Prototype by Jonathan Martin

Author:Jonathan Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: RELIGION / Christian Life / Spiritual Growth
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2013-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

Weeping may endure for a night,

but joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5, NKJV)

Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” (Genesis 32:26)

6

Resurrection

Everything dies, baby, that’s a fact, But maybe everything that dies someday comes back.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, “ATLANTIC CITY”

As I often do, I woke up one morning from a dream about the house my grandmother lived in. My grandparents retired in the 1970s and moved to the old Church of God campground in Charlotte, North Carolina, where our denomination’s state office was. It was the site of the tabernacle where we had our sweaty Pentecostal camp meetings every July (these were like weeklong revivals where all our churches got together). As far as I was concerned, it was the center of the entire universe. It was where I went to Bible camp in the summer. It was where I had all my first experiences, from the Holy Ghost to my first kiss (not necessarily in that order).

It was an enormous, sprawling property, with houses all around the perimeter that were built for aging Church of God preachers to retire to. My grandfather was one of those preachers. He was a hard man who grew up in Charlotte and later became a police officer. When he met the beautiful Nellie Edwards, he knew he had to have her as his own. But she would hear nothing of it. “I don’t date sinner boys,” she told him.

That’s how S. D. Martin ended up in an old-time holiness revival service at the Parkwood Church of God. And sure enough, he got saved, sanctified, and full of the Holy Ghost. A few weeks later, he turned in his badge and gun, telling his captain that God called him to preach—though he hadn’t booked a single revival yet. That’s how S. D. and Nellie became “Brother and Sister Martin” and ended up pastoring in rural North Carolina churches in places like Rutherfordton and Shelby. God was the one who did all the saving, mind you, but it’s no surprise that Nellie was more or less the reason a man like S. D. would be willing to change the course of his entire life; she was just that strong of a woman. Years later when they retired, they settled into a nice little house at the back of the Church of God campground overlooking the big pond.

My earliest memory in life is of my grandfather walking me down to that pond, where he used to fish. I remember my mom being upset because I was wearing new white shoes she had bought me and I got mud on them. A few days later, Grandpa died of a heart attack on that very property, working in his garden behind the house.

With Grandpa gone, I spent most of my summers alone with my grandmother at that house. This predates the boy on the bike. Everything about that place was magical to me. We watched The Price Is Right every day and then played Scrabble.

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