Transformed by Fire

Message by: Dean Hershey

Luke 4:18-19
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Today, we were blessed to hear the testimony of Dean Hershey.

Dean told us about the time he suffered traumatic burns when he was four. He was trick or treating… He was dressed as a ghost (under a sheet) when he backed into a lit jack-o-lantern that caught him on fire. A policeman just happened to be patrolling on this street (something that wasn’t typical for this street as they never patrolled that area). Within minutes, the officer had four-year-old Dean on the ground, put the fire out, and then sped him away to the hospital. Dean’s scars (that crept up to his face) were something that kids in school used to hurt his feelings his entire childhood. However, Dean’s scars remind him of how God saved him and kept him here.

When he was a little older, he also had a terrible bike accident. His head damage should have been worse than it actually was… God protected and saved Dean.

Then when he was even older, he was in a dirt bike accident that where he was crushed by his own bike and then watched is friend (also riding a dirt bike) pull off a stunt that kept him from crushing Dean under a second bike. God saved Dean’s life.

In his 20s, Dean fell 35 feet into a silo (that was blending feed), and his back landed on the equipment. Before he could get crushed by the blender, God told Dean's dad to turn the equipment off. His life was again saved.

Dean looks back on his life. He said he was once like a snapping turtle, but today he is like a butterfly.

He feels called to use this life (that God saved time and time again) to share God with others.

Revelation 14:9-12
[9] A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, [10] they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. [11] And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” [12] This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep His commands and remain faithful to Jesus.

Dean remembers hearing the description of hell… He knew what it felt like to be burning for a couple minutes, so the idea of burning for eternity is unfathomable.

The church he attended growing up didn't talk about signs and miracles. They thought that was something they just did in New Testament times. That was hard to grasp because Dean's life was full of living miracles.

John 14:12-14
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my Name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

So as Dean grew up, he was looking for more. God brought special people into his life. They helped strengthen Dean.

Jeremiah 23:29
“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

In the hard places of Dean's life, God got through to him.

Jeremiah 30:17
But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’

What an outstanding promise that God will bring healing in our brokenness.

Jeremiah 33:3
‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

Dean believes God is bringing a fresh fire in this community. God is doing things here and what God is dong will impact the world for Him.

May we all have a fresh fire, let God transform us, and help spread the Word of the Lord and bring as many to Christ as possible.