Part 6. True Ministry
Mr. Thomas turned down his walkie talkie and whispered. “God said that he heard your cries in the midst of the storm last night. He said He had to destroy your house, so you could come to His. He said He would never leave you or forsake you. He said He has a plan for you.”
His words. God’s words torn down walls I’d built over the years and overtime, I became the man He created me to be.
Nearly a decade later, I’m all the things Mr. Thomas said I was and more. I’m a husband, father of three, and a small business owner. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t remember that moment in the parking lot. The moment Mr. Thomas called me Sonny. The moment he prayed with me. The moment I was born again. The moment he put me in his car and drove me to the rehabilitation center where his wife worked. The moment I realized that the ministry extends beyond the pastor, or the first row, for that matter.
I will forever be grateful for Mr. Thomas’ love and friendship over the years. While I lost my biological father to drugs and alcohol and I was well on my way to losing myself, He reconciled me to our Heavenly Father.
As far as I am concerned, the real ministry begins in the parking lot and in the streets where other young men and women are hungry and alone like I was. For that reason, I joined The Lighthouse and I started a Street Ministry with Mr. Thomas as my mentor. Every Sunday afternoon, a group of us load our trucks with hot meals and we take the gospel to the streets. I can’t say that I’ve ever saw the pastor out there, but Mr. Thomas taught me that my ministry doesn’t begin or end with the pastor. It begins and ends with Jesus. That’s why he chased down a man, who no one wanted inside, and led him to the One who called him there in the first place.
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A Soul Searching Message
I hope you enjoyed our soul searching short story, A Stranger in the House. I pray that we always welcome people into our local churches with open arms, and continue to look for opportunties to be a blessing to someone. Think about it! Then go to the Father and pray about it.
#Soul Searching with Our Father#
