This is my Story and this is my Song Jesus Paid It All
As told to Tony Guhr
(Please notice the second section’s reference to Uncle Otto’s parents–our grandparents–and his siblings–our parents and aunts and uncles–and their beliefs.)
Life before Knowing God
I grew up thinking everyone was a Christian. It became clear to me that a person had to make a choice to become a Christian. The Scripture says,
You can never please God without faith, without depending on him. Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely look for him. Hebrews 11:6
History of contact with genuine Christians
My mother and father were quiet about their faith, keeping it personal and private as was the custom of their society. My father did read the Scriptures at the breakfast table each morning. It was not their custom to quote Scripture out loud. My parents had each of us children kneel by our beds each night and pray to God before going to sleep. These prayers were always silent prayers, never out loud.
When we moved in 1942 to the Potwin, KS area, I began to attend a “Memorize the Word” class at the Emmaus church. I believe it was taught by either Frank Busenitz and/or Henry Thiessen. This class and the Scriptures memorized were a great impact on my thinking and believing in Jesus Christ for salvation.
The Emmaus church scheduled a series of meetings with “Blind Esau” the Evangelist (John Esau) who preached at the Emmaus Mennonite Church of Whitewater, KS in I believe 1945. I know that our family and I believe the church as a whole believed that a person had to be good in their behavior to be kept safe in relationship to God and salvation.
Rev. Esau announced on Sunday that his next evening meeting sermon was on the topic of “How to be saved and know it.” On the drive home from church, my father declared, “There is no such a horse!” “I may sin tomorrow and would then lose my salvation.”
Once my father and mother and the family heard the teaching of the Scriptures by Rev. Esau, they became fully persuaded that salvation from God is secure and cannot be altered or jeopardized by a person’s committing a sin the next day. Jesus paid it all.
My first exposure to the Bible before faith
I heard and then read the Scriptures which describes God,
For the eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward him, so that he can show his great power in helping them. 2 Chronicles 16:9
This is the summary of the process of becoming a believer in Jesus Christ as God’s salvation offered to me. I became a believer in Jesus Christ over a period of time as I read, memorized, and understood the Word of God, placing my trust in Jesus Christ for my salvation. The best summary for my understanding of the Gospel is that there are three parties involved in my salvation. God the Father, Jesus Christ, and me! It’s best described by the Scripture,
For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us! 2 Corinthians 5:21
Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done; so none of us can take any credit for it. Ephesians 2:8-9
So there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23
Faith is the same as believing. Faith is believing God provided Jesus Christ as yours and my salvation, his payment for all of our sins so that we might have peace with God. Believing is the decision that each of us must make. The Scripture says,
All those who believe this are reborn! – not a physical rebirth resulting from human passion or plan – but from the will of God. John 1:13
Yet faith comes from listening to this Good News – the Good News about Christ. Romans 10:17
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead. Hebrews 11:1
My experience with God’s faithfulness
I will tell you one of many stories that come to mind.
(Please read Ruben Guhr’s story that follows as told by Otto Guhr. A cousins to Otto and the other children of Birkholtz and Eva Guhr, Ruben was the son of Ava (Guhr) Voth, a sister to Birkholtz Guhr.)
Privilege of service
I was glad to reach out to prisoners, men who had sinned and been caught, explaining the good news of the gospel to each one. I have had the privilege of meeting some of these men as they returned to visit me once they were set free. During the 1960s, I worked with the Harvey County court system to have several young men sentenced to live with our family at the farm. I began jail and prison work in the 1950s at the Butler County Jail with a gospel quartet that included Richard Wiebe, Edgar Thiessen and Milton Guhr. I would often take my first born son along each month who played with the prisoners through the bars with his toy tractor and wagon. He was rewarded for good behavior, with the jailer giving him his choice of candy bars from the bottom of his desk drawer. I had the privilege of serving with Central Kansas Prison Ministries and Lynn McBride by participating in a most rewarding ministry at the El Dorado Prison for 13 years.
I was involved with the beginning of the Newton Bible Church and in years following, the Bible Baptist Church where I was able to take a number of youth to church and youth meetings each week in the back shell of my pickup truck, summer and winter. During the Chicago years, we attended the Lombard Gospel Chapel where we developed many close friends and enjoyed a wonderful fellowship with the believers there.
My Life’s Favorite Bible Text
For the free gift of eternal salvation is now being offered to everyone, and along with this gift comes the realization that God wants us to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures and to live good, God-fearing lives day after day, looking forward to that wonderful time we’ve been expecting, when his glory shall be seen–the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11-13
My hopes and prayers
My prayer is that each of my relatives, my friends, and my neighbors will yet hear the good news of the Gospel and understand it for the salvation of God can be theirs, and embrace it for themselves, just as I have. May I ask you, have you placed your trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation? If you have not yet trusted Jesus for salvation, as long as I am alive, I would be glad to visit with you about any question you may have.
Uncle Otto concluded his story by saying, “I have experienced many good events in my life, as well as a number of very hard times. When it is all added up and a whole lot is subtracted, this account of how I came to know God and experience His salvation is the very most important of all.”
Ruben Voth, son of Henry and Ada (Guhr) Voth (1922-1969)
Story told by Otto Guhr told to Tony Guhr, August 23. 2018
Ruben Voth of Little River Kansas was a cousin of Otto Guhr. Birkholtz Guhr, the father of Otto, had a sister by the name of Ada. Her husband was Henry. Henry and Ada had two sons, Ruben and Milford and two daughters.
Ruben and much of his family were living godless, caught up with the world’s attractions and its failed promises. His associations were with other young men who spent much of their time drinking alcohol and involving themselves with sexually active young women. Ruben was not a believer in Christ, living a life that caused the concern of his mother who at a family reunion at the Military Park in Newton, exclaimed to others, “I wish someone could help him.”
One summer day, Ruben was mowing weeds with a tractor on top of his unfilled trench silo. The tractor slid and tipped into the trench, pinning Ruben beneath the tractor wheel. As Ruben hollered for help, a salesman passed by in his car. Hearing the screams for help, the salesman turned into the farm and drove to the trench silo. With Ruben greatly crushed by the tractor’s weight, gasping his last breath, and with no equipment to lift the tractor, the salesman spent the last 5 minutes of Ruben’s life explaining the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His offered salvation, forgiveness of sin and the promise of everlasting life. Ruben embraced this wonderful news and asked the salesman how that could become true. The salesman led Ruben in a simple prayer of a sinner asking for God’s forgiveness of sin and thanking God for His salvation in Christ. Ruben died that day. His mom’s request at the family reunion years earlier had been answered. Someone did come along and did offer the only help and the very best assistance they could.
