A Gospel of John and Wal-Mart

(I was going to post about gospel tracts next – but was excited about this and wanted to share it)

While getting ready to run some errands at Wal-Mart, I was “loading my pockets”: wallet, cell phone (clips on belt), breath mints, keys – and my pocket New Testament. Instead of the New Testament, though, I decided to get a Gospel of John and a million dollar bill to go with it. I hadn’t ever given out a Gospel of John as a tract before, and thought I would give it a try.

When I was ready to check out at Wal-Mart, the lane I ended up in had a middle-aged woman with a crew-cut hairstyle running the register. I thought, “There is no way she’ll be receptive to a tract, and DEFINITELY not a Gospel of John.” Whenever I am giving out a million dollar bill tract at a store while I’m paying for merchandise, I always make sure I get the tract out AFTER I’m done paying. This time, while I was signing the credit card slip, I asked the checker if I had ever given her a million dollar bill before. She said no – but expressed interest in getting one. I asked if she liked to read – and she said she loves to read. I said that was great, because I had a Gospel of John in my pocket that had a million dollar bill in it. I pulled the Gospel out and gave it to her. She was happy to receive it – and thanked me for it! She had a huge smile and was starting to look through it right then (and there were several people waiting in line!).

I was amazed at her reception – when I had already convinced myself that she would reject the Gospel.

And yet, in thinking back to the outing, I missed several opportunities to hand out other tracts because I didn’t have enough in my pockets. I had had a key copied at Wal-Mart, and was helped by a very friendly older gentleman back in the automotive section. In addition, the lady that had been helping a long line of automotive customers had just finished with everyone in the line right as the man was finishing making the keys – I could have easily shared some gospel tracts with both of them.

For anyone else that is interested in some Gospel of John’s (www.pocketpower.org) – I got mine from the Pocket Testament League. They have a number of different Gospels of Johns; although I didn’t care for a number of the various covers (one was a lighthouse, and made me think of a certain cult that hands out religious “literature” to people). I had found a plainer cover that shows loaves of bread and is titled “Bread of Life.” They send out the gospels for free, but ask for a donation to cover their shipping costs, and obviously they appreciate donations to cover the printing costs as well. I had ordered Gospels to have at the Fair about a month ago. I put in an order for 60, and the fulfillment costs were $12 (which translated to $.20 per gospel); I donated an additional $12 to cover the cost of the printing, so my total cost per gospel was $.40.

If you decide to join the Pocket Testament League, please put my “member” number (224553) in when you sign up. Supposedly, there is a way that you can see how many gospels you’ve given away on the site, and if other people join using your referral number, you can see how many THEY have given away. It sounds like an exciting way to witness “multiplication” (much like the claims that multi-level marketing makes – but without the cost, and with the benefit of the gospel being shared!!).

The Pocket Testament League strongly encourages their members to order 30 gospels a month and then give one away per day. They also have an Evangelism Boot camp that is available through e-mail and is something I’ll probably sign up for.

An update, and totals from the Fair...

This has been a quiet week for me. I came down with a cold following the Fair (I was drained physically and not surprised that I caught something!) and have been resting.

I was excited to be able to share the gospel with a customer service rep on the phone last week. We had ordered a product for our business, but then were called and told the order was on “verification hold” until I called back in to authorize the order. I called in and authorized the order (took 10 minutes on hold, and then 1 minute of talking), and then spent about 10-15 minutes sharing the gospel with a lady who admitted she was headed for hell, but claimed to be a Christian, and also wanted to run her life as it is. I shared with much compassion and gentleness, but was also very direct with her, to the point of telling her she was defaming the name of Christ by claiming to be a Christian while choosing to run her own life. At the end of the call, I could tell she was under heavy conviction. I said I hoped I hadn’t ruined her day, but that it was something she needed to deal with, and she said it was absolutely the case and she thanked me for sharing.

Meg asked about totals from the Fair. I just talked with my brother this evening and have some updated totals. I don’t have a problem sharing specifics since this is an anonymous blog :-) and even if I had underwritten the entire project (which I didn’t), the Lord would get the credit for it anyways – not a person… If this is a help to you in considering such a project – it’s worth it to share it.

Booth at the Fair: $150
8x3 vinyl banner: $80
3,100 soda’s/waters: $775
(the prices varied, but the average price per drink, with tax, was probably right at $.25)
1,000 balloons: $60
4,000 tracts: $350
42 x 20 pound bags of ice: $150
Coolers: borrowed from believers
10 x 10 canopy: borrowed from a church

Total: about $1,500

(there were other expenses, like overnight freight for some tracts because we thought we were running low, but the above represents the major expenses)

Even though we are one family, there are a number of us that are working to support families, so everyone contributed to the project. There were also several other brothers in Christ that wanted to participate financially in the project (one even let us use his pickup truck for the week for transporting coolers – and that was a huge blessing).

While no one surrendered their life to the Lord while we were talking with them at the Fair, there were quite a few who were under heavy conviction and said they were going to get right with God. We don’t push people to “say a prayer” on the spot – if we had simply pushed for that we would have had a number that were willing to say a prayer to get their “ticket to heaven”. However, we were encouraging people to repent of their sins, believe in Jesus, and give Him control of their lives – and that’s a serious thing for a person to do!

I wonder how many people are reading this blog and perhaps haven’t even given full control of their life to the Lord. I had been “saved” for a number of years before I finally gave control of every area of my life to the Lord. In looking back I can’t even say for sure when I was saved. Was it when I prayed, or when I was finally willing to yield everything to Him?

Meg also asked about tracts, their history, and their effectiveness. I’ll likely be posting about that in a few days…

Final County Fair 2006 Report

What an incredible week. The Lord worked in a mighty way, and sustained us through the late nights and hot weather. Today, as the Lord's day, has been a wonderful day of worship, rest, and recovery.

Friday was a much busier night. The temperature was more moderate (lower 90's, but as soon as the sun had set it was very pleasant), and the crowds were quite large. We probably gave out about 750 sodas and/or waters. The goal was to give each person two tracts with each soda (although some people already had received a certain tract, and we gave them a different one; or, a parent might stop by with several children and the parent was the primary one to receive a tract).

Again, I did hundreds of balloons for children and a number for teenagers.

We had more opportunities to speak one-on-one with people. The wonderful thing was that the tracts we handed out focused on whether we are "Good People" in God's eyes. By handing those tracts out, we could immediately start a conversation with the person about being a good person, or, the next night, if they said they had already received a certain tract, we could ask if they read it, and if they were a good person.

The days seemed to run together, but Friday and Saturday brought even more opportunities to share one-on-one. I recall several instances being able to share with teenage boys about salvation. One had started asking about unicorns in the Bible, and then after we talked about unicorns, we branched into salvation (check out AnswersInGenesis.org for more information about Unicorns in the Bible). He said he didn't truly know the Lord, even though he had prayed when he was younger and occasionally attended church. We not only talked about salvation and the gospel, we talked about what it means to surrender our lives to Jesus - and give Him control of everything. In essence, we were "counting the cost" of surrendering one's life to Jesus.

