Last night we were blessed to hear a powerful testimony of how Lynn Irby went from the street on drugs to the church teaching others about the saving faith in Jesus Christ. A testimony is a powerful example of how God can change a person’s life. Many people may not agree whether God exists or not, and some may disagree with certain points of theology but when someone stands before a room full of hurting people testifies to God’s grace there is no denying the truth of the Gospel. There were two major responses to this testimony. One man was brought literally to his knees and he accepted Christ as his Savior and others seem to get mad at the obvious change in her life. This was evidenced by a couple of incidents between some of the homeless. Fortunately, all of these were defused before someone got hurt.
But there was another response too. Some wanted the same changed life without them changing. They wanted to stop drinking and spending most of their time in jail but they did not believe they could change their habits. Chris had a bottle in his pocket to help him relieve the shakes in the morning. He told us that he was going to quit drinking because it was killing him. Of course, he said he was not making any promises because he did not want to lie. Tony suggested that he pour out his whiskey if he was serious. He said he could not do that. Paul suggested that he quit trying stop drinking and focus on accepting Christ as his Savior. He suggested to Chris that the real problem was sin. Until he recognized that he was just as bad as others on the street and everyone else in the world, he could not stop acting in response to his sin. Chris responded that he could never be a “Jesus Crispy”, no offense to us. We told him we took no offense but that was his only hope. Finally after talking, we all prayed for Chris and asked God to do the work in Chris’s heart for the change he desired. Then Chris left and headed for the mission.
We had a big crowd Tuesday night. We served 85 hot meals and lots of coffee with the assistance of 18 volunteers. As every week, we had many requests for blankets, aspirin, and clothing. There are so many needs. Some never ask for anything and others ask for something every week. As I looked in the crowd, I was surprised to see Rufus. I had not seen him in years. I remember when Paul first started his ministry; he bought Rufus a pair of shoes. He is a quiet man and but very respectful. It is good to see some of the folks that came each Tuesday night over 6 years ago.
~Marc
But there was another response too. Some wanted the same changed life without them changing. They wanted to stop drinking and spending most of their time in jail but they did not believe they could change their habits. Chris had a bottle in his pocket to help him relieve the shakes in the morning. He told us that he was going to quit drinking because it was killing him. Of course, he said he was not making any promises because he did not want to lie. Tony suggested that he pour out his whiskey if he was serious. He said he could not do that. Paul suggested that he quit trying stop drinking and focus on accepting Christ as his Savior. He suggested to Chris that the real problem was sin. Until he recognized that he was just as bad as others on the street and everyone else in the world, he could not stop acting in response to his sin. Chris responded that he could never be a “Jesus Crispy”, no offense to us. We told him we took no offense but that was his only hope. Finally after talking, we all prayed for Chris and asked God to do the work in Chris’s heart for the change he desired. Then Chris left and headed for the mission.
We had a big crowd Tuesday night. We served 85 hot meals and lots of coffee with the assistance of 18 volunteers. As every week, we had many requests for blankets, aspirin, and clothing. There are so many needs. Some never ask for anything and others ask for something every week. As I looked in the crowd, I was surprised to see Rufus. I had not seen him in years. I remember when Paul first started his ministry; he bought Rufus a pair of shoes. He is a quiet man and but very respectful. It is good to see some of the folks that came each Tuesday night over 6 years ago.
~Marc
