A little over a couple years ago, I was on a flight to San Diego. I was going to see my friend Linda for the last time. She was literally on her death bed with very little time left. Her son asked me if when I got there, if I would read to her out of the bible. He told me his mom wanted him and his siblings to read the bible to her, but said none of them were very spiritual and didn't know where to look. So of course I said yes. So the moment I got on the plane, I was searching through my bible and asking the Lord if He would give me the right scriptures for her.
On the flight I was feeling the pressure of limited time, of wanting to find the right verses and woundering if i'll make it in time to say my last goodbyes. But I kept getting walls. There were so many scriptures I looked up, but in my spirit, I always felt each one I concidered just wasn't it. I was getting frusterated.
There was a man next to me named Tom , i'm guessing in his late 40's. He was an accountant with a load of paperwork and he kept trying to engage in conversation with me the moment I got on the plane. Normally I would love to talk, but this time I was focused on something more important I thought. So everytime he would try to spark conversation, I would be polite, but inside saying, Lord, please let him stop talking to me, i'm trying to find the right verses for Linda. But Tom wouldnt let up, he was very chatty.
After a while with coming up with nothing, I prayed and said, Lord, i'm so confused, why can't I find any verses, will you please help me? And then Tom started talking to me again, and asked what I was doing. I told him politely and then FINALLY it hit me. I thought, this is an evangelism moment. This is what the Lord is trying to tell me, talk to this man, the door is wide open! So then I switched gears and went into witnessing mode.
When I told Tom what I was doing, I then asked him what his beliefs were. He said he grew up catholic but didn't practice it anymore. I told him I grew up catholic too, but now i'm a born again christian.
Tom was a very open guy and had a very curious nature, so I felt really comfortable asking him thought provoking questions, and sharing spiritual truths. At one point he confessed to me a battle he has. He said he's happily married and loves his wife very much, but he battles sometimes looking lustfully at other women. He says he tries not to , but sometimes he just gives in, and then feels so bad afterwards. He asked me if this battle would go away if he became a christian. He was visibly very torn up about this, I could tell it in his voice and his face.
The Lord impressed on my mind to go to Romans 7:7-8:17 . It's the scripture about giving in to what you don't want to do, and then it shows how we can be free from condemnation in Christ. I asked him if he would read it, and he did. I told Tom that I knew christian men that battle with lustful thoughts too, I said your not gonna be perfect when you become a christian, but you won't be a slave to sin anymore. I went on to say,the Holy Spirit that God will give you when you give your life to Christ, will help you not to sin, and help you to be victorous in this area.
I also told him that if Christ is in him, and he does mess up again, that he will grieve the Holy Spirit, but in 1John 2:1-2 it says, My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. He is the atoning sacrifice for sins.
I also told Tom that when you truly turn to Christ and have the Holy Spirit living inside you, you don't want to sin. Sin will bother you, because you will be a new creation. And 1John 3:9 says no one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him he cannot go on sinning because he has been born of God. Again, you won't be perfect, but sin won't be the dominate in your life.
We got on the subject on how to get to heaven and we went through the good test, which again proves that no one is good and we can't make it to heaven on our own. I said when we look at the 10 commandments, we have all broken them either in thought or deed including myself. I went on to explain the bad news.
Then all of a sudden his voice started shaking and he said, then i'm just a piece of s**t. And he kept saying that, how he was a piece of s**t, then he started to cry. I said compassionately, Tom, you are not, and we are all in the same boat, your no different than anyone else, we are all sinners. And the Lord loves you so much that He gave you a way out. God dosent want anyone to go to hell. Thats why God sent His Son to die on a cross, so we can be reconciled to God through Jesus, so we can go to heaven. And look how the Lord put me next to you on this plane so I can tell you this. The Lord wants to tell you the good news.
After a while he totally got it, and then he kept saying how I gave him a breakthrough. I told him i'm so happy that he had one, but that it was the Lord who gave him a breakthrough, by speaking through me. He also kept saying, "what a story to tell, a breakthrough on a plane flight, what a story to tell".
Before he got off the flight, he kept thanking me profusely and repeating with joy on how he got a breakthrough. I kept saying your welcome, but thank the Lord, it's the Lord. He asked me where I got all my information, because I gave him alot of analagies, and talked about science, prophesy, probability, stuff like that in our conversation. I gave him Mark Cahill's website to get the book "One heartbeat away". He also gladly took 3 different chick gospel tracts I had. (www.chick.com) He gave me a hug and said, you'll have no problem on what to say to your friend. I said thanks, but remember it's the Lord. He said, yeah your right, its the Lord.
