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10.
Gerald and his wife Sophie lived in a small, run-down house in a State housing
street. Their front lawn was neglected, and their garden non-existent, with a
few unpruned bushes hanging over the driveway, and long grass clustering round
the protruding tap. The house itself was white, with bare wood showing along the
windowsills. The roof was tiled. In the back yard a sad clothesline drooped, and
a broken tricycle lay on its side.
Gerald let everyone in and Sophie, a large woman with bright, merry eyes,
smilingly ushered Raoul into the living room. A small girl, of about 4 years,
eyed Raoul from beside the TV where she was kneeling and playing with a shabby
old doll. As soon as Raoul was seated she came over to him and held the doll
out.
"Can you fix my dolly?" she asked.
Raoul took the doll in his hands. Its cloth arms hung down and the grubby face,
with sewn on eyes stared blankly at him.
"Now lets see" he said, in mock seriousness, "What seems to be
the trouble? Ah! Your dolly needs exercise!"
He held the arms of the doll and made it do a series of aerobic jumps, then he
gave it back to the girl. She was utterly delighted.
"Mummy!" she shouted, running into the kitchen, "The man fixed my
dolly!"
Gerald laughed. "You've made a friend for life," he said.
Moments later the girl came back, hugging the doll to her shoulder. Without
hesitating she jumped on to Raoul's knee and nestled there, with a smug
expression on her face, and there she stayed, like a limpet, until Gerald
indicated that it was time to eat.
The meal was simple. Bread and jam, cheese, a cup of tea, and a slice of cake.
The girl sat close to Raoul and leaned against him through the whole meal,
glancing at him from time to time, and smiling whenever Raoul caught her eye.
"I hope you don't mind Cynthia's attention," said Sophie, "She's
usually quite shy. I don't know what's got into her today?"
"No problem" said Raoul, "I'm used to it."
"That was a great message you gave this morning," said Gerald.
"Thank you" said Raoul, "It wasn't very original. I was only
saying what God has already said to us. I could have spoken about something
else, but I was sure that was the message God wanted me to share."
"What was the other message?" asked Sophie.
"Laziness" said Raoul, "It has troubled me for many years that
Christians just don't spend enough time with God's Word. Would you mind if I
explained?"
"Go ahead" said Gerald eagerly.
"Well, I know it's very important that children get an education, and the
broader the better. Knowledge is power. But suppose you're a Christian child?
You might spend a few years in State primary school, then more years in State
secondary, then off to university or Polytech, and then into a job. The State
schooling system includes evolution and atheism, as well as worldly values, such
as wealth is the goal, materialism and so on. How much of all that school time
is actually spent learning from the Bible? Almost none. A very tiny percentage
may be given to 'comparative religions', or 'comparing faiths', but that's about
all. On top of all this there is sport, entertainment, watching TV and so on. In
the end a child may spend almost every minute of his life, from birth to
starting work learning from every source except God's Word!"
"There's always church," said Gerald hopefully.
"Yes" said Raoul, "Perhaps two hours a week in church, as opposed
to 40 hours a week in the secular world. No wonder we have so many weak and
confused Christians! How can we expect to walk with Jesus if we never
spend any time with him?"
"I'd also like to say something about the Christian's efforts to learn from
the Bible. In most cases I think it is pathetic. What some Christians call a
'Bible Study' is really just a social evening. Someone reads a few simple notes
from a book, then some light discussion follows, and then everyone chats about
everything but the Bible. What I mean by 'Bible study' is a regular time every
day, with a Bible, a notebook, a pen, and a concordance. The Scriptures are rich
and deep, and we get out of them what we put in. You want to know why there are
so many shallow Christians around? It's because they never go further than the
edge of the ocean."
"I'll give you a good example of what happens. Suppose a Jehovah's Witness
called at your door. Would you be able to confidently show the JW where he is
wrong, from the Bible? They always seem to know which chapter and verse to turn
to, but Christians don't seem to know the book that their Father has given to
them! This is a disgrace. Why should Christian be on the back foot when a cult
arrives? Shouldn't it be the other way round?"
"I agree" said Gerald, "We're as slack as they come. What's a
concordance?"
