Believer Profiles

Periodically a believer from CrossCurrent is featured with a personal testimony about how their life has been changed through Jesus Christ. For information on how you can participate, contact the CrossCurrent Communications Team.

Rene� Treichler

"I have grown to know Him as Counselor, Father, Creator, Shepherd, Lord, and so much more."

I accepted Christ into my heart and made Him Lord of my life at the age of 5. I have fallen more deeply in love with God as I have grown to know Him as Counselor, Father, Creator, Shepherd, Lord, and so much more. Right now, I'm so excited to be a part of the body of Christ at Crosscurrent and have been blessed over and over again through this group. To see people whose lives have been transformed by God's love and grace, who are committing their lives to living for Christ, who are bearing one another's burdens and caring for one another...it's awesome. We truly do serve an awesome, all-powerful, and Living God who is as ever faithful. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask be all praise, glory, and honor.

Rob Brown

"All my knowledge and worldly wisdom is for naught if I don't have love."

Born November 3, 1967, I belong to the over-30s contingent here at CrossCurrent. I'm too young to remember JFK's assassination and too old to know what a sca band is, so I guess I'm called by God to bridge the gap between the Gen-Xers and the Boomers. When I sat down to write about myself, I felt moved to share an experience that, in part, lead to my decision to become a Christian counselor.

It was August, 1984. My friend David Johnson and I were just a pair of naive teenagers who, along with 45 other youth from our church, had come to Southern California to bring the truth of God's love to the streets of Hollywood, the USC campus, and Venice Beach. As we walked together that evening, we asked God to open doors for us to share Christ.

Suddenly, a voice called out, "Hey Guys!" We turned around and saw an African-American man in his mid to late 20s. Decked out in a black T-shirt, parachute pants, and mirrored sunglasses, he said, "Whatever you want I've got. I'm only asking for 50 cents a lid." Shocked speechless, I just stood there like a deer caught in the headlights. He was pushing drugs on us! "Life is good, my man," he continued, smiling. "I'm feeling good tonight. I'm high . . . and everything's alright."

"No thanks, we don't do that stuff," I said. "Yeah, we've got Jesus," David added, turning to walk away.

"W-Wait a minute," he said, become nervous and glancing back and forth. "I-I'm sorry. Look, I don't want to cause any trouble," he stammered, backing away from us. When I saw his reaction, a brazen boldness welled up inside me. "Well, now that we're on the subject, what do you think about Jesus Christ?" I asked, as David looked at me in bewilderment.

"My father's a preacher," he answered. "I was raised in the church, but since then, I've gone the wrong way." After introducing ourselves, Greg said, "Look, I'm really sorry about offering you drugs. I shouldn't have done that."

"Hey, that's alright," I assured him. "Would it be okay if we prayed for you?" He agreed, and the three of us bowed our heads right there on the sidewalk as David asked God to soften Greg's heart and draw him to Christ. After we said our goodbyes, David and I started back to the empty lot where a group of Christian performers had set up a stage for a presentation of "Toymaker and Son," a pantomime based on the Gospel. As the crowds were gathering, David asked, "Rob, why don't we go back and invite Greg to the next performance?"

"Hey, that's a great idea," I said. We walked back down the street, knowing full well that spotting him in the sea of people would be like finding a needle in a haystack. We both stopped and prayed that if God wanted Greg to see the drama, he would bring him across our path again. Moments later, guess who we saw coming out of a restaurant? When we got his attention, he kept glancing around, possibly fearing that we'd called the cops. "We wanted to see if you could come and see an open-air drama that presents the story of Christ," I explained.

"I'd like to, but I've got to do my stuff," he explained. "I don't have any money for dinner." I asked how much he needed. "Two dollars," he said. "I'm just going to buy some french fries." It may sound like coincidence, but when I looked into my wallet, all I had was two dollars.

To make a long story short, Greg bought his dinner and accompanied us to the drama production, bringing his friend Robert with him. Since our group had to load the bus and return to La Habra for the night, David and I apologized to them both for not being able to watch the production with them. As we stood there talking, Greg took off his glasses, and I looked into his eyes for the first time. I didn't see a cold-hearted drug dealer. I saw what his mother saw decades before when she nursed him at her breast. I saw the eyes that cried the first time an adult had let him down. I gazed into eyes that reflected years of pain from always searching for, but never finding the One True Thing that really matters. As I looked into the window of Greg's soul, I felt a surge of love for him that could only come from God. It was as if the Father himself had bent down and whispered in my ear, "You see, Rob? You don't have anything to fear from this man. Greg's just like you. He's the reason my Son died, and my love for him is immeasurable."

As I reflect back on this event, I'm reminded of the time Jesus looked into the eyes of a woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:10-11) and asked, "Woman where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now, and leave your life of sin."

