Chapter 42 winter

∮ Later someone brought to Jesus a paralyzed man who was carried by four men.Because too many people could not get close to Jesus, they tore down a big hole in the roof. Mark 2:3-4 * winter solstice On Sunday morning, as the snow fell, I opened the wide door of the church and stepped onto the front porch.The auditorium was bitterly cold and empty.The hole in the roof was right above me.I heard the wind beat against the blue tarp.The sound of the organ came from nowhere, but there was no one around. hush. I turned around and saw the thin man with the high forehead pointing to a door next to him.I walked in the door, looked at it twice and couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing.

This is a makeshift miniature church, with only two short rows of seats, and a piece of plastic sheet stapled to two-inch thick and four-inch wide wooden strips to serve as the wall.It's like a child's play castle built in an attic.The top is also covered with plastic sheeting, forming a low ceiling. Apparently without heating to keep out the cold, the church had to put up another plastic tent inside the sanctuary.Congregations crammed into limited seating.The small space makes people feel less cold, although everyone is still wearing coats.Pastor Covington is currently holding Sunday services in this place.He replaced the magnificent pulpit with a small pulpit.The pipe organ standing half a sky high is not visible behind, only a black and white flag nailed to the wall.

We thank you, God.I got into the back seat and heard Henry saying: God of hope, we give thanks and praise in the name of Jesus, amen. I glance around.There's a hole in the roof, the heating has been cut, and now this plastic prayer tent is popping up, and it makes one wonder when the whole church will disappear. Henry talked the other day about what it's like to judge people based on their past.As soon as he opened his mouth, he lamented how difficult it is to get rid of the bad habits of the past, especially drug addiction. I know what's going on, he said loudly: I know you swore: I will never do this kind of thing again Next time I have money, I will do this and that.Then you go home and make a promise to your loved one: I was wrong, I'm going to change my past

Amen! Then you get some money and throw all those promises out the window. Yes! You've had enough of this disgusting, boring life Enough is enough! But there comes a time when you admit to God this thing is better than me it's worse than a rehab program it's better than that pastor at church I need you Lord I need you Jesus He starts clapping. But you must be like Smokey.Robinson ① loading He sang at the top of his voice.He sang two lines of "You Really Got a Hodon Me". Then go on preaching. Maybe you went to the supermarket, bought some daily necessities, and then someone asked you to sell them, and you felt that you couldn’t hold back. You spent 70 yuan on the daily necessities, but you are willing to give it away for 20 yuan

Fifteen dollars! That's right, fifteen bucks bro, that's right, if you're desperate to have an addiction let me tell you, I know what it's like to be stuck in it, and I know what it's like to want to get out of it. Amen! We must fight this kind of thing.Also, it's not enough for you to get yourself off the ground, if someone else is trying, you must have faith in them Teach us, pastor! In the book of Acts, we read that after Paul converted, he was mistrusted because he had persecuted the church and now he praised it.Is this the same person?impossible!No wonder.People just can't see you now, really, because they want to keep you in the past.For example, the biggest difficulty for us to lead church members is that they know us before we convert to the Lord

Yes! Paul had the same problem they had seen him before and they didn't believe this man was sent by the Lord Jesus because they had seen him before Yes! They only look at his past.When we are still looking at ourselves in the past, we cannot see what God has done, what God can do.We don't see the little things that happen in our lives Hurry up and tell us. People tell me that I am a good person, and I always say: I am working hard.But there are other people who have known me for a long time, and every time I go back to New York, they hear that I am a pastor in the church, and they will suddenly say: I know you took the money, boy.I know you must have taken the money, I know you too well.

He paused and lowered his voice. No, I said.You knew me once, you knew who I was, but you didn't know who I was trying to be. Sitting in the back row, I felt a burst of shame pass through my heart.Seriously, I've wrestled with that type of prejudice, too.I've always wondered if Henry, when he's back in the world of New York, will laugh and say, "Yeah, I've got something new to play with." Yet here he is, preaching in a plastic tent. You are not equal to your past!He told the congregation. Have you ever heard a pastor yell at you as if in a sermon?When this happens, it is often on your own account, not on the preacher.

① Smokey.Smokey Robinson (Smokey Robinson) is an American soul and rhythm and blues singer who was born in the law of the United States. In the 1980s, his career fell due to addiction to drugs, but he later converted to religion, quit drugs, regained his strength, and started a singing career again. peak.