Did I ever have a great lunch with Donte! You would be amazed by how much ground you can cover in three hours! Yes, it was a long lunch, but any time we can invest in someone’s life and answer their questions is time well spent.
I met Donte at a store I stopped in one day. He is 25 and is a big, strong guy. I always try to get those guys on my side, just in case I need a bodyguard one day! He also does MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) to stay in shape. No need to make an enemy of him!
During lunch, he told me that he had 87 women on his phone, and 100 percent of them had been sexually assaulted. Donte lets those ladies know that if they ever need help in one of those situations, they can just reach out to him. And he has done that a bunch of times for them. He knows that men are supposed to be protectors. He gets that aspect of being a man.
Feeling Pain
One of the more interesting things he told me is that he cannot feel physical pain. He picked up a knife from the table and made a cutting motion across his arm. He said it would leave a scar, but he would feel no pain. He showed me some of his scars and said he felt no pain from those injuries. As you can guess, that is a very rare condition.
Interestingly, I worked with a young man at a church who was the complete opposite. He felt pain like fifty times more than a normal person. Take your finger and flick it on your hand or arm. Now, imagine multiplying the pain by fifty. He told me how many people in the world have this condition, but I can’t remember the number. But I believe it was fewer than one hundred.
Three different times I saw his condition play out. Once, he was barefoot, and someone accidentally stepped on his foot. Now, you and I know that can be a tad painful, and we also know it will work itself out. But he immediately dropped to the ground in a fetal position and began to foam at the mouth. It literally scares everyone around him. His mother said it takes about fifteen to twenty minutes before he recovers. So, you hang with him and encourage him as his body begins to calm down. Sadly, he always felt so embarrassed by this condition. He was just a teen trying to fit in, but he was different. Super nice kid.
Ghosting
But in continuing to talk to Donte, he said his twin brother had been ghosted. I kind of looked at him like that was no big deal. What I didn’t realize is that there are different meanings for the word “ghosted.” Most people think of it as suddenly ending all communication with someone. They don’t even say goodbye! They just stop all communication.
I didn’t know that another definition for the term is when someone has been murdered. Donte’s twin brother was shot and killed when he was 21. He was “ghosted.”
A year after his brother’s death, Donte tried to commit suicide. He put a shotgun to his chest and pulled the trigger. Yet he was sitting in front of me having lunch that day. He showed me the scars where the balls or pellets hit his chest, right at his heart, but they didn’t penetrate his body. And, no, he didn’t feel pain from the gunshot either! It knocked him back to the ground, but he didn’t experience the kind of pain you and I know should be associated with that.
Daniel 5:23
But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
God holds our breath in the palm of His hands. You, I, and Donte won’t be taking our last one until He says so. But on the day He says so, you must already be born again.
Suffering Consequences
You see, Donte told me he couldn’t feel pain, but as we know, all pain isn’t merely physical.
Psalm 42:11
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
Psalm 77:1-3
I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.
I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.
Job 14:22
But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.
What do you do when pain comes your way? Where do you run? What is that old saying, “You can run, but you can’t hide”? We can try all kinds of things to run away from pain, but we can’t hide from it. What we really want to do is escape that pain and transfer it somewhere else.
Matthew 11:30
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Donte has a five-year-old son. One thing we talked about was that if he had been successful with his suicide attempt, then he would have missed out on his son’s third year of life as well as his fourth year and fifth year. I asked Donte, “Were you glad that your suicide attempt was unsuccessful?” He was very glad.
These are good things to tell someone who is struggling with taking their life. There is so much they are going to miss out on. And, if they do commit suicide, why would they ever think it guarantees that their problems will be over? They still have to meet God one day. Think about the rich man in Luke 16. His problems were just beginning.
The Garden Trick
I had a great opportunity to share the gospel with Donte. We covered everything from sin to repentance, the cross, the resurrection, and the perfect blood sacrifice of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
As we continued to talk, Donte mentioned something very interesting.
When we reached this point in our conversation, Donte began to share some of the rumors he has heard about the Bible. But we’ll cover that in Part 2 of our newsletter on Wednesday.
Until the nets are full,
P.S.
