candidly that he is not politically
correct, but he IS biblically correct. What was written
over 2000 years ago in the Holy
Bible is just as applicable today as it was when it was
written. God mattered then and GOD MATTERS
now. The Holy
Bible holds records of men and women who were called by God
to perform and complete what to us were impossible tasks. Those men and women
had faith that barely exists in today’s world. Pastor John demonstrated
a rock solid belief that God moved him
to walk for Him. Pastor
John’s rock solid faith allowed him to walk 19 miles in the heat of
a summer day to serve God, without any special preparation or fanfare, to
spread the message that “GOD MATTERS.”
Pastor
John Collins gives us all an extraordinary example of how to obey and honor God.
To Pastor
John, “GOD MATTERS.” Pastor
John Collins chooses to serve
God by obedience to what God asks of Pastor John.
God has played an important role in Pastor John Collins'
life for over 10 years. Pastor
John will tell you that he was once so far from the Cross that he
needed binoculars to see it. But now, by the Grace
of God and all that He has blessed Pastor John with, Pastor
John Collins will tell you that he has splinters in his hands from clinging to that Cross. GOD MATTERS.
With God, everything
is possible. Peace, ending violence, ceasing chaos, living in
harmony is not a fairy tale or an impossible dream. Pastor
John Collins wants as many people to know that God knows what is
happening here in the United
States and around the world. His message of GOD MATTERS
is meant to reach everyone, everywhere. What
God wants, according to Pastor
John Collins, is for us as people to get to know God again. We have
all stepped so far away from God that we have
forgotten that He really does exist. GOD
MATTERS. Pastor
John will tell you that God wants us to read the Holy
Bible again, that He wants us to talk to Him again. Pastor
John preaches that God sent Jesus
Christ to us as our salvation and our hope. Pastor
John preached that hope through his walk for God with the simple
message “GOD MATTERS”.
Pastor John
Collins through Love That Cross Ministries that began
in Wheatland, Wyoming has preached across the country, from Idaho to Wyoming,
Georgia to North Carolina and many places in between with the message that GOD
MATTERS.
Pastor John Collins says“It’s time for us to get to know GOD
again. GOD MATTERS, BELIEVE THAT.”
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