Greetings friends,
Blessed be the name of the Lord, who was and who is and who is to come! May his name be praised! My goal tonight is to communicate with you what happened as we went to the streets of the inner city. My hope is to communicate clearly, so that you can see what the Lord is doing in and throughout the earth. He's releasing his remnant in the land and I hope tonight's testimony blesses you and draws you closer to the one who came to commune with you.
The Preaching of the word:
Typically, when we visit the city streets, I try to encourage my friends with the preaching of the word. I usually share what the Lord shares with me throughout the week, in the prayer room or in my study time. This week, nothing really stood out to me, but I was in faith that God would bring me a word or do something different. Well, that's exactly what happened! God wanted to do something different tonight.
We arrived with 10 pizza's, drinks, cookies, etc. Usually, after everyone eats, I preach the word as they gather on the curb to hear the words of the Savior. Well tonight, David a man who we've been ministering to for weeks said he had an announcement to make. Everyone was quiet...as he informed everyone that he would be preaching tonight! I smiled at him and gave him a head nod of blessing. He began by saying, "I'm not going to read from the bible, but I'm going to speak from my heart, because His word is living in my heart. In tears, and very emotional, he declared to the brothers on the street these words, "What are we doing out here? We need to get up off these streets and live our lives for God. The devil is trying to destroy us, don't you see that? He's trying to steal our lives from us, don't you see that? What are we doing out here on these streets? Can't you see what these guys (Jimmy, Aaron, Steve, Noah, Jon, Eugene) are trying to do for us?"
This man was pouring out his heart to the others there. He took his rightful place of leadership in that moment. Here's a recovering heroin addict, active alcoholic preaching God's word. Here's a man that wants more for his life and wants to be all that he can be in the Lord, but recognizes the very pull of this world. Pray for our friend David! Thank you Lord for providing the sacrifice tonight in our Abraham moment.
Patrick has a vision:
Another man, who we've been ministering to for several months - Patrick - also shared that he had a vision this week. He said that one night he was laying under the canopy at the Salvation Army and he saw the earth (in a globe like statue) and he saw his life and his daughter and his problems. He saw a fire blaring out from the top of the globe in which he believes represents his hurt, pain and problems and he saw a hand holding the globe and he said the globe fit perfectly in the hand. He eventually saw the hand come up to a face of a man and the man snuffed out the fire. Wow...what a powerful vision. Then, I remembered our prayers this morning. We were in the prayer room this morning praying about the Lord pouring out the Spirit on all flesh and allowing the young men to see visions and the old men to dream dreams. Here it is...our answered prayer.
Noah's sacrifice:
God is using my 6 year old son Noah in a mighty way in my life and the life of those we minister to. I've heard the comments of some in the streets when they see Noah they often think of their kids. I have to believe that the Lord is working in their hearts, as they see this 6 year old boy come out and serve them. Noah likes to serve drinks, so we let him do that each week. He tends the cooler and passes out sodas and water as the folks come through the food line. Tonight, Aaron and I were serving pizza and cookies and I looked over and Noah was working with no guidance from us. He was asking what each person wanted and dipping his hands down into the freezing cold cooler, pulling up whatever they asked for. I noticed him grabbing his hands as if to warm them. His little hand - up to the middle of his arm - was red and looked very cold. I said, "Son, are your hands cold." He responded with a beat red hand, "Yes, but it's ok dad." I let him continue to serve and watched him do so with a smile.
Then on the way home tonight, we went by the Norfolk Tides stadium (minor league baseball team) and Noah yelled up from the back, "Dad, can I help write the BLOG tonight?" I said, "Sure son, what would you like to say?" He said, "Well, I'd really like to be at the baseball game tonight, but I'm really glad I can go serve the homeless people." I know that Noah's my son and I may favor him some, but something about his comment really blessed me. I realized in that moment...this is real life "training up a child in the way he should go, that he might not depart from it." I've seen Noah grow in the Lord rapidly as I've taken him out to the streets. I realized that my words at home, my rules, my bed time bible times, etc are important, but going out in real life is the best biblical training I can offer my son and God uses him to teach me as well. He's a faithful member of our team!
I hope tonight you can see the hand of God. I hope tonight, you consider your ways and what you are giving your life to. I hope tonight, you are blessed by the words of our testimony! Rest in God's love.
Haggai 1:4
"Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?"
Grace and Mercy,
"A Church Without Walls"
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