Good Day.

Yesterday marked our second prayer meeting at our new Long Beach location—the Sanctuary. It was a delight to have a few more folk with us, but more than that—God was in that place.  It was a sweet time.

I started our time with this new song by Daniel Doss: 

Stained Glass Windows     Great song...I hope you will get to hear it!

"Last week, I walked on water; today I’m sinking low; can your hand reach down to me--pull me up once more?

The dreams I had are shattered, all scattered on the floor. The last time you picked up the pieces, and helped me dream some more—

-‘Cause we’re making stained glass windows every piece a different shape.  Broken and then put together like a big mistake—

Oh, but when the light shines through, the colors form a tapestry, a hundred different images of how you keep loving me.

-Each moment you are with me, each word I hear you say, helps me understand and trust in your higher ways—

The roads that go through valleys, they help me cling to you, and then we find the mountaintop—We’ll dance the whole day through . . . "

The song launched us into a discussion about how God uses all the pieces of our lives to make something beautiful . . . if we allow him.  

Ricky V. risked a lot and shared his powerful story; it brought a sense of awe, knowing how God had gotten a hold of him.  He was of Columbian and Portuguese descent but was quickly adopted out, so as not to disgrace the 15-year-old mother’s family.  His chances would have been much better with her, however, as the young woman who became ‘mom’ set him and his brother up for nothing but abuse and heartache.  His first stepdad gave him one thing only before he scooted out the door, and that one thing he despises to this day, the name Van Rossem.  (a Dutch name for a dark-eyed, dark-eyed little boy who was quickly growing disillusioned with life)

‘Mom’ was an alcoholic and a drug user; married four times, she looked the other way as each new man that came into their lives violently abused Ricky—in every way possible.  He quickly learned that finishing the leftover booze and pills numbed him to the ever-present pain of his life. 

He ran away from home the first time at nine years old, and by the time he was 13, Ricky V was a ward of the court.  Juvenile and foster homes perpetuated the same pattern of abuse, violence and neglect. 

The anger grew inside of Ricky as he became “anti” about everything, but found an outlet for his violent feelings in the punk rock culture.  Then he found a sense of family and belonging in the infamous Los Angeles’ “18^th Street Gang,” but the violence and drug activity escalated.  One time, while in a New York hotel room (moving drugs), he heard the voice of a t.v. preacher say, ‘I don’t care if you are in a motel room in Manhattan with a hooker slamming drugs, you can be a pillar for God…’  How did the preacher know about him?  He never saw his face, but he would recognize the voice anywhere.  No matter, his lifestyle eventually landed him in prison.  When a race riot broke out, Ricky was stabbed in the back of the head, and went into an 8-day coma.  When he awakened, his first recollection was of a Bible on a bedside table.  He was so angry at God for not answering his desperate prayers for protection that he reached for the Bible to throw it across the room.  He tried to throw it, but his hand would not release its tight hold, though one finger dug into the pages of the Bible.  He looked down at the page, and read the words of 2 Corinthians 2.4 …much would happen after that, but that verse would become his life verse—words from God to his heart.

It was 10 years later, and Ricky was living in the OC, when a Santa Ana preacher told Ricky he would help him get well (clean up from heroin); Ricky promised that if the guy helped him get well, he would go to church.  The guy did help him, so Ricky kept his word and went to a tent revival with the preacher.  He hadn’t even gotten to his seat, when he heard a familiar voice say, ‘even if you are a drug addict or a con, you can be a pillar for Jesus Christ’.  He turned to look and saw the speaker pointing his finger directly at him, and you guessed it—it was the same guy he had heard some 10 years before speaking to him from a crummy hotel t.v. set.

Ricky knew God was after him.  Christian friends were praying for him, and when one invited him to church, he went.  When the music played, God showed himself to him yet again.  He started crying . . . and finally, on that night, he gave his life to Jesus Christ.  Ricky found true love in Jesus Christ—grace, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life.  Praise God for redeeming the life of Ricky V.  I am thankful that he is part of our Long Beach prayer group, where he can grow and heal, and come alongside others in our small Sanctuary community. 

God is in the process of shaping the many pieces of Ricky’s life into a beautiful stained glass window, just as he is yours and mine.  What the devil has meant for evil, the Lord can use for good.  In fact, Ricky wants to make his life’s ambition coming to the aid of young people who have faced abuse and neglect, and help them know there is a God who loves them. 

I do not think I will ever look at a stained glass window the same.

Christine