Lake Forest's Beautiful City Hall Building Was Jammed Pack With Senior Citizens On This Special Cross Walking Day. Read The Story To Find Out How They Reacted To This Cross Walk.

After such a wonderful cross walk in Compton, the Spirit of the Lord impressed on me to travel southeast to the affluent communities of Lake Forest, El Toro and Mission Viejo in Orange County. Most definitely … perhaps even more … the upper-class citizens need to be saved as well. So off I went, excited about the amazing results of Cross Walk Compton and anticipating a special time in Lake Forest as well. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

HOW HARD IT IS FOR THE RICH CHURCH TO ENTER THE KINGDOM

Arriving in Lake Forest I located a large church and parked the “go-ye-mobile” in their lot, which is what I like to do as often as possible to keep the truck safe as I walk the cross throughout a city. Before I walked the cross, however, the Lord beckoned me to introduce myself to the church leaders. He also instructed me to ask the church to help underwrite this week’s cross walk in southern California.

So I obeyed the voice of the Lord. So many churches and pastors have helped underwrite this cross-walking safari that it’s just like breathing air as far as me asking churches and pastors for help. Confident that this church would help too, I introduced myself to the office administrator (the pastor wasn’t in), told him about my 37-year ministry, etc., and then asked if the church would help underwrite the cost of an inexpensive motel room.

No they couldn’t … or wouldn’t. The negative response actually surprised me, and I do not surprise easily. I believe in the words of Jesus Christ, especially where the Savior instructs His followers to give to those who ask for help. I wasn’t asking for a large amount. Just a few dollars to help underwrite the trip’s costs. And what surprised me even more was the fact that this church worker didn’t even offer to pray with me for his city, for unsaved souls and even for my small need.

PEOPLE WHO WORK IN THE CHURCH NEED THE LORD TOO

With a saddened heart I left this large church after praying specifically for the coldness of  the church worker’s heart. If this was the way he treated a fellow minister, I wondered out loud to the Lord how he treated those who were not part of that particular church membership.

The coldness of this minister’s heart made me wonder if all the churches and their leaders in this tri-city community needed a great awakening. So I prayed for the churches as I drove to my destination: Lake Forest’s City Hall.

COMMON, EVERYDAY BELIEVERS CONTRASTED TO THOSE EMPLOYED BY THE CHURCHES

I hoisted the large cross upright at City Hall and prayed long and hard for the city’s mayor, council members and city employees, that God would bless them with the knowledge of their need to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. I also prayed for all law enforcement officers, that they not only accept Jesus as their Savior, but that Psalm 91’s God … the God of divine protection … would keep each of them safe from all harm as they executed their duty to serve and protect the people of Lake Forest.

I met the mayor, who was also a member of the church I had visited prior to praying at City Hall. Unlike the vast majority of mayors I had spoken to about this prayer walk, he seemed uninterested. Sadly, I walked away, then continued to pray for the souls of men, women and children living in lake Forest.

From out of the blue, three women walked up to me and asked what I was doing. They started praising the Lord when I shared my mission, surprised and extremely joyful looks on their faces. They were senior saints and were among a group of some two hundred who were about to eat a free meal at City Hall, inside the Senior Citizen’s room. They invited me to join them and eat a free meal, which I gladly said yes to.

The warm reception of these senior saints took me by surprise, in contrast to the cold hearts of  the people I had previously met. They asked me all kinds of questions about the Cross Walk, and were extremely joyful and excited that I was praying for their city.

After a very pleasant time of fellowship and dining with this large group, I told them I had to be on my way. One of the three women who invited me to join the group for lunch shook my hand and,  at the same time, handed me a twenty dollar bill. I didn’t ask for their help, but here was a widow contributing to my ministry where a minister (who should know better) wouldn’t. Of course I shared with her what a blessing she was to do such a thing.

PRAYING FOR THE PEOPLE OF THIS AFFLUENT COMMUNITY

We Must Not Forget To Pray For The Churches And Church Leaders Because They Can Become Cold-Hearted And Distant To The Needs Of The People Not Attending Their Church.

