Dear Robin,
Thank you guys for the bible college that you have brought into my home and heart over the past 8 weeks. I am beginning to understand the message and have only cracked the surface, it has changed my life, and things in my life have started to change now that I let everything else go and live being chained to the Cross and it alone. I threw away all my books, stopped watching the inspiration channel, what a mixed up name is that anyway. I listen to the radio with a different ear, and read the bible with a different eye. It is so freeing and yet the biggest struggle I have ever faced.

I cry out why, why did it take so long to finally hear the truth, the real Message. I can hardly see the keyboard now. I am so thankful for Crosswalk Chapel and the anointing of the Holy Spirit through you guys to me and others over the internet. Thank you Jesus! I talked to Mark awhile back about how hard it was to go to work everyday since I heard this Message (I am a nurse on the mental health unit) all I did was push pills on people to, "fix" them when I knew all they needed is the Jesus and the Cross! I would pray, "Oh Lord chain me to the Cross as I enter this dark place." There was nothing I could do.

The Lord has blessed me with a new job, taking me off that unit into the OR. I just wanted to say thank you again for the message that you preach. I have said it before, I live in Virginia, but I go to church at Crosswalk Chapel in Pekin, IL, praise God! Keep fighting the good fight!

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Robin (Mark),
I know that you asked me to speak at a service sometime and I have been trying to generate the guts to do that, but for some reason the thought of that makes me really nervous. I wasn't very good in speech class. Anyway I was watching one of your programs with Marks testimony and you said something about sending testimonies in to share or put on the sight or whatever so I thought maybe you would want mine. I wrote this a few days after you said something about it before.

I was asked to share my story, my journey to faith, to the Cross. I thought to myself that it would be a great thing to do, but not yet. I thought it’s not finished yet; I have more to deal with before I go telling people what I’ve been through. But, something occurred to me, it will never be finished, my life will be ever changing. I will go through hard times and great times for the rest of my life and if I wait until that’s over to share, I will never have the chance. I am all about putting things on paper, organizing my thoughts so that I don’t leave anything out. It, for me, is a much more clear way of communication. Please know that this spell checked version of my life is still from the bottom of my heart. It’s a story that I tried to write myself, but in the end, it has always been by The Lord’s pen.

Every time I turned away and tried to make my own path he turned me right back around and set me straight again. As straight as I can be, with my sinful human nature, that is. The most important thing I have learned in my life, the last 2 years particularly is that Jesus is all I need and faith is all I really have to give. I know now that no matter what I have or don’t have I will always have what I need. I learned that I don’t need to experience as much as possible before I die because the truth is, I won’t die. I have been welcomed into an eternity of bliss and there is nothing in this world that will ever compare. Our lives are not a test for God to see who we are or what we will do; he already knows that even before we do. Instead, it is to for us to see ourselves and to understand that we are nothing without Him. We never will be. When I turn from the truth things fall apart, but the beauty is that rock bottom is what brings me home again. Praise the God who gives but also praise the God who takes away. Today, I am closer to home than I have ever been, and I am excited to know that I still have a long way to go!

It’s almost funny to realize that every little circumstance that didn’t seem to have a great deal of significance made such an impact of my eternal life. Who would have thought that an ordinary motorcycle shop would be a gateway to my salvation? I am not even really interested in motorcycles and I come from a family of Harley riders so it’s a little ironic to say that today I stand proudly and I know in my heart or hearts that through the doors of that little Honda dealer God rescued me! And even better than that, the salvation didn’t stop but extended to my friends and family! I am and will be forever grateful for the job opening at Cupi’s, my stepping stone to salvation.

Let me rewind two summers ago, I had just given birth to my second child. My first child was nearly two and I had been a stay at home mother since her birth. As much as I enjoyed being with my children I yearned to go back to work, not for the money, my husband had a good job and he took care of us. This for me was for socialization; I mean really, you can only have so many conversations with a two year old! I missed the environment. So one day I was driving up to my parent’s house with my baby boy. My daughter was visiting Grandma and we were on the way to pick her up. I drove past Cupi’s and remembered seeing an ad in the paper for a secretary. Having thought about going back to work but not yet searching I thought, what the heck? I walked in with a two week old baby wearing cut off jeans, a concert T shirt complemented by a raggedy pair of flip flops. (Not exactly job seeking attire, right?) I thought I would just grab an application and bring it back later. No big deal. I didn’t intend to meet the boss. I took the application and was told to go ahead and fill it out there and when I finished, here comes the manager, ready to interview me. I looked down at my flip flops and thought…..crap. We interviewed and he showed me around. He told me he would be making a decision soon and would let me know. To me that sounded like code for, no thanks and next time please show up for your interview without the baby………...and maybe put some shoes on too. So I left, saying to myself, good one Rissa you doofus! I laughed as I told my mom what happened and how I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be hearing from them.

