•12:21 PM
I thought I'd tell a few rain stories today.
I used to know an old AoG fella (Assemblies of God) who loved to stop the rain in Jesus' name. He said that he'd go up to a bus stop where some kids were waiting in the rain, and he'd say, "Watch this." And then he'd rebuke the rain and tell it to be still in Jesus' name. He said it worked about 90% of the time. The rest of the time the Lord must have had a reason for the rain to fall.
1 - Treasures in Heaven Yard Sale.
My former church was holding a huge yard sale in the parking lot of the church. The money was going to fund a missions trip to Mongolia; about 10 of our church members were going around the world to plant a church in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
The sky looked like rain.
Eventually a few drops began to fall.
This would not do at all.
The pastor gathered us all together to pray that the Lord would stop the rain. Then he sat back in his lounge chair and opened a big, black umbrella.
"What lack of faith!" I thought, but soon realized that he had more faith than all of us. He knew that whether he had an umbrella opened or not, the Lord would stop the rain. He had separated his actions from the Lord's actions.
Soon the rain stopped.
We had a wonderful sale under blue skies. And, yes, the group did go to Mongolia and planted a church there.
The rest of the story: That night, I was watching the Local News. Dick Goddard, esteemed weather man, said something like, "My forecast for today was correct except I have to apologize to one square mile in downtown Akron. Apparently, you were the only place that didn't see any rain. I'm sorry, I'll try to do better next time."
Isn't God good!?
2 - Five Day Club with Child Evangelism Fellowship.
It was the time of summer storms. My friend Leigh Ann and I were just finishing up a Five Day Club with Child Evangelism Fellowship. We arrived early to set up the puppet stage, and set out our song and story materials.
As we were starting to set things up, a girl scout troop passed us. The leader said, "You guys better not set up; it's gonna pour in a few minutes."
The sky was black! The clouds looked angry! And droplets began to fall on us.
I replied,
"No it won't. We have a club to do today. It won't rain." (I wasn't trying to 'speak' something into existence; I just KNEW that it wouldn't rain.)
"It's raining already," came the reply.
"But it won't rain."
"Who do you think you are? Elijah?"
"No, but we have the same God."
Leigh Ann and I continued setting up our gear. As we did, the few raindrops stopped, but the sky continued to look terrible.
I remembered that we didn't have any candy. It was still a 1/2 hour before club started, so we ran to the store.
By the time we got back, the sun was breaking through the clouds! Beautiful sunbeams shone down from heaven! And the kids came.
Club went great. We prayed the closing prayer, and sent them home.
As the last kid got into a car to leave, I looked at Leigh Ann with panic in my voice.
"We need to pack up...FAST!"
"Why?"
"God held back the rain for the kids! Start packing!"
It only took about two minutes to pack up everything into the car, but by the time we got into the car, we were soaked! The skies had opened up, and we were drenched!
God held back the rain for the kids, but after that...things went back to normal! LOL
3 - C.E.F.'s end of summer carnival at the Outreach Center of my old church.
At the end of summer, all the Good News Clubs from all over Akron would gather at my church's Outreach Center for a time of playing games and getting rewards. We had earned it. And it was a great time for the kids.
The Carnival would start at about 6 pm. Hundreds of kids would come from all over the city. At 7:30 pm, the club would close. It would take about a 1/2 hour to clean up and store every thing away.
As I sat outside the Outreach Center, it was about 4 o'clock. The sky was a little cloudy but didn't look too scary. I prayed,
"Lord, if it does rain, would you hold off the rain until 8 o'clock? Thanks."
The carnival was awesome as always. Lots of screaming and running, and lots of smiles! We were doing this for Jesus, and we knew it.
We put away the games, the food, and picked up the trash. Then we made our way outside.
I had the door opened to the car, one foot inside and one foot outside. We were all talking, not really wanting the day to end just yet.
I felt a rain drop hit my face. The Lord reminded me of my prayer. I looked at my brother and asked, "What time is it?"
"8 o'clock straight up."
Isn't God awesome!?
John 15:16 tells us, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. "
Translated loosely: God will do ANYTHING that the fruit may remain. The fruit is little kids and mission trips. God will do ANYTHING so that that fruit will have a chance to go on.
