Since this blog is being read in over 30 countries, we
are greeting one different country every time a post is written. This
week we say, “Hello!” to our brothers and sisters in Italy.
"Noi
siamo ambasciatori di Cristo, come se Dio stavano facendo il suo appello
attraverso di noi." 2 Corinzi 05.20
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| Pavilion at the Bay Side Camp |
Sunday,
January 11, 2015
As I came up to the pavilion at the Bay
Side Camp on this cold, windy day, Shorty greeted me with his bubbly, unshaved personality;
Chris calmly waved at me from his new van he had purchased together with Mike;
Leila ambled up, smiling from within a sleeping back she had wrapped around
herself to keep warm. Jason shook my
hand and gave me a big, positive smile.
And there was his wife Ashley.
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| Jason and his wife, Ashley with pajama bottoms and a blanket to keep warm in bone chilling cold! |
Ashley stood under the pavilion with a
small blanket wrapped around her for added warmth and protection from the frigid
wind. She had the kind of body blanket one would wrap around while snuggling on
the sofa sipping a warm drink, enjoying a good book on a cold, dreary day. If
it had been a couple of degrees colder out here, it probably would have snowed;
so the light clothing and worn shoes Ashley had on were just not enough to keep
the bone chilling air at bay. Her nose
and ears were red with the cold. Her faltering
lips were not able to fully form functional words too fast. However, I heard no complaints from her, as
she seemed content to be with Jason, her husband of four months. If nothing else, they had each other. Yet, I had a special concern in my heart for
Ashley…and I didn’t know what it was.
Though I could have briefly pondered what
a beautiful, young lady of 24 years was doing here, my main thought was to
immediately get her food and warm clothing. Emotions, such as pity, can get in the way of
action, whereas love DEMANDS action.
I immediately told her I had warm clothing
for her and warm food. We would eat
first and then we would let her go through the clothing and pick what she
needed.
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| A Leila wrap! |
I said the same thing to Leila, as she certainly
can’t walk around all day long wrapped up in a sleeping bag! She had a vehicle, but it had just been
impounded. She was now alone in the cold,
hard street in the heart of winter with no shelter or adequate clothing.
Then, there’s Pat. Pat, who lives far away, attends church with
her friend Dale, who lives close to me.
So, Pat brought a lot of women’s clothing which she gave to Dale at
church so I could go nearby and pick it up.
Then, when I came over, Chris, Dale’s husband thought it would be a
great idea if he cleaned up his closet to see what he had that he could give
away. That evening, he called me saying
he had found in his closet three heavy winter coats, a half a dozen blankets and
a sleeping bag, which I gladly picked up!
Bill and his wife Glenda, also called me
to tell me they had warm clothing articles for the least of these, which I was
glad to receive. Bless the Lord. Thank you Jesus.
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| Thank you Bill and Glenda (not shown)! |
And then there’s Alain and Sarah who have
three children and have so much in their closet which they freely and joyfully give
for God’s purpose. Praise God! You could not give me anything better in life
than things for the precious children of God, the least of these – the poor, the
homeless, those in need.
Lord, bless abundantly all those who give
so freely of their heart, their closet, their prayers and their finances in love
for You, Jesus! Reward them all richly,
oh Lord, now and in You Kingdom to come.
Outwardly, people may not see much in
me. I certainly do not carry myself as a
prince would, nor am I eloquent or witty in public. Sometimes, I may even seem quite dull! But inwardly churns the Holy Spirit presence
of the Lord which compels me to joyfully walk closer and closer towards The
Revival which God has so very close ahead for the remnant – the bride of Christ
Jesus.
“What,” you say, “all that from someone
just emptying their closet?”
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| Out of the closet! |
I answer you with a resounding,
“Yes!” And I will add, “Where the
Presence of the Lord is, there is Freedom!”
(2 Corinthians 3:17). It is the
same powerful Holy Spirit in the big things, as it is in the little
things.
Listen to me, saints of God; if everyone
in America emptied their closets, attics and basements of clothing (and other
needed items) they no longer use, nor ever will use again, no homeless man,
woman or child in the world would be without proper clothing or shoes! Get that clothing out and personally GO to
the homeless and give it to them. Or give
it to someone who GOES in the street, themselves, offering not just clothing,
but love, prayers and salvation for the least of these which God loves so much. Wouldn’t that reflect the church Jesus had in
mind – a live organism, rather than a dead organization?
“Everyone
was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the
apostles. And all the believers were
together and had all things in common.”
Acts 2:43-44
Because of people like Pat, Dale and
Chris, Bill and Glenda, Alain and Sarah and more, I could more confidently go
in the street and face Ashley and Leila, and bless them with their immediate
needs. That glorifies God because he
gets all the credit. He is the Master
organizer, knowing who needs what, and when.
