Paul

Paul is a man who experiences joy even in the midst of deep suffering. He also is a man who asked God to take away his "thorn in the flesh" but God said His grace was sufficient for him. Paul is a real encouragement to me and he challenges me in my walk with God and the way I choose to live life. Paul is a man I met at Starbucks today...

Today I met some guys at Starbucks to talk about a few things, one of which was the current state of the church in America. As we were engaged in a lively discussion about where the American church is and where it is headed, we were interrupted a few times by an amen and a little encouragement from a guy sitting alone behind us. He was one of those guys you look at and you don't know what to think. Sitting alone, drinking his coffee and smoking a cigarette. Cowboy hat laid on the table revealing his bald head, complemented by his scraggly santa like beard. Anyhow, we had some brief interaction and then carried on our conversation for another half hour or so.

When we got up to leave I decided to go and introduce myself to the man sitting alone, his name was Paul. As I got close to him I noticed that his bald head revealed a large scar stretching from ear to ear over the top of his skull. I also noticed that on the front of his cowboy hat he had sketched three crosses, a large one in the middle and a smaller one on each side. He began by telling me that he heard us talking and that he agreed that God is everywhere waiting for people to come to Him. He said they called Jesus a wine bibber just because He went where the people who needed Him most hung out.

Then Paul started to tell me his story. How he retired from the Navy, became a truck driver and is now retired from that as well. However his recent retirement was not voluntary. He shared with me that about a year ago he started doing some strange things and his friends and family became concerned about him and urged him to go to the doctor, which he reluctantly did after some time. After a CT scan the doctor realized what was wrong, he had a tumor about half the size of my fist on his brain. In November of 2007 the doctors removed as much of the tumor as possible. He learned that untreated this type of cancer is usually fatal within three months.

Paul looked me in they eye and said "Most days I'm ok with it, today is one of those days". He went on to share that although he doesn't understand why, and he still has many questions, the Lord has given him a sense of peace through it all. He also said that they recently discovered that the tumor is growing again. I asked him if they could do any more surgery and he said that it depends on what direction it grows. "If it grows to one side they can go back in and trim some of it away. If it grows to the other side, it's up the Lord how long I have."

Paul got a little emotional as he talked but it was amazing to me the sense of peace that this man had. It was obvious that he had a real relationship with Christ, but he was the kind of guy that most Christians would walk by and not say a word to, let alone think that he might be a brother who they would one day spend eternity with.

I asked Paul about his relationship with God and he said "Do you have some time, let me buy you a cup of coffee." I didn't accept the coffee offer but I had some time, so I sat and listened to his story. He told me that his brother was a pastor and that he visited his church one time about twenty years ago and he has never been back. "Those are some of the most judgmental people I have ever met" he told me. Then he went on to share how in the course of conversation with a friend he expressed his faith in God, although he didn't attend church or know that much about Him. This friend gave him a Bible and said well if you believe in Him then you really should read this because it's His Word written to us. So Paul did just that. H read the Bible in about three months and one night about four AM alone in his truck, he cried out for Jesus to save him.

At some point in the conversation Paul asked me what I did and I told him that I was a pastor. I shared with him how we have this small community of believers who are just trying our best to love God and show that love to others. I told him that we want to experience a sense of connectedness with God and one another, kind of like family, to which Paul said "I'm still looking for mine". I invited him to come sometime and just check out the community of believers at Journey, to which he responded very positively. I hope Paul comes, I hope experiences the love of Christ and maybe he will find acceptance among brothers and sisters who can lift him up and encourage him in his journey.

I don't know how to explain what God did in me today during this brief encounter. I just know that He was there and through Paul, God revealed things to me about His love and His nature. Before I left Paul said to me "Can I pray for you?" I thought "that's the pastor's line" but I simply said, "please do and let me to pray for you as well". So we prayed for each other, wiped our eyes, shook hands and departed.

Paul has learned something about life that I have yet to learn. It seems that he understands on a deep level the words written by another Paul "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

God give me the faith of my brother Paul...