Yahweh

Mcabe and I were walking down the auditorium aisle headed for the spot where the Lord's Table elements were waiting.  Just as we got to the front of the line...we saw him off to the right.  A jittery man...with a backpack.  As he placed the backpack down and stepped back from it... Mcabe and I made eye contact.  I noticed the man directly behind the jittery man take notice too.   I actually saw the double take.  It happened in slow motion.

The man was jittery.

He had placed a backpack on the ground and moved away from it.

It was a camouflage backpack.  Khaki in color.

His hair was cropped very short and he was of a darker complexion.  Middle Eastern?  Possibly Hispanic?  The lights were down.

Mcabe and I moved back to our seats.  I told Brave and Brad what we had witnessed.

Twice during the second worship set...I made my way back down the aisle to check to see if the jittery man was still somewhat near his backpack.

He was.

A few things went through my mind.....

Hollywood Blvd. had been shut down due to a bomb threat a few days before.

I know there are undercover security guys at Reality LA...but who knows how many and where they were at????  They are undercover.

Galilee and Jemima were unaware.  Zion was in another area.

Bradley had asked for his phone/camera and moved closer to the jittery man with the backpack.

There was an unspoken agreement between the boys and I.  Times are crazy.  God is sovereign and worthy of our praise.  Be alert.  Remain hopeful.

I thought of Israel...especially during the singing of......

Yahweh (video) 

I decided to video believers praising the Lord in what might have been an act of defiance.  I was not going to fear anything but the Lord.  Maybe it was an act of submission though?  Cuz I do think my doing so was Spirit led.

20 minutes later the service ended.

Brad returned to us.

The jittery guy left with his backpack without incident.  A hard street life was most likely part of his story...maybe he was in recovery.

I hope to God the jittery man with the backpack was a foolish brother who gave no thought to his actions...clueless to his insensitivity.

There is the possibility that he was troubled and trying to get a rise out of people..... which would be mean spirited.

Something similar to this happened a few years ago in Scottsdale.  A huge red flag went up for a person who wandered into Reformed Living.  As the Lord would have it...this blue collar type Caucasian guy sat behind me and opened up a conversation which revealed very quickly how unstable he actually was.  Brad kept a close eye on him during the sermon....actually following him out midway...and for weeks...I looked to see if he was hanging around.  I always made sure the girls went to the rest room in pairs...even though this church campus was like a second home to them...but for a few weeks I was super diligent about keeping an eye on them.  That man who caused me to feel physically threatened never appeared again.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Ephesians 6:12 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  Galatians 3:28 * Sweetest thing ever....in recounting the events of the jittery guy with the backpack...Braverijah tells us how he was ready to get busy holding some arteries for someone.