Raoul told him what a concordance was, and how to use it, and then the
conversation slipped into other things and the meal was concluded. Raoul went
back to the couch while Sophie brought a fresh pot of tea in. Cynthia brought
some of her other toys - woolly kangaroo, plastic man and three little yellow
ducks made of wood, and Raoul sat on the carpet and played with her for nearly
an hour while Gerald and Sophie interrupted the game with conversation (Cynthia
made cross faces). The sun gradually dipped and the evening came on. Gerald
changed out of his uniform and returned from the bedroom in jeans and skivvy,
then he suggested that Raoul might like to go for a walk.
"I come too?!" Cynthia begged.
"Not this time" said her mother, "You have a cold and its very
chilly outside."
Cynthia cried all the way to the door and looked heartbroken as Gerald and Raoul
stepped out. Gerald pulled a jersey on and offered Raoul a jacket. Together they
set out, as a fiery sunset filled the sky.
"I think," said Raoul, as they rounded the fourth corner and crossed a
street, "That we are going to meet someone who needs Jesus."
"How do you know?" asked Gerald.
"I don't know, I just do."
Ahead of them the street was nearly deserted. Smoke curled slowly from chimneys.
A cat strolled across a lawn. A TV flickered against a curtain. Venus hung above
the rooftops, glittering pure white.
A few houses down, slumped against a street post was a youth. He tried to walk
but fell hard on the pavement, then he struggled to his feet and staggered.
Gerald ran to his assistance and held his arm, while Raoul held the other. Now
the young man was suspended like a corpse by his elbows. He muttered something
incomprehensible and tried to walk, but it was obvious that he was too drunk to
make it anywhere unaided.
"Where do you live?" asked Raoul.
"Numba, numba, forthyshix."
"Forty six?"
"Thaths right."
Raoul pointed at the letterbox ahead.
"There!" he said, "Now young man, I have to tell you
something."
The young man showed no sign that he had heard, but instead heaved and vomited
on the pavement.
"Your search ends at the cross" said Raoul, "Got that?"
"Get losht!"
"When you get home" Raoul went on, "Open a Bible and read the
first verse you see."
"Get losht!"
The young man half-staggered, half-slid up the path of his house. Gerald pressed
the doorbell, noticed it was broken, and knocked. Eventually the door opened and
a couple of kids dressed in badly-fitting pyjamas peered at the strangers from a
darkened hall. A dog barked from behind them, wagging its tail at the same time.
"Who's that?" called a woman.
"Mark's home!" yelled the boy.
"Just leave there," said the girl, "Mum'l drag him in."
Gerald carefully let the young man down to the front step, then he and Raoul
quietly left. At the letterbox Gerald pulled a card from his pocket and dropped
it in the slot, then he joined Raoul and together they walked on. They prayed
for Mark.
When they returned it was night, and Cynthia was struggling with her mother over
bedtime. The desperate little girl was determined to see Raoul before she slept.
When the door opened she was overjoyed. She ran through the house and collided
with Raoul like a rugby player, hugging his waist fiercely until he picked her
up.
So Raoul read three bedtime stories to Cynthia. Two stories were about animals,
and one was from the Bible. When he was finished, Cynthia cuddled down under the
blankets and smiled contentedly at her newfound friend, then he wished her
goodnight and left the room.
"That girl is going to be a leader in the church," he said casually as
he came into the living room.
The evening was a pleasant time. Gerald and Sophie told Raoul about their
backgrounds, and described some of the trips they had made overseas, and Raoul
told them some of the main events in his own life. He had very little to tell,
because for many years all he had done was hold down a job in a furniture
factory and, in his spare time, study the Bible. In some ways it was an
incredibly boring life, but Raoul knew that those years were preparation time,
so he had not complained.
At a few minutes past ten p.m. Raoul thanked his guests for their hospitality
and made as if to leave. Gerald insisted that he give Raoul a ride home, but
Raoul strongly expressed his desire to walk. Eventually Gerald conceded and bid
farewell to Raoul at the door.
"Please come again," begged Gerald, "We've really enjoyed your
company."
"And you're quite a hit with Cynthia" added Sophie.
"I'll try," promised Raoul as he headed off into the dark.