A lot of groups were even open to the gospel. Sometimes we'd be able to run through the "Good Person" test with four or five people. We had a few people get upset and storm off (one Pastor's son, partway through the "Good Person" test - which he was failing - threw his unopened soda to the ground with such force that it burst and then stormed off saying in disgust "Jesus is my Savior and I don't need any of this!" - wow)

Friday night I got to talk to a "goth" couple. They had walked by the booth a number of times throughout the week and refused drinks a number of times. Finally, late Friday night, when I offered them a balloon they stopped and said "sure." Turns out the girl had young twin sisters and was interested in two identical balloons for them - and they accepted sodas and tracts while they were there.

We haven't figured out the total's for the week: I estimate:
- 2,000~2,500 sodas/waters
- perhaps 4,000 gospel tracts
- opportunity to share individually with perhaps several hundred people

One incredible example of how the Lord works in hearts was in relation to the booth that was next to us. On one side we had a sporting goods store that had several ATV's on display. On the other side there was a water purification company. I don't believe they were actually selling units, but they were giving out free pens and asking people to sign up for a gift card and a free water test kit. It appeared to be a mother and teenage daughter that were working at the booth, along with others at different times. The daughter was not dressed in a Godly fashion.

I'm not sure we had any interactions with the daughter the various nights of the fair (other than giving her a soda and tract), but on Saturday afternoon she stopped by to talk with my sister and sister-in-law. She shared that the previous week they had been at a different Fair and had been next to a ministry of some sort, and that she was becoming convicted about her sin and an eternity in hell. Then, she was amazed that we would be directly next to her at this Fair. Turns out, simply by being next to her those nights at the Fair she was feeling the heavy conviction of the Holy Spirit. She said one of the nights she had a breakdown of some sort - and she had a question for my sister. Was it possible for her to accept Jesus as her Savior but still live as she wanted to?

We believe that one of the biggest reasons for our "success" throughout the week was that we were not affiliated with any church, and were not "funded" by a churches advertising budget. We had a number of people ask what church we were with, and they were always surprised to find out that we were just a family with a desire to share the gospel, and were providing the refreshments ourselves. People that were from churches received the regular "salvation" tracts as well as a special tract for Christians.

The County Fair – First Three Evenings

Wow – what an experience! I had no idea what to expect, and the Fair has lived up to that expectation.

We’ve been at the Fair Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. Each evening we arrived about 6:00. We’ve left at various times…

Tuesday and Wednesday were VERY hot (as we arrived at the Fair Wednesday the temperature was 104 degrees). We have an awning, but I’m usually standing in front of it so I get a bit of sunshine until the sun sets about 8:30. Thursday evening was cooler – but was also raining! Yet it was only sprinkles, and they stopped after an hour or two.

We gave away about 400 drinks on Tuesday evening, and probably about 1,000 tracts. And yes – everyone was right – we quickly ran out of water. We brought a much larger percentage of water on Wednesday evening and gave away close to 600 drinks (and probably 1,500 tracts). It’s funny to watch little drink carts drive up and down the main walkway advertising $1 soda’s/water – while we have them for free.

We’ve had lots of opportunities to share the gospel. Besides giving out tracts with drinks as time permits, a good portion of my time each evening is spent in front of the booth making balloon animals and hats for children. It definitely helps draw people to the booth! I’ll usually give the children a tract with the ten commandments in it (designed for children) – and always make sure their parents are OK with it (I have yet to have any parent say “no” – they are always grateful!).

Despite spending most of my time making balloons, I still had opportunities to personally witness to several people on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. One evening I noticed a young fellow with his girlfriend standing in the walkway outside the booth – talking. I walked over and asked if they had ever gotten a million dollar bill. Neither had, and they both wanted one. I said it had the million dollar question on the back, asking whether they would spend eternity in heaven or hell. We kept talking and I was able to share with them for about five minutes.

One thing we’ve noticed is that a lot of the young people have short attention spans due to the excitement all around. It’s hard to interact with a group of three or four at once because they are always looking around.

Thursday evening was absolutely incredible. Due to the rain and cooler temperatures (about 30 degree’s cooler than Wednesday evening!) the attendance was lower, and less people stopped by for soda or water. However, we still gave away 200-300 drinks and a lot of tracts. We stayed later Thursday evening, and I kept doing balloons while they took down the awning and packed up the coolers.

What was amazing was the teenagers that then showed up! The carnival was shutting down (along with all the booths), but I don’t think they wanted to go home yet. I started doing balloons and sharing the gospel with a group of kids – and continued doing so for the next hour or so. I had a group of between 5 and 15 kids almost the whole time, and there were different ones (most would get a balloon, talk for a while, and then move on).

I gave out all the tracts I had in my apron pockets, and more after my younger brother showed back up (they had hauled everything to the van and were waiting) and fetched some more tracts. I found a more effective way to keep a group of teenagers involved in the balloons: make them all balloon hats, but work on the hats in a random fashion. I’d start by getting everyone one balloon twisted in the base hat shape – and put it on them. Then, as we kept talking (I went through the good person test with a number of the groups), I’d keep adding balloons to the various hats. Girls usually got flower hats, and the guys usually got wild and colorful "crazy hats".

In talking with one group, one of the girls said she had tried to commit suicide when she was younger, and that her father is in prison (for drugs) and her mother lives in a different state. A young fellow shared how his friend recently died. Amazing opportunities!

Some of the young people said they would stop by our booth this evening for a free soda and to talk some more.

If you want to learn some basic balloon twisting, get Balloon Magic - by Marvin Hardy. Amazon has used copies available for $2 or $3. The book is incredible. I use some of the basic shapes, and then do some additional hats I’ve learned elsewhere.

Then, go to T Myers web store. Order several 260 blaster pumps (they are very durable – but you’ll want to always have a spare.

Then, go to the list of Balloons.

I usually get the Qualatex 260Q carnival assortment (bags of 250 cost about $12), as well as Yellow Bee Bodies.

That’s all you need to get started!

Yet another customer service opportunity…

I needed to call a bank today and order some checks. A routine phone call; I was on hold for a few minutes, and then a few minutes with the customer service rep. In fact, I spent more time answering security questions than I did actually ordering checks!

He concluded the main part of the phone call with the usual question: is there anything else I can do for you?

I said I was set, but that they must be quite busy this morning because I’d had to wait on hold a few minutes. He agreed, and said that their managers were offering them overtime opportunities – which he enjoyed.

I then said that, I didn’t want to take his time on a busy morning, but I did have one other question for him, but that it wasn’t related to banking. He said that wasn’t a problem at all, to take whatever time I wanted and go ahead. I asked if he had ever taken the good person test and he said that he hadn’t.

We then had a good time going through the test. He definitely considered himself to be a good person. He was familiar with the ten commandments, couldn’t name them all, but felt he had kept most of them. He admitted to lying, stealing, blasphemy, and anger (murder of the heart). He said that if he died, and God judged him based on those commandments, he would be guilty. Then, he acknowledged he would be headed for hell – and that it concerned him.

I was once again amazed that, in a few minutes, a banking phone call had turned to an opportunity to witness, and the young man I was speaking with had just acknowledged his guilt before God and the fact that he was headed for hell.

Turns out he has a Bible at home, and occasionally reads it. I didn’t ask if he attends church, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he does. And yet, here is a nominally religious person that is headed for hell! What a travesty!

