Jimmy rolled over in his bed and listened.
“Then Peter went on and laid the gospel down for everyone who was listening. He told them about how God sent Jesus of Nazareth to them, and they crucified Him because their hearts were hard, but it didn’t matter because Jesus rose from the dead to prove He’s their Lord and Messiah! And look at what the people did.
“The people said, ‘What’re we supposed to do?’ and Peter told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah, and then their sins would be forgiven.
“You see what he did? He told them the gospel, plain and simple, and they responded. He witnessed to them.
“Do you know what witnessing is? Witnessing is telling what you know. Like if you saw a car accident, you’d act as a witness—you’d tell the police and the court what you saw, what you know. That’s what Peter did. He told them what he knew. And they responded by asking how they could know Jesus the way Peter did. And look at verse 41. Do you see that verse? Three thousand people were added to the church that day! Three thousand—all because Peter took the time to share the gospel. He could’ve made all the excuses we make—about how we’re tired or embarrassed or don’t want to be pushy. Did Peter care? No! He obeyed Scripture, called on the power of the Holy Spirit, and explained his faith, and three thousand became believers.”
Someone knocked on Jimmy’s bedroom door.
“Yeah?” Jimmy called out.
“Just making sure you’re up,” his mother said. “We don’t want you to be late for school.”
“Okay,” Jimmy said and sat up. The preacher had finished speaking, and an announcer was telling about booklets listeners could order. Jimmy turned off the radio and got ready for school.
It would be his first day there as a new Christian, and he wanted to make it count. If Peter could bring three thousand people to their knees, Jimmy could at least do the same with a couple of kids. One way or another, he was going to make an impact.
And he did.
The morning at school slipped past in a blur of history, English, and math. Jimmy and Tony were in different classes, so he didn’t get to see him until lunch. Tony was sitting with Brad Woodward when Jimmy walked up to their table.
“Hey, Tony,” Jimmy said as he sat down.
Tony and Brad stopped their conversation to look at Jimmy. “What’s up, Jimmy?” Tony said.
“Not much,” Jimmy said. That was one of their normal exchanges, like when adults say “Hi, how are you?” and the other says “Fine” even if he isn’t fine.
“Brad and I were just talking about Saturday night at Allen’s Pond,” Tony explained. Then he said to Brad, “Jimmy couldn’t go with us ’cause he was in trouble and had to go to church. Right, Jimmy?”
Jimmy answered, “Yeah, well, I—”
Tony continued saying to Brad, “Did I tell you that Jimmy’s all religious now? He’s gonna grow up and be one of those TV evangelist guys.” Tony and Brad laughed.
“Cut it out, Tony! I am not,” Jimmy said.
“He’ll have to paint his hair white and get sweaty and talk in a REAL LOUD VOICE,” Brad added.
“He’ll have to buy a white suit,” Tony said with a laugh.
Jimmy wondered if Peter had to put up with this kind of junk. “Don’t be stupid,” Jimmy said.
“I still think you’re just pulling something to get out of trouble with your parents,” Tony said.
“No, I’m not,” Jimmy said.
“Then come on, tell us what happened,” Tony said.
Jimmy thought back to what the preacher had said that morning: Witnessing is just telling what happened, and then three thousand could be saved. So Jimmy sent up a quick prayer for the Holy Spirit to help him make Tony and Brad fall to their knees and become Christians right there. He began, “See, I went to church the other night, and I thought it’d be really boring, but it wasn’t. We played games, and then Dave, one of our pastors, talked and said that—”
“What kind of games?” Brad asked.
“I don’t know,” Jimmy answered impatiently, “dodgeball and stuff. Shut up and listen, will you? Anyway, Dave told us how we all live in this world, but there’s another world that God lives in, and so God sent Jesus to this world to—”
“So Jesus was some kind of astronaut,” Tony teased. “A UFO.”
“No,” Jimmy said. “But, see, He came over and dressed in skin and stuff so He could be like us.”
