Raymond was his name. He was a young man at the time (1972) although he seemed old to me. I was in the eighth grade. Raymond liked me because I was on his football team at Valley Forge Elementary School. I was a chubby eighth grader who wanted to move from guard to fullback.
It's trendy now to say faith and life are the same thing. No doubt, it is a sad commentary about we Christ followers -- that a guy could stand up at a meeting and impress us when he says something so basic to Biblical Christianity.
For Raymond, faith and life were the same. Up to that point in my journey I had met a lot of people that knew Jesus and followed him. Raymond loved and appreciated Jesus. I never went to church with Raymond. I don't remember where he went to church.
Raymond would chase me down in the summer. He would drive his jeep to my house. I dreaded seeing him come some days. Baseball in the backyard or fishing in the river behind my house was more fun.
He would take me to a dingy, dirt floor basement to power lift. Squats, bench press, and dead lifts were the order of the day. He was passionate about power lifting. We would lift and he would talk about his greatest passion. Not church . . . but Jesus. That was who Raymond was. That is who I wanted to be. Real men really do love Jesus.
I don't think I will be in my current ministry assignment for the rest of my life. Not because it is not fun. God never lets me get really comfortable. I squander comfort . I detest discomfort, but am at my best there. God is at his best for me there.
With movement makers yesterday in Spartanburg: Hub Blankenship, Jonathan Everett, and Kermit Morris - along with a future movement maker, Freddie, the waiter at Wild Wings. Freddie loves drama and football -- would be a star at Wofford except for an ACL injury (my words not his). Charleston today. Stay tuned.
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