The weekend was hectic but very rewarding. I was in Miami over the past weekend filming scenes for a YouTube video to promote my book Visions, Miracles, Peace and Power. While there, I called my old friend Rick, whom I had stayed with for a while, sleeping on his screened-in back porch.
Rick’s family was liberal Catholic; he was a recluse and an intelligent one. We would stay up all night on the screened-in porch where I slept, talking about spiritual things and the Bible, why evil men prosper, and such. After forty years of Bible study, I’ve finally figured it out – it’s all laid out – right there in the good book, so there’s no need to school me unless your name is Jordan B. Peterson.
In any case, my old pal Rick was hurting when I called him to say I might drop in to say hi to him and his kindly parents. Rick said he was a mess and hadn’t left the house in two years, as he was taking care of his aging and ill parents and a sickly older brother. Rick had been taking care of three sick people in all, that is, until his older brother died recently. (And you think you’ve got it bad!)
As much as I wanted to see the family, I thought it best to stay away and said so – “maybe next time.” I followed that up with, “Rick, you know me; can I pray for you?” To which he answered, “Would you please!” I prayed a short prayer, not wanting to appear pious. l have another ministry, too, and that entails witnessing and spiritual warfare on the mean streets of life. So, I’m not much of a prayer warrior. Although lately, I talk to God throughout the day and night, even in the middle of the night and in the wee morning hours, “Father in heaven, forgive us all for being lax in obeying you. I will strap on my dented helmet of salvation, put on my breastplate of truth, and pick up my shield of faith to confront the enemy and shod my feet with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen, Glorious Father – and lead the way, Lord Jesus!”
Rick wrote me an email thanking me no end the next day.
After shooting some daytime footage, it was Saturday night, and with the basketball stadium packing out, there were a staggering number of cars, young people, and others going there and to Bayside Park next door. There were young people everywhere holding hands – some men with men and women with women. (Although, in Spanish culture, women holding hands with women is common and means nothing more than friendship.)
My heart went out to them, and I wanted to take a bullhorn and plead with them to repent and seek God’s face – especially in these perilous times as World War III threatens to erupt across the globe.
Seeing the masses like that made me aware to hit the streets again but with urgency. So today, I loaded up on my little red Bibles and hit the streets. At Home Depot, I witnessed to three or four, sharing the gospel. As I was checking out, the man behind me said something complimentary, and I said, “Just for that compliment, I’m going to give you a present, and I fished out one of the red Bibles and my card. After he finished checking out, the good-looking and well-groomed Italian man in his sixties said thank you and proceeded to introduce himself. “My name is Louie from New York. I’m checking out Naples for a place to live.”
I replied, “You’ve come to the right place, Louie. Are you looking for a place to worship God?”
“I went to a non-denominational church Sunday, and it was ok. I used to be a Catholic, but I lean toward the Protestant belief and the Bible.”
“What did you do in New York?” I asked.
“I was in finance, but my family was in the restaurant business.”
“What made you talk to me?”
“The Bible says, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’ and I could tell you were a man of integrity by the way you handled yourself. I could tell you were an honest and forthright person. I have the gift of discernment.”
Wow, I thought- if this sharp, intelligent man thought that much of me – then maybe God had me right where he needed me. Oh, he also mentioned that he saw my homemade necklace with the scalloped seashell engraved with the cross around my neck.
I invited Louie to my church, and he agreed to give it a try. We exchanged numbers, and he promised to go with me. (The single women are going to be so happy!)
I knew that this was a God-ordained meeting because earlier, as I left the house, I had been stopped by a neighbor who was selling his house, and he asked if I needed a worktable. I didn’t.
Now, for the rest of the story.
The neighbor’s name is Louie from the Bronx, and a couple of years ago, his twenty-year-old son was in a car wreck. I went to see and pray for the son (Louie, Jr.) after he was released from the hospital, but I hadn’t seen him since. They thought I was some religious kook, and smiled knowingly. They figured he’d be well in no time, given his age. But it didn’t happen, and now they were leaving their home to be near a physical therapist up in Jacksonville, Florida. After being confined in a wheelchair, the young man wasn’t smiling anymore. He is, in fact, sporting a cross on a gold chain now. The young Louie had a different kind of smile when he saw me – one that meant he was truly happy to see me. I told him about my book, and when I gave it to him, he glowed with thankfulness and couldn’t stop shaking my hand. I asked if he’d like for me to pray for him, and he answered, “Yes, please.”
(The Louie I met at Home Depot told me that he had had an operation that kept him confined to a wheelchair for some time and that he did a lot of thinking during that period. He, too, had to have physical therapy to learn to walk again!)
I recounted that story to the young wheelchair-bound Louie to encourage him. Young Louie showed me the tattoos he had gotten while in the wheelchair, and I told him to better spend his time reading the Bible and good Christian books. “I can’t wait to begin reading yours!”
I, as a matter of course, gave him one of the little red Bibles with the short and sweet salvation message in it – as time is too short for intensive Bible learning.
Note:
Today, a couple of days later, I remembered that the story of my mother’s healing was included in my book as well. With two broken legs at both shins, the doctors put stainless steel rods in each of them while she lay in a coma with a skull fracture for two months. Upon recovery, she was confined to a wheelchair and sent home after doctors told her she would never walk again. Crying out to God, she prayed, and a blinding light showed through the window.
When I arrived home after work, she was standing up and walking slowly around the circular dining room table, praising God. And she lived to dance again, living well into her allotted years of seventy-five!
Can you imagine the hope it gave to the young Louie?
YBIC
Jim Towers
Write me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com or visit me at www.drozonedelta.com and my website www.proheticsignsandwonders.com. My book Visions, Miracles, Peace and Power is available on Amazon Books and Kindle.