As I was praying and seeking the Lord for direction in my return to leading mall ministry, I prayed for a theme passage for the year, as there's been one ever since I first went out with The Torch.  There certainly have been some great ones, including last year's, Matthew 9:36:

"But when He [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted [were tired and lay down], and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd."

"For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Well, this should be rather obvious to believers.  This goes along with Joel's prophecies of the Last Days, where God will work in ways that will leave no doubt that it is He that is working.  This will include pouring out His Spirit on all flesh [Acts 2:17-18], producing many signs and wonders [v.19], and heralding a time of great judgment before the end [v.20].  Salvation from that wrath will come only from throwing oneself at the Lord for mercy [v. 21].  Even beyond that is an eternal judgment, a punishment set for those who reject the Lord's offer for salvation.  It is imperative that nonbelievers seek God's forgiving grace before it's too late.

For all the claims of America being a "great Christian nation," many do not know the Truth, as outlined throughout the entire Word of God.  Kids are growing up in non-Christian homes, or the version of Christianity to which they are exposed is so distorted that they either don't know what to believe, or they reject Christianity as a whole because of what they perceive it to be [selfish, self-righteous hypocrisy].  People say that one should not reject God because of the Church, but the fact of the matter is that the Church is supposed to represent Christ to the lost, and we [collectively] have not been doing our job.  We isolate ourselves from those who are different from us, seeking our comfort zones while ignoring the fact that those who are being neglected are going to hell.  If the lost don't hear the truth, and see it modeled in a practical manner on our parts, they are quite unlikely [short of God's direct intervention] to ever call upon Him for salvation.

This part of it got to me at first, as The Torch has not been known for street preaching or anything like that.  In fact, had this ministry done that, we'd be banned from the mall by now.  Then the Lord brought to mind the classic quote from St. Francis of Assisi: "Preach the Gospel at all times... if necessary, use words."  We are called to live the Gospel even more than we are to verbalize it.  We are to be doers, and not just hearers, of the Word [James 1:22], modeling what we believe.  People are more likely to listen when they see conviction behind the message.  Yes, we can share the Gospel with people, sharing the Four Spiritual Laws or what-have-you.  We can also show people what it means to "love your neighbor as yourself" [see Matthew 22:36-40].  They will notice, and God will move in their hearts, drawing them ever closer to Him.

The Torch is not a ministry that most people will just one day decide that, "Hey, I think I'm going to join that team today."  People may attend out of curiosity, and may even join the group for a few sessions, but once they start seeing what the kids are like [the pain in their lives, and how they try to deal with it], they can quickly find themselves intimidated.  I cannot think of anyone that's stayed on that team that has not done so because God showed them what He sees when He sees those kids.  Many of us have come home heartbroken and weeping because we dared to look below the 'distasteful' clothes and body modifications, to see their broken and hollow hearts.  We find ourselves having to be there for those kids, sharing Christ's love with them in any way possible, whether it's buying them their first meal in days, or being there to hug them when they cry as they tell you they've been raped, abused or molested.  You don't just show up week after week just for the sake of it.  You return because God broke your heart and said, "I want you to go to them and love them for Me."  Yes, we encourage newcomers to join us, but those newcomers need to know that, while we do have fun, mall ministry is not a 'warm, fuzzy" experience.  The devil's been having free reign in these kids' lives, and we're going to war to free them from him.  It's a slow, frustrating process, but we won't... we can't... give up on those kids, because their lives depend on our vigilance.  We go, an eclectic team (from Goths and skaters to 'preppy' people), united with one goal: to see those kids saved, healed, and delivered.

A classic passage of our message of "glad tidings" is Isaiah 61:1-3:

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified."

Only God can bring healing to the kids' mangled hearts.  Only He can bring deliverance from bondages of sin and addiction.  Only He can utterly transform their lives.  In His sovereignty, He chooses to anoint us with His Holy Spirit, working through us to reach those souls.  Salvation is beautiful, one of the greatest, yet underappreciated, miracles God has to offer us.  Salvation is beautiful because it transforms from death to life.  The physical, temporal life may remain fraught with pain and suffering, but in salvation, we gain the best support for which we could possibly hope in enduring and overcoming that suffering, knowing that one day, all the pain will be erased as those who love and trust in the Lord's saving mercies will live with Him in glory, for all eternity.  Our feet may not seem too beautiful in the trenches, and the struggle may not seem glamorous, but one day, it will pay off.  And hopefully, the payoff will be the kids we love so much being transformed and loving God with all their hearts, picking up the torch as we finish our race.

08.18.2001