Some Things Never
Grow Old
by Ann-Margret Hovsepian
(as published in Maranatha News,
April 2003)
 he
grew up in the home of the modern world’s
best-known evangelist. She began her public
teaching ministry in 1976. She has shared
God’s Word with thousands of men and women
around the world through her live
presentations, tapes and books. She has raised
three children and eagerly awaits the birth of
her second grandchild. Yet for Anne Graham
Lotz, who calls herself "an ordinary
person", the thrill of being used by God
hasn’t gotten old. "I never get over
the wonder that Jesus loves me and lives in
me," she said, just hours before she
spoke at Toronto MissionFest 2003.
"It’s exciting that He opens
opportunities for me to express my love for
Him and my thanks for what He’s done."
When Lotz arrived in Toronto at the end of
February to speak at MissionFest, she brought
with her a message of hope – a reason to
"Let the Nations Be Glad", the
conference theme. "I’m going to talk
about heaven," she said, "and I’m
going to talk about the end of the
story." Lotz said that the Bible’s
teachings about eternity are a tremendous
motivation for missions and for presenting the
Gospel. "I want to take as many people to
heaven with me as I can!"
About five years ago, Lotz began to feel
the urgent need for Christians to experience
revival. Since 2000, her non-profit
organization, AnGeL Ministries, has been
holding Just Give Me Jesus revivals
across the United States and her newest book, My
Heart’s Cry: Longing for More of Jesus,
reveals her desire for a deeper and more
intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ.
At MissionFest, Lotz knew that the
possibility of war and a turbulent world
situation were on people’s minds. "God
knows the audience," she said, explaining
why she wanted to talk about heaven.
"People need to hear this." She also
recognized that, for people involved in the
difficult and often thankless work of
missions, the hope of an eternal home with God
– that "one day God will set it all
right" – is a huge comfort and
encouragement.
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My Heart’s Cry is Lotz’s
personal testimony of wanting more of
Jesus. "The more you know Jesus the
more you love Him, and once you love Him
more you want to know Him more,"
she explained. "It’s like a cycle
that I don’t think will ever end, and
that’s the cycle that I’m on."
Lotz pointed out that many Christians
today tend to neglect their relationship
with Christ simply because of the
busyness of life: "We can do so
much more, and so much quicker."
It’s a common thread among the
Christians who have shared their
struggles with her – being busy about
so many things that they are kept from
the best thing.
One of the challenges in her own walk
with Jesus has been prayer. When asked
how Christians can overcome their
struggle to pray more, Lotz gave a
simple solution: "By praying."
She said that in our tiredness,
distractions and activity we often turn
first to the many helps available today
and thus don’t feel the need for
prayer. "Under all that is a
Satanic resistance to prayer because
prayer strengthens our relationship with
God," said Lotz. "God answers
prayer. If Satan can’t keep us from
being saved, he’ll keep us from being
effective."
Acknowledging that the stress of life
can sometimes drive us to various means
of "escape", Lotz said that
she learned to instead cry out to God
for just a fresh touch from Jesus in her
life. She began to study in the Gospel
of John the encounters that Jesus had
with people and got new glimpses of
Him… but it still wasn’t enough. She
wanted more of Jesus! Technically, Lotz
said, we don’t get more of Jesus –
"When we receive Christ into our
heart, all of Him comes into us"
– but our capacity to surrender to Him
grows and He gets more of us.
Lotz wants to share this passion for
knowing Jesus with as many people as she
can. Her short-term plans include a Just
Give Me Jesus revival in Kentucky
(April), turning in the manuscript for a
new book (June), and a trip to Korea
(September). And so continues Lotz’s
thrill of seeing what God can do in and
through her.
© 2003 Ann-Margret Hovsepian
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