Tomorrow's Surprise

Got a phone call from someone who went through the program, here at Rapha, back in 2005.
I remember the day he got here.
He didn't have any "drug or alcohol" problems.
People just didn't understand.
His wife and daughter had told him unless he got help, he would not be able to see his granddaughter.
They did not want her to see "pawpaw" drunk.
So he came.
Not willingly, but he came.

Funny thing happened during the 51 days he was here.
He had an encounter with God.
He sat under teaching that put truth before him.
He felt the call of God to salvation and surrendered.
He was baptized.
At the end of the 7 weeks, he left to return home.
Once there, he started a meeting for others who struggled as he did.
That meeting is now 5 years old and countless others have received help because of it.

He called to let me know that he wanted to come up and meet with me Friday morning.
He is involved with a group that is based in Birmingham and he wants to come and ask questions concerning the day to day running of Rapha.
This is pay day for me.
To see where this man was when he came here to Rapha, as opposed to where he is today.
God is a good God!
The man surrendered. That was the start.
Until we are sick and tired of being sick and tired, we will keep on in the destructive behavior that has defined our lives.

What happened to this man reminds me of the healing of the demoniac in Mark chapter 5.
Jesus cast out the demons that had plagued this man. Being made whole, the man wanted to go where ever Jesus went. Jesus had other ideas.
In Verse 19 - 20 we read:
However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.

It would be great to simply hang around church all the time, but there is a whole world that is lost and headed to hell if someone doesn't tell their story. We don't have to be great theologians to share what has happened to us. That is why I write this blog everyday. It is one simple way of sharing the truth I have found that has made such a difference in my life.

Hey guys! Give it away.
mb