Crazy for Christ

t was around 9:00pm as I went into the grocery store. I saw a young man pass by and felt like maybe I should talk to him about the Lord, but instead I continued into the store. About 20 minutes later I pulled out of the parking lot and headed home. To my surprise I caught a glimpse of someone walking along side the road. From what I could tell it was the same guy I saw before I went into the store. I had been praying for opportunities and the Lord didn't let me pass on this one. I confess though it was really easy to think of reasons why not to try. How do I even start talking  to this young man who is walking alongside the road late in the evening. Of course from a fleshly mindset it did not seem like a wise move to approach him. I drove around trying to find a good place where I could stop and meet up with him. I ended up parking in a burger king and then initiated as he was walking by.


The reason I shared all these details is to give God the glory because what proceeded could only have been from Him. The young man who's name was Luke ended up praying to receive Christ with me. This did not have anything to do with my ability or wisdom. This was about being obedient to the Spirit even if it seems a little crazy. Luke heart was soft and ready to receive Christ. There are so many opportunities we have each day to share the good news. We may never see the fruit but we are called to be ministers of reconciliation. This is not just for missionaries or pastors but for all believers.


Lord Jesus. Thank you for the privilege of being your ambassadors. Give us your heart and your eyes. Make us willing to be crazy for you so that you receive the Glory.

Amen

The most important work

Recently the Lord has been convicting me of neglecting the most important work of engaging people with the gospel. It is easy to make excuses. I can list many reasons why it's not a good time to talk to people. But God has called us to be His ambassadors. 2 Cor. 5:18 "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ... and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us." He has given us and is entrusting us with His message. This is a awesome responsibility.

Tonight God blessed me with the privilege to talk to Nick. The Lord has been impressing upon the importance of asking Him for opportunities and then being alert to His promptings through out the day. We went to Wendy's to have dinner as a family. Nick was sitting by himself and so stopped and prayed that God would fill me with His spirit. Nick's heart was very soft. He believed in God but acknowledged his feelings of being unworthy to go to heaven. It was a beautiful thing to see that the Spirit was already at work to show Nick his unworthiness. We gave him a connecting with God booklet and got his phone number. He even came back and asked if we had another booklet. Please pray for Nick that he would respond to God's leading and put his trust in Christ alone for salvation. Pray also that Nick would be willing to get involved in a local church where he can grow.

Anger towards Jesus

As I left the supermarket I approached some Giant employees who were on break. I ask if I could share some good news with them. One of the employees who seemed to be in his teens says something like "This better not have anything to do with Jesus." "I will walk away if you start talking about Jesus". This really caught me off guard. I tried to ask him why he was so defensive but he wouldn't let me talk. Then another employee said I am going to have to ask you to leave. You are not aloud to solicit here. I tried to explain that I wasn't trying to sell anything but at this point it was best for me to leave. Please pray for this young man who had a lot of anger towards Christ. This was probably the most opposition I have faced when trying to share the gospel. God reminded me that when I was dead in my sin I hated Christ.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the going to the cross while we were yet sinners. Please humble me and break me so I may truly share the gospel out of love and compassion. May others not see me but you working through me.

Rejection

As I was walking through Target I saw a young man shopping and felt the holy uncomfortable nudge to initiate with him. All I did was hand him a connecting with God booklet and asked if he would be willing to read it when he had time. He facial expressions immediately showed that he wasn't open. He then said that he would take it but he wouldn't read it... when I asked why he didn't want to read it and he said "I have my own thoughts".  This was a subtle rejection and took me by surprise. Am I truly willing to be rejected for sharing the truth? Sometimes I forget that many will reject the truth no matter how nice I try to be. So often I try to be so careful with my words not offend anyone that I actually don't communicate the Truth. . The Truth is offensive. Without Christ we are dead in our sin and under Gods wrath. I have to be honest with God and confess my fear of man and ask him to truly make me unashamed of the gospel so I would truly be able to say like Paul  "I am not ashamed of the gospel,  for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." Romans 1:16. Please pray that God would open this young mans eyes to see that God's thoughts are what really matter and that God would soften his heart to the truth of the gospel.

You never know who your gonna meet...

You never know who your gonna meet walking alongside of the road. As I passed a young man walking alongside the road I felt that Holy uncomfortable feeling. So I ended up pulling over further up the road and waited for him to get to me. In these type of moments I realize just how foolish this would be if it wasn't for a God that calls us to be His ambassadors. If it wasn't for a God who values each individual life he has made. So God you have to take over because this is all about you. As I walk up to greet him I realize that he looks familiar. Over a year ago I stopped and talked to him and his friend outside of the gas station. He tells me that he just was in jail for 10 months and is kicked out of his house because he doesn't have rent money for his dad. Turns out he needs $25 in order to pay his dad so he can go back to his dad's house. I wrestled with what to do for him. So "Joe" ends up coming with me to bible study tonight and God provides the $25 he needs. On the way home "Joe" says that he really enjoyed the bible study and was glad I met up with him today. He wants to come back and also visit our church. What an amazing God we serve!  You never know how God can use you in someone's life, ... even a random guy walking along the side of the road.

