One, Two…FIVE!

Here’s something weird.

My church had a men’s conference. They called it “Fight Club.” I thought that was odd, but hey…men’s conference. We were getting what many of us had prayed for. What they called it wasn’t that important.

We had five amateur boxing matches the first night. A young friend of mine fought, and he lost. His name is Jeff. He’s hoping to become a professional boxer. I’ve told him it’s not going to do his brain any good, but he seems determined.

After the fight, I told him he needed to keep his left arm and shoulder up, because he was getting tagged at will. I told him about my experiences in the Eighties, when I trained at Virrick Gym in Coconut Grove. I was writing an article for the Sunday magazine of The Miami Herald; I wasn’t really trying to become a boxer. I was going to fight in the Golden Gloves and then retire immediately, but I got injured and had to quit.

I told Jeff I had trained under the same man who trained Jose Ribalta. For people who don’t remember, Ribalta is a Cuban heavyweight from Miami. He fought Tyson. After ten rounds, he lost by a TKO. I told my friend he needed a real trainer.

Jose used to kid me all the time. He told me I would know I had trained enough when I couldn’t count to three. He said that when I became champion, I’d be the PEOPLE’S champion.

Yesterday, I got these texts (combined here) from my friend: “So I’m running and this former Boxer, now trainer, stops traffic in order to Give me his Card and invite me to Train with him. I dare you to say God aint Good! Does the name Jose Ribalta ring a Bell?”

I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t even known whether Jose was alive.

What does it mean? It’s like one of those testimonies you hear on TBN, except I know it’s true.

Maybe we can get Jose to come to church. That would be good.

It’s wild, how God takes all the seemingly loose ends in your life and ties them together.

Also, I got an interesting comment from Baldilocks. I wrote about the way Satan parodies God’s ways. I told about my visit to the National Holocaust Memorial. I said the model of Auschwitz showed me that the death camps were parodies of the temple. Instead of animals, people–most importantly, Jews–were processed, slaughtered, and burned. Very much like the burnt offerings in ancient Jerusalem. It was my opinion that the Holy Spirit had shown me this.

Here’s her comment.

One more thing: I was watching Sid Roth’s show earlier this year and he had a lady on who saw visions. She said she had a vision of the Holocaust and of the bodies burning. She said she could smell it and that she heard Satan say to God, “*there’s* your sweet savor.”

How about that?

You have to pray in tongues, and you have to keep your mind stayed on God. The more you do, the more amazing “coincidences” you will see in your life.