Mike Dewees
Like many of you, I accepted the Lord at an early age. I spent my early days as an “Air Force brat” and later as a “Preacher’s kid.” I can’t remember a time that I did not know about Christ. At age 8, I accepted Christ after hearing of Him from, and seeing Him in, the lives of godly parents, and being affected by godly leaders. I vividly remember a conversation that occurred years later in a youth ministry seminary class on “Children and Salvation.” The class presented several views and questions on “when” a child could/should accept Christ, and the answer from Dr. Phil Briggs was “when they understand enough to understand!” Although very simplistic, I would say that described me as an 8-year-old. I didn’t know all there was to know about salvation, or all I would learn over the next 50+ years, but I knew enough to understand my great need for, and enter into relationship with, Christ. In my early 20’s, while in the Marine Corps, I was discipled by my Sunday School teacher at FBC Jacksonville, NC. Jim was a retired Colonel, a serious Marine, but more so, a serious follower of Christ. I grew in the Lord, at a rate I had not experienced before. Jim gave me a copy of MacArthur’s book, "The Gospel According to Jesus". That is the point I really began to understand “Lordship.” The book challenged me to look at my life, to examine my fruits, and to ask: if people looked at me, would they see anything that reflected my relationship with Christ? Sadly, I would have to answer, “not always”, and I really sought to change that. I also began to understand that, although salvation happens once, it also continues to happen for a “lifetime” experience of obedience and sanctification. It was also at FBC that I began to understand the Lord’s calling on my life. I became involved in ministry teaching in youth, discipling young men, etc. Around the time that I was getting out of the Marines, the youth pastor left, and I served in an interim capacity for several months. When I completed college, I moved to Murfreesboro, to be closer to family and to prepare for seminary. I became a member at Third Baptist, where my parents were members. When the worship/youth pastor left, I served as youth pastor for several months before going to Texas to seminary.
I left Murfreesboro for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1990. I would discover that the Lord used this time to lead me to my wife, Debra. We were introduced not long after I got to Fort Worth. She was a widow with two young children, and as we became friends, I got a front row seat of seeing how people deal with grief, really depending on the Lord for everything. After several months we began dating, and in the Spring of 1992 married. I had a clear picture, in Debra, of total reliance on the Lord, of true faith, and of putting others ahead of self (think Philippians 2). We moved to Murfreesboro in 1998 after the death of my father. We landed in a local church and were involved in every aspect of church life. Two more children came along in 2001. We raised four children, grew in our faith together, and passed that faith to our children and to others. We taught and led in various ministries, went on mission locally, nationally and internationally, discipled young couples and prayed how the Lord would use us for His Kingdom. We rarely turned down opportunities to serve.
Things were good, not always easy, but good. Like most families, we had challenges. We went through a 9-year adoption battle, that we felt was being waged out of pure evil. Yet we always knew to turn to God, as we knew He would see it through, and He did. For so many years, we prayed Psalm 91, night after night, and asked the Lord to draw us into Himself and protect us, especially our boys, with His pinions. We went through building several successful businesses, and then shutting them down when the economy took its toll. In order to support my family, I went to work in Atlanta for 15 months, seeing Debra and the kids every other weekend. I called this time in our lives “Living on the outskirts of Uz (Think Job).” We didn’t see the whirlwind, but we definitely felt it blowing! In all of this, we were grateful because we could see God’s hand of provision in our situation, and we prayed that He would use us to show His care to others. Psalm 50 tells us that God owns the cattle on a Thousand Hills. I think He sold a few over that period of life to care for us! In July of 2016, we found ourselves in the whirlwind. Debra was diagnosed with cancer. The cancer was rare and aggressive, but she fought just as aggressively. Debra died in August of 2017. That hit our family hard, but God was good. It took me a while to realize it, but He had prepared me all through our lives together for this moment. I learned a lot about how to depend on Him, through her. How to trust Him with all, because He is truly all we have. The years we had, of caring for others, taught me how to put aside my pride and let others care for us. In the aftermath of Debra’s death, I felt the Lord leading me to minister directly to those hurting. The Lord also led me to pursue a degree in Biblical Counseling, as I saw a lack of good counseling for my boys when I sought that after Debra’s death. I graduated with a second degree from Southwestern, an MA in Biblical Counseling in 2022. The Lord has allowed me to lead GriefShare for several years and to counsel on a regular basis. I teach High School guys in Life Group. I have been on two mission trips to St. Albans, VT in support of our church plant there. I also serve as a deacon, am a member of the Stewardship Committee, and work in VBS and ETC.
