A Prophet In The House!

Well, he wasn't there for long last Wednesday night because he got arrested.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Monday afternoon while I was working away in my office, I heard what I thought was a loud, old man excitingly talking to our secretary, Ann, over the front door intercom. When the verbal exchange was over, Ann walked back to my office and told me that it was not an old man. It was a man that had been wandering the streets in a shirt, sarong and sandals. She told me that he was looking for a church with a Spanish ministry so that he could get to know a Mexican lady and marry her. Ann then added that he was certainly not all there. He had moved but it was later in the afternoon and Ann and Millie (who was working in the Bible Lab) were a little on edge. I walked Millie out to the back door and watched as she walked to the car. That was the end of day one.

Then came Tuesday. Josh French had come in town to eat with Greg and me and discuss taking over the reins of the youth ministry here. Greg, Josh and I were getting ready to leave when we saw the saronged-man leave the foyer of our auditorium. We found out from our custodians that he had found an unlocked door and made his way to the bathroom. They escorted him out. End of day two.

Wednesday evening, Greg sees the man waiting around and invites him in to the combined worship with us. He sat on the back row and proceeded to stomp his feet, bang his head, mumble to himself and laugh out loud during the songs, prayers and lessons. The congregation could not see what was going on. Only those of us that were facing the audience could see him in the back. Don Graves, one of our elders, got up and went to the back door thinking it was someone pounding to be let in. Then Clint Young, one of the biggest men in our congregation, figured it out and went to the foyer to watch him closely.

At the end of the service, several men stayed behind to keep watch on him while he and Greg discussed the Bible and Satan. The conversation was going nowhere since he told us that he was a prophet and he alone truly knew God. Finally, Greg told him that we needed to close the building and that he needed to leave.

That's when things took a turn for the worse.

He called us Satanists and loudly declared that if we were going to practice witchcraft that he was going to urinate on our building!! He made his way up to the granite sign on the lower part of the front wall near the office complex and hiked up his sarong to do just that!

I asked him kindly not to do that and he yelled at me to stop looking at him while he tried to go.

I went into the auditorium and informed the other men that he was peeing on our building. Don went in to call the police while Clint walked straight up to the guy and told him to get off of our property. He marched up to Broadway Ave, faced it and pulled up his sarong again. He told all of us behind him that we were all homosexuals and lesbians for looking at him while he was trying to go in the street. As he tried to urinate he continued to yell one phrase over and over again "How do you like me now?!?"

We didn't like him very much at that moment.

The police finally arrived, took a few statements, called for back up and took him into custody.

A night that will be forever etched in our memories!!