Miracles Among Us.

Miracles Among Us.

It has thrilled me to see my readers so riveted by the Long Beach tales. Some have the sense of ‘but for the grace of God go
I’, others a sense of ‘what can God do in such a setting?’ Of
all the street people I have profiled, the Duke of Earl has captured the hearts of
folks most. I have gotten e-mails from people around the
country telling me they have been praying for him. GOD
HEARS THE PRAYERS OF HIS PEOPLE. You will remember that my
first impressions of him could be categorized as apprehensive at best,
and maybe scared in reality. The reason I first noticed
him was because of his intimidating presence and dark eyes. All
of that has changed.

Several weeks ago, the Duke said, “I am Jonah,” which is part of the reason I highlighted Jonah last week. I wrote with intention about the contrast
between obedient Paul and disobedient Jonah; and then I prayed fervently
for this man who could rock Long Beach’s home for the homeless, Lincoln Park, with a life
ready to be poured out for God. Ha! This
past Friday, he called two women over to meet me; he introduced them by
devilishly saying, “I sleep with these women every night . . . really, I
sleep between them so that they will be safe.” They
nodded. He saw my changed expression and said,
“Kris-teeeen, what were you thinking?” Those women aren’t
‘interested’ in him—they are quite fond of each other—but he looks out
for them, just the same.

What is happening in the Duke is quite amazing; actually, it is miraculous. The heart change in the Duke is a miracle of the heart . . . a miracle of
the will. One evidence of that is that while no one has
‘officially’ said anything, there has been a changing of the guard. Literally. Reggie
has been my main man, (my keeper/body guard, if you will), but in the
last weeks, it is the Duke who stands and waits for me to finish
ministering . . . who stands and watches to the end, until my Escalade
makes the illegal u-turn in the middle of the street, and heads into
safer territory for one such as me.

“I concede,” he said, on Friday. I just turned my head and looked him in the eye, but said nothing. See, it’s
working. The Holy Spirit is getting His man. Jonah
is making a u-turn, and thinking that being Paul isn’t such a bad way
to go. “Now I see why I’ve been on the streets,” he said,
as he looked around—“I can reach these people.” I didn’t
say anything—I just nodded. I have learned that, with the
Duke, fewer words are better than many words. Yes, we are
seeing a miracle in the flesh in one Viet Nam War veteran who thought he
was successfully running from God. ‘Guess not, Duke—and, I
am not sorry.’ A miraculous change is taking place before
our very eyes. First mine, then yours.

Friends, never doubt that God is good; he is good indeed!

I’ve always wondered about another guy’s story. Everyone, of course, has a story, but somehow for people on the street—well, their
story usually involves some kind of hardship, and often, a tragedy.

One of the regulars who comes to pray in the Long Beach basement is Popeye, so nick-named for obvious reasons. He has always interested me because
he knows so much Scripture from memory, and if he falters, he knows just
where to go in his tattered Bible to finish the thought. He
is an inspiration.

This week, I had the opportunity to ask him more about himself—‘seems he got very sick back in the 70s, even had some paralysis. Imaging revealed an
egg-sized brain tumor. Surgery
was life threatening, but then so was a decision not to operate. The
most incredible thing is that he not only survived the surgery in 1977,
(though he has three sizable indentations in his Popeye-bald head), his
IQ was saved. He shares a small apartment with someone,
and makes his way somehow . . . He looks for a kind word
to say to those around him, (though they have to listen very closely as
he talks like Popeye—very fast!), and he is always willing to lend a
hand in service. Popeye is one of God’s miraculous wonders
in the Long Beach story.

And then there are ‘lesser’ miracles, which are no less ‘God things’ . . . like Alice who patiently waited to have a word with me, and had to follow up on my
teaching point. I told them, ‘You do not
have enough time in your life to waste it on junk music, useless
reading, or garbage viewing . . .’ Use your time to
consume things that will cause you to ‘think on good things.’

“Christine, I live in my car—by choice, right now—and every night the cops come by and ticket me. This last week, I played my God music more
and more, and when they came by, they heard it…… and guess what? They
stopped ticketing me! I know it is because they heard my
music.” ‘Oh, Alice, that is so great! I am
so glad you told me.’ Big miracles, small miracles, all of
them brushes of the divine.

All of them represent miracles among us.

Oh, God . . . come! Come and walk amongst us. Come and do what only you can do. Come and do miracles among us!

Christine