I wonder how many people read my blog that are in the exact same condition as that young man. Perhaps you also occasionally read your Bible. Perhaps you know a number of facts about God, and about Jesus. Facts will not save you. What you need is a Savior – and yet you must be willing to repent of your sins and believe (with all your heart) on Jesus. Then you must be willing to obey Him!

Repentance is a key aspect of salvation (not only feeling sorry about ones’ sins, but TURNING from them):

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out …

Acts 17:30 … but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

(Keep in mind that baptism doesn’t save a person, but is something that a believer chooses to do after they are saved as a public demonstration of what has happened in their heart. For example, the thief on the cross wasn’t baptized, yet he went to heaven because he repented and trusted in Christ. Not only was the thief not baptized, but he didn’t take communion either!)

As I talked with the young man and encouraged him to get right with God, the idea of hypocritical Christians came up. I shared Matthew 7:21-23 with him (which says people that claim to be Christians but haven’t been saved by Jesus and don’t have a transformed life as a result – are headed for hell) and he agreed. Although he did say that he doesn’t follow anyone, but is his own person. I said that one of his biggest challenges in surrendering his life to Jesus would be that he would have to lay down his will. I said that if he were to study the times in Scripture when people came to Jesus, they always had to be willing to surrender what was most important in their lives. What was fascinating was that the young man agreed with me – but wasn’t ready to get right with God yet.

Since we had already discussed the gospel, the rest of the call we stayed focused on the importance of not delaying our salvation. We talked about trees (once they are bent, it is very difficult to straighten), and how a life that is lived in sin will result in a hard heart – a heart that may not be willing to repent at the end of one’s life (assuming one lives to an old age).

At the end of the call, when I said I hoped I hadn’t taken too much of his time, he said “not at all”, and thanked me for sharing with him.

I pray that he will surrender his life to Jesus before it is too late. If not, he’ll have an eternity in hell to think back to this conversation when he was given the gospel – and yet rejected it. (it’s an interesting study – and perhaps I’ll write about it later – but several Scriptures give an indication that people will have memory in hell and part of their torment will be recalling their life and the way they rejected Christ)

I almost hung up?! But then the Lord opened the door…

I called to deal with financial software package that had renewed automatically without notifying me. I talked with rep about ways to be notified next year before the renewal (this particular software package has been known to raise their payroll service rates between 50% and 100% in any given year!)…

She had a little bit of an accent, so I suspected she was working in an overseas call center. I worked at speaking very clearly and distinctly while I was on the phone with her.

Afterwards, she asked if I would be willing to take a short customer service survey. I asked (kidding her a bit) if we would win anything as a result. She patiently explained that it was a survey for customer satisfaction and that it only took a little while. I said that would be fine, I don’t mind taking short customer service surveys.

I prayed for the Holy Spirit to open a door, and if the opportunity presented itself, that the Spirit would convict her of sin, righteousness, and judgment. (John 16:8 And when he [the Holy Spirit] is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment).

I then asked if she had just a minute before her next phone call came in because I had a question I wanted to ask her – but said it didn’t relate to business. She was curious and asked what the question was. I said it was a little test, and there was a moral at the end. I said if she had to go at some point it wasn’t a problem, and that it only took a few minutes.

I then asked if she had ever heard of the “Good Person” test. She paused, and hesitantly said she hadn’t. I said it was simple enough, and starts out asking if she would consider herself to be a good person. She paused, and then said “Yes, I would consider myself a good person.”

I said that is how most people view themselves… I asked if she was familiar with the ten commandments. She, again, hesitantly said she was (either she was apprehensive about the call or the possible language differences were causing her to think through each question before she was able to answer). I normally ask if a person feels they have kept all of them, some of them or none, but this time I started right into them.

She started to say that she couldn’t recall all of them, and I said it didn’t matter – we weren’t going to talk about all of them – just a few. I said the 9th commandment is that we are not supposed to lie; I asked if she had ever, in her life, told a lie, a half-truth, or an exaggeration. She had. I said I had done the same. “If we’ve both told lies, what would we be called?” I think the language barrier surfaced as she wasn’t able to quickly come up with the word, so I rather quickly supplied the “liar” term, and she readily agreed.

I said the 8th commandment is that we are not supposed to ever steal from others. I asked if she had ever, in her life, taken something from someone else without permission, even if it was something small, like a cookie from her parents or a toy from a sibling. She said she had done so – when she was young. I said I had done the same. I didn’t ask for the term, but said that we would both then be called “thieves” (and she agreed).

We talked a little about the 3rd commandment (taking God’s name in vain) and she said she had never done that – so we moved on.

Next was the 6th commandment: murder. I asked if she had ever killed someone, and she said “no” (and laughed – usually, when I ask the murder question it is a light hearted moment). I said that was good, but said there was bad news: God created us and knows our hearts and our thoughts, and that if we are even angry in our hearts towards someone God sees it as murder of the heart. I asked if she had ever been angry with others, and she quickly said yes.

I then summarized everything – saying that people would see her as a good person, and she obviously does a good job at her work, but that God would look at her heart (or mine), and see someone who is a lying, thieving, murderer at heart.

I asked if she were to die tonight and God judged her based on those ten commandments, as He says He will, would she be innocent or guilty. She said she would be guilty.

I then asked if she, being guilty, would spent eternity in heaven or hell.

She responded that God would make that decision. I readily agreed with her, but said that God, just like any fair judge and legal system, has told us exactly how He will “rule” when our case comes up. Ezekiel 18:20 – “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

I asked her if she was in the United States or another country – and she said she was in a different country. I said that her country surely had a justice system that had laws and consequences for breaking them, and that the judges were required to give out consequences. She said they did. I said that if she did something wrong in her country, even if her father was the judge, he would still be required to pass judgment on her and give her a consequence. She agreed (and I could tell, was understanding the analogy)… I said that is how it is with God. As a good Judge He is required to pass judgment on those that sin.

We talked more about the consequences of sin, and I asked if she had a Bible. She did, and used to read it when she was a student, but now with her job she was too busy. I encouraged her to get back into the Word to discover what Jesus has done for her so that she doesn’t have to spend an eternity in hell.

I outlined the plan of salvation for her, and was careful to stress the importance of surrendering her life fully to Christ; of repenting (stopping) the sinful activities that she was involved in and following Christ with her whole heart – not as so many hypocrites who go to church on Sunday but live like the world the rest of the week and are unknowingly headed for hell.

Matthew 7:21-23 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

We talked for several more minutes, and discussed several more analogies. When I felt the Spirit saying that enough had been shared, I said I was ready to go on to the customer service survey anytime. She then asked me for my e-mail address (I thought maybe to e-mail me the survey – which I had thought was on the phone) but she went on to say that she might have a spiritual question for me. I said that would be great as we have a web site with a contact form, and that my sister is probably about her age, or that my mother would love to help answer her questions.

I had also asked her if she had any Christians that she knew who were true Christians (and not hypocrites). She didn’t know of any. I asked if she knew of any Christian missionaries or pastors near her – and she said she had a friend who was a missionary in Africa. I encouraged her to get in contact with the missionary and ask her any questions she had.

I can’t fit the whole 10~15 minute conversation into a blog post – but this is the majority of it.