11.
The city was beautiful. As Raoul walked back to the hostel he enjoyed the bright
shops, the brilliant neon, the glitter, the gorgeous window dressing and the
restless business of the streets. Even at this hour, when all but the odd dairy
was closed, the city seemed to breath with life. Cars whizzed back and forth,
their lights filling the dark corridors of buildings with yellow light, white
light, and red. A tram, large and noisy, hummed by, sparking along its wires. A
loud horn sounded deep in the harbour as a ship moved slowly through the night.
As Raoul approached the hostel entrance he heard footsteps behind him.
"Hey you!" a hoarse voice called.
Raoul turned to face a man much taller than him, with a shock of black hair and
denim jacket and trousers, and old, black boots. Before Raoul could move the man
struck him in the face. A rain of punches followed, sending Raoul falling
backwards, but as he fell he felt thick warmth pouring over his head. The
feeling spread down over his shoulders until he was wrapped in a cocoon of soft,
protective oil.
When he recovered consciousness he heard a dog whining. A red light flashed
somewhere nearby and men in uniforms were moving about. Gradually the scene
became clear. Two police cars were parked nearby, and an ambulance was waiting,
with its doors wide open. A nurse and an orderly lifted the stretcher and varied
Raoul to the ambulance, pushing it in on its wheels, then the doors banged shut
and the ambulance began to move.
"This will help," said the nurse, preparing a syringe.
"You won't need that," said Raoul, "The Lord has everything under
control."
Undeterred, the nurse continued to prepare Raoul's arm for the injection, but
when she tried to push the needle in it stubbornly refused to break through the
skin. She looked at the skin in surprise and tried again, but this time the
needle bent.
Raoul watched her, amused.
"The Lord will heal me," he said.
Still determined to inject her patient, the nurse tried a send needle, but again
the tip bent on the skin and she had to throw it away.
"I've never seen anything like this," she said.
As Raoul was being wheeled into the hospital he laughed.
"You'd better hurry" he said, "I'm being healed four times faster
than normal!"
The orderly ignored him. He was used to wheeling druggies about. They often
raved nonsense at him.
A doctor came to see Raoul and tested his neck joints, then inspected the wounds
to Raoul's face, ribs and legs. The brute had kicked Raoul many times before
running off with his money, but not a bone was broken. The swollen lip and
bruised eye were beginning to clear. Two of Raoul's front teeth, which had been
knocked crooked, were not straight.
The doctor made no comment, but the expression on his face said much. This was a
most unusual case.
Two hours later the police arrived and questioned Raoul. They said they had
caught the assailant, and did Raoul want to press charges. Raoul said he didn't.
The police were puzzled, and insisted that he press charges. Raoul totally
refused.
"I'm leaving him to the Lord to sort out" he said. The police had no
idea what this meant, but they dropped the subject and suggested a counselor,
who could come and visit Raoul some time. Raoul laughed again and told them the
Lord was his Shepherd, and it was the assailant, not him, who needed to see a
counselor.
The police left and Raoul spent the night lying in a warm, comfortable hospital
bed, while nurses came and went to check things in the wards. By the morning he
was well enough to walk, so he signed out and walked to the hostel.
Across
the street, watching from a parked car, Judkin watched. As soon as Raoul was in
through the doors he flipped open his cell phone and dialed 111.
"This is a tip off" he said, in a deliberately low voice,
"There's a drug dealer living at the Taranaki Street hostel, room 14. He's
got a bag of heroin under his bed and a sack of weed in his wardrobe."
Judkin ignored the receptionist's questions and hung up, then he started the car
and drove slowly away.
The police arrived at 9.30 a.m. just as Raoul was finishing prayers. They
knocked on his door and asked his name. Raoul cordially asked them to come in,
answered every question and even invited the men to search his room. When they
discovered the drugs he was surprised.
"I have no idea how they got there" he said, "But you are welcome
to arrest me. An innocent man has nothing to fear."
He was duly arrested and taken to the police station where, after a long wait
and some food, he was interrogated. During the interrogation, a young woman
appeared in the foyer and asked to see Raoul. The receptionist told her to wait,
which she did, until she was informed that she could now speak to Raoul.