You can count it!
I used to know an old AoG fella (Assemblies of God) who loved to stop the rain in Jesus' name. He said that he'd go up to a bus stop where some kids were waiting in the rain, and he'd say, "Watch this." And then he'd rebuke the rain and tell it to be still in Jesus' name. He said it worked about 90% of the time. The rest of the time the Lord must have had a reason for the rain to fall.
1 - Treasures in Heaven Yard Sale.
My former church was holding a huge yard sale in the parking lot of the church. The money was going to fund a missions trip to Mongolia; about 10 of our church members were going around the world to plant a church in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
The sky looked like rain.
Eventually a few drops began to fall.
This would not do at all.
The pastor gathered us all together to pray that the Lord would stop the rain. Then he sat back in his lounge chair and opened a big, black umbrella.
"What lack of faith!" I thought, but soon realized that he had more faith than all of us. He knew that whether he had an umbrella opened or not, the Lord would stop the rain. He had separated his actions from the Lord's actions.
Soon the rain stopped.
We had a wonderful sale under blue skies. And, yes, the group did go to Mongolia and planted a church there.
The rest of the story: That night, I was watching the Local News. Dick Goddard, esteemed weather man, said something like, "My forecast for today was correct except I have to apologize to one square mile in downtown Akron. Apparently, you were the only place that didn't see any rain. I'm sorry, I'll try to do better next time."
Isn't God good!?
2 - Five Day Club with Child Evangelism Fellowship.
It was the time of summer storms. My friend Leigh Ann and I were just finishing up a Five Day Club with Child Evangelism Fellowship. We arrived early to set up the puppet stage, and set out our song and story materials.
As we were starting to set things up, a girl scout troop passed us. The leader said, "You guys better not set up; it's gonna pour in a few minutes."
The sky was black! The clouds looked angry! And droplets began to fall on us.
I replied,
"No it won't. We have a club to do today. It won't rain." (I wasn't trying to 'speak' something into existence; I just KNEW that it wouldn't rain.)
"It's raining already," came the reply.
"But it won't rain."
"Who do you think you are? Elijah?"
"No, but we have the same God."
Leigh Ann and I continued setting up our gear. As we did, the few raindrops stopped, but the sky continued to look terrible.
I remembered that we didn't have any candy. It was still a 1/2 hour before club started, so we ran to the store.
By the time we got back, the sun was breaking through the clouds! Beautiful sunbeams shone down from heaven! And the kids came.
Club went great. We prayed the closing prayer, and sent them home.
As the last kid got into a car to leave, I looked at Leigh Ann with panic in my voice.
"We need to pack up...FAST!"
"Why?"
"God held back the rain for the kids! Start packing!"
It only took about two minutes to pack up everything into the car, but by the time we got into the car, we were soaked! The skies had opened up, and we were drenched!
God held back the rain for the kids, but after that...things went back to normal! LOL
3 - C.E.F.'s end of summer carnival at the Outreach Center of my old church.
At the end of summer, all the Good News Clubs from all over Akron would gather at my church's Outreach Center for a time of playing games and getting rewards. We had earned it. And it was a great time for the kids.
The Carnival would start at about 6 pm. Hundreds of kids would come from all over the city. At 7:30 pm, the club would close. It would take about a 1/2 hour to clean up and store every thing away.
As I sat outside the Outreach Center, it was about 4 o'clock. The sky was a little cloudy but didn't look too scary. I prayed,
"Lord, if it does rain, would you hold off the rain until 8 o'clock? Thanks."
The carnival was awesome as always. Lots of screaming and running, and lots of smiles! We were doing this for Jesus, and we knew it.
We put away the games, the food, and picked up the trash. Then we made our way outside.
I had the door opened to the car, one foot inside and one foot outside. We were all talking, not really wanting the day to end just yet.
I felt a rain drop hit my face. The Lord reminded me of my prayer. I looked at my brother and asked, "What time is it?"
"8 o'clock straight up."
Isn't God awesome!?
John 15:16 tells us, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. "
Translated loosely: God will do ANYTHING that the fruit may remain. The fruit is little kids and mission trips. God will do ANYTHING so that that fruit will have a chance to go on.
You can count it!
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