Resolved – Heaven & Hell

Hello my faithful (and if I still have your attention by this point, it's definitely because you're faithful!) readers. My apologies for being so absent for so long. I figured if I were going to leave a blog up for a long time it should be about the gospel, but then I also had the end of school… and frankly it doesn't take long to get out of the habit of blogging. None of that is really an excuse, but hey, I'm a junior now, and I don't have any schoolwork for a good 3 months.

So here I am, back again and excited about what I have for you this weekend. I am at Resolved. Resolved is probably the best Christian conference I know of. The worship is heavenly, and the preaching is legit. What else do you need for a good conference? The folks at Resolved do it far better than any other I've ever been to. Granted, no other conference has been as big, but even if you've been to a crusade or something, I guarantee you this is better.

We had some trouble coming down 5 (the grapevine was closed), so we ended up arriving about 3 hours later than we had originally planned. Luckily, though, we walked in while Rick Holland was still preaching and managed to catch him making his 3 main points. He had just done a short intro before that (30 minutes or so), and we missed all of that unfortunately, except for my friend Roni, who kindly filled us in when we got back to the hotel later that evening.

Rick's text was Hebrews 9:27-28, and his focus was on death. He had 3 intense points that I very much needed a reminder of: 1) Death is unavoidable, 2) Judgment is certain, and 3) Salvation is possible. Basically what I took away was this: get it in your head that you only have one shot. You will die, and you will be judged, and you need to consider the very real possibility that you may not fare well on that day. Most people (if they believe in hell) believe that God would never send them there. Hell is always a place for the other guy. The reality is that hell is a place for everyone who has disobeyed God and has not been covered by the blood of Christ. That is, each person who has broken God's law is accountable to being punished according to that law, except for those who have received the divine pardon made possible by Christ's death. It is this except clause that is the hope of every Christian. This refreshing perspective helped me consider the necessity of loving evangelism: an evangelism that is purposeful, passionate, and yet gentle enough to woo people away from the (apparently) attractive fires of hell.

California Christian Apologetics Conference (VI)

Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason was the speaker for Plenary Session 4. I really respect him as a clear thinking person who is fair minded and wary of bad arguments all around, not just those bad arguments promoting things he doesn't believe in. If you present to him a bad argument for the truth, he will not gently pat you on the back and say "Good job, buddy. Way to reach the right conclusions." No, instead he will say something more along the lines of "Well, here's why I don't think that argument is very convincing, but here's a different argument for the same conclusion that I find far more persuasive." I had the chance to tell him personally that I appreciated this aspect of his ministry, and he replied, "I agree. If we have the truth, we don't need bad arguments to support it." I am certainly on board with that! I encourage you to check out his website. He's got a ton of articles there addressing most of the present moral crises of the day from abortion to same-sex marriage to the existence of the soul.

Greg opened up Plenary Session 4 by addressing a problem he perceived many people would have at this conference. The problem at this point in a conference is "I don't know how to use all this information I've been given!" The goal of his talk was to give us tactics for defending our faith, and the ability to get into conversations with people with absolutely no risk to us!

First he advised us to get in the habit of listening carefully to what people to say, because in doing so you can make the other person doing all the work. Often you'll find that people say things they don't really believe. If you call them on it and don't let them be sloppy with their words, they won't be as sloppy in their thought. We need good tactics in our conversations (make people think about what they're saying), because we will not win by frontal assaults (simply telling people they're wrong). The fact is, people are not really open to listening to you, a fundamentalist Christian. There are more books written about the danger of you, than of the danger of radical Islam. It's sad, and I wish it were otherwise, but that's the way it is. We will not win by shouting louder; there are too many voices opposing us.

In his talk he outlined three tactics for conversation. First, ask questions! Second, use the "suicide tactic," that is, show how the view is inconsistent. And finally, "take the roof off," that is, draw the logical conclusions of the argument (often times the conclusion is absurd!). These tactics explained are so that you will be able to manage the conversation in a non-offensive way. You need to take an active role in directing the conversation, but you don't want to drive them away from Christ.

