Baptism In Basketball

A bunch of us guys been playing basketball every Saturday for several months now.  I remember when we first started it was only four, sometimes six of  us on a good day.   On a lucky day, there would be guys already playing so we could run a full court five on five.  But mainly we just gathered for fun and friendship.

In our group there was a guy named Vernon who was unchurched but came out every Saturday to play with us.  He also wasn’t working consistently and I knew it concerned him because he already had two kids with one more on the way.  Life wasn’t going to well with him, plus all of the other dramas that were happening in his life.

As we developed a friendship and got to know each other better, he became comfortable enough where he started coming to church on Sundays.  He would bring his family with him which was really great.

A few months later he and his wife accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Now the whole family comes to church every Sunday including his mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, and all of their children.

Since then, Vernon has shared a couple of times in church short messages in our morning service, landed a good job with steady hours, more pay, and a promotion in the near future.  A complete turn around and transformation in his life in only a few months.

Recently we were able to water baptize the whole family and do a small group meeting every week.  One of the most amazing things that happened this past Saturday was Vernon got baptized in the Holy Spirit and received the gift of tongues (spiritual language).  We prayed for him right in the park where we play basketball.  He didn’t care if all of the guys were watching or what they might think.  By the way we switched parks, now we average between twelve to fifteen guys every Saturday.

I was reminded again of the amazement of God and His power to do what He wants, when He wants,  anytime and anyplace.  I was really stoked for Vernon, you could see he was touched by the Holy Spirit in a very special way.

I am also discovering that to reach unchurched people effectively, just do what you enjoy doing, cultivate friendships, love the person for who they are and where they are at.  Jesus will take care of the rest in amazing, miraculous ways and move supernaturally even at a basketball court.

Ha, talk about a slam dunk!  Jesus dunked this one with all authority!

Remember, Discover Your Dream; Pursue It with Passion!