With an invigorated spirit, I drove to the city’s major street, parking my “go-ye-mobile inside the parking lot of our nation’s second largest church. I hadn’t planned on it, but the Spirit of God nudged me to take a few minutes and introduce myself to church workers, whom I had e-mailed and shared that on this day I would be walking the cross and praying for the souls of the men, women and children living in this city.

You know, I’m not a novice. I’ve been a minister for 37-years. But this church leadership, too, was very suspicious of  me and didn’t welcome me with open hearts. I was really surprised by the cold reception. But apparently this seemed to be the problem with Lake Forest churches.  When I asked for a little help to offset my modest expenses, the attitude was as though I was a con artist attempting to rip off the church.

Usually I don’t ask a second time whenever a pastor or church leader says no to me. But God’s Spirit was relentless, so I asked the church leader to consider giving a small donation, telling him that one of the church’s members, a widow, had given me twenty dollars. And if she could do such a thing, the extremely large church could do this as well. Very reluctantly and as if this would interfere with some important meeting (possibly a Star Bucks run or Facebook notation), he told me to remain outside and he’d go in and see what could be done.

Fifteen long minutes later he came out, and coldly handed me a twenty dollar bill, matching the senior saint’s gift. I reminded him about the story Jesus told about the widow who gave out of her life-need in contrast to the rich people who gave out of their greed, then said good-bye.

I had a much more important mission to accomplish than to ague with a cold-hearted church leader.

GREAT RESPONSE FROM EVERYDAY PEOPLE

The Students At This Public High School Were Openly Responsive To The Cross Walk, And Several Prayed With Me About The Serious Problems They Were Facing.

Just steps away from the church’s main entrance, the spiritual atmosphere changed abruptly. As I walked the cross down this busy street, vehicle horns sounded loudly and people shouted “Hallelujah” or gave the one-way sign as they passed by. I prayed for this community, that God would break through the religious bondage and fear and bring new leaders into the area who would reach the city for Jesus and not necessarily make a living out of  professional ministry and church-ism.

I enjoy hoisting the large cross upright and praying at every school I come to. The students at Trabuco High were ending their school day just as I began to pray for them. Several came up and asked what I was doing. When I shared that I was praying for them and for their families, different comments filled the air: “Wow, that’s so cool.” “You are?!” “Thank you.”

Small groups of students came up to me, as did individuals. A few shared their personal problems and asked if I would pray for them. It is easy to forget that some kids are facing serious problems even as they attend school and outwardly appear to be okay. But inwardly they are hurting. As these kids approached  and asked for prayer, I would lay hands on them and pray that the God of all mercy would help them, heal them and and be with them each and every day. I would also pray for their families and friends as well. These students were just like so many others who attend schools in other cities across California.

Kids’ lives were being changed. The Spirit of God moved, and a sense of peace and well-being would replace weary and troubled looks. As is my custom, I gave each of these students a tract card with my phone number and encouraged each one to call me if they needed further prayer.

I prayed at this busy intersection for about thirty minutes, greeting students and asking if any needed prayer. Church on the streets! That’s what this was all about. And because a cross walker from a valley town in central California chose to bring the cross to this affluent yet apparently spiritually-impoverished city, I knew that Lake Forest will never be the same. It’s not me. It’s Christ in me who brings to a city His Spirit of Revival.

In spite of cold hearts, the Spirit of God has a way of moving past the barriers and walls and revealing Himself strong on the behalf of those whose hearts have been prepared to meet Him. And, the large cross can, indeed, be turned into a spiritual plow and plowshare and break up the fallow grounds of hardened, stony or thorny hearts. Beneath the hardened, stony and thorny hearts, there is always good ground.

As I ended this cross walk on such a positive note, I prayed long and hard for the church workers who must come again to the warmth of the Son and allow Him to melt their cold hearts and turn them back into the on-fire, people-loving soldiers for Jesus they probably once were, but for whatever reason, are now cold and distant to the Master and His front-line warriors and street fighters attempting to populate the kingdom of God.

Make it so, Lord Jesus, I ask, in Your All-powerful name. Amen and amen.