A.J.

AJ is a regular fixture at The Mustard Seed; he's a slight man, in his 50s, and is of middle eastern descent (his real name is long and somewhat unpronouncable, so AJ does the job just as well).  When I first met him, he always greeted me with a smile, saying, "God bless you" or "Thank you for looking after us."  He's told me a few snippets of his history - homelessness, drug addiction, a common story in the inner city, but he has had a home for the past eight years and is drug free, and he is not afraid to share that he owes everything to God.

What an example AJ is!

On Friday, not my usual night, but I felt like going downtown anyway, and I had a chance to speak to AJ behind the coffee bar - he was volunteering for the night.  He told me that he had a heart attack a number of years ago and was in God's presence, but he was sent back to Earth, and now feels that it is his job to tell everyone about our Lord.  He confessed that he has never learned how to read or write, but that all of his Biblical knowledge comes from the Holy Spirit.  I was amazed, because AJ can speak Truth as well as any literate church-goer that I've ever met. 

He then went on to explain how spiritually dead The Mustard Seed is, and how no one speaks of God, but he does, to anyone who will listen.  He doesn't do it to show off or appear knowledgeable - he does it because he truly believes God sent him back to spread the Good News.  It made me think of my actions when I am downtown - yes, I help, yes, I'm a "good person", but am I intentionally creating disciples?  Not really.  I can talk about God to those who ask, but that's not very often - it's those who don't ask who probably need to hear about God the most.

Yes, the church may be spiritually dead, but it only takes a bit of effort to bring God back into His house.  I'm going to follow the lead of a former drug addict, a former homeless man, a child of God, and spread the Word to those who need it most. 

We can't wait for a near death experience to decide that we need to spread the Word - time is of the essence.