Roy Bunger: A Story of God's Grace and Faithfulness

Roy Bunger, 54, grew up with parents who believed in God, brought him to church on a regular basis and read to him stories from the Bible. But he said as a young child, he didn’t like church at all. His spiritual life as a teenager was somewhat of a rollercoaster ride, going from diligently reading the Bible and praying at 14 years of age, to rebelling and drifting away from his faith as an older teen. 

What he describes as his “wake-up call” came when he was a young man in the military returning home for his father’s funeral after a sudden death. He said during that time, he remembered in great detail what he’d learned about God as a child and young teenager.

“It was at that point, with Mom’s help,” he said, “that I first openly committed my life to Christ. It’s been a long road since then. I have strayed, backslid, sinned, repented, and through it all God has been wonderfully faithful and abounding in mercy.” 

Bunger enjoys poetry and song, and often relates it to his life. “For me,” he said, “it so aptly and preciously communicates meaning and beauty.”

One such work is one of John Newton’s “Ol­ney Hymns,” first published in 1779:

Strange and mysterious is my life.
What opposites I feel within!
A stable peace, a constant strife;
The rule of grace, the power of sin:
Too often I am captive led,
Yet daily triumph in my Head,
Yet daily triumph in my Head.

I prize the privilege of prayer,
But oh! what backwardness to pray!
Though on the Lord I cast my care,
I feel its burden every day;
I seek His will in all I do,
Yet find my own is working too,
Yet find my own is working too.

I call the promises my own,
And prize them more than mines of gold;
Yet though their sweetness I have known,
They leave me unimpressed and cold
One hour upon the truth I feed,
The next I know not what I read,
The next I know not what I read.

I love the holy day of rest,
When Jesus meets His gathered saints;
Sweet day, of all the week the best!
For its return my spirit pants:
Yet often, through my unbelief,
It proves a day of guilt and grief,
It proves a day of guilt and grief.

While on my Savior I rely,
I know my foes shall lose their aim,
And therefore dare their power defy,
Assured of conquest through His Name,
But soon my confidence is slain,
And all my fears return again,
And all my fears return again.

Thus different powers within me strive,
And grace and sin by turns prevail;
I grieve, rejoice, decline, revive,
And victory hangs in doubtful scale:
But Jesus has His promise passed,
That grace shall overcome at last,
That grace shall overcome at last.

Bunger said over the past few years, God has taught him many valuable lessons, three of which specifically relate to each other. The first, he said, is that “selflessness is the key.” He pointed out there are many “self-sins” that can drag people down and make them miserable, such as self-pity, self-love and self-seeking.

The second lesson, he said, is to “have no agenda of my own.” He said he realized he’s spent the majority of his life trying to get the things he wants, and pursuing things that aren’t necessarily sinful, but in a way that became sinful.

“I would choose a course of action that appealed to me,” he said, “without much reference to [or even thinking about] God’s will and His claims on my life. Then, if I prayed at all, I would ask His blessings on plans which I’d already made. No wonder I was often frustrated and empty, and even if I managed to get what I wanted, it was hollow.”

But through some hard times and trials the past few years, he said he realized his need to put God first, and seek Him and His will for his life, putting aside distractions. 

The third lesson, he said, is in the privilege of serving others and representing God as he strives, through grace, to pour out his life for His glory.  

He said what God’s grace means to him is the “wonderful heart of love which He has, to reach out to the filthy, the downtrodden, the utterly broken, and begin to heal them and make them His children. He makes us, the undeserving, like His Son, Jesus, and is in the process of making us shine in His very image. He pours His goodness and joy into us, slowly at first since we are so broken and fragile that we can hardly bear it without falling to pieces.”

As Jesus said in Bunger’s favorite Bible passage, Matthew 9:12-13, “…It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners.”

Sandy Minnick: A story of man’s betrayal, a heart’s loneliness and God’s faithfulness.

One of Sandy Minnick’s favorite Bible verses is Romans 8:28, which reads, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

 

“Wow, has that ever been true,” she said. 

