God's restoration power on full display

Tears of joy flowed all week. From an amazing salvation to family restoration, we witnessed the restoration of our God.

Thursday one of our homeless friends finally surrendered to Jesus after three-plus years of pouring the Gospel and love of Jesus into him. His decision reminded me that God never gives up on us. I wondered if he would ever give his life to Jesus. In fact, with his lifestyle, I thought he would end up dead without Christ. Thankfully, I was wrong. The Holy Spirit kept drawing him.

When he resurfaced about six weeks ago he was reading a Bible our friend Barbie Nolan from Covenant UMC had given him two years ago. He started quoting scripture to me. He had never read the Bible, much less quote it. He said Proverbs was messing him up, because he saw that he was the fool God talked about in Proverbs. The Word of God was drawing him. He said something has to change in his life. I told him Jesus was the only way, but he wasn't ready.

Then, on Thursday as he talked with one of our volunteers, he surrendered to Jesus. Praise God! Tears filled my eyes as I hugged him. A young man from The Ark was at LIA waiting for the Samaritan Clinic to open. He immediately started telling our friend about The Ark and how his life could be transformed by the power of God through their 12-month program. To my amazement, he wanted to go to The Ark.

You have to understand, this man never wanted anything to do with God even though we had prayed with him and showed him the love of Jesus for several years. Those were seeds of the Gospel being planted and watered. God truly brings the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:6)

By Friday afternoon our friend was in The Ark. Praise God! I'm not going to mention his name, but please pray for him. God knows who you are praying for. Jesus forgives, saves and restores us to the Father. Our friend is now restored to our Heavenly Father.

Friday evening we saw God restore a family. One of our homeless friends walked out on his family 23 years ago, his son was 4 years old. On Friday, his 27-year-old son and wife picked him up at Love In Action to begin learning about one another and becoming the father and son God meant for them to be. To God be the glory!

We prayed with the three of them and watched them drive off together. I couldn't keep the tears from streaming down my face. God's restoration is beautiful.

These were two of many amazing things God did last week. This ministry is hard. We constantly battle the forces of darkness as we reach into the enemy's camp to bring people into the light of Jesus. Weeks like this makes all the battles, heartaches and frustrations worthwhile. It reminds us God is at work in the midst of the craziness. We are reminded of 1 Corinthians 3:6, some plant and some water, but God brings the increase.

More than shoes

This is what 200 pairs of shoes look like. We praise God for such an outpouring of love.

Want more proof Dothan, Alabama, and the Wiregrass is the greatest place in the world to live? Just take a gander at the photo above.

Our shoe supply for our homeless and impoverished friends had dwindled, especially work shoes. Just like they did last year, our friends at the JoyFM stepped up to help. We partnered to host a shoe drive yesterday. Russ and Nancy brought their "On the Road" show to our Connected Coffee Cafe on the Love In Action campus and did their live broadcast.

Throughout the week, the JoyFM promoted the shoe drive on air and via social media. We also blanketed social media promoting the event. And, once again, our community responded with a great outpouring of love.

Last year we received around 155 pairs of shoes. Yesterday, the total was 200. Praise God! What makes that number even more amazing is this is spring break, and Friday was the start of the final weekend of spring break. Yet, people responded to the need.

You just don't find that anywhere. This part of the country is special. Why is that? Jesus is the reason. There are a large number of people who love Jesus who make their home in Dothan and throughout the Wiregrass. When you love Jesus, you love people and respond to the commands of God to take care of the poor.

People from Dothan, Enterprise, Ozark, Rehobeth, and other cities and towns throughout the Wiregrass stopped by to drop off shoes. Some new shoes and some used, but barely worn shoes, were given.

How can donating shoes help the "least of these" in our community? It helps in many ways. The work boots donated will give our homeless friends exactly what they need when they are hired for jobs such as construction and roofing. The black slip-resistant shoes will help our friends who land restaurant jobs.

Here's an example. One of our friends received great news yesterday. She was hired for a job at a restaurant. However, there was a big hurdle in front of her. She needed the right shoes. Being homeless with no job or money, they might as well have told her she needed to purchase a new car before she could work. Many times, hurdles like these are so frustrating people give up. They hit one obstacle after another, and then something good happens, only to have another bump in the road to smooth out.

Tears streamed down her face as she held a new pair of black slip-resistant shoes that were donated yesterday. There were hugs and tears aplenty in the coffee house at that moment. Those donated shoes represented hope, love and joy. Hope that God hadn't forgotten her. A show of love that people care enough to help her. Joy from the knowledge God provided exactly what she needed.

Other shoes such as tennis shoes and other casual shoes were donated. These will be a great blessing to our many friends whose treads have worn out. They spend a lot of time on their feet walking, so a comfortable pair of shoes are very important.

Thank you to Russ and Nancy, Earl, Mark, Linda, Misty, and all of the gang at the JoyFM for partnering with us and making this shoe drive such a success. Thank you to everyone who donated, including those who donated money for shoes. The shoe drive was successful because all of you responded and donated 200 pairs of shoes.