"Hello" she said, as she sat across from Raoul, "I'm Catherine. I
work for the Evening Mail. May I ask you a few questions?"
"Sure" said Raoul with a smile, "Everyone else is."
"You claim to be some sort of prophet, is that right?"
"I have never made such a claim. I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Sometimes
God shows me things to come, and in that sense I am a prophet, but I don't go
about making predictions all the time."
Catherine scribbled furiously.
"I've been told that you predicted the death of the Mayor, and the collapse
of the Counsel Buildings?"
"Yes, I did," said Raoul, "You've been talking to Gerald?"
"His wife actually. I met her at the supermarket yesterday. She's a friend
of mine."
"I did not want the Mayor to die," said Raoul reflectively, "He
had great potential, if he had only followed a different path in life."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that what we see in people when they are old, is only what they
were when they were very young. When you see the child, you see the old man, or
woman. The body changes, but the heart remains the same."
Catherine realized that Raoul was looking at her as he spoke.
"You're very ambitious aren't you?" said Raoul.
"Well, yes . . ."
"You're chasing the wind Catherine. Whatever you reach for will always be
uncatchable. The happiness you want is right in front of you, but you can't see
it because you're always reaching for things over the horizon."
"Let's get back to the matter of the Counsel buildings" she said,
uncomfortably, "Did you know about the subsidence under the streets?"
"No."
"Do you have any predictions at the moment?"
"Not at the moment. I never make them unless I am absolutely sure I have
them from God. Do you know the penalty for making a false prediction?"
Catherine shook her head.
"I'd be sacked" said Raoul, "If I say "This is from
God" and I'm wrong, I become a false prophet, and according to the Old
Testament Law I'm in line to be put to death. According to Revelation I'd be
spewed out of God's mouth. You see God never lies, and He never makes a mistake.
I'd rather say nothing at all than speak for God and mislead people."
"I see" said Catherine, writing furiously on her pad, "And tell
me, why are you in this cell today?"
"I never thought you'd ask!" laughed Raoul, "Someone has falsely
accused me of dealing in drugs. It's just another of Satan's futile attempts to
denigrate one of God's children. The charges won't stick, and whoever did this
to me will be publicly ashamed."
"Is that a prediction?" asked Catherine.
"Yes, I think it is" said Raoul.
12.
He chatted to Catherine for a while, enjoying her company, until she glanced at
her watch and quickly departed. When she left a delicate perfume in the air.
Several visits by various police staff followed, each with questions and forms
to fill out, and Raoul politely answered all enquiries to the best of his
knowledge, until it seemed everyone was satisfied. He then rested back in the
chair and shut his eyes, falling into a brief but refreshing sleep.
The dream was clear and bright. He saw a nest, with five baby birds, and perched
on the rim of the nest was a mother bird. She was distressed, and wary. She
looked at the open mouths of her young, unable to give them food, but where was
her mate?
As Raoul woke a smart young man, in uniform, entered the room and sat across
from him.
"Hi" said the man, holding his hand out, "I'm constable Brian.
I've hard about you."
"All good news I hope," said Raoul, shaking his hand.
"Well, yes" said Brian, "I'm a Christian, Open Brethren
persuasion. I heard that you couldn't take a needle?"
"That's right," said Raoul, "It bent like a hockey stick!"
"They must breed them tough down south."
"Sure do."
"I'm not here on official business," said Brian, "I just wanted
to meet you. I've heard that you are pretty close to God?"
"That's a tricky one" smiled Raoul, "If we draw close to Him, he
will draw close to us. You know the verse. I'm just one of God's children, doing
the best I can with what He's given me."
"I thought you'd say that. So what church do you belong to?"
"I don't belong to any church," said Raoul, "I belong to the one
and only Church of Jesus Christ; there's only one Church you know. Anything else
is a counterfeit or a cult. But I'm being technical. You want to know which
denomination I come from? Well, I've been part of the Christian Unity
Fellowship, in Christchurch for the last ten or so years. It's very much like
the Brethren - we have elders, but no pastor, and we have a strong emphasis on
preaching the gospel. It's like a big family to me. Very supportive."
