It takes me about an hour to walk from my house to the coffee shop. When I got there, I was offered a chair across a small table from the leader of the "non-profit" coffee-shop business. She and another woman were playing Skip-Bo™️, a popular card game in the shop. I sat and watched until they finished and then had them deal me into the next game.
I listened to the conversation and observed what was going on in the room. The leader occasionally got up to serve customers because it was her usual shift, and when she did so the other player and I skipped her turn to keep the game moving. That is why it is called "skip bo," of course! Even with frequently being skipped, she had won all of the games.
There was an empty seat at the table which was successively occupied by one of two "special needs" young men who were visiting the shop with their "staff." These people have significant handicaps and are supported by the Welfare State. Part of that support includes regular escort by a paid employee of a State-of-State franchise corporation who takes them out to socialize and assists them with their day-to-day needs. Everyone refers to this help as "staff," and there were several people in the shop with staff at that time.
I have seen "special needs" people frequenting the coffee shop ever since I started going there almost two years ago. The drinks are free and the people are kind, so the "staff" commonly use it as a good destination to spend time with their charges. My spiritual sibling has "staff." I immediately realized the Father was bringing these people into the coffee shop and each one was an opportunity for healing and glorification of the Name of Jesus.
My spiritual sibling wanted to be healed. After getting to know her and showing her examples of healing in the Bible, she came up to me, stuck out her hand, and said, "It's a deal!" I replied, "I guess this is happening!" and off we went to a couch and I began praying for her to be healed. Things started happening and people were amazed. I was, too, because I had not done it very much and was pushing outside of my 'comfort zone.'
We prayed for her to walk, just like Jesus did, and we were both very determined. I am a trouble-shooter and if things are not working I try something else. Soon, I was using my prayer language because I did not know what was needed, ... and it worked. Between the two of us, my spiritual sibling and I worked to free her from many things, but she did not walk. For some reason that was blocked from happening, and it still is.
Many people in the coffee shop started to become uncomfortable with what we were doing. That is not surprising because the denomination of the particular church sponsoring the coffee shop does not teach about 'Pentecostal' kinds of things. The non-churched people did not comprehend what we were doing, but some of the churched people became hostile. I was asked to stop, and I immediately complied.
At the time, the coffee shop leader had been out of the country on a mission trip and when she came back I was told she had received complaints about what I had been doing. Even though I was no longer doing it, I was reprimanded. "Stop trying to cast demons out of [my spiritual sibling]!" We had proven to ourselves that there was a demon tormenting her because ... it spoke. Twice. My sibling did not say those things.
My spiritual sibling is very outspoken, and when people tried to tell her she did not have demons, she would reply, "I only have one." I became a pariah for doing this, and am apparently still one according to some people by the way they treat me. That's okay; it is part of the battle.
When I was reprimanded (on the day before Good Friday, of all things!), I ended the discussion by saying, "We're done," and turned to leave the establishment. As I was about to 'wipe the dust off my feet,' I was reminded of my spiritual sibling who had temporarily left the coffee shop while I was having my 'meeting' with the leaders. When she came back, I was gone. She became very upset because the two people she loved the most in the coffee shop (me and one of the other leaders) were fighting. She ended up being the catalyst to bring us back together.
Even though I had stopped using my prayer language, I continued to read to my sibling from the Bible during subsequent visits to the shop. She had never heard those things before and was fascinated. Soon, I began hearing criticism about even doing that! Apparently they "did not know what I was teaching her" in their shop and we started being pressured to cease what we were doing. We decided to leave and take our discussions down the hall.
The coffee shop is part of an indoor mall, which is comfortable year round in four-season Michigan. We found a bench in the common area away from the shop and met together there for more than a month. I continued to pray for her using my prayer language and we made even more progress, but she remained unable to walk and in the power chair.
Some of the people who frequent the coffee shop are 'mall walkers' who get exercise by walking circuits around the perimeter of the common areas. They, of course, saw us and would occasionally stop and talk with us. So would the housekeeping staff, and other people who knew us. It became common knowledge that we were consistently there and having a great time. God's ways are not our ways, and I was overjoyed to be used by Him.
I was able to help my sibling with many things, and eventually we realized we are spiritual brother and sister. I am her big brother, and in some ways have been able to give her fatherly advice. She is on good terms with her dad, but I have more insight into the spiritual matters she needs right now.
We eventually got to the point where things had significantly improved for her, but she was still unable to walk and still had her speech impediment, the two things that are most visible to people. Her "friend" was still there, and it was still tormenting her. I told her the next thing to try was baptism in water, and I pointed out that the church sponsoring the coffee shop does immersion baptisms. With my encouragement, she went and asked to be baptized, and they did it for her.
What a difference that made! She went from being tormented to being almost completely free. She said that her friend was still there, but it was like it was hiding. Her frantic, emotional text messages to me and her dark Facebook posts ceased. God is good. We moved on to other things to improve her life.
People have acknowledged that my efforts have greatly helped her, and as of the 15th of Nisan this year, she has been much more independent from me, although we still mutually crave and enjoy what we call "sibling time." This has freed me up to work with other people, and those efforts have been noticed, too.
Which brings me back to the card game yesterday. I was there because I had the time, and because The Holy Spirit had led me to go. I made further observations as we played...
