MIKE CUNNINGHAM (AKA) OLD FIVE POINTER extends a warm cordial welcome to all who visit my page, especially those who are in the midst of difficulty. It is my prayerful hope that these stories will inspire you and warm your heart.

Each is a humble attempt to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. They stress the absolute Sovereignty of God over all of His creation. I do not have a corner on all truth and so I urge you to search the Scriptures for yourself to see if what I am saying is of God.

I pray that He will add His blessing to my effort, and that you, my reader,receive much comfort, encouragement and hope from this labor of love.

I remember the first time I read the verse. It was before sunrise back in the early eighties. My wife and our four children were still sound asleep and I was seated in my favorite chair alone with my thoughts and Bible. I was flipping through the Book of Isaiah when the verse seemed to leap off the page and imbed itself into my mind and heart. It has remained there ever since.

Although God was speaking to the Prophet Isaiah, I got the distinct impression that He was also addressing me personally. “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God” (Isaiah 40:1). I was and still am deeply moved by this verse. The idea of being used by the Lord to comfort His people appealed to me greatly. So much so, that I took it as a command. The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that this was something that He wanted me to do with my life.

I went to Him in prayer and asked Him to please use me in this way. I prayed fervently for the next several days, pleading with Him to give me opportunities to comfort His people.

I soon forgot about the verse and my prayer. Something happened that catapulted my mind in another direction. I lost my job. They were hard to come by during that recession, especially for a 50 year old man who had barely squeaked out of high school.

Little did I know at the time but I was about to experience what the most painful, humbling experience of my life.

Winter gave way to spring and summer turned into autumn. There was still no job or even the prospects of one. Thanksgiving came and went with Christmas on its heals. Finally, on Christmas Eve, by the grace of God, I started my new job. Eleven months earlier the Lord had taken away my job as a Director of Marketing for a local business and made me the Executive Director of an emergency shelter for the homeless. (To be continued).