Update on "Zacchaeus" (3)

A few weeks ago, we shared an experience (see Nov. 28) in a coastal city on the first night of an evangelistic revival. As I struggled whether or not to preach on Zacchaeus – and right after I finally decided to try to obey God – "Zacchaeus" walked in. He had never been in an Apostolic Christian church before - or anything remotely like it – but God touched him that night...



Then, on the afternoon of Dec. 25, I received a phone call. The man's son, suffering from serious illness, had worsened greatly. The prognosis is now exceedingly grim.  The family was desperate, and was wondering if we could go pray for him.

My father and I quickly changed clothes and went. We walked into a room crammed with concerned  relatives – all very respectful and receptive. Unseeing images of misdirected worship abounded in the room...but God's ambassadors had just walked in.

We spoke. We prayed. God made His presence felt. I spoke to them of the paralytic man, whose friends let him down through the roof in front of Jesus. The very first thing Jesus said to him, before He ever healed him, was, "Be of good cheer: your sins are forgiven (Mark 2:5-12)." I told them that the  greatest and most important miracle God can do for us is to forgive and take away our sins...and there's only one way for that to happen. (SEE "The Jesus I Serve").

When we were done praying, the young man thanked us, and told us, "Of the many who have come to see and speak with me, this is different; when you prayed, I felt something."

Another call yesterday; another visit. The young man asked to speak with us, alone; his parents willingly obliged and left us with him. He expressed to us his faith in God, and how God is dealing with him, speaking to him. We left him with some Scriptures and more prayer.

This family has never been open to anything outside of what they were raised to believe - but God is working, and they are desperate for help, which makes them open to Him. God, after all, is drawn to need and faith.

Here's a humble request: could you remember this young man and his family when you pray? 

They need two miracles.

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UPDATE: Was able to share the glorious Salvation message today (SEE Acts 2:37-39), along with an urgent question: "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).

The physical prognosis is dire...please help us pray urgently for this fine young man and his hurting family. God is a Healer and Savior!

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UPDATE: How incredibly heartbreaking it is so see some so close to the Kingdom - and yet so far. God has touched many in this case profoundly, but old habits die hard. Every chain must break before the Master, but there must be a desire to be free. The tragic part is...the habits may die hard, but a life probably will without an extension of mercy and grace. That extension is needed right now...