Audience of One

Didgeridoo

Yesterday I read something interesting in a book by Beth Moore.  She said,  “…the glory of our Lord Jesus surrounds us constantly.”  And then she gives the following list of examples we might have experienced:

*  Empowering someone to forgive us for something that seems unforgivable

*  Feeling like the only one in the audience during a sermon or lesson

*  Having our eyes opened anew to a portion of Scripture

*  Attending a dying loved one who knows Christ

*  Working through some detail that no one else knew anything about

*  Having an impending disaster averted

*  Feeling His powerful presence as we engage in worship

When I read this list I immediately thought of Mike Barris.

In the late 1980’s Ed Brown invited a man to speak at our church.  He was a gifted musician and that is how Ed had met him.  His name was Mike Barris.  Mike was from Australia.  He came with a wide assortment of strange Australian artifacts and instruments.  He cracked a bull whip and explained that the noise it makes is actually a small sonic boom (breaking the sound barrier).  He played a didgeridoo, an Australian aboriginal instrument pictured above.

He used each artifact as an object lesson to teach a Biblical lesson.  And this is where he got me.  Every lesson spoke to my heart.  The main thing I was dealing with was serving the Lord out of duty or obligation, rather than out of love. 

At the end of the service I was ready to run to the altar.  I even remember thinking, “I’ll go down first, before everyone else comes.”  I went down and cried and prayed for a good while before I realized that I was the only one who had come.

It was a life-changing experience that led me to think of my service to the Lord in the proper light and with the loving attitude He desired from me.

And it has always been mind-boggling to me to think that God called Mike Barris from Australia to come to Dunlap on that particular evening just to speak to me.  

God is so good!