[Note: 1) Once again, please remember to watch today’s broadcast of "Truth That Transforms" (Orlando - Sun.-5 pm, ch. 55.1; Mon. 7 pm, ch. 52.2) or download it at www.truthinaction.org; and 2)Be sure to check out the Sunday Funny at the end of this posting.]
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[Note: The following concludes what I began sharing in blog posting #196 on 4/6); The Lord is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!]
Later on the Saturday of Easter weekend, 1989. Later that afternoon, I was taken with several dozen other men to a large jail cell with dozens of bunk beds and toilet facilities on one wall with no privacy. (As hungry as one might have been, the embarrassment of needing to “go ” killed at least my appetite.) While I don’t remember any conversation I had with the other men, I remember being struck how guys had come from throughout the country for that Rescue. I also remember some men crying that they didn’t know how long they would be there and were very concerned about their wives and children. It touched me to see men going up to one another and comforting them with words and hugs. I also remember one incident where a guy spoke up and said that he was a Seventh Day Adventist and that he was afraid that he would not be supported but rejected by those at his church once he got out. I remember men gathering around him, putting their hands on him, and praying for him. The sight of all of this was so moving that I realized (or did the Spirit again just speak to my heart?) that what I was witnessing was the biblical concept of the Body of Christ being a caring community of believers. I became aware that I had probably sat next to many men in church Sunday after Sunday for many years, or had sat with others at some conference (and I had been to quite a few in my years in full-time ministry) and heard some great speaker teach, but I had never known that kind of true, intimate caring by another believer.
[Observing those men reminded me of how a few weeks before that weekend, I had been to a meeting of pro-life leaders in my community as a first time visitor. During the discussions, the subject of Operation Rescue and the concept civil disobedience, of risking arrest to – at least for a day – stop abortions from taking place at one killing center. After awhile, there was a long pause in the discussions. Suddenly, one of the men turned to a guy sitting next to him and said (in effect), “ If I end take part in this and end up being arrested, will you take care of my family until I get out.” After a few seconds during which I think I held my breath, the man he spoke to looked at him and said, “You have nothing to worry about. I’ll be there for them.” I remember then thinking to myself, “Wow! Could I expect such mutual love and support from any person I sat next to in church on Sunday? ” and I really wasn’t confident of the affirmative. Could you be?]
VERY early the next morning, Easter Sunday, 1989. We were all suddenly awoke for breakfast even though we could see through the one barred window high up in our cell that it was still dark outside. As we were being led out, word was passed among us to bring back any piece of any bread product but no explanation was given. As we were quietly eating, I remember making sure I wasn’t being watched and breaking off a piece of (what I think was) French toast and slipping it into my pants pocket. Not long after we were all returned to our cell and the guards had left, word was passed for all of us to assemble at a large area that had been cleared away. As we all sat in a semi-circle, I recognized a Catholic priest who was in our cell sat facing all of us. He explained that we would then have a simple communion service and opened us in prayer. As he finished praying, he began to cry. He then explained that in all his years at priest, he had never celebrated communion without real bread and wine and that our simple observation went against his teaching and beliefs. He then asked each of us to pull out whatever piece of bread we had brought back, and after praying for it representing the body of Christ, we all silently ate our morsel. Just then, a shaft of light came through the bars from the window above us and illuminated the spot where we were gathered. Really! Talk about a God-moment – and on Easter morning!
Final Thoughts. I hope at some future time to share about the other 2 days I was under arrest back in 1989 as well as the aftermath of those days. It may surprise you that my time after being incarcerated was in some ways more difficult than my days there. Reading my recollections should tell you why ever since I have never been excited about attending any conference that involved just absorbing someone else's teaching. Beginning with personal evangelism, I believe only as the members of the Body of Christ regularly put their faith on the line will they truly have opportunities to have a true sense of the presence of God. Finally, I pray that the Body of Christ would seek out opportunities to step out together in faith, as only then can a true, intimate fellowship of believers be developed. (We just need to recall the Church in the Book of Acts to realize this truth.)
A Sunday Funny (c/o MickeysFunnies.com)
It was Palm Sunday but because of a sore throat, 5-year-old Johnny stayed home from church with a sitter. When the family returned home, they were carrying several palm fronds. Johnny asked them what they were for. "People held them over Jesus' head as he walked by," his father told him. "Wouldn't you know it," Johnny fumed, "the one Sunday I don't go and He shows up."
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4/9 Thank you so much for sharing this! Reminds me of the hardship that my church is going through and how we all need to come together as the Body of Christ... Lorna
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