Serendiptious Coincidences, Part 2

One of the things about writing a blog is that one sometimes runs out of space before finishing the subject at hand. I have also been accused of writing too much in each post. The man who made that criticism also implied that he and his associates have a better idea of what God was calling me to do than I do. I assume you can tell, that did not slow us down too much.

In the first part of this message, we mentioned hearing Tom Demaree speak in a Sunday morning service at a local church. His message for the morning, at the pastor's request, centered around the joy of leading people to Jesus. He used an acrostic for the word "harvest" as his outline. Obviously we do not have room to detail that teaching here. It was a good message. I even took notes, which is unusual in itself. I have never been a great note-taker so when I take notes I often miss the next thing that is said. It seems easier to just listen carefully in the first place.

T0m is a man who carries a prophetic calling. He does not make an issue of it. He simply goes about the work God has called him to do. He did mention during his teaching for the morning that God has given him favor in different places and he told of some of the things he has done and will do should Jesus tarry. He said favor is better than talent. Tom is also a man most of us would consider to be gifted. His intelligence gained him scholarships to study medicine at the University of California, but he decided medicine was not what he wanted for his life's work. Shortly thereafter, he talked to a record producer who wanted to sign him to a contract. He nixed that idea as well. I do not know about you, but I do not even think in terms of that kind of intellect and talent.

To shorten the story just a bit, Tom was born-again shortly after declining the record contract. One of the very first things he was told to do as a Christian, was to call a woman he knew, in the wee hours of the morning, to tell her Jesus loved her. He tried to talk himself out of it, but was unsuccessful. He made the call sometime after 3:00 AM as she was about to swallow a lethal dose of sleeping pills. (Are you kidding me?) That is the stuff devotionals and those sweet, viral emails are made of.

When the pastor dismissed the service, I had to make a pit stop so I excused myself. When I returned to the sanctuary, I was not at all surprised to find my wife, face-to-face, and engaged in conversation with Tom. I joined the conversation which went on for ten minutes or more, with us standing in the sanctuary, between services. I cannot go into great detail about all he told us, but he did give us confirmations about what we are doing in challenging the religious spirit in the Santa Maria Valley. (Which is the whole basis for this blog.) He noted there is a discernible difference in the spiritual climate on either side of the river that divides Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. (We were standing in San Luis Obispo county at the time.) He mentioned instances where he had personally seen the differences manifested in church leadership.

Of course I have no idea what it means to you when someone confirms for you that you are indeed on the right path. It nearly brought tears to my eyes. (Well, okay, they got moist, but we were in church in a face-to-face conversation so I choked them back.) It is especially meaningful when many others are not so quick to agree and even less than congenial in their relationships toward you because of your calling.

I did not even know I needed confirmation, but the Holy Spirit recently caused me to see the reality of the situation. The people the Lord has drawn around me are specifically here because they believe in the mission we are on. They are as convinced as I am that God has ordained and is leading it. In my spirit, I know I have the favor of God and according to a word He gave me over twenty years ago, it is beginning to manifest. To have a confirmation now and again, from someone outside the situation, is a blessed thing--whether I feel as though I need it or not.