Mark Lynch - Walk with Me

Walk With Me

second edition

Mark Lynch

Copyright 2005, 2012 by Mark Lynch

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1-(866) 928-1240

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Thinkstock.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-5476-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-5477-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012909854

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/25/2012

Contents

Dedication

I first and foremost dedicate this book to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I also dedicate this book to the memory of my Grandmother Lucy. Although she has past from this world she is one of the greatest women I have ever known. She is no stranger to God and I will be with her again one day; of that I am sure. She always had a heart full of love and compassion. She gave her love freely and in return she is loved by all ten of her children, her childrens spouses and her many grandchildren. She is and always will be loved by anyone her life touched. I will always remember how she would always put a coin in my hand in exchange for kiss and a hug. In hind sight I now see how Jesus lived through her and what it means to be a Christian. When she passed on it was more than I could bear and I thought I would die. She was the biggest influence in my life. I didnt know it then, but God would give me Ag for my wife. Ag is so very much like my Nana Lucy.

I have no intention of plagiarizing anyone in writing this book. I stand beside my many true brothers and sisters in scattering seed. My motivation for writing this book is not for my personal fame or fortune. I did not write this book in seeking to establish any new religious organization, but rather to enlighten people to the truths that can only be found in Gods word the Holy Bible the number one selling book of all time. My book is my personal testimony. I want to share my personal witness of the experiences, knowledge, understanding and words God has shared with me. The theology in my book has been around for thousands of years. Some of the words I have to share you may have heard preached from a pulpit, read in a book or heard from a minister or from a friend. A man believes what he wants to believe and disregards the rest, as put in a song by Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkel. Sometimes we hear without really listening as we may chose not to or we simply hardened our hearts against what is being conveyed. Sometimes someone will tell us something and we never hear them. Then someone else will come along and tell us the very same thing. We may not really pay attention the first time we hear something. It may have to be repeated or said differently a second or third time before we really hear and get the message loud and clear. As long as the reader gets this message and it helps in advancing glory to God, then my goal is achieved. I have found many people need information broken down so that they can understand it better. I have taught quite a number of people including professing Christians over the years who never knew a lot about what they professed to be their belief. I have also found quite a number of people who hang on to their beliefs simply out of tradition. These people have never really given any serious thought about what or why they believe as they do; it was just the way they were taught or brought up by their family.

Teaching is more than just knowing and understanding your subject matter. You have to be able explain information to others in a way that they too can know, understand and apply the information. I believe the experiences of my life and the people placed in my life, along with the gifts of understanding and teaching are all from God. The gifts I have been given are to be used to help others. I strongly believe my most cherished friend wants me to write this book. His name is Jesus. I also believe that I was not allowed to remain in paradise when I died, as this book needed to be written. I firmly believe that I am to write this book as a witness who is attempting to point as many people as possible to the right path in this life and to the truth. My most treasured prayer is that one day I will hear Jesus tell me, Well done my good and faithful servant. I am writing this book not to glorify myself but to place all the glory where it belongs, on God alone. I am attempting to illustrate through glimpses of my life and through personal experiences how God has guided and changed me. How God has given me a new nature. When I was young I knew of God. I now know God, yet not completely. When I was young I lived a me centered life. God has shown and taught me how to really live is to live a God centered life. As I share parts of my life the reader can see how God has worked in my life. God allows certain circumstances and people to enter our lives to mold us into the person we are to become. Now I cannot even fathom living any part of life without God.

Mark and Agnes Lynch are the real deal. They are serious about their commitment to Christ and they live out what they believe. Ive been privileged to know them as their Pastor and their friend for the last 20 years.

Walk with me is Marks powerful testimony, his story of how he came to know and trust in Jesus Christ as his Lord. Its his story, so its unique to him, as you will see. Our God is a God of infinite variety, so every Christians faith journey will be somewhat different. Marks life experiences are extraordinary and fascinating. In knowing Mark and after finishing Marks book, I commented that the name of the book should be changed to Job the Sequel.

It really doesnt matter so much how we come to trust in Christ; what matters is that we eventually truly turn to him to receive his forgiveness and life as it was always meant to be. Mark carefully avoids the use of Christian jargon words in his story, which makes for a good read. Its a story you wont soon forget, and who knows? You might find some unexpected benefits in this book.

Rev. Robert A. Killeffer, Jr.

First Baptist Church

Braintree, MA.

The front cover is a picture that I took around 1970 in Boston Massachusetts in the area around Faneuil Hall marketplace near the intersection of Beacon Street and Charles Street. I thought it was a good picture of a tender moment where this rough-looking guy who looked more like he belonged in a bar or pool hall with his Harley motorcycle parked out front was walking through the Common with this little child hand in hand. The child was eating his ice cream that his dad just bought him. The picture is revealing his heart and disclosing that this guy may be rough looking on the outside but on the inside he is a whole different person. It goes to show that you really cant judge a book by its cover and you cannot judge a person by outward appearance only.