Jawbone

Jawbone

The Attractiveness of God's Grace

by

Gary Villamor

Jawbone

By Gary L. Villamor

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Jawbone, Copyright©2012, Gary L. Villamor

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Jawbone

Table of Contents

Appreciation

Foreword - Justin Dial, Evangelist

Introduction

Chapter One – Jawbone

Chapter Two - Graceful Beginnings

Chapter Three - A Graceful Message

Chapter Four - A Graceful Sermon

Chapter Five - Graceful Stories

Chapter Six - Daily Grace

Chapter Seven - The Kingdom of Grace

Chapter Eight - Grace Facing the Cross

Chapter Nine - Grace on the Cross

Chapter Ten - Graceful You

Epilogue

Bibliography

Appreciation

Two men knocked on my front door one Saturday afternoon in the Spring of 1967. I was watching television and peaked out the front window to see who it was that had nothing else to do but bother me. Wouldn’t you know it, they had bibles in their hands and it looked as if they wanted to sell me something. I went to the door grumbling to myself, but I tried to act hospitable as I opened the door and saw their smiling faces. They wanted to know, May we speak to you about Jesus Christ? I told them they were welcome to come in, but I didn’t want to hear about anything that wasn’t in the bibles they were carrying. I had listened to Mormon and Jehovah’s Witnesses salespeople before and I wasn’t buying. I was twenty-four and I had already read pretty much everything I could get my hands on regarding philosophy and the world’s religions without finding any solace, however, I did have a few questions about the bible if these gentle-men thought they could answer them. With grins from ear to ear they entered my living room like a couple of fox invited into the hen house.

Those two men were Hal Moore and Dean Andrews, members of the Palm Avenue Church of Christ in Fresno, CA. Over the next couple of months my wife and I watched bible film strips with these two men in our living room; a history of dispensations and how everything pointed to the coming of Jesus. I learned a few new words like redemption and righteousness and patriarch. When they finished each one of the filmstrips these men would always ask if my wife and I had any questions. I always had questions. I had so many questions that I would stop by their church building at least once a week and bother the minister, Hal Moore, to try to get some answers. He was always very gracious and responded to me like I knew what I was talking about. We both knew, however, that I really didn’t have a clue.

Both Hal and Dean invited me and my wife to have dinner at their homes: We did and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. Both of them would stop by my place of work to see how I was doing and to buy me a cup of coffee during my lunch break. We would talk about baseball, football, fishing and anything else I wanted to talk about, but mostly we talked about the bible.

My family started attending the Palm Avenue church on Sunday mornings, then Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings too. The people were more kind and hospitable than any people I had ever met. What I’m trying to say is that the entire Palm Avenue congregation loved us into the Lord’s church, but it started with those two gentlemen who knocked on our front door one Saturday.

It’s been almost forty-five years since that Saturday afternoon when Hal and Dean stepped onto our front doorstep. How do you say, Thank you, to the people who brought you into the presence of God’s grace?I’ve tried to say, Thank you, to the Lord through obedience, and I’ve tried to say, Thank you, to the church through my participation. Certainly this book, Jawbone, is another attempt from me to say, Thank you, Hal and Dean.

Thank you too Justin Dial, for changing the focus of my ministry and my relationship with God. When the Lord sent Jason into my life he brought the grace and truth of Jesus Christ with him; not one or the other, but both. Through his teaching, preaching and modeling of Jesus Christ, Justin has helped me to see in just how many ways God is for us. I appreciate his willingness to provide the Forward to this book. As I have understood Justin’s testimony, one of the guiding principles of his ministry has been balance; as with grace and truth, neither is complete without the other and , in fact, neither remains when the other is taken away. Certainly Jawbone is a reflection of Justin’s light into the development of my own thinking about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and a revelation of my own spiritual journey.

Jawbone

Foreword

by: Justin Dial, Evangelist

Many have undertaken to give an account of the things that have happened to them as they follow Jesus Christ; what they have left behind in order to keep their eyes on Jesus, as well as the adventures and mysteries they’ve encountered along the way. I have been an eyewitness of Gary Villamor’s spiritual development over the past forty years and in Jawbone something rather dramatically changed this man’s demeanor; like a person who has seen his self for the first time in a mirror and the image is so startling they cannot forget. The stories he tells of this encounter are hauntingly inviting, proposing that we too enter a world we have no doubt walked right by a thousand times before, but either didn’t take the time to notice, or didn’t have the courage to embrace. Perhaps you too will dare to take a few steps beyond the orthodoxy of Sunday religion and see God outside the box.

If we have studied endlessly to prepare ourselves for ministry, (learning all the scientific methods and proprieties for the proper interpretation of Scripture), or as disciples we have involved ourselves with countless workshops, encampments, lectureships and bible studies, we are apt to conclude, This is too simple, or, Is that all you’ve got? But upon further reflection, it seems to me that the distinct application of God’s word to everyday circumstances we encounter in Jawbone are the discreet production of someone who has spent thousands of hours alone with God; praying, listening, and asking tough questions.

