I know what it’s like to feel poor. I know what it’s like to grow up with very little hope. I know what it’s like to look into the future and see emptiness. I know what it’s like to be completely bound by fear. I too was beaten up by the enemy, and I was deeply wounded in my heart.
In my former angry, sullen, drunken adolescent state, I recall often walking past a particular church in my hometown. I only found out later that it was a born-again Baptist congregation. They once had outdoor meetings and exciting worship, but the city shut them down and even threw the pastor in jail. The church went to court to fight the prohibition against their outdoor meetings and won; but for some reason, even though they’d won the legal right to worship outdoors, they never did it again, that I saw.
That church never knew that there was a depressed, drunk kid walking past its doors on a regular basis; that kid didn’t know that there was eternal life and joy inside those doors.
It wasn’t until that kid was eventually converted by a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman named Irv that he knew the freedom of God. Someone opened their doors and took me inside and began to speak words of life into my heart. Irv poured the love of God into me. Because of that, I found Jesus Christ as my Savior. God, by his mercy, called me into ministry, but I’ve never forgotten where I came from, and I’ve never forgotten what the gospel is all about.
The scriptures show us that the congregation that followed Jesus wasn’t made up of the most religious or the wealthiest people. In fact, the religious could not understand him. The poor, the blind, the prostitutes, the lame, the lepers, and those whom society didn’t want — they became Christ’s congregation. He went out and found them in the streets; he loved them, and he poured his life into them. Most importantly, they knew that he loved them.
Have you experienced the freedom that only Jesus Christ can give? Has the Lord poured his life into yours?
Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020, he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.