I am going to McDonald’s
A little over a year ago, a godly Bible teacher, Charles Capps, passed into Heaven. He was well-known for his teachings on the power of the tongue and the importance of believing and speaking the Word of God.
The Lord used Brother Capps in a very unusual way at a critical moment in my life, in a very tense situation long ago—and he wasn’t even there!
When I was born again, I jumped in with both feet. In my twenties, I frequently went out to the streets, along with other young Christians, to witness—sharing the Gospel and praying with the lost. The joy and freedom of expressing the good news with someone who was hungry for Jesus motivated my friends and me to continue going back, weekend after weekend.
As the church I attended grew to mega-church proportions, we were blessed to sit under the teaching of some of the finest Bible teachers in the country. One of those teachers was Charles Capps. At the same time that we were hosting a growing number of national speakers, just about everything else we did in that church was becoming more and more structured and organized. This included the weekend street-preaching jaunts.
Interest in this personal evangelism had spread in the church I was attending, and leadership was put in charge of this radical group of teens, twenties, and thirties for the sake of safety, oversight, and training for those who were new to one-on-one evangelism.
One weekend evening in my late twenties, we were ready to “hit the streets”. Small teams were assigned for the evening’s adventure, and two newer believers, a young man and woman, were assigned to accompany me.
When we arrived downtown, we met under the Gateway Arch and prayed together as a large group. We then made arrangements to meet back at McDonald’s—housed on a riverboat and anchored opposite the south leg of the Arch on the Mississippi River.
My little group took off together and each of us shared with various individuals as we walked along the cobblestone road that ran parallel to the river. Toward the end of the evening, we climbed up the wide set of steps that arced toward the south leg of the Arch and began sharing the gospel with a young woman we met near the top.
She was receptive to the message, and as I was about to ask her if she would like to pray with us, I noticed that my two companions had ditched me in favor of McDonald’s—an obvious Big Mac attack. Let ‘em go, I thought; this lady wants to receive Jesus.
But just as I was about to pray with her, her eyes nearly bugged out of her head, and backing away quickly, she just took off. Huh? I was wondering, perplexed. And as I turned around, I understood why that young woman had skedaddled so abruptly.
I found myself surrounded by six to eight young men, circling closely in on me. But before I had time to get frightened, something very unusual happened.
Suddenly, I was at my church. Oh, yeah, my body was still standing on the steps going up to the south leg of the Arch and I was still surrounded by six to eight strange young men, but in my spirit I was at church. I was at a meeting in which Charles Capps was speaking, and I could see and hear everything with crystal clarity. There he was, standing behind the pulpit preaching, and I could see the scalp on his head through his familiar crew cut—that’s just how vivid this “vision” was. And he was preaching a message about Jesus in a boat in the middle of a storm.
With my body still standing on the steps leading to the south leg of the Arch, Brother Capps was preaching in his Arkansas twang, “Jesus said, ‘Let us go to the other side of the lake’ and my brother, sister, if Jesus said, ‘Let us go to the other side of the lake,’ then nothing—no devil, no storm, no wind, no waves—nothing could stop Him from goin’ to the other side of the lake.”
And with that, there I was, back at the Arch, surrounded by this group of men. I noticed Riverboat McDonald’s, and I said out loud and with great authority, “I am going to McDonald’s.”
I don’t have a clue what those guys thought when I said this, but I passed through the midst of them without so much as a finger touching my body. As I stepped out of the circle and down the steps, the Holy Ghost spoke very clearly to my heart, “Walk, don’t run. Hold your head high, and don’t look back.”
I did as I was instructed, and walked, step by step, down that wide, curving stairway. Boom, boom, boom, my steps pounded decisively as I marched to the street below.
“Oooh, baby! You got fries with that shake?” they called out after me, along with other unmentionable “compliments”.
I never looked back. When I got to the street, I crossed it with my head held high. Boom, boom, boom, my marching feet blasted as I stomped across the gangplank bridge to McDonald’s. Walking tall and in the authority of Christ, I reached the threshold. Never before had the Golden Arches looked so good.
I opened the door and stepped into the wonderfully lit, French fry-soaked atmosphere. There, seated inside, were my two young team members and everyone else. “Hi, Dorothy! What took you so long? We’ve got a seat for you!”
And as the reality of what just happened dawned on me, my knees turned to Jello and buckled beneath me—and then I got up and ordered some fries.