I left Murfreesboro for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1990. I would discover that the Lord used this time to lead me to my wife, Debra. We were introduced not long after I got to Fort Worth. She was a widow with two young children, and as we became friends, I got a front row seat of seeing how people deal with grief, really depending on the Lord for everything. After several months we began dating, and in the Spring of 1992 married. I had a clear picture, in Debra, of total reliance on the Lord, of true faith, and of putting others ahead of self (think Philippians 2). We moved to Murfreesboro in 1998 after the death of my father. We landed in a local church and were involved in every aspect of church life. Two more children came along in 2001. We raised four children, grew in our faith together, and passed that faith to our children and to others. We taught and led in various ministries, went on mission locally, nationally and internationally, discipled young couples and prayed how the Lord would use us for His Kingdom. We rarely turned down opportunities to serve.
Things were good, not always easy, but good. Like most families, we had challenges. We went through a 9-year adoption battle, that we felt was being waged out of pure evil. Yet we always knew to turn to God, as we knew He would see it through, and He did. For so many years, we prayed Psalm 91, night after night, and asked the Lord to draw us into Himself and protect us, especially our boys, with His pinions. We went through building several successful businesses, and then shutting them down when the economy took its toll. In order to support my family, I went to work in Atlanta for 15 months, seeing Debra and the kids every other weekend. I called this time in our lives “Living on the outskirts of Uz (Think Job).” We didn’t see the whirlwind, but we definitely felt it blowing! In all of this, we were grateful because we could see God’s hand of provision in our situation, and we prayed that He would use us to show His care to others. Psalm 50 tells us that God owns the cattle on a Thousand Hills. I think He sold a few over that period of life to care for us! In July of 2016, we found ourselves in the whirlwind. Debra was diagnosed with cancer. The cancer was rare and aggressive, but she fought just as aggressively. Debra died in August of 2017. That hit our family hard, but God was good. It took me a while to realize it, but He had prepared me all through our lives together for this moment. I learned a lot about how to depend on Him, through her. How to trust Him with all, because He is truly all we have. The years we had, of caring for others, taught me how to put aside my pride and let others care for us. In the aftermath of Debra’s death, I felt the Lord leading me to minister directly to those hurting. The Lord also led me to pursue a degree in Biblical Counseling, as I saw a lack of good counseling for my boys when I sought that after Debra’s death. I graduated with a second degree from Southwestern, an MA in Biblical Counseling in 2022. The Lord has allowed me to lead GriefShare for several years and to counsel on a regular basis. I teach High School guys in Life Group. I have been on two mission trips to St. Albans, VT in support of our church plant there. I also serve as a deacon, am a member of the Stewardship Committee, and work in VBS and ETC.