"And you're a prophet?"
"If I said 'yes' to that, I'd be running ahead of the Word. God has, from
time to time, given me a word of prophecy, and sometimes other gifts, but I
wouldn't like to call myself a prophet. God is the Prophet, and He sometimes
speaks through me."
Brian nodded in agreement.
"I wanted to see you because I have a problem," he said.
"Shoot." Said Raoul, smiling.
"I want to do more for the Lord, and I'm always frustrated at how little I
have accomplished. Can we pray together and ask God to show me where my mission
field is? I'm frustrated out of my head some days! Its like
torture!"
"You're married aren't you" said Raoul.
Brian glanced at his wedding ring.
"You're very observant," he said.
"I didn't need to look there to know" said Raoul, "God already
told me about you, before you came into the room. You have five children, right?
And your wife is at home, minding the children? You want to know where your main
mission field is - it's at home. You have five kids to raise. If you bring them
all up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, you will be launching five
powerful missiles. If each child marries a Christian and raises 5 kids in the
same way, your efforts will be multiplied to produce 25 Christians. If that
happens again for a few generations, your efforts will change a large proportion
of the population."
Brian's face brightened.
"Now imagine if some of those children become leaders in the nation. Their
influence is multiplied even further. They might get into TV and influence the
quality of programs, they might become judges, or doctors, lawyers or school
teachers. Your efforts at raising five children can lead to massive changes in
the future."
Raoul went on to describe the dream he'd had.
"You're right," said Brian, "I've been stupid. As soon as I get
home I go out again, visiting people, or going to meetings. My wife's tried to
explain this to me but I always shut her up. Meanwhile my kids are growing up
without a father!"
Brian put his head in his hands. Raoul waited, and prayed quietly as he watched.
Then Brian suddenly stretched his hand out and shook Raoul's hand vigorously.
"Man you've helped me!" he said.
"No problem" said Raoul.
The door opened and another uniformed man entered, at which point Brian slipped
out.
"I'll see you again?" he said.
"Hope so" said Raoul.
The officer asked Raoul to accompany him to another room, where he was told to
wait. Several hours went by and then a woman came and informed Raoul that he was
free to leave. She handed him some forms and showed him politely to the door.
Raoul stepped out into a dark and chilly night and began, for the second time,
to walk home.
He had a long way to go, and no money in his pockets. The busses, which passed
him, looked inviting, with their warm interiors and lights on, but Raoul knew he
was not meant to be riding home. He went through the busy streets, wondering
what he was going to eat, and where his next dollar would be coming from, then
he crossed a very dark stretch of park and made his way through a narrow space
between two tall buildings.
He rummaged through his pockets and found them all empty. Everything had been
taken. He was, he realized, completely reliant on Jesus, for food, money, bed,
house, and everything else. Raoul chuckled at this thought. He remembered a time
when he had been preaching in Cathedral Square. A heckler had shouted abusively
at him that he needed to hold a Bible while he preached because it was, as the
heckler said, "A crutch!" so Raoul had placed the Bible under the
small step-ladder he was standing on and continued to preach without it.
He arrived at the hostel doors just as Matron was locking them. He knocked and
she looked at him, startled.
"That was good timing!" she said.
"I always have good timing," said Raoul.
"You know the police were here?"
"Yes" said Raoul, "I'm sorry to have caused you this bother.
Someone placed drugs in my room to set me up."
"I know," said Matron, "Frank and Chris saw someone upstairs.
They saw him picking the lock on your door late this morning, but they couldn't
tell me because I was out most of the day. They told me about an hour ago, so I
rang the police. Chris and Frank went to the station to answer some
questions."
"I didn't see them there" said Raoul, "I'd like to thank
them."
"They should be back soon."
"Thanks" said Raoul. He went up to his room and sat on the edge of his
bed for a while. Then he prayed, and read his Bible, while he listened for the
jingle of keys as either Frank and Chris arrived back.
13.
Judkin sat in his office three stories from the busy streets. Before him sat a
lean, stubble-chinned man in a heavy greatcoat, a woolen hat and old brown
boots.
"So why didn't you get him?" demanded Judkin.