I didn't have the opportunity to see if Greg accepted Christ and left HIS life of sin that night, but for some reason, I believe I'll see him in Heaven.

This encounter with Greg taught me that true evangelism is God loving others through his people. As a counselor, I'm continually discovering that all my knowledge and worldly wisdom is for naught if I don't have love. Whenever a client walks into my office, I have to say with the Apostle Paul that "from now on I regard no one from a worldly point of view" (2 Corinthians 5:16). I'm so thankful that here at CrossCurrent, I'm shown this example time and time again to keep me humble. Over the past year, I've heard a myriad of testimonies from individuals who came to Christ because someone in our group loved them enough to tell them the truth about their sin without judging them as individuals. That, I believe, is what it means to be an "Acts 2 church."

Amity Beane

"He truly cares for me and takes care of all my needs."

I asked Jesus to be my savior when I was four but really began a personal relationship with Him when I was 15, when I left everything I knew and loved for a life changing adventure in a foreign country. Let me relate to you an instance where God answered my prayers and made me think, "God is awesome! He truly cares for me and takes care of all my needs." I had been living in Valencia, Venezuela for about three months with a host family as part of an international student exchange program. Things were not going smoothly and I prayed daily to God to give me a good attitude. It seemed that nothing I did could please my host mother or her two lovely yet spoiled daughters. To them I was the epitome of the country bumpkin. On a holiday outing we drove for about eight hours to get to San Cristobal, a town on the border between Colombia and Venezuela. We stopped at a bomba, a gas station, to get coffee and use the rest rooms. Not knowing that toilets at bombas did not carry toilet paper (like gas stations in the US) I simply went to the restroom and got in line behind my host mother and my two host sisters. My host mother gave me a sharp look and asked if I had paper. "Why no," I replied. She gave an exasperated sigh as she doled out the large stack of paper napkins between herself and her two daughters. "If we have any left over, I suppose you may have some. But next time, don't be an idiot, and grab some from the lunch counter inside!"

Close to tears, I prayed silently to God, "Don't let me hate this woman. Help me, Lord, I really have to go!"

A moment passed. The out of the stall came a tall, beautiful woman who held in her hand a roll of soft pink toilet paper. "Do you need some?" she asked me kindly, and when I gratefully nodded, she handed me what I needed. My host mother scowled; her toilet paper didn't compare to the softness that I received! Inwardly, I shouted praises to God. He is the master of everything, even matters which may appear trivial. On that day in Venezuela He showed how much He cared for a lonely girl from a small town in Maine.

Psalm 55:16 "But I call to God, and the Lord saves me." Amen!!

Kirk Rothwell

"I've been encouraged to let God into my life."

I've been going to church off and on since I was a kid. I started going to CFC on my own in late 1994. I continued to go off and on up until late 1996. I've been coming to CrossCurrent since August 1998.

My life in general was OK until then. One of my largest drawbacks, however, was I tended to take life for granted. I was an only child and spoiled rotten. I was something of a loner when I was a teenager. Sometimes it would bother me that I didn't fit into any one crowd. I always had several friends here and there. Once in a while I would do things to try to get attention, such as telling corny jokes or drinking alcohol at a party.

This past year, I've been encouraged to let God into my life. The people at CrossCurrent are very supportive, and I usually feel at ease when it comes to sharing my thoughts with the rest of the group.

Ashley Potter

"He really wants to be in our lives."

I accepted Jesus into my life in early 1997. I had always believed in God, but had never really known him or his character. I had never had him as part of my life. I think one of the most amazing things I have learned about God is that he really wants to be in our lives. I can sense him with me every day through the Holy Spirit, and there is truly nothing that I have experienced that can compare with the inner peace that God has brought into my life.

James Pickett

"Now I'm back on the right track and feel better about myself."

Every day with the Lord is a good day in my life, because he saved me from Satan by delivering me to my new job. Satan had me doing bad things at my old job, like lying to and cursing at other workers. So I prayed that the Lord would save me. He saved me by freeing me after three years at my old job, and the negative environment there. By sending me to my new job, he got me back into the church, because my new job lets me have time off for church on Sundays. Now I'm back on the right track and feel better about myself.

Angela Fenske

"Since accepting Christ into my heart, I feel a peace that I have never felt before"

Loving and accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior has completely changed my life. Before coming to know Christ, I was very unhappy with myself and the direction my life was taking. I knew that I needed God in my life, but I did not want to change and I knew that He would want me to change. I wanted to be in control at all times. I did not want to admit that God had control. If only I would stop walking away from him, I would find true peace and happiness. Since accepting Christ into my heart, I have found that I am happier. I have met wonderful new friends. I feel a peace with myself that I have never felt before. I love being a Christian and loving God.