Brother Capps returned to that church years later and I had the opportunity to share my story with him. He didn’t say a word; he just smiled, nodded his head, and then walked away.
May the help you need be made abundantly plain by the Holy Spirit in your time of trouble. The Lord is faithful.
Dorothy
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1b
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“You’re WEIRD!!!”
The sword of the Spirit is a powerful, offensive weapon God has given to every believer. This sword is His Word and is designed to be exercised under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Not one word or syllable of God’s Word is devoid of power, and when initiated by the leading of the Holy Spirit, it will surely hit the bull’s-eye and accomplish what God intends it to do.
God is able to quicken His Word to your heart, and when you pray or speak that Scripture with faith, it will achieve God’s purpose.
As for me, after witnessing God’s power in the encounter with “corduroy shirt” man (see “Ever thought you might be martyred???”), I was ecstatic. I had just found a secret weapon I could pull out whenever things got a bit hairy…or so I thought.
You see, the problem was that I decided that Philippians 2:11-12 was my very own lucky charm—my rabbit’s foot—my genie in the bottle. I was looking at it all wrong—as if I was the Big Kahuna in charge of my own deliverance; as if I didn’t need to listen for the Lord’s leading—I had this “gospel wand” I could point—bippety, boppety, boo.
Through trial and error (mistakes!), I’ve learned this: when facing trouble or disaster, lean heavily upon the Spirit of God. He always has a way of escape; my job is to stay hooked up with Him in childlike trust to find out what—if anything—He wants me to do. When facing sudden danger, let Him lead.
Tale Two: The Holy Ghost to the rescue…but just not according to my plan!
On the 4th of July, not long after God displayed His “knock over” power with the infamous “corduroy shirt” man, three of us were returning from a city-wide fireworks display. Traffic in the park was bumper to bumper, just inching along, and we had the windows rolled down. A young man, all liquored-up and stumbling in the park, was screaming into the grid-locked traffic, “ROCK AND ROLL!!!” He and I caught eyes, and he yelled at me, “DO YOU LOVE ROCK AND ROLL?!?”
I looked at him out of the passenger window, and as he approached the car, I said, “I love Jesus.”
He lost his mind. Cursing, he grabbed me and attempted to pull me out of the window. Ah hah! I thought. I get to use my secret weapon! and I quoted Philippians 2:11-12 as he pulled and yanked at my torso, already almost half out of the car window. But…instead of letting go of me as I thought would happen, he became even more enraged and pulled even harder.
Hmmm….this is not good, I thought, and quietly listened to the Holy Spirit within me to hear what to do next. With the upper half of my body being wrenched out of the window, I began to pray in tongues out loud, looking him in the eyes as I did so. I don’t know who was more shocked of the two of us, because he instantly let go and jerked away in disgust.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrgggghhhhh!” he bellowed. “You’re WEEEEIIRRD!!!!” And after he poured the rest of his beer on my head and the windshield, off he fled into the night.
This situation taught me something profound—God doesn’t necessarily perform according to my script!
1 Corinthians 12:4-6 says, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.” If God has a variety of gifts, ministries, and effects, would He not also undertake deliverance for us in a variety of ways? Indeed, God never changes, and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever; but He works out His wonders in a multitude of ways. The key here is: He does work wonders for us.
Your job and mine is to hold fast to God’s Word, trust Him, ask Him for help, listen, and then obey whatever He shows us to do.
He is trustworthy and will show Himself strong on your behalf.
Dorothy
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” Jeremiah 32:27
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6
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“Ever thought you might be martyred???”
God has rescued me from dangerous situations more than a few times. I’ll be sharing three of these harrowing experiences in the next three entries.
Part of my purpose in sharing these events is to focus on one thing I’ve learned by trial and error—no two methods of deliverance will be exactly alike. Trust me—I’ve tried to use the method you’ll read about in the following account as my go-to “deliverance-from-danger” formula, but God wasn’t having it. More on that tomorrow.
Here’s the main thing I’ve learned. When you are confronted with impending trouble or disaster, you must lean heavily upon the Spirit of God. He always has a way of escape for you; your job is to stay hooked up with Him in childlike trust to find out what—if anything—He wants you to do. When you are facing sudden danger, you must let Him lead.
