Lynn Misiak:  

I hated god!... I was raised in a non-Christian home. My father was a wonderful man and a prominent attorney, but he was also an alcoholic. My mother was very loving, but her life was totally consumed with his addiction. Being an only child, I learned at a very early age to become self-reliant. I can recall times of driving my father home from the bar because he was too intoxicated to drive. It terrified me since I was so young and could barely reach the pedals. I grew up fast. Surprisingly enough though, I was a Daddy's girl. My father meant the world to me. When I was 14 years old, just weeks away from my 15th birthday, my father was killed in a tractor accident. It happened on our neighbors property and as I ran to the sight, I saw the tractor on top of my father, with the tires still turning... his skull crushed. From that point on, I did everything I could to show God how much I hated Him and that I did not need Him. I ran with the wrong crowd, became addicted to material things, smoking, drugs, alcohol, people, lustful pleasures (to name a few). I made some really bad choices. I wanted so badly to get my life right. I tried everything - nothing worked. My life was totally out of control and I figured the best way to make it better, was suicide. In my early twenties, I tried to end my life on Father's Day. I was hospitalized for several days and was forced to go to counseling where I learned how to be even more self-reliant. Years later, I had finally gotten it together. I was a "good person" and I didn't do any really bad things anymore. I even quit drinking and smoking all "on my own". I earned a bachelors degree in Printing Marketing, married a good guy, had a nice home and a successful career. So, why was I so incredibly lonely and empty inside? Then I finally figured it out, I needed 'church'. Tony (my husband) and I searched unsuccessfully for years, for a good liberal church to fit our needs. I worked as a Sales Representative for a printing company and I, by God's grace, ended up working on the IFCA International account, printing the Voice magazine. I worked with these Christian people for almost two years, knowing something was very different about them, but I could never figure it out. One day, after our meeting about the next issue of the Voice, the topic came up regarding the controversy over a homosexual music teacher at Byron Center High School. I, having the live and let live attitude, listened very closely to what these conservative people said. Finally, Dr. Gregory spoke... "I just do not understand how anyone can believe that this lifestyle is acceptable if they would just read..." and he referenced Scripture. So, I decided to prove him wrong and wrote down the verses. That very night, after dusting off a Bible, I was utterly amazed as I read. I was so shocked that I was driven to read more. I actually figured out how to use the Concordance in the back of the Bible, and I was stunned to read... "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). I was incredibly curious now! Shortly after that, Tony and I were invited to the Christmas Open House that the Gregory's have each year. We were invited due to my involvement with the IFCA, and if it weren't for the fact that they were my customer, we would never have gone. December 1995, we went to the Gregory's Christmas party and met their son and daughter-in-law, Pastor Rick & Pat Gregory. They both seemed nice enough and we weren't threatened by them, as we normally would have been by a Pa...Expand for more