I can’t remember if it was later that day or the next day maybe, but it was very soon after my rather embarrassing interview that Robin called me for a second interview. I was in shock. I was thinking man, this guy must be desperate. (What I didn’t realize is that I was the desperate one.) And would you believe that he actually hired me, I couldn’t! Having no idea how I pulled that one off; I lost the flip flops, did a little clothes shopping and headed to work. A couple of weeks in, I got into a conversation with Robin about religion. He seemed to have a lot of knowledge so I was asking a lot of questions. I always believed in God but I never understood like I thought I did. He asked me if I was saved and I said yes I was when I was younger but I hadn’t really done much to deserve it lately, like going to church and leading a religious lifestyle. You know, he gave me the strangest look; I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I understand now that it was because of my misconception, a common one I’ve learned, that I had to DO something special to earn my salvation. Well, would you believe that right there in the middle of that dirty shop he kneeled and prayed with me, asking Jesus into my heart once again? Wow. That’s all I could think. Wow.

I’ve had a roller coaster ride since then. I have made a lot of decisions that I thought were the best choices for me, a lot of decisions that I should have left up to God. I have had problems in my marriage up to the point of actually hiring a divorce attorney and getting an apartment. I decided to take care of myself, do what I needed, plan for MY future, Things that I thought were best for ME. I made judgments on people, like my husband, based on nothing more than my own selfishness. Every single decision I made set me further from the Cross. When things were hard at home, when we weren’t getting along, I leaned on God. He gave me strength and endurance. Then I let one stupid fight change everything. I didn’t pray for direction, I didn’t try to talk to my husband; I didn’t give it to God. I left.

I convinced myself that my husband was a stubborn and selfish person. That he didn’t understand me or care to. That he didn’t try to make our marriage work, he never considered my point of view. He isn’t religious and I thought he was bringing me down. But when we were together I read the Bible almost every single day and after I left I never once picked up a Bible or went to church, I was gone for nearly 6 months! I prayed, sometimes, but it was misguided. I had fallen back into the habit of taking charge of my own life and I was failing. Looking back I know there were a lot of times that God was trying to guide me but I ignored him. I wanted to blame everything on my husband because honestly it was much easier then holding myself responsible. I am grateful for the time spent apart for only one reason. I finally saw myself. It was like the Lord put a giant mirror in my face and said LOOK! You know what I saw? A stubborn and selfish person so consumed with what I thought was right and what I wanted that I didn’t take any time to understand anyone else’s point of view. I saw everything that I condemned my husband for, only I was looking at myself this time.

I was ashamed and I still am of how foolish I have been. What I put my family through. How much I confused my kids. I had left and returned to my husband for the fourth time now. But I am also overjoyed because I know that I am back on track and headed in the right direction. My husband is not perfect, he never has been. But he loves me and I love him. God loves us both and he put us together for a reason. He showed me that those imperfections are a part of him and he is a part of God. He is my gift. He is my husband and I am grateful to have him. I know now that I am not perfect either and I am embarrassed to admit that I once thought I was, as close as one could get anyway. I thought I had all the answers. Today, I have one answer, The Cross. That is all I need.

The Lord has great plans for us; I know this is just the beginning. This time I am following God’s lead. He is so much better at it than me. I know I am going to screw up again………………….and again. I know that a point will come when I want to run away again. But I also know that The Lord is with me always and he will lead me and give me strength. There is so much more that I have to learn and I am eager to do so. This time I am aware that I can get in my own way as much as anyone else can. This time I won’t make time for God, I will take the time that He gives me. This time there is no plan B. There’s not even a plan A. I am done planning. Jesus took care of that a couple thousand years ago. The plan is set. Thank you Jesus because by faith in what you have done for me at the Cross, I am set too!

Thank you, Lord for Cupi’s Motor Mall and that secretary position that saved 2 lives and counting. Being hired that day was not a fluke or the desperations of a short-handed manager, but a miracle. No matter how small it seemed, I now know that it was and will always be the most important day of my life. Thank you, Lord for Champions Church and all that you allow them to do. Thank you for the lives that they affect on Your behalf. I am eternally grateful for every moment and every person in my life that has brought me to the point I am today. I know now that You are the reason for that, not me. I am blessed and my blessing illuminates and touches others as well. My feet are firmly planted at the foot of the Cross and by the power and strength of you, Lord that is where they will stay. Amen.

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Dear Robin and Rocky,
I was able to watch your program on television tonight and needed to thank you for such an intelligent presentation of the Bible and our Lord's works. I quite probably learned more tonight about those subjects and more than simply going to church these past several years! Everything made so much sense. So clearly could I see what it was you were saying. What a blessing you two were on television tonight and I will for sure be tuning in every week! No doubt about it!!!!!

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