Brad raised his hand as if he were asking a question in class. “How did He put on the skin?” he asked. “Did it have a zipper up the back, like the monster in Creature from the Black Lagoon?” He and Tony laughed again.
Annoyed, Jimmy folded his arms. “He was born, you idiots! Don’t you know what Christmas is all about?”
Tony smiled and said, “It’s about a big tree and presents and Santa Claus.”
“Maybe Santa Claus was Jesus in disguise,” Brad said with a chuckle.
“Will you quit fooling around?” Jimmy pleaded. “Do you wanna know what happened or not?”
“Yeah, but skip the history lesson,” Tony said.
“It’s not a history lesson, it’s part of the story,” Jimmy said. “You have to understand why He came! See, we’re no good, and God is perfect, so Jesus had to come and die so that we could be with God. We can’t go to the other place unless we’re made perfect, kinda like Jesus is and…and…”
Tony’s and Brad’s blank expressions told Jimmy he wasn’t making any sense at all. Why couldn’t he say it the way Dave did? Why couldn’t he sound like Peter? Why were Tony and Brad giggling? I’ll bet Peter’s audience didn’t giggle, he thought.
Tony burst out laughing. “I wish you could see your face,” he said. “You don’t even know what you’re talking about!”
Tony and Brad laughed harder, then harder still.
“I do, too! You just don’t understand!” Jimmy protested.
They kept laughing and making more jokes about Santa Claus, aliens, other worlds, and everything else Jimmy had tried to say.
It wasn’t supposed to happen this way, he thought as his emotions twisted up and nearly squeezed tears out of him. They’re supposed to understand and say yes to Jesus just like me. Why don’t they?
Finally, he grabbed his tray of food and stormed off to another table.
Jack, Oscar, and Lucy were sitting together as Jimmy passed their table. Jack called out, but Jimmy ignored him. He wanted to ignore everyone. He couldn’t stand the thought of being laughed at anymore.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Monday After School
AFTER SCHOOL, JIMMY avoided Tony and went straight home. He was still moping about what had happened at lunch, but in case he was asked, he had worked out an excuse about rushing home to finish building a model of a ship. His dad had given him the model two Christmases ago, and it was still unassembled in a box at the top of his closet, but Jimmy ran home anyway.
It nagged at Jimmy that he had prayed for the Holy Spirit to help him—just like Peter—and they had laughed at him anyway. He couldn’t understand why they didn’t want to say yes to Jesus the same way he had after hearing Dave.
In his room, he paced and tried to figure it out. He wished—no, it was really a prayer, though Jimmy didn’t realize it—that he could talk to somebody who understood how he felt. At that moment, he thought he was the only person in the world who had ever become a new Christian and was teased about it.
His mind went back to the ship model, so he climbed up on a chair to pull it down. As he pushed and lifted various games and boxes of long-forgotten toys, something caught his eye in the corner of the shelf. It was the Bible his grandmother had given him—the one with his name embossed on the front cover. He grabbed it, climbed off the chair, and threw himself onto his bed. Dust flew from the book’s jacket. The binding cracked as he opened it. On the inside, his grandmother had written:
For Jimmy,
Do not let people look down on you because you are young, but b
e to them an example in your speech and behavior, in your love and faith and sincerity. (1 Tim. 4:12)
Love, Grandma B.
Was this the answer to his wish-that-was-really-a-prayer? “Don’t let people look down on you,” it said. “Be an example in your speech and behavior.” Is that what God wanted him to know? He couldn’t be sure.
Then Jimmy thought about his grandmother. He suddenly felt a longing to talk to her, to see her. She had always acted as though Jimmy would become a Christian one day, and now that he had, he wanted to make sure she knew about it. Had his dad told her? Would they let him call her? Maybe he could go and visit. He wanted to do something.
He remembered once again how his family used to pray together. He wondered how it would feel now to pray—and really mean it. He closed the Bible and crawled off his bed. Getting on his knees next to it, he carefully folded his hands and began, “Dear God—”
Just then, Donna walked into the room. “Jimmy,” she said.
