“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16
I’ve been walking with the Lord for 35 wonderful years. I can truly say that deciding to follow Jesus was the single best decision that I have ever made. In my previous post, Scrapwalling, I shared that God had put it on my heart to turn my garage into a pinball arcade. As is common when you follow the Lord, a lot has happened since I wrote that devotional. I’ve bought and sold several pins, I’ve added more memories to my scrapwall, but most importantly, I’ve made a lot of new friends in the pinball community.
After much prayer and brainstorming about how I can share my love of pinball with others, I decided to start a social media platform called pinball preacher as a place to preach about pinball, people and Jesus. If this sounds interesting, you can join me on this wonderful pinball journey by following along on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, and TikTok.
Since launching this social media platform I have experienced God moving and opening doors in ways that could only be described as miraculous. It would be a disservice to God if I didn’t stop this morning and share a few examples of what I’m talking about to live out Matthew 5:14-16.
One of the ways that I’ve seen God move in pinball preacher is that I’ve grown close to several men who have regularly attended a Bible study that I host in my home. In the beginning, we played a lot of pinball, but lately we spend more time just talking, praying, studying the Word of God, encouraging and challenging one another, and simply enjoying authentic Christian fellowship. Jesus calls His followers to be salt and light in the world and this Bible study is a place that we can share how God is using us to be salt and light in our families, workplaces, churches, and community.
In Jesus’ final instructions to His followers Jesus didn’t tell them to judge people and make them feel small. He didn’t tell them to ignore the Scriptures and let people believe whatever they want to believe because love is love. He didn’t tell them to use their religious platform to pursue fame and fortune. He didn’t tell them to use force to push His views on people. He simply told them to make disciples.
“Not the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing the in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:16-20
I love Jesus and I want other people to experience the love of Jesus too. I also want them to experience the joy and rush of seeing God work around them and involving them in His work. If you don’t know Jesus in a personal and intimate way I’d love to talk and maybe this little YouTube post that got pinball preacher started will be helpful. If you already know Jesus great lets grow together!
I have written out my faith journey ever since I started walking with Jesus on mannaandcoffee.com but lately I’ve felt the call to preach. I don’t preach in a church, I am preaching through the book of Nehemiah in my garage with the spiders and crickets while restoring a classic 1991 Williams Terminator 2 pinball machine. When this pinball machine is finished the plan is to put it at locations around Indianapolis that would like to have it there to attract people to their business or ministries, and as a way to share my love of pinball with the next generation.
I’m not exactly sure what God wants to do with the pinball preacher platform but if you have some ideas and/or want to get involved in this pinball movement, I would love to grab a coffee or Diet Coke with you and play some pinball in my arcade or at some of the wonderful pinball locations around the city like Tappers Arcade Bar, Wild Fyre Tap, Pins Mechanical Co., Pinlodge, or the Pin-Vault. If you are interested in buying your own new or used pinball machine I can point you to some great folks to help you with that too!
I was not sure how to end this devotional today so I thought I’d just share some interesting pinball quotes from some notable people instead.
“It wasn’t just about flashing lights and pinball machines blowing up and things like that. It was about using encores, bringing back the good songs and using techniques that I knew about from rock performance.” – Pete Townshend
“Giving advice is like playing pinball: only by pushing and pulling can you encourage the ball to go in a new direction and increase your score. But too much pushing and pulling can cause a tilt and stop the game.” – Chip R. Bell
“The coolest thing, and I have it at home, is a huge Hulk Hogan, normal-sized pinball machine. When people come over they play it for hours. When you hit the bumpers and the bells ring it goes, ‘Oh yeah!’ The whole time you’re playing this machine it’s yelling and screaming at you, ‘What you gonna do, brother?!’ I think that’s the coolest.” – Hulk Hogan
“Life is defined by risks: those you take and those you don’t. The ball is gonna drain no matter what, so find what you want and take a shot.” – Roger Sharpe, The Man Who Saved Pinball
“I feel I was born into this world to be a natural at proving people wrong,” Robert Gagno, Wizard Mode
Manna and Coffee 