Street church today was extra fulfilling and special.
Before going out however, my wife and I were faced with more than the typical spiritual oppression. A few stresses in our lives were enhanced by an awful situation which took place in the middle of the night. For a time, we were stuck feeling defeated and we were making excuses about why we would not be serving the Lord today.
It is hard to recognize that when you are called to do something deeply important, that because it is truly meaningful, there will be opposition from the devil. If you are on his radar, you will suffer oppression. The testing is always first but the break through is than so sweet.
We don’t expose the schemes of the devil often enough. For me, so many of the days and nights when it has been the most difficult to come out and lift the name of Jesus at Street Church, those are always the most specialist of times.
My friend Lou and others have also found, oddly enough, that it is the coldest, darkest nights which end up being some of the riches experiences in doing ministry on the Streets. There is something very special that takes place, when the only reason you are out on the there, is because you want to demonstrate your love for the Lord.
When you stick it out for the long run on the streets, staying from beginning to end, that is where you drive home with a thrill in your heart saying to yourself, ‘wow what if I hadn’t of gone out’?.
Where if you hadn’t been there, that hurting soul who would only have connected best with you, would not of received love or direction from anyone as they go off into the dark and dangerous night. Where no other person that night would of helped give that desperate soul a sense of value and a seed of hope. It is very hard, if not impossible to describe the incredible opportunities some of us have had, to stand for Jesus as well as to help heal crushed hearts and broken minds.
Street Church certainly is not only about those living on the streets. This is also about standing for our fundamental freedoms, for taking a stand for morality and righteousness in this fallen world, as well as showing the world that Jesus is serious and precious to us.
When you look back at your life, what great peace you will have when you know it has been filled by making the most of your opportunity on earth in Loving Jesus. What agony it will be for those who reflect on a life which carry know real meaning into eternity. This ought to be our primary concern and focus. That one day you will die and you will than stand before God. Will you have a story to tell? A story of heroism, struggles, victories, defeats, sacrifices and adventure, in demonstrating your passion for the King of Kings who you will have to answer to. Or will your story be only of pursuing comfort and security from a place of unrelenting discontentment?
Placed inside all of us is a desire to be about a greater purpose that just our own lives. The problem is we don’t go and serve that purpose and so never find real fulfilment. We all can fall into the trap of living only for ourselves but we must come out of that pit and be apart of the greatest story ever.
A life lived on the couch or in a pew will only leave you empty in the long run, there is no escaping it. Please do not be apart of a social club, be apart of a Kingdom. We have been called out by God to be ambassadors, emissaries, servants of a Kingdom not of this earth. Real faith inspires action to make the Father proud.
“Duty is ours, results are God’s.” John Quincy Adams
-A special shout out to Monty Peterson who more than any of us has recognized the value of serving at Street Church and so refuses to allow the devil to steal from him.
GOD BLESS YOU BROTHER MONTY!!!
– Jesse Rau
