The following is an email from one of our summer interns named Jesse. This is the kind of stuff that gets me fired up!
I apologize for the length of this e-mail. I’m a Creative Writing major, yet I don’t know how to summarize…
Last Sunday I went to the 5 am Bible Study at Aaron’s house(this is a group that gets together on Sunday morning before our setup). I’m very sporadic about my attendance to something so ungodly early, but Kevin had specifically asked me to share some verses about the urgency of the Gospel. One of the things we discussed was that if the Holy Ghost speaks something to you, do it then. There’s no point arguing or not fully trusting Him. Kevin shared that he unwillingly picked up a hitchhiker that morning because the Spirit told him to.
I was the next to last person to leave the Bible Study to go set up. There was a guy walking along the side of the road. The Holy Spirit didn’t specifically tell me to pick him up, but we had just freakin’ talked about this! I wasn’t gonna miss an opportunity. Kevin received a call from the person behind me and they started praying over this man.
After revealing his name, John, I didn’t really get anything out of him. Didn’t know why he was walking or where he had been. He let me take him a few streets away from his house. From there, I headed to Lifepoint as usual. Aaron Johnson asked me about the guy, and I could really only describe him as “weird” because of his mysterious behavior.
Yesterday Aaron runs up to me in Kidzone and says John is looking for me, but he had already gone into service. I insisted that he grab me after service if he saw John again. Sure enough, I had plenty of time because John was downstairs signing up for a LIfe Group!
He started to tell me his story. He grew up knowing his Bible front and back, got burnt by his last church, and fell apart. And he fell hard. He spared me details but mentioned drugs, alcohol, adultery, divorce, and his criminal record. He said he’s been without a car for two years and no one had ever picked him up till that morning after a party. I prayed over him to the Great Provider.
Then I did what, in retrospect, was quite rude – I asked if he could hold on a minute while I made a call. I called my host family, the Stephens, and asked if a convicted felon could join us for lunch. They said to bring him on over and loaded him up with a delicious home-cooked meal and a few take-home plates.
I say this to brag on everyone and everything about Lifepoint. To Pastor Jeff for a message that can pick someone up to the point a first time guest is signing up for a life group. To the Stephens family for their boldness and hospitality. And most of all to a church that doesn’t allow perfect people because they are so focused on the only truly blameless One! I love my church. I love my job.
Thank you,
Jesse
Wow. Amaazing.