13 The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the result of their deeds. Micah 7:13 (NIV)
She had been kidnapped right out of our dorm. It was a sad day for the Latin American Bible Institute men’s dorm. Our most prized possession, beloved by both English and Spanish men alike.
The summer before I had come across a life-sized cardboard cutout of my favorite female Christian singer at the time, Jaci Velasquez. Thinking it would give us laughs I set it up in my dorm room. I was right. I’d walk in to a guy practicing his pick up lines on Jaci, they’d share their problems with her; one of our Spanish students walked in and just stared. Finally in the best English he could muster he said, “I like her lips.” It was all good clean fun. A joke enjoyed by men but apparently despised by the women.
One of those days I entered my room like any other day not realizing I was walking into a horrific crime scene. She was gone.
I asked those standing around to see if they’d witnessed anything. No one had seen anything. So we did the only thing we knew to do—make “MISSING” posters and set them up around the dorm (let me remind you we had no television so we’d do things like this to create our own entertainment). Soon after I found a note in my room that started with these chilling words: “If you ever want to see Jaci in one piece again…” It was a ransom letter. Using some good old fashion investigating—hitting the streets hard, questioning all our informants, leaving no stone unturned, and sifting through all the evidence we discovered Jaci was being held against her will in the women’s dorm. There’s something about Bible School that you need to know—men were not allowed in the women’s dorm nor women in the men’s. The only exception was when handyman work needed to be done in the women’s dorm. That was our only rescue opportunity. What happened next was the greatest rescue operation devised by any Bible School student, ever. Everything almost went off without a hitch. But sad to say, during the rescue the ladies slammed the door catching Jaci’s head forever creasing Jaci in the neck area.
Jaci was never the same after that. I truly believe it was a very traumatic, she never looked up again. She always looked down…with sadness…forever creased by a slammed door.
All that to tell you: Do you know how Jaci left my room in the first place? If the ladies weren’t allowed in the dorm how did she end up with them? That’s where this story takes a horrible turn. My own roommate was bribed by the ladies. There was sin in the camp; betrayed by one of our own. Dorm walls couldn’t protect us from “man treason.”
What’s the point? Micah 7:11 speaks of setting up walls for our defense. But walls are no good if there’s sin behind the walls. You can guard yourself from the ways of the world all you want but you still have the problem of you. Until you die to self sin will be a problem. You can be a hermit, separating yourself from the external “temptations” of the world but that doesn’t change the internal struggles.
“The days of building walls will come…” but “the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as a result of their deeds.” It’s the internal sin that needs to be dealt with. Let’s not betray ourselves leaving our lives desolate. The inhabitants need to change their deeds.
She had been kidnapped right out of our dorm. It was a sad day for the Latin American Bible Institute men’s dorm. Our most prized possession, beloved by both English and Spanish men alike.
The summer before I had come across a life-sized cardboard cutout of my favorite female Christian singer at the time, Jaci Velasquez. Thinking it would give us laughs I set it up in my dorm room. I was right. I’d walk in to a guy practicing his pick up lines on Jaci, they’d share their problems with her; one of our Spanish students walked in and just stared. Finally in the best English he could muster he said, “I like her lips.” It was all good clean fun. A joke enjoyed by men but apparently despised by the women.
One of those days I entered my room like any other day not realizing I was walking into a horrific crime scene. She was gone.
I asked those standing around to see if they’d witnessed anything. No one had seen anything. So we did the only thing we knew to do—make “MISSING” posters and set them up around the dorm (let me remind you we had no television so we’d do things like this to create our own entertainment). Soon after I found a note in my room that started with these chilling words: “If you ever want to see Jaci in one piece again…” It was a ransom letter. Using some good old fashion investigating—hitting the streets hard, questioning all our informants, leaving no stone unturned, and sifting through all the evidence we discovered Jaci was being held against her will in the women’s dorm. There’s something about Bible School that you need to know—men were not allowed in the women’s dorm nor women in the men’s. The only exception was when handyman work needed to be done in the women’s dorm. That was our only rescue opportunity. What happened next was the greatest rescue operation devised by any Bible School student, ever. Everything almost went off without a hitch. But sad to say, during the rescue the ladies slammed the door catching Jaci’s head forever creasing Jaci in the neck area.
Jaci was never the same after that. I truly believe it was a very traumatic, she never looked up again. She always looked down…with sadness…forever creased by a slammed door.
All that to tell you: Do you know how Jaci left my room in the first place? If the ladies weren’t allowed in the dorm how did she end up with them? That’s where this story takes a horrible turn. My own roommate was bribed by the ladies. There was sin in the camp; betrayed by one of our own. Dorm walls couldn’t protect us from “man treason.”
What’s the point? Micah 7:11 speaks of setting up walls for our defense. But walls are no good if there’s sin behind the walls. You can guard yourself from the ways of the world all you want but you still have the problem of you. Until you die to self sin will be a problem. You can be a hermit, separating yourself from the external “temptations” of the world but that doesn’t change the internal struggles.
“The days of building walls will come…” but “the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as a result of their deeds.” It’s the internal sin that needs to be dealt with. Let’s not betray ourselves leaving our lives desolate. The inhabitants need to change their deeds.
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