Calvin's new life

Calvin leading worship from Ken Tuck on Vimeo.

Saturday's Love In Action outreach to the homeless in Atlanta was special on so many fronts.

First, 30 people accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. That right there would have been enough, but God did even more. We were blessed to cook and serve lunch to more than 200 homeless men and women. We delivered 250 pairs of new boots and shoes, so the homeless will have good working boots and good boots to keep their feet warm this winter. Jesus says in Matthew 25:40, "... whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." (NIV)

Then there was Calvin Smith, the praise and worship leader for Eagle's Nest Community Church. When I first met Calvin, he was a homeless man living on the streets and in crack houses in inner city Atlanta. He had been in and out of prison. He was a fast talker on the road to destruction. Pastor Larry Arnold and Bro. Harold Smith of Eagle's Nest kept loving on Calvin and trying to show him the right way. Every time we visited Atlanta we would find Calvin and let him know that Jesus loves him and so do we. We kept encouraging him.

There was something about Calvin. The world saw someone who was no good and a nuisance to society. God always sees something else, and thankfully He allowed Larry and Harold and those of us with Love In Action to see Calvin through His eyes. We saw a man who had a wealth of potential inside of him. We saw a man who was hurting and needed to experience the love of Jesus Christ.

Calvin knew the Word of God. The key was getting his head knowledge about God into his heart. After several years of reaching out to him and a lot of mentoring by Larry and Harold, Calvin finally got serious with God and accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He stopped running and gave his life completely to God.

His life started changing. He started serving Jesus with all of his heart. He was in church every time the door was open and he started using his wonderful singing voice for the Lord. Then he fell in love with Annie. She had the same back ground. Drugs, crack houses, and everything that goes with that kind of lifestyle. But she too gave her life to Jesus and He turned her life completely around.

Their wedding day several years ago was the last time Martha and I had seen Calvin and Annie. Every time we have been to Atlanta since then they were working. They have their own business and they recently bought their own house. They have been clean from drugs ever since giving their lives to Jesus four or five years ago. They are both very faithful at serving Jesus together at Eagle's Nest.

Saturday as we were preparing for the outreach, a man walked up behind me. I turned around and didn't recognize him at first, but as soon as he spoke I knew it was Calvin. Married life has been good to him. He has put on a lot of weight, but that's good. When he was on drugs he was skin and bones. We gave each other a big bear hug, then I asked him if he would sing to kick off the service. He said he would and we were all excited.

He left to get his keyboard player, and praise God, they rocked the house for Jesus. Martha shot video and I just posted it. Please excuse the movement of the camera. Our tripod broke. After the service, a homeless man asked me if we had a tripod. I told him it had broken, and he said "wait here a second." He came back with a tripod for us. He had it in his backpack. That was so humbling. Martha and I will never forget that.

Please watch the video. You will be blessed listening to Calvin sing praises to Jesus. As you watch and listen remember that there is tremendous potential inside of every homeless person, no matter what their situation looks like now or how they are living. Don't ignore them. Show them the love of Jesus Christ and watch how God works in their lives. There are a lot of Calvins out there. Please help us to continue reaching them.