I am blessed to ‘give honor where honor is due.’ One of my mentors: Brother Mickey Evans-Though He’s With Jesus--His Encouraging Voice is Still Clear
His shoulders were our floor and He has passed his baton to the next generation. Difficult times, uncertainty on all fronts are the proving ground for a fresh wave and emergence of Holy Spirit led Generals.
But we are more than ready to grasp the responsibility that is now ours. Men like Brother Mickey poured into our generation and we have been made ready for our watch! He taught us the essence of the Gospel of Grace and the Kingdom. He modeled the simple protocol of Jesus; the Royal Law of His love! Thanks Brother Mickey!
He was unwavering in his commitment to ‘walk by the Spirit’ Yes, I witnessed him get into the flesh, but his heart and mindset was Jesus and that meant he made things right. “The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace." Life and Peace--a life well lived! Too be a man of life is to live your life for the life of others. Too be a man of peace is to help others find peace for their struggles and inner storms. Authentic Christianity is not a life of just working, but of becoming!
I share a part of my Ragamuffin Testimony to Honor Mickey Evans and to encourage all that meditate on these simple words. Thank you Robert and Sarah--you took me in and loved me to my awakening and thru the tender times as a new and excited Disciple of Jesus!
Brennan Manning loved to refer to the Gospel as the Ragamuffin Gospel. I always liked that. Bro. Mickey and I talked many times about the Ragamuffin’s that we were and that we were honored to serve! Why, because neither of us came to Jesus with any piety or with the veil of religious performance. I was completely surprised when I encountered Jesus. He was totally other than my immature image of Him! And I had hit “my” bottom as a drug addicted Hippie. My home was the streets.
Jesus took me in through the love and hospitality of two of His Ragamuffin Saints (Robert and Sarah Brenner). And He immediately sensitized me to the realities of being drawn into Him. He threw out the welcome mat to my heart to be at home in Him. I had no theology. Not even the slightest pretense of having a clue about my life “purpose” or “worth.” I was entirely “clueless!”
Bro. Mickey and Brennan eloquently communicated the Gospel of Grace without even a hint of religious pride. And they never wavered or compromised it. Instead; they were resolute and faithful to the message of grace through their own personal struggles, failures and shortcomings. Bro. Mickey taught me that the greatest thing any of us could do for Jesus is to embrace what He is doing for us!
“Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (see Revelation 7:9), were the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me that she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son.
I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last 'trick', whispers the name of the unknown God he learned about in Sunday school.
'But how?' we ask. Then the voice says, 'They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'
There they are. There we are - the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all clung to faith.
My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the Gospel of Grace.” Following is a piece of eloquence that aptly shares the heart of Mickey Evans.
“BY THE TOUCH OF THE MASTER'S HAND”
The following poem succinctly expresses the heart of Brother Mickey.
T'was battered and scarred and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while
to waste much time on the ole violin, but he held it up with a smile. "What am I bidding good folk” he cried, and who will start the bidding for me? One dollar!
Two! Two dollars three! Three dollars and who will make it four?
And oh from the room far back a gray haired man came forward and picked up the bow and wiping the dust from the ole violin and tightening the loosen strings.
He played a melody pure and sweet as a caroling angel sings and the music ceased and the auctioneer with a voice that was quiet and low said now! Now!
What am I bid for the ole violin and he held it up with the bow? A thousand dollars.
And who will make it two! Two thousand and who will make it three?
Three thousand once three thousand twice going and gone cried he.
And the people cheered. But some of them said we don't understand what changed its worth? And quickly came the reply. “The touch of the Master's hand “Now many a man with life out of tune and battered and scarred with sin is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd much like the ole violin.
A mess of pottage and a glass of wine, a game and he travels on he's going once he's going twice he's going and almost gone. But the master comes and the foolish crowd can never quite understand the worth of a soul and the change that's wrought “By the Touch of the Master's Hand ". Bro Mickey Evans shared this story by heart many times in our 35 years of Kingdom friendship. I am Embracing Jesus, Ron Ross
(This was taken at Bro. Mickey's Graduation to Glory Celebration-can you see the Glory cloud?)
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