Soles For Souls & Walking The Cross in Oildale

Slipped on my walking shoes this morning, took a few steps...and flop. The sole of my left shoe almost fell off. Another pair of quality walking shoes has given way to the sidewalks and streets. Oh well, "soles for souls"! Put on my newer shoes and headed for north Bakersfield. These aren't tried and tested shoes, so hope I don't get any blisters. This will be almost a 12-mile perimeter walk with a 60-pound cross.

The cross walk throughout Oildale (north Bakersfield) is always one of my favorites. Storefront churches line North Chester Avenue. Men without shirts and women toting little ones dot this area, so I get to speak with many people about God's endless love for them. They listen!

The community most certainly has a major drug problem. And poverty looms tall. But the people of Oildale are friendly to the cross man...and they are not ashamed to ask for prayer. They come out of their homes, out of their worksites, out of their small churches...and ask for prayer--either for themselves or for a loved one or close friend.

As I approach the huge Sheriff's Facility on Norris Road, I can't help but wonder how many of these lawmen need prayer, not only on the job but in their homes and private lives as well. How many of these men and women need Jesus! Hoisting the large cross upright at the main entrance, I pray for the salvation of each and every one of them, asking God to send His Spirit of revival into their hearts and bring them all to Jesus.

Methamphetamine looms large in north Bakersfield, so I also pray against this and other drugs, asking God to destroy the drug's power and influence in the lives of drug addicts and drug users. Horns honk and cars pass by swiftly, the drivers' way of saying "Amen" to my prayers.

God's Plus Sign, the cross, wins again! Tears of repentance fall, wounded and broken hearts are healed, people's faces light up, and once again, the devil slithers away in defeat...only to return later, when weakness returns, when depression comes back, when frustration makes its rounds again, and when night falls. But the Word of God is true:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making the ground bear seed and sprout...so shall My Word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. --Isaiah 55:10-11

Soles for souls! Sweat for souls. Blood and blisters for souls. Amen, and amen.