I have a theory: God listens to those little ol' ladies when they pray. How do I know this? I've had a sizable number praying for me, they've told me they are and I know they take it seriously, and something that happened on Sunday night proved God was listening to them.
As I was walking across the church parking lot to go invite some kids from the playground to our Awana kick-off event that was about to start, I noticed a young man (maybe 20, at least my size) walking along the sidewalk toward the parking lot carrying a baseball bat. In the parking lot stood a group of teens (3 or so of them, probably all 15-16) who were yelling a variety of profanities at the approaching man. It was obvious in a moment that a fight was about to begin. With plenty of little kids in the area, not to mention a busy street a few feet away, I reacted on instinct.
Now, I've broken up a variety of fights in my day, one can't avoid physical confrontations when working with troubled teens, but this was something new. Within moments I was standing between two young men, both of whom were yelling through me at each other, and one of whom I was facing as he held that baseball bat in his hands. Were the cops coming, had anyone called them, no idea.
After several minutes of telling both sides that a fight wasn't going to help them any, that the cops would be sure to haul of to jail a guy swinging a bat in public, the two sides drifted apart.
It was only then that the realization hit me that I had been face-to-face with a guy I didn't know who was in a mood to swing a baseball bat at someone. As I said before, the little ol' ladies pray for me.
That young man went to jail that night, the cops hoping to diffuse the situation, and the teen, whom I know a little bit from playing basketball at the park, came over later to apologize for using profanity in front of a pastor; who knows, perhaps this crazy moment will bear positive fruit in the future.
Five minutes later I'm leading 30 kids and a group of parents in prayer so we can start our Awana cookout, what a crazy thing the ministry is sometimes.
This blog serves as an outreach for Pastor Randy Powell of the First Baptist Church of Franklin, PA. Feel free to ask questions or send me an e-mail at pastorpowell@hotmail.com
Blessed are the peacemakers.
ReplyDeleteWhen you stepped into this situation, you were not acting as a pastor. You were acting as a caring and decent human being, and a courageous man. You did what needed to be done. It´s a pity, in a way, that those young men apologized to you because you are a minister. They ought to apologize because they were offensive, period. I hope you got to invite the kids to your event. And I hope the old ladies know how much you appreciate them!
Rebekah Scott
Rebekah,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouraging words. I had the grace from God of good parenting to influence me early in life along with an early introduction to faith in Jesus; the two of them left me incapable of standing by when the weak are threatened.
I understand why he apologized the way he did; in the home he was raised in, and among his peers, such talk is normal. We know, however, that God has given us each a conscience, something we can dull or ignore, but it's still there.
We had several kids from the playground come over to the Awana club (our youth program); reaching the older ones will be much more difficult, but God's grace is sufficient.
I hope you're enjoying Spain, one of my best friends was born on a US military base there...how'd you find the blog, I'm always curious how people I don't know come across it.
God Bless, Pastor Powell