Day 7

I knew today was going to be a crazy day. I was teaching a Bible study with some girls in the morning...precious girls who are hungry and willing to wake up at 8 am and learn about God's word! they are so encouraging to me! I taught a lesson on the fire and power of God's word, and tried to weave the gospel into the lesson (does this count for today??)

Later, I had a full day ahead of my with work: preparing and putting on a baby shower for a friend of my boss. WOW! What a day!! It was very busy, very hurried and rushed, and I HATE living life like this!!! I love taking my time, and getting things done at a more relaxed pace, but today did not happen like that. I went from place to place hurrying just to get the things i needed to get done, and not stopping to talk to people and not even talking to God throughout the day except for "HELP!" The end of the day came...and I came home. Again without sharing the gospel. I am staring to think I suck at this.

Right now I am listening to Derek Webb, and he is talking about a preacher who week after week, preached sermons only on the gospel. After a while, the people of the congregation began to ask when he would preach on something different, implying that they were ready to move onto something else. The preacher replied, "because week after week, you forget it and you walk in looking like people who don't know the gospel. And until you come in here looking like a people truly liberated by the gospel, I will continue to preach it to you" That preacher was Martin Luther, and until his dying day, he did preach the gospel.

We are called to love, and live in community together and charged with a mandate to preach the gospel to each other. the gospel is not only something that we preach to non believers in hopes that they come to faith...it is must more that that. The gospel must have a primary place in the life of believers. Many of us believers are not truly aware of our sin, and consequently not truly aware of the gospel and what Jesus did on the cross. If you know yourself (and your sin) to be exposed by the cross and aware of your individual sin, you will experience true joy. If your sin is small, your savior must be small. But if your sin is great, then your savior has to be great.

When will I truly be living as one liberated by the gospel?? When will we as The Church live as a people truly liberated by the gospel?? Pray that the Lord open our eyes to the reality of our sin and the loving greatness of the gospel, and that it drastically changes the way we live!!

DAY 6

Today was my day of rest! What a great day! I slept in....and took a nap! Both much needed after the weekend. I spent most of the day in my pajamas....by myself...in my house...spending time with God. I only ventured out at the end of the day to go get some coffee with a friend, and then go to class. But....I didn't share the gospel today with anyone...... I knew this would happen...it just happened much sooner than I thought it would. We all fail...I am a sinner destined for failure. This is not an excuse, or a condemnation of myself, but just the truth of my humanity and sinfulness.

And as I recognized my sinfulness today, I had to preach the gospel to myself...This is something I have to do often. I so easily forget that I am HUGE sinner and in DESPERATE need of God's grace. I am destined to failure without God.

I had hoped that this blog would be a good accountability for me, and although I think it is...I NEED MORE HELP! I want to share Jesus with everyone, but I didn't today.....why?? There are people all around me dying in their sin and separated from God!!! When will I get the urgency of the state of our world?

DAY 5

Today started off...well, let's just say it could have been better. After a hectic weekend with not much sleep I began to lose my voice. We were headed back to Memphis, and I was so glad to be heading home! I was pretty discouraged after some events of the weekend, and just wanted this day be over.

We boarded our first plane, and I sat next to a middle-aged man who seemed quiet at first. The more we talked, the more he talked, and I enjoyed hearing about his life and his family. He said he did go to church and later told me he was a deacon. He seemed to talk about church and life in very systematic ways, making life seem very cut and dry, black and white. He claimed to know the truth, but does he KNOW the God of truth? This is what I seem to run into...people who know the truth, but what about living it? What role does the living God play in their lives? Where is the fire, the passion, the deep love for our creator and Savior? Where is the true devotion that Jesus desires of us? Where is this in my life? Pray for Jim, that he experiences God in deep and meaningful ways.

The next plane was filled with hope....it was the last one I was going to have to board! Not just that, but I was blessed in an unexpected way on this plane ride. As I sat down, I began to talk to the girl sitting next to me. I learned she was from Texas and liked her already. (Woo Texas! I miss it!) After we began to vaguely talk about what we believed, but we both knew that what we talked about was not just belief, but life to us. It was so refreshing to talk to a believer! Someone who "got it". I still don't feel like I always get it...but it was good to talk to someone whose eyes have been opened to the truth and their life shows it, someone who KNOWS God. As we talked, I began to be encouraged and thankful for God's love and mercy even in my lack of faith. Pray for Heather, that the Lord continues to guide and lead her in the abundant life, and reveal more and more truth to her daily.

