If you spent any time on our campus this past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday you are certain to have experienced the power of God’s Holy Spirit working in and through His people. One of the awesome focal points of God’s powerful joy, and energy, and life was Dr. Roland Martinson… who Pastor Ron familiarly called Rollie. In the picture, Dr. Martinson is on the left, and Pastor Ron is on the right.Dr. Martinson was the keynote speaker for the Men’s Conference on Friday and Saturday. He’s not a particularly big guy; rather like a twin brother to Pastor Ron. I was blown away by his presence, however, and his spiritual stature is immense! He spoke with power and authority, but from his heart, and without pretense. He led us, he instructed us, he equipped us, and he challenged us to “follow the guy from Nazareth.” Add to that the 14 workshop opportunities, the jazz pianist, our Sunday music team, vocal groups, and over a hundred men joining their voices in song and prayer, and you have just a shadowy taste of a fantastic 2-day Men’s Conference.
Now don’t feel bad if you missed the conference, especially all you women, because Dr. Martinson saved his best for last. He preached at all of our services this weekend… and touched the hearts of all who heard him share his faith and his story. He shared so much with us, yet when he closed, I was yearning for more. Two things in particular touched me: How he shared Scripture with us, and the story about the death of his 2-year old son.
The Scripture he shared with us was John 14:1-14. He asked that someone read the first verse aloud, and then somebody else read the next verse, and so on. He assigned no order of readers. Indeed, he assigned no one to even start. Yet someone did start, and was followed by a different voice reading the next verse, and then another, and then another. As the Word of God was read and shared by each of us, for each of us… it unfolded in the sanctuary like a beautiful flower. I found the experience exciting and powerful.
The story about the death of his little boy tied into one of his themes of Jesus healing and mending ‘damaged goods.’ What was really moving was how a young 17-year old girl reached out to him with a poem she had written. Dr. Martinson, who has the poem engraved on his heart, shared it with us with incredible feeling; here is the poem by Bonnie Oien in print:
TEARS
The tears flow gently down my cheek,
Each drop a silent word to speak.
Sometimes when it’s too hard to pray,
My tears know just the words to say.
Sometimes they whisper hurt and pain,
Sometimes they simply fall like rain.
More often they speak warmth and care,
And you will find God’s presence there.
I thank you God for tears that fall,
I thank you that you see them all.
The words are silent, but they’re there,
Each drop a silent liquid prayer.
Because a young woman reached out to him in faith and Christ-like compassion, God’s Holy Spirit could suture Roland’s heart and allow healing to begin.
Have you suffered a terrible loss? Are you still hurting? Are you still damaged? If healing has started, how was God evident in that healing process, or moment?
YBIC, Dave
Hey Dave, I appreciated your comments about the conference. God's Spirit was in/with/under the events and the people who gathered. The 30 plus guys who helped pull this all off were awesome and of course Rollie was/still is the dynamo that I remembered. Peace bro
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ReplyDelete"Each drop a silent liquid prayer"
ReplyDeleteThat helped me.
Today is six months since my husband of 36 years died. Oh how it hurts sometimes. This morning the pianist played a wonderful arrangement of "And Can It Be" which is his very favorite hymn. How appropriate for this monthiversary I thought. Of course I teared through the whole thing and mouthed the words as well. He was such an example of on the one hand his faithfulness to God, on the other hand relying on God for all strength those last 3 years. I can not only look back at how He has been with us and guided us and made things work together for our good, but now I can sense it in real time, as I have no strength of my own many days. Yet, yes, I am healing. I do not want to stay broken and the Lord offers His comfort if only I do not turn away. Of course it helps to have the family of God hugging and praying for me, doing as unto the Lord. So I do know that I am not alone, and He has given me the confidence not to fear. (mostly)
I am Bonnie Oien. Rollie was and continues to be a living influence in my life. I babysat his children the night before Scottie became ill. I was devastated then and reached out to Rollie in poetry because I needed healing too. God came to both of us through that experience, through each other.
ReplyDeleteI continue to write poetry, inspired by the Holy Spirit and with the insight of a blessed life.
I was amazed to find this poem on the internet....but then I am always amazed where Rollie is concerned.
Bonnie… I was blown away by the love, the insight, and the compassion you expressed so eloquently in your Tears poem. I doubted very much that God had blessed you with only the one poem, but my searches of the internet turned up very little (after so many years, I figured you must have gotten married and changed your name). I did find that your poem has also been credited as the inspiration for a song on the Intersecting Circles recording by Dennis Hendricksen. Quite apropos, don’t you think? The ripples caused by your poetry continue to spread; continue to intersect… and change… lives. It quite takes your breath away, to stand upon a pinnacle of time and see the incredible power of God’s Holy Spirit. Thank you, Bonnie. Through your devastation and in your need for healing, you allowed God’s Spirit to guide your creativity. Then you took a step on faith and did more than help Rollie, you helped God fashion an incredible teacher, and a passionate preacher, and a compassionate healer, who is a good example of being led by the Spirit.
ReplyDeleteIf you’d consider sharing more of your poetry and prose with us, perhaps you’d like to become one of our contributors for this blog. Look up my Admin information if you’d like to email me and explore this opportunity further.