Alone...

Alone. No one around. By himself. Hidden. If it hadn't been for Matt and Robbie, he would have stayed that way.

Tonight one of the street kids died alone, away from the eyes of those that think homeless teens are "throw aways". None of the people who wear expensive clothes and degrading looks will ever know this soul is gone. And if they did, would they care? He died in the bushes away from downtown. He was probably doing drugs. Does that make his life less important? What went wrong in his life that mom and dad left him alone or that he chose to be alone? Hiding in the bushes and doing drugs does not indicate that his life was filled with people that really cared for him. Alone!

My teammates Matt and Robbie found him after some street kids told them that he was there. It hurts my heart that just a 5 minute walk away we were all playing pool at Shakespeare's. He died that close to a place where he would not have been alone. We could have gotten to meet him. Gotten to know him. Gotten to love him. Maybe then he would have heard how special he was. How God made him and loves him with a forever kind of love. How his life was worth more than drugs, homelessness...worth more than "alone". I'm thankful that Matt and Robbie found him. He could have been found by someone who would have just seen a dead homeless kid. But instead he was found by someone who saw him as a human, as a child of God.

So what does this mean for me...For you?

NO ONE has to be alone. God is pursuing me, you, street kids, inmates, drug users, whores, pimps, rapists, and your next door neighbor. They don't have to be alone. They get to be part of a family. I'm sure this kid would have loved to have been a part of a real, loving and kind family. They don't have to be alone. God is wanting to adopt them into his family. But we don't always want "their kind" in our family. It's not our family. It's God's family and He said "everyone that comes to Jesus gets in...period!" Why can't we let more of the street kids, drug users, whores, pimps, and rapists into our family? They are alone and need Jesus. They need Jesus, not to make them act right but to heal their broken hearts and set them free from the chains satan has placed around them. Why do we expect them to clean up, straighten up, and act right before they enter our "club". They are alone and broken. They need Jesus! Since Jesus isn't walking around any more. Then it's up to us to take Jesus to them!

Go looking for those hearts that need healing. DO IT NOW!! Before they start hiding in the bushes waiting to die. Bigger, cooler church buildings don't go and find the hurting, God's people do. Programs don't bring Jesus to the broken hearted, YOU do. And since you bear the image and glory of Christ; take Him to those that need Him, wherever they may be. It's what Jesus would do. Go look for them. They may be hard to find, but don't give up. Their future rests in your tenacity.

Enough said.

Please pray for Matt and Robbie. It's hard to be the one to find a dead person. I'm sure my friends have all kinds of thoughts and feeling running thru their minds and hearts. They need your prayers for peace and comfort.

With A Hurting Heart,
-Benny-