In 1934, fiery evangelist Dr. Mordecai Ham came to Charlotte, North Carolina with his 11-week tent revival meetings. One evening, two teenage boys approached the crowded tent, but there were no seats available. As they walked away, an unknown usher ran after the boys, offering two seats that he made available for them. Following that night, they came back over the course of several evenings, as the Holy Spirit spoke and dramatically changed their lives for Christ- the lives of future evangelists Billy Graham and Grady Wilson. And soon after, the lives of millions the world over would change.

A traveling evangelist from Texas had come to my family’s church, with an afternoon program specifically for the youth. My brother and I were nearly 16 years old, like Billy Graham and Grady Wilson at the time of Dr. Ham’s tent revivals. Unbeknownst to us, there was a cost to attend the program. We had no money.

Unlike Billy and Grady’s life-changing experience through the kindness of the unknown usher, our experience with the traveling evangelist had a different outcome.

Without money, the evangelist and his staff refused to let us inside the fellowship hall to listen to the program. My brother and I couldn’t leave the church, as we had no transportation to go back home until our parents returned. Desperate, we sought our youth pastor to see if he could help us. He sacrificially paid our admission out of his own pocket.

To a crowded room of over 100 people, the evangelist began his presentation, “I just encountered two boys trying to get into my program without paying.” He raised his fist, emphatically expressing the great value of his program, the time and expense he had poured into it, and that it was not for free.

Despite this man’s diverse list of credits in the church world, which included running a ministry for over a decade with his name on it, I had an unsavory experience that afternoon. If he, as a seasoned evangelist, was one of God’s best representatives, I didn’t want to draw closer in my faith walk. I didn’t care to be hammered into an unloving zealot. 

My small flame of spiritual growth could have been fanned, potentially expanding the kingdom of God greatly. The flame, however was nearly extinguished.

Every day, you have the power to shape the future. How? As followers of Christ, we always have an opportunity and a choice in how we’re going to interact with and respond to each friend, family member, stranger, boss, and co-worker.

The unknown usher at the tent revivals seized an opportunity that the Lord put before him- to find two seats for the teen boys, and then to pursue them. The man didn’t stop to size them up, to estimate their value and what they would do for the kingdom of God one day. To many, the teens would have been easily dismissed and overlooked as being unimportant and perhaps troubling.

The unknown usher simply responded in love and kindness, serving two spirits who came to hear the Gospel message, not expecting anything for himself or anything else in return. A surrendered servant, he served Christ by serving others, even the “least of these.”

The traveling evangelist who came to my church also had an opportunity put before him by the Lord. He had an opportunity to help change two lives for Christ. He had a choice to make a spiritual difference for two boys wanting to attend his youth program, who wanted to hear the Word of God. He had no idea who I was, or what I could potentially do for the kingdom of God one day. None of us know what another can potentially do for the kingdom. Only God knows. We’re only responsible for sowing spiritual seeds amongst those who God puts in our path.

Despite degrees earned, positions held, titles granted, ministries launched, and admiration from across the globe, none of those things can cure or hide a heart problem, or a spiritual issue. Nor are those things proof that a heart or spiritual issue doesn’t exist. If you don’t have the natural inclination to lovingly serve others, without condition or benefit to you, ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart, and bring what has been blinding you to light.

Whether we are serving the man, woman, or child who could grow up to be the next Billy Graham, or if we are serving the nameless who no one knows nor will see what they do, our outpouring of love and kindness should be unconditional. They are the flint applied to the moving stick of God, igniting a fire in the life of who we serve, spreading to the lives of his or her community and beyond.

You may say, “If it’s God’s will, it will happen with or without me.” Yes, but God’s Word says “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:14-26, NIV). To pour into others spiritually brings reward, because it helps to bring God’s plan to fruition. He doesn’t need us to do it. But he invites us to be involved with the work. The reward is that we become more like Jesus, and, it blesses us in ways that only God knows- whether in blessing on earth, in heaven, or both. And it blesses others. The ripple effect could be immeasurable, just as simple as an unknown usher simply finding seats for two future world evangelists.

But that’s not why we serve, to get a reward for ourselves. We do it because we simply have Jesus living His life through us. We don’t imitate kindness or imitate love, or act out deeds that look like love. We do love. We are kind. We are compassionate, because Jesus is love. And He lives in us and through us, when we surrender our all to Him.

We should never dismiss anyone who seeks, for we don’t know the plans that God has for that man, woman, or child. Did we help expand the kingdom of God, or did we put a road block in his or her way?

Remember the mention of my youth pastor? He sacrificed the little money that he had, paying the program cost for my brother and me so that we could enter.

It gives pause to think how Jesus paid it all on the cross for us, sacrificing Himself, for there was nothing about us that could make us worthy enough to be saved through our own merits. Jesus paid it with His life, and through our acceptance of His free gift, we could enter into eternity with Him. 

And we can pray:

Lord Jesus, I thank you for loving me. I thank you for each and every soul who stepped forward and said “yes” to you, who had a hand in kickstarting my intimate walk with you. Bless them abundantly with your peace and joy, and with the endless riches of experiencing your glorious presence. Lord Jesus, I pray all of these things in your powerful and almighty name. Amen.

Scientists have discovered that the essential amino acid leucine supercharges cellular energy by stabilizing crucial mitochondrial proteins. Found abundantly in protein-rich foods like meat and legumes, leucine suppresses SEL1L protein activity. This prevents the cell from degrading vital energy-producing surface proteins, thereby boosting mitochondrial respiration. In short, this boosts cellular energy production.

Leucine is an essential branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) that primarily serves as the critical "on-switch" for muscle growth and repair. Because your body cannot manufacture leucine on its own, it must be obtained through dietary sources like chicken, beef, dairy, and eggs, or via targeted dietary supplements.

As with any supplement, please be advised to check with your doctor before taking leucine as a supplement.