I was amazed at how close I came to simply saying goodbye to her and moving on to the customer satisfaction survey – without taking the time to try and share the gospel. How wonderful to see the Holy Spirit working in a heart, and to be able to the channel He used.

I wonder how many customer service phone calls I have ended without trying to share the gospel. Will their be people in hell because I didn’t take the time to share?

What about you – are you sharing? Do you have a faith to share?

The upcoming County Fair!

Our County Fair is coming up in a few weeks. The Lord put it on my brother’s heart to have a booth and give away free soda and gospel tracts. He’s asked if the rest of the family will help he and his wife at the booth. It sounds like a great opportunity – and we’re all excited. But, WOW, there are a lot of details to work through.

The first challenge relates to the soda. What type, and how much. A fountain is out of the question because we won’t have a water line, and it would be too expensive to rent. The Fair is expecting 17,000-22,000 people during the week – but we expect only 1 in 10, or 1 in 20 to be willing to accept a free soda (people will wonder what the catch is). The next choice was either 2 liter’s or can’s. The can’s are nice in that we then don’t need cups or ice to go in the cups. So, we’re planning on can’s.

The next problem is how to chill so many cans. We thought about trying to chill the cans, then put them into coolers with a layer of ice in-between. Then we realized that the old house that is on the property next to us (that the Lord provided for us earlier this year) has a refrigerator – and we could take that out to the fair. By taking all the shelves out, and stacking carefully (but, even then, we’ll have to have spacers between each layer to allow air circulation), we figure we can get about 200 cans in the fridge. By filling the fridge each night, we’ll have a cool supply the next evening. We can also put about 50-75 in the freezer, and estimate they’ll be cold in 1.5 to 2 hours, and then can move them to the fridge. We’ll still bring a cooler, so that we can take cans out (in batches) of the fridge, put them in cooler (with some ice), and serve from there.

A lot of logistics – and still lots to be done. We need to make sure we have A LOT of good tracts. I also need to look at my balloon animal supplies. If things get slow, I can always draw children by making balloon animals (and then the others at the booth can offer soda and tracts to the adults). Also, we’ll need a banner designed and printed up for the booth…

One big question is whether people will accept free soda’s. Another idea we have for next year (depending upon how this year goes), would be to pay for a food license (our current license for this year isn’t a food license – so we can’t sell food – but we can give it away!) and then sell soda’s at cost. While most people may not want to accept “charity” (in a free soda), a lot of people may be willing to buy an ice-cold soda for $.25, or even $.20. If we get a food license, we’ll be put in the food court, and we might end up making some of the other food vendors upset if we’re selling cheap soda’s. I don’t think they’ll be bothered this year since we’ll be in a different area, and we’re not sure how many people will be aware that we’ll be giving out soda’s.

We’ve already started praying for hearts and repentance and salvations during that week. May the Holy Spirit work powerfully in hearts!

I’ll post updates as the Fair draws closer and then during and/or after the week.

Passing out some tracts…

I haven’t had a tremendous amount of opportunities to share the gospel lately (although, that does bring up the issue of “am I waiting for opportunities to fall in my lap or am I out making opportunities?”)… I’ve been quite busy with work, and haven’t been out and about much.

The times that I have been out I’ve usually remembered to carry tracts.

I needed to replace my bicycle tires and inner tubes, and had ordered the needed parts online. I then proceeded to spend three hours one evening trying to put the new tube and tire onto my bike. I have never had such a tight tire! I even broke a plastic tire iron trying to get the tire on. I then figured I would take it down to the bike store and see if they could do it. Not a problem – they said – and it’ll only cost $4 a tire! What a bargain… I dropped off the two tires on a Saturday. On Mondy afternoon I called, and they said the tires would be ready in ten minutes. I gave them closer to thirty, and when I showed up they were fighting them. It took two technicians an hour to get the two tires changed. They stuck by their estimate and were only going to charge me $8 – but I gave them $20. (how does this relate to the gospel?!?) After paying them the $20, I asked the fellow at the register if he ever been given a million dollar bill before. He said he hadn’t – but was very interested in one. I gave it to him – along with another gospel tract – and he was very grateful.

I walked out of the store and got in my car. In front of my car, sitting on bench in the shade, was a fellow with a cane. I grabbed four tracts and went over to him. I asked if he’d like something to read and gave him the tracts. He said “thanks”. I told him they were gospel tracts from the Bible, and weren’t weird or from a cult. He thanked me again and started reading them as I drove off.

I have to continually challenge/remind myself of the importance of passing out tracts during routine errands. It is very easy to give out tracts to a number of people while running errands. And yet, it is far more comfortable to NOT give out tracts, and to NOT risk rejection (it is definitely not pleasant when the checkout person tells you - and everyone else backed up in the line - that they don't want your tract). However, if all believers were to pass out a few tracts every time they are out of their house and running errands - think of how many people would hear/read the Gospel message?

Starting a conversation - and sharing the gospel...

Last month we were on the road traveling. I’ve been needing to write out some details of an exciting opportunity the Lord gave me – and I finally have a few minutes.

We were in a large city in Colorado for a conference. One evening we had some time after the conference, and we met up with another family at a restaurant for dinner. The adults sat at one table, and the children sat at another long table/booth area nearby (there weren’t enough seats for us all to be together).

As the meal was about over, I got up to go chat with some of the children and see how they were doing. I noticed an older gentleman had sat down near them – but was eating alone. I went over near him, but started by chatting with the children a bit about the meal. I then turned to him and said that I hoped the children hadn’t bothered him at all. He said they hadn’t.

I chatted with him a little about the area, and us being from out of town. We talked about the restaurant a bit, and then I gave him a few gospel tracts, and we started talking through the “good person test” – he was very open and interested. Turns out, he’s been a nominal Catholic all his life. Yet after going through the commandments (and acknowledging guilt), he admitted that he was headed for hell! I was able to share the gospel with him – and spent about 15-20 minutes sitting and talking.

When we were wrapping up the conversation, he said he believed God had sent me to talk with him that evening. I agreed, and said I felt the Lord was working in his heart and trying to get his attention. I encouraged him to get right with God before it is too late – as this could be the last time God tried to get his attention (Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man…). He again thanked me for sharing, and I headed back to the “adults” table to rejoin the conversation.

I was reminded, once again, of how important it is to ALWAYS be seeking to start conversations with strangers. Not every conversation will turn into an opportunity to share the gospel. But, by starting a conversation, one at least has A CHANCE to possibly share the gospel – whereas, by NOT starting a conversation, there is NO CHANCE at all to share the gospel.

That's Up To God!

I was on the phone recently with a business phone call. At the end of the call I decided to attempt to share the gospel. The person had a few minutes, and so I started through the good person test (I let him know that there was a moral at the end – so he wouldn’t be too concerned about the leading questions).

The phone call was to a company that values security, so all telephone calls are recorded (occasionally you could hear the beep in the background).

As we went through the commandments I was surprised when he admitted to having committed adultery. Following the commandments, I asked the summary question (if you were to die, and God were to judge you based on the ten commandments, would you be innocent or guilty). He said that would be up to God to decide.

I said that he had, unfortunately, just made it really easy for God, because he had just admitted to breaking four out of the ten commandments. God wouldn’t even have to review (as He will) this man’s entire life, but could simply replay this one conversation and he would have an admission to the breaking of God’s commandments. So, I then asked again, if he were to die, and God judged him using this phone call as evidence, would he be innocent or guilty – and he admitted guilt.

