Saturday I received a call from a former student of mine. It was great to hear from him . . . until he told me that he had been addicted to Percoset (prescription pills) for 5 years and had just been kicked out of his house for the usual stuff addicts do- stealing, lying, manipulating, etc.
He was feeling totally alone. That's because he was. One of the things they don't tell you when they introduce you to drugs is that you will eventually destroy every relationship you've ever had and hurt every single person that you love.
We were having an indoor men's tailgate party at the church (excellent!) and I invited him to come. Mostly because he was living out of his truck, had no money, and needed a good meal and place to forget about the withdrawal symptoms that were racking his body. He showed up and to make a long story short, had a blast playing cornhole, four-square, laughing with the guys, and just being in an environment where no one wanted anything from him nor would they put a gun to his head (which is pretty much the environments he had been in the past 5 years).
Coincidence #1 happened- he needed a place to stay. Now, I consider myself a fairly brave person, but I am very protective of my family and I am very aware of what addicts are capable of doing when the crave for their drug of choice overrides reason. It just so happens that Rachel was in Tennessee at a funeral and my mom and dad had invited my kids over to spend the night. So I invited him over to stay at my house for the night on the condition that he came to church with me on Sunday morning.
Coincidence #2 happened- one of the guys at the men's tailgate party was a former addict and dealer who has experienced the joy of the Lord. I pulled both of them into my office and we spent time talking and praying together. My former student realized two things- first of all, he wasn't the first person to deal with addictions, and second, there is a place in the church for people who have destroyed their lives on drugs. Not only is there a place, but the church will love you regardless.
Coincidence #3 happened- as we left my office, another guy in the church happened to be there closing up (everyone had already left- no reason why he should have been there). He also had struggled with drug addiction and had been about 2 years clean. I introduced my former student to him and the two of them talked. Literally, he told my former student VERBATIM what the first man had told him. I began to marvel at the number of people God had mobilized to minister to this broken young man.
Coincidence #4 happened- we got to my house and sat up talking until about 11 pm. I sensed the Holy Spirit say to me, "Watch Louie Giglio's "How Great is Our God" sermon." Now, I never, ever bring my laptop home. Never. It stays in my office 24/7, and we don't have a home computer. However, I just happened to have it. So we watched it. It was a game-changer for this young man. That's all I can say.
The next morning we went to church and he sat next to the formerly drug-addicted-now-Christ-following guys he had talked with the night before. To see these guys praising God together- guys who had given their lives, the money, their time, their passion, everything to a false god called drugs- was truly a miracle.
I don't believe in coincidence. I believe that God mobilized His church to reach out to a broken, lost young man. As he left the church after worship, he told me he had never enjoyed himself so much. It wasn't because of a great sermon or great worship. It's because he made connections with people.
To a drug addict who had isolated himself away from every person he loved, the connection is what he needed most. He needed people to give him the time of day. He needed for people to care. He needed for people to call him out, set him straight, and encourage him to kick the bullcrap habit of drugs out of his life once and for all. That's exactly what he received.
With all the church-bashing that goes on daily, it truly is amazing to see the church be what it's supposed to be. It is amazing to see God orchestrate and mobilize His followers to do the great things Jesus talked about. I saw one of them this weekend watching a bunch of men reach out and encourage a drug-addicted broken younger man.
Or, you can write it off as an amazing group of coincidences. But that just wouldn't make sense.
He was feeling totally alone. That's because he was. One of the things they don't tell you when they introduce you to drugs is that you will eventually destroy every relationship you've ever had and hurt every single person that you love.
We were having an indoor men's tailgate party at the church (excellent!) and I invited him to come. Mostly because he was living out of his truck, had no money, and needed a good meal and place to forget about the withdrawal symptoms that were racking his body. He showed up and to make a long story short, had a blast playing cornhole, four-square, laughing with the guys, and just being in an environment where no one wanted anything from him nor would they put a gun to his head (which is pretty much the environments he had been in the past 5 years).
Coincidence #1 happened- he needed a place to stay. Now, I consider myself a fairly brave person, but I am very protective of my family and I am very aware of what addicts are capable of doing when the crave for their drug of choice overrides reason. It just so happens that Rachel was in Tennessee at a funeral and my mom and dad had invited my kids over to spend the night. So I invited him over to stay at my house for the night on the condition that he came to church with me on Sunday morning.
Coincidence #2 happened- one of the guys at the men's tailgate party was a former addict and dealer who has experienced the joy of the Lord. I pulled both of them into my office and we spent time talking and praying together. My former student realized two things- first of all, he wasn't the first person to deal with addictions, and second, there is a place in the church for people who have destroyed their lives on drugs. Not only is there a place, but the church will love you regardless.
Coincidence #3 happened- as we left my office, another guy in the church happened to be there closing up (everyone had already left- no reason why he should have been there). He also had struggled with drug addiction and had been about 2 years clean. I introduced my former student to him and the two of them talked. Literally, he told my former student VERBATIM what the first man had told him. I began to marvel at the number of people God had mobilized to minister to this broken young man.
Coincidence #4 happened- we got to my house and sat up talking until about 11 pm. I sensed the Holy Spirit say to me, "Watch Louie Giglio's "How Great is Our God" sermon." Now, I never, ever bring my laptop home. Never. It stays in my office 24/7, and we don't have a home computer. However, I just happened to have it. So we watched it. It was a game-changer for this young man. That's all I can say.
The next morning we went to church and he sat next to the formerly drug-addicted-now-Christ-following guys he had talked with the night before. To see these guys praising God together- guys who had given their lives, the money, their time, their passion, everything to a false god called drugs- was truly a miracle.
I don't believe in coincidence. I believe that God mobilized His church to reach out to a broken, lost young man. As he left the church after worship, he told me he had never enjoyed himself so much. It wasn't because of a great sermon or great worship. It's because he made connections with people.
To a drug addict who had isolated himself away from every person he loved, the connection is what he needed most. He needed people to give him the time of day. He needed for people to care. He needed for people to call him out, set him straight, and encourage him to kick the bullcrap habit of drugs out of his life once and for all. That's exactly what he received.
With all the church-bashing that goes on daily, it truly is amazing to see the church be what it's supposed to be. It is amazing to see God orchestrate and mobilize His followers to do the great things Jesus talked about. I saw one of them this weekend watching a bunch of men reach out and encourage a drug-addicted broken younger man.
Or, you can write it off as an amazing group of coincidences. But that just wouldn't make sense.
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