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.