I was then able to share the gospel with him, and encouraged him to be reading his Bible every day, and to get right with God before it is too late.

The Church Security Guard…

While we were at a conference last month, I had an interesting witnessing opportunity. The conference that we were at was a Christian conference, and was being hosted in a large Christian church.

Partway through the conference the Lord put on my heart that I should be attempting to share the gospel with some of the staff that were helping at the conference, several of whom appeared to be lost (obviously, we can never judge one’s salvation, but, we do know from Scripture that the fruit of one’s life testifies as to whether they know Christ, and when one sees a person that blends in to the world and doesn’t appear to have any fruit of the Spirit, one tends to suspect the person doesn’t know Jesus).

Near the front entrance there was a desk, behind which sat an older gentleman, who was the conference security guard. At one point I had a few minutes and stopped by the desk. I started the conversation by asking some questions that I genuinely wanted to know about: had he ever had anything exciting happen while he was working as a guard (they’d had several people at different conferences or worship services faint); was the job boring; did he enjoy his work; etc. I then segued into the gospel by asking him if this was just his job, or if it was his church as well. He said it was both.

I We chatted about the church a bit, and then I started into the good person test. I was surprised when he felt he had kept the ten commandments! We went through several of the commandments: lying, stealing, blasphemy, and adultery – which he readily admitted to. I then asked if he were to die, and God judged him based on those ten commandments, as He says He will, would he be innocent or guilty. He said it depends upon how you look at it.

I said God has told us how he’ll look at it, and that we just went through four of the commandments and he was guilty of breaking them all, so if God judged him based on just those four commandments, would he be innocent or guilty. He finally admitted he would be guilty. I asked if he would go to heaven or hell, and again he hedged!

Here was a church-going man, who admitted to breaking the commandments, but didn’t appear to have any clear idea about true salvation, heaven and hell, and from what Jesus had redeemed him.

Instead of pressing the point of heaven or hell we then talked about the false hope that many have. Those that would claim to be Christians but aren’t. We talked about the various court-system analogies (confessing one’s sin, trying to live right, and doing good works) and how such strategies are useless when it comes to our eternal destiny. He agreed with everything.

I then shared the gospel with him – which he also agreed with.

I was concerned for his soul as he appeared to know some things about God in his head, but it didn’t appear to have changed his heart!

All in all, we had an excellent conversation (he enjoyed our talk as well!) and he definitely heard the entire gospel: from breaking the commandments to what Jesus has done for him.

Two rejections, and then a request for the gospel…

We went to the City Mission today for a lunch chapel service (we help with the service the second Saturday of each month – when we aren’t traveling). We brought all of our instruments to do a special music (something the men seem to enjoy each time). I played the piano during the worship time, and then my brother preached during the message.

After the chapel service, the men go through the food line. Since the chapel is basically the dining room, they return to their seats/tables to eat. We always bake homemade cookies to give out to the men, and will give each a gospel tract with the cookie.

About 75 men were present. One or two turned down a cookie, and between 5 and 10 rejected the tract.

One gentleman, as he came through the line, said “You don’t want to hear me respond to that thing” (referring to the gospel tract). I said it would be hard to respond to something he hadn’t read, and he went on with some of the most bitter, angry words I have ever heard. His heart was as hard and cold to the gospel as any I’ve ever met before (except perhaps one other person at the Mission earlier this year). I’m always surprised such men come to a Christian Mission and sit through an hour worship service, considering there are other Missions in the area that are not Christian Missions!

After everyone had gone through the meal line and the tracts were passed out, I tried to move around the room talking with the men. It is often very hard to start a conversation, and I tried to get several conversations going – but didn’t get far.

I started chatting with one gentleman about the oranges he had chosen for lunch. We (or I) talked a bit about food, when all of a sudden he asked, “Why are you talking to me?” I said the goal was to have an opportunity to talk with people and, if they were interested, to share the gospel. I asked if he was a believer, and he said he believed in himself. I asked if he believed in God, and he said he absolutely didn’t want to talk about that. I said the burden of our heart was to share the gospel with men, and that was why we were there, but if he wasn’t interested in talking, he didn’t have to. He said he definitely didn’t want to talk.

I was a bit discouraged following two very strong rejections in such a short time. I, once again, tried to start a few other conversations but they went nowhere.

As I was walking back across the room a fellow waved me over to where he was and said he needed to talk. I thought, “Oh, no – I wonder what this is all about.” Generally, at the Mission, every time in the past that someone has waved me over and wanted to talk, they have always wanted to argue and debate, or had special needs and wanted to personally ask for money.

We sat down at an empty table and he started sharing with me. He’s struggled with drugs and alcohol. He has two children with his girlfriend. He recently lost his job. The gas was turned off at their house that week, and his girlfriend kicked him out. He stopped by the house earlier that day to get his church clothes (he attends a local church and even plays bass guitar during worship), and his six year-old daughter told him that she needed to say goodbye because her mother had said that would be the last time she would ever see her daddy. He says he was completely shocked (it was like a knife to his heart), but all he could do was hug and kiss his children and say goodbye.

I asked if he thought perhaps God was removing everything from his life in order to get his attention, and he said he felt that was what was happening. He felt, right when he heard those words, that he had truly come to the absolute end of it all. Despite being in church all his life (and being a part of the worship team), he said he doesn’t truly know Jesus.

We went through the commandments, and he genuinely understood and admitted guilt to each one we discussed (as I admitted guilt to as well). When I asked if he would be innocent or guilty before God, he said he would be guilty. When I asked if he would go to heaven or hell, he said that he would definitely be going to hell. I asked if that concerned him, and he said it absolutely did.

What a blessing, following two very cold rejections and many failed attempts at conversation, to have a person hungry for the good news of the gospel! It was a joy to share with him about Jesus – and yet this man has been in church all his life and knew much in his head. But he, as I had done for many years, had lived a hypocritical life. Claiming on the outside to be a Christian (and appearing that way to some degree to others), but not having freedom in his heart.

We read through some of the Scripture relating to salvation, as well as Matthew 7:21-23 about those that will think they are headed for heaven but will find out they aren’t. I encouraged him to seek Jesus with his whole heart, to repent of his life of sin, to surrender all the idols in his life, to reconcile with the people in his life that he has wronged, and to be in Scripture all day, every day, as he seeks the Lord. I was able to give him a New Testament, and show him a chain of Scriptures that deals with salvation. I encouraged him to read the book of John over and over again, and to seek to know Jesus.

It was special to pray with him – and to commit to continuing to lift him up in prayer. I’m praying that the Lord will continue to work mightily in his life. And not only was I praising the Lord for working in his life, but I was praising the Lord for encouraging my heart by, after two rejections, sending me something that has never happened before at the Mission: an honest seeker calling me over and asking about the Lord (whereas I have started conversations and then been able to share with someone).

Praise the Lord!

Credit Card Fee’s Removed, and the Gospel Shared

I had a credit card for quite some time – and suddenly was hit was a yearly renewal fee. I called to have the card cancelled and the fee removed, and ended up switching to a different credit card with the same company that doesn’t involve a yearly fee (and I was able to share the entire gospel message with the customer service rep!).

