Haven of Rest...

I spent the evening at the Haven of Rest Men's shelter. Pastor Barry Davis was unable to speak tonight and ask me to fill in. I arrived about 15 minutes early. When I walked in the door I saw two men I knew. One was a friend I had not seen for awhile and the other laid the foundation and brick work on my home ten years ago. We had a few minutes to chat prior to the service. My friend and I talked about a trip we made years ago to Sugar Mountain snow skiing. Neither of us were real successful on the powder. I remember Getting to the lift was a problem and once off it on the slope the problem was multiplied. I managed to fall every fifteen feet down the mountain until an old man about seventy skied up to me and asked. You need some help? I asked him what could I do to make it down easier. He told me to throw away the poles and get up without them, to point my toes together to slow down, to lean when turning and if necessary just sit down to stop if plowing don't work fast enough. Soon I was on my feet and down the rest of the mountain. When I got to the bottom Mark's brother asked if I had seen him. I said yeah he was fifty yards behind me coming down the mountain like I was every fifteen feet. I rode back up the mountain and skied down. I came upon Mark walking down the slope. He would push the ski's down the hill, catch up and push again. When I got to the bottom of the hill, his brother asked me again if I had seen Mark. About that time a pair of ski's slid past us. I pointed out the ski's as Marks and pointed out the man stumbling down the slope was Mark. We entered the chapel and I spoke to them about the purpose of God's call on their lives. We shared Mark 1st chapter. Jesus telling his disciples he was going to make them fishers of men. That was the purpose of our call as Christians. He called us out of different places to be fishers of men. It was exciting to see these men soak in the word of God. After the session two of the men wanted to hang around and ask questions. We shared scripture and before we knew it one hour had passed by. Out of the 30 men there I believe these two will be actively fishing as Christ called them. Just like the ski trip, we need to get up if we fall and try again. Never give up on Christ because he never gives up on us. We may stumble and fall, maybe even want to take off our ski's and walk. But is we will follow through we'll make it to where we are supposed to be. I hope to get back there soon to see their progression. More Later, Pastor T.