May 16, 2011

I Was Robbed!

I was robbed!

No. Really. I was robbed.

It happened this past Sunday.

While I was in the sanctuary during the first worship service at around 9:30, a twenty-ish looking young man entered my office, took my laptop, cell phone, two Montblanc Fountain pens valued at around 1k, and my computer bag.

How do I know all this? It was all caught on tape.

The likelihood of catching this particular individual is slim to none.

The thing that hurts more than anything else is that the guy literally took off with my brains. Almost everything that I've worked on plus all my calendar and schedule is either on the phone or on the laptop. The only reason why he didn't take off with my kindle and ipad was because I didn't bring those things to the office. 

Thank God, I've got everything backed up!

Here's the thing. It's just stuff. Sure, it's a pain. Sure, it's going to be a big time hassle getting a new computer loaded with all my stuff. Sure, it's going to cost big time money to replace all those things. But, in the end, it's just stuff

But the soul of this young man - bold and desperate enough to enter into church, walk the hallways when there were loads of people around, enter into the pastor's office and take off with all this stuff - is not.

He gets one shot at this life thing. 

As you are reading this, pray for this young man. 

This time, no one got hurt. But if this persists, eventually something bad is going to happen and he's either going to get hurt or he's going to hurt someone else. And then, it's not just petty theft. 

Pray that he comes to know Jesus. Pray that God touches and changes his heart. Pray that he changes before he gets hurt or before he hurts someone.

Pray also for is our community. People are really hurting. The times are really hard. The local food bank has been helping more people than ever before. 

Something needs to change. Pray that the economy picks up for everyone around.

3 comments:

Sara Kemp said...

I love that your first thought is to pray for this man. I try to teach my children that people don't hurt, or do harm, unless they've been hurt and harmed. The cycle continues if we respond in anger and retribution, even if it's just in our mind. Thank you for this post.

Unknown said...

Sara, thank you for reading and leaving a comment. Believe me, my initial thoughts were not very kind nor noble. But the reality is that we are going through some very difficult financial times and there are many people hurting. It's great to stay in touch with you through the cyber world. Thanks again!

James <><

teacher_deb said...

I admit it is pretty gutsy to walk into a church and into the pastor's office and steal his stuff...Wow... So lets pray for him.. and let's pray that some how coming in contact with us at Little Church (even if it was for all the wrong reasons on his part) we can pray for him that his life can be transformed and turned around. Just sayin'