Taxi Talk
When you pray for divine appointments it's always interesting to see where God leads. This evening the appointment was in the form of a cab driver named Freddie. The taxi had been called to pick me up at 8:15 PM at the mega church where I was attending the Catalyst West conference. It meant I had to leave before the speaker was over and was disappointed, but I couldn't delay the cab driver.
However when 8:30 PM rolled around and I was standing on the corner waiting for him I must admit I was a bit miffed and called the cab company to see when he would arrive. Apparently my cab had come and gone with another passenger and just I'll bet their name was not Olga (that was the name on the reservation). That meant that not only did I miss a good portion of the speaker I really wanted to hear, but I now had to wait another 20 minutes for another cab to be dispatched.
What was God trying to teach me now? The conference theme was Be Present but I really didn't want to be present by myself waiting in a parking lot, but God had other plans...enter Freddie. A cheerful taxi driver greeted me with an accent and announced that he had been to the church a couple of times and began questioning me about what was going on at the campus. He quickly flipped on the lights in his car and proudly showed me the bumper sticker displayed on the inside window of his car which proclaimed "Jesus is Lord." He said it had caused him some problems in the past with irate passengers who had lashed out at him for the display.
It turns out Freddie is an elder in the original Calvary Chapel which has over 20,000 members in attendance each week. We chatted for a few minutes and I found out he was from Egypt which sparked my interest. How had he become a Christian in a Muslim country? He was seeking and searching and found Jesus in his quest he explained.
He had been persecuted in his homeland and decided to move to the US so that he could live in a Christian country, but he soon discovered that this is not a Christian country, but a country where many people seem to live under the name, not really knowing and believing in Jesus as their Savior.
Freddie did give me some encouraging news from Egypt. Recently all of the Christian denominations in his homeland gathered for corporate prayer. Even in the face of persecution they realized that their only hope was to be unified in their faith. Wow!
What a novel thought, instead of bickering about whose method of worship is best or whose way of baptizing is correct or how often we should take communion, why don't we link arms in prayer for each other and for the salvation of the lost. Our faith would be stronger and our witness more powerful to a world in need of the good news.
Philippians 2:1-2 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
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