Do You know How to Have Conversations that Changes Lives?

I hold this man’s voice, and the testimony of his life, in the highest esteem. Because it’s not only the way Pastor Derwin Gray faithfully preaches the gospel, but for the way he and his wife, Vicki, actually live it. To witness, time and again, the way they genuinely love every person they meet, and their attentive heart for the hurting — for all the walking wounded, like I’ve been, too. This story of theirs? It’s one of healing, of grace that rewrites everything — and how one honest conversation about Jesus can be the turning point that changes a life forever. It’s an absolute joy to welcome the beloved Pastor Derwin to the farm table today…

Guest Post by Pastor Derwin Gray

So many people are the ‘walking-wounded. ’ Many carrying invisible hurts, hidden behind smiles or and ‘success.’ But what if one heartfelt conversation about Jesus could be the turning point?

That’s exactly how one powerful conversation changed everything for a woman we’ll call Annie and her husband, LaMont.

“Don’t leave me. I’m worth staying for.”

Annie’s parents divorced when she was five.

That relational break created a wound in her that burrowed deep into her young soul, metastasizing over the years. Even though Annie would not have been able to verbalize her wound, her drive to be successful told the story of a girl who just wanted to be loved, valued, and seen. 

Annie was the model of success—driven, ambitious, beautiful, and smart. She was an all-state athlete in high school and received athletic and academic scholarships to one the top universities in America. She was a valedictorian in high school and at her university. In athletics, she ranked top twenty in the nation in her event.

What no one knew was that Annie’s high achievement was a cry from her heart: Don’t leave me. I’m worth staying for.

On the inside, intrusive thoughts told Annie that she was never good enough, pretty enough, skinny enough, or smart enough. Her obsession led to an eating disorder and poor decisions in relationships. 

During her junior year in college, she met a guy. They became fast friends and fell in love. Shocking both their parents, they got married in college. Annie and her husband, LaMont, were good friends, so their marriage was okay. He would say they were like close roommates who slept together and had things in common. 

In those early years of marriage, Annie was slowly realizing that she could not achieve her way out of feeling inadequate and not worth staying for. She was also recognizing that guilt and shame were suffocating her soul. 

Annie met a woman named Karen at work and became intrigued by her faith. “Karen is a good Christian,” she would tell LaMont. One day, Annie and Karen struck up a conversation while sipping on coffee. Annie asked Karen, “Do you believe demons are real?” 

Karen said, “Yes, I do.” Then she asked Annie, “Are you a Christian?” 

Annie responded, “Yeah, I believe in God.” 

Karen gently and clearly said, “Annie, being a Christian is more than believing in God. It means that you believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead. Have you placed your faith in Jesus doing this for you?” Karen continued sharing Jesus with Annie for months.

As a new parent, Annie thought that religion would be good for her baby daughter, so she decided to attend a church. She doesn’t remember what the preacher preached on, but she does remember that at the end of the service, the choir sang and these words went straight to her heart: “Jesus died for me.”

She started crying, grabbed her baby, and ran out of the church. As she drove home, a flood of tears streamed down her face. All she could think about was Jesus died for me.

Annie didn’t know what had happened to her. But she knew that she was different.

She wanted her husband to experience the love and freedom from guilt and shame she was now experiencing. She wanted her husband to see life the way she was now seeing life. LaMont noticed an immediate change in Annie. And he liked it. Eventually, LaMont also met Jesus when a coworker clearly presented the gospel to him. And Jesus changed his life, too. 

Annie and LaMont left their successful corporate-America jobs and did the unimaginable: They started a church.

People who knew Annie and LaMont from college could not believe these two irreligious, non-churchgoing people would become church planters! Annie and LaMont were so captivated by Jesus they wanted their family, their friends, and whoever else they met to know Jesus.

This gospel passion led to them joining Jesus on his mission to reach lost people like them. They prayed that Jesus would use them to create a colorful church where people from different ethnic backgrounds would find community and unity in Jesus. A community where the brokenhearted, the forgotten, the left behind, the counted out, and the used and abused would experience the healing love of God in Christ. 

The church that Vicki (Annie) Gray and Derwin (LaMont) Gray planted is called Transformation Church.

As a result of two faithful believers sharing about Jesus in their workplace, Vicki and I came to Christ and planted a church that has seen thousands come to faith in Jesus. 

Healing Grace

“Grace is not an abstract doctrine but a living, breathing person who lived a sinless life because we couldn’t, who died the death we deserved on the cross, and who rose from the dead, ushering in a new creation. “

Our world is brutally competitive and relentlessly unforgiving. In a weary world, grace is an oasis in the desert. 

Grace is not an abstract doctrine but a living, breathing person who lived a sinless life because we couldn’t, who died the death we deserved on the cross, and who rose from the dead, ushering in a new creation.

Religion tells you what you must do to reach God; grace tells you what God has done to reach us.

The cross of Christ carries our sins and heals our wounds.

Grace is the person of Jesus exchanging his life for yours. And because of grace, all that is true of Jesus is now true of you.

When God looks at you, he sees Jesus’ sinless, God-glorifying life. Jesus’ status before the Father is your status before the Father. The Father loves you as if you were his eternal Son because you are united with Jesus.

The condemnation we rightly deserve has been condemned by Jesus.

The death sentence we rightly deserve was served by Jesus.

He died so we could be reborn in his resurrection life. Jesus is “grace upon grace.”  People without Jesus need this kind of healing. And you have the medicine that makes sick souls whole. When you’re lit up with love, you are inviting people into a Jesus-saturated, Jesus-immersed, Jesus-reliant life. 

Become an everyday missionary and join Jesus on his mission of reaching people. Become lit up with love.

One conversation can change everything. 

CAN”T RECOMMEND THIS BOOK HIGHLY ENOUGH!

THIS IS A BOOK THAT EVERY CHRISTIAN NEEDS TO BE EQUIPPED TO SHARE HOPE! IT WILL IGNITE YOUR HEART TO TO BE A GOOD-NEWS PERSON IN A GOSPEL STARVED WORLD!

Dr. Derwin L. Gray is the co-founder and lead pastor of Transformation Church in Indian Land, South Carolina, a multiethnic, multigenerational church he planted with his wife, Vicki. He is also a bestselling author, and his newest book, Lit Up With Love: Becoming Good News People to a Gospel-Starved World, calls the Church to shine with the love of Jesus in a hurting, divided world.

In Lit Up with Love, Dr. Derwin Gray provides a guide for sharing the Gospel with authenticity and love.

Uncover the true motivation behind sharing your faith―the boundless love of God for humanity and His desire for reconciliation. Learn how to communicate the invitation of Jesus to a hurting world, and discover how to manage the tension of fear while sharing Christ’s love in an authentic way―by embracing and living out the love you’ve received from Jesus and sharing it with others. This is a perfect book for small groups or churches to gather around to bring real hope to the world!

{Our humble thanks to NavPress for their partnership in today’s devotional.}