When They Come

This may be more for our friends where we gather as a fellowship, for our region, but overall I think the principles and the truth behind it are true for many.

When I first came through the doors of Christianity I am not sure what I expected. Probably not what I saw or even where I ended up. I know in retrospect, the idea of women in dresses and men in suits and that all had to “look the same” might have been tucked in there. My difficulty was I identified with those who could not afford a suit or had never been out of jeans and t-shirt. I have been in the services where people have been asked to “cover up.” (I once had friend who was told he had to wear a tie to church and someone gave him one. He was young black man sporting an Afro. When he showed up at “church” the tie was wrapped around his Afro! He died while doing missions in Tanzania some years later.) Where all the men looked the same, all the women in the flowery dresses and big hair and yes I have been irreverent about it. I do apologize for some of that. Not all, but some.

My walk was orchestrated by Him and no other. I remember falling in love with an album by Steve Taylor and thinking “I don’t want to be a clone.” I remember taking flak over it and my thinking. When I first started in church, I ended up in an “inner circle” of sorts. I began to look the part. But there was always a part of me that hungered for the life of being with those less fortunate. I began to bring them to church. Why? Because He loved me and I loved Him and I wanted to spread it around.

My first two weeks as a believer 23 young people came to the Lord. The man with Tourette syndrome (TS) and his verbal outbursts and crazy mannerisms. Rick got saved in our living room. My former “body guard,” a refrigerator with a head screwed on who was a blackbelt. He gave his life to Jesus in my store as the presence of God filled the room and a “mist” began to manifest. A young army veteran gave his life to the Lord, moving out of his girlfriend’s house and in with us.  A practicing homosexual who while buying a gift found himself shaking under the power of God in our store.  A man who “found” me, showing up at our home after a truck accident with one leg shorter by nearly 5 inches than the other. He was headed to the Social Security office when I encountered him. The Lord miraculously healed him and he began pounding nails with us that summer. Prostitutes, porn stars, thieves; men and women convicted of all sorts of debauchery. Continue reading When They Come – The Power Of Grace →