After Tom got off the plane and I got back in the air, I was replaying in my mind with joy on what just happened. But then quickly my thoughts went back to Linda. I was thinking how my flight was soon to be over and I had no scripture verses for her. Then suddenly I felt this overwhelmingly deep sorrow, and I couldnt stop the tears. The sorrow just kept getting deeper and deeper, like she already died. This pain went on for quite a while.
When the plane landed and was almost to a stop, her son called me on my cell phone and said,"Marsi, she's gone, she died about 1/2 hour ago." Then I realized, that's why I was crying so deeply 1/2 hour ago, the Lord was telling me in my spirit that Linda already died. And that's why I couldnt find scripture verses, because the Lord knew He was gonna take Linda before I landed. My time in the plane was meant for Tom. And man am I glad I talked with Tom!
And the Lord is so gracious, because about 3 weeks before, Linda and I had a really good talk on the phone about alot of things. I didnt know that would be our last conversation, but the Lord gave us one.
Please will you pray for Tom and his wife. When he comes to mind, I wounder how he's doing. Thanks so much!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
My witnessing mess-up's and "persecutions"
It was about 3 years ago when I was learning how to share my faith. I was pretty new at approaching strangers with this, so I had many awkward moments. This one day, I read this book called 23 minutes in hell, by Bill Wiese. It's a testimony on how God sent this christian man to hell for 23 minutes, so that Bill would warn people about hell, and tell people how to be reconciled to God through Jesus, so they don't have to go there.
After reading Bill's experience of hell, I literally felt tramatized. I cried off and on all that day and night. I was just so grieved knowing that there were people right now being tormented in hell without relief, and that there were others that might go there too. After reading that book, I knew that the next day I wanted to go out witnessing.
So the next day, I prayed and asked the Lord where He wanted me to go. He impressed on my mind to go downtown by the courthouse. So off I went.
With the combination of feeling tramatized by the book and being nervous in my inexperience in witnessing, I was kind of a frazzled witness. But I didn't care because I wanted so bad to warn people about hell and share with them how to prevent them from it.
I spotted this man in leathers and long hair. So I walked up to him and gave him a gospel tract and said, "hey, can I ask you a question?" He said, "yeah, sure!" I said, "do you concider yourself to be a good person?" He said," i'd like to think so." He agreed to take the good person test, which shows that no one is good. Which brought me to the topic of how we need to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ so we can go to heaven and not go to hell.
I went on to tell him how I just read this book the night before called 23 minutes in hell and I was giving him details of how horrible this place of torment was, as Bill Wiese described. As I was sharing this info. I started talking faster and faster and in a panicky tone. I felt like a 5 year old that witnessed something tramatizing, that was passionately trying to warn this man of this horrible place.
I was so visibly worried and paniky about this man's soul, that he put his hand on my arm to comfort me, and said in a slow concerned voice, "thank you, I really apprieciate you telling me that."
I know he knew I cared, but after we parted I felt embarrassed that I couldn't control my emotions and how sloppy I felt I explained things.
MOTORCYLE GUY
Another guy I got in a conversation with that day, when we were in the middle of our conversation, I got to the point how no one is good enough to go to heaven, and then I talked about hell and judgment day. Basically I covered all the bad news. Then all of a sudden my mind went blank and I forgot where to go after that.
So I randomly blurted out," hey by the way, you have a cool motorcycle. And then I tried to get in a conversation about his motorcycle. Then I said," hey, I don't want to bother you, i'll let you go, hey take care." And then I just started walking away. He had a look on his face like, What? aren't you gonna finish what you just opened up? It was like doing open heart surgery on this guy, looking inside and saying, "oooh, that dosen't look good", and then taking off and just leaving him hanging. I left without telling him the good news! I felt so bad. I sure hope he read that gospel tract.
MY "PERSECUTION" AT THE AIRPORT
Last year I was handing out gospel tracts at the airport, and I gave an airport employee one. He asked me what it was and I told him. He got all angry and said, "your not supposed to be doing that, that's soliciting, you need to stop!" Confused I said," i'm not selling anything". And I asked him in a non-aggressive way, "is it illegal"? He pointed his finger at me and said, "you need to stop!". And as he was walking away, he kept turning around and saying firmly, "you need to stop!"