John Putman
My name is John Putman. My wife is Jennifer and I have 3 married daughters, 3 Son-in-laws, 2 grandchildren with another one on the way God willing. I have been married for almost 40 yrs and I have been in a relationship with Jesus Christ of Nazareth for almost 50 yrs. Both of those numbers are very hard to believe. Ask me how I met my wife if you want to know. This testimony is how I came to be in relationship with Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
If you are follower of Christ today you have a journey that led you to Him. I had 2 main influences for hearing about Jesus. From birth I heard the Stories from the Bible - Old Testament and New Testament - from faithful Sunday School teachers like some of you. When I entered 6th grade I began attending a private Christian school where I had chapel services & Bible class as a subject alongside Math, English, History & Science, etc. I attended the school through graduation in 1981. In Bible Class I memorized a lot of scripture over the next 7 years. I was constantly confronted with the separation from God that all of us are born with because of the general human condition of lostness. But I was also constantly confronted in scripture with my own personal separation from God because of my choices - my sin that continued to separate me from a Holy God. I found out from Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death (both physically & spiritually). I found out I could do nothing on my own to close the gap of separation. I needed to be rescued. I needed a Savior that could do what I could not do. One that could bring me back to God and empower me by His Holy Spirit to live for Him. I read the rest of the verse from Romans - “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
So I was well equipped with the knowledge of Jesus that was needed for salvation (a restored relationship with God), but I was not equipped for the overwhelming events that God brought into this 13 yr old boys life over several days in Feb 1975. Two of my best friends were killed in a car accident on the way to school in Nashville along with their older sister the driver. I was in shock & totally numb. 24 hrs later I was welcomed into the arms of the the grieving father & I instantly became overcome with grief & tears that would not seem to end. But on the 2nd night of visitation I began to overhear spiritual conversations between the parents of the 3 kids and their friends around them that were there supporting them. I had not heard these kinds of conversations before at home, at church or at school. These people knew Christ and expressed their relationship with Him naturally. They talked of the goodness of God in the midst of their grief. They saw God at work in using their loss to reach others. By the time of the funeral God had shown up in so many ways for so many people from all over Nashville. That was cool. But for this 13 yr old boy, He showed up for me in my time of pain & He graciously comforted me. I saw that He was alive - not just in story form or even in memorized scripture. That was the day - I turned away from the life I had known up till then & turned toward Him. I received what He had already done & made available to me through His life, His death for my waywardness, taking my place for the punishment that belonged to me, and His resurrected life. He is alive today and I am too.
My new life, my changed life began that day and by God’s grace I have grown in that life. It has been an adventure to follow after Him during the years He has given me. I can’t wait to see where following Him on this new journey as your lay pastor/lay elder @3bc will lead.
If you are follower of Christ today you have a journey that led you to Him. I had 2 main influences for hearing about Jesus. From birth I heard the Stories from the Bible - Old Testament and New Testament - from faithful Sunday School teachers like some of you. When I entered 6th grade I began attending a private Christian school where I had chapel services & Bible class as a subject alongside Math, English, History & Science, etc. I attended the school through graduation in 1981. In Bible Class I memorized a lot of scripture over the next 7 years. I was constantly confronted with the separation from God that all of us are born with because of the general human condition of lostness. But I was also constantly confronted in scripture with my own personal separation from God because of my choices - my sin that continued to separate me from a Holy God. I found out from Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death (both physically & spiritually). I found out I could do nothing on my own to close the gap of separation. I needed to be rescued. I needed a Savior that could do what I could not do. One that could bring me back to God and empower me by His Holy Spirit to live for Him. I read the rest of the verse from Romans - “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
So I was well equipped with the knowledge of Jesus that was needed for salvation (a restored relationship with God), but I was not equipped for the overwhelming events that God brought into this 13 yr old boys life over several days in Feb 1975. Two of my best friends were killed in a car accident on the way to school in Nashville along with their older sister the driver. I was in shock & totally numb. 24 hrs later I was welcomed into the arms of the the grieving father & I instantly became overcome with grief & tears that would not seem to end. But on the 2nd night of visitation I began to overhear spiritual conversations between the parents of the 3 kids and their friends around them that were there supporting them. I had not heard these kinds of conversations before at home, at church or at school. These people knew Christ and expressed their relationship with Him naturally. They talked of the goodness of God in the midst of their grief. They saw God at work in using their loss to reach others. By the time of the funeral God had shown up in so many ways for so many people from all over Nashville. That was cool. But for this 13 yr old boy, He showed up for me in my time of pain & He graciously comforted me. I saw that He was alive - not just in story form or even in memorized scripture. That was the day - I turned away from the life I had known up till then & turned toward Him. I received what He had already done & made available to me through His life, His death for my waywardness, taking my place for the punishment that belonged to me, and His resurrected life. He is alive today and I am too.
My new life, my changed life began that day and by God’s grace I have grown in that life. It has been an adventure to follow after Him during the years He has given me. I can’t wait to see where following Him on this new journey as your lay pastor/lay elder @3bc will lead.