It’s now been a month or two, and I received a statement from the company (along with my new credit card) – that showed I still owed the yearly renewal. On top of that, I was being charged late fee’s and interest. I figured the late fee’s would go away, but with another statement I just received I noticed they were still there (although, finally, the credit removing the yearly renewal was finally credited off).

So, I called into the credit card company. We chatted about the fee’s and renewal problem, and the young man helped me deal with the account. He put me on hold for five or so minutes while he straightened out the account. When he came back on, we talked about the rebates I can get with the credit card. When that was done, and we were ending the call, he asked if there was anything else he could help me with. I said there was, but that it wasn’t related to credit cards and was a bit off-topic.

He said he had some time, so I could go ahead. I said if he had another call come in and needed to go – no problem – just let me know. I asked if he had ever taken the “good person test”, and he said he hadn’t. I said it only took a few minutes and had a moral at the end (that way he would know the questions were “leading somewhere” and wouldn’t feel as if I was baiting him).

I asked if he felt he was a good person, and he said yes, but that he also did bad things at times. I asked if he was familiar with the ten commandments, and he was. I said the ten commandments give us a true idea of whether we are good or not.

First commandment we discussed was lying, and he readily admitted lying, but said most lies were to protect people and avoid a problem – not to deceive. The example he gave was if he got home really late, and his mother asked where he had been (and he had been with his buddies at a club or with a girlfriend), he would lie and say something different. I said that was a perfect example of lying to deceive someone, and on top of that, I said that was also breaking the fifth commandment, which tells us to honor our father and mother.

Next we discussed stealing, and he admitted (on a phone line that was being recorded – every now and then you could hear the little beep) he had stolen in the past.

Next I asked about using God’s name in vain. He said he’s done that, although not usually on purpose. We talked about how, even doing it accidentally, is still a serious thing because it shows how little we care for God’s name to let it slip out as a curse word. I shared that doing so was blasphemy.

Next we talked about adultery. I asked if he had ever committed adultery. He paused for a moment, and then asked a question to clarify the meaning of my question, and then said, yes, he had done it. I still went on to share how looking with lust is the same as committing adultery.

I summarized his condition before God (a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer – I didn’t have to say “in heart” because of his acknowledgment), and asked if, when he dies and God judges him based on the ten commandments, if he would be innocent or guilty. He said he would be guilty. I asked if he would then go to heaven or hell, and he said heaven – because God will judge everyone the same. I agreed and said that God would absolutely judge everyone the same – all are guilty of breaking the ten commandments.

He then said he didn’t feel those things were so bad. I asked if he had a Bible at his house and encouraged him to read Revelation 21:7-8. I said that God is so holy that not only will murders and rapists go to hell, but also adulterers (which I realized he was guilty of), thieves, and – the scary part of that verse - even liars will spend eternity in the lake of fire. I also encouraged him to read James 2, where we are told that, even if we could keep all the commandments our whole life, and then break one of them, we are guilty of breaking them all. I encouraged him to then read the gospel of John to see what Jesus had done for him.

Since he was still open and had time, we talked more about what Jesus had done – and how Jesus will give victory over sin. I talked about the cost of surrendering to Jesus and repenting of one’s sin. I gave a few specific examples of things he would need to do when he came to Jesus, and things he would need to stop doing.

We talked about how God has so richly blessed him with life, health, eyesight, friends, and a job – and how, despite all of that, he was purposely breaking God’s commandments, and was using God’s name as a curse word. We talked about the futility of life, and how God will not always “strive with man” (Genesis 6:3 – meaning God will eventually stop bringing conviction to a person). I asked if there were other, true (not hypocritical Christians) in his life that had been sharing with him about heaven and hell and what Jesus had done for him – and he said there were. I shared how patient God was being with him – and yet he was resisting God’s grace.

I then shared how the decision was his and his alone. I encouraged him to get right with God before it was too late. I gave him our web site address so that he could e-mail us with any questions at any time – and encouraged him to also talk more with his friends.

Several times during the call I mentioned that I didn’t want to take too much of his time, but each time, he said it was fine and to go on.

What a blessing to be able to share the gospel while having to call a credit card company about my account!

Another Barber hears the Gospel

I’ve been thinking I need to get my haircut at a different barber, as the barber shop I’ve been two has primarily two barbers, and they’ve both now heard the gospel. However, I didn’t make a decision to go to a new barber – and I’ve been needing a haircut. So, I went to the usual barbershop.

I was doubly-blessed when I walked in the door: not only was the person in front of me finishing up (this shop is walk-in only – no appointments), but it was a different barber than usual! I had forgotten that there were three barbers that worked at the shop on various days. I had never been in on a Sunday or Monday – which are the only two days this barber works.

We started chatting, and after awhile I mentioned a trip that we had been on with our ministry. He asked about the ministry, and I shared that we encourage Christian homeschool families, as well as anyone that is seeking to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a great opportunity to ask if he had a Christian background. Turns out, he was raised in the Baptist church.

I then said he would be familiar with the 10 commandments (he was), and asked if he felt he had kept some of them, none of them, or most of them. He said he had kept them all. I said I’d talked to a number of people and most tend to miss them, but we’d give it a shot and see.

We worked through lying, stealing, blasphemy, adultery (of the heart), and murder (of the heart). He acknowledged guilt in each area – and we had a good time talking about them. I said that when he dies, and God judges him based on those 10 commandments, if he would be innocent or guilty. He hedged… He said he felt that God would decide at that point. I said that he had just made it easy for God by acknowledging that he had broken five out of the five we talked about, and since God is aware of everything, God had just heard his own admission, and could judge his whole life based on that simple admission (without even having to replay his whole life of events). He agreed (and laughed).

I then said that God judges our entrance to heaven based on whether we’ve kept or broken His commandments, and asked if he would go to heaven or hell. Instead of answering, he asked if that was truly how God judges us. I shared the story of the Rich Young Ruler who came to Jesus and asked how he could gain eternal life, and Jesus asked if he had kept the commandments. The young man thought he had, but turns out he hadn’t (funny thing was that, as I was sharing about that, I realized the exact same thing had happened with the barber, first he said he was innocent, and then had acknowledged guilt).

We talked for another ten or so minutes about the gospel. I shared about repentance and surrendering one’s life to Jesus. We talked about being in the Word on a daily basis (which the barber said he does) – but he doesn’t attend church (because he’s usually working). We talked about living a hypocritical life (he’s aware of others that claim to be Christians but don’t live like one).

As we were finishing up, an older gentlemen showed up for his hair cut. A minute later a lady and her three children arrived. Following that, another gentlemen arrived.

I was praising the Lord for the opportunity to share (and I pray the Holy Spirit continues to work in this man’s life) as well as how nicely the timing worked out!

Sharing at McDonald’s

While traveling today, we ate dinner at a McDonald’s in a very small Nevada town (the McDonald’s was the only fast-food restaurant in town (and the others were not normal sit-down restaurants). When we walked in, there were only six customers sitting at tables: two young men at one table and about four young girls at another table (they weren’t together).

I asked the guys if the McDonald’s was the hangout location for young folks – as that was all I saw in the restaurant – and he looked around (perhaps not realizing it was only young people in the McDonald’s). We started talking about the town, and I found out they were there working on a power plant and were only there seasonally, then they would be heading back to their homes in Texas.

