Since hearing seven loud horn-blasts at 3 am while Sheri and I were sleeping on the eastern end of Long Island, I have been prepared for “signs and wonders”. So, when Jamie and Ruth reported Saturday morning they had seen a blue shark on skates roll past them, I was not as incredulous as I might have otherwise been. Nevertheless, I confess I didn’t believe the report of these two young ladies.
Mary Magdalene came back from the tomb, going to the disciples to share with them the first report of the incredible Gospel that Jesus was indeed raised from the dead, breaking even the power of death over us! But even his best friends wouldn’t believe the good news of His resurrection.
She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. (Mark 16:10-11)
Forgive me, sisters, for not believing you.
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children” (Matthew 11:25)
Jamie says she knew little of true need until she came to love Christ and His Word in 2015. Now she sees true need every time she comes to Harrisburg Saturday morning.
Our actor friend, John, has a joke or skit for everyone. As he was telling his joke, he told Jamie to pay no mind to his jeans, which seemed to be causing him anxiety. They were held up by a long shoestring and tied in front by a double knot. The zipper and button closure seemed long gone. She asked him if he had more pants and he said no and that he would be ok. His shoes were stretched so tightly across his feet that the tongue, though torn, didn’t even flap out. She asked if he had a second pair of shoes. Again, he said no. It occurred to her John has no drawers or closets, just a grocery bag. But despite his desperate need for pants and shoes, John only wanted to finish telling Jamie his joke, to make her laugh. And she wishes she could live like this for our Father in Heaven. To bring smiles and joy to people, without concern for the world.
As our Lord said, at the Sermon on the Mount:
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Matthew 6:28-29)
May we be clothed with Christ!
Terry and Kim were speaking with a young man, Donyale, who did not look his 44 years, about the visible distress on his face. He asked if we had a bike lock. Kim has never considered bike locks for our friends’ downtown, but hearing this request made her think. Bicycles are treasures to people on the street, allowing them to pedal from one meal to the next, and they certainly need to keep them secure. In Donyale’s case, his bike was stolen while he was eating a meal at the Daily Bread.
It is hard to understand the desperation that would lead someone to steal from another who shares the same desperate condition, but Kim has heard stories like Donyale’s before. Pray for Donyale and all of our friends’ downtown, that God would continue to use us as vessels of His love for them, to meet not only their most immediate needs, but also that He might meet their need for eternal security in Christ Jesus!
When Tom arrived, he noticed a large print King James Bible set apart from the other literature on the table. Kim said it was set aside for George. A little while later, Tom noticed George had arrived and asked him if he had gotten his Bible. With a big smile George told Tom that he had.
Tom says maybe it was my shirt, depicted here, but George and Tom began talking of Jesus’ return, which brought to Tom’s mind the last two verses of Hebrews 9.
And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. (Hebrews 9:27-28)
Tom is asking himself the question whether his attitudes and priorities demonstrate an eager anticipation of Jesus’ return? Let us all ask ourselves the same question.
The actor John with his shoelaces for a belt told me he had a dream of the rapture, in which lights were shooting up into the sky, like fireworks. I told him my own dream of the Second Coming, in which I am sitting in a huge auditorium but so far away from the main stage I become concerned I won’t be able to see the One whom I have long awaited. A man sits down beside me then and we begin talking like I have known him forever. When I look into his eyes, I know it is Jesus. I suddenly feel so terrible, so ashamed, for all my sins, but He holds out His wounded hands with a smile and says, “No, I have taken care of all of that”.
Jesus is closer than we dream!
And that is the Word on the Street!
~Jeff Mason
For more information, or to learn how to join us in reaching people for Jesus, please email Living Water’s Director of Outreach, Mike Bongo, at mikeb@livingwatercc.com and he will get you plugged in! You will be blessed as you become a blessing to others!