Finding God on the Las Vegas Strip

[Deadworm]

On my first vacation to Las Vegas, I encountered God's grace in 3 coincidental experiences. (1) I made the long walk by all the hotels, but when I reached the CircusCircus from the Tropicana (my hotel), I felt dizzy from the heat and walked into the CircusCircus to cool off at the Poker Bar. I must confess that I didn't feel terribly spiritual at the moment and wondered if God was displeased with my vacation choice and successful first foray into gambling. Then God responded to my worry!

A beautiful young black woman (about 25-30) sat next to me and seemed somewhat depressed. She opened up to me, complaining that her boyfriend had been verbally abusive to her. She asked me what I did for a living and was shocked to hear that I was a United Methodist pastor. She then mentioned that she used to sing in her United Methodist choir and originally wanted to train as a physical therapist, but gave up her plans and her church after her boyfriend got her pregnant. I assured her that our God is a God of second chances and urged her to dump this guy, rejoin her church choir, and chase her dream of becoming a physical therapist. God seemed to be speaking to her through me because she then asked, "Are you one of those angels in disguise that the Bible talks about?" I laughed and assured her that I doubt angels would be as red-faced from heat exhaustion as I was.

Then a sleazy looking guy who had been watching our interaction walked up to us, pointed at me, and shouted, "Honey, I've seen his kind before and you can't trust any line guys like him are peddling!" I was too old for this lovely young woma and at first was offended by his rudeness, but quickly realized what an outsider must imagine I was promising her to get in her good graces so easily. I was richly blessed by this chance to witness and by God's sense of humor.

(2) Then I bought a ticket to my first and only world championship boxing card at the MGM Grand Arena. The championship bout featured the boxing idols of Mexico and Puerto Rica and the crowd was dominated by both ethic groups. Before the card was about to begin, there were scuffles and fans getting drunk everywhere. Again, I wondered if God approved of my presence there. But then God spoke again.

Sitting in the row right behind me were 2 unaccompanied beautiful young women. I thought it strange that they would attend a fight card without their husbands or boyfriends. But when I eavesdropped on their conversation, I was flabbergasted. They were discussing at length what they thought was wrong with their former United Methodist Church and were comparing the style of worship, Bible studies, etc, of their UMC church unfavorably with their new church, which happened to be Joel Osteen's! I couldn't resist turning around and telling them that I was a United Methodist pastor and found this critiques fascinating and very insightful. They laughed their heads off at this coincidence. Then when the first fight began, the ref didn't see a low blow from one boxer and these girls cussed out the ref like sailors! Once again, God seemed to be saying to me, 'Relax! I am present everywhere and can use you anywhere if you are open to being used." Again, I was struck by God's sense of humor!

(3) The next night I attended a magic show at another hotel and was seated next to yet another beautiful unaccompanied young woman. She wanted to discuss the style of worship in her Toronto mega-church! I told her about my encounter at the boxing card. She said her girlfriend was there with her boyfriend, but got ejected for punching a Mexican in the face after he shoved her Puerto Rican boyfriend!

Now I'm a lifelong bachelor who has always appreciated surprise encounters with lovely single women. But these 3 amazing encounters made my vacation feel like I was accompanied by a joyful God who wanted me to chill out and have a relaxing good time. We can truly find God in unexpected places.

 

[Winken]

A Pastor in Las Vegas.
Still vacation there?

 

[JonLV]

I live in Vegas and although you can easily find debauchery almost anywhere you go, there really is a fantastic Church community here, and plenty of Church based outreach groups/programs.

I have lived in many places and have gone to numerous Churches in my life, and have never found a Church I love as much as the one I belong to here in Vegas

 

[2Timothy2:15]

On my first vacation to Las Vegas, I encountered God's grace in 3 coincidental experiences. (1) I made the long walk by all the hotels, but when I reached the CircusCircus from the Tropicana (my hotel), I felt dizzy from the heat and walked into the CircusCircus to cool off at the Poker Bar. I must confess that I didn't feel terribly spiritual at the moment and wondered if God was displeased with my vacation choice and successful first foray into gambling. Then God responded to my worry!

A beautiful young black woman (about 25-30) sat next to me and seemed somewhat depressed. She opened up to me, complaining that her boyfriend had been verbally abusive to her. She asked me what I did for a living and was shocked to hear that I was a United Methodist pastor. She then mentioned that she used to sing in her United Methodist choir and originally wanted to train as a physical therapist, but gave up her plans and her church after her boyfriend got her pregnant. I assured her that our God is a God of second chances and urged her to dump this guy, rejoin her church choir, and chase her dream of becoming a physical therapist. God seemed to be speaking to her through me because she then asked, "Are you one of those angels in disguise that the Bible talks about?" I laughed and assured her that I doubt angels would be as red-faced from heat exhaustion as I was.

