This was passed on to me by a friend. (Note: I'm a Free Methodist Pastor)
"Below is a transcript excerpt from a sermon by Dr. Dennis Kinlaw. Dr. Kinlaw is the founder of The Francis Asbury Society. He told this story last fall at the conference, Proclaiming the Message of Holiness in the 21st Century."
An Example of Agape
by Dr. Dennis Kinlaw
I met a young man a few years ago who at one time was in a drug colony raising marijuana to support his cocaine habit. He had a friend, he called him his buddy, and the two of them lived together. He shared the following story with me:
“In the colony of druggies where I lived in there was a young girl who had a baby. One day an old car pulled up in front of my house and in it was a little old man and woman. In the back of his car was all kinds of stuff, food, groceries, clothes, etc. The man got out and came to my door. He said he was looking for a certain young lady, and he described the girl in such a way that I knew immediately who he was talking about. I thought it must be her grandfather. Then I realized that I didn’t know her name, and I said, "Well, why are you interested in her?" The people in our drug colony were very protective of each other. And the older gentleman said, "Well, I am a follower of Jesus, and He has told me to come and give her some food, some clothing and some money."
I found out later that the little couple had driven halfway across Australia. He was a retired preacher, a Free Methodist preacher and I was in Eastern religions, looking for something, you know. And when the preacher said, "I am a follower of Jesus," that caught my attention. I thought that is nice, a follower of Jesus. While I was standing there absorbing this, the guy looked up and said, "Son, you look like you have problems." I looked down at him and said, "Old man, have you got two weeks?" Two weeks before I had been walking through my marijuana patch. I always knew I could quit using drugs any time I wanted to, or so I thought — never had a doubt about it. Suddenly, as I walked through my marijuana patch, I heard a cackling voice behind me that said, "I've got you!" I didn't have any question about whose voice it was, I knew. And I knew it was true, and I knew there was no way out.
But now, here's this little preacher looking at me, and he said, "Oh no, son, there is only one problem." I looked down at him and said "What's that?" "Well" he said, "it's sin". I thought I knew exactly what he meant. I was supposed to cut my pony tail, shave my beard, buy a dark suit and white shirt, new shoes and become a banker, because that is what I thought a Christian was.
And he looked up at me and said, "Son, could I pray for you?" At that moment I was desperate enough to let anybody pray for me. I said "Yes", and the little Free Methodist preacher dropped on his knees and he shut his eyes, and started praying for me. I stared at him, and suddenly I saw two huge tears pop out of his eyes and roll down his cheeks. And I thought, for goodness sake, this man really loves me. Do you know how long it had been since anybody loved me? The next thing I knew I was down on my knees beside him, and when I got up I was in a totally different world. There I was in that new world, saying what's happened to me, when suddenly I found myself saying, "My buddy, my buddy, I’ve got to find my buddy, and tell him there is a way out."
Used by Permission: The Francis Asbury Society
