Deeply Rooted in Faith
Last year we were retiring from a faculty position in Missouri. This year we live in Oklahoma! Greetings from Oklahoma — land of severe thunder storms and tornadoes!!
My Paisano Centennial topic is “Deeply Rooted in Faith.”
Jim and Anice Frost, parents of Jack, Bert and me, came to Paisano in 1945. Dad had bought a new bread truck, and before it began its route, he drove it to these grounds and the family camped out in the back of that truck for the week. It was a 1945 prototype of RV’s today! At the time I was three weeks old, and of course I remember it like it was yesterday!
Mom and Dad were deeply committed to Christ – Pop as a man of wisdom and prayer and Mom loved missions and beauty. Paisano fit them — they loved this place, and they loved these people. Five generations of Frosts have been here. Of course, something new for us is that we love to be part of John’s ministry on these grounds. All of you connected with the Frost family, would you stand? We are somewhat weak in numbers right now, but we have lots of grandkids, especially boys and lots of testosterone! So watch out!
But now, please allow me personal privilege to share some of my own story and this place. In my early teen years, I was desperately searching. I needed rightness with God — I knew I needed God’s life and forgiveness in my life. And I was searching for my life’s direction. Should I be an engineer, should I be a minister? I prayed a lot, I talked with my dad, and I began on my own studying the Bible and discovering, for the first time, its amazing truths.
Months later, on these grounds when I was 15, one day I knew God was speaking to my heart. He wanted my full surrender to Him. That night in the service, I did not hear what the preacher said at all; God was dealing with me in my mind, and I was distraught. At the invitation, in my mind I heard the words, “Let go and let God have his wonderful way.” (Do you remember that chorus?) I came to the front weeping (very uncharacteristic of me, a football player) and humbly told those people that God was calling me to ministry.
I did not know all of what that meant and my understanding of ministry has certainly broadened, but what I do know is that I wept most of that night and prayed. And I said over and over, “Lord, I am yours now, do with me anything that You want.” The next morning I knew I was a different person. Todd Still explained in his Bible Study this week that Paul’s conversion to Christ and his call to be an apostle was one and the same experience. And that’s what I believe was true with me too.
I had now, once and for all, given myself to Christ and knew His direction for my life. So these Paisano grounds became my Bethel. You remember the story of Jacob, when he fled the anger of his brother Esau. That night he had a vision of God in which he committed his life to God, and he called that place Bethel, the house of God. That’s where he met God. And Paisano is where I met God – this is my Bethel.
I am sure that I am not alone. I am sure many of you in various ways have met God here and made life-changing commitments to Christ here on these grounds. Would you who have made life-changing commitments to Christ stand now with me? _____ So many of you! Thank you. Our testimonies are descriptions of Paisano’s being “deeply rooted in faith.” I love many of the traditions here, the food, the history, the mountains, but what this place means most to me is that this is the place where I gave myself to God.
Emily and I live in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Our daughter and family live there and there are over 2,000 international students at Oklahoma State University, most of whom need to become followers of Jesus. This is our work, and we’ve had Buddhists, atheists, Hindus, Muslims around our table. 70% of international students have never been invited into an American home. I would love to help you know how to have international students into your home. And if you do not have any international students near you, would you move to Stillwater, OK, and work with us? If you would pray for us, often or just occasionally, just give me your name and email address and we’ll send you our monthly Updates.
A “deeply rooted faith” needs to become a strategically shared faith. God is a missionary God from Abraham to Revelation. It was Jesus who said, “Go and make disciples of all the nations.” This is what faith has been and will be at Paisano. And all God’s people said, “_____ (Amen).” Thank you.
Jim Frost