Of course, the main, overarching "queen mother of all tactics" that is the subject of this talk is called the "Columbo Tactic." This is named for Lieutenant Columbo, a very smart, small, annoying detective who just keeps asking questions! These questions inevitably lead him to the solution of the crime. We actually just ordered some episodes of Columbo on Netflix and he is absolutely hilarious. Of course, the series is a bit old, so the acting quality is a bit below average… However it's interesting to listen to some of the references characters in the series make. Something about the impossibility of finding errors in the Old Testament. Anyways… I digress… The point is to get into the habit of asking questions as a follower of Jesus Christ. Go on the offensive in an inoffensive way with carefully crafted questions. If you don't know what to do next, ask questions! If people perceive you are interested, they will generally conclude you are interesting. Plus, when you ask questions, you are in control of where the conversation goes.

There are three purposes/uses of the Columbo Tactic, each initiated by a different question.

1. Gather Information.

The first use of the Columbo Tactic is to Gather Information. It's the first thing Columbo does when he gets to the scene of the crime! This puts no pressure on you at all, because you are basically pleading ignorance and asking for help. It's also virtually effortless. The main question here is "What do you mean by that?" which is a genuine request for more information, not a juvenile antagonistic response meant to push someone to the limit of their patience. You know how little kids sometimes go on a spree of asking "why?" all the time? Yea… Don't be like that. Ask in a genuinely inquisitive way. I suspect that part of developing a genuineness to this question is pondering how little you actually know and how unspecific language can sometimes be. For example, if someone says "There is no God," simply ask, "What do you mean by God?" That is to say, "Describe to me the God you don't believe in! Maybe they believe in an impersonal God, but not a personal God. See how the word "God" can be ambiguous there?

Another example: Perhaps someone will say, "All religions are the same." Simply ask, "Can you describe to me the way in which they are all the same?" This is simply another form of "What do you mean by that?" Chances are they haven't even thought about such a thing as how the religions are they same. If they have, it's undoubtedly a shallow answer such as "they all teach love." They will discover this because of your question, and you didn't have to lecture them. It's patently obvious that religions are not all the same. But instead of just saying that to someone's face, you make them think about it. Once someone really thinks it through, they will not be able to stay intellectually honest and continue proclaiming such nonsense.

If someone says, "You should not force your views on me!" simply ask, "How am I forcing my views on you?" The fact is, you aren't at all! No one is holding a gun to their head physically forcing them to succumb to your beliefs. Instead of saying "No I'm not" (which only convinces them that you are in denial about what's going on), make them think about what they're saying. Generally they'll realize their error and retract their statement, or they will give you another shallow answer.

One response you might get is a repeat of what they've just said, or something very close. For example, if someone says "You're intolerant," and you ask the first Columbo question, "What do you mean by that?" They might respond, "Well, you're just not tolerating my beliefs!" In doing so they haven't explained their meaning to you, have they? The ambiguity of the meaning of "tolerate" is still there. Don't let them off the hook. Keep pressing: "What do you mean by 'tolerate'?" This will help you get to the bottom of their complaint. And eventually they will most probably figure out (in this particular case) that their complaint is moot. "You're intolerant" is not really a thoughtful claim, just a battle cry to distract from the actual conversation.

A caveat: this question needs to show genuine interest in the other persons view. These are not ruses or tricks to turn opponents into pretzels. Ask the question and pay attention to how they respond. Think carefully. Also, ask these types of questions often. It's probably not the best idea to figure out the person is a Buddhist and then go read a bunch of books on Buddhism. Perhaps none of those books truly represent the beliefs of the one you're talking to. Just go ask them what they belief! They are the most reliable source for that sort of information. As Greg said, "It's better to get views straight from the horse's mouth."

2. Reverse the Burden of Proof.

The second use of the Columbo Tactic is to reverse the burden of proof. The burden of proof is the responsibility to give reasons for the claim you're making. If you make no claims, you face no burden! That is why we always ask questions and make fewer statements. The problem is that non-Christians make claims all the time and expect you to do the heavy lifting and disprove them. Don't fall into that trap! For example, in an attempt to show that the Universe was not made by God, perhaps a non-believer would say, "You could say that… [Spins fairytale]." They can insert whatever story they want in there, but your response is always going to be the same: "Yea, you could say anything, but you haven't given any reasons for anyone else to believe that this is actually the case!" An alternate explanation is NOT a refutation! The point is to make them tell you why their explanation is a good one. The Question: "How did you come to that conclusion?"

