Sitting in my car, in the driveway of a vacant house I yelled, “I’M DONE!” [primal yell]

I’ll never forget the day I broke into that house with the most intentional decision I would ever make, to not come out of that house alive. But, God had a plan. In the midst of my sin and and brokenness God rescued me. It was God’s intention for me to leave that house with a life that had been changed by Him, and so it was!

I left that house with something I couldn’t give myself, a new life in Christ. I hit rock bottom and repented, turning my life over to Christ. From there I started reading my Bible to understand what a Christian is and the first thing I ever read was Romans 5: 1-11. Reading those words, I immediately started seeking out other believers to talk with and learn from. Unfortunately, what I found was opposite to what I had been reading. For three years I walked out my salvation with just my Bible and God. Rejected by people, by churches, and now according to the Bible, by the world. I felt it! I was living in a world unconnected to Christ followers.

One day after work, I was approached by a co-worker. He walked up to me and said, “Excuse me, can I ask you a question?”. I replied, “Yeah.”  He then proceeded to ask me, “Do you know who Jesus is?”. This was the first time anyone ever stepped out of their comfort zone to reach out to me. His willingness to step out and ask me that one question sent me on a path that radically changed my life and is still impacting the way I approach ministry.

Being on mission with Jesus means we intentionally connect the unconnected. To connect the unconnected, we have to love others as Christ loved us. We must be willing to step out of the church building and be the church! My co-worker was intentional when he asked me that question. God tells us in Mathew 25:40

^{40 “}The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ “

Building relationships with the method of Christ, and the message of Christ calls us to be intentionally seeking relationships with others. You can’t have one without the other.

My prayer is that our hearts be broken for what breaks His and we never look down upon anyone without the intention of helping them up.

Years later, I look back remembering that primal yell and feelings of hopelessness, to now a heart full of love. My life’s desire is to intentionally connect the unconnected. Critical for spiritual health we need relationship with God, we also desperately need relationship with others. One man’s intentional choice to connect the unconnected produced the fruit of multiplication in me to intentionally seek out the unconnected and get them connected.

They say hindsight is 20/20, that is so true! Looking back from the moment in that car to the first time someone stepped out of their comfort zone to talk to me, I see relationship as the glue that holds discipleship together.

by Robert Garcia – Pastor of Restoration
Real Life Ministries Texas
Tomball, TX