As we all know and believe; I hope… is that everything is built around the local Church. What does that mean, the local Church? Well… many trying to build one will tell you it’s about bringing people in and counting the noses that attend, but… is it really about attendance and how many people we can get to come to a building?
Tonight I sat at a sports bar with one of the parents from my 12 year olds baseball team. He is the GM of the many of the strip bars in our city. That’s right; he runs the stripper clubs in Colorado Springs… he should go to hell right now, right? I have to tell you, my wife and I love this man and his wife dearly…they don’t speak Christian-ese but they are more pure in their hearts, and more Kingdom in their living than most people we know, they are just raw and real…
I don’t know if you have watched much live baseball – or for that matter, much TV baseball. But, it’s pretty boring! Hours of waiting, and sitting, but, when the players are 12, and it’s your kid; you celebrate.
Well… we love sitting with the “un-churched” parents of our baseball team. We talk about orphans, widows and our experiences around the world and their eyes light up! Question after question; they are so intrigued that it makes baseball fun!! (Don’t tell the boys that)!
Tonight this “Baseball stripper dad” shared with me how he held his 28 year old brother in his arms as he died of AIDS; he said, “don’t talk to me about God, he killed my brother” of course, I asked, “how did God, kill you brother?”
“As my brother was dying, I asked our Priest; ‘are you the one who raped him when he was little, and now you refuse to do his funeral because he his gay”!!!!!! He said, “The priest looked down and would not answer; my mom slapped me and my brother was not buried by our church – I hate God”.
Of course, as an “ambassador in Chains” I asked him if it was God that did this or man?
We wept, we prayed; we had “Church” in a sports bar tonight. It was Relationship; not right or wrong; but… life and death… I prayed death off of him and he gave me life… we gathered together, just the two of us, and, we had “Church”.
Sunday morning; get your family up and, please, go to church; tomorrow morning, please, get up and be the church.
Love you, brother.
Pretty powerful stuff!!! Love it!!!
wow. i’ve had a similar experience w/ a gay friend who killed his lover because the pain was too great. confessed it to me.
Over here in Spain, it is a post-Christian society. unless you’re willing to be real and raw like this, you’re irrelevant.
Fantastic blog. I want to live more like that. Still learning so much about grace but my heart breaks for stories like that. More of us need to step off of the platforms of judgment that we use to keep a safe distance from people and jump into the mire of the wounded to pray for healing.
YEP…..CHURCH CAN HAPPEN IN A SPORTS BAR!
LOVE IT AND LOVE YOU!
I love it!!! Dude you were just being Jesus to that man, that is so awesome! THanks for the encouragement.
Your witness is so pure and simple: just do what Christ did, and in all the normal places of the world, pizza parlor evangelism.
I think THIS is what Jesus did……not very complicated is it???
If only we would all be so real
Truth, with love and authority. This is Jesus and nothing can stand against it. Love it Bro.
Gary, I love you
This is KINGDOM!
Awesome brother,that’s what I’m talking about,that is what I like ministering outside from the 4 walls of a church.
mary lou