Then a sleazy looking guy who had been watching our interaction walked up to us, pointed at me, and shouted, "Honey, I've seen his kind before and you can't trust any line guys like him are peddling!" I was too old for this lovely young woma and at first was offended by his rudeness, but quickly realized what an outsider must imagine I was promising her to get in her good graces so easily. I was richly blessed by this chance to witness and by God's sense of humor.

(2) Then I bought a ticket to my first and only world championship boxing card at the MGM Grand Arena. The championship bout featured the boxing idols of Mexico and Puerto Rica and the crowd was dominated by both ethic groups. Before the card was about to begin, there were scuffles and fans getting drunk everywhere. Again, I wondered if God approved of my presence there. But then God spoke again.

Sitting in the row right behind me were 2 unaccompanied beautiful young women. I thought it strange that they would attend a fight card without their husbands or boyfriends. But when I eavesdropped on their conversation, I was flabbergasted. They were discussing at length what they thought was wrong with their former United Methodist Church and were comparing the style of worship, Bible studies, etc, of their UMC church unfavorably with their new church, which happened to be Joel Osteen's! I couldn't resist turning around and telling them that I was a United Methodist pastor and found this critiques fascinating and very insightful. They laughed their heads off at this coincidence. Then when the first fight began, the ref didn't see a low blow from one boxer and these girls cussed out the ref like sailors! Once again, God seemed to be saying to me, 'Relax! I am present everywhere and can use you anywhere if you are open to being used." Again, I was struck by God's sense of humor!

(3) The next night I attended a magic show at another hotel and was seated next to yet another beautiful unaccompanied young woman. She wanted to discuss the style of worship in her Toronto mega-church! I told her about my encounter at the boxing card. She said her girlfriend was there with her boyfriend, but got ejected for punching a Mexican in the face after he shoved her Puerto Rican boyfriend!

Now I'm a lifelong bachelor who has always appreciated surprise encounters with lovely single women. But these 3 amazing encounters made my vacation feel like I was accompanied by a joyful God who wanted me to chill out and have a relaxing good time. We can truly find God in unexpected places.

So much wrong with this story it baffles the mind.

 

[Deadworm]

My favorite vacations are those where I find unexpected delights like my 3 encounters described in my post. What also made my first trip to Vegas special was my breakfast at the Belaggio. I never realized that an arid place like Vegas can have flash floods. After breakfast, as I descended the escalator, guys in suits were egging drivers on to drive down the ramp and plunge in the flood created by a flash rainstorm that left 4 ft. of water over much of Las Vegas Blvd. Some cars were foolishly bated into doing so and were temporarily trapped in about 4 ft. of water. I waded back to my motel, amazed that this was even possible.

Btw, I'd extend that conclusion and claim that if you ever tour Israel or Greece to see the holy sites, prepare yourself to surprised by how your prior expectations are shattered by what really moves you and does not. In Greece, the highlight was walking the Vie Egnatia, a Roman stone road leading up from what was the port of Neapolis, the prettiest harbor in Greece. I walked over the very stones which Paul and his companions walked en route to Philippi and the adventures and success he had there in converting the first European converts to Christ. As I walked, I felt like the spirits of Paul and his companions were walking beside me and I was in awe of how momentous their trip to Philippi proved to be. I was more moved on that trail than I was by the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem!

In Israel Capernaum (and Peter's house there) and the Garden Tomb were letdowns probably because Capernaum was too crowded and touristy and the Garden Tomb's identity as Christ's actual tomb is doubtful. But there were 2 unexpected highlights that really packed a spiritual wallop:

(1) the traditional location where the risen Jesus cooked breakfast for the fishing disciples and Peter jumped in the water to get to shore (John 21), A huge round stone is the traditional site of Jesus' campfire and a lovely, if tiny, chapel has been built over it to commemorate this Easter encounter. Now I wouled have said that there isn't enough evidence that this is the correct site, but my experience there was unexpectedly electrifying. Was the Holy Spirit telling me that this was the correct spot after all? I don't know, but it seemed that way.

(2) The other unexpected highlight was Sepphoris. My friend and I shamelessly kinda highjacked our tour to explore Sepphoris instead of the center of Nazareth. Why? Because in Jesus' day Sepphoris (a short 3-mile walk from Nazareth) had a population of c. 25,000, whereas Nazareth had only about 300-400 people. Joseph and Jesus would have spent much of their professional lives selling their carpentry goods in the marketplace at Sepphoris. Sepphoris is a huge archaeological site with a vast area of ruins, including a recently discovered ancient synagogue, whereas Nazareth is mostly medieval in its ruins. The market place had an ancient aqueduct and I could imagine Jesus and Joseph at one of the booths there.

Also "the Mono Lisa" of Galilee uphill from the Sepphoris market place is an absolutely stunning masterpiece that is dated from the first to the 3rd century. It is a beautiful female face that just might be a face that saw Jesus! It is like a photo, and yet, is a tile painting on the floor of a villa dedicated to the Greek god Dionysus. Once a year, it was believed that Dionysus changed water into wine and that myth is apparently what inspired Jesus to replicate that miracle (John 2). Click here to see her face:

mona lisa of galilee - Bing images