Finally on the Scoreboard

It has been a strange few days.

My church put on a production of “Aladdin” this week, and they needed Armorbearers to show up for security. Of course, I said I would serve on one of the days of the show, but since I live much farther away than most of the guys, I said I would like to be a backup. And–again, of course–we couldn’t get enough people to volunteer, so I ended up on the hook for Thursday night. And I was annoyed about it, and I said so.

On Wednesday or Thursday (I forget) I got a call from someone I hadn’t heard from in quite some time. The wife of a fellow blogger. She said her adult son was in the dumps, and they were interested in hooking him up with a church. Was I interested? YES, I was interested. It’s all about rescuing people who don’t know where to turn. Besides, if I got the son, God would have a way to get to the family.

I prayed for these people for like two years. Then I let it go. God did not.

“Coincidentally,” the Armorbearers were scheduled to have one of their “Mighty Men’s Meetings” today. We get together early in the morning and build each other up as Christian men, and we try to get new people to come. I mentioned it to him, and he was interested. I also mentioned the play, and he was up for that, too.

We went to the play, and he met a lot of my friends. He hung around while I scrambled to run security. I was the only one who showed up, so it was kind of a circus until I drafted people to help.

We had a camel in the church. It seems like we always have to have a camel. Man, they stink. And they can’t be housetrained.

Today I got up at 3:20 and drove to pick him up, and we went to the meeting. It was amazing, as usual. The Holy Spirit spoke through various people. We heard impressive testimonies. We shared some things that affected us deeply. And after a while, I realized he wasn’t in the room. It turned out he was in another room talking to a couple of friends of mine. I walked through on the way to clean up the coffee area, and I saw what was going on, and I casually mentioned the sinner’s prayer as I passed.

When I got back in there, I led us in the prayer, and then we hit him with the anointing oil and some intense prayer about other things. A friend of mine led, and he knew exactly what to pray for. He asked God to reach for the rest of the family. It was quite a spectacle. I’m the world’s most useless evangelist, so this is as close as I’ve ever come to a collar. I had help, but I was right in there.

He may be coming tomorrow, to check out the Gatekeepers, our outdoor security force. It’s the pathway to the Armorbearers.

It’s very exciting. There are some people the enemy will never stop oppressing until they get on God’s side, and once they do, they’re free to grow and succeed. That’s what’s going to happen here. We’ve helped other people. I know we can help my friend’s son. It’s just a matter of putting him in touch with the Holy Spirit, and that’s not hard at all.

Once again, I feel stupid because I resented being pressed into service. Time and time again, when I find myself inconvenienced by sudden demands I think are unreasonable, it turns out God has blessings on the other side. Had I not been scheduled to serve on Thursday, I might not have gotten him to go today.

This is not hard. Winning people without God’s direction…that’s hard. If you’ve ever seen Mormon missionaries harassing and jawing people, you know what I mean. That’s like selling cars. With the Holy Spirit guiding you, it’s like being carried around in a sedan chair, from one assignment to another. You do a little work, but not too much, because the glory has to be God’s, and if you worked hard for it, you would think too much of yourself.

There’s much more to the story than I can say here, as always. God never provides “enough.” He always gives until you don’t know what to do with the excess. Even if I were at liberty to tell everything, I would not have time to type it all.

This is what life was intended to be like. I wish every person on earth was ready to hear it, but people are like fruit. They fall when they get ripe, not before. Yelling at them is like yelling at green peaches. This is why I avoid debating about religion. When people are ready to hear, there is no debate. There is just explanation.

Some people are fed up with life without God. They have had enough. They’re willing to try anything. They’re looking for a way in. But not many Christians know where it is, so they can’t show it to other people. It’s extremely satisfying to be able to help.

I hope things work out tomorrow. This should be great.