I was a little deflated at that moment, but after I watched him fade away and out of sight, I started handing them out again, pretty sure knowing it wasn't illegal. Then soon after, another airport employee walked by and I gave him a gospel tract, and he looked at it and said, "oh, praise the Lord, i'm a christian too, keep up the good work!"
Then I looked up, and I saw in a word the name Mark, and it made me think of Mark Cahill and how he witnesses in airports all the time. I believed the Lord wanted to encourage me with those 2 things so I would know it was okay to keep at it.
CONCLUSION
I know in witnessing i'm not gonna be perfect, i'll mess up, i'll have embarrassing moments, and I won't have pleasant responses all the time, but I think peoples souls are worth all those things and worth fighting for. I'm growing in grace, as I continue sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. And I have to remember that I can't worry about how people respond to me when i'm witnessing, as long as i'm pleasing the Lord in the way that i'm witnessing, then that's all that matters.
I pray no one gets discouraged in witnessing and quits, but that we would keep pressing on and keep planting those seeds into peoples souls, and trust God with the results, even in our mess-ups.
After reading Bill's experience of hell, I literally felt tramatized. I cried off and on all that day and night. I was just so grieved knowing that there were people right now being tormented in hell without relief, and that there were others that might go there too. After reading that book, I knew that the next day I wanted to go out witnessing.
So the next day, I prayed and asked the Lord where He wanted me to go. He impressed on my mind to go downtown by the courthouse. So off I went.
With the combination of feeling tramatized by the book and being nervous in my inexperience in witnessing, I was kind of a frazzled witness. But I didn't care because I wanted so bad to warn people about hell and share with them how to prevent them from it.
I spotted this man in leathers and long hair. So I walked up to him and gave him a gospel tract and said, "hey, can I ask you a question?" He said, "yeah, sure!" I said, "do you concider yourself to be a good person?" He said," i'd like to think so." He agreed to take the good person test, which shows that no one is good. Which brought me to the topic of how we need to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ so we can go to heaven and not go to hell.
I went on to tell him how I just read this book the night before called 23 minutes in hell and I was giving him details of how horrible this place of torment was, as Bill Wiese described. As I was sharing this info. I started talking faster and faster and in a panicky tone. I felt like a 5 year old that witnessed something tramatizing, that was passionately trying to warn this man of this horrible place.
I was so visibly worried and paniky about this man's soul, that he put his hand on my arm to comfort me, and said in a slow concerned voice, "thank you, I really apprieciate you telling me that."
I know he knew I cared, but after we parted I felt embarrassed that I couldn't control my emotions and how sloppy I felt I explained things.
MOTORCYLE GUY
Another guy I got in a conversation with that day, when we were in the middle of our conversation, I got to the point how no one is good enough to go to heaven, and then I talked about hell and judgment day. Basically I covered all the bad news. Then all of a sudden my mind went blank and I forgot where to go after that.
So I randomly blurted out," hey by the way, you have a cool motorcycle. And then I tried to get in a conversation about his motorcycle. Then I said," hey, I don't want to bother you, i'll let you go, hey take care." And then I just started walking away. He had a look on his face like, What? aren't you gonna finish what you just opened up? It was like doing open heart surgery on this guy, looking inside and saying, "oooh, that dosen't look good", and then taking off and just leaving him hanging. I left without telling him the good news! I felt so bad. I sure hope he read that gospel tract.
MY "PERSECUTION" AT THE AIRPORT
Last year I was handing out gospel tracts at the airport, and I gave an airport employee one. He asked me what it was and I told him. He got all angry and said, "your not supposed to be doing that, that's soliciting, you need to stop!" Confused I said," i'm not selling anything". And I asked him in a non-aggressive way, "is it illegal"? He pointed his finger at me and said, "you need to stop!". And as he was walking away, he kept turning around and saying firmly, "you need to stop!"
I was a little deflated at that moment, but after I watched him fade away and out of sight, I started handing them out again, pretty sure knowing it wasn't illegal. Then soon after, another airport employee walked by and I gave him a gospel tract, and he looked at it and said, "oh, praise the Lord, i'm a christian too, keep up the good work!"