Tale One: Deliverance from a creepy guy in a corduroy shirt
Many years ago, I was handing out tracts with a group of friends outside of Busch Stadium, home to the St. Louis Cardinals. In front of the Stan “the Man” Musial statue, my friend Cat and I were attempting to share the gospel with a scraggly young man. He stood, facing us, his back to the curb, with something obviously hidden under his maroon corduroy shirt. A strange look came over his face as he leaned in toward us and snarled, “Have you ever considered that you might be martyred for your faith?”
Without a thought, up from my insides Scripture thundered. I spoke the words I heard: “At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:11 and 12 just rocketed up from my spirit and flowed out of my mouth! The sword of the Spirit was in operation.
But the next thing that happened left Cat and me with dropped jaws. The man, leaning into us and threatening one minute, collapsed backward the next, falling onto the hood of the car parked behind him at the curb. Just then, some of the guys in our group approached us and asked if we wanted them to take over. Cat and I, who were punching each other in the thighs, both in shock, both thinking—that really happened?—left the fallen man to the guys.
Tale Two tomorrow.
Until then,
Dorothy
…the word of God … performs its work in you who believe. 1 Thessalonians 2:13b
Read MoreTrouble averted
I don’t have unusual leadings from the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. In fact, I don’t seek for spectacular leadings; but I do endeavor to be available if He wants to drop something into my spirit as I go about my day. I know that He truly does lead us; His leading is meant to be part of a normal Christian life; and I do my best to be consistent in the Word and prayer so that I’ll be ready and available to receive an assignment from the Lord when He decides to share something.
A few years ago I was taking my customary daily walk around the neighborhood. I have a habit of quietly praying in the Spirit as I go, praying for my neighborhood or whatever else the Lord may drop in my heart.
On this one particular morning, as I passed by a house just three doors down from mine, it felt as if I was punched in the stomach. It didn’t hurt, but it was a deep punch, nonetheless. A quiet groan came up from within me, Trouble! There’s trouble in this home. And so I prayed, listening for any further leads from the Holy Spirit. I didn’t stop my walk to knock on their door; I kept going. I didn’t know the aging biker couple who lived there; all I knew was that trouble had come to their home and that God wanted me to cover it in prayer.
When God gives an assignment such as this, your job is to first of all, pray. Let Him use you by His Spirit to cover what He’s shown you. In this case, I didn’t feel led to go talk to them that day; so when I completed my walk, I left my prayer for them in the Lord’s capable hands.
Not more than five days later as I was returning home from an errand, I saw a news crew parked on my quiet street. I took my time turning into my driveway, rubber necking at the interview occurring between a Fox 2 News reporter and my neighbor in the front yard of his house—the house of trouble for which I had prayed just four or five days earlier.
That evening on TV there he was—my neighbor with his long gray hair, leather vest, and biker tats—standing in the yard three doors down from me. And he talked of trouble—averted.
His son lives with his grandson in rural Missouri. The then five year-old boy’s mother had been barred from seeing him due to her history with substance abuse. The two “men” were batching it together in their lakeside home when one morning, while the father was preoccupied in another part of the house, the boy’s mother walked in and grabbed the little boy.
Waiting outside in the car was her druggie boyfriend, and as soon as the little boy was deposited into the vehicle, they tore out of there.
When my neighbor’s son realized his five year-old was missing, he frantically called neighbors and friends in the area. No one had seen his child.
After that, he reported the missing boy to the local sheriff and conveyed his suspicions about the child’s mother. An Amber alert was issued along with a description of the vehicle that might have been used in the abduction.
And what do you know? About three days after I was directed to pray about the trouble that had come to my neighbor’s house, an officer saw a vehicle weaving erratically down a two-lane rural highway in Oklahoma. He flashed his lights, and to his surprise, the car screeched to a stop and two people leaped out, disappearing into the woods. He was about to pursue them when he noticed a little passenger in the back seat—my neighbor’s five year-old grandson!
He recognized the boy from the Amber alert, and the process to return him—unharmed—to his father, my neighbor’s son, proceeded quickly and with great joy.
A little less than a year ago I ran into my biker neighbor while he was doing landscaping in the front yard where he’d been interviewed by Fox 2 a year or so before. It was time to tell him about the Holy Ghost head’s up that led me to pray about the trouble that had come to his family. I could tell he wasn’t sure what to make of it all, but his gruff exterior softened as he told me of the fear he, his wife, and their son had lived through before his grandson was rescued. I let him know that God obviously loved all of them quite a bit to have a stranger—me—pray for them in the middle of their trouble. And God answered those prayers—his little grandson was safely reunited with them.
