Thanks,
Tim Bower
LFL

I realize that I wrote this letter in haste. There are misspellings and disjointed thoughts. I started a letter over a month ago and decided to finish it after a few prompting emails. However, editing it would be too problematic at this point.

I named the group in the end. I have a unique handle, so it would not have taken too much work for folks to figure out who I was talking about. Those within the ICC know me by handle anyway.

I wish to better express the love and care of the local church I attend. They are very loving and giving to me. I have been treated with great respect by members and staff. I am still allowed to work in the children’s ministry and I serve sometimes as a substitute for the minister in teaching Adult Bible Study class. I have been provided a place to heal and be refreshed. We are not perfect, but I do not look for perfection in a church, only a church with a set of issues I can deal with. Presently, I cannot deal with our official ties with out denomination through a document that many were pressured to sign.

I am very proud to help our church in whatever small way I can to become a part of the community. We have attended another church as a congregation one Sunday night. We recently worked on Vacation Bible School with another congregation in the city as well. Our minister is spearheading efforts to hold a unity conference to bring together churches. It is an exciting and wonderful place to be.

We have two children with medical issues and the local church has supported us through countless surgeries, social issues, hearing aids (they paid for half our son’s hearing aid), money, food, and encouragement. Both of our children are currently under 21 months and it seems that one or both have appointments daily. Through it all, we have been accepted and loved and supported. I am truly grateful.

Sitting on the rock I was having a hard time staying awake, so I got up and began to walk from one end of the summit to the other. As I did I began to recall scriptures to mind and in this recollection they began to open to me in a richer and deeper way. This went on for over two hours as I walked on the mountain. Then, suddenly, it was over.

I asked, “Lord, should I go home now.” Just as I said this I caught movement out of corner of my eye to my left. Strangely, this caused me no concern despite the fact that it was still dark at 5:30 in the morning and I was alone on this mountain. Nevertheless, I felt no fear and walked toward where I had seen the motion. As I reached the edge of the mountain top I found a young man sitting with a Bible in his lap.

I sat down and said, “Nice place to watch the sun rise. I have been here waiting for you for over two hours.” Both of us knew that this was a divine appointment. The young man told me that he lived 15 miles away, that he had never been here before. He was a new believer having received the Lord six months before. We talked for about a half hour about the Kingdom of God.

As daylight began to break, all of the sudden a stream of men began climbing up the path the rocks on which we were seated. They began gathering in circles behind us where they prayed. I thought that I didn’t realize this was such a popular place, but the young man and I continued our conversation and paid them no mind. Finally, it was time for the young man to go to work and we descended the mountain leaving the others behind. As he got in his car he handed me a flyer for an event that was being held in a couple days. It was by the LA Church of Christ.

I had never heard of this group before but the young man had told me about how it was focused on discipleship. I looked it up on the web and saw the command and control, the mandatory tithing and all the rest. Then, I asked a friend if he had ever heard of them. He had and said that it was a cult, that it had been banned from a local college campus because of its heavy handed and intimidating tactics which he, himself, had personally experienced.

Then, I understood what had happened. This new believer was in this cult and they had invited him to this dawn prayer meeting, but the Lord had sent this young man a half hour early and had me there waiting. I never saw him again, but I am confident that the Lord’s hand was on him and that he has been protected.