“Big John”
As I was sitting at my table in McD’s,
which is attached to the Truck-stop where our ministry is located, I noticed a
giant of a man wearing cowboy boots and a Stetson-like hat walking through and going
out the exit door. Then he came through once again and sat down within talking
range of my table. The place was almost empty, but he chose to sit where he
could talk with me. Knowing I was the Chaplain by the signs at my table the
first words out of his big smiling mouth when he got my attention were: “I’m
lost, I need direction”. He was in his late sixties and drove a big rig. I did
not immediately give an answer to his statement and it turned out he was
walking out in the lot and saw our ministry van and decided to look me up and
have a discussion When I asked him if he
was saved he said “I’ve always been saved” which obviously was not the case but
the answer many religious people will often give.
When he said he was from Tennessee I told
him of a couple from there who came to my table the day before. They were
riding together in a big rig but were previously divorced. They sat with me for
over a half an hour explaining their present woes having three children, one of
them a teen-ager, so you can imagine their troubles being absent from their
family most of the time. I explained to them that God hates divorce and they
needed to get remarried and establish a permanent home. Winston, the husband
told me his father is a Methodist preacher in Arkansas who preached the Gospel
but needed to get out of the error-filled denomination. Angel, the wife, seemed
to have a good salvation testimony but was without solid teaching. They said
they were attending an Assembly of God church when they had time at home…which
was almost non-existent!
Every Christian driver I meet who has a
family at home my counsel is always the same. You cannot be a good
father/husband or a mother/wife if you are not at home with your family. The
Lord loves to answer the prayer of the Believer who wants to do His will and
needs a job that allows them to be at home with their family. There are local
driving jobs which get you home every night. There are also regional jobs which
get you home a couple times a week and weekends. So, there is no excuse for a
driver who has a family to be on the road for weeks at a time away from their
family which is their primary responsibility. Raising kids for the Lord is
number one! He is looking for a Godly seed at this very moment to call into His
fields for they are “White already to harvest”
(John 4:15) with “Souls for Jesus”!
Back to “Big John” and our ongoing
discussion. When I told him of the couple from his home state he said “Yeah, a
man needs a good woman” to which I replied “Well, the Lord gave me one, we’ll
be married fifty years our next anniversary to which he said “Are you kidding
me ?” And, the conversation turned back to spiritual things as I gave him my
testimony, telling him how my wife became a Christian ten years before me and
prayed me into the Kingdom!
While handing him my testimony tract his
mouth was hanging wide open as I discussed with him how the Lord led and moved
in our life over the years bringing me here to this very moment in order to
have this Divine Appointment with him. And even though his initial words seemed
to be jesting/joking about being lost, he learned how to be saved that day. A
few days later, a local believer named Jeff came up to my table and said “How
did it go with Big John?” Little did I know he was observing our discussion
from a few booths away and knew that I was dealing with Big John about his
salvation. We talked for awhile about Big John and how someone his age is tough
to get through to because his ways and ideas are often already set and his
encounters with religion may be negative, but, “The Word of God is not bound” (II Timothy 2:9), and, it has the
power to penetrate the toughest hide on the planet as attested by me and those
who get saved in later years.
Although I was older when the Lord saved
me, it appeared impossible to some other Christians. Where I worked there were
three deacons, one who got saved after being one of my carousing buddies. But,
they all agreed “There is no hope for the Wolfman” because of my wicked
lifestyle/attitude and they did not attempt to reach me with the Gospel, but
instead avoided contact with me on the job. However, there was more than one
Christian that did not give up on me including my wife and family. The Lord
told my wife years before I was saved that He was going to save me and I would
serve the Lord “Flat-out” which is exactly what happened and is continuing as
we speak by the grace of God!
He saved me while I was reading the Gospel
of John in the Bible my wife bought me seven years earlier. Yes, the Bible I
refused to touch until the day I was desperate with thoughts of suicide moving
through my mind! Praise Him for His marvelous grace and mercy as He must
receive all the glory! Please pray for Big John and Winston and Angel as the
Lord can work miracles in ANY life through His precious heart-searching Word
and the power of Spirit-filled prayer!
No comments:
Post a Comment