Brown Bags And Jesus

Why do we ever doubt God? Last month, we had an outdoor event for the homeless on Christmas Eve, and there was a 100% chance of rain. Now for 7 months, we have been feeding the homeless every Sunday and not 1 time has it ever rained while we were feeding and fellowshipping. It rained the entire 67 miles from Bush to New Orleans, and then rained again all the way home, but not once in over 30 weeks has it ever rained us out. You would think that in itsself would be enough to convince even a doubting Thomas that God was in control, but satan planted the seed that I needed a back up plan and I fell for it. Well, I DIDN'T need a back up plan, as God had it all worked out well in advance. As people from all over New Orleans began to show up with food, blankets, coats, hats, gloves, and the love of Jesus Christ the crowd of homeless people grew larger than I have ever seen it. We sat up tables and started going with my plan of feeding, then having a service and then passing out the other items. I had it planned this way because I thought that if they were going to get something free after the service, most of them might stick around for the service, but God had His own plan. We started serving the food, and a lite shower came in prompting us to go ahead and pass out the clothing that we brought before the heavier rains moved in, and then we quickly moved the service under the over pass where ALL of the homeless people go when it rains. Now our plan was for some of the people to stick around and hear the word God had prepared for them, but GOD'S plan was for all of them to hear the word He had prepared, you see when it rains, the only place they have to go is under that bridge. Now if you were there that day, you might think it was way to loud and nobody could hear the message, but I am telling you, those people are used to having conversations under that bridge and they were able to hear every word that God had intended for them to hear. It was amazing as always to see God's plan in action. We served probably over 150 people, and as we were leaving, you could just feel the love and joy in the air, something I am sure many of these people have not felt in quite some time!

In closing, I want to thank all the individuals and churches that joined us that day, I hope it was an experience you won't soon forget!

In His Service,

Justin