Most people haven't come to conclusions about the deeply held beliefs that they have. People don't think they emote! They will feel like something is right, and conclude that it must be. Make them think. They might change their minds. Asking questions is the best way to do this, because if you just tell them, you might just be emoting yourself!

I will warn you. There is a liability to this question. It is always a mistake to make a frontal assault on a superior force in an entrenched position. Here I'm referring to some sort of classroom discussion with a professor who can dance circles around your arguments just because his knowledge is vast an experience greater. This is not to say that he therefore has the right answer, only that your argument will certainly not be convincing to your audience. Instead, use the tactics! If a professor says, "the Bible is a book of fairytales," ask, "How did you come to that conclusion?" Is this rude? Or a power struggle? Not at all. However, if you get up and say, "You're wrong, sinner! Repent!" Then it becomes a power struggle. And you will lose that struggle.

Greg warned us to watch out for "the professor's ploy!" If you make no claims, you have nothing to prove! But sometimes someone might make claims for you, put words in your mouth, and ask you to prove the case they've made on your behalf. "Oh I see; you're one of those fundamentalist Christians who believe the Bible is the 'inspired Word of God'. Perhaps you would like to come up here and prove that to the class? Tell me. Why should I believe that a snake talked to Eve?" Do not take the bait! This is the "professor's" attempt to put the burden of proof on you. But if you respond and say, "With all due respect, sir, I have not said anything about what I believe. I was simply asking why you think the Bible is a book of fantasy. I'm just a dumb college student… here to learn… [Pen poised above note paper]." This prevents whoever you're talking to from laying a huge burden on your shoulders of convincing everyone that the Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of God. Most likely you will persuade no one and just look like a fool. There is a time and place to present positive reasons for believing the Bible to be inspired. The secularly university classroom with Ph.D. professor in Religious Studies is not one of them.

At this point Greg anticipated a little uneasiness from people who are hyped up about soul saving! "Greg, what do you mean, 'don't defend the Bible.'? Don't tell people to repent? How can you say that? That's exactly what we're here for!!" He explained that he doesn't believe you have to get to the foot of the cross in every conversation. In fact, he said, "My goal is never to convert someone." This might shock some people. It certainly shocked me. But as I thought about it, I supposed that to convert someone is never really my goal either, because such a thing is not in my control. This applies even when I go out specifically to witness. My goal is to effectively spread an accurate and clear presentation of the gospel message in such a way that people might consider it as a reasonable option. I present the law, meant to convict people, and then the gospel to cure their disease. However, once I've done that, all I have is a hope that God will work in them repentance and faith. I do not cause that. I hope with all my heart that God will use His Word to tug at the hearts of sinners, but I never consider a day a failure if no one falls on their knees just from talking to me. In fact, such a thing has never happened to me, and yet the days I witness I am often greatly encouraged and invigorated just by obediently answering the call of God. If I have presented the gospel clearly and caused people to just think a little bit about it, I'm content that I have done my part. I have warned people of the wrath to come, without causing them to flee. Greg Koukl simply does this on a much more elementary level. Many of the people who do get the privilege of seeing people come to Christ just by walking up to them and sharing the gospel do not realize that the repentant one's heart has been seeded, tilled, and watered for some time by people like Greg who have challenged them to think deeply and clearly about important subjects.

There is a subcategory for this question, which is called Staying out of the Hot Seat. You use it when you find yourself in a circumstance where you're "out of your depth." Like if you start witnessing to the guy next to you on the airplane and he turns out to be Richard Dawkins or somebody like him. How do you deal with a situation in which someone starts giving you truly thought out reasons to why they believe contrary to how you do? Well, this tactic's got another snappy name: Conversational Aikido. It's using their energy against them; let them come. What you might say is, "Could you slow down for a moment? You obviously know more than I do [humility]. Tell me what you believe, why you believe it, and then (and this is key) and then let me think about it!" This allows you to get out without your tail between your legs! Aikido translation: "You want to beat me up? Ok! Just do it slowly and thoroughly."

