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Monday’s Blog: Glen Adams of Vertical Connection Ministries | Amanda Beth

Monday’s Blog: Glen Adams of Vertical Connection Ministries

I am starting a new series next Monday titled: “Ignite the Fire.” This will be a powerful series that will ignite your Spirit on fire for Christ. You don’t want to miss it!

Today, I want to introduce Glen Adams from Vertical Connection Ministries. He shares his inspiring testimony and how God is using his ministry to unite the body of Christ.

 

 

By: Glen Adams

God is so amazing. There was a time in my life when I was falling apart. I learned that my wife had an affair, and our newly born son was not my own. Later she filed for divorce. Feeling crushed and alone, I began to drink. My daughter, our second child, was young. My wife took the children from me, and I did not see them very often. I left the church and my drinking became a past time every weekend.

One night I met someone who showed me kindness. We went out a few times, and I soon learned about her drug use. She had me take her places that made me feel uncomfortable, and rightly so, she had friends who were selling her drugs. One morning I fell to my knees and wept, with tears flowing down my cheeks. I felt totally defeated. That morning I experienced the love of Jesus like never before. He raised me up, set my feet on solid ground, and helped me see myself as he saw me.

God has placed a call on my life. When God does something great in your life, and transforms your life, there is a price that comes with that experience. For me, he called me into ministry, using what he showed me, which is the love of Jesus. Jesus taught me about love, and he taught me that no one is so far away that they can’t be reached. I could have been overcome, but Jesus saved me.

I remarried, and my wife, Melissa, has become my ministry partner. And my relationship with God has been completely restored, far beyond what I ever could have dreamed of.

 

 

During the really hard times, I wrote letters to God, and was amazed how quickly he responded. The time I remember most was just before my divorce. I cried out to God, “I don’t know what to do. I know you hate divorce.” God responded, “Son, you have rightly spoken. I hate divorce, but I love you more.”

I have learned the importance of prayer, not speaking, but listening. The day came when the Lord told me that I have gone as far as I can go alone. A week later, I was in the music section at Wal-Mart when I met Melissa. We went across the street to have coffee at Applebee’s. And 7 months later we were married and starting to work on and pray about the vision God had given us for ministry.

It seemed that things were looking up, but then Melissa began suffering from migraines. Medical costs began to add up and we were getting deeper into debt. We had to sell our house to pay the medical bills, but we had no place to go. Because of our bad credit, no one would rent to us.

We were ready to close on the sale of our house. I took a day off work to look for an apartment. We were backing out of the driveway when my father called. He told me the old farm house that I grew up in was empty, and we could have it if we wanted it. He gave us the first 3 months’ rent free. And he agreed to subtract the electric and heating oil from our rent. What a blessing it was. We paid off all our debt and Melissa’s health improved dramatically. God provided.

Now, we are walking through the valley again. On July 20th, I injured my back at work. I had two back surgeries and was to be off work for 6 months. But then I  lost my job just before Christmas. We have been working with a lawyer to get worker’s compensation. We went to court, and we are still waiting on a decision from the judge.

The doctor told me I will never work again. We are now working with our lawyer to apply for disability. I have no income, and I’ve had to borrow $8,000 to live on until all this is settled. We are also looking at over $200,000 in medical expenses, due to my back surgeries. We are praying the settlement will be in our favor, and we believe God will provide again. He provided before, and He will again.

Even during all this, our focus has been on ministry, and making a commitment to full-time ministry. I feel in my spirit that God is ready to move again. This time the word that comes to mind is: “God’s Justice.” I can’t wait to be able to write the rest of the story. I am praying that others can see Jesus in us as we reach out to them.

 

 

Vertical Connection Ministries is about truth and being real when it comes to how we advocate for Jesus. We want people to know that our life experiences have given us a gift of compassion, being able to relate to people who are going through the valleys in their lives.

