Filter It
Recently, I was at a comedy show at Dallas Comedy House. I enjoy laughter, so I went with a buddy, and the show was quite hilarious. The comedian used a German accent for the first 1/3 of his show, I legitimately thought he might be German. (only for a few moments.)
The show reached a point where it went religious, and something happened that surprised me. The comedian questioned the audience. “Is any one here a Christian? Raise your hand.”
I didn’t raise mine.
From the Dark comes Light.
In the last couple months, I’ve been in a funk; both spiritually and physically. Consequently, my ministry began to suffer, and my leadership of those around, too. I’ve been in a dark place for a good bit of time, and have recently begun to see the Light. I received a kick in the pants(metaphorically) by my good friend Shane, who writes here occasionally as well. My writing here won’t be as good as usual, I’ve not written in sometime. But here we go:
So begins a new journey, and pursuit of life intertwined with Christ.
Over the last few days, excitement and desire to serve Christ has been brewing. I’ve met some new people who are just as excited if not, more excited than I am, about ministry. Something profound that I’ve experienced is the desire to minister, brings opportunity.
Last night was such an opportunity.
I heard about a last minute concert that was featuring a band I’ve only ever dreamt of seeing. So, I asked an awesome gal, whom I met the day previously, to go with me. Can’t go to a concert alone, y’all. It was a lot of fun, and we really, at least in my opinion hit it off pretty well.
After we left, we went into Dallas, and explored. We looked at Christmas lights, and walked around. We decide to run into Downtown, and look at lights there.
Up walks James, a man who is homeless. Now, prior to meeting him, myself and this young lady were talking about ministry and how serving people was important, and about ministry goals in serving the homeless was of value. No more after than 3 minutes after reaching the end of the conversation we’re approached by James.
Now, in this moment, I could do one of two things. Either I could pass him by, which is not hard to do, or I could respond to the call to serve. We chose the later.
James hit us up for a couple bucks, and I said, “I’ll do ya one better, let’s buy you a meal.” James energetically agreed. We walk a bit and talk to him. Turns out he’s a Vietnam War vet, lost his job and was in state jail for something involving alcohol, but from speaking with him and listening to his story, I can tell his life is back on the straight and narrow. Praise God.
We get to the restaurant and order him a meal, and continue to talk with him. Then enters John. Just a random dude, with a “COEXIST” tattoo on his forearm. John says to me, “Y’all are awesome, man. It’s cool to see people with compassion.” I got an opportunity to present the Gospel really briefly with this guy.
I pray that God will speak and work on both gentlemen, both James and John. Interestingly, their names are both Biblical.
All this to say, I feel as though God placed me in a moment to “put my money where my mouth was,” and serve Him through serving James and John. I feel as if I am back and where I need to be, to effectively minister for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It feels good to be home.
State of Emergency
Image courtesy of Examiner.com
[It was requested that I post a second post today, so here we go!]
If you’re one for following the news, I’m awful at current events, you’ll most likely know that the city of Dallas, Texas has placed an alert for a state of emergency. This is due to a recent rise in the amount of victims suffering and dying from West Nile Virus. The city is urging citizens to remain indoors and has launched campaigns for hosing the city down with toxins to eradicate mosquitos. Speaking of which, I was bitten today, I hope I get it, so I can beat it and add it my Timeline on Facebook.
It’s gotten me to thinking, why the sudden urgency? Because life is currently at risk? Because someone has to do it? These questions have lead me to my next, “Where is the/my urgency for the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”
The powers of Hell and death are currently and constantly at war for our affections. They want to distract us from recognizing its work in those around us. Our sense of urgency is pinned into West Nile, or maybe a loved one’s sickness, or “insert your idea here.”
So many times in scripture we see the urgency for sharing the message of Jesus. So why do we procrastinate? What’re we waiting for church? I’m talking to you, the member of the church, the believer in Jesus Christ. I’m not talking to the building. I’m not talking only to church staff. I’m talking to you, the layman, I’m talking to myself, I’m talking to you all.
We don’t need to wait until death is creeping up, we need to go now.