The last step...

I am going to put a disclaimer on this blog entry for the simple fact that if you are a Christian and you read this, your heart should break, and that should drive you to act.  If you are not looking to be challenged by this or touched, you should immediately go search for images of puppies running through flowers or something.  I had a life-changing experience today, to say the least.  If you know me personally, you know that lately I have been involved in a rescue mission for the homeless in Greenville, SC.  Today I had a meeting scheduled in Greenville with a pastor named Steve Stanley.  He is a master’s student at Southern Wesleyan and he is in my homiletics class.  We share the same passion to reach our community for Christ. I have been thinking about starting a street ministry to meet some of the needs of the homeless people that are on the street, and offer various other things to the community. I was having a look at the property that his church is on, to see if it would fit the vision, and it fit like a glove.  When he gave me a tour of the property my mind was blown.  The property is almost perfect for the vision that God has laid on my heart.  There is a separate building that has a gym, a kitchen, showers, etc, and the facility is barely even used.  You may ask, “Why in the world are you having this vision, or why is a gym a big deal?”  I’ll tell you why, because God’s heart is breaking, over and over again, and those of us that have received His gift of Salvation, through Jesus, are demanded to take the Gospel to EVERYONE that hasn’t heard the good news.  Sure, you may say, “We are in America, it is impossible to live a day without hearing something about Jesus.”  That may be right, but which voice is louder?  Picture a child or adult (ANY color), that hasn’t eaten a nutritious meal in a week.  Is the growling of their stomach louder than the Gospel of Jesus that they are hearing?  Is it louder than their single mother’s frustration that is constantly taken out on them?  Is it louder than the physical, mental, and emotional abuse that plagues the lives of many people?  Is it louder than their addiction to drugs, sex, or alcohol?  You get the picture; the fact is that many of them aren’t hearing the Gospel because the sin that surrounds them is far louder.  You may ask, “What can I do about that?”  I can relate because I have been in those exact shoes.  I am by no means trying to boast about my involvement in the community, but since I have gotten involved, God created a spark in my heart for these people.  The more that I serve these people, the more God breaks my heart for them.  Scripture has started coming alive, my prayers are deeper and far more meaningful, and that spark in my heart has started a fire. God clearly tells us that we can make a difference.  Timothy 4:11-16 - 11Command and teach these things. 12Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. 15Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.  We have to be intentional in our approach to reach others.  Ron Carpenter, a pastor in Greenville, prayed, “I believe there is a generation that is rising up, and taking its place.  Lord we thank you right now that this generation is not hoping for anything, but they have faith, mustard seed faith they hope for nothing, so Lord we decree and declare that this generation will man their post, they will take their stand, they will march forward and take over this Kingdom, a Kingdom Revolution, Lord something that moves full beyond our imagination, and beyond our thinking. God do it in us, do it in us this day, the third awakening is here.”  We can make a HUGE impact, for Christ, on our community and then the world, but it starts right where we are.  Back to the story I was telling.  After Pastor Steve and I met, I went on down the road to the mission that I volunteer at.  There was a 6^th grade singing group there, and some volunteers with them.  There were a lot of extra people eating so that means extra dishes.  I ended up helping another guy wash dishes for most of the shift.  I had talked with “John” quite a few times, and he was a really nice guy.  The first couple times we talked, “John” was talkative and had an upbeat personality, but lately he has seemed troubled.  Double dish duty assures a captive audience, so I dove right into the opportunity.  I asked “John,” So what has been troubling you lately man.  You seem like something is on your mind.”  He said that he had a lot on his mind lately and apologized if I had been offended.  I assured him that I was just concerned about him, and that he had been in my prayers.  As we were talking, dishes were starting to pile up, and then something clicked.  That is the way life is.  Sometimes it is like the world hands us a lot of dirty dishes.  We are weakened by sin and the dishes keep on coming.  That is the way “john” felt at one time in his life, until he found out about the dish washing skills that Jesus has.  I had to remind him that Jesus is on his side, and if he would just cast his burdens on Jesus things would get better.  We continued to talk and he shared a really personal story with me.  This was a hand written account of how God got “John’s” attention.  This is where this blog gets intense.  “John” writes: “I was walking down the street, but I wasn’t on the sidewalk.  I was walking through my misery, loneliness, self-pity, and hopelessness.  I was wondering how I could make it end.  My life felt as if it meant nothing anymore.  I made a plan to walkout in front of traffic to end my life, and end my misery for good.  I was standing at a busy intersection and waited for the best opportunity to step to my death.  When it came, I started to take my final step and a hand, as strong as a vice, grabbed my shoulder, and pulled me from the curb.  When I turned around, I didn’t see a man of extraordinary strength.  I saw a feeble old lady that looked like someone’s grandmother.  It was clear that she had a frail little body, but she was very strong in her spirit.  When she saw my face and looked into my eyes, she lost her glow and her smile left her face.  With her eyes saddened, she seemed to remember something and perked right back up.  She reached into her purse and pulled out a pamphlet.  She took my hand and placed the pamphlet into it and said, “You are just the person I have been looking for today, may God bless you son.”  I thought, why would she be looking for me?  I have never seen that woman in my life, but as she walked away I took a glance at the pamphlet in my hand.  I read, “Let not your heart be troubled!”  I said to myself, “Well she did find someone with a troubled heart today.”  The more I thought about it, it wasn’t her telling me to not let my heart be troubled.  It was God working through her.  I looked up into the sky and made the decision to get in touch with a man I knew from a church.  One week later I was at the mission in the rehab program.  I feel that God grabbed my attention that day by using a little old woman.  I hope and pray that I get through this program, if I don’t, God might not try to get my attention again.”  WOW!  Personally, this really touched me, to say the least.  I was crying like I had lost a family member or something.  I just pictured millions of people in world today that are in “john’s” shoes.   What if that old lady would have decided shuffleboard was more important that day?  We would have never had the honor of hearing his story.   God used a little old woman to drastically change the direction of “John’s” life.  How could he use this generation?  The reality is that YOU know that there are “John’s” in your life.  Everyday we allow them to walk by us without sharing the Gospel or showing them the love of Christ.  They are just a step away from death and we occupying ourselves with whatever WE want to do. Jesus DEMANDS us to reach out to those that don’t know him, and if we don’t, there will be Hell to pay, literally. Matthew 25:40-43 - 40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of the brothers of mine, you did for me.’  41”Then he will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  42“For I was hungry and you gave nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’  What are we waiting for? The time is now!  We have to do something!  Lives are at stake.  Eternity is at stake.