Vertical Connection Ministries has several parts: Awaken Praise Band, Mobile Clothes Bank, and we work with other local ministries such as The Filling Station, a local coffee house, to bring people together. It is our belief that Christians must come together in unity before Jesus can return.

We are seeing a growing movement of Christians holding worship events involving different denominational churches. All together, we work to lead the lost to Jesus. The Mobile Clothes Bank provides clothes for everyone, not only the poor, but everyone. The basis of this ministry is to support and help one another, and the clothes bank offers us the means. We are connecting the clothes bank with local food pantries, and in doing so, people of all walks of life can be supplied with food as well as clothing. We also hope to be able to provide furniture for those who cannot afford to buy furniture for themselves.

The vision has different parts, and different parts of the body of Christ filling the needs of the community. It isn’t about Vertical Connection Ministries. We cannot supply every need for every person, but we can be a part of a greater purpose. If we can only begin to understand and see the power of a unified body of Christ. If we could begin to understand how much more we could accomplish if only we would work together rather than separately.

 

 

In July of 2011, Vertical Connection Ministries/Awaken Praise Band had agreed to do a community project in Harrisonburg, Va. We planned to have music, give away clothing, face painting, and a car wash. I injured my back just weeks before the event, and I was unable to fulfill my obligation to the sponsors. I called my friends at the Filling Station Coffee House and informed them of my dilemma. They called their friends, and together they pulled off the event. Members of 3 different bands came together to form a music group and provided the music for the event. From what I hear, they were great.

The event didn’t die because of the unity of believers. They saw the need and stepped up to help when I could not. They died to self to fulfill a greater need. In the center is Jesus Christ, and around Him are all of us working together to fulfill the purpose of Jesus. This is the heart of Vertical Connection Ministries.

When I was at my lowest point spiritually, it was not the church that helped me out of the pit. It was Jesus, and my relationship with him. The key that opened the door for me was a relationship, and from that relationship I have become who I am today. Jesus did not judge me, he showed me His love. This is what we are called to do, not judge, not try to fix everyone, but to show love, just the way Jesus showed his love to me.

The outside is not going to change until God changes the inside. We need to understand that, and we at Vertical Connection Ministries strive to keep this in the forefront of everything we do. My wife and I work together as the co-founders of the ministry. My wife sings and edits what I write. I have the words, but she has the gift to put them together.

I work as the sound man for Awaken, and as general manager. I also do all the graphic work for advertising. Another part of the ministry that I am still developing is putting together computer graphics to put a visual to a Biblical truth. The success of Vertical Connection Ministries is not the sole efforts of Melissa and me. We have been in ministry for 6 years, and starting our 7th. It has never been about me being in control, but about us working together and encouraging others to use their gifts, alongside us, for the purpose of Christ Jesus.

Facebook has become an open avenue for me to share the word of God. I have committed to sharing scriptures, photos, and visuals to communicate our need for Jesus Christ in our lives. I seldom share my thoughts because I cannot add to or take away from the word of God. I post what I feel led to share, and trust God for the rest. It’s not about me. It is about God. You can find all my visuals on Facebook on the Awaken group page. Please feel free to visit.

As I am preparing to go into full-time ministry, I felt this was the time for me to share my story with you. I pray it will encourage you where you are in your life. Don’t ever believe you are too far gone that Jesus can’t reach you. He was able to reach me, and he can reach you as well. Was it easy? No, but it was well worth the effort.

You can follow us on our website: verticalconnection.org, Linkedin, and Facebook. If we can be of any help to you at all, feel free to e-mail us at glenandlissy@gmail.com.

 

Thank you, Glen, for opening your heart and sharing your wonderful testimony of God’s grace with us.

Be sure to follow Glen and his ministry on the links above. Don’t forget to subscribe below to receive email reminders of new posts so you don’t miss my upcoming “Ignite The Fire” series.

See you next Monday! God bless!

 

 

 

 


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