These folks have labored in the Lord for the last 50 plus years and they are very close friends of ours and have been for the last 30 some odd years, we have preached lots of revivals for them in the past and we just wanted to take the time to be with them for a little while.
After leaving them and going on to the churches that I was going to be ministering in over the weekend, and by the way, we had wonderful church services and a mighty move of God.
My son Josh was with me, the pastor we had been preaching for put us up in a very nice hotel, it was early Monday morning, we had a pretty restful night in our very comfortable hotel room, we were going to head back home to West Tennessee and my son convinced me to take a detour on our way back and drive to Gatlinburg and just spend the day and make some memories.
So we were on our way home via Gatlinburg. As we were driving down I 75 south in Kentucky toward Tennessee, Josh and I were just having a great time laughing and talking and carrying on about so many different things. I showed Josh the exit on the route towards a city where his Mother and I started a church almost 30 yrs ago, that of course was a few years before Josh was even born.
I showed Josh an old restaurant where the grey hound buses use to stop; it was that restaurant that brought back some memories to me. It was where I took my brother Dennis to catch the bus back to Chicago after he had come down and spent several days with us, we had such an enjoyable time, he still talks about the meals my wife Bobbi cooked for him when he was there visiting us.
We were on our way to the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. When we got off of the interstate, we pulled into a service station to get gas and then back on the road to our destination for the day. As we were driving down the main highway 66 toward Gatlinburg, the traffic was getting a little heavy, stop and go along the way.
As we were traveling down this road I noticed a Brand New Chevy SSR Fire Engine Red along my side, I looked over at the gentleman driving it and I gave him the thumbs up.
He smiled and waved at me, when we came to the next traffic light we just so happen to stop next to one another and he rolled his window down, so I rolled mine down to engage in a little friendly chit chat. I told him he had a very sharp vehicle and he proceeded to ask me where we were from.
I told him we were from West Tennessee and we were just coming from a preaching engagement up in Kentucky and decided to spend the day here before going on home. The light turned green and we said “Nice talking to ya, have a great day!”.
Low and behold at the next light we end up side by side again, we rolled the windows down again, he asked me what kind of a preacher I was, I told him a Pentecostal! Just before the light turned green, he said, follow me, I want to buy you fellow’s lunch at my restaurant and tell you a “Pentecostal Story”. I said Okay! We’ll follow you, and we did for about another 3 miles.
He pulls into a very nice, super clean restaurant and we pull along side him and park and he invites me and Josh in. We go in and I immediately let him know that we were going to pass on the lunch, as we did not want to take advantage of his kindness.
We then sit at a table and he says, won’t you at least have something to drink, and so we did. While we are sitting there exchanging some small talk, he then reminds me of the “Pentecostal Story” he wants to tell me.
He proceeds to tell me this story about a man that worked for him at one time and begins to describe him to me and tell me a little about this individual and all of a sudden I stop him and tell him Sir! You’re never going to believe this, but the man you are talking about is a man that I personally know and as a matter a fact the Church that I was preaching at just the day before in Kentucky was a Church that he actually started several years ago.
What are the chances that I would drive up along side of a perfect stranger and have this kind of a conversation with him? Needless to say this man will some how become a life long friend of mine. Who knows what God will do in the future? Isn’t it something how people are sometimes put right in your path? Just waiting to see what God will do next.
Evangelist: Frank Mc Gee ~
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