Living for Something not dying for nothing

An unbelievable day from start to finish. It's almost too overwhelming to take in all at once, so I will start with it's ending.

Went to Montrose Street Reach tonight, known to most as "street church", a place where we've served on and off the last three years. Street church is a Wednesday night church service and meal for street people- homeless, prostitutes, drug addicts and dealers, gang bangers, etc. Usually when we go we lead worship. Once I gave my testimony. It was the first place I was applauded when I mentioned that I'd been 9 years drug free. That applause was startling, humbling and refreshing- I had something in common with these folks. Many of them obviously struggle with sobriety of many kinds.

But I digress. Street church is a very special place. The friends who run it, the volunteers who do music, serve food, play with the babies and toddlers of the attendees- those who pray with the folks who come, etc- all these people are amazing. But perhaps not nearly as amazing as the brave men and women who attend.

First person I see is Janie. Janie is a recent widow, mother of three children, who until fairly recently was living with her entire family in one motel room. She looks after the children and her husband- He recently died of cancer, but had struggled to support his family and pay his medical bills on his small salary. They were in bad shape when they started to come to street church. My friend Andrea made a B line for Janie and developed a close relationship with her that has lasted more than 3 years. Andrea advocates for Janie, organizes fun days for the kids, makes sure they have cooking utensils and appropriate bedding and furniture. Through street church and Andrea's persistence Janie's family moved into an actual apartment in the last year. Her husband Felipe died of cancer last winter and I sang at the memorial service.

I hadn't seen Janie since the service and when we saw eachother we hugged and we talked and cried together a little bit. She's doing good, but she misses her husband.

Kim Dale was preaching tonight and after music was over she started to talk. One of the first things she said was "Stay with me guys because this is going to get radical." This is a woman whose life is dedicated to helping people who are hopeless find hope. The hope that can deliver someone from the depths of the darkest pit to the joy of living in step with God. But she is not satisfied with just a change of heart- she wants to see people delivered- healed, restored, renewed and redeemed. There is a young man who suffered unspeakable sexual abuse at the hands of his mother's boyfriends, who became a trans-sexual prostitute, who came to street church This same young man showed up a few weeks after getting prayer dressed as a man for the first time in his life, with a job and a girlfriend. Healing for the un-healable.

This is just one of the many miracles that happen near Westheimer and Montrose when the holy rollers come out for street church.

When Kim preached tonight on Daniel, the one delivered from the lion's den, the holy spirit fell like a rain storm. As I listened to her heart cry out for these men and women and children to walk toward hope, toward God, toward redemption and restoration- tears just started rolling down my face. I got goose bumps all over my body. I was flooded with this yearning to see miracles happen.

And I did.

Tonight, a man named John is in Montrose, getting ready to head to NY tomorrow, where he will start life again with a job and a place to live among his family. John is joyful because his life changed tonight.

"I thought that guy was gonna kill me"! Matt and I met John two Fridays ago as we and some Irish friends talked and prayed with a few homeless kids in the neighborhood. John came charging at us, waving his arms, shouting something, generally scaring the crap out of us. When he got close to us, he started to laugh and shaked our hands as if it'd all been a big joke. He was high, probably on crack, and didn't stop moving for one second, just carried on his way, leaving us a little shocked in his wake.

Tonight he came to street church. I saw him kinda sheepishly heading over to where I was praying with some people. I said "Hey, I met you before, what's your name?" "John," he said, "your from Jamaica right?" "Yeah that's right, I am leaving tomorrow, going to NY."

I asked if Joe Williams (Preacher Joe) and I could pray with him for his trip. Before I knew it, Joe and John were praying and John was accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord, saviour, redeemer and friend. The floodgates opened and tears poured down my face. I got a picture of John as a little boy- and I tell him- that is how God sees you as a little boy, innocent and beloved. That is how God sees you now. The blood of Christ, this perhaps creepy, myth-like concept that seems so bizarre when you don't GET IT but seems so right when you do, covers him now.

The blood of Christ IS the passover sacrifice. We don't need to put the blood of sacrificed animals on our doorposts to tell the spirit of the Lord to preserve and protect us, as Israel did at the first passover. The mess we've made is way to massive to be atoned through an animal sacrifice. The only sacrifice that God will accept to atone for our lying, our malice, or perversion, our distrust, the prostitution of our spirits and our bodies, our neglect-- all of it-- the only sacrifice God will accept to cleanse us for all that we've done, considered doing and/ or will do- is the sacrifice of God himself. God sacrificed himself, his own flesh, his own Son (who IS Him) so we wouldn't suffer the plague of Death that is brought down on the Egyptians.

Proverbially or metaphorically speaking the Egyptians would be those who do not belong to God. You are Israel, if you choose to be. If you choose to fall under the protection of His blood.

So this is the second part of what I shared with John. When this guy comes around to sell him some stuff, when this girl comes around to get him into trouble, nothing but the blood of Jesus can keep him from it. Not his own willpower- but invoking the power of the name and the power of the blood- "I can do ALL THINGS through Christ who strengthens me."

John is in the kingdom tonight. And he will be tomorrow, and the next day and the next day. NOTHING he does, says, or thinks can separate him from the love of God. He will spend eternity in the ecstatic presence of the Creator and the angels that worship Him. If he chooses to, he can spend this life in that same presence.

So pray for John, or if you don't pray, send up good thoughts, dance a jig, I don't care how you do it- BUT PRAY FOR JOHN. Let him be another miracle story. In many ways he already is.

Shalom y'all,

Cameron