"I couldn't" said the lean man, "I followed him from the police
station, "Right across town. I couldn't get him on the streets because
there were too many people about, then he started to cross the park. I got to
within a few yards and then two men came across the park and walked beside him,
one each side."
"Men?" said Judkin, "What kind of men?"
"I don't know" said the lean man, "They were tall, and big -
bigger than me, I mean really well built, like they did weights, and they just
walked beside him, one each side, like bodyguards, until we were across the
park, then they just walked away."
"What you mean is you didn't have the guts to kill him?"
"No way!" said the lean man angrily, rising from his chair.
Judkin waved his hand to make him sit down again.
"OK" he said, "Let's suppose you're right, and this guy has a
couple of accomplices. We can handle them too. Give me a day to think about
it." The lean man didn't move.
Judkin frowned, then, with bad grace pulled his wallet from his jacket and
opened it. He passed a few bills across to the lean man and closed the wallet
again.
"That's a retainer" he said, "I might need you again."
The lean man gathered the money in a grubby hand, checked it, then walked out.
Judkin now sat alone in his office, mainly in the dark, as the only light was
his tall, elegant desk lamp, and the night was dark. He tapped his fingers
together for a while, thinking. There was a meeting he had to attend the next
day. A meeting called by the leaders of the church, to which he belonged, and he
knew he had to be there.
Raoul slept peacefully that night, and awoke hungry. He had a shower, dressed in
his only change of underwear and socks, which he carried in his bag, and then he
made his way to the front doors of the Hostel. The sun was breaking over the top
edge of the city as he stepped out. A fresh new day seemed to burst with life as
Raoul walked down the street towards the center of town. He took several deep
breaths, and hitched his bag into a more comfortable position. The streets were
beginning to bustle again as shopkeepers placed their sandwich board signs out,
or swept the footpath, or changed their window displays.
He walked into a Takeaway and looked at the food behind the glass. The owner of
the store, a short, rounded woman with black glasses and a cheery expression
came to serve.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"I was wondering if you have any work you want done?"
"No thanks" said the woman, "What sort of work?"
"Oh anything will do. Dishes, gardening, walking a dog, babysitting."
"I'll ask my husband. The woman disappeared out back for a moment and
returned with a man behind her. He was tall, with a moustache and he wore blue
overalls.
"You looking for work?" he said roughly.
"Yes" said Ralph, "I'm pretty flexible. Anything will do."
"Well you can help me shift some furniture. I'm Henk by the way."
Raoul shook his hand and introduced himself.
"You had breakfast?" "No, not yet" said
Raoul.
"Viv here will give you something."
"Thank you" said Raoul, as the round woman pulled a pie and some other
edibles from the rack. She put the food into three small, white bags and passed
it to Raoul.
"You turned up at the right time," she said, smiling, "Henk's got
a bad back, and I didn't want him lugging that heavy stuff around by
himself."
Raoul spent the morning going back and forth across the city, lifting furniture
and boxes into a trailer and then unloading the trailer into a house. He earned
his breakfast, and joined Henk gratefully for a rest about midday. Together they
sat on the side of the trailer and ate some shop-made sandwiches.
Henk, relaxed in the sun with his back against a dresser, and told Raoul about
his life. He'd been a mechanic for ten years, then married Vivian at 30. His
wife was a dab hand at cooking so together they opened a small shop and it had
"done all right" for a few years, said Henk. He and Vivian wanted to
raise a family but so far they'd been unsuccessful, and he was considering doing
a trip to the States around Christmas, if they had enough saved by then.
"You like kids?" Raoul asked.
"Yeah" said Henk, "I could raise one or two."
"You wife's going to have a daughter soon."
"Eh?"
Raoul laughed.
"Don't be so surprised! It happens you know."
Henk shrugged.
"What will be will be," he said.
Raoul spent the afternoon shifting more stuff, then he bid Henk and Vivian
farewell, but not before they pressed some money into his hand and gave him a
small cardboard box full of leftovers.
"Can't sell them," said Vivian, as she handed the box over,
"Might as well eat what you can and give the rest away."
