NEWS THAT BLESSES ME Philemon 1:4-5A “I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou has toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints;” I wasted the first six years of my Christian life, and so when I finally got my wheels turning, I looked back and felt responsible for those I did not testify to about Christ. I still had my battles with school, trying to graduate, and trying to at least play baseball despite all the distractions and struggles. My mind was not on Christ, for sure. Though I cannot give a name here, some of you might know who I am talking about. He was the one who ALWAYS came to me and talked, even when I couldn’t hear him. He patiently repeated himself. Even after high school, he would always come to me and say Hello and ask me how I was doing. I had no idea that he was having problems at home. I found out later that he was having very serious problems and was about to crack. One day at work, in the afternoon, our boss let us know that we would be “pulling wire”, and that meant those big, fat, heavy copper 500MCM cables, about 8 of them at a time, and everyone needed to show up early. NO EXCUSES. I was driving a 1971 Plymouth Sattelite, and had a slow leak on one tire. I was rushed the next morning, drove to the Shell station at Williams and West Esplanade in Kenner, and put air in the tire. While doing this, the same friend I just told about came over to me. He had the most awful look on his face. Despair, loneliness, something like that. He started to talk but I was so rushed I told him, “Can’t talk now, fine me later.” I never saw him again. He took his own life somewhere within a week of that time I saw him at Shell. It might have been the same day. The guilt that I have long felt over this has been awful. I have talked to other preachers about this and some have felt they had similar things happen to them, where someone took their life or ended their marriage, and the preacher KNEW he could have done more than he did. So, I failed. After this happened, I found myself often drifting back (Deaf folks have plenty free “mind time”) thinking about all my friends who I never told about Christ. It bothers me still. Then up pops Facebook. I began finding my old friends, the same ones that I had felt I should have talked to. My friend, Brad May, took a lot of heat for sharing his faith, and he is the one who shared his faith with me. True, Mardi Gras was where I really began to search after seeing that voice-less drama, mimed to perfection, showing how Christ died for us. But Brad told me first. One of my best friends in school, Rob, is a Christian now. My old neighbor, Lynn Toups, is a Christian. Leah Olds, Laura Pintner, Steven Geraci, Colleen, and a host of others……. IT BLESSES ME TO KNOW THAT YOU HAVE COME TO KNOW CHRIST….even though I never told you. Read Philemon, and see how Paul thanks God everyday for the stories he hears of other Christians and their faith and love for Christ. I am not only relieved, but overjoyed to know that you have passed from Death to Life, and to see your posts, and, many times when those of us who are preachers are discouraged, YOU ENCOURAGE US. Almost twenty seven years after I answered my call to preach, it’s still good to know SOMEONE cares. I can’t tell you how many times, in planting the church in Crowley, that I found myself alone in the Deaf church room, and just went ahead and sang and preached as though the room was full, and I was motivated to continue because of the ENCOURAGEMENT that I received from others, from the good news that they still loved Christ and were faithful to HIM.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:03:36 +0000
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