{"id":750,"date":"2019-03-14T21:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T03:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.icta.net\/slty\/?p=750"},"modified":"2019-03-14T21:29:21","modified_gmt":"2019-03-15T03:29:21","slug":"a-story-worth-re-telling-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.icta.net\/slty\/2019\/03\/14\/a-story-worth-re-telling-again\/","title":{"rendered":"A Story Worth Retelling Again!"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a 2019 repub of a story written in 2007 to commemorate events in June 1997. We hope it is a blessing to you today. 2019 footnotes add amazing insights we’ve learned since then. This post <\/em>may <\/em><\/span>move to our new website. We’ll work to adjust links.<\/p>\n

\n

June 2007<\/p>\n

How Much Can We<\/span> Really Do?<\/em><\/strong>
\nConfessions of a \u201ccan-do\u201d high tech wizard<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dum-De-Dum-Dum<\/a>.[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. The names have not <\/em>been changed to protect the innocent. It’s a story about God’s hand on one common ordinary person.<\/p>\n

I work in High Tech. I carry a laptop. My name’s Pete.<\/p>\n

I grew up in California… and in rural upstate New York.[2]<\/a><\/sup> I\u2019ve lived in Colorado since the early 1990\u2019s. One wife, two daughters, three computers and more pets buried than I can count.<\/p>\n

To understand this story, you need to know about two parts of my life.<\/p>\n

The first part relates to all those computers. <\/em>\u201cHigh Tech\u201d is my background, my giftedness and skill\u2014some might call it an anointing from the Lord.<\/p>\n

A couple of years out of college, I was burdened by the sense that God wanted all of me, not just some volunteer time and some dollars in the Sunday offering bucket. So on the day our first daughter was born, and with my wife Leslie\u2019s blessing, I quit my job. My goal was to earn time for God as a computer consultant in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

God has greatly blessed that side of me. I\u2019ve had the privilege of helping create many of the products that have shaped our world, from phones to computers, diabetes monitors to accounting software, maps to market research.<\/p>\n

He also blessed me with a very clear high tech ministry. In the 1980\u2019s He directed me to lead the computer work that resulted in the 10\/40 Window<\/em> model, and to coordinate the equivalent of \u201cmarket analysis\u201d of global mission. In the 1990\u2019s, our team solved the problem of worldwide group email for leadership teams. And now I lead a small team that\u2019s moving from helping people talk <\/em>to helping people truly work <\/em>together. <\/em><\/p>\n

Bottom line: I\u2019m a high tech entrepreneur, a problem solver, a concrete \u201ccan do\u201d guy. I praise God for His amazing grace to give me gifts and skills to solve almost any problem.<\/p>\n

\"Accident

Accident Site, Pretoria South Africa<\/p><\/div>\n

Now let\u2019s jump to the other side of who I am. <\/em><\/p>\n

Simply put, I exist as a miracle of God\u2019s healing, and it\u2019s time to boldly declare His power to easily <\/em>perform what scientists might call \u201clow probability events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ten years ago I became one of those people you\u2019ve read about: dead, gone to heaven, miraculously restored to life by God. I\u2019ve been cautious about making the story public because I know how bad the hype can get. But after a decade, it\u2019s time to share this story of God\u2019s signs and wonders. The signs<\/em> point us to God, and He gives us something to wonder<\/em> about!<\/p>\n

By the way, if you\u2019re skeptical as you read this, please remember that I\u2019m a skeptic too, well trained in science and engineering. So let\u2019s just review the facts.<\/p>\n

June 27, 1997, I was in Pretoria, South Africa to speak about technology at a huge global missions conference. I finished a prep meeting, across a residential street from one of the conference churches. I looked both ways and then started across the street. Suddenly, I heard \u201cLOOK OUT!!!\u201d and that was the end.[3]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

[What happened next is not my own memory. Eyewitnesses filled this in afterward.]<\/p>\n

\"A

A “bull bar” similar to what hit Pete<\/p><\/div>\n

A speeding car had rounded a curve and come over the top of the nearby hill. The driver was going much too fast (50+ km\/hr) and slammed into me head-on. The blow crushed my thigh; my head smashed his windshield. Flipping into the air, I somersaulted a couple of times at least 20 feet off the ground, and crashed head first into the ground about 50 feet away. I was completely still, broken and bloodied.<\/p>\n

More traffic prevented the man I was with from crossing the street for a minute. Reaching me, he found I wasn’t breathing and had no pulse (\u201ccardiac arrest\u201d). The church pastor’s wife also came running; they prayed against an overwhelmingly powerful sense of cold and death surrounding my body. A few minutes later, a passing doctor stopped to help. She verified that I was clinically dead, and said there was no reason to try \u201cCPR\u201d nor to call an ambulance.[6]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

For at least four or five more minutes, the spiritual battle raged\u2014Pete lying dead in a bloody heap, and two believers praying with all their might.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, my eyes opened! “What happened???” I asked. The intercessors immediately knew that the battle had been won, and I would be OK. (For those who like to count, yes I was clinically dead for at least eight or nine, possibly ten or eleven minutes.)<\/p>\n

I’m told it took 1\u00bd hours for the ambulance to show up, and during the wait my companions talked with me about how to notify my family. Sadly, I have no recall of any<\/span> of this<\/em>\u2014in fact, the people with me during the accident were upset later when I didn\u2019t follow through on whatever it was we had discussed! Perhaps I was in severe shock? I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Here’s what I do remember; and can never forget. <\/em>Lying there in a broken crumpled heap, I felt a wonderful sense of being cared for by God. “Wow, I’m on my way to heaven!” I thought. “This is going to be soooo wonderful. What peace! What a wonderful place! And not only that, I\u2019m going to get a new body, and God is simply taking care of everything.<\/em> Aaahhhhh….”<\/p>\n

\"accident-perfect-peace\"And then everything changed. I was heading back to earth. And it hurt<\/span>. Horribly.<\/em> As I began to scream, God \u201cspoke\u201d two things into me:<\/p>\n

One, \u201cwhat are you whining about?\u201d<\/p>\n

Two, \u201cyou think it is wonderful in heaven? I Am With You just as much on earth!\u201d<\/p>\n

And just like that, I was relaxed and happy. Yes, while in excruciating pain, I was happy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I felt such peace<\/em> from the Lord. Then I woke up, and began the rest of my adventure of healing.<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, let\u2019s focus on healing now, since this is a story about God\u2019s power.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
\"Broken

Broken femur, before\/after surgery<\/p><\/div>\n

\"At

At AD2000 meeting, one week after accident<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Camping

Camping at Turquoise Lake w\/o pain, July 24 1997<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

First, what did the doctors expect?[5]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n