Raoul took the food with him to the hall where the church meeting was to be
held. He gave the box to Gerald, who passed it on to some women who were in
charge of the refreshments. Gerald was delighted to see his friend again, and
Cynthia begged to be picked up. Raoul carried her about on his arm for the next
20 minutes as people gradually filled the hall, then he passed the girl, still
clinging like an ivy to his neck, back to Gerald and took a seat in the pew
across the aisle.
14.
The meeting began with a few rousing songs, as many feet stamped in time, and
hands clapped. There was a feeling of anticipation, and excitement in the large
room, and shouts of "Amen!" sounded from all over. A prayer followed,
and a reading, then a man called James took the microphone and explained why the
meeting had been called.
"God is doing great things amongst us" he said, "We are being
called to cleanse ourselves and prepare for a great battle in this city!"
He talked about the whole armour of God, and how every Christian present must
cleanse themselves of every offensive habit, every sinful practice, and come to
God with clean hands. He called for repentance, and asked for the Holy Spirit to
convict of sin, and he asked God to help all present to be aware of their
personal walk with God.
"We are His children now" he said, "Not the children of this
world. We must hold our heads up and call ourselves the sons and daughters of
God! We are children of the King of kings, that makes us royal! How should royal
children behave? As representatives of our heavenly King!"
Many people responded with loud "Amens" then James moved on to the
main reason for the meeting. He explained a strategy that he and the other
elders had worked out. It was a plan of attack, involving a sectioning off of
the city into parts, and apportioning a few members of the church to each part.
They were to open home groups, do letterboxing, and give away videos and books.
This was going to be aggressive, door-to-door evangelism, and as the plan was
revealed, the whole room went with him.
But when James called for questions, Judkins stood up. Every head turned and
looked at him with respect, because Judkins was a long-standing member, whose
job was to distribute church funds, and whose record had always been impeccable.
He was also considered to be a most valuable member because he held an important
position in the city as a solicitor.
"I commend my brethren," he said, "For their zeal, and their
desire to evangelize. However, I have a few reservations."
Judkins went on to say that his reservations were based on past experiences,
though he failed to detail any of them. He talked about unnecessarily
antagonizing the unsaved, of bringing the church into disrepute, of wasting
money on projects which would bear comparatively very little fruit, and of the
present arrangements which seemed to be working fine. As he spoke the exuberant
atmosphere in the hall seemed to drain away. Joyful faces turned to despair, and
bright smiles turned to anxious glances. Judkins spoke about a need for caution,
and suggested that the church might be a target for ridicule if it proceeded in
its intended direction, and he was about to launch into a brief history of the
church when Raoul stood up.
"I apologize for interrupting, said Raoul, "But as I listen to this
man, I hear the voice of ten men. Do you remember how Moses sent twelve spies
into the land of Canaan, and only two returned with a positive report. This man
is one of those ten, who caused Israel to sin with his evil report. God was
angry with the ten spies, and I believe he is angry with this man too."
Gerald stood up.
"I agree," He said, "I think what Judkins is saying ought to be
shared with the leadership after the meeting."
Many people gave verbal assent to this and Judkins looked angrily about him.
"I have a right to speak!" he shouted, "You can't stop me!"
"Well yes, we can," said James, "I think we understand your
position. If you don't sit down, I will have to ask you to leave."
Judkins shook his fist at James and yelled an obscenity.
"You, and you" said James, pointing to two men, "Please escort
Judkins from the room."
The men quickly seized the angry man by his arms and took him, struggling, to
the main doors. He continued to shout all the way through the foyer, and down
the steps, until he was outside, and even then his voice could be heard, muffled
but still distinct enough to hear the odd word. It was not a pleasant sound. But
eventually he fell silent and the two men returned to say that Judkins had gone.
Raoul stood again.
"I suggest that we resume the meeting. That man was a servant of Satan,
come to disrupt and destroy the work we are planning for the Kingdom. We must
not allow Satan to gain the victory here tonight."
"I agree," said James. He called for a song and the pianist, flustered
and hesitant, took her seat at the piano and started to play. Gradually the
enthusiasm returned and the hall began to buzz. Resolutions were passed, and the
overall plan of attack was accepted. James was beaming as he closed the
discussion, then a young man stood to speak. As soon as Raoul looked at him he
remembered who it was.
