One soul at a time

It is always amazing to watch how God works.

The past two weeks we have seen five people give their lives to Jesus Christ at the Love In Action Ministry Center. Two weeks ago, three people came forward at the end of the service at Celebrate Recovery Inside to ask Jesus in their hearts. Last Tuesday night one man accepted Jesus in a small group at CRI, and this past Friday night one young man accepted Jesus at our Lighthouse Cafe free coffee house. Praise God!

The CRI services have been more powerful than ever the past month, and that's saying something as we have seen God do so many amazing things through this ministry. It is an honor to be part of what God is doing, and it's so much fun watching God work through our volunteers.

From the moment people walk through the doors on Tuesday nights they are warmly greeted and made to feel welcome. Then as they are served dinner they not only see great food being placed on their plates, but they see people smiling at them as they serve. Then the services have been especially good. Great preaching, teaching and testimonies have been coming forth and people have responded to the messages.

Small groups are especially important. So many issues are discussed and God meets each person where they are. Growth is taking place in many lives through these small groups. And last week a homeless person who was just passing through ended up in a small group. This a cool story.

He was on his way to Montgomery, but had a long layover in Dothan as he traveled by bus. He was walking to the store to buy some alcohol to drown his sorrows, and his path took him right by the front doors of the Love In Action Ministry Center. People invited him in to join us for CRI, and one of our wonderful volunteers, Rick, started telling him about Jesus.

He decided to stay for the dinner, then for the service, and finally for small groups. Once again Rick started telling him about Jesus and how Jesus was the only answer to his problems. Rick told me afterward, "He asked about a 12 steps program, and I told him I don't know anything about 12-step, but I can show you the one step ... Jesus." I love Rick. He tells everyone about Jesus.

One of our homeless men was also in that small group. When we first met him he would often be drunk and many times passed out on our front steps. He would always apologize, but we told him he was always welcome and we'd rather for him to pass out on our front steps than in a ditch or somewhere where people would hurt him.

He made a decision to follow Jesus and he hasn't been drunk since. In fact, he's one of our hardest working volunteers. He told the homeless traveler that Jesus was the way for him to overcome his problems, and once he leaves Love In Action tonight he will have a choice to keep following Jesus or not, and he hoped that he would continue to follow Jesus.

Rick led the man in a prayer to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Praise God!

Then on Friday night Rick led a young man to Jesus. The man had been at our health clinic the night before, so he wanted to come back for the coffee house. He did and he met Jesus. Praise God!

One at a time. That's been our focus for the past 12 years, and we have seen thousands of people come to Jesus. Yes, it is great when we have a large event and we see dozens accept Jesus. We've seen more than 250 accept Jesus at one time. But, it's all about each individual soul. So whether it's 250 or one, we praise God and celebrate with the angels because somebody's eternal destination has just been changed.

"... there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” - Luke 15:10 (NIV)

Thank you for your prayers and support of this ministry. We couldn't do it without you.