Goodbye Times Square

It goes without saying that New York is a busy place. It is even busier during Christmas. But New York City during Christmastime is a beautiful and nostalgic place to be. Despite that, I am writing my last post from this Times Square Church blog. John Jenkins and some of the guys from His Place drove up to Manhattan this past week, and they offered me a ride home. After some thought, I took the offer on one condition: that I could leave with the blessing of my boss, Earl. After being given his blessings, I packed my things and loaded the van. At first, I didn’t think I would be able to go with them since there were six guys in the van already. But since two of those guys stayed in New York, I was just able to fit my things and myself in the van. Fortunately, I was able to work it out for my arrival to be a surprise to all! As I write, I am at the Starbucks where my beloved fiancé, Helen, is employed. I walked in without her noticing, snuck to the back with roses in hand and said, “Surprise!” It was great!!! HA HA! She nearly fainted! So now I am happily in sweet home, Alabama, with my family, friends, and fiancé.

The day before I left New York (Saturday, the 12^th of Dec.), I certainly had a lot of nostalgia and time to reflect. I had a unique experience that day. I strolled over to Rockefeller center, sat near the 72 ft. Christmas tree, and smoked a pipe, while wearing my wool overcoat and brown fedora. I just sat and enjoyed the festive scenes and happy people. I watched as so many couples showed warm affection, and for the first time ever, I beheld those sights with joy knowing that my own lovely bride was waiting back at home for me. I can definitely say with the psalmist that “the Lord has caused the lines to fall in pleasant places” for me. He has surely directed all my paths and has kept me to this day.

It’s been a good time at Times Square Church. I have left with a sense of accomplishment from my work, with the blessing of my boss and co-workers, and with a deeper work of sanctification. I’ll miss it. I will miss the urgency of prayer which consists there. I will miss the refreshing words from the man of God, David Wilkerson. I will miss the prophetic sensitivity of the pastoral staff. I will miss the sound teaching and exposition of Pastor William, especially in the context of the Ministerial Intern Program class. I will miss the leadership of Earl and Rick. I will miss the mentorship and compassionate advice of Joshua. I will miss Hector’s consistently joyful attitude and constancy in prayer. I will miss Larry’s background music (he sings praises to the Lord at all times throughout the day). I will miss the friendship of Billy, Ramesh, Louie, and others. I’ll even miss opening and closing the church at the Friday night youth service, The Gate.

If I could carry away some thoughts/principles/memories from my experience in New York City, what would I seek to retain? It would be foolish and a failure on my part to claim that I didn’t learn anything new while I was there. I became adapted to big-city life—learning the subway system, the right places to shop, and how to drive in Manhattan. I also learned from Larry and Joshua how to plaster walls properly. In addition, I became aware of how a mega-church operates. But more importantly than those things, what spiritual lessons did I learn? I may be presumptuous if I am too quick to answer that question comprehensively. Perhaps I may not know all that I have gleaned from being at Times Square Church until years from now. But stay tuned, and I will try to convey that as time passes. Right now, I am in the process of getting re-adjusted in Alabama with my wonderful fiancé. Pray for me as I look for a new job.

I will be concluding this particular blog, but starting another one. I’ll give details as I decide what to call it and what the purpose and theme of it will be.

Until then, grace to you all.

The Desolation of Rape and God's Ultimate Justice

I had initially desired to write today about some interesting and inspirational items that the Lord has been showing me in His word. However, I now feel compelled to share with you a true story which I was made aware of just a few minutes ago.

My friend and co-worker here at TSC, Louie Perez, knocked on my door just about a half hour ago. When I opened to him, he proceeded to tell me that his friend “Kate” from California (I’m not using her real name for the purpose of protecting her) was raped last night by six guys while she was jogging in a park. Louie asked for prayer and would have asked for so much more if more could be done or given in order to aide Kate in her dire situation. Kate was a virgin; only 18 years old. To make things worse, Kate has been in and out of the hospital this year with scares of heart trouble and breast cancer. She has already gone over the brink of a nervous breakdown which nearly incapacitated her in this, her senior year of high school. I need not ask this, but PLEASE pray diligently for her. She is not saved and Satan has inevitably made major inroads into her soul from these things that she has suffered. Pray and fast for the healing and salvation of Kate.

The most prevalent question which arises in our hearts like steam exploding out of a kettle is “why do things like this happen? Why would God allow this?”