Don’t you love a person who isn’t satisfied with their self, who hasn’t become complacent, but rather, is always responding to Jesus command, go into the deep. Even more, the author has challenged every one of us to go with him; to move on to that maturity the writer of Hebrews encourages us to pursue:

Therefore, let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment" (Heb. 6:1).

Jawbone’s focus, of course, is on God’s grace. While grace isn’t elementary, it is foundational. It is the cornerstone of all teachings about Jesus Christ. Grace is a mystery, like many other elements of the gospel, so much so Paul says in Ephesians that we can’t even imagine what God has done and continues to do for us. Without diminishing an ounce of truth, Gary Villamor invites us to make the disposition of grace our aim. Having received God’s grace, let's all become a conduit through which his grace will bless others. You cannot read this Spirit-filled testimony and witness without wanting to experience the joy yourself of a simple obedience, an honest relationship and a fearless faith in Jesus Christ. You’ll want to share this book with everyone you know.

Justin Dial

Evangelist

Jawbone

Introduction

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves" (Ephesians 1:3-6).

My belief in God includes a belief in mysteries. For me, the reality of mystery is everywhere. Meeting my wife for the first time was a mystery. That she would fall in love with me was a mystery. Our three children and their four children are mysteries. I am ripe for mysteries. To believe in the God of the Bible is, at least in part, to believe in mystery. I tell you this because Jawbone has been written with mystery in mind. My prayer is that you will embrace this mystery and allow God to work mystery gracefully through your life. By his grace may God use you to begin transforming the church, and through the church, transform America. That is my prayer and my motivation for writing this book.

If you are in Christ, of course, Christ is in you. That is, the Spirit of Christ lives in you; the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in you, (Acts 16:7; Rom. 8:9-11; Eph. 4:4; 1st Cor. 3:6; 2nd Cor. 3:17; 2 Tim. 1:14; 1st John 3:24). That is a mystery! Additionally, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we pray, (Rom. 8:26-27), and that’s a mystery! The promises of Jesus to his disciples are filled with the expectation of miracles, (Matt. 17:20-21), and that remains a mystery for many people who believe the age for miracles, signs and wonders, is gone.

For some people a completed Hail Mary pass or the postponement of a test date is a miracle, but they are not; they are mysteries. The star that stood over Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus Christ was a mystery; so too was Jesus’ feeding of 5000 people with just a few loaves of bread and some fish. The miracles of God point to something beyond and more significant than the event and these miracles happened not only during Biblical times, but continue today. They are mysteries because God’s ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). There is no less reason for God to confirm his word today than there was 2000 years ago, before many of the Scriptures were even written. Those who believe the mystery of miracles has ceased, simply don’t have their eyes and ears open.

So that you might believe nothing will be impossible, I want to share a little story with you from my early years of walking with Christ. I have never spoken in tongues, healed a leper or raised someone from the dead, but I do want to tell you about a circumstance in which I was there when mountains were moved.

It has been almost thirty years since I took my son Philip backpacking in the Sierra Nevada wilderness area called Desolation Valley, but it sometimes seems like it was just yesterday. It was the first time as an adult I can remember actually being there when a miracle happened. I had previously seen television evangelists heal people, illusionists make things disappear and the USC Trojans make a twenty-eight point comeback in the second half of a football game to beat Notre Dame, but this was different. This was an answer to my own prayers.

We had been hiking in the back country for four days and we were tired, out of food and somewhat lost when we came to the end of the trail. I knew what direction we needed to go just by observing the movement of the sun, however, there was a raging river right in front of us. I hadn’t expected the river to be so high, but the late snow runoff had swollen the water over the banks and it was moving extremely fast. I was in my mid thirties at the time and as strong as an ox, but my son was only eleven. The last thing my wife said to me before we left the driveway for this trip was, Don’t let anything happen to our son.

We couldn’t go back; no food. We couldn’t go forward or I might lose my son. So we established a campsite and pitched our tents. As soon as the sun went down Philip was asleep. My tent was only a few feet from his, but with the tremendous rumble of the river nearby I was sure that Philip couldn’t hear me praying. Usually my prayers will last no more than five minutes before I run out of things to say, but this was different. I pleaded and made commitments to God for several hours. The last time I remember looking at my watch it was 3:30 in the morning and I was on my stomach, groveling. O Lord, I would say, I’ve never been in this much trouble before. If something happens to my son I will never be able to forgive myself, and furthermore, I couldn’t go home, so please save Philip and do what you will with me. That was the essence of my prayers.

When I awoke the next morning the sun was just coming up over the ominous mountains and something didn’t seem right; there was the smell of smoke in the air. I peeked out of the flap to my tent and was shocked to see a man leaning over a campfire less than thirty yards from me. Next to the man was a horse tethered to a tree. I didn’t have to put my clothes on because I had spent the night in them. While I crawled out of my tent, only halfway believing what I was seeing, the man got up from his fire, poured a cup of coffee and began walking with it toward me.

Where did you come from? I asked him.

