Jesus Brings Life in the Midst of Death

It was May 31, 2015. I was preaching on the Rich Man and Lazarus found in Luke 16. Our congregation was fairly normal for that Sunday; we had about 18 people in attendance. We had two irregular attenders that day; Merlene (an elderly lady who lived in the neighborhood -- attended several times in the year) and her friend Tony (an elderly gentleman who lived in La Jolla and joined Merlene when he was in the area). I was preaching quite earnestly and was just about to begin singing "Poor Man Lazarus" when I noticed that Tony was asleep. Now I don't normally get upset when people sleep during my sermons; it isn't unusual. But this was unusual.

I noticed that Tony was actually almost laying down in the Pew and Merlene was visibly upset. My assistant George Saunders ran to the pew just behind Tony and began to raise Tony's head. George was obviously praying. Dorothy Brock who was seated a row behind Tony was on her feet and calling 911. It finally occurred to me that it would be a good time to stop preaching. I wasn't sure what I should do, but I rushed up to Tony's pew and stood right in front of him. I began to pray. I didn't know how to pray, so I just prayed in tongues. I touched his forehead and it was ice cold and so were his hands. I placed my hand on his chest and he wasn't breathing. In addition he had voided himself.

The entire congregation was extremely quiet. Once in a while I could hear someone praying. I also heard people crying. Then I heard myself saying something that I still am not sure that I said. The words just came out on their own. I spoke loudly, "Spirit of Tony, return to his body right now." Tony let out a gasp similar to someone who had been under water and just came up for a breath. Then he began to sink down again. I repeated, "Spirit of Tony, return to his body right now." Another gasp! Tony's eyes opened and he sat up and appeared alright except that he was confused.

By this time the Paramedics had arrived and took over. Dorothy followed the ambulance to the hospital. After some time, the doctors said that there was nothing wrong with Tony. They figured that he had fallen asleep in church and everybody over reacted. Dorothy told them that it was more than that. They then transferred him to a hospital closer to his home in La Jolla. The doctors there could not find anything wrong either.

I have seen Tony a few times since then. He has little memory of the event and seems to be alright. He doesn't come anymore because he no longer drives; one of life's problems as we age.

Robbie Dawkins had a similar event that was widely publicized. I saw that video and it was very similar to what happened at Bay View Baptist Church of Chula Vista on May 31, 2015. The biggest differences were that his event happened in the midst of a video -- and he had a Doctor present. We had neither. Was Tony really dead? Those of us who were there believe that he certainly was. If not, he certainly was close to death. God raised him up. We prayed. God listened. God answered in power. A miracle occurred.

Glory to God.