Jimmy instantly fell to the floor and pretended he was searching for something under his bed. “What?” he shouted. “Don’t you ever knock?”
“Sorry!” she said. “What are you doing?”
“I’m looking for something!” he said, still talking loudly from his embarrassment.
Donna looked puzzled. “Oh,” she responded. “Well, Jacob’s here to see you.”
“Jacob Wright?” Jimmy asked as he stood up.
“How many other Jacobs do you know?” Donna said as she walked out. Jimmy heard her call down the stairs for Jacob to come up.
Jimmy was surprised. He couldn’t imagine that Jacob would show up without his father. He wondered what he was doing there. He also wondered what he would have to talk about with a kid who never seemed to talk.
Jacob peeked into the room. “Hi,” he said softly.
“Hi,” Jimmy said.
“I heard you had a hard time today,” Jacob said.
Jimmy knew that Jacob was taught at home by his mom, so he didn’t go to their school. “How did you hear about it?”
“My dad saw Jack Davis at Whit’s End, and he said your friends were teasing you at lunch. You tried to witness to them, huh? They didn’t act the way you thought they would.”
Jimmy stared at Jacob for a moment. “They’re idiots,” he finally said, and all the feelings from lunch came rushing back to him. He felt angry and wanted to cry.
“They don’t get it,” Jacob said quietly as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Maybe they’ll never get it. That’s the way it happens sometimes.
They all make up their own minds. All you can do is what God says to do and try to tell them.”
“But Tony’s my best friend! He was supposed to…to understand.” Jimmy hung his head. “I said it all wrong.”
Jacob smiled. “Just because you became a Christian doesn’t mean you’ll turn into Peter or Paul and be a great preacher right away,” he said. “I know. The same thing happened to me the first time I tried to tell someone about Jesus.”
“Really?” Jimmy asked, brightening a little.
“Yeah,” Jacob confirmed. “I felt embarrassed and mad, and…I thought I might cry in front of everybody. It was terrible.”
Jimmy sat down on his bed next to Jacob. He looked intently at the brown-haired kid who didn’t talk much but came by at just the right time as if he had been sent by someone.
Jimmy realized he wasn’t alone after all. His wish-that-was-really-a-prayer had been answered.
They talked until dinnertime.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Tuesday at School
JIMMY KNEW HE WAS OFF to a bad start at school when, that morning, he found a handwritten note in his desk that said, “Hi, Saint James— Super Christian.” It was Tony’s handwriting.
At lunch, Jimmy decided to eat by himself. Tony and Brad had other plans and sat down with him.
“So, how’s the preaching, Super Christian?” Tony asked.
Brad chuckled.
“Leave me alone,” Jimmy said.
“Oh, come on, Jimmy. Quit being so serious,” Tony said.
“Then quit teasing me,” Jimmy said.
“Okay, Saint James, I won’t tease you anymore.”
Jimmy scowled at Tony.
“We really wanna know more about all this church stuff,” Tony said, barely keeping the smirk off his face.
Brad leaned close and added, “Are you gonna start wearing one of those white collars like the priests do?”
“He’ll wear a blue shirt with a big S in the middle of it,” Tony said. “For Super Christian!” Then Tony sang the Superman theme and stretched out his arms as if he were flying around the table.
Jimmy tried to remember the verse his grandmother had written in the front of his Bible. “Don’t let people look down on you…. Be an example and behave,” or something like that. He stuffed the last of his sandwich into his mouth and got up to leave.
Tony grabbed his arm. “Don’t you wanna pray before you go?” he asked with a laugh.
Brad said, “Isn’t he supposed to dismiss us with a hymn or something?”
Jimmy jerked his arm away and said through his mouthful of sandwich, “Just leave me alone!”
As he marched away, he heard Brad ask, “What did he say?”
Tony laughed again and said, “I think he said to weave him a home.”
Jimmy tried to figure out why Tony was being so obnoxious. Okay, so Jimmy had become a Christian. Why did that make Tony so mean? Just a few days ago, they were best friends. Now Tony acted as if they were enemies. What was going on?