3. Exploit a Weakness or Flaw.

The last use of the Columbo Tactic is to use questions to exploit a weakness or flaw. There's no model question here, because it depends on the flaw. You do this once they have committed an error in thinking. What you do not want to do is jump on them and say "I got you man!" The point is not to 'get them'; the point is to get them thinking! What you do is exploit the problem with a question rather than a statement. Let's go back to our "intolerant" example.

"You're intolerant!" says your opponent.
"What do you mean by that?" you reply genuinely.
"Well, you think you're right!" he explains.
"Alright… but the things you believe… are those true?" you probe.

Of course he believes they're true. That's what it means to believe them! If he didn't believe them true he would stop believing them and believe something else, which he would believe to be true! So the exploiting question is: "Why is it when I think I'm right, I'm intolerant, and when you think you're right, you're just right?" Now that is a probing question that will make people think. Some might get angry at you, but it's not because you're being mean, it's because you've pointed them to the logical conclusions of their thought process and they realize those conclusions are inconsistent.

To close, Greg gave us a parting thought heard from a Marine: "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle." He let us know that he was teaching us this because he does not want us to bleed, but he wants us to sweat really hard. Do the clear thinking and preparation before you go into the harvest field, and you will come out with fewer wounds than you would have otherwise! Perhaps you may even return with some victories: souls won for Christ!

JW 4: Practical Tips

Here is a link to a great article I found with a very humble, gentle, and practical way to witness to a Jehovah's Witness. I remember stressing this idea at the beginning of my JW series: They are not nuisances, they are chances for you to evangelize that God has placed quite literally at your doorstep.

Happy fishing.

Jehovah's Witnesses

Why You Should Never Tell a JW, "No thanks!"

That might seem like a strange intro for a post, but I really do have a reason for wording it that way. You see, I've realized that when we get people like Jehovah's Witnesses coming to our door to spread their false doctrine, telling them to go away is like saying, "No thanks, I don't have the time or concern to deal with your soul right now, please go infect someone else with your damnable lies." How many of us want to say that? I certainly didn't when one came to my door this Christmas break!

This time I talked to him and asked him lots of questions. If you do not know much about a certain cult (There will invariably be lots of people who belongs to a certain group that you are not familiar with. This is OK! Just ask questions. It is the best way to get information and the best way to find out if they are teaching sound doctrine). Apparently these are really common questions, because he kept saying that all my questions were answered in this little book that he had. He offered it to me, so I took it, wanting to have an authoritative reference book from which to learn JW docrine. It's really small, so I was able to actually read through the whole thing in a relatively short amount of time. What I did was scour through it with an orange highlighter, and marked it up, noticing all the "interesting" things that were said in there.

There were several heresies littered through this book, but I suspect that many Christians would not be able to defend themselves against the lies if a JW should 'witness' to them! It was obvious to me, hearing this man's testimony, that this is what happened with him as he was first approached by JWs. He said that he started seeing things in orthodox Christianity that didn't line up with the Bible. The example he gave was the Trinity! I wonder how many people could defend the deity of Christ and the Trinity from the Bible should someone object (1 Pet 3:15)?

Now, for anyone who might think I'm just being nit picky or overly critical, let me say that this is an absolute essential of the Christian faith, therefore you need to be able to defend it! If you do not believe that Jesus is Divine, you are on a very direct path to hell (John 8:24). You are on the wide road of destruction, and the end does not look good for you. Your Jesus cannot save you. You need to repent and put your trust in the true savior right now. This is not a debatable issue! Yet it is one that JWs deny. They're Christ is not Divine and is a created being; therefore, he cannot save!

It is important to remember to keep things in the proper perspective when dealing with issues such as cult-members coming to your door. They don't have the true gospel; the Christian does. That is a very big deal (Gal 1:8-9)!They need to be evangelized, rather than looked down upon for trying to evangelize others. They're fervor should put anyone to shame who does not pursue the souls of others with the same intensity. Let me encourage you to learn how to defend your faith against the cults, and, furthermore, how to share your faith with cult members so that they realize they are not in the truth and need to be regenerated!

