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#16886 Mon Aug 09, 2004 5:19 PM
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This story is probably going to sound totally odd to anyone reading it, but I thought I'd share it here because here I will probably get the most interesting responses.

I was alone at church Sunday afternoon from like 2 until 5. My pastor and I got lunch at his mom's house and then he dropped me off at the church and went to his house to take a nap. I decided to listen to some music and write a poem because I was missing my girlfriend and figured writing would help out, since it usually does.

I got done writing, I wasn't finished with my poem but I just felt like stopping, and I laid down on the couch in our youth room, where I was at writing.

I dozed off and I woke up later on to check the time. It was closing on 5:00 so I said to myself, "I can sleep about a half hour more." So I laid back down and was still awake and I heard a door open. Well the whole church was locked. Every single door so I thought maybe my pastor was arriving so I yelled "Hello!". I got this confused response of "Hello!?!?" I got up from the couch to see who it was.

Standing in the sanctuary was an old man with a black duffelbag. He comes walking over with a big smile and says "My name is George O'Mally and I've been hitchiking..." from somewhere and told me how he'd been walking all day and asked if there was a place to sit down. So I took him to the youth room and we sat and talked a little bit and made some conversation.

Then he asked me if I had any water. So I said, "Sure" and we went to the kitchen. I pulled out a large red plastic disposeable cup and gave him some water. He drank it and said "I guess I'll go out the same door I came in". I was confused cuz I didn't know what door he came in cuz all the doors were locked. We went up to the lobby-type area by the sanctuary and he walked out that door, which was locked, as if it wasn't locked. (Our doors have the regular doorknobs like on a house, not those bars that you push on). I closed the door behind him, with my back to him, and I turned around and he was completely gone. Like...instantly.

This old man walked in and out of a completely locked door. I have no explanation. I thought I may have been dreaming so I walked to the kitchen and in the trash was a red plastic disposeable cup, the only thing in the trashcan.

Would this be a genuine case of this verse?

[color:"0000FF"]Don't neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.[/color] Hebrews 13:2 (HCSB)

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Well, yeah...

But did you take the opportunity not only to give him water but tell him about the living water Jesus gives?

Not that angels need evangelizing.

Of course, one part of me also wants to know if anyone with a key might have let the man in. But, then again, the door wouldn't have locked behind him, unless they automatically lock.


True godliness is a sincere feeling which loves God as Father as much as it fears and reverences Him as Lord, embraces His righteousness, and dreads offending Him worse than death~ Calvin
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In our conversation we did actually talk about Jesus. I didn't get anything from him about his own salvation, but Christ was brought up, by me.

And no one with a key let him in cuz the only people with keys live a minimum of 5 minutes away and if they let someone in, they would have let me know.

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Praise the Lord!

This also calls to mind Jesus words about offering a cup of cold water in His name. It sounds like you were thorough in investigating alternate possibilities and by the Sherlock Holmes principle, an angelic visitation, however unlikely, could very well have occurred.

I myself have had the experience of feeling a strong invisible hand keep me from falling into a pit and suffering grevious injury. I had completely lost my balance and would certainly have fallen in.

It's my theory that angels seek only to draw our attention to God and not themselves, and by this we can discern heavenly hosts from pretenders. Many Christians are led astray by apparitions from foul spirits whose only purpose is to deceive and take our eyes off the Almighty. And by the same token, I believe genuine angels will appear only to those mature in the faith, who will appropriately render the glory to God.

When we have such a visitation from heaven, we rightly wonder at the goodness of our God, and rejoice in His tender, vigilant care.

catholicsoldier <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/takethat.gif" alt="" />

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More than anything I am just using the experience to praise God for allowing me to serve someone and share the love of Christ in a practical way. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/bananas.gif" alt="" />

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More than anything I am just using the experience to praise God for allowing me to serve someone and share the love of Christ in a practical way

That's the spirit (or is that Spirit?) <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />


True godliness is a sincere feeling which loves God as Father as much as it fears and reverences Him as Lord, embraces His righteousness, and dreads offending Him worse than death~ Calvin
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Of course, I too have had times where I could see God's provision through providential occurrences.

But I do know of one time specifically when I know God must have given me some out-of-the-ordinary provision.

My freshman year in college, I had a bad cold. I had done my laundry earlier, yet I hadn't put the clothes away yet. I was about to go to bed, but beforehand I took an antihistamine (which I no longer take because of the following story), along with several vitamins and the medicine I normally take. Well, I woke up during the middle of the night and headed for the restroom across the hall from my dorm room. I got dizzy while up, and it got real bad as I started to return to my room. Now, the floor of the hallway and most of my room was bare tile. I basically blacked out in the middle of the hallway, and I started falling!

Next thing I remember, I'm in my room laying on the rug right next to my bed, with my head resting on my basket of clothes. My body felt perfectly fine. No bruises or anything. Neither my roomate nor any of my neighbors, when asked, said they had found me in the hall and took me back to my bedroom. I always seem to remember when I wake up at night, so I would've remembered crawling into my room.


True godliness is a sincere feeling which loves God as Father as much as it fears and reverences Him as Lord, embraces His righteousness, and dreads offending Him worse than death~ Calvin

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