2019 

MY FRIEND- THE WITCHDOCTOR 

Let’s pick up where we left off last.

First- this situation with my friend- the ‘Christian witchdoctor’ is rare.

For the most part- when you hear stories of Christian leaders who are entangled in some sin- for the most part- they are true.

For instance- over the years- I would see/read a case where some famous leader is caught with a girl.

Maybe in a motel room- then some of my friends- who were followers of the leader would say ‘wait- I heard he was just witnessing to the prostitute’.

IN A MOTEL ROOM?

So- I’m not the type that fell for stories like that.

In my situation- the person who made up the charge [years ago] was dabbling in both the occult world- as well as Christian ministry.

So- I think he really was lost- confused.

And it is true that there were strategies- by occult followers- to make up charges against people [talking about the gay relationship charge- last post].

But- for the most part- I am not into the whole ‘spiritual warfare’ scene- where there is a demon- or satan worshipper behind every bush.

Got it?

Okay- when I moved my family to Corpus- I still worked at the Kingsville Fire Dept- and finished my 25 years.

Manuel came by over the years- admitted what he did- yes- he told me he was sorry for making the charge up- and I forgave him.

He eventually came by with his boy- who came to my little church when he was young.

He was older now- his dad loved him and was proud of him.

I’ll never forget- one day they both came by the station.

Manuel asked me to pray for them.

Of course I did.

As I prayed- his boy started crying uncontrollably.

I knew God was working.

As the years went by- I would see Manuel off and on.

One time I showed up at work and the guys told me ‘hey John- we picked up some guy who had his throat slashed- he was asking for you- he said you were his pastor’.

That was Manuel.

His boyfriend cut his throat and almost killed him.

Yes- Manuel was gay and lived out the lifestyle.

I felt bad for him over the years.

Others never knew I forgave him- and we became friends again.

He did threaten my family- and I never told my wife I forgave him.

Now- this is the hard part.

It was during that time that I learned to ‘put things in Gods court’.

There are verses in the Psalms- called Imprecatory Psalms.

Huh?

Those are the verses where king David is praying for God to ‘get his enemies’.

Christians have different ideas about these passages.

Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies- not to try and get even.

Yet these portions of the Psalms seem to say the opposite.

Over the years- I have come to the understanding that all God’s wrath is redemptive- in the end.

Now- this gets into a heavy theological discussion- that we don’t have time to get into now.

But basically it means- when we pray these verses that seem to ask God to ‘get our enemies’.

What we are really praying is for Gods wrath- his ‘pressure’ to be on everyone in 'his court’ and for it to produce righteousness.

So- I learned to pray this way back then.

Okay- you pray like this whenever there are people accusing you- falsely- of anything.

It seems to bring everyone into Gods court- you in essence are saying ‘okay God- come and work in all of us- what ever will be will be’.

Now- this can get serious- very serious.

The bible talks about believers having authority from God 

‘Whoever’s sins you forgive- they are forgiven’

‘Whoever’s sins you retain- they are retained’.

The long and short of it is this- when you pray in this way- you have no control over the outcome.

When I went thru the situation with Manuel- I prayed like this.

This last 6 months- I had to do it again.

Why?

Not to get even- but some who did indeed make false charges- after I tried my best to do what was right- they saw it as a game.

At one point- in the beginning- the girl put on face book ‘wow- this is so cool- I'm at a real line up’.

I guess she was at the police station and looking at pictures [note- my wife told me this- I have never read any of this on line].

Now- when you falsely charge someone- and think it's a game- that’s very serious.

I think the girl just did not realize that this is not a joke.

So- I simply brought us all into Gods court- I placed us all under this umbrella.

See?

Okay- now pay close attention- this is the scary part.

Over the last 6 months- during my long walks- I stopped at a McDonalds and would sit and have coffee and pray.

One day- March 29th to be exact.

I brought an old bible I had for years.

I noticed on the front page- I wrote some notes and stuff.

One of the notes said I had a meeting with ‘Pastor Don’ that day.

It was strange- because I had written that note in 1992- and I was to meet him- at this exact location where I was sitting.

It was sort of a sign in a way.

To see that note all those years later- in the meeting spot.

I also saw another note I wrote.

It was a License plate.

It was the LP of Manuel.

Yeah- years earlier when I went thru the problems- I too was going to retaliate at one time- and I got his car License plate.

When I saw it- I told the Lord I was sorry.

That I too have tried to get even- or have lied about people that wronged me- it was a moment of true repentance.

I wrote the date in a little journal I have been making this year.

That’s why I remember the date- 3-29-13.

Now- this is all happening at a time when I- in a sense ‘re-opened’ the court.

Are you getting this?

I know I might be losing some of you- but this is the best I can do.

I ‘released’ Manuel in a new way- even though I had forgiven him- for a very bad accusation- yet I had to also repent of my anger towards him.

I did this repenting some 23 years after the fact.

Less than a month later- I was driving with my wife.

She says ‘oh- by the way- your old friend was killed’.

Huh?

Yeah- I think his name was Manuel.

Juan Manuel Garza was stabbed to death on April 25^th- 2013 [look it up if you want- Kingsville Texas]

Less than a month after I repented of any wrong I had done towards him.

I felt God was telling me that ‘this court’ was very serious.

That the bar has been raised very high.

I don’t want any one to miss read this.

We [Christians] are not in the business of praying for the deaths of ‘our enemies’.

Jesus told us to pray for those who wrong us.

But he said- when we do really forgive- and release them- we are ‘pouring hot coals on their heads’

This releases the redemptive judgment of God on all in ‘the court’.

Manuel was killed by his lover- the same man who stabbed him years earlier.

His name is Barbour- I have him on my prayer list- with all the other prisoners I pray for.

The reason I bring this up now is because we- all of us- don’t realize the seriousness of false accusation.

I’ll admit- in the case with Manuel- that’s about as bad as it gets.

As a young Pastor- it was a miracle that I didn’t just quit the ministry all together.

But when I moved to Corpus I started an outreach to the homeless guys- and this in a way was my salvation.

So- once again- I’m in transition.

I do believe God still has a purpose for all of us- but a lot has changed- things have changed for good.

I mourned the death of Manuel for a few days.

I think my wife was surprised- she knew what he had done.

I told her I had forgiven him- and I still felt responsible for him in a way- that he still saw me as his Pastor.

Yeah- she was surprised- me too.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [FaceBook] - I have posted lots.