I will do my best to help you to do this is my follow up blog on this topic. Stay strong in the faith. Do not judge in the non-essentials (Rom 14). Do not budge in the essentials. Let's serve the King with our whole hearts.

Giving an Answer

I once was talking to this dude named Blakey who told me that there's no excuse for going a month without blogging. Well, today is day 31, and I don't want the CBC to take away my blog, so I better get crackin'!

Lately the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to have many spiritual conversations that I didn't even actively seek for. The Lord sent them to me, much like he did with Christian. I have done my best to obey 1 Pet 3:15, and I can only pray that it has made an effect in conjunction, of course, with the Lord's grace in allowing me to live a life pleasing to Him.

What I want to do is something I've always wanted to do, which is study the Biblical examples of people who defended the faith, how they did it, and what we can learn from their example.

The first, I think, should be Paul, who was appointed by God to be a missionary to the Gentiles. Hey, that's me! Cool, whats the dude got to say?

I think that possibly one of the most common passages that pops up in Christian apologetics (along with 1 Pet 3:15; 2 Cor 10:5, and Col 2:8-9) is Romans 1:18-20 which says that

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."

I'd say that's about as clear cut, inconsiderate, straightforward, offensive, and intolerant as it gets folks. No one is without excuse. I often hear people say, "If God existed, he would make it more obvious." This is a wake up call to those people. It IS obvious. The reason you don't believe is because you love your sin more than the truth. God has graciously given you a chance to turn from your ways and run to Him for forgiveness.

Of course, this is to be expected, since we are by nature sinful, do not understand, and do not seek after God (Rom 3:11). So what is a Christian to do? Give up on those filthy sinners? They can't understand anyways, so why bother? No, I don't think Paul would be happy with that. He shows us what his attitude was toward the unbelieving when he visited Athens and reasons with them...

"his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there." (Acts 17:16-17)

So Paul was a straight up street preacher who talked to anyone who would listen! There are a few distinctive traits concerning Paul's style of preaching.

1) He uses logic

Some people erroneously mistake using logic with "leaning on your own understanding" (cf. Pr. 3:5). Sound logic, however, is the wisdom of God, which we should strive for (Pr. 4:5)! For example: every time you read "therefore" in the Bible, the writer/speaker is appealing to logic. "your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore" (Acts 8:21-22). Peter here is telling Simon the magician that his heart is not right with God, so the appropriate, reasonable response is to repent. It naturally follows logically. X therefore Y. Your heart is not right, therefore repent. In Paul's example he uses this kind of logic to denounce idol worship. "We are the offspring of God," therefore "we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising" (29). There's that X therefore Y setup again. See how easy this is?

2) He engages the culture (but doesn't participate in it)

Paul, as he has a chance to speak publicly to a crowd (an example of open air evangelism), lets us know what he has done in preparation for this moment. He says, "I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship" (Acts 17:23). He got acquainted with the culture. He found out what was meaningful to these people. He also found a sort of discussion starter with the "Unknown God" idol, and proclaimed to them who that God is. They thought they might be missing something. Paul noticed this, and filled in the gap. That there is a God they do not know (23), but he can be known (24-26), wants to be known(27), and is not far(27).

3) He appeals to their authoritative texts

In a later verse, Paul reveals to us that he even knows something about their pagan writings! No, Paul would never spend time reading pagan books to see what they say so he can effectively use that as a witnessing tool to win many to Christ... would he? You bet he would, and you should too, within reason of course. Please understand that Paul quotes only one line of one pagan poet(28), uses one line to appeal to their desire to be religious(22) and uses the rest of the passage to proclaim Him who they "worship without knowing"(23). I'm not calling everyone everywhere to have a 1:1:8 ratio, but there is a principle here:

4) He keeps his focus on the gospel

He feeds them God's spiritual truth first and foremost, appealing both to their current status as "religious" people, an authoritative text, and logic to make his case persuasively.

What is his case for? It is but this: that "all men everywhere repent, because [God] has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained." Did Paul preach a repent or burn message? Well... yes and no. Paul preaches repentance and judgment ("...repent, because... He will judge..."), but he doesn't couch it in the typical hellfire and brimstone terminology with hateful words and a condescending attitude that we typically associate with people who preach those things. Let's not lie to people. If someone never believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, that person is not saved. That's the hard truth. This is naturally part of our message. But then again, let's not make the bad news our focus. The gospel is "good news" for a reason.