DAY 4

After spending the night in a pretty luxurious hotel, and beginning the day with breakfast via room service, I felt ready to conquer the day. We had to board yet another flight to reach our final destination of High Point, North Carolina. As I boarded the plane I was eager to see who I would sit next to and hopefully engage in yet another conversation about our great God. I found my seat next to a man most likely in his 40's with his two young sons. This man was very friendly, very accomplished, and interested in some intellectual conversation. He told me he was both physician and an attorney, and after feeling slightly inept to begin any conversation with him, we began to talk about church, God, and our beliefs.

Have you ever talked to a man that you though would be a good pharisee? I mean a person who knows all the right answers and does the right things, but not with a heart of love toward God? (sadly sometimes I see this in myself) This man said all the right things, and claimed to believe in the Bible and Jesus, but did not seem to have a burning desire to know God. He seemed to settle for a life of going through the motions (man, I wonder how many times someone has thought this about me!). We talked the whole plane ride, and I enjoyed talking about topics such as grace, what it really means, and how great it truly is. Pray for Adrian, that He hungers for the word of God, not just to know about God, but to know Him in a deep way personally.

DAY 3

Today was the beginning of an interesting weekend...going to North Carolina with my boss and her daughter. It definitely had the potential for fun, but also the potential for disaster. Although this day was not completely full of disaster, I believe that in God's sovereign plan he allowed me to meet some very interesting people and engage in conversations about God and His truths.

After the strenuous prodding of getting my boss and her daughter to the airport on time, God's plan quickly took us in a direction we all did not want to go....we missed our plane. Not such a usual disaster that would leave you in a state of desperation, but on this Friday it was said that it snowed in 49 of the 50 states. Not the ideal weather conditions for traveling the country. We waited, hoping to catch the next plane on stan-by, but there was no room in that inn. So instead of waiting 4 hours to hop on the next plane, my boss decided to go home and get some things done.

In my job, I often get to do things I am not accustomed to do because of my financial situation...aka, I get to do really cool things that cost money. For me, riding in a taxi is super cool, and definitely costs more money than my budget allows. Our taxi driver happened to be from Somalia, a country in Africa enduring much turmoil over the past 20+ years. We began talking about his home his family, and of course his religion. He is a muslim, very interested in learning more about other religions, and seemed very open and willing to share his beliefs. I shared with him what I believed about the Bible, it's truths and about our Savior, Jesus. He enjoyed learning and listening and even wished to learn more. He told me he was very interested to learn more about what I believed, but still seemed to try to convert me to his beliefs. He was strongly convicted and striving to believe and live by a lie. It hurt to talk to him, knowing that he was being so deceived. I know I cannot convert anyone or change anyone's heart, it's just my job to share what I know to be true, to share the only way to eternal life, to knowing God. Please pray for Nor, he is willing to learn. Pray he not just learns the truth, but that he falls in love with our God and Savior.

As we arrived back at the airport to hopefully board the next available plane, I stood in line with the myriads of people trying to get back home, or to their next destination. The Lord allowed me to talk to an episcopal priest. As I listened to this man, I was burdened for him. Here was a man, a priest, someone who was in the line of work leading people into the throne room of God, yet because of the way he talked about God, his lifestyle, and various controversial subjects, I began to question his claims of faith. True, I cannot by any means know his heart, but I do believe that we are to be representations of God; that we are to stand for what he stands for, and know where he stands on how he wants us to live our lives. Can you believe and trust in God, yet completely neglect his standard for life? How can you partake of this eternal life on earth without living with the gospel infiltrating every area of your life? Pray for Father Kelley, that he hungers and thirsts for the truth of the gospel, and leads people in the way of everlasting life.

DAY 2

Sometimes I think that sharing the gospel will be magical; that everyone will want to hear it, and that it will instantly change their lives. Although this is true and very common, it did not happen today. It's funny when your life is so surrounded by believers that you have to think of places to go to share the gospel.. not really funny, but sad. And this emphasizes the point that sharing the gospel should be strategic and intentional. I'm learning that this is how most of our life should be. We should be strategically learning more, intentionally investing in people's lives, and creating disciplines. God does this with us, so we should do it too!

