October Jones

I stopped at the gas station to fill the car up with gas before traveling back to the school. I had just spent the afternoon up at the church getting some work done and it was about 10:30pm. It was very dark outside and very downtown Fort Worth. Not the safest.

Just as I started to pump gas, October Jones appears out of the shadows with his right hand stuffed down into a black bag. My immediate thought - God, I'm going to die.

I didn't die.

October Jones pulled out three bottles of Dove shampoo and asked if I had a girlfriend. How nice of you October Jones, you want to wash my hair, kill me, then hunt down my girlfriend and kill her too. Rather, October Jones informs me that he wants to sell me these three bottles of shampoo for just $10. He said that he desperately needed this last ten bucks so that he could make the payment on his light bill.

I smiled at the man and awkwardly fumbled around with the gas nozzle as I tried to think of some excuse to not give the man my money. The thought was quickly replaced with something I had heard one of my professors say a couple of months ago. He was telling a story to our class of a time he had been at a restaurant with other ministers and a man walked in and made his rounds to each table handing out little ornaments with a card attached that read:

"I am deaf and mute and cannot get a job. Would you please purchase this ornament for $5 to help me?"

Each pastor at the table got one of these ornaments and the common jokes were made about walking up behind this person and screaming to see if they would respond in any way. My professor said his thoughts and comments were that this guy was a fake, or at the least he was a lazy deaf and mute that didn't try to get a job.

But my professor watched as one of the ministers at the end of the table asked all of the other pastors to pass their ornament to him. He took up all of the ornaments and as the conversation continued he quietly placed a twenty dollar bill on the ornaments and handed them all back to the deaf/mute man as he came back to collect.

My professor was shocked and later asked the pastor why he gave so much money to help that man buy his next beer or drug or whatever the addiction was. The pastor looked at my professor and quoted Matthew 25:35-40:

"I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

The pastor, with true sincerity said, "I would much rather take the chance of losing a few bucks and fueling an addiction than showing up in heaven and having Jesus ask me why I didn't feed him when was hungry, give him drink when he was thirsty, or clothe him when he needed clothes."

So, back to October Jones. I told him that I didn't want the shampoo for my girlfriend - she probably wouldn't even use it, but that I wanted to give him $10 anyways to help pay for his light bill. He didn't know how to respond. So I continued. I asked him if he had anything I could pray with him about (besides to light bill). October Jones told me that he is fine - he is a Christian and prays three times a day. I handed over the ten bucks and shook his hand telling him that I would pray for him tonight and he walked away.

Did October Jones use the money for his light bill? Maybe. Probably not. But when I go to heaven and Jesus tells me thanks for the ten dollars, I am going to smile.

Great Leaders Serve

For the longest time I have thought to be a great leader you have to have incredible leadership skills. I have thought that what is important is how creative or how organized I could be, and that this would make me a good leader. I am starting to realize that this is not the case.

There are 87 verses in the Bible that contain the word "leader".
There are 971 verses in the Bible that contain the word "servant".


"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mark 10:45


Just recently I built a resume and had a whole section devoted to my skills and capabilities. Some of the things I listed expressed my leadership abilities rather than describing my passion to serve.

Jesus, the human-form of God on earth was the greatest leader of all time. Literally thousands of people followed him around just to hear the crazy stories he told. He never held a political office, never was Lead Pastor at a church, never served as Manager of a major corporation...no. Instead, Jesus (God) washed feet, healed the sick, raised friends from the dead, and then died for us, and all the time His life was marked by humility and love.

"God, I want to be a leader. In fact, I want to be the best leader possible. Help me to better understand that the true marks of an effective leader are Godliness, integrity, stability, humility, love, diplomacy, decisiveness, and vision. But most importantly, an effective leader is one marked by servanthood. Help me to be the servant you have called me to be. Amen."

The Rescue

Rescue is defined as "to free or deliver from confinement, violence, danger, or evil." Scripture uses the term many times to express God's incredible mission, sending His Son to earth in order to save us.


The Apostle Paul states:
"It's news I'm most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God's powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts Him..."
Romans 1:16-17


God's "powerful plan" was sending Jesus to serve as our rescue! This is an amazing fact!

The truth is we are all morally corrupt people that need a rescue. We sin on a daily basis and nothing we could ever do could be perfect and holy enough to please God in order that He might just forget all the horrible things we have done. That is why God sent Jesus! Christ's death meets the requirements and demands of God's holy nature. That means that even though we fall short and mess up, even though we hurt God and hurt others regularly, even though we royally mess up our lives continually, we can be forgiven and made acceptable to God every time.

God has truly rescued us - freed us, delivered us - from confinement to sin and ultimately an eternity apart from Him.

Because of this, I feel that it is my duty as a Christ-follower to serve as a rescue for those who have not yet been saved by Jesus' actions. God freely gave this gift of salvation and there are millions of people around the world that have not yet accepted this free gift.

I want to be a part of the Church that God has called His people to be. I want to reach those who have not accepted Jesus as their Savior yet. I want to show them the grace and love that I have received through a relationship with Jesus. I want to serve people because the Master of all masters and the King of all kings served the least important people. I want to live a life dedicated to following God's standards and Jesus' life. I want to be a part of the great mission to "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone." I want to be a part of God's great mission to rescue every person in need of saving. And I believe that I will be a part of the New Reformation that will see the Church become all that they are suppose to be - The Rescue to our decaying world.