“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:14-17)

Friday morning my day began at 5:30am as I awaken made coffee and spent time in prayer.  I left and drove to the Waffle House and arrived at 6:30am.  I was to meet with a person I am in a Band group with for accountability.  The person texted after I arrived that he could not make it.  The water pump went on his car so He could not make it.  So I sat at the bar talking to the cook and waitresses.  One of the waitresseswas a 22 year old woman who worked the night shift and was getting off at 7:00am.  She is from a broken home, and lives with her partner, brother and 2 year old child.  As we talked she told me how she was planning on going to college to better herself.  She was afraid though, had started the application for Calhoun Community College but was having problems.  I had my lap top in the car and went and got it.  When she got off at 7:00am I spent an hour of so with her spiritually praying into her fears, and physically helping her complete her application to Calhoun, and then beginning her FASFA application for federal student aid.

Around 8:30am my phone rang and it was the man I was supposed to meet in my Band group that morning.  His girlfriend who lives with him, while driving to work, was in a car accident on 565 in Decatur.  A car stopped suddenly in front of her and she stopped, but car behind her did not and plowed into the back of her car.  Since his car was un-drivable, he asked me if I would please come pick him up and take him to the accident scene.  So I left the Waffle House,  drove to his house and picked him up and went to Decatur.  We got to the scene and his girl friend was shaken up and in some pain.  Her car and the one that hit her were both totaled.  The impact to her car had pushed trunk up intothe back seat and back car doors would not open.   I helped them take all items out of the car and carry them into mine as tow truck came to tow away car. 

Her right leg, back, and neck were hurting so I drove them to the emergency room at Madison Hospital.  I talked and prayed over them in the car as we drove then dropped them off.  Before I did I asked the man for his house and car keys.  My mind went forward in time and I knew to 3-4 hours when they got out of the emergency room they would come home and be without a vehicle.  So I went home and walked across the street and talked with one of my neighbors.  He is 24 years old.  He moved here from California and is looking for a job.  Both Nancy and I have been mentoring him.  I take him to Waffle House on Saturday mornings for coffee and guidance.  I told him to get dressed and come over I needed his help and he was about to earn an “Alabama red-neck” merit badge.  We jumped in my truck and drove to my friends house who was in the emergency room with his girlfriend and had the car with bad water pump.  We got the car into the street and I hooked one end of a tow strap to the car (2000 Buick Sable) and the other to my truck.  I told him we were going to pull the car to my house so I could work on it.  I was going to drive the truck, he was going to drive the sable, steer it around corners and use brakes to stop it from hitting the back of my truck.  His eyes got big and he was nervous, but he did it.  7 miles later we arrived at my house with the car.  My neighbor said his arms were sore from turning wheel without power steering.  I told him he received a “red-neck towing” merit badge.

I then began the process of replacing the water pump. The car engine sits sideways in engine compartment and the water pump was almost impossible to get to.  I had to jack up the car and put it on jack stands and work from up top and underneath car to replace water pump.   About 4-5 hours later, around 4:00pm I finished.  We were helping host“The Gathering,” a gathering of worship and prayer at an ODC member Lance’s home at 7:00pm.  So I showered up, and Nancy and I left at 5:00pmto go drop off finished car, them go to restaurant where w host Community Dinners and pick up conga set and PA equipment.  We then headed to Lance house in south Huntsville.    We helped set up and pray over the Gathering.  It ended up being an amazing time of worship and prayer in the presence of the living God.  Praying over an awakening and revival in our city, praying over our youth, praying for dry bones to rise up and live., sharing the Lord’s Supper and laying ofhands.  It was after 12:00pm we finished, not because of departure of the Spirit of God, but because we were exhausted.  We packed up and Nancy and I got home at 1:15.  

It was a 20 hour “work day” for me.  Not the normal day most pastors put in. My office that day was my home, the Waffle House, my car, road side of 565, the emergency room, my neighborhood,  truck-in-tow, under a car, and in a home in south Huntsville.  At times when I was under car on my back and hands covered in grease laying in anti-freeze I thought how nice it would be to be a normal pastor in a normal church.  With a church office, staff, and a steady paycheck.   But at the end of the day I would not trade where God had me right now.  Doing ministry and making disciples by connecting with people in the real everyday of their lives.   No one tithed, and no wages were received from this day of service, but I know somehow God will provide.

I am leaving now and headed to the Limestone County Flea Market where at 8:00am ODC members have started a morning prayer gathering and sharing of the Lord’s Supper to the booth operators there before they start their day.  Later today, my house will be filled with neighbors and Waffle House employees I invited over to share stories as we watch the Super Bowl.

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”  James 2:14-19

Reflect this morning on how your faith.  In what areas is it alive?  It what areas is it dead?  You always have the opportunity to partner with me financially in my everyday ministering and discipleship in the community. 

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