I decided to go to Hobby Lobby to look at some paint supplies and thought it would be a great time to share. I needed some help finding something so I got a guy to help me and we started talking (great way to reel 'em in). I asked him a few questions about his life, where he was from, and all that jazz. I asked the segue question, "Where do you go to church?" He with an air of hurt and a slight bit of anger that he didn't go. He said he stopped going to church after his pastor told him he was going to hell because of something he had said to his pastor. WOAH! I can totally tell that this has impacted him greatly! Slightly shocked and saddened by his response, I asked what he thought makes people go to hell. He gave a vague answer of something like doing wrong things to people. As I began to push the conversation further, he began to walk away to put items on a shelf in another aisle. He walked away and said if I needed help with anything, to let him know. Pray for Brent...He is lost, and seems hurt by people who have professed faith in Jesus.

Well, i tried. I didn't share the gospel with him, but I tried to get the conversation moving toward eternal things. Was this good enough? Was this what God wanted me to do? Did this count? All day long I kept thinking that it didn't and that I needed to try harder. But God does not require perfection of me in my gospel sharing. To be honest I kind of suck at it... and I'm kinda awkward (I hope it gets better).

Shortly after, I was waiting at Kinkos for some papers to be printed. Two other customers standing by me were very easy going, flexible with the problems they were having, and as I sneaked a peak of their order, I saw the words evangelism, empowerment, and the name of a church. Very curious I asked them what church they were with and what kind of ministry they were in. I engaged in a very encouraging conversation with strangers that I felt connection with... believers... marked with the Holy Spirit... The woman said something that has stuck with me all day, "if there are so many saved people around, then why are more people getting saved? Why are the lost still around?" I didn't comment, but wanted to so badly. Why are all believers around staying silent?

Later while I was in line at the post office, I complimented the lady in front of me on her very cute and warm-looking shall (what a great way to start a conversation). We began talking as we waited in line and I found out she is a speech-pathologist! (funny since this is what I majored in). we began to talk about that and she seemed like lots of fun. I asked her the same segue question... she said she went to a presbyterian church. (don't know much about those ones). So I asked her what they believe and what she believes about salvation, and she said pretty much what the Bible says. She was a very sweet lady... and her son is studying to be a music minister... kinda cool

So today was a day filled with many people, many conversations, and many opportunities. How many opportunities have I been missing while being so silent? Lord forgive me... forgive me for not being burdened, for not see the urgency in sharing your truth with the lost, for not obeying. I hope some day soon people will be wondering why believers will not keep silent about the love of their Savior. I cannot keep silent about His love any longer!

DAY 1

So as I was sitting at home all day... off work...I was wondering when and where I was going to share the gospel. my roommate asked me to take a red box movie back. I thought "this is my chance to get out and talk to people." So I go to the Kroger, deposit the red box, and proceed to enter the Kroger... perusing the grocery store to see who I would share the gospel with...I thought I would get some crackers. I walked down the aisle, saw a woman, and smiled...she did NOT smile back, "no, not her." I remembered I was out of deodorant, so I walked to the aisle where you get that stuff, grabbed my favorite scent, and continued to look around. All the while, there was a young man who was restocking some of the shelves... I thought, "perfect, he can't get away!" so I begin to look at some lotions, shampoos, conditioners, smelling each one of them, pretending to think hard about which product I will buy...

I went down the aisle smelling and thinking, thinking and smelling. And REALLY thinking of what to say, and how to say it. Cheesy thoughts kept rolling around in my head like, "do you know Jesus?", or "do you know what happens after you die?" ok, not so cheesy, but these are all those kind of awkward one liners that can bring you into conversations which help you talk about eternity and the gospel. We start talking, I ask if he goes to church around here. The young man starts to tell me about a church he goes to, and a church his aunt goes to... but doesn't tell me much. I then ask what he believes. He couldn't really tell me, except for this mumbo jumbo about going to church is like a good time to reflect, and that different people kinda believe different things. He began to open up and say that it was all kinda shoved down his throat growing up, that he now is almost an atheist. Isn't it interesting how people will open up if they just have someone to listen to them? He seemed pretty open to talk, so I began to tell him that growing up I was always taken to church, and that I "believed" it all, but didn't get it. I didn't GET what Jesus did on the cross for me. So we talked about that more, and that Jesus died so we could have eternal life, so we could KNOW God eternally. we didn't get to talk for too long, I had to go. His name is Brandon. I don't know how exposed he is to the truth, or how much of it has truly impacted his life, but please pray for him, that the Lord opens his eyes to the truth, that he chooses life with Christ.