Never Die Young, a Godly Comforting

They were glued together body and soul
That much more with their backs up against the wall

Now this is going to be a really strange story. I’ve shared in other places how exciting my time in Seattle was when I responded to Gods call to come here to attend a church/Bible college in the area. It was like watching the Living God and His Son Jesus Christ become doubly alive in my life.

Well, where God moves, Satan responds to disrupt and destroy. In 1988, sin in our camp allowed much license for Satan to come in and destroy the ministry we were a part of. The church split in 1988 and began a slow death. I had already stopped attending as of Dec 1987. The journey I began was life without the Chapel, watching it self destruct and watching the community and the media descend upon the previous ministry that had influenced me so deeply.

I saw other Christians on the news, standing on our church property REJOICING that they had successfully run these people out of town. This brought tears to my eyes because I considered them my brothers and sisters in the Lord but they hated me.

My heart was broken. I struggled in this valley of decision for a long time. Some people lost their faith over the tragedy. I resolved just like Job that though God slay me, yet will I trust Him. Thank God for the scriptures. They kept me steadfast in my faith as my world came apart.

I felt very isolated from Gods people, even the remnants of the Chapel. I had to understand what God wanted for myself.

In my isolation I found solace in the strangest places. On a trip to Disneyland by myself to get away, I took a day and wandered around Orange County and ended up in a movie theatre. One of my deepest hurts was how our church had turned against our pastor and treated him like dirt. He wasn’t perfect but God had used him to profoundly change my life. I loved the man for that and could hardly bear watching his ministry be torn apart. Well, I happened to wander into the newly released movie, “Dead Poet’s Society.” By the last scene, I was a blubbering pool of tears. I wanted to stand up on my chair and scream, “Captain, My Captain!” along with the boys. They completely understood how I felt.

Now mind you, our church was what I call a forerunner church. God was moving powerfully among us and we experienced some amazing things, many of which the church at large came into later. We believed passionately in the unity of the faith, Gods love flowing among us. We often felt up against the wall of the community that always seemed to misunderstand us. But we always resolved to stay faithful to Gods truth. One of those truths was the rapture of the saints which will happen one day before the great and terrible day of the Lord. We strived to be the bride of Christ, those who loved Jesus more than anyone else. And we believed that one day we would be taken up into the clouds to ever be with Jesus as the scriptures teach.

When I got home, I came across a newly recorded concert by James Taylor, a favorite artist of mine in my pre-Chapel days. I listened to be entertained and to be calmed by music I loved. Mid concert, James said they were about to sing a new song from their new album. This was what I heard.

Once again, I was floored, it was like he was singing directly to me. God works in mysterious ways.