Pardon Tiffany Bowen for laughing when the following question was posed to her and a room full of other ministers\u2019 wives: \u201cDid you think you would ever marry a minister?\u201d<\/p>\n
During The Good Cup event for ministers\u2019 wives, held during the Tennessee Baptist Convention\u2019s annual meeting in November, the question served as a reminder to her of God\u2019s apparent sense of humor.<\/p>\n
At the time she met her future husband Jason Bowen, now pastor of First Baptist Church, Trenton, Tiffany was a self-professed \u201catheist, feminist bartender.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiffany was working her way through the University of Tennessee in Knoxville when she met Jason, then a self-described \u201clukewarm\u201d Christian who was working at the same restaurant. He asked her out three times before she agreed to date him and it was only going to be for one hour, she recalled.<\/p>\n
That one hour date lasted much longer and the next day she told her stepmother that she had met her future husband. \u201cI had never met someone so transparent and genuine,\u201d Tiffany recalled.<\/p>\n
Not long after they began dating, Tiffany met Jason\u2019s mother, Charlotte Bowen, a Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionary nurse who had to travel to Knoxville with a pastor who had been injured in an accident.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I met with her face to face I was overwhelmed with how she was not like anyone I had ever met,\u201d Tiffany said. \u201cShe had no judgment in her heart. She was not OK with me being an atheist, but the love she showed to me was no different than had I been a Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two women developed a relationship that continued after Charlotte Bowen returned to Africa. Via e-mail, Tiffany kept asking questions and Charlotte would answer them honestly, she recalled.<\/p>\n
Tiffany noted that her future mother-in-law explained that \u201cJesus was alive and that was what made her different because she had a real, personal relationship with Him every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though she was an atheist, Tiffany had Christian friends and had even attended church despite being raised in a home where going to church was discouraged. She knew the Christian language.<\/p>\n
\u201cI may have heard the same words from other people, but I never understood that Jesus was alive until I met someone like [my mother-in-law]. He was obviously alive in her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiffany began to read the Bible \u201cand my heart started to change,\u201d she recalled. She was sitting in the parking lot of a Knoxville business talking with Jason when God suddenly revealed to her that He was real and alive and that He \u201cwould be the Lord of my life for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiffany said she looked over at Jason and said, \u201cJesus is the Son of God\u201d and then told him, \u201cI think I just got saved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, the couple was married in Africa while visiting Jason\u2019s mother. They returned to his hometown of Jonesboro, Arkansas, to live after their wedding and began attending Central Baptist Church where Tiffany was baptized. She recalled that they were discipled well by the church.<\/p>\n
After attending the church for about a year Jason was asked to do pulpit supply at an inner city church. He was asked to come back and he did — for about two years. \u201cAfter the first year I felt God was asking me to pray for my husband because he was going to surrender to His call to be a pastor,\u201d Tiffany said.<\/p>\n
She added that she believes God was giving her a \u201cheads up\u201d so she could also pray for herself. \u201cI was not pastor\u2019s wife material,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n
Sixteen years later (which have included seminary training for Jason and other pastorates) she admitted, \u201cI\u2019m still not but I pray every day that He uses me anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiffany noted that the willingness of both her and her husband to be transparent about their past has helped their ministry in the churches where they have served. They openly tell their congregation that \u201cGod uses us because of His great grace, not because of our perfection….<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t hesitate to share my testimony so people will understand God\u2019s grace and forgiveness of my sins wasn\u2019t because I had forgivable sins. It was because His grace is sufficient to cover the sins of someone who denied Him for 21 years of her life and tried to convince others to deny Him as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiffany said she fully understands what the apostle Paul said when he referred to himself as the \u201cchief of all sinners.\u201d And like Paul she knows she had a \u201cDamascus Road\u201d experience. Tiffany remains grateful that Jason never gave up on her after she turned him down for a date twice before.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe saw what was in my heart, not what I wanted people to see,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Tiffany is more than willing to share her story anywhere, anytime. \u201cIf it brings God glory, then I\u2019m an open book,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