Someone came over and started talking about getting tattoos. The two women I was playing with mentioned the typical side effects of that practice, such as inflamed skin, pain, and the time required for healing. They were all very matter-of-fact about it and seemed to consider tattooing mainstream, which it is these days. Apparently, they are not aware the practice of tattooing is something God forbade the Israelites from doing (Leviticus 19:28). The leader of the coffee shop business has a big tattoo on her right arm.
The leader of the coffee shop is leaving today with her husband for a vacation overseas. She 'checked in' to their flights on her phone as we played our game.
The leader of the coffee shop lives with her husband in the parsonage of the church she preaches at. It is in a small town, and there is a well that provides both the church and their home with water. For some reason, they have no water, and she was making inquiries about getting it fixed.
As we got near the end of our final Skip-Bo game, both women said it would be their last because they each had things they needed to do. I took that as my cue to head home and got up to leave when we were done. The leader answered someone's question about the time difference where she was going, and I related that when we lived overseas our small children had a hard time with that. I wished her a good trip, and she thanked me for coming in. I think it surprised her that I had spent time with her.
As I walked home, I chuckled. I had all of a sudden won that final game. God has an interesting sense of humor.
This morning, The Spirit debriefed me about the reasons for my walk to the mall yesterday. That is His pattern, letting me know just before I get out of bed what He wants me to do during the day.
The people running the coffee shop just do not see what is plainly there. Opportunities to heal people in the Name of Jesus are everywhere,2 but people just serve coffee and play cards. Two of those opportunities sat at the table with us while we played the game yesterday, as I mentioned above.
Before I finished this post today, I needed a photo of the card game, so I went to the coffee shop and ended up indirectly talking about these things with someone who is beginning to have some of the same concerns I have. We agreed the leadership is stuck in their box and does not see the opportunities the LORD is creating, and we agreed we need to continue praying for these folks and helping them understand the real game we should be playing.
I shared this meme I made at the bottom of an update to another post, and am re-sharing it here in this more prominent location because I think it is important...
I hope the people I care about will soon realize what their true job is: to glorify the Name of Jesus by performing miracles so people will be receptive to the full and complete Good News, so that they might repent and praise our Father in Heaven.
All glory to God.
UPDATE, September 27, 2023...
Putting it another way, Jesus did not say:
"Go and serve coffee to all nations, serving only the finest beans from remote parts of the world, and teaching them everything except what I commanded you.3 And surely I am with you always, no matter what you do."
Think about it.
UPDATE, September 28, 2023...
1Added the meme I made.
2Why do people not see these opportunities? Frankly, I think it is because they do not believe it is possible for average, everyday people to do miracles. They think it is only for Jesus to do, and they put their faith in doctors instead. This is all based on lies and does not line up with The Book.
I used to think that way, too. I did not believe. Jesus said:
"...Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:16-18 NIV)
And...
“Unless you people see signs and wonders, ... you will never believe.” (John 4:48 NIV)
It is crucial for people to see miracles, or they will never really believe. They may notionally believe some things about Jesus, but they do not really and truly believe.
We must believe like a child:
And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." ... (Matthew 18:3 NIV)
Institutional churches are Babylon in modern apparel. Most of them are operated as a corporation, a contemporary form of structure that controls the masses.
The coffee shop is operated as a corporation, too, and when I started to demonstrate what can and should be done I came under attack and was eventually driven out and controlled by those who are being used as tools of the Darkness.
Is there hope for these people? I always have hope, and when things don't pan out I hope some more, but it can get discouraging. Saying that, God is faithful and I work for Him. He is going to do what he intends. He is righteous, even if we are not.
He is developing my faith.
UPDATE, November 1, 2023...
I had a stressful day yesterday, and late in the afternoon I wanted to spend some time at the coffee shop to unwind.
When I arrived at the mall, the parking lot was pretty full. "What's this?" I thought. Then I remembered... Trick Or Treat. It was Halloween.
The mall was full of parents with kids in costumes lining up at the various stores getting "treats," commercially-available candy. The coffee shop had extra volunteer staff handing them out, too, along with free coffee for the parents. I waded through all of this and made my way to the back of the shop to visit with friends.
As the time period for the festivities wound down, the coffee shop volunteers cleaned up in preparation to close. They were exhausted.
This morning, I had some thoughts about this. I am sure the folks serving the crowds for the coffee shop saw themselves as loving their neighbor, and I actually saw one of them wearing something that said something like that. I'm sure it was fun, but was it really what Yehoshua wants us to do?
Some of the people probably noticed the coffee was free, but that would have been the only difference distinguishing the coffee shop from any of the other businesses handing out candy in the mall. Actually, what is the difference between handing out free candy and free coffee? Hmmm. 🤔
Did this really do anything to advance Yehoshua's cause, especially given all of the effort involved? Was it actually "loving the neighbors," as He described it in his parable about The Good Samaritan? Or was it conforming to the world?
The world indoctrinates children through traditions like "Trick Or Treat." That lesson seems to teach: Disguise yourself, chant some mantra, and you will be rewarded. I was indoctrinated in that same way as a child and later realized what was going on, but only after I had learned The Truth and came under its influence.
We are so easily led off onto unproductive and exhausting paths. Yehoshua's way is so much different.
UPDATE, January 1, 2024...
3 Added this link to a new post I made today about Yehoshua's commandments. Ever since I made that update about His non-existent words, I have been thinking about His commandments. I felt it was important to study them and share what I have learned.