But she didn’t always know this in her heart as she does now. She said there was a time in her life when things were so bad she even reached the point of writing a suicide note to her oldest daughter, although she couldn’t bring herself to go through with it. 

“I had never felt emotionally lower than I did at that point in my life,” she said. “I cried all the time, could barely function at work, and thought about suicide many, many times.“

Her husband of over 20 years, with whom she had three children, had informed her he no longer loved her and wanted a divorce.

Minnick was raised Roman Catholic and brought her children up in the same faith. Her oldest daughter, however, had been attending Grace Bible Church in Catawissa, where she enjoyed listening to the sermons. The same weekend that Minnick received the divorce papers, her daughter invited her along to church.

She said she woke up that Sunday depressed, but her daughter encouraged her to get ready to go, so she went, reluctantly finding a seat in the back row in case she felt she couldn’t stay.

The sermon that Sunday was on “Love and Marriage,” and Minnick said the pastor spoke on divorce and what it means to be in a Christian marriage. 

“I could barely breathe and my daughter kept squeezing my hand telling me it was okay,” she said. “I knew that day, that I was meant to be in that church for a special reason.”

God didn’t immediately fix her life. 

Her husband still went through the divorce. 

She still describes it as the worst time of her life.

She said, however, that Jesus came into her heart during the worst time of her life, becoming the best part of her life. 

“Christ knows exactly everything we are going to go through in this life,” she said. “I firmly believe that He gives us these trials to draw us closer to Him…People will always fail and disappoint us, but He will never leave us.”

She said she now longs to help others who are going through similar trials and don’t know Jesus, and she would tell them to “love God and ask Him for His guidance, and to come to know him personally.”

Another of Sandy Minnick’s favorite Bible verses is Phil. 4:13.

Minnick now serves in various ministries in her church and town, and was even able to travel on a mission trip to Kenya, Africa in January. She’s proud of her children, who are now all grown. Her oldest daughter, who she said “is a believer and married to a wonderful Christian man,” recently blessed her with her first grandson. 

“I never dreamed that my life would be so fulfilled,” she said. “I love my church and my church family and I love the Lord with all my heart.” 

Guest Post: "Strike Three"

by Stacy Pelz

Originally posted on www.dailysurrendertojesus.com

Sitting on the curb listening to the deep rumble of rigs on the freeway. Tears falling on asphalt as I lean over my knees, holding them close, rocking away the feelings of failure and guilt. My dad's new car now mangled by my one careless moment of inattention, was now towed away, but I was left to wait in the parking lot of a nearby restaurant. The sun was shining, birds cooing, people smiling as they stepped by me on break for lunch, but I only saw the shadow of black between my feet, head bowed with shame, for the scenario seemed altogether too familiar. A brief distraction teamed with too much speed, and the third of my father's cars... totalled.

I remembered the words of my driver's ed teacher... "You have to pass this test to get your license, but the real test begins after you pass." I had failed the real test.

Perhaps my last failure could be blamed on the black ice, but this one... this momentary neglect while merging onto the freeway made me shake my head at the silly girl who just two years before rushed into the room proudly waving that slip of paper exclaiming "100%!" with head held high. Such a different posture from this girl waiting quietly for dad to arrive.

Empty of thought, struggling for ease of breathe, numb, until I saw a familiar set of shoes beside me and an arm of love wrapped gently around my shoulder. "Dad, I'm so sorry about your car!" Perhaps 2 could be forgiven, but 3? That was surely asking too much. 3 strikes and you're out, right?

But my compassionate father understood 70 x 7, and his arms of forgiveness held a little tighter as he whispered words of honeycomb, "A car is replaceable. But you are not."

That was when I first noticed the cement being prepared for pouring into a new life. The churning of thoughts, and glimpses of understanding... Cement for a new foundation. That was when God first whispered the word grace into my life.

"You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love"

"He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
(Neh 9:17, 2Cr 12:9)

Will you boast with me, about our weaknesses, so that Christ would be glorified? So that His grace would be brought to light? When, in your life, have you walked in failure only to see the faithful hand of God come through with grace?