Lonnie Wilkey is editor of the Baptist and Reflector ( www.baptistandreflector.org ), newsjournal of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.<\/p>\n
5 tips for witnessing to atheists<\/p>\n
By Baptist and Reflector staff<\/p>\n
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — As a former atheist Tiffany Bowen knows the language of those who deny the existence of God. She lived it for 21 years before she was saved by God\u2019s grace and mercy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAtheists know the truth,\u201d she said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t understand the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
She noted most atheists at one time or another had a bitter experience either with the church in general or individual Christians. \u201cWe need to help atheists have a non-bitter experience,\u201d she stressed.<\/p>\n
Now the wife of Jason Bowen, pastor of First Baptist Church of Trenton, Tenn., Tiffany shares five tips on how to witness effectively to atheists.<\/p>\n
1. Go to them free of a judging spirit.<\/p>\n
2. Be genuinely invested in them as a person.<\/p>\n
3. You need to know the hope that is in you and genuinely know what Scriptures give you your hope. \u201cFor me I use Romans 10:9 because that\u2019s what happened to me. I believed in my heart and confessed with my mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Understand that anyone who has never been given forgiveness does not understand what the word means. The same goes for words such as grace, compassion and love. \u201cYou have to demonstrate what those words mean.\u201d That\u2019s what her future mother-in-law did for her, she added.<\/p>\n
5. Don\u2019t lose heart. \u201cIt\u2019s not our job to change someone\u2019s heart. It\u2019s merely our job to be transparent and steadfast with the truth. God will do the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
The Baptist and Reflector ( www.baptistandreflector.org ) is the newsjournal of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.<\/p>\n
by Lonnie Wilkey\/Baptist and Reflector, January 04, 2017<\/p>\n
Pardon Tiffany Bowen for laughing when the following question was posed to her and a room full of other ministers\u2019 wives: \u201cDid you think you would ever marry a minister?\u201d<\/p>\n
During The Good Cup event for ministers\u2019 wives, held during the Tennessee Baptist Convention\u2019s annual meeting in November, the question served as a reminder to her of God\u2019s apparent sense of humor.<\/p>\n
At the time she met her future husband Jason Bowen, now pastor of First Baptist Church, Trenton, Tiffany was a self-professed \u201catheist, feminist bartender.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiffany was working her way through the University of Tennessee in Knoxville when she met Jason, then a self-described \u201clukewarm\u201d Christian who was working at the same restaurant. He asked her out three times before she agreed to date him and it was only going to be for one hour, she recalled.<\/p>\n
That one hour date lasted much longer and the next day she told her stepmother that she had met her future husband. \u201cI had never met someone so transparent and genuine,\u201d Tiffany recalled.<\/p>\n
Not long after they began dating, Tiffany met Jason\u2019s mother, Charlotte Bowen, a Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionary nurse who had to travel to Knoxville with a pastor who had been injured in an accident.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I met with her face to face I was overwhelmed with how she was not like anyone I had ever met,\u201d Tiffany said. \u201cShe had no judgment in her heart. She was not OK with me being an atheist, but the love she showed to me was no different than had I been a Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two women developed a relationship that continued after Charlotte Bowen returned to Africa. Via e-mail, Tiffany kept asking questions and Charlotte would answer them honestly, she recalled.<\/p>\n
Tiffany noted that her future mother-in-law explained that \u201cJesus was alive and that was what made her different because she had a real, personal relationship with Him every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though she was an atheist, Tiffany had Christian friends and had even attended church despite being raised in a home where going to church was discouraged. She knew the Christian language.<\/p>\n
