Update on Our Stolen Property

When our GPS, iPhone charger, and Car Roadside Kit were stolen by a thief who broke out the driver side window of our minivan, we thought we'd never hear anything more about it. You know how it goes... you report this type of crime to the police and there is NEVER enough evidence to lead to any sort of arrest. Catching these kinds of criminals is next to impossible. In our case, we even had some video of the vehicle while it was being broken into courtesy of the company next door. But it was too dark to make any conclusive identifications. (sigh)

The robbery happened Sunday night, and I reported the crime to the police on Monday at lunch. On Wednesday afternoon... the phone rang. It was Sergeant McKenna with the NYPD Intelligence Division. He informed me that he had my GPS in his possession and wanted to bring it to me to positively I.D. it. He knew it was mine, but he had to have my testimony to give the official word.

 

See? We have it back in our possession as of yesterday afternoon. Sgt. McKenna told me, "It's rare for us to recover items from this kind of break-in." After filling out some paper work, thanking them for their hard work, and shaking their hands, I left for home with my GPS in hand. We didn't have our iPhone charger or Car Roadside Kit, but we had the GPS. Oh yeah... I forgot to mention that they stole our stack of quarters we had in there for the parking meters. (huff--sigh--moan)

Tonight, it crossed my mind to send Sgt. McKenna an email to thank him again and let him know that I really do appreciate his work. So I looked on his business card and typed up a thank you. I hit "send" and off into cyberspace it went...

About 5 minutes later my phone rang. It turns out that Sgt. McKenna was still at the office at 10:30 pm filling out paper work for all his reports. He thanked me for my email and told me that he was about to call me tonight but thought it was too late. Then he got my email and thought he'd give it a shot. As it turns out, they DID indeed find our Car Roadside Kit. He told me I could come and pick it up tomorrow. YEA!

They have made an arrest and I will be testifying that "this suspect" did not have permission to have possession of my personal belongings. This guy is responsible for more than a dozen car break-ins and has some consequences headed his way. And he deserves it too. He's taken things that were not his. He's damaged other people's property. He's guilty... guilty... guilty.

But the more I think about this guy, the more I wonder how he got to this place in life. I know that God uses the law of reaping and sowing. For example, if you make horrible choices in life, then most likely you will have some horrible outcomes. But I also know that life gets really tough sometimes and it seems like there are no good choices. What is this guy's story?

Is he a scumbag who has been given chance after chance after chance and still chooses to take advantage of people? Or is he just a man who fell on hard times and was doing all he knew to do?When it's all said and done, does it really matter which category he fits in? He is guilty... right?

Right. He is guilty. But as a man who embraces the gospel of Jesus Christ, I am QUICKLY reminded of my guilty plea that I gave before God many years ago. I had sinned and fallen short of God's glory and knelt before a holy God in need of redemption. And today... I am guilt-free. I'm clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He has erased my sin by his grace and mercy. I'm no longer a slave to sin, but a child of God. Nothing that I did caused me to gain this standing before God. It was ALL Jesus. So there is no room in my flesh to boast in what I have done.

Do you believe this criminal can have the same story? Can he be guilt-free and clothed in the righteousness of Christ? Absolutely, he can. I know this because our righteousness is not based on our ability to keep the Law, but it is based on the Messiah's perfection in fulfilling it. I am CONFIDENT that this criminal can be a free man, not because I have confidence in his, or my own, ability to change, but because of the mercy and grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

I'm pleased to have some of my possessions back, but I hope that these possessions are being used to bring glory to Jesus. And seeing people embrace Christ as their Savior brings much glory to him. Thank you, Jesus, for saving an undeserving sinner like me and pouring out your grace and calling me your own. I pray for this man who is guilty of breaking the law, and I ask that you would soften his heart and draw him to repentance. There, I know you will meet him with open arms and embrace him as your own.

Windows of Opportunity- Trials

When God spread the gospel around the world after giving his Holy Spirit to the church, he used a motivator that might scare you... he used persecution. When James wrote his letter (called James in our Bibles), the first subject he mentions is... trials. The Christian perspective on persecution, difficulties, and trials is radically different than the perspective of the world. At least the truly Christian perspective is.

