BetterNews

Once Upon A Time In New York...

The date was July 4, 2015 and the right time had finally arrived. I (Lisa
Bradley) was packed and ready to head for Houston’s Intercontinental
Airport to catch a flight to New York City. I was headed to a huge 5-day Christian
conference at Madison Square Garden. It was aptly named:

“The Mega Ministers’ Conference On How to Achieve Success And Ultimate
Prominence In Christian Ministry.”

On the speaker’s agenda were 36 of America’s most highly revered and
visible preachers and evangelists who were doing the Christian circuit. For
five days, these guys would give the conference attendees many clues and
guidelines on how to get motivated and get to the top and prosper in
ministry quickly, according to their own experiences.

It would be the largest conference gathering in the history of the
country and promised to be slick, smooth, and highly professional. Tickets
to get into Madison Square Garden were outrageous, but were all sold out three
days after they went on sale throughout the nation.

I couldn’t shake it. Something about this whole thing in New York
smelled terribly wrong. Where was “trusting God” and following His
precepts in all of this? SELF seemed to have overshadowed the Holy Spirit and become
the order of the day.

But I was going anyhow. I was enthused for a little while and I needed a
break. Besides, by attending this conference, I would get to see some of my
old friends again in The Big Apple.

Although I was a Christian, my commitment was not deep and my walk was
lukewarm and lethargic. For twelve years I had suffered through a time of
severe depression that had a death grip on me. I was treated by numerous
psychologists and medical doctors, but to no avail. All my money was gone
on physicians and I was none the better for it. I could see no way out of my
dilemma and I was desperate. Not only was my life not going anywhere, but
it was going in the tank.

The night before I was to fly to New York, I twisted and turned until I
fell asleep. That’s when I had a strange dream that gave me hope and turned
my inner lights on. While I slept, I kept seeing the face of a strong but
gentle man who smiled at me as if to reassure me that all was going to be
well with me very soon. I was surprised and overwhelmed, and it gave me a
beautiful peace and rest that I had not experienced for a such a long time.

Just being in the presence of that man’s countenance lifted me to a
higher level than I had never felt before. He was beautiful and I didn’t
want to wake up at all. I would never forget Him.

Although I was asleep, something deep inside of me had been awakened. I
sensed that something was going to happen in the next few days that would
shake my world beyond even my wildest imaginations. But I didn’t really
understand any of this. I was clueless and tired.

The following morning my depression returned as I finished packing and
loading most of my Christian trinkets that I had collected over the years.
I mean, that’s what you do when you go to a meeting like this. Everybody
shows off their Christian apparel, Christian jewelry, and hundred dollar leather
Bibles...among other things. It was a care-free grand ol’ time away from
home.

When the Yellow Cab showed up outside my house, we took off for the
airport. On the way I was trying to put a handle on what I had dreamed the
night before. Inside of me, I knew something awesome was up. It made me feel
uneasy.

During the flight, I did a little introspection before taking a nap.
Even though I was a nominal Christian and attended church ever so often,
even I could sense that something quite awful was happening to much of
Christianity in America. It was simply no longer what it first was in this
country.

Too much of the body of Christ had become watered down, weak, ineffective,
irrelevant and politically correct. It looked a whole lot like the world.

I dozed off and in just a couple of hours, we landed at Kennedy Airport
in New York City. I found my way to my hotel and met with my old friends,
but we went to bed early because we knew that the next day would be a long
and tiring experience. I had not shared with anyone about my dream and I tried
my best to hide the mounting exhilaration within me. My spirit was bursting
inside me, but I didn’t quite know what to make of it.


When we arrived at the main entrance to “The Garden,” we were surprised
to see hundreds of large busses parked where you normally see cars parked.
I’d never seen so many busses in one place in all my life. Nobody was in
them and their motors were running as if ready to go at a moment’s notice.
This was strange. What happened to all the cars? The devil was whispering
in my ear and was trying to tell me that the “Rapture” had happened and I had
been left behind.

We then walked inside the building and received the second shock of the
day. We had expected to see the hallways full of product displays and
tables belonging to the visiting preachers and evangelists. You know, books, CD’s,
tapes, t-Shirts, etc. That’s what you always see at this kind of meeting.

But what we saw instead were at least a hundred large wire-mesh bins that
you could see through...and they were all filled with new “tennis shoes” of
all sizes and shapes tied together in pairs. There were multiple thousands
of pairs of NIKE’s in the bins.

For a minute, we thought perhaps we had gone to the wrong building,
where they were having a track meet of some sort. But we were big-time
wrong.

Since we arrived late, we knew that most of the 25,000 ticket holders
were probably already in the auditorium and seated. So we went on in, found
our seats and joined he crowd. Everyone was quiet and seemed to be in
shock.

They just stared and watched and waited.

The huge stage area was bare. No beautiful curtains, no huge back-drops,
no band stands, no special lighting, no TV cameras...no nothing. Not even a
huge photomural of some famous evangelist. The only thing left standing was
a microphone on a stand squarely in the middle and facing the crowd. We
could see the front rows where all the scheduled speakers and other
“celebrities” were seated. They were just as surprised as the rest of us.

What in heaven’s name was going on here?

After about half an hour, a tall and graceful man appeared on stage and
picked up the microphone to speak. He hesitated as He looked toward heaven,
as if to get direction. He was wearing the garb of Middle East style and
walked on sandals. The silence in this place was excruciatingly loud.

“I want to thank all of you for coming here today.” His voice was
pleasant but undeniably authoritative. And He seemingly did not need a
spotlight, as His presence brought its own illumination.

As I focused in on Him I realized from a distance that I had seen this
person before. But I was not close enough to see His face.