Divine appointment at Wal-Mart...

Tonight God blessed me with the chance to talk to someone as I was walking around at Wal-Mart. I asked him if he was at peace with God. He began to tell me that even though he believed in God and accepted Christ,  he wasn't making God top priority in his life. He even acknowledged that he only seemed to pray when he was in need. Clearly God was already working in him by convicting him of these things. It was such a blessing to be able to encourage him in his faith by giving him a Bible and praying with him. He also seemed interested in coming to church Sunday night and possibly checking out our bible study on Thursday. It is amazing how I doubt God time and time again even after interactions like this. How easy it would have been to just pass by and not engage this young man. But God met us inside Wal-Mart. God can use us anywhere at any time. If we would just trust Him. God is bigger than our fears or even our cultural norms. Who would talk about God while they were looking for Icy Hot at Wal-Mart? Right.

The man sitting by himself across the room...

Tonight after bible study I saw a man sitting by himself across the room. We meet at a sports bar so there are usually always people around to talk to. I prayed and God gave me the courage to respond to that Holy uncomfortable feeling so I went and talked with a man named Huey. Soon into our conversation he tells me that He is a Buddhist. He was very kind and allowed me to share the gospel with him. After I was done he shared his beliefs with me. After he finished I asked him several questions about his faith. Once question especially seemed difficult for him to answer. I asked if there is any concept of forgiveness in his belief system. He paused for a while and went on to explain that somehow your good works can outweigh the bad things you have done. After listening more I realized that his belief system did not have a good answer to the problem of sin. Jesus Christ is the only solution to the sin problem!  Please pray that God would open Huey's eyes to see the truth that Jesus is the only Way.

Two are better than one

Today my family and I spent part of the day at Seaworld. I was praying for a chance to initiate with someone to share the gospel.  My amazing wife reminded me of a very important lesson about evangelism. Two are better than one. It has been a while since I have had someone with me while I've tried to initiate spiritual conversations. Her feedback made me more aware of my need to be direct and to speak from the heart. I had fallen into a certain patterns and approach's where I would just kind of go on autopilot.  Each person is different and we constantly need to be relying on the spirit. There is a reason why Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs.

The discipline of sharing

How can I share the gospel with power and zeal if I am not believing the gospel myself? As I drove home tonight after an attempt to talk to a couple who was leaving Wallmart, I realized how often I detach sharing the gospel from my own heart. How pitiful would it be if I committed my life to sharing the greatest news ever without truly believing and trusting that it applies to me.  I am not saying that I should only share when we feel a certain warm fuzzy feeling but rather that I would be honest with God about the condition of my heart.  As I commit to share daily I am finding that verbalizing this good news acts as a guard against apathy and unbelief. Being active in sharing my faith is just as important for me than the person I am sharing with.

Who is Jesus?

I started walking towards a couple who were standing by their car because it had overheated. As I began to talk to them they shared that they were muslim.  We ended up talking for over an hour.  Tark grew up catholic and later on became a muslim.  Needless to say he had a very interesting perspective. We mainly discussed the differences between their view of Jesus versus the the Christian view.  It reinforced how the scriptures saying that the  "WORD was God" (John 1) radically changes everything.  It was a blessing to talk to this couple.  Please pray that Jesus would reveal himself to this couple.  I got their contact information so pray also that we could talk more.

Preach the word, be prepared

 "I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead  when he appears to set up His Kingdom: Preach the Word of God. Be prepared , whether the time is favorable or not."   2 Timothy 4:1-2

I have been humbled and challenged by Paul's charge to Timothy.  Being in full time ministry I am supposed to have this evangelism thing down, right?   Well just in the few interactions I have had recently I have become aware of just how unprepared I am at times to use God's word.  Also I have noticed that just like with anything else the more that I engage people with the gospel the more alert and sensitive I become.  While at the same time when I don't actively share my faith the more unprepared and out of shape I am.

Today I approach a couple in the park. Joseph was 23. Sorry I can't remember his friends name.  I approached them by saying "could I share some good news with you that changed my life?"  After sharing I bit of my story along with the gospel they both said that they had accepted Christ at some point.  Although they both talked about going to church and having family that is religious rather than more of a personal experience.  They seemed ready to move on so I said goodbye.  As I left I felt I wondered if I had correctly handled God's word.  Did they really understand what it means to truly give their lives to Christ?  Was this just something they grew up hearing at church but not really experiencing life change?  Please pray that this couple would truly understand the gospel.

 This challenges me to be prepared and to preach the Word whether the time is favorable or not.

Just do it

One of the biggest ways that the enemy keeps me from being faithful in sharing my faith is overthinking.  How should  I approach them?..or maybe this isn't the right person?..they don't look like they would be open to talk. All these thoughts can rush through my mind and can keep me from just doing it.

As I went to Walmart tonight knowing that I was intending to share the gospel with someone I was feeling confident. But as soon as I parked the hesitation began. Then I was convicted of my lack of faith and reminded of the encouragement my wife gave me before I left.  Through the power of the Holy spirit I was able to have two encouraging conversations right outside Wall-mart.  The Lord blesses our willingness to step out in faith even when we feel uncomfortable..