In the water, I was baptized in the Caloosahatchee River.
But in the Spirit of the Lord…
I was baptized in Nashville.
My friends were having a fun debate about the architecture of the buildings in the area and the spiritual meanings behind it.
Alex and I, in the meantime, were mocking them for being superstitious.
We would point at random architecture and say…
“Look…
Demonic.”
And there we were, between Church Street and Commerce Street, passing by a church with a rather peculiar structure outside.
Bright red metal, in a twisted circular form, with a few sharp edges, almost like an axe.
Alex and I looked at one another and said in unison…
“Demonic.”
Suddenly…
We heard a man screaming.
He was in a wheelchair, rolling down the street toward us.
My friends stepped off the sidewalk to let him pass.
Alex and I climbed onto the metal fence surrounding the church.
As the man came closer…
We realized he was screaming at us.
He stopped right beside us and began cursing.
For some time, we stood there quietly.
We didn’t know what to do.
When he finally stopped yelling…
Alex gently asked if he was alright and if he needed anything.
The man looked at us and asked if we wanted to see something.
Hesitantly…
Alex said yes.
The man called him closer.
As Alex was approaching, the man in the wheelchair removed his head covering.
There was a large scar across his head.
He began telling us his story.
He had been struck with a hammer.
He had fought back.
Had a chance to kill a man that did it…
But spared his life.
The blow to his head had left him disabled.
This disability led him to being homeless.
He later lost his wife in a car accident…
And then…
He started telling us about Jesus.
About how his hope was in Him.
I could not believe what I was hearing.
Here was a man who had lost nearly everything…
His home, his possessions, his wife, his own health, his own sanity…
And yet…
He still had faith in Jesus.
Stronger than any faith I had witnessed at any faith conference.
Stronger than any faith I had witnessed at any Christian event.
Stronger than any faith I had witnessed inside any church building.
“Bohemian Blasphemy” from Bohemian Blasphemy (Acoustic Album) — streaming and download:
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Lyrics:
Bohemian Blasphemy
C, E
Mother, I have seen a man that could not walk
Rolling down the street he stopped to talk
He told me that one time he tried to kill a guy
But that Christ was there to stop and save his life
He told me that he wanted to show me something good
Something he made when he could
And leaning, he stood up to walk behind wheelchair
From his bag he pulled the cross made out of wood
C, D, E
So would you believe
And would you accept
If you see all these miracles
And their effects
Glowing in His light
Would you chose to find
Giving up their blasphemies
Blessings that you’ll find
Strengthening your mind
If you start to grow in Him
Brother, anyone of us could be this man
Broken, but believing that Jesus can
Save him, and he is still living by the faith
Since there’s nothing left to live by in this place
Since there’s nothing left to live by in his place
I tell you, don’t you try to run away from God
Scary in the place where He is not
Forsaken by the world that made us compromise
For our sins He came to die and save our lives
So would you believe
And would you accept
If you see all these miracles
And their effects
Glowing in His light
Would you chose to find
Giving up their blasphemies
Blessings that you’ll find
Strengthening your mind
If you start to grow in Him
When you start to grow in Him
He will free you from your sins
While all of this was going through my head, I realized Alex had walked off somewhere.
I was alone with the man in the wheelchair.
His name was Jeff.
Jeff called me closer.
He asked me to give him a hand.
He wanted to give me something.
He told me he had made it himself back when his hands still allowed him to build things.
Slowly, he stood from his wheelchair.
Leaning against me, he made his way behind it, where he kept a small bag.
He reached inside and pulled out a wooden cross with a leather tie.
He wanted me to have it.