Then I looked up, and I saw in a word the name Mark, and it made me think of Mark Cahill and how he witnesses in airports all the time. I believed the Lord wanted to encourage me with those 2 things so I would know it was okay to keep at it.
CONCLUSION
I know in witnessing i'm not gonna be perfect, i'll mess up, i'll have embarrassing moments, and I won't have pleasant responses all the time, but I think peoples souls are worth all those things and worth fighting for. I'm growing in grace, as I continue sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. And I have to remember that I can't worry about how people respond to me when i'm witnessing, as long as i'm pleasing the Lord in the way that i'm witnessing, then that's all that matters.
I pray no one gets discouraged in witnessing and quits, but that we would keep pressing on and keep planting those seeds into peoples souls, and trust God with the results, even in our mess-ups.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Witnessing at work
I'm a hairstylist, so I have a person in my chair for quite a while. I also get the blessing of regular clients, so I get to knowing alot of what goes on in my client's life, which helps me know how to pray for them more specifically. When any client is in my chair, I try to make it a point to pray for them, and ask the Lord for wisdom of what the Lord would have me to say, during our time together.
One of the things I do if i'm not sure if they are a follower of Christ, is I ask the Lord if He would give me something in our conversation, that I can swing to the spiritual with. Yesterday the Lord did just that. My co-worker was talking to her client about a conversation her and her 3 year old son had. Her son was talking about how he wanted to have Jesus in his heart and his mom was explaining what that meant. The other topic her son was talking about was how christmas is about Jesus' birthday. I was really enjoying hearing about the conversation she had with her son, it was so cute.
I then thought, this is a perfect opening to talk about spiritual things. So I genuinely said, awww, that is so cute huh? My client agreed. So I said, oh, are you a christian too? And she said, yes I am. I said, right on. And then she said, yeah I think Jesus should be the focus of christmas also. And then we talked about that topic for a while. Then I asked her how she came to know Christ, as I love to hear people's testimonies and I also wanted to get peace in my heart to see if she had saving faith. And she definately seemed to. We had a great talk about the Lord during our time together.
I've found there's always opportunities to plant seeds of truth in peoples hearts, I just have to be intentional. Sometimes when I'm doing a long service on someone the tendency can be to zone out and think of other things. I'm trying to not do that, but instead take the amazing opportunity I have, to be used of the Lord in my words, being a good listener and be praying for my client when we run out of things to talk about.
I try not to worry about what i'm going to say when I bring up spiritual things, as I know the Lord always gives me the right words to say. I pray alot when i'm sharing Christ with someone, as only the Lord knows what they need to hear at that moment.
Alot of times the Lord will give me lawyers, professors, people that are super smart, and I pray something like this in my head when they're talking, "Lord, what in the world do I say to this person and how do I respond to this string of highly educated words this person is spewing out?? I'm not that smart!" And the Lord will give me a thought on what to say and it's usually very simple, but then they're stumped. I'm so thankful I don't have to be a theologian to witness. I have the Holy Spirit inside me that tells me what to say!
Please will you pray I would always try to make it a point to be intentional at work and that I would use every opportunity to be a good witness for Christ to my clients and to those around me. Thanks so much!
One of the things I do if i'm not sure if they are a follower of Christ, is I ask the Lord if He would give me something in our conversation, that I can swing to the spiritual with. Yesterday the Lord did just that. My co-worker was talking to her client about a conversation her and her 3 year old son had. Her son was talking about how he wanted to have Jesus in his heart and his mom was explaining what that meant. The other topic her son was talking about was how christmas is about Jesus' birthday. I was really enjoying hearing about the conversation she had with her son, it was so cute.
I then thought, this is a perfect opening to talk about spiritual things. So I genuinely said, awww, that is so cute huh? My client agreed. So I said, oh, are you a christian too? And she said, yes I am. I said, right on. And then she said, yeah I think Jesus should be the focus of christmas also. And then we talked about that topic for a while. Then I asked her how she came to know Christ, as I love to hear people's testimonies and I also wanted to get peace in my heart to see if she had saving faith. And she definately seemed to. We had a great talk about the Lord during our time together.
I've found there's always opportunities to plant seeds of truth in peoples hearts, I just have to be intentional. Sometimes when I'm doing a long service on someone the tendency can be to zone out and think of other things. I'm trying to not do that, but instead take the amazing opportunity I have, to be used of the Lord in my words, being a good listener and be praying for my client when we run out of things to talk about.
