Street Stories - A Ringside Seat To Over 4 Decades Of Taking Jesus To The Streets Of The World

I must admit, I felt a little weak in the knees, standing so close to what had essentially become a burial ground for 2,600 innocent souls who had been killed, victims of the murder-suicide mission carried out upon our nation. There was an uncommon stillness in the air. My family has always referred to me as “Papa razzi” because I take so many pictures of everything I come across. As we were at Ground Zero, I felt we were standing on hallowed ground. I felt as I never had before, knowing so many of the loved ones depicted in the missing posters I had seen in the city, were buried nearby. Even though I am famously known as Papa-razzi , and I had a perfectly good camera in my hand, I could not bring myself to take even one picture, feeling to do so would be sacrilegious, dishonoring to these innocent Americans who died so tragically and way too soon. I couldn’t do it. This was such a somber and moving moment. We lifted up prayers and asked for His grace to abound. I was asked to preach the message during the Sunday morning service at Abounding Grace Church, a wonderful Spirit-filled church in the Lower East Side. Dot had bought me a shirt to preach in that was red, white and blue, with flag-like stripes on it. In the midst of all the tragedy in the city, we played raucous music, sang and lifted up the Lord. When it was time for me to bring the message to the crowd at the church, I went to the pulpit and preached a message the Lord had given me out of Ezekiel 37 – “ Can these dry bones live? Can God breathe life into this City, this Nation, this world that desperately needs new life in Jesus? The answer was, Oh Lord God, thou

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