Since there was still some lunchtime left, Jimmy walked out to the playground. On the dodgeball court, he saw Jack and Oscar, with Lucy standing nearby, talking to a group of girls. Jimmy didn’t know any of them very well, except that Jack and Lucy went to his church. He wasn’t sure about Oscar. Maybe he should try to be friends with them now that he was a Christian.
He was thinking about going over to talk to them when he heard an approaching hissing noise, like air coming out of a balloon. He turned around just as Tony and Brad, arms outstretched, raced around him like two Superboys. They hissed through their teeth to make it sound as if they were flying through the air.
“It’s Super Christian!” Tony announced. “Faster than a speeding Bible!”
“Able to leap tall churches in a single bound!” Brad said.
“It’s a bird…. ”
“It’s a plane…. ”
“Go away!” Jimmy shouted.
“It’s Super Christian!” they yelled together as they circled around and around him.
Jimmy tried to move past them, but they stayed with him no matter where he tried to go. “Cut it out!” Jimmy shouted at Tony.
“Super Christian! Super Christian!” Tony said over and over.
Finally, Jimmy had had enough and stuck out a leg to trip one of them. He caught Brad’s foot. Brad spun to the ground, landing in a way that knocked the wind out of him.
Tony nearly tripped over the ashen Brad, but he caught himself in time. He angrily pushed Jimmy. “What’re you doing, Super Christian?”
Tony demanded. “Super Christians aren’t supposed to make people trip.”
“Leave me alone,” Jimmy said through clenched teeth.
“Make me,” Tony said and pushed Jimmy again.
“Go away.”
“What’re you gonna do, cry like you almost did yesterday? Huh, Super Christian?” Tony teased as he pushed Jimmy once more.
Tony’s remark wouldn’t have been so stinging if Jimmy hadn’t felt like crying—but he did. Tony was supposed to be his best friend, and it made no sense that he would act like this.
Jimmy then did the one thing he never thought he’d do. He looked straight into Tony’s face, with its twisted smirk and defiant eyes…and punched him in the nose.
Tony’s expression of surprise burned itself into Jimmy’s memory, but no more so than the way Tony staggered backward, tripped over B
rad, who was trying to stand up, and fell flat on his backside.
The image stayed on Jimmy’s mind even as Mr. Parks grabbed his arm and led him to the principal’s office.
“What did you think you were doing?” George Barclay asked Jimmy as they drove home from the school half an hour later. “Is that your way of bringing people to Jesus—by punching them in the nose?”
“He was teasing me, Dad. He’s been teasing me ever since I told him I was a Christian,” Jimmy complained.
“So let him tease you. Who cares what he thinks?” George said.
“I do. He’s supposed to be my best friend. Why’s he being such a creep?”
George shrugged. “Maybe he doesn’t like Christians.”
Jimmy thought about it, then shook his head. “I never saw him act like this with the other Christian kids at school.”
George was thoughtful for a moment. They drove on. Finally he said, “But the other Christian kids at school weren’t his best friend, were they?”
“Huh?”
“Think about it, Jimmy. You were best friends, and suddenly you go through a change that Tony’s not part of. Since then, he’s been teasing you and picking on you, right?”
“Right,” Jimmy said.
“And now you’re thinking that he’s rejected you, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“And what’s he thinking?” George asked.
“That’s what I can’t figure out!” Jimmy said.
George rubbed his chin. “I’m just guessing—and I’m not trying to excuse what you two have been doing to each other—but…isn’t it possible that Tony thinks you rejected him?”
“What!”
“Sure,” George said. “You’re a Christian now, and you think Tony should come along with you into your new adventure. But what if Tony’s afraid you’re going to leave him behind? Maybe he resents what’s happened to you because it’ll take you away from him.”
“But we can still be friends if he’d stop acting like such a jerk!”
“Can you?”
“Yeah!” Jimmy said. Then he thought about it for a moment and added, “I mean, can’t we?”
Point of No Return Page 5
