There are some things seminary just doesn’t teach you. I paid $50,000 for an education I could have gotten by just living in the 05. Life in the 05 has been my schoolmaster over the past few years, especially the last 48 hours. It all started when I came home from Aaron’s house where we were watching Office Space. I came in about halfway into the movie, and then Peter came by a few minutes later. We were all cracking up hysterically, specifically when I said the boss Lumbergh looked like Ben Witherington. After the movie, Peter took me home. I noticed my roommate was out. I started getting worried because I noticed his bike was gone and it was 11pm. I was alarmed because he’s usually in bed by 9:30pm. I knew something was wrong at that point. I decided I was going to look for him around 7th street because it is a huge drug-trafficking area. I grabbed my keys and left the house only to say…Dude, where’s my car? It was then that I knew Dustin took off with it. I called Pedro back because I knew he was up. Pedro picked me up around 12:30 to go look for my car and Dustin. As we were driving along, we were being solicited for drugs left and right. What are two, young, white guys doing creeping in a vehicle after dark on 7th Street? There was no sign of Dustin so I went home. I decided I was going to call the police and tell them my car was stolen. While on the phone with the police officer, there was a knock on the door. It was Aaron along with Dustin. Dustin had been up all night and wanted a place to lay down for an hour. I couldn’t let him in because I knew as soon as he got up he would need another fix and my whole house would be empty. Dustin told me my car was at a nearby house at the Lighthouse Recovery Ministries. Dustin had taken my watches, knives, some money, and sold my car for $20! Here is where it gets weirder. Aaron and I went on a reconnaissance mission to steal my car back. When I got into my car, I noticed a burned mark on my floor from crack that had been smoked and fallen. As I was pulling out, a prostitute tried to get into my passenger seat. When Aaron and I get back to my house, we called Tey, the director of the Lighthouse. Tey said that the guy who bought my car was complaining to her how two African Americans came and stole his car (This is hilarious because Aaron and I were doing evangelism visits one day and some guys got mad at us, calling us Mexicans). Since I couldn’t let Dustin in the house, I made him sleep in the garage. I came and sat with him a few hours and I could tell how sorry he was. The person who stole from me and sold my car was not Dustin but the grip that the cocaine had on him. I loved him like a brother and still do. I could tell that he was repentant. We ended up taking him to detox. I am still going to work with Dustin because I believe in God’s plan for his life.

What sucks about the situation was people’s reaction. I heard some comments like, “I was a little hesitant about Dustin living with you because of his recovery,” or “sometimes you just can’t trust anybody.” Like Bob Lyon use to say, “Shame on you if you haven’t been taken advantage of in a while.” How far does God’s love call us to care for our brothers and sisters? What an awesome testimony of God’s love if Dustin was healed and helped out at the Woodland Park Church Plant. We, as Christians cannot be afraid to love. Love does hurt and we can experience pain and rejection. How far are we willing to go?