Praise God!
Once the homeless are loved, fed, clothed
and provided with basic needs, only then can you tell them about a Greater Love
which leads to salvation. Only then can
you tell the world about The Savior, our Provider and Healer who wants fellowship
with His people!
Why would someone faithfully repent of
their sins except to One who loves and forgives them, and gives them eternal
life with Him in heaven? YOU, saints of
God, are ordained (put there) to manifest (show) that love to those in need as
an example of Christ’s love. Therefore,
encourage each other with these words.
“We
are Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through
us.”
2
Corinthians 5:20
That means YOU! The remnant chosen by grace, the bride of Christ.
“So
too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.” Romans 11:5
After eating, Ashley was
eager to see what clothing I had for her, as was Leila. I gave Ashley a wonderful, heavy, warm winter
coat, thick sweat pants, new shoes, a king size bedspread, and she got to pick through a
large pile of long sleeve tops. Leila
picked a winter hoody to keep her warm and other tops, also.
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| Now for the comfort of "warmth!" |
Neither of them picked more than they
needed. I urged them to take more, but
they were happy with what they had, and confident that they would now have the
comfort of warmth.
Jason was overjoyed that Ashley, his wife,
had found a large bedspread to sleep with.
He shared that whenever she would roll over in the tent while sleeping,
she would take all the covers, leaving him uncovered and cold. He let her.
Then Jason revealed something to me that
uncovered that special, unknown concern the Holy Spirit had put in my heart for
Ashley. She is now about two months
pregnant! She shared with me how twins
and triplets run in the family! I
immediately took that concern to the Lord and prayed right there and then for
the both of them. YOUR prayers are also
needed. Thank you.
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| Jason and Ashley, last week when it was warmer! |
I then went to the Palafox Camp in town
where I ministered to John, Chris, Jeff, Kevin, Kid and others.
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| Oh yea...Hot, hot dogs! |
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| Kevin looking rather spiffy, if I may say. Socks in his right hand are worth their weight in gold. He received some reading glasses, so now I see him reading all the time on a park bench! |
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| John is actually pleasantly social and loving! He loves the Lord Jesus Christ! |
Then, to my surprise, here comes Debbie and her gang of amazing, joyful ministers! The last time I had seen her was in October of 2014 (see blog post Oct. 12, 2014).
“I read your book (The Spark in the
Street),” she announced, as she radiantly came toward me, “and I follow the
blog!”
She turned to her group of energetic
servants of the Lord and said, “This is Jean-Luc. He wrote the book and writes the blog.” They all came to shake my hand. This made me feel really weird, as I am not
used to this kind of attention. But I
was glad that God was so glorified in such a way.
Debbie seemed much more confident then
when I saw her last. She again talked
about the book which saved her a lot of learning time. In her eyes, I could see the love of the
Lord. In her actions, I saw how much she
cared for the least of these. She knew
their names, what camp they could be found at, what they needed and what to
bring. She also had “dressed down” a
little, according to instructions, compared to the fine way she was dressed
when I first saw her here last October.
She mentioned that she was coming out of
the closet to finally minister to the homeless.
She and the ones with her had been in the closet too long; it was time
to come out and serve the Lord.
Amen to that, sister!
So don’t just get all your unused clothes
out of the closet, but get yourself out of there also and be used actively by
the Lord! Get out in the street, outside
the church walls. The Lord is searching for
such to serve Him and to bless.
Debbie seemed to be well prepared for her
ministry. She might have heard the words
from basketball coach John Wooden: Failure to prepare is preparing to fail. Either way, she seemed prepared to walk in
the love of the Lord, serving Him joyfully, as was her dynamic entourage!
She had brought friends, brothers and
sisters and family out in the street.
This group was an active young group full of Holy Spirit energy! Yet, they were not overwhelming, but well
received by the homeless. They seemed to
have a good spiritual connection to those God loves so much – the least of
these.
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| The beautiful people! Debbie, 4th from left, in brown outfit, and gang. Kevin and Kid on Right! |
As per Debbie, we all got in a circle,
held hands and prayed for the ministry, the ministers and the least of these.
Just as quickly as we ran into each other,
this little whirlwind disbanded and headed for the next homeless camp. God’s servants don’t sit still for too
long! The Lord always keeps them moving forward
and relentlessly headed towards… The Revival.
So, if you are experiencing cabin fever because
you feel you have been in the closet too long, just say, “Enough is
enough! I’m coming out of the
closet! I’m going out in the street to
serve the Lord, as He has told us to, and I don’t care what anybody says.”
Glory
to God!
Good night y’all, and God bless you.
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| Stay dry and warm John. I'll see you in a couple of days! |
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