Paul takes a bit more friendly approach, yet without compromising the hard truths. He says that they are "in all things...very religious" (22) What's he doing here? He is using something important to them to lead into spiritual conversation. He is taking some part of their lives, their culture, and using it to connect to the gospel and preach the good news that men should repent because Christ has been crucified and risen.

Let's do the same.

An Encouraging Witnessing Experience

Today I was reading more of Mark Cahill’s book One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven. The great thing about this book is that it is almost hard to read even though there are so many awesome stories, because it compels you to get out there and witness to lost people right away! There is even a line in the book that says: “Go means ‘do not stay.’ It means put this book down, get up, and go bring the good news of Jesus to every person you can find in our lost and dying world” (170). Well that was convicting to say the least! So that’s what I ended up doing! Except in my typical fallen fashion I was pretty reluctant to talk to anyone.

I went to the Starbucks on Homestead and Hollenbeck, knowing that that is popular hang out spot for kids who go to Homestead High – perhaps I’d be able to talk to one of them! Well, as the Lord would have it, everyone there was Asian and speaking a different language. Not that I have anything against Asians, I just get really uncomfortable around people who are jabbering in a language I can’t understand. So I ordered a Strawberries and Crème, grabbed a newspaper, and started doing a crossword puzzle. After about 15 minutes I realized I was doing horribly and that probably even the answers I had down were mostly wrong, so I ditched that for some Sudoku. All the while I’m planning on ‘getting stuck’ somewhere and asking someone for ‘help’ in order to start a conversation with them. Everyone was so busy talking to other people or coming in and out so quickly that an opportunity never seemed to open up, though. I prayed that God would make me bold and allow me to have a conversation with someone in there; I was already feeling guilty for not starting one with anybody.

Lo and behold, a quarter of the way into my game a Mexican boy came into the shop and walked right toward me on the soft chair. He stood next to me, looked at me, and smiled. I noticed this and looked up at him.

“Hi,” I said.
“Hi!” he replied, sitting on the other soft chair adjacent to mine.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“Good, good,” he said – a typical answer, even from people I know well. He then returned the question.
“I’m fine. What’s your name?” I asked, wanting to start a more personal conversation.
“Christian,” he said.

I couldn’t believe it! Some random kid came up to me and said hello evidently because I looked like one of his friends and he wanted to borrow some money. And his name was Christian! Talk about a conversation starter! I was too afraid to start a conversation with someone, so God sent someone to start a conversation with me! It was amazing. After a few minutes of small talk, I tried to transition to eternal things by mentioning the extremely recent and sudden death of Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. I wasn’t able to control the conversation well, however, and we got off topic. He ended up asking me, though, if he could ask a ‘personal question.’

I thought, “Are you kidding me?” I half suspected this kid would start witnessing to ME! Sadly, though, his question proved my suspicion wrong, and instead bolstered my other suspicion: he needed Christ in his life.

After the conversation came to a dead point, I said, “Now that you have asked me a personal question, may I ask you one.” He was most definitely open to talking to me at this point. I had already found out more about his life and his friend John’s life than anyone should know about another person within the first 10 minutes of meeting them. I asked him if he were to die today where he would go. The sparked the rest of our 40 minute conversation during which they accidentally missed two busses! I felt a little bad for holding them up, but I knew they needed to hear what I had to say.

During that time we talked about everything from the Ten Commandments, to how to get into heaven, to suicide, to holy water, to the reliability of Scripture, to dragons. It was a fairly good conversation, and I was glad I got to explain to them that they couldn’t be good enough for God, that they needed something else (Being a pretty good person is the most common reason people give for their justification of entering heaven). I had to explain that even committing one sin was enough to keep you out of heaven; in fact it’s like breaking all of the Law (James 2:10)! Christian was actually quite knowledgeable about the Bible, nodding whenever I quoted verses as if he recognized them and mentioning things he’d heard were said in it – even some pretty obscure things. I really enjoyed talking to him and was hopeful that he would understand and believe – he seemed close to the kingdom. He noticed my enthusiasm and asked me at one point during the conversation if I was an angel!