\u201cI may have heard the same words from other people, but I never understood that Jesus was alive until I met someone like [my mother-in-law]. He was obviously alive in her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiffany began to read the Bible \u201cand my heart started to change,\u201d she recalled. She was sitting in the parking lot of a Knoxville business talking with Jason when God suddenly revealed to her that He was real and alive and that He \u201cwould be the Lord of my life for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiffany said she looked over at Jason and said, \u201cJesus is the Son of God\u201d and then told him, \u201cI think I just got saved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, the couple was married in Africa while visiting Jason\u2019s mother. They returned to his hometown of Jonesboro, Ark., to live after their wedding and began attending Central Baptist Church where Tiffany was baptized. She recalled that they were discipled well by the church.<\/p>\n
After attending the church for about a year Jason was asked to do pulpit supply at an inner city church. He was asked to come back and he did — for about two years. \u201cAfter the first year I felt God was asking me to pray for my husband because he was going to surrender to His call to be a pastor,\u201d Tiffany said.<\/p>\n
She added that she believes God was giving her a \u201cheads up\u201d so she could also pray for herself. \u201cI was not pastor\u2019s wife material,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n
Sixteen years later (which have included seminary training for Jason and other pastorates) she admitted, \u201cI\u2019m still not but I pray every day that He uses me anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiffany noted that the willingness of both her and her husband to be transparent about their past has helped their ministry in the churches where they have served. They openly tell their congregation that \u201cGod uses us because of His great grace, not because of our perfection….<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t hesitate to share my testimony so people will understand God\u2019s grace and forgiveness of my sins wasn\u2019t because I had forgivable sins. It was because His grace is sufficient to cover the sins of someone who denied Him for 21 years of her life and tried to convince others to deny Him as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiffany said she fully understands what the apostle Paul said when he referred to himself as the \u201cchief of all sinners.\u201d And like Paul she knows she had a \u201cDamascus Road\u201d experience. Tiffany remains grateful that Jason never gave up on her after she turned him down for a date twice before.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe saw what was in my heart, not what I wanted people to see,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Tiffany is more than willing to share her story anywhere, anytime. \u201cIf it brings God glory, then I\u2019m an open book,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
Lonnie Wilkey is editor of the Baptist and Reflector ( www.baptistandreflector.org ), newsjournal of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.<\/p>\n
5 tips for witnessing to atheists<\/p>\n
By Baptist and Reflector staff<\/p>\n
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — As a former atheist Tiffany Bowen knows the language of those who deny the existence of God. She lived it for 21 years before she was saved by God\u2019s grace and mercy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAtheists know the truth,\u201d she said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t understand the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
She noted most atheists at one time or another had a bitter experience either with the church in general or individual Christians. \u201cWe need to help atheists have a non-bitter experience,\u201d she stressed.<\/p>\n
Now the wife of Jason Bowen, pastor of First Baptist Church of Trenton, Tenn., Tiffany shares five tips on how to witness effectively to atheists.
\n 1. Go to them free of a judging spirit.<\/p>\n
2. Be genuinely invested in them as a person.<\/p>\n
3. You need to know the hope that is in you and genuinely know what Scriptures give you your hope. \u201cFor me I use Romans 10:9 because that\u2019s what happened to me. I believed in my heart and confessed with my mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Understand that anyone who has never been given forgiveness does not understand what the word means. The same goes for words such as grace, compassion and love. \u201cYou have to demonstrate what those words mean.\u201d That\u2019s what her future mother-in-law did for her, she added.<\/p>\n
5. Don\u2019t lose heart. \u201cIt\u2019s not our job to change someone\u2019s heart. It\u2019s merely our job to be transparent and steadfast with the truth. God will do the rest.\u201d
\n________<\/p>\n
The Baptist and Reflector ( www.baptistandreflector.org ) is the newsjournal of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pardon Tiffany Bowen for laughing when the following question was posed to her and a room full of other ministers\u2019 wives: \u201cDid you think you would ever marry a minister?\u201d During The Good Cup event for ministers\u2019 wives, held during the Tennessee Baptist Convention\u2019s annual meeting in November, the question served as a reminder to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58,1907,5369,5370,3118],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7519\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}