Unbelievable Story (Really)

I thought we were toast.

I mentioned a couple of days ago that my family and I were deeply immersed in a presentation of Oklahoma! for the local theater my wife founded.

We were almost immersed in deep doo-doo too, when a speaker got knocked over and semi-fell on some people in the front row.

I got a call today from a lady who said she was sitting there when it fell. You tell me how much it sounded like we were about to be sued like there was no tomorrow:

*Two days after the show she calls and says that her 11-year-old sister was hit by the speaker stand and had her arm bruised.

*She wants to know who is ultimately responsible and was especially interested in finding out if the city was liable.

*She mentions a lawsuit for the bumps and bruises, but says they aren't the suing type of people.

*She says that all of that might be overlooked "because accidents happen", but the speaker smacked her hand and knocked her diamond out of her engagement ring. It had great sentimental value.

*By her email address I can see that she works for a local personal injury attorney.

*She seemed to have three different names.

After spending two hours finding out as much as I could about this woman and getting my ducks in a row, my wife and I decided to go down to the theater to look for the diamond. Mind you, we didn't think there really was a diamond in the first place, but we had nothing else we could do.

Now you all have no idea the turbulence our little theater has been through, but suffice it to say, times have been rough. This show is a huge triumph for us at a time were it is sorely needed.

When I first told my wife that I got the call, she immediately began to pray and called others to pray that the little theater that could could weather this storm.

One of the cast members was at our house and we asked her to pray as we set off to look for a diamond. My wife specifically prayed on the drive over that we would walk right in and find the diamond and that it would prove to be an encouraging testimony to the that cast member who is a new Christian.

Here is how it went when we got to the theater:

We get let in by the owner of the restaurant in the front of the building who was just leaving for the afternoon. I disarm the alarm and we walk through the kitchen to enter the theater.

My wife sees that the carpet runners we have covering wires near the front row still have lots of straw on them and it appears that we didn't do a thourough job sweeping because of those runners.

She puts her purse down on the chair next to the speaker that fell, looks down at seat next to that, points to the seat and says, "Dear, what is that?"

I step closer and look down to see a DIAMOND right there on the seat! It was a tiny diamond that I can't imagine could have been seen if it were on the floor.

We were screaming and yelling like you couldn't believe! What a miracle!

I called the lady and she was just stunned. As of this writing we are going to make arrangements to get her ring repaired and returned to her!

God is good!

Raising Hell in the Polls

As published in The American, this May 2007 Gallup Poll shows an increase in the percentage of people who believe in Hell. In 1997 only 56 percent were believers, but the number is now 69 percent.

Is this one of those things that we can attribute to Global Warming?

One of the R words

In a moment, I will tell you of the miracle I saw today.

There are a lot of re words associated with Christianity: redemption, renew, repent, reconcile, recompense relationship...

Today's word is restore.

A man was introduced as our new pastor over the Men's Ministry and received a standing ovation. There were tears of joy.

The last time this man stood front and center of our church was about four years ago and there were tears then too. Tears of pain.

Sandwiched between those two appearances were many more tears of each variety as this man, our church, and God worked at bringing back a faithful servant to the position where he could minister again.

There is a saying among churches when it comes to Christians who stumble and struggle with a season of sin in their lives: We are the only army that shoots its wounded.

In this man's case, at least, the saying was proved wrong.

Four years ago this man--pastor, former Bible professor, husband, father, grandfather and friend--stood before us and confessed that he had been brought down by the scourge of Internet pornography.

As we tearfully listened, he recounted how this sin had come to dominate his life and pull him away from God. He was open and honest about his weakness and his inability to control his desires. He apologized. He resigned.

There's another re word.

An amazing thing happened after that day. He and his family didn't disappear. People didn't shun him, they hugged him. His daughter continued singing on the worship team. He got another job.

And God got to work on bringing him back to where he could minister again. The man worked on getting his mind back from the images that stole his thoughts and blocked his ability to connect with God. He worked through issues with his wife and family. He worked with the leadership of our church. I'm sure he prayed. A lot.

He experienced restoration.

What a glorious moment it was today as he stood in the same spot where he was previously a broken and defeated man. His confession and admission of failure that day was the first step down a long road to where he stood today.

I am sure glad we didn't shoot him.

Larry Flynt Proves my Point

Talk about your support coming from unlikely places.

Earlier this week I wrote about Reverend Jerry Falwell's death and how the man was being judged and reviled for the opinions he held rather than how he lived his life and actually treated people. I said that his life--who he really was--was taken out of context like the quotes the media used to build him into a monster.

Noted pornographer and long-time Falwell adversary Larry Flynt wrote an opinion piece in today's L.A. Times that essentially validates what I said:

"My mother always told me that no matter how repugnant you find a person, when you meet them face to face you will always find something about them to like. The more I got to know Falwell, the more I began to see that his public portrayals were caricatures of himself. There was a dichotomy between the real Falwell and the one he showed the public."

I say again: it is not the opinions people hold that dictate what type of person they are. It is whether in spite of their views they still treat people with respect and kindness.

Larry Flynt figured this out and clearly will not be celebrating the death of a man he called, friend.