I try not to worry about what i'm going to say when I bring up spiritual things, as I know the Lord always gives me the right words to say. I pray alot when i'm sharing Christ with someone, as only the Lord knows what they need to hear at that moment.
Alot of times the Lord will give me lawyers, professors, people that are super smart, and I pray something like this in my head when they're talking, "Lord, what in the world do I say to this person and how do I respond to this string of highly educated words this person is spewing out?? I'm not that smart!" And the Lord will give me a thought on what to say and it's usually very simple, but then they're stumped. I'm so thankful I don't have to be a theologian to witness. I have the Holy Spirit inside me that tells me what to say!
Please will you pray I would always try to make it a point to be intentional at work and that I would use every opportunity to be a good witness for Christ to my clients and to those around me. Thanks so much!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
2 women outside a tavern
November 28
All day today, I was asking the Lord who He wanted me to witness to. I felt either I missed opportunities, or I didn't feel led to any particular person. Well now it was 9pm and I needed to go pick up my daughter at her boyfriend's house.
Before I left, I was looking over my sunday school lesson for the next day. There was a set of questions that said this: How do you confess Jesus to those around you? Do you confess both through your words and actions? Do your teenagers see you do this? Set an example for them of confessing your faith both by what you say and by what you do.
After I read that, I felt like the Lord wanted me to witness to someone with my daughter there with me. So off I went to pick her up. I arrived to the small town about 9:30. I found it interesting how quiet the town was on a saturday night. The only people I saw were 2 people at 2 separate gas stations , and a bunch of people standing outside a tavern smoking cigarettes.
I parked the car, then started walking near the tavern, but then I chickened out and just walked on by. I thought, uhhhh, should I do a U turn? Then I thought, no, i'll get my daughter first and then try it again with her with me.
So I picked up my daughter, and when we approached the tavern I started handing out gospel tracts and got in a conversation with a lady. As I was in the conversation with her, I glanced over and saw a woman that my daughter and I went on a mission trip with 4 years ago. I said her name outloud (being a small town, I want to keep her name anonymous) and I said, i'm Marsi, remember me? The Hong Kong trip? And then she recognized me.
We we're all happy to see each other again, and we gave each other hugs. She said, so what are you guys doing? And I told her that I like to hand out gospel tracts and share the good news of Jesus Christ wherever i'm at. Then I realized that the lady I was talking to at first was the friend she came with.
As I continued witnessing to her friend, she also was explaining spiritual truths to her and adding on and agreeing with things I was saying. And what she was saying was right on. Her friend ended up walking back inside and then her and I started talking. She told me she regretted going to the bar with her friend and that she felt convicted to match her walk with her talk. She also added that she needed to get plugged into a womans bible study or something, she knew she really needed that.
I encouraged her to do that and told her that we need to stay connected with other christians to stay strong. I was saying how we can't be lone wolves, or we'll fall and that we need each other. I shared with her how that was a huge area I had to work on over the years because I tend to be a lone wolf. And we both agreed that who we hang around, we start becoming like. After our conversation, she gave me her number and told me to call her. I plan to.
Please pray for her that she would connect with some strong believers and that she would be in the world but not of it, and that she would be a witness to her friend and want to live her life as an everyday missionary.
And will you please pray for her friend for her salvation. Her friend had mentioned at one point that her daughter is going to Moody bible institute to be a missionary. I could'nt help to think that her daughter has probley been praying for her mom and that I was possibly one of the answers to her daughters prayers. I know I pray all the time that the Lord would put people in my children's lives to speak truths to them when I can't be there.
And also will you pray that I will be a good example to my daughters. Thanks so much!
All day today, I was asking the Lord who He wanted me to witness to. I felt either I missed opportunities, or I didn't feel led to any particular person. Well now it was 9pm and I needed to go pick up my daughter at her boyfriend's house.
Before I left, I was looking over my sunday school lesson for the next day. There was a set of questions that said this: How do you confess Jesus to those around you? Do you confess both through your words and actions? Do your teenagers see you do this? Set an example for them of confessing your faith both by what you say and by what you do.