Well, he began, I started out from Bishop yesterday afternoon for a spot up here I’ve been fishing for years, but somehow I got lost, There wasn’t any moon last night and I wound up crossing the river here. I’ve never been here before. I couldn’t even see your tent until I crossed the river. Where exactly are we, anyway?

It took a moment for me to understand precisely what he had just said, but then I told him, You’re not lost. You are exactly where God wants you to be.

What do you mean? he asked.

Mister, I said, I’ve been praying all night long for you. I certainly didn’t know I was praying exactly for you, but you are without a doubt the answer to my excruciating night.

Then I explained our situation to him and he assured me that with his horse and a couple of ropes he would be able to get us across that river. He did!

Later, when we separated, the man and his horse started back up the mountain toward Bishop and I fell on my knees and began to pray again. This man had come from the other side of the Sierra Nevada’s in the middle of the night, got lost and wound up exactly where I needed him to be. He had no business being where we were, but I needed him right there. Mystery!

You can imagine how pleadingly I prayed all night by the raging river. I’m sure I made so many promises to God during the night that I couldn’t even remember them all the next day, but when we got home safely with my son I said, Thank you Lord, as many ways as I knew how to say it.

The bible points out that we don’t even know what to say when we pray, but, when we give our lives to the Lord he gives us the Holy Spirit and the Spirit himself intercedes on our behalf. That’s one mystery inside another. That is grace upon grace. That is God’s disposition toward us; he is for us. Don’t you know that He had a huge smile on his face when I recognized this incident was not just a coincidence, but the result of his gracious actions.

This story is especially amazing to me because I was such a ‘babe’ in Christ at the time. My faith wasn’t any bigger than a mustard seed, but Jesus teaches us that even a mustard seed worth of faith is all you need to move mountains. This adventure taught me that he wasn’t kidding around or exaggerating; they aren’t as much hyperbole as you might think. As a result, over the years I have become more serious about the things Jesus says to me through the word of God.

At the time of this backpacking experience I was a believer, but I wasn’t truly walking by faith. The bible was to me was still a book of facts and I was doing my best to learn enough facts to be accepted in the church community. Sometimes the leaders of our particular church congregation would ask me to pray during our worship service and I would stand in front of everyone confident that I could do what I heard other men do; I could repeat their words and my prayer would always be acceptable. It was always acceptable to the people gathered together in our assemblies, but I’ve often wondered since then if God ever heard a single word of my prayers from those days; they were so perfunctory.

Not having been raised in the church and having run with a pretty rough-cut bunch of fellows before I got married, church didn’t come easy for me. However, looking back over my life, when I returned from that backpacking trip I became suspicious that perhaps God had been following me around the whole time.

Sin is so much easier to talk about than grace, I suppose because we are so very familiar with it, but Jawbone is about grace. Sin is having our eyes turned inward, but gracious living is having our eyes turned outward.

For instance, there was the time during one of my Little League games when my buddy, Mike Hankins, came to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the last inning. We were trailing by three runs and Mike hadn’t gotten a hit for the entire game. What made me think of it I’ll never know, but I leaned against the dugout fence, looked down at the ground and began to pray, O Lord, let Mike hit a home run. He’s really a good guy. I looked up just in time to see Mike swing at the next pitch; contact! The ball jumped off his bat and began a flight into center field that was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. It cleared the center-fielder’s head by ten feet and just kept going. Everyone on our team ran to home plate to greet Mike when he rounded the bases, but I just stood there in the dugout, stunned.

What just happened? I asked myself. Did my prayer and Mike’s home run have anything to do with one another? Slowly, I made my way over to home plate too, but I didn’t say anything about my prayer to Mike or anyone else. That would have been embarrassing. Praying for others is a gracious thing to do, but confessing your faith is a far more difficult matter.

There was that time too when I was asked to give a speech at our sixth grade graduation. All the upper graders were gathered in the auditorium/cafeteria, along with perhaps a hundred parents, (including my own). The principal of the school had just finished welcoming everyone to the ceremony and was about to introduce me as the speaker representing our graduating class when my mind went completely blank. I not only couldn’t remember the talk I had prepared, but I couldn’t even remember the subject. What was I suppose to be talking about? Again, for what reason I am absolutely clueless, but I bowed my head and began to pray:

O Lord, I pleaded, Please help me. My parents are here and I’m afraid they’re going to be so embarrassed. I can’t remember a thing.

He did help me. When I heard the principal say my name I immediately popped up from my chair, walked to the microphone and delivered a flawless ten minute speech without once using the 3 X 5 note cards in my pocket. Was it a miracle, or just mystery? It was the answer to my prayers. Why? I didn’t know anything about God and it seemed doubtful at the time that He knew anything much about me. I almost never went to church during my childhood and I almost never said a prayer before going to sleep at night. Our family only prayed over our meals at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter and even then it was almost always grandma Woodruff who did the praying, not one of us. Was it the mystery of providence and God’s sovereignty? Was I worthy? Forget about it; of course not. Just leave it at that.