That would be the third time my proverbial jaw dropped during this conversation (but only in my mind). He also mentioned that there was something about me that just reflected some sort of angelic presence. “When I look at you,” he said, “I see ‘pure.’ But when I look at you,” turning to face his friend, “I see ‘death.’” Jaw-drop-session number four! You know when Jesus talked about being a light to the world, He wasn’t joking around (Matt 5:13-16). This became incredibly obvious the moment Christian said that. The kid could sense a huge difference between us simply because the stark contrast between his friend and me. His friend was into drinking and getting high; I was trying to show him I cared about the things of the Lord and his eternal soul. He noticed, and I am confident that he saw exactly what Jesus promised the world would see in us – light.

It felt like the conversation was over far too quickly, and I was tempted to beat myself up for not saying more, but I realized that God had set up their time to come into my life, and that meant he was also setting up a time for them to leave it. I thanked the Lord for the opportunity to talk to these Homestead High kids. It seemed as if the Lord had been working on Christian’s heart a little – I was able to give him the address and directions to FBLA, which he expressed an interest in attending almost as soon as we started talking! I pray that I will have the chance to see Christian again, if not both of them. If that doesn’t happen, though, I can rest in the fact that I planted a seed, and God will be faithful to provide the increase if He so desires.

I hope this story encourages you to get out there and be bold to share your faith with others, especially when God practically plops them right in your lap like He did for me today! It doesn’t take much, and the only time you’ll regret it is when you don’t do it! So get out there and evangelize the lost! They’re all waiting to hear from us.

One thing I would have done differently had I been able was to have tracts ready to hand out. Since they were asking for money, I could easily have had those money tracts and simply said something like this: “You need 25 cents? How about a million dollars and 25 cents!” and then hand them a ‘million dollar tract’ with the real quarter that they’re looking for. That is always fun. We had a few in Colorado and we’d slip them in as tips when the workers weren’t looking. Tracts are a great way to get the truth out to people when you don’t have a ton of time to start a 40-minute conversation with them like I did.
Some good tracts can be found at www.livingwaters.com. My personal favorites are the million dollar ones and the “IQ Test” ones – 100 tracts for 5 dollars. That literally means you’re giving out five-cent pieces of paper with the priceless gospel message on each of them. Everyone wants money and to prove that they’re smart, so it’s a good way to tie in biblical, eternal, salvation truth to the things that people seem to want most.

Mexico

I havent been on this site for a long time, and I truly have a lot to say, and have been thinking about a lot, but have preferred to simply discuss it with people - in person. That has been a blessing unlike any other, and I highly recommend it. There isnt anything like close personal relationships with fellow Christians, so for whoever doesn't know what that is like, well, get to know what its like.

Anyways, I also enjoy jotting down my thoughts every once in a while, and i figure once in a month and a half is quite long enough to wait. This one is about something i noticed about the past 4 years ive been going to Mexico with King's. We just go once a year and it is a life-changing experience if you let it be. Then again you can also come back and forget about it in a month like most people do.

When I first went to Mexico I came back thinking: "Wow, these people are so poor. They have nothing compared to me, how can I be complaining about what I don't get to have." This is a legitimate perspective, and was very eye-opening and helpful to keep a mindset of contentment with my "well-0ff" situation in the great Estados Unidos (an understatement, i now understand).

But since then I've noticed a slight change. Actually it was a pretty large change. Now I'm the poor one. I'm the one who has been found lacking. Houses decay. Computers go out of date. The love of Christ and treasures in heaven cant ever be lost or stolen or destroyed. Matthew 6 is clear on that. That is what some of those people have, and they have more than me. I met this guy Charly last year who has a heart-wrenching testimony. Now he is a hardcore Christian and this year we met back up and he was witnessing to the mother at my site this year. That was really awesome. He's going to have a lot of treasure in heaven. Then no one will "feel sorry for him" because he's not "as well off as we are." Now instead of being challenged to just be content , he encouraged me to be a better Christ figure to those around me, and I wish I could thank him now for that.

Thats all for now, thanks for reading.