After I read that, I felt like the Lord wanted me to witness to someone with my daughter there with me. So off I went to pick her up. I arrived to the small town about 9:30. I found it interesting how quiet the town was on a saturday night. The only people I saw were 2 people at 2 separate gas stations , and a bunch of people standing outside a tavern smoking cigarettes.
I parked the car, then started walking near the tavern, but then I chickened out and just walked on by. I thought, uhhhh, should I do a U turn? Then I thought, no, i'll get my daughter first and then try it again with her with me.
So I picked up my daughter, and when we approached the tavern I started handing out gospel tracts and got in a conversation with a lady. As I was in the conversation with her, I glanced over and saw a woman that my daughter and I went on a mission trip with 4 years ago. I said her name outloud (being a small town, I want to keep her name anonymous) and I said, i'm Marsi, remember me? The Hong Kong trip? And then she recognized me.
We we're all happy to see each other again, and we gave each other hugs. She said, so what are you guys doing? And I told her that I like to hand out gospel tracts and share the good news of Jesus Christ wherever i'm at. Then I realized that the lady I was talking to at first was the friend she came with.
As I continued witnessing to her friend, she also was explaining spiritual truths to her and adding on and agreeing with things I was saying. And what she was saying was right on. Her friend ended up walking back inside and then her and I started talking. She told me she regretted going to the bar with her friend and that she felt convicted to match her walk with her talk. She also added that she needed to get plugged into a womans bible study or something, she knew she really needed that.
I encouraged her to do that and told her that we need to stay connected with other christians to stay strong. I was saying how we can't be lone wolves, or we'll fall and that we need each other. I shared with her how that was a huge area I had to work on over the years because I tend to be a lone wolf. And we both agreed that who we hang around, we start becoming like. After our conversation, she gave me her number and told me to call her. I plan to.
Please pray for her that she would connect with some strong believers and that she would be in the world but not of it, and that she would be a witness to her friend and want to live her life as an everyday missionary.
And will you please pray for her friend for her salvation. Her friend had mentioned at one point that her daughter is going to Moody bible institute to be a missionary. I could'nt help to think that her daughter has probley been praying for her mom and that I was possibly one of the answers to her daughters prayers. I know I pray all the time that the Lord would put people in my children's lives to speak truths to them when I can't be there.
And also will you pray that I will be a good example to my daughters. Thanks so much!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Sarah
November 18
I went to Walmart to get some stuff and when I left the store, I saw a young girl probley in her middle 20's, leaning against the building having a smoke. I gave her a gospel tract and said, hey I like to give out gospel tracts. She was looking at it and I asked her if she had any spiritual beliefs.
She said, i'm a buddhist. I said oh, what got you into buddism? She told me that she grew up in alot of foster homes and that she's been exposed to alot of different religions and churches. She named off alot. Jehovah witness, catholic, 7th day adventest, I can't remember the whole list, it was long, but she said she finally decided to become a buddhist because it's a peaceful religion.
During our conversation I asked her if she believed in heaven, she said she did, and added that her daughter died when she was a baby so she said she believes in a heaven. I felt bad and told her I was really sorry. I sensed she had been through alot, she was very friendly but looked very uneasy, so I said, do you have to go, I don't want to bother you. She said, no it's fine.
So I asked her, in buddhism, do you believe buddha created you, or who created you? She said, well theres alot in buddhism I don't believe and she named off a few things she didn't believe. I kept asking thought provoking questions in a curiousity kind of way, not in a drilling aggressive way, and she started getting nervous in her answers because I think she was realizing things wernt adding up right.
With her, I felt I needed to be careful with my questions because I sensed she had been confused with alot of different religions and I sensed she was fragile and vulnerable. Her belief was that if your a good person and if you don't hurt people, then you'll be okay. I was telling her that no one is good and she said yeah, I know what your religion believes, I said yeah, I believe Jesus Christ is the only one that can reconcile us to God.
I told her that people live on this earth believing in different religions, but when you die, that's it, theres no turning back. I said, it's like if we were on top of a tall building and you told me about gravity, and I said I didn't believe in gravity, but the reality is, there is gravity whether I believe it or not. It just matters what's true.
I encouraged her to search for truth, because that's the most important thing when we die. I told her I grew up catholic, and we never read the bible, I said when I became a born again christian, I started reading the bible for myself. I was wanting to encourage her to do the same.
