One of the privileges I have in speaking at various places is meeting different people that remind me of the power of the Gospel. At this revival meeting, I was re-introduced to the phrase, “a blast from the past.” I was able to reconnect with a pastor that was my youth pastor when I was a senior in high school. Also, I was able to catch up with a pastor friend – we could not believe it had been close to 10 years since we saw each other. Then I got a bit surprised when some of the members in this church mentioned that they remembered me as a praise band leader and a youth pastor from the early 1990s (yikes!).
I also met a brother who had a powerful testimony of God’s grace in his life. Through various circumstances, he was brought to a point in life where he realized his need for a Savior. I found out that he and his family owned a jewelry store in downtown Milwaukee. So we made a field trip out to the store, and I quickly came to the conclusion that this was no ordinary jewelry store. I felt like I had to wear sunglasses because of all the bling. But more than being in awe because of the jewelry, I really sensed God’s favor on the store. I looked through his photo album and I was amazed to see all the NBA and NFL players that visited the store. Since the Milwaukee Bucks arena is close by, many of the NBA players would stop by the store during their free time. You probably figured out what was running through my mind – “bro… help out a pastor and hook me up with some tickets!”… haha!
In our generation, I am seeing more people who are using their gifts and passions to make a difference in various spheres of influence. God is even redeeming things from our past so that we can now use everything that we have to build up His Kingdom.
I could not leave the jewelry store without taking a picture. I told the owner to dress me up with some “goods” so I would know what it feels like to have all the bling on me. Now if I had a grill in my mouth that would have topped everything off. Do you know the total worth of the bling I had on me?
$300,000 bonafide worth of bling