Thank you Dakota Coffee Works for donating the delicious coffee and Krispy Kreme for donating those tasty donuts.

We are humbled and thank God for His provision and for allowing us to live and minister here in the most wonderful part of the world.

Sharing Jesus with others is addictive

Sharing Jesus at Love In Action as we help with food, clothing and hygiene items.

Nothing excites me more than sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with someone and seeing them give their lives to Jesus. True transformation begins right then, and the assurance of eternal life is secured as they become a disciple and surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

What's just as exciting is seeing our Love In Action staff and volunteers sharing their faith and leading people to Jesus. That's all part of discipleship. When 90-95 percent of professing Christians in the U.S. never share their faith with others, to see people do it on a daily basis is awesome!

There are many reasons why people don't share their faith. One is they aren't encouraged to. I know that's hard to believe for many of you who attend houses of worship where your pastor does encourage you to do so. However, sadly, that's the exception rather than the rule.

If people are encouraged, many times they aren't trained how to share their testimony and share Jesus with others. At Love In Action, we thrive on training people to share their faith and giving them opportunities daily to do so. Sharing Jesus with others is addictive.

Not only are the people's lives transformed when they give their lives to Jesus, but we are transformed by the power of God as we share the greatest news ever. The more we share the more we realize how truly awesome God is and how much Jesus has changed our lives.

It's extremely humbling to realize the God of the universe, the Creator of Heaven and earth and all this in them, has commissioned us to share His message with others. That's mind blowing. It makes no sense. Why does He call us, who are so unworthy? The simple answer is because He loves us.

Share Jesus with others. Yes, the first time you're going to be nervous. You will the second and third time, too. But, once you do, you won't stop. It will become a lifestyle. Living out the Great Commission is the greatest lifestyle there is, bar none. There's nothing like knowing we are fulfilling our Heavenly Father's will for us.

If you want to learn how and want opportunities to share Jesus with others, come see us at Love In Action. Here's a link to our website for our weekly schedule, https://loveinactionministries.com/dothan/weekly-schedule
Pick a day that works best for you and come join us.

Following Jesus in Baptism

John was one of six people Ken and Martha baptized Wednesday night.

There’s only one thing that excites me more than baptizing people, and that’s seeing people surrendering to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

A first occurred at Love In Action this past Wednesday night. While we have baptized hundreds of people over the years, this was the first time we’ve baptized people on our campus. Usually we baptize in a river, ocean, lake, pond or swimming pool, but Wednesday it was in a trough in our coffee house.

Our brother and friend, Kody Kirchhoff, of The Harbor, let us borrow one of their troughs, and it was a wonderful blessing. Six precious souls followed Jesus in baptism Wednesday. I taught on baptism that night to make sure everyone understood what was taking place. Those being baptized understood.

The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 6:3-4. “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

While baptism isn’t what saves us and gives us eternal life, it is very important. It is an outward witness of our faith in Jesus, showing people we are following and committing our lives to Jesus.

It is symbolic of dying to our sins with Christ when we are immersed in the water, and of coming back to new life in Christ when we come out of the water. The water is symbolic of the blood of Jesus washing our sins away.

It is also being obedient to a command of Jesus. He tells us in Matthew 28:19, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus was baptized, therefore we should be if at all possible. The thief on the cross next to Jesus couldn’t be baptized, but that was an extreme situation.

One of my favorite parts of baptisms is the excitement of those being baptized. You often see it on their faces when they come out of the water. Pure joy that can only come from following Jesus.

Please pray for those who were baptized as they continue their walk with Jesus by going through our discipleship method Training for Trainers (T4T). Jesus picked the most unlikely of candidates to be His disciples. We have seen Him use the homeless to carry His Gospel to the nations. We are praying these six will be the next disciples who live out our Lord’s Great Commission.

Praying for a repeat of last week

You just never know what to expect week to week. That holds true no matter what job you have. Whether you are a pastor, newspaper editor, a doctor, cashier at a local convenience store, teacher, or stay at home mom. Each week brings something new.

Our week at Love In Action begins on Tuesdays as Monday is our day off. I'm putting in a request for a repeat of last week. I don't think God will mind. He knows what's best, though, so I'm good with whatever He wants to do this week.

We saw eight people make decisions for Jesus last week. Six of those decisions were made during our Bible study. The Holy Spirit was really moving and touching hearts. The message was about being a true disciple of Jesus and what that looks like.

Another decision came last Thursday during our regular ministry time at LIA, and another decision made on Friday during our LIA Mobile Kitchen outreach. There's just nothing better than seeing people choose Jesus.

My prayer for this week is for more people to turn to Jesus, and for these new believers to follow Jesus in baptism. We are planning to baptize people this Wednesday night. I'm excited about it. If you don't get excited about seeing people obey Jesus, something is wrong. While baptism doesn't save us, it is obedience to Jesus and an outward witness to our decision to follow Jesus.

I'm looking forward to this week. Whatever comes our way, I know God is in control. Knowing that truth always gives me great peace. Psalm 27:1 comes to mind, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

That's a powerful verse to memorize and hold fast to.