Weekly Reading: Joel 1:1-20

Key Verse: Joel 1:13-15

Theme: Return To The Lord - When locusts invade our life, we need to return to the Lord with humility.

Return #3

Vince Linchlyter grew up as a simple kid in Seattle who loved Johnny Cash. Today, he fronts the Christian rock band Jonah33 and tours all over the country. Yet in between those bookends of his life is the story of a teenage runaway strung out on drugs.

At age 13, his dad busted him for smoking pot. He left home on bad terms with his parents and got into the drug scene. Drinking and smoking pot turned into dropping acid and doing crank. Over the next six years, his life got worse and worse until his drug dealer threatened to kill him. He took off with a shotgun and a bunch of dope. He used the dope to stay awake for over two weeks. During that time, he turned suicidal and put the gun to his head three different times. He found out his parents moved to Arkansas, found their number and called them to tell them that he needed to come home.

When he got home, he fully expected an all-out fight with this parents - but there was none. What Vince didn’t know at the time is that his parents had become Christians since he had left. They wanted to show forgiveness to their prodigal son. “That was the first time I met Jesus, and I didn’t know it but I recognized it,” Vince says. “You know that difference that Jesus makes in people’s life? It was so bold that I was freaked out.”

Eventually he met the youth pastor at his parent’s church and arranged to talk to him at his home. “I told him, ‘All right, dude. You better throw some coffee on. We’re about to get down to some business. I got some questions.’ I went over to his house that night and from 6:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. I asked him every question in the book.” Deep inside, Vince wanted to believe in Jesus Christ because of the change he’d seen in his parents. However, he kept up his guard with the youth pastor. “I just wanted to see if it was true. I told myself that I was going over there to prove this guy to be a liar. Obviously I was terribly mistaken.” In the early morning hours, Vince gave in.

“I was 21 when I gave my life to Christ,” Vince says. “Looking back through all the stuff that He brought me out of, it’s absolutely amazing the depth of His love for me. It’s astounding.”

Something To Ponder

• What is the significance of sackcloth and fasting?
• How can we “wear” sackcloth today?
• How do you show others Jesus?