If it had only happened to Kate, those questions would still resonate with as much searing vehemence as if no one else in the history of the world had ever been raped. But the even more tragic fact is that Kate is not alone. If only she could find some consolation in knowing that so many others can relate to her.

The fact is, every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted. This is the calculation made by the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), based on the 2000 National Crime Victimization Survey, performed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice. In fact, 17.6 % of women in the United States have survived a completed or attempted rape (that’s just about 1 out of every six American women!) And according to the FBI, it is estimated that only 37% of all rapes are actually reported to the police. The U.S. Justice Department statistics are even lower, with only 26% of all rapes or attempted rapes being reported to law enforcement officials. So the number of rapes among American women is even higher than the available statistics can show. I know at least two people myself who have avoided the statistics, but have survived completed or attempted rapes. Actually, the number of sexual assaults per year has decreased over the past 30 years, but there is still much violence in the land.

Can’t you hear the cry of the victimized in the words of Tamar, the daughter of King David?

“No…do not force me! For no such thing should be done! Do not do this disgraceful thing!”—2 Samuel 13:12.

Tamar was raped and used by her own brother, Amnon. He burned with lust for one moment of temporary ecstasy, promising that he loved her, but afterwards he hated her and cast her aside like an old, dirty rag. And this is exactly how she was made to feel. The Scriptures say afterward, “So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house.”—2 Samuel 13:20. And this is the awful, final state in which we find Tamar; she is never mentioned in any other way again in the Bible. In fact, the last mention of David’s daughter, Tamar, is that Amnon had forced her to lay with him (2 Samuel 13:22). She would forever be known as a rape victim. Tamar was the virgin daughter of the king, but she remained in that state of desolation, apparently, ever after. But Amnon’s fate was no better. Tamar’s other brother, Absalom, had Amnon murdered for his disgraceful act. Eventually, Absalom too was killed in an insurrection. This portion of the narrative of King David’s family does not have a happy ending. And the question still remains: “Why?”

It is almost impossible to consider all the possibilities as to why such a thing is allowed to happen, for we cannot see the end result of all things. We live in a sinful and fallen world where people have free will and cannot be forced to do either good or evil, but where God can redeem any person from any situation. God is still able to work all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), but it is a very complicated answer which must be made personal and specific to the individual. A better question with a more comforting and definite answer is “Will justice ultimately be done?” And the unequivocal answer is a resounding “YES!”

Consider the destiny of Sodom and Gomorrah. Concerning these cities, the LORD said to Abraham,

“Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”—Genesis 18:20-21

Indeed, the LORD already knew, He merely wanted to assure Abraham, to whom He had been revealing Himself, of that fact. After the LORD says this, then an intimate dialogue between Abraham and his God ensues.

“Abraham came near and said, ‘Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? ...Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”—vs. 23, 25.

Again, the LORD assures Abraham that the Judge of all the earth WILL do right. God responds:

“If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”—v. 26

Abraham narrows the amount down to a mere ten people, but in fact there was found in Sodom only one righteous person: Abraham’s nephew, Lot. Lot’s daughters also escaped with him, although, afterwards, they showed themselves to be corrupt like the citizens of their home city. Sodom and Gomorrah were deeply depraved in violence, pride, and sexual immorality of all kinds. Their citizens were even willing to gang-rape male visitors in the streets—(cf. Genesis 19:5). The angels of the LORD declared the verdict on Sodom and Gomorrah:

“We will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”—Genesis 19:13.

When the outcry of the innocents, the victimized, and the righteous grows great in the face of the LORD, He will send His judgment upon the wicked. Do not think for a moment that those who rape, murder, and commit acts of violence will escape God’s righteous judgment. God will not be mocked; they will reap what they have sown. Like Amnon, and like the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, they will be crushed by the weight of their own sin. In the end, EVERYONE will be judged according to his or her own ways. God keeps very detailed records. He knows all. It is written:

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire… [And God said] ‘He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’”—Revelation 20:11-15; 21:7-8.

So, in the end, justice will be done; the wicked will be punished with everlasting destruction and the righteous will inherit eternal life in God Himself. The real question now is, “Has the outcry against violence and immorality in America reached its pinnacle yet?” When it does, woe to those people, for destruction will come from the Almighty upon them. But for the sake of the righteous, judgment upon this nation is withheld. Yet the cowards who perpetrated that rape, who left Kate desolate, will by no means escape punishment, whether it happens here or in the hereafter. The Judge of ALL the earth will do right.