After chatting for awhile I asked if they had ever been given a million dollar bill (they hadn’t), so I gave them one, along with an IQ test tract and an “Are You Good Enough to Go to Heaven” tract. As I explained what each one was, we then got down to the third tract. I asked if they had a Christian background – and they said no. I asked if they considered themselves to be good people, and one said yes the other said he wasn’t sure. We then went through the commandments. The one that said he was a good person readily admitted to lying, stealing, blasphemy, and adultery of the heart. The other one didn’t want to admit lying or stealing, and right then his phone rang and he got up to talk on the phone. When I asked if God judged him if he would be guilty or innocent, he acknowledged guilt – but wouldn’t admit to a destination in hell.

We talked for a while about how valuable his soul is (he said he had never really thought about heaven or hell). His friend showed back up, and I brought him up to speed with where we were. The conversation had been lighthearted and fun – and continued to be, although it became a bit more serious as we progressed.

I shared the various methods many people use to try and get to heaven (confessing, being good, or doing good works) and as we talked about each in relation to a court of law, they agreed that those methods don’t make sense. I then shared the story of my Grandfather and his traffic court situation, and they agreed that it was OK for an innocent person to pay the fine for a guilty person.

I shared the gospel with them, and explained what Jesus had done for them, but that it required their willingness to surrender everything to Him. After a bit more sharing, the food was ready (someone else in my family had ordered for me) so I said I hoped I hadn’t ruined their dinner (they said I hadn’t) and I went to eat. While eating, I realized I hadn’t offered them Bibles (they didn’t have any at the trailer they were living in during their work project), so I went back over and asked if they would be interested in having a Bible. They both were. I gave them both a pocket New Testament, and folded down a page where a chain of salvation Scriptures begins; I also showed them where John was.

They were genuinely grateful for what I had shared with them and the Bibles, and waved (from outside the building – I had been sitting at a table with my back to them while they were inside the building) as they left.

I was amazed at how open they two young guys were that appeared on the surface to have no interest in spiritual things.

Three Catholics…

I spoke just last week on the telephone with a young Catholic lady who didn’t know where she would spend eternity. Her hope was that she would, at the moment of her death, be in “sanctifying grace” and able to go to heaven. She had no Scripture reference upon which to base her belief – only the teachings of a church. It’s very interesting as we have known a number of Catholics at the nursing home where we have church – and it has been a very sad to see them due to the lack of hope and Jesus in their religion.

In particular, I remember back to one Sunday morning when we arrived at church. In talking with one of the ladies at the nursing home, we found out that four people had passed away that week (quite a few for a nursing home with 42 residents). Out of the four that passed away, we knew three, and all three were Catholics with no firm hope of heaven.

The first was Robert. Robert was a peculiar person as far as mannerisms and personality, but was probably one of the most intelligent and smartest people I have ever met. His mind was unbelievable, and he must have had a photographic memory. He could remember names and dates for any and all events in recent, and even not-so-recent, history. He didn’t simply know that a particular church in our town had burned down in the past, or that a certain couple had gotten married about 20 years ago – he knew the exact days and more in regards to those events.

He also was a devout Catholic, and loved God. Despite his belief in Scripture as being God’s Word, he wasn’t able to accept and believe what God’s word says. In talking with him one day, I asked him if he knew for sure where he would spend eternity. He didn’t know – but he hoped it would be in heaven. I asked if it would be OK if I shared with him a verse from Scripture – and he was interested. I turned to 1 John 5:13, and read: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” Robert agreed with me that the verse says we can know for sure where we will spend eternity, but he wasn’t able to believe it. Why wasn’t he able to believe it? I believe it was due to his involvement in the Catholic church. I encouraged him that, if he ever wanted to talk more and know for sure where he would spend eternity - based on what Scripture says - to let me know. Over the next few years I shared this verse with him again several times, and although he agreed that the message of the verse was clear – he wasn’t able or willing to find out what I John says we need to do in order to know where we will spend eternity.

Robert was one of the ones that died, and our hope is that he surrendered his life to Christ, and believed only in the finished work of Christ on the cross for his redemption – before he passed away and stood before God and was judged according to his life.

Another one of those who passed away was “Shorty” – a very, very, tiny, older lady who we knew for a number of years. Several times she would ask me to stand and hold my arm straight out from my side, she would then get out of her wheelchair, and show how she could walk under my arm and still have plenty of clearance. I’m about 6’ 2”, and she was probably about 4’ 6” or shorter. However, we found out very quickly, in talking with her, that her words were not wholesome, and even though she was often joking and making light of what she said, we weren’t able to allow the younger children to talk with her.

One particular Sunday, after she had been with us at church, I felt the Lord impressing upon my heart the importance of sharing with her. Since salvation always begins with a knowledge of our own sin, as we talked I asked her what she believed about her past – and if she had ever broken God’s commandments. I shared with her examples of how I had broken God’s law, and asked if she had ever lied, or stolen something, or been unloving to someone. She would absolutely not acknowledge ever committing sin, and became upset and indignant that we would think she – a good Catholic – would ever have done something that would be considered sin. I would have to say that out of all those I have been able to share with, she became the most upset of any.

Generally, I would never share or keep talking with someone who became upset, and yet in this case, my heart was very concerned for her – the person the children weren’t able to talk with because of her foul language. This instance when we talked with her and she was unwilling to acknowledge any sin or wrongdoing on her part over the course of her life was several months before she died. I don’t recall her attending church ever after that point, or having a conversation with her.

We were reminded of 1 John 1:10, which says: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” Our prayer is that Shorty, before she died, repented of and acknowledged her sin before God, and her need of a Savior.

While Robert and Shorty were two that we knew who were a bit unique, Ms. Hannah stood out for being very ordinary. She was a tiny, sweet, grandmotherly lady. Conversation with her was pleasant, and by all appearances she was a moral and upright person. Ms. Hannah liked our family and started attending the church services, but after a few weeks of listening to the preaching (which was from the Bible and addressed issues of our sin, our need of a savior, and other topics) – she stopped staying for the preaching. She would be in church for the singing, but always left when the Word of God was opened.

We hope that Ms. Hannah surrendered her life to Christ before she passed away – as He is our only way of escaping hell.

As J.C. Ryle pointed out – let us not lose hope, as even the thief on the cross was able to be saved at the last moment of his life, but let us not presume upon the future, as it was only one of the thieves that was saved – the other entered eternity without a Savior.

It’s easy to be lazy. . .

I feel I fail in sharing my faith far more often than I obey and share my faith. Lately, I’ve been a bit lazy and have not attempted to share with some of the telephone contacts I’ve talked with – usually it is with a very poor excuse: being very busy.

However, I’ve been purposing to take the time that it requires to share, and just yesterday and today I’ve been amazed at being able to share the full plan of salvation with an open listener on the phone. Each phone call took between 5 and 15 minutes to share with the person, but each one was open and listened. I gave each of them plenty of “outs” (by making sure they truly had time, by letting them know that if a call came in it was no probably to let me go, and by occasionally making sure they were OK) – and they all continued to be interested.

