Everyone's got a story

 

2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2

Today, when one thinks of  Chicago, we think of division and strife and if you're a Minnesota Viking fan you also think of those dastardly Bear's.  We learned on our recent trip to Chicago to witness the marriage of two of my wife's work colleagues that Chicago is more than just division.

We stayed in the Doubletree hotel not far from the Church hosting the wedding. One morning as my wife and I walked back from breakfast we overheard a group of young African American woman praying fervently with increasing volume. Since we were from the land of Nice, Minnesota nice to be exact, it was quite natural to think this was inappropriate in a public space. I mentioned to her I thought there was a Pentecostal prayer event being held this weekend. Later that day, I encountered several from this group and asked them about their event.  I learned that it was indeed a Church event they were hosting that weekend. One lady shared the theme for that weekend, 'Everyone's got a story'.  They invited me to join this event, but I had to declined explaining that we were in Chicago for a wedding.

As we talked, I mentioned how heaven will be a place of beautiful worship, unlike anything we have ever experienced on earth.  We all agreed that worship will be about worshipping our Creator King Jesus without prejudice,  hatred, or segregationist thinking.  There will be such an array of colors of people, unlike anything we ever would have experienced in life.

 For most of us, it is easy to hide our story by putting our best image forward without any thought of how our story might change the course of another person's life.  Most of us were taught to use our left brain to use logic and reason to spread the gospel without realizing that our story also plays an intricate part of that process.  

 I praise God for this Pentecostal church event to remind me once again the importance of our stories in bringing others to Christ.

I remember hearing a speaker one time say that very few of us will leave this world without being traumatized in some manner. 

What is your story and how are you using it to advance the kingdom for Christ?