he tugged on my heartstrings and landed in jail (or who robbed the church)

 Sunday, November 30, 2014 Randleman, NC

   Stephen L.  was late getting to church but he made it in time for the preacher to deliver his sermon; and what a sermon it was!  Stephen was so impressed he stayed around after the service to chat with the preacher.   He captured the pastors attention with his tales of his singing in church and his faithful attendance until his father died and sadly, Stephen blamed God.    He was so angry at God for taking his dad he found himself in trouble but after hearing the preachers sermon he decided it is time to quit being angry and start living right. 
    He went on to tell of his pitiful situation and of how he needed to find some help for his baby son.  He wasn't looking for a handout, he said, just to be connected to someone that could help him take care of his baby. 
   Well, that did the trick as far as the giant of a preacher with an equally big heart.  ignoring church guidelines he gave the young man some money from the church coffers plus an equal amount from his own pocket.  'I'll definitely be back tonight" the young man said as he gladly accepted the cash.
    Tuesday morning it was discovered someone had broken into the church.  Nothing was taken but the rear door will have to be replaced which is a big expense for a struggling small congregation to have to pay, especially this time of year with all the extra expenses for the holidays.    It was painfully obvious that the burglar was after the jug of cash he saw in front of the remembrance table that he mistakenly assumed was left during non service hours. 
   The young visitor on Sunday morning didn't come back Sunday night as he promised he would but it was equally obvious he did return on Monday night in search on the money jug.  a burglar with transportation would have taken the stereo equipment and  any thing else of value but this one took nothing.  Our visitor arrived to church and left on foot. 
   He recognized one of our members and thought greeting them would enhance his credibility but in the end it proved to be his undoing.  He provided false information on his visitor card but the member was able to discover his real address and phone number.  The police was able to gather enough information to place the man under arrest. 
    It seems the backwoods country church was neither as easy a target or as dumb as he anticipated we would be and neither as forgiving.  (let me clarify that by saying we hold no ill will towards Stephen but he did the crime so must do the time.)