By Ted Robertson
Marriage is challenging for everyone at times, but add to that different beliefs on questions of faith, and you have a recipe for disaster. Despite the fact that my wife and I thought we would be the exception, we soon discovered that we were not. We were two people going in opposite directions. Conflict and tension is always present when one person wants to go to church and the other wants to party. Ending the marriage seemed to be the only solution to the problem. Our two small boys could not understand why Daddy was not living at home. I had a great deal of bitterness towards God. Over the next forty days, I did a great deal of crying. My heart was broken over my two wonderful boys. This prompted a move back home. Church attendance was the condition required in order to resolve the boys’ pain.
After only a short period of time, the consequences of sin and separation from God made my need for Jesus very evident. After I made a commitment to follow Christ, my marriage began to fill with love. In a single moment I had changed into a new person. Here’s an example: it seemed like I had tried everything to stop smoking, but always failed. Following the night when I invited Jesus into my life, and asked Him to change me, I never touched a cigarette again, or even missed it. There was also the newfound love for my wife, as well as other people. I simply understood my need to irrevocably commit my life to Christ. No one needed to tell me that I was going to go to heaven, I simply knew it. I was trusting Jesus to bridge the gap between my sinful state and God. With my decision to follow Jesus, my life took a hundred-and-eighty degree turn, and it has been the most wonderful adventure that anyone could ever experience.
Over the next few years, my leadership skills led to a great deal of involvement at my church. However, sharing Jesus’ grace and love was not a part of my everyday life. One day, Don Hail from the IFCB (International Fellowship of Christian Businessmen) asked me to speak to a group of people about how I came to commit my life to Jesus. From then on, a new chapter began in my life. All over Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas, I told the story of how my life had been changed. Can you believe it? A layman, not a preacher, was being used by God to share the transforming power found in Jesus Christ. That is how I became a part of the IFCB. God used my story during all of those speaking engagements to point people to Jesus. I saw people commit their lives to Christ and be healed.
As president of the Tulsa IFCB chapter, I have seen the Lord do so many ways amazing things. We help meet needs, and encourage and pray for people in the market place. Many people will not listen to a pastor, since he gets paid to talk about God, but they will listen to a business man, because they feel his message is coming from the heart. The Lord God uses laymen to reach out to people that might not hear about Jesus through any other means. We have had amazing opportunities to be involved in people’s lives and share Jesus’ love!
Shortly after I got involved with the IFCB, Don Hail expressed a desire to help the poor people in the projects on the north side of Tulsa. At the time, there were not any churches in the area. They needed someone to show them kindness, care, and concern for them. We had a meeting at a YMCA with around 280 people in attendance. Lewis Toras (SP) spoke that night about how God had changed his life. Lewis had been a gang member, destined to spend the rest of his life in prison, but God had completely transformed his life, just like He had done with mine.
Thirty-five people committed their lives to Jesus Christ that evening. When Lewis asked people to come up to the front, so we could pray for them, a man brought his mother forward. She had been in a wheelchair for fifteen years. She could not function on her own. All the leaders began to pray for her, but when we asked God to heal her nothing happened. Fifteen minutes after the man had wheeled his mother back to their seats there was a scream. When I looked up, the woman was running to the front. I had never seen anything like that before!
I have many stories of people committing their lives to Jesus, being helped in miraculous ways, and being healed. Between the years of 1989 and 1996, we had people from all over the country come and speak in North Tulsa about God’s love and grace. Drugs and alcohol habits had bound these people and some were ex-convicts but they had all been touched by God and changed forever. They wanted to tell others about God’s grace and His transforming power. By the time I moved to the south side of Tulsa, there were many organizations involved in meeting the needs of people in North Tulsa.
God has never spoken to me through handwriting on the wall, or through an audible voice; instead he gently tugs on my heart. When my wife was dying of cancer in 1996, the Lord God told me to resign as president of the North Tulsa IFCB chapter. I came back to the South Tulsa chapter and started a ministry at fine linen hotels. Now, in 2007, it is still going strong. As president of the South Tulsa IFCB chapter, I sometimes spend half my day reaching out to people in need. I pray and talk with people, sometimes visiting them in the hospital. It shows that a person does not have to be a pastor in order to touch people’s lives.
At IFCB banquets and events, we have the opportunity to touch the lives of people who would not go to a church. We are able to tell them about the loving power of Jesus Christ; many come to know Him in a personal way. Sometimes there are healings during these meetings. We have organized numerous social gatherings and banquets, each with specific objectives and target audiences. One time we had a dinner specifically for sick people — people with cancer and with walkers. We ate, had a speaker, and told them that they were loved by God, offering to pray for them. Another time, we held a dinner for the racing community. Our final goal is always to share the loving grace of Jesus Christ. In the Tulsa area, we have four luncheons each week and are making a difference in people’s lives.
One time we organized a dinner for Law Enforcement Officers. The police officers were getting a bad reputation in the media, so Don and I decided to have a Law enforcement appreciation day. The former mayor Dick Crawford and other organizations were involved in planning this dinner. We had 750 people in attendance. A former Miss America sang for us, The news anchor Jerry Webber was MC, and the body guard of former President Jimmy Carter was our featured speaker. American Airlines gave a free trip to Hawaii as a door prize. With the Lord’s help, we were able to really do it right. That night, a number of people committed their life to Jesus Christ. It was a wonderful success!
The goal and purpose of the IFCB is to share a simple truth with people that we meet in our businesses every day. That truth is that heaven is a gift that cannot be earned and which no one deserves. Since God loves us and He cannot accept us with our sin, He sent Jesus to reconcile us to Himself. By dying on the cross, Jesus took our sin upon Himself. When we commit our lives to Christ, ask for forgiveness for our sins, God sees Jesus and His righteousness instead of our sin. When we accept this free gift, God gives us a new life here on earth. After we leave this earth, we will live forever with Jesus in heaven. The IFCB exists to point people to the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We help people with their needs and introduce them to the possibility of a new life.