May all of us grow in sensitivity, willingness, and availability to be alert for the promptings of the Holy Spirit as He leads us to pray for those who may not know how to pray for themselves.
It’s a huge part of our calling.
Dorothy
Read MoreFeel, see, hear…and respond
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:14
I thank God that He has a variety of ways by which He can get our attention. For the person who prioritizes Bible time, the ability to pick up on cues from the Holy Spirit will become somewhat easier over time. That’s because God’s Word is a Discerner (see Hebrews 4:12), and He uses it to enlighten us (see John 1:9). The Holy Spirit does not move outside of the parameters of the Word of God, and at the same time, Word of God is indwelt by the Holy Spirit—the two flow together. It makes sense, therefore, that one of the names for the Bible is the Sword of the Spirit.
In 1997 I “felt” the sensation of sharp impact to my left temple as I drove home from church, prompting me to pray. On the other side of town, my friends John and Janet were about to have a head-on collision in which Janet would strike the windshield with her left temple. She and John survived, and Janet suffered nothing in her body but a broken wrist and a bald spot on her left temple the size of a quarter. No scratches, bruises, or welts could be found on that side of her head—she definitely got the better end of the deal between herself and the windshield she shattered! The Holy Spirit had given me a sensation of impact to the left temple; I prayed until the feeling lifted; and Janet and John are alive and well to this day (see “Is it just me or the Holy Ghost?”).
I have learned over the years that when I get some type of unexplainable “sensation” to take some time to pray about it. I’m well aware that some of the time I may have prayed about things that simply popped up in my imagination, but I know that in John and Janet’s case, my prayer hit the very real target.
Years before the situation with John and Janet, I had a similar “feeling”—along with a quick “picture”—that flashed in my mind. I was taking my customary daily walk in my peaceful neighborhood. I passed by a beautiful home on the right hand side of the street and saw a young teen standing on the porch drinking a Mountain Dew. Instantly, I saw an image in my mind of the soda can flying out of the boy’s hand and I “felt” its impact on the back of my head. I said under my breath, “I bind that, in the name of Jesus!”
No sooner had I bound the scenario I had just “seen” and “felt” when in the street behind me I heard a crash. I turned to look—and the boy had indeed hurled the nearly full can of soda my way, missing me by a foot or so.
All too often, we think that the random oddball thoughts, pictures, or feelings that arise are “just me”, but my goal is to encourage you to take the time to pray about those things before your mind jumps on to a new thought and you miss an opportunity to be led by God’s Spirit.
I moved to a new town as a young Christian, and I was just learning how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. I was looking for an apartment move into. As I drove to one I had seen advertised, I felt a nudge to take an earlier exit off the highway. I obeyed and traveled on that road for a couple of miles, and seeing nothing, decided to turn around.
I pulled off and was about to go back to my original destination when I heard a quiet voice within me say, “Pursue those houses.” I did, and soon saw a large sign advertising an apartment complex. Following other signs along the way, I found the complex, fell in love with it, and signed the lease for quite a bit less per month than I would have paid at the place I was originally considering. As it turned out, the complex to which I was led was also much closer to the place of employment where I would eventually be hired.
I also needed a bed frame. I had a twin mattress and box springs, but no frame, so one Saturday morning as I drove around the community where I was temporarily staying, I saw a garage sale. I heard that same quiet voice direct me to enquire about the bed frame. I parked, walked up the driveway, scanned all the objects on display, but saw no bed frame. I believed, however, that the Holy Spirit had told me I would find a bed frame there, so I approached the lady of the house.
“I’m looking for a twin-sized bed frame,” I stated.
Her eyes widened as she wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing. “Well, I’ll be! We debated about lugging that thing up from the basement and thought better of it—we didn’t think anyone would want it! Sure you can have it!”
She called her husband over and he and their son went in to retrieve a dusty, spider-webby twin bed frame—in perfect condition! I paid five dollars for it, took it home, and cleaned it up to look like new.
I’ve bought all kinds of things over the years—cars, furniture, clothes and accessories, appliances, technology, a house—but that old bed frame remains unique to me among my earthly treasures, both past and present. When the Holy Spirit gets in on the action, He can make a dusty old, spider-webby, five-dollar purchase glitter like fine gold in your memory.
Abide in the Word, and the Discerner will be a reliable Guide for you.
Dorothy
“Take my instruction and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choicest gold.
For wisdom is better than jewels;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her.” Proverbs 8:10-11