After a while I sensed the Lord wanted me to go, so I said hey, i'll let you go. I told her it was nice meeting her, she said it was nice meeting you too, and then she added, i'm gonna read this, I said, awesome you have a nice night.
One thing I know, especially from looking back before I was a christian, i'm just one more person that's adding on to Sarah's story. Before I was a christian ,the Lord was already speaking to me before people were being put in my life to speak truths about Jesus to me, and i'm confident the Lord will keep working in Sarah's life to draw her to Himself.
Please will you pray for Sarah. I pray the Lord would lead her out of confusion and that she would be healed from her past experiences and be reconciled to God, the true God.
I went to Walmart to get some stuff and when I left the store, I saw a young girl probley in her middle 20's, leaning against the building having a smoke. I gave her a gospel tract and said, hey I like to give out gospel tracts. She was looking at it and I asked her if she had any spiritual beliefs.
She said, i'm a buddhist. I said oh, what got you into buddism? She told me that she grew up in alot of foster homes and that she's been exposed to alot of different religions and churches. She named off alot. Jehovah witness, catholic, 7th day adventest, I can't remember the whole list, it was long, but she said she finally decided to become a buddhist because it's a peaceful religion.
During our conversation I asked her if she believed in heaven, she said she did, and added that her daughter died when she was a baby so she said she believes in a heaven. I felt bad and told her I was really sorry. I sensed she had been through alot, she was very friendly but looked very uneasy, so I said, do you have to go, I don't want to bother you. She said, no it's fine.
So I asked her, in buddhism, do you believe buddha created you, or who created you? She said, well theres alot in buddhism I don't believe and she named off a few things she didn't believe. I kept asking thought provoking questions in a curiousity kind of way, not in a drilling aggressive way, and she started getting nervous in her answers because I think she was realizing things wernt adding up right.
With her, I felt I needed to be careful with my questions because I sensed she had been confused with alot of different religions and I sensed she was fragile and vulnerable. Her belief was that if your a good person and if you don't hurt people, then you'll be okay. I was telling her that no one is good and she said yeah, I know what your religion believes, I said yeah, I believe Jesus Christ is the only one that can reconcile us to God.
I told her that people live on this earth believing in different religions, but when you die, that's it, theres no turning back. I said, it's like if we were on top of a tall building and you told me about gravity, and I said I didn't believe in gravity, but the reality is, there is gravity whether I believe it or not. It just matters what's true.
I encouraged her to search for truth, because that's the most important thing when we die. I told her I grew up catholic, and we never read the bible, I said when I became a born again christian, I started reading the bible for myself. I was wanting to encourage her to do the same.
After a while I sensed the Lord wanted me to go, so I said hey, i'll let you go. I told her it was nice meeting her, she said it was nice meeting you too, and then she added, i'm gonna read this, I said, awesome you have a nice night.
One thing I know, especially from looking back before I was a christian, i'm just one more person that's adding on to Sarah's story. Before I was a christian ,the Lord was already speaking to me before people were being put in my life to speak truths about Jesus to me, and i'm confident the Lord will keep working in Sarah's life to draw her to Himself.
Please will you pray for Sarah. I pray the Lord would lead her out of confusion and that she would be healed from her past experiences and be reconciled to God, the true God.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Michael and 2 other guys
November 16
Today was my first day of setting a goal to witness to someone everyday. As I was driving to the beauty supply, I was asking the Lord who He wanted me to witness to. As I drove up to the beauty supply, I saw 3 men outside on the corner having a smoke. They looked very intimidating.
Right away I felt like these were the guys I was supposed to witness to, and I said outloud, "oh man, 3 guys Lord?" I contemplated chickening out, but I said, Lord, I want to do this. I want to fear their souls more than fearing them.
So I walked out of my car and as I approached the sidewalk, an indian man walked out of a store and was right in front of me. I thought, this is perfect. So I gave him a gospel tract and tried to get into a conversation with him. He was polite, but very closed off. Then I looked over at my 3 "Goliaths" and sighed inside and then I went for it.
I walked up to them and said, hey, i'm giving out these gospel tracts and then I asked them if they had any spiritual beliefs. One of the men said that they were in treatment and it has spiritual beliefs, and the other man named Michael, which was the one I ended up talking with 99% of the time, said at one point in our conversation that a judge put him in prison for something he didn't do and he had a choice to read the bible or do nothing in prison, so he chose to read the bible.