Persecution is a good thing? Paul told Timothy that "All those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" in 2 Timothy 3:12, so it should not surprise us when these difficult times come. Unfortunately, too many Christians think God is 'ticked off'' at them when things go wrong, and they step back from their faith in Christ. However, if we will determine that living for Christ is worth it no matter what happens, then our lives will be drastically changed by the power of the gospel. Dear Christian, hang in there; God is on the throne, and his wrath has been fully satisfied by his Son, Jesus.

I went outside yesterday (Monday) to put the kids' bikes in the van so Kari could take them to the park. This is what greeted me. Someone had broken out my driver's window, stolen our GPS, our phone charger, and our emergency kit with jumper cables. They also took our stack of quarters for parking meters. Oddly enough, they didn't take any of our Christian CDs :). Hear me clearly, I do NOT (repeat- do NOT) think of this crime against us as Christian persecution. This had NOTHING to do with my faith. This is simply a trial of life that people of every faith go through. But as we go through trials like everyone else, we have the "window of opportunity" for Christ to shine in us.

My first reaction was a sense of "What happened?" My second reaction was the sense of "My property has been violated and taken." My third reaction was, "I want justice served to whoever did this." And my fourth reaction was, "I'm glad it was just 'stuff' that was taken and not people being hurt." Finally, my current stance on it is this: "God is giving me a window (yes... it's a pun) of opportunity here to be a witness for Christ."

Because of this event, I have been introduced the owners of the rather large business next door to my house. Their security cameras may have footage of the crime, and they are working with me to see if they can get anything conclusive from the video. So in one month's time since moving here, God is opening a window for me to get connected with these people that I would not have had otherwise. They actually want to help me catch this guy! Instant connection.

I've met my neighbors on the other side of the street. They have a camera they are checking too. Boom! Instant connection.

My neighbors on the other side of our house are very sympathetic towards us too. They reached out to us yesterday because of the crime. Boom! Instant connection.

Our landlord introduced me to his friend, Louie, yesterday. He stuck around because of our conversation about the crime. Then it came up that I was a pastor starting a new church in Astoria. He says he's very religious, but he doesn't go to church nor read his bible because you don't have to do those things to be religious. (He's actually right) But he doesn't realize that being "religious" leads to slavery where the grace of Christ leads to freedom. We will talk about that later though.

On top of all these "connections" God also reminded me of the simple truth. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, and where theives do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."~ Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21.

Where is your heart today? I was reminded that "stuff" is not important in life. God treasures people, and I want to treasure what he does. I pray God makes divine connections for me and you today. Let's look for our "window of opportunity" to join God in his work.

On the Ground in NYC!

The McGhees are officially "New Yorkers!" We are moved in and settled into our new home. Moving is a stressful event for a family. I'm not sure where I heard this so I can't provide the quote, but I've heard that moving ranks #2 in stress causing events for a person to go through. To add to the stress of moving, we came to NYC on the day of a rare earthquake (Tuesday, August 23rd). And our first official weekend was spent hunkered down in our home because of a rare hurricane named Irene (Sunday, August 28th). It was an eventful first week to say the least!

But God showed favor on us in leaving us unaffected by either potential threat. We were reminded of the powerless that we have, but immediately we were reminded of the limitless power of God. The worst of our damage was a leak in our roof from the heavy rain while many people suffered devastating effects from the wind and rain of Irene. I'm not about to guess as to why we were safe and others were not, but I will say with certainty that God is great and God is good. His plan is working in this world to bring glory to the name of Jesus and however he wants to do that is good with me (not that God needs my permission or anything).

We will be adjusting to new pace of life in the city over the next few weeks. There are many things different here and the first one is living without a Wal-Mart. I know... I know... We should have thought this through a little better. How will we function and "live better" without a Wal-Mart? Hopefully our survival skills will set in and we will find a way. ;)

We have met several neighbors, our landlord, and other people within the community. We can't wait to meet more as we are able to get "out and about" now that our home is set up. I've already started praying for these people and doing my best to remember their names for the next time I see them. I pray that my heart will be genuinely filled with the love of Christ when I speak to them so they will experience the gospel through our relationship.

God loves us immeasurably more than we can fathom. He's shown his love for us through the death, burial, and resurrection of his only Son, Jesus. Pray for our family to stay focused on the mission at hand. God has called us to exalt our Savior in all ways and to reach the people of NYC.

When we reach New York City, we reach the world.