I pray that the Lord will work in their hearts – especially the gentleman I shared with a few minutes ago. He works at the phone company, and helped me renew our contracts on our regular phone line and long distance. Afterwards, he asked if there was anything else he could help me with – and I branched into the “Good Person Test” with my usual comments (“My business is all taken care of, but if you have a minute without other calls coming in, I have a bit of an off-topic question for you: have you ever heard of or taken the Good Person Test?”). He was open to the test, and acknowledged breaking each one (lying, stealing, blasphemy, murder of the heart, and adultery of the heart). He seemed to realize, for the first time, that anger and lust are truly serious sins in God’s eyes. As we then talked about heaven and hell, he said he “hoped to go to heaven” – but it was obvious he wasn’t sure. The sharing from that point on took a different route as we talked about more about guilt and destination – but he was very open. He promised to consider these things, and, when I apologized for taking his time and hoped I hadn’t been “preaching at him” – he said he truly appreciated me sharing those things with him and that he would take them to heart. What a blessing…

Starbucks Coffee Shop

I don’t drink coffee, but some in my family do. While we were traveling this evening, we stopped at a Starbucks Coffee Shop. There were two young fellows having chilled coffee drinks and talking together. I only had one million dollar bill tract with me, but I gave it to one of them and we started talking.

One had recently graduated from his first four years of school on his way to becoming a dentist (his father is also a dentist). The other fellow used to work construction, but is not currently working anywhere.

After talking about the region for awhile, I mentioned the conference we were at was a Christian conference, and asked if they had a Christian background. One had been raised as an Episcopalian, the other a JW. All three of us went through the “good person” test. They were OK with the test, but the mood became a bit more somber.

At one point the young man who used to be a JW did aske me if I believed Jesus was God, and I shared for just a few seconds that that was what Scripture says, and gave a brief example of how Jesus accepted worship, whereas angels never did (Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.) Jesus accepted worship from men – for Him to do so, if He isn’t God, would be blasphemy. Then we went back to the law.

We talked for probably 15 or so minutes, and they both agreed with much of what I was able to share – and I encouraged them to get right with God before it is too late.

As the conversation drew to a close I said I hoped I hadn’t spoiled their evening, and they both said I hadn’t (perhaps they were simply being polite). And yet I did share that while guilt and discussions of hell are not pleasant, they are needful for us all to address.

The conversation was doubly-encouraging considering a young man I tried to share with at a park earlier in the day – and whom had been open enough to talk for a little while, but was clearly not interested. He was an environmentalist that was raised a Catholic. He went through the commandments, but didn’t want to admit any guilt – “his god” doesn’t see things so black and white, and is more forgiving. We talked a little about idolatry, but it was clear he was happy in his own religion… The goal isn’t to argue, and seed cannot be planted on rocky soil (in fact, according to Jesus’ parable, planting in rocky soil will actually result in a false convert that dies out later and isn’t genuine), so hopefully by sharing the law in a loving manner he would have something to think about which might eventually be used of the Lord to soften his heart (so it would no longer be considered “rocky soil”).

Talking with a driver. . .

While driving this morning we ran into some bad weather: snow, strong winds, slipperly roads, and ice. The Lord was very gracious and protected us as we drove. We passed several accidents, including an overturned semi and a jackknifed camper/trailer.

We stopped for lunch, and I started chatting with a gentlemen that was also waiting for his lunch. Turns out, he had been driving a uHaul that morning and had been blown off the road. A rail possibly saved his life as it kept him off of a steep slope. He said he sat in the cab (in the ditch) for about ten minutes after the wreck trembling. I said that it sounded like the Lord saved his life for a reason – and he agreed. I then gave him three tracts: the million dollar bill, the IQ test bookmark, and the “are you good enough to go to heaven”. I explained each one – and he was grateful for them.

Later, as he was heading out the door he thanked me again and said he would read each of them.

Our waitress at dinner tonight was also very grateful for the three tracts...

Another Backslidden Believer (cell phone customer service)

A few days ago we received a cell phone bill that included hundred’s of dollars of overage charges (the bill itself was 30 pages long!). I had to dig out all our recent phone bills and do a lot of comparing and researching to figure out what went wrong. I traced the error back to something we were incorrectly told by the cell phone company on a specific date, and some of it to us using more minutes than we expected (meaning we did owe some!).

I called in and spent quite some time with the cell phone company, politely working through the issues. The main gentleman that helped me took a lot of time to understand the issues, and then spent time working further on the issues to correct them. He called back later that evening (as I was having dinner) and spent another thirty minutes reviewing the final changes with me.

A failure: I was anxious to get back to my dinner and didn’t feel like sharing with him – so I didn’t share. I did ask to speak with his manager and shared with her how much help this individual had been to us.

However, the next day, in the evening, unexpectedly, this young man called back with a further update on the cell phone situation; he shared that all the credits had been approved, and he was going to follow-up with our other phone company to make sure we weren’t charged late fee’s while they waited for the credits to flow through. This time, the Lord put it on my heart to share with him.

As usual, at the end of the call he asked if there was anything else he could help with. I said there wasn’t anything relating to business, but I had a person question for him. He laughed (but was curious), and asked what it was. I asked if he had ever heard of, or taken, the “good person” test. He thought it sounded funny – but said he hadn’t. I again gave the usual “if you’re too busy and need to go, no problem, just let me know” and then started into it. I also gave him a heads-up that there was a moral at the end (otherwise I believe people have tended to feel that I’m “baiting them along” somewhat).

He readily admitted to lying, and even came up with the proper label. He readily admitted to stealing, and came close with the title (first guess was “a stealer?”). He readily admitted to taking God’s name in vain (which I said I hoped had never happened at work! – and he laughed and said, unfortunately, it had). Next I gave him the choice of looking at murder or adultery – and he choose adultery. He was then the first person I have ever had admit to committing adultery (and this was while on a customer service phone call – which could be monitored by his employers!). I still went on and shared how God looks at the heart, and even the thought – in God’s eyes – is a sin before Him.

I summarized his condition before God, and asked if he, when God judges him as He says He will, would be innocent or guilty. His response: guilty. I asked if he would go to heaven or hell, and he said: heaven. I asked why, and he gave one of the most theologically correct answers I’ve heard: because he was hoping (perhaps he said trusting) in the blood of Jesus to cover his sin.

I said that was wonderful (Praise the Lord!) and affirmed his faith with him. Then, I moved on to the follow-up test for believers.

I shared how Scripture encourages us as believers to examine ourselves to see if our salvation is genuine:

• 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

I also shared that anytime Scripture refers to a person’s salvation and walk with the Lord, it never refers to a prayer that was said, but always refers to the person’s way of life:

• 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (and many other verses)

I then asked him, brother to brother in the Lord, if he is currently living as the Lord would have him to live or if he is bound by sin. He paused for a moment, and said that he is bound by sin.

We continued talking for a little while, and I shared a brief portion of my testimony with him. He asked if it would be OK to call back at some point to discuss further – as he said the Lord has been doing quite a bit in his heart and life lately. I absolutely gave him permission and encouraged him to surrender everything to Jesus, and to be reading the Word and obeying it.

I’m praying that – whether or not he calls – God works in this young man’s heart and transforms him into a powerful, dynamic, believer that is not encumbered with sin.

• John 8:34-36:
• 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.