"I would like to share something" he said, nervously.
"Please." said James.
"A few days ago I was walking home from me mate's place, totally stoned.
Man I was drunk! I can't remember where I was, or what time it was. I can't even
remember getting home, but I heard a voice in my head. It told me to get a Bible
and open it anywhere. The voice told me I had to read the first verse I saw.
"It took me all night to get sober but in the morning I tried to find a
Bible. We didn't have one in the house, so I went to the library and got one off
the shelf and opened it. The first verse I read was . . . (he fumbled with a
Bible he held, flicking the pages and looking for the place), yeah, here it is:
"And Elijah came to all the people, and said "How long will you falter
between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow
him."
"This verse was for me. I knew there must be a better life if I followed
God, but I liked being with me mates, and I liked boozing, and all that stuff. I
went home again and shut myself in my room, and I just sat for a while wondering
if God was real or not.
"I had a heater on, a two-bar thing, so I asked God, if He was real, to
turn off one of the bars. Straight away one bar went off. It nearly freaked me
out! I asked God to come into my life right then but I didn't feel any
different.
"Later on I went to see my mates. As soon as they seen me they opened a few
cans and passed them round, and I said I didn't want to drink the stuff any
more, but they kept going at me so I tried one. They was laughing and poking
cans in my face so I kept drinking, but I couldn't get drunk. It was weird man!
I should have been totally stoned, but it was like water to me. My mates was
collapsing all over the place, rolling in it, but I was the same.
"I went home again and started praying, and then I had this weird thing
happen. It was like I was in the rain, and there was water coming down all over
me. I bawled my eyes out too, and then I went to sleep. I think I must have been
sleeping for about 12 hours because Mum was getting worried. She thought I must
be unconscious, but I told her I was having a God-thing and she left me alone.
She said I'd finally cracked because of all the boozing but I knew I was OK.
"Then last night I had a dream which blew my mind! I saw this cross, and
then Jesus came to me and said I was meant to be following him from now on. I
looked at the cross again and there was a big booze bottle stuck to it, then
Jesus started walking away so I went running after him.
Mark sat down.
"That was a remarkable testimony," said James, "Thank you for
sharing it with us. Is there anyone else who would like to share his or her
testimony?
Another hand went up.
"I would," said a young man.
"Go ahead" said James.
"I'd like to share about how I became a Christian. I've been coming to this
church for three years now, but I've never told anyone.
"I used to work for the Christchurch City Council. One of my jobs was to
rake the river Avon for rubbish. I had a long-handled rake and I had to go along
the bank hauling in bits of paper and bottles and things which people dropped
into the water.
"One day I was working when I saw an interesting bit of paper, so I caught
it carefully and folded it, and put it into my lunchbox. When I got home that
night I laid the paper out by the heater and waited till it was dry, then I read
it. It was a gospel tract. I asked Jesus into my life that night."
"Thank you Philip" said James, "Is there anyone else?"
About twenty hands went up, so James picked the nearest.
A woman who looked about thirty with grey hair and a blue dress rose to her
feet.
"About ten years ago" she said, "I was praying for my husband,
that God would send someone to witness to him. We had a baby at the time, and I
asked a local man, an artist, if he would like to take some photographs of our
baby. I knew this man was also a Christian, but I didn't tell him about my
husband.
"Anyway, the artist came round and took some photographs, then he had lunch
with us. My husband had a thing about Christians, so he decided to grill our
visitor, but he didn't score any points - that's how he would have put it. Every
thing he threw at this Christian was thrown back, and my husband was totally
defeated. But he never let on. He pretended that the conversation had been of no
interest to him.
"A few days later my husband became a Christian. He told me it was because
of the way the Christian had spoken to him. It was all based on the Bible, and
he said the truth, but in a loving way. I just want you to know that when you're
in the Spirit, nothing you do or say is wasted."
The woman sat down, and James looked at the clock.
"So . . .," he said, "We have a choice. We can close the meeting
at nine, or we can leave things to run for as long as the Holy Spirit wants. Can
I have a show of hands? All those who want to close the meeting? And those who
want to continue?
The second question was answered by a forest of hands.