“My name is ‘Aye Ahmm’ and I am Jewish and I was born outside of
Jerusalem.”He paused for a minute and then continued.

“I have spoken to the Promoter of this gathering, and we are going to do
something very different today than what you came here to see.”

Again, there was a pause and a long silence. Someone sitting in front of
me blurted out, “Who in the world is this guy? Where did he come from?”

“Aye Ahmm” continued. “All the plans have been finalized and we will
begin to fulfill our Great Commission to New York almost immediately.
Today, the 25,000 followers of Christ gathered in this arena will spread out in
orderly fashion throughout the city. You will visit and minister mostly to
all those in the most blighted areas of town: Brooklyn, Queens, and Bedford
Stuyvesant. There will indeed be teaching and preaching of the Gospel these
next few days, but it will not happen inside these walls.”

The silence was finally broken as the crowd began to think out loud:

“Who are you? And what in the world are you talking about?” The rumbling
had begun, especially on the front rows full of “dignitaries.”

The man from the Holy Land paused but then said:
“I am ‘Aye Ahmm.’ I commission you and empower you to go out into the
world and heal the sick, cast out demons, feed the poor, and raise the
dead. God is with you...and my peace I leave with you, a peace that this world does
not even begin to understand.”

Having said this, the Middle Eastern man from Jerusalem exited the stage
and disappeared. But what He left behind was a highly volatile, charged
atmosphere brimming over with power. Many there were overcome and fell
backward to the floor.

Very quickly, John Vander, the original Promoter of this conference,
took to the microphone and began to give instructions.

“Please listen carefully. The Preachers and Evangelists on the front
rows will each be assigned a large contingent of people from our audience.
As you and your assigned group leave the building, you will be directed to
your pre-selected busses in the parking lot. From there, you will have guides
who will drive the busses and take you to your pre-assigned destination.”

Only a handful on the first or second rows moved, but the remainder
began to show hostility. This was not at all what they had come to do. They
were used to preaching for an hour, picking up their 5-figure “love offering”
and then heading back in the limousine to the 5-star hotel. Shortly after
that, they would board their aircraft and move on to the next gig.

John Vander continued: “Please understand that before all of you leave
the building, each one must take your shoes off and put on the “tennis
shoes” that have been provided for you, as they will be much more
comfortable when walking the streets. As you take off your own shoes, please leave them
on the floor against the walls. Your shoes will be donated to the needy in New

York, along with your Christian jewelry and your Bibles.”

Now most of the crowd was becoming vociferous and indignant, in an
attempt to silence the conviction that was growing within them. After
all, they had come to this place to praise loudly, clap a lot, dance, sing and
elevate their emotions (in addition to getting CD’s, tapes, and jewelry at
discount prices...and maybe getting an autograph or two).

They had come to hear the great preachers and teachers, not to minister
to the lost people in the slums. Their compassion for the poor in spirit
was genuine, but their feet were not heading in the right direction.

Again, John Vander spoke into the mike: “To those of you ministry
leaders who have arrived in private jet aircraft, we are asking you to
allow us to use your airplanes and pilots to distribute the books, CD’s, tapes,
t-shirts and clothing that you brought here to sell, but that you will now
readily donate to the destitute folks throughout America. Please make the necessary
arrangements with our loading personnel before you leave for the streets of
New York with your assigned group. God bless you richly as our New York
conference staff assists you in everything you may need in order to make
this all possible.”

There was a lot of milling around in the arena for about an hour...but
then most of the brothers and sisters began to leave. Very few were willing
to remove their shoes and enter the throne of grace. Only a handful of the
Preachers and Evangelists volunteered their jets and their time.

As I stood in the hallway and began to take my shoes off, I noticed Him
way in the distance. He was heading in my direction with many followers
wanting to justtouch “Aye Ahmm.” They understood what was happening and had a great

enthusiasm for what the body of Christ had been called to do this day. And
they all had their “tennis shoes” on.

The closer He came to me, the more excited I became. And then I
recognized Him as the man whose face I had seen in my dream. My body was
turning to jelly and I had a hard time standing up.

He walked right by me in the crowd and did not notice me. He was
inundated with all the people that wanted to speak with Him. But I knew
that if I could just touch His sandal, I would be healed of this gruesome depression

that was killing me slowly. I would be made whole.

I fought my way through the crowd in order to get to Him, but just as I
reached out to touch His sandal, I slipped and fell. In desperation, I
closed my eyes and blindly extended my right arm and felt the leather of
His sandal. Power rushed through me and I knew right then that I was healed and
restored.

He stopped abruptly and looked down at me with a tear falling from His
eye: “Daughter, your faith has made you whole. Go in peace...”
He walked away and no one saw Him again.

On my flight back to Houston, I received a revelation while I was dozing
in my seat next to the window: The tear in the eye of “Aye Ahmm” (I AM)
was not for me. It was for the tragedy of apostasy that had befallen
Christ’s Church in America during these last days...

Editor’s note: This story is fiction. It has not happened. But in five
years, it could very well happen if the Church of Jesus Christ does not
wake up and embrace the Holy Spirit’s direction to do a massive clean-up within our
own ranks. God’s not going to do it for us...
Note #2: There’s nothing wrong with “conferences” and selling books, CD’s
or anything else. And if a ministry aircraft facilitates the spreading of
the Gospel, then so be it. But it’s the motivation behind all of this that
will soon get the attention of Heaven.

“I know all the things that

you do, that you are neither

hot nor cold. I wish that you

were either one or the other!

But since you are like lukewarm

water, neither hot nor cold, I

will spit you out of my mouth!"

Revelation 3:15-16 NLT