During our conversation, we talked about alot of topics, and he was bringing up all kinds of stories out of the old testament, but out of context, and very adament about saying the opposite of whatever I said. He was actually starting to confuse me. It seemed everything I said he would say I was wrong.
I believe that if a witnessing conversation turns into an arguement, then I have to check for pride, so I was listening to him and trying to respond out of concern for truth, rather than a heart of wanting to "win an arguement". I was praying and asking the Lord alot what to say, the Lord kept bringing to my mind that I don't have to be a theologian, I know how to get eternal life, and to just go back to that and to not go with Michael on these rabbit trails.
At one point I said to Michael, what if someone murdered or raped someone you loved very very much, would the judge be a good judge if he just let that person go? I was talking about how God is a just God and how we need Jesus for reconciliation, because he believed God wouldnt send people to hell. When I asked him that, his eyes got big, and he stepped back and he looked at me very intently. Something hit him at that moment, im not sure what.
After our long conversation, I shook his hand and told him it was great talking with him.He had a surprised look on his face when I said that. Later I was thinking about our conversation and remembering his expression and demeanor when I brought up the Judge scenero and it was then I remembered that earlier in our conversation he had told me a judge put him in prison for something he didnt do. I had totally forgot he told me that when I was giving him the judge scenero.
I'm not sure how the Lord spoke to him, but I do know that I can trust the Lord with the results with that conversation we had. And I pray the Lord will continue to draw those 3 men to Himself and to salvation.
Will you please pray they would be released from their fleshly addictions through Jesus and that they would turn to the Lord for everlasting life. Thanks.
Today was my first day of setting a goal to witness to someone everyday. As I was driving to the beauty supply, I was asking the Lord who He wanted me to witness to. As I drove up to the beauty supply, I saw 3 men outside on the corner having a smoke. They looked very intimidating.
Right away I felt like these were the guys I was supposed to witness to, and I said outloud, "oh man, 3 guys Lord?" I contemplated chickening out, but I said, Lord, I want to do this. I want to fear their souls more than fearing them.
So I walked out of my car and as I approached the sidewalk, an indian man walked out of a store and was right in front of me. I thought, this is perfect. So I gave him a gospel tract and tried to get into a conversation with him. He was polite, but very closed off. Then I looked over at my 3 "Goliaths" and sighed inside and then I went for it.
I walked up to them and said, hey, i'm giving out these gospel tracts and then I asked them if they had any spiritual beliefs. One of the men said that they were in treatment and it has spiritual beliefs, and the other man named Michael, which was the one I ended up talking with 99% of the time, said at one point in our conversation that a judge put him in prison for something he didn't do and he had a choice to read the bible or do nothing in prison, so he chose to read the bible.
During our conversation, we talked about alot of topics, and he was bringing up all kinds of stories out of the old testament, but out of context, and very adament about saying the opposite of whatever I said. He was actually starting to confuse me. It seemed everything I said he would say I was wrong.
I believe that if a witnessing conversation turns into an arguement, then I have to check for pride, so I was listening to him and trying to respond out of concern for truth, rather than a heart of wanting to "win an arguement". I was praying and asking the Lord alot what to say, the Lord kept bringing to my mind that I don't have to be a theologian, I know how to get eternal life, and to just go back to that and to not go with Michael on these rabbit trails.
At one point I said to Michael, what if someone murdered or raped someone you loved very very much, would the judge be a good judge if he just let that person go? I was talking about how God is a just God and how we need Jesus for reconciliation, because he believed God wouldnt send people to hell. When I asked him that, his eyes got big, and he stepped back and he looked at me very intently. Something hit him at that moment, im not sure what.
After our long conversation, I shook his hand and told him it was great talking with him.He had a surprised look on his face when I said that. Later I was thinking about our conversation and remembering his expression and demeanor when I brought up the Judge scenero and it was then I remembered that earlier in our conversation he had told me a judge put him in prison for something he didnt do. I had totally forgot he told me that when I was giving him the judge scenero.
I'm not sure how the Lord spoke to him, but I do know that I can trust the Lord with the results with that conversation we had. And I pray the Lord will continue to draw those 3 men to Himself and to salvation.
Will you please pray they would be released from their fleshly addictions through Jesus and that they would turn to the Lord for everlasting life. Thanks.
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