| Greetings in the Name above every name! |
| I greet you all in the Name of Jesus! "Joey, and those people that prayed!” The belligerent teen, Joey, had no reason to be angry. Joey had loving parents. There was always food for the table, a roof over his head, transportation to where ever he wanted to go. Joey’s mom would still come in at night…at age 17…and still tell him she loved him. Dad would also come into his bedroom, and rub his back many nights, telling Joey, “I love you son, and I’m proud of you.” In spite of that kind of love, Joey was a snotty brat of a kid. He ignored Mom’s pleas for help to take the garbage out, and Dad’s stern warnings against his attitude did not correct his behavior. In fact, the more Mom and Dad did, it seemed the worse Joey became. Joey began to collect a rough crowd of friends at school. Somehow they appealed to him more than those kids at church. This church kids were definitely BORING! He had already began to flirt with smokes, weed, and beer. Mom and Dad prayed diligently. They secured a group of prayer partners. Each one committed themselves to faithful daily prayer. They begged the Deacons of their local church: “I need 3 minutes of your day, every day to pray for Joey”. The Deacons gulped, but took on the task. Mom showed up at Tuesday prayer, Sunday prayer behind the Sanctuary. Mom and Dad lingered long at the altars in Sunday night. They refused to dwell on Joey’s negative attitudes. One day, Dad, really got to Joey. “Joey, I know you hate my guts right now, but that’s okay. I love you, I will always love you, and I see a man, grown up, with a fine wife and beautiful kids. I see you crying over the needs of teens. I see you bent on your knees before God. I see you leading people to Christ. In fact I can almost hear you standing before 1,000’s giving your testimony, cal “ALMOST”. Almost you lost your soul, but you didn’t. Almost you slipped into hell. You could smell the flames of hell and hear the screams of agony. Joey couldn’t get Dad’s dream out of his head. He went to school so angry. That bunch he was hanging with started a fire in the school halls. One was arrested for beating up a kid. Then one of his buddies hit somebody in his car, and then ran off. A hit and run. Joey, woke up in sweat, worrying about what trouble he was going to get in. One night he had a dream. He dreamed he grabbed a gun, and shot his Mom in the face, as she told Joey how much she loved him. Mom’s face mouthed the word “Why?” Something broke that night in Joey as he slipped out of bed and cried the night through. When morning came Joey knew he’d changed. He felt clean inside. Joey walked down the stairs, and announced, “I’m saved, I’m delivered from sin!” What a celebration they had! Mom and Dad laughed, cried, and called their prayer partners with testimony. Joey stood up the next Sunday in church, crying tears of joy as he told of his horrible dream. Joey did go on to preach the Gospel, marrying a beautiful woman, who loved him so much. Joey spent the rest of his life with the shadowy image of his Mom being shot in the face. Of Jesus dying for him. Joey’s still preaching today! All because people started praying, and wouldn’t give up on Joey. Will you pray? Pastor Stan **Need help? Call me! Pastor Stan @ 408-946-5464. We are here for you. We will call you back if we’re not here so we can give you all the support you need. My email address is pastorski@sbcglobal.net. *** |
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Calvary Assembly
A Passion For Jesus... A Passion For People
