A Merry Heart is Good Medicine! (July F.F. continued)

For months now, as we set up on the corner of the street with our signs on First Fridays, we have been "visited" by a man. This is no ordinary man. He is a grumpy old man. In fact he's a snarling growling discontent type of man. But each month as he passes us by on the streets, we smile and greet him and treat him like he is the most important person on the planet. He doesn't like it. However, if you've been down-town, you know that when you walk down the streets of Augusta, and you want to avoid certain people or maybe not pass by a particular store or band playing on the streets, you can cross the street and walk on the other side. But this grumpy, growly, snarly man always walks on our side of the street. This got me to wondering why.

The first thing he does when he passes by is say in a growly mumbled voice, "I don't need no prayer." Then he makes a mean face at us and keeps walking. He does this at least 4 times a night. But you know what I think? I think he is being DRAWN to our side of the street by the Holy Spirit. I think the Lord is wooing this fella and he can't help but cross our paths time after time. So I have to smile, knowing that at some point in the future, I'm going to get to see God do something super cool with this man.

Well July's First Friday was the night! He had walked by for the first time in the evening past one of our newest team members, Sharon. (She is mentioned in another post) Well, I had not thought to warn her about him but when he passed by, she offered her hand as a friendly gesture of a handshake and he yelled at her in his typical growly manner. She pulled her hand back and looked a little more than startled. When he had gone passed, I spoke with her and told her that he was probably carrying a little baggage (we call him the devil) and not to take it personally, but to watch because God was going to get him soon. Well she agreed that he had a demonic stronghold of some sort, as it was clearly evident, mostly by the look in his eyes.

So about an hour passes by and the band is playing and the Presence of God was with us and we were really enjoying our ministry with the passers-by. Then here comes the grumpy, growly, snarly fella again. This time he came with a determination that we were not going to be nice to him. He made eye-contact with me and decided to stare me down as he walked passed me. I kept my eyes fixed on his eyes, the whole time praying and rebuking the devil. Well, he didn't like me staring back at him and not getting scared of him one bit! So he stopped and stood right beside me, his eyes fixed on mine, with a heavy oppressive glare. And all I could think in my head was, "I'm not scared of you Satan!" Well, as we were staring at each other and he was doing his best to intimidate me and provoke fear, I kept smiling and said, "What's your name?" He growled at me and said, "I don't have a name!!!!!" So I kept smiling, didn't look afraid (cause I wasn't...hello....greater is He that is in me....) and I said, "Yes you do have a name!"

So he looked at me with that hard glare and he said, "My name is LUCIFER!!!"

OK, you don't know how bad I wanted to say, "I KNEW IT!!!" hahahaha But I didn't. I just looked at him and said, "Wow! That's a cool name!" And he said, "Yeah, and I have 666 tatooed on my back." Hmm....interesting. So I said, "Would you like a drink of water?" He snarled back at me, "No!" I said, "Are you sure, I've got some in a cooler and it's all nice and cold." He said, "You got some in a cooler?" "Yep." "Well, ok, I guess I'll have a drink of your water then." So I handed him a bottle of water and he stood there and started to drink it up.

Meanwhile, the band is still playing and he stands there for a few minutes and is listening to the band. Then Frank Peterson comes over in my direction. Now Frank Peterson, whom I will henceforth refer to as Peterson so as not to confuse him with Frank Strausser, had been shaking the city up all night long praying for folks. So when he comes over I said to him, "Hey, ask this man what his name is." So Peterson looks at grumpy, growly, snarly guy and says, "Hey man, what's your name?" And he replies, "Lucifer!!!" And without missing a beat, Peterson says, "Do they call you Lucy?" And all of a sudden, 'Lucifer' starts to laugh uncontrollably and just like that, the walls were broken down and a new relationship with him had formed. I'll tell you what...a sense of humor is a good thing to have! So 'Lucifer' ended up staying with us the rest of the night, laughing and having a good time. He even requested several Christian songs from the band. Every now and then he would elude to his past experience as a band member in a Christian organization, and that now he was a heathen. I think Lucifer is in his late 50s or early 60s, and he is a "street survivor." That's pc for homeless, I'm told.

So I'm waiting and watching to see what God does here with this man. It's going to be cool whatever it is.

UPDATE: This last Sunday on our morning street service, "Lucifer" came! He came around 11:30 when we were going into overtime (see other post). He had some donuts and water with us and enjoyed the music. And requested "Elshidai", which we fully intend to find the music for and play for him next Sunday. I did find out from some of the residents in the building across the street that he happens to be a highly respected street survivor, and he looks out for the newbies. I wonder what's up with him? My first thought is that he was hurt by "church people" and maybe that's why he was such a snot to us all these months. So we shall see what unfolds for this man. God has a plan and a purpose and I'm so excited to see what He does here!