Dear Diary 15/10/06- evangelism-- JUST DO IT!
Evangelism is people who know telling people who don�t know.
Dear diary, after a long �dry spell� in terms of sharing the gospel, as it were Papa knocked me about several times reminding me that if I know what I know & truly believe what I say I believe, I CANNOT SHUT UP ABOUT THE GOSPEL!
If I say, "I will not mention him, or
speak any more in his name," there is
in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones, and I am
Who was I to try to prove God�s Word false?
For a while I�ve been contenting myself with comfortably riding buses by myself, reading a book or communing with our Father rather than do the very thing I�ve been left here on earth to do & in fact have been commanded by The King to do! (i.e. evangelise!)
I�d almost hardened my own heart & fooled myself into believing we all deserve hell anyway so Papa should just go ahead & dispense justice & to Him be the glory for not putting up with us wretched sinfull mortals :,
so went my �excuse� for not bothering to make the effort to share the gospel with strangers who so desperately need to hear!
Ah, the unfathomable wickedness of my heart!
And Why O why do I so easily distort the King�s outright command to be a mere �suggestion�??
Yet our Father is most gracious & compassionate, and Patient with a capital �P�!weary with holding it in, and I
cannot. Jeremiah 20:9 (ESV)
Anyway the Day started off as any other ordinary Sunday, reminding myself that today
(like every other day, perhaps even more so! I am joining the global chorus of praise that resounds through all creation to the glory of our Father.
Yet I was going to church almost out of routine, deeply aware that my past few weeks� have been lived like a very muted instrument in this global worship symphony.
I came home from church feeling like my sung praises were a sham before our Perfect, Holy & Righteous Father.
I probably fooled everyone else into thinking I was worshipping God --but His Word was describing me when He said: �this people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is empty� (Matthew 15:8,9)
I couldn�t carry on this charade any longer before Papa who�s penetrating stare pierced right into my heart of hearts.
So � To my knees!
� nothing like taking time out with The Lover of my soul to simply get real with Him, let Him burn away the hypocritical complacency & bend me to His purposes so He can have His way in me completely.
I�d planned earlier today to go out tonight to see the Watoto African orphan choir (see www.watoto.com
Been praying for my life to exhibit a true godly repentance for some time now, and isn�t a key component of repentance getting out of the sinful muck I keep wallowing in & walking on in grace?
Papa graciously reminded me that it�s through the very weak, imperfect vessels that His glory shines through all the brighter!
Still feeling unworthily uneasy about going out to be used by Him, I left home walking to the bus stop thinking �Maybe I�ll get attacked going out through the city at night. been hearing more news of attacks in the city, maybe this bad feeling is from God � it�s not too late to turn back, go home & spend an easy night at home�
How tempting it was to listen to the voice of fear rather than the voice of truth!
Thank God for every past experience of listening to the voice of truth over the voice of fear always being far better than I had ever dreamed!
So rather than waste a night being a �keeper of the aquarium� vs. a �fisher of men�
praise God � I WENT!!
If we really have been given the gift of a life that will never end. And if we have been filled with living hope we�re gonna overflow and if God�s love is burning in our hearts we�re gonna glow - There�s just no way to keep it in! So wake the neighbours, get the word out! Come on�crank up the music�climb a mountain and shout!! This is life we�ve been given made to be lived out, So live out loud yeah!
Initially I took off slow. Real slow! Sat near a Korean-looking guy thinking of sharing the gospel with him. I�m not sure why I waited to say anything (must overcome my stupid fear of thinking people sitting with earphones in their ears would rather do anything than listen to me try & share the gospel with them!)
Papa wasn�t about to let me go silent so this guy talked to me first!
(Look out for a post on Bob (KOR) on my prayer site: www.lifesshortprayhard.blogspot.com)
Was planning to give him a tract but forgot to (!!) before we parted ways :|
Then got to the meeting spot (outside the Treasury Casino) just in time, I sat next to a Japanese girl who I thought might also be going to the concert but turned out wasn�t. Got talking & left her with a �Da Vinci code� tract before we parted ways!
Then on a crowded bus to the church I didn�t recognise anyone so stood by myself � :|
Needless to say the concert was EXCELLENT! Made me feel �African� at heart �cos I think it would be the most natural thing singing, dancing & praising Papa the way they do. � Yet the fact I don�t do such as a natural thing when �worshiping� in the Church I normally go to makes me wonder if conservatism has any place in biblical worship :|
suffice to say, I cant wait �till heaven & we�ll all be worshipping Jesus in such gloriously united diversity ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
the testimony�s & lives of these precious orphans was so moving & such real witness to the love of Christ expressed through His body taking in & adopting these children society has rejected.
Got chatting with people over supper - nothing significant :|
Walking out to the bus stop with two new friends & realising we�d missed the last bus -- was then cause to enjoy an uphill hike to the next next stop with extended time to talk with each other !! � (got to love the way Papa turns what we deem an �uh-oh� moment into an opportunity for His glory!
praying there�d still be late services departing from this other bus stop we were walking to.
. . . ~praise God~!! He came through as always =)
at this bus stop we took photos together & I got talking with our bystander-turned-photographer & ended up meeting by first brother from Uganda!! Philip! He�s a reserved brother, ask Papa to turn his life to seek & save he lost like the Philip we read of in Acts 8!
Then on the bus home - I realised I hadn�t really �shared the gospel� with anyone all night (which was the whole purpose of going out in the first place!)
Again, I felt like an abysmal failure -- but rather than succumb to my natural tendency to bury my face in the mud & beat myself up, I prayed, looked to the back of the bus to see if there was anyone God wanted me to sit next to & share the gospel with.
Got up out of my [comfortable] seat & sat next to a precious soul, Andrew, sitting by himself. After finding out he studied accounting, I got my very last $1,000,000 bill out of my wallet I�d almost kept to myself for keepsake, I was reminded gospel tracts are probably the last thing I should be keeping to myself!!
Gave it to Andrew & was shooting up prayer arrow after prayer arrow for his soul. Praise God I got to go through the gospel with him, covering sin, law, judgment, hell, the cross & repentance. Pray him into the Kingdom with me =please=!!
Then arriving at my destination, was only me & another guy left on the bus. We went out of different doors & I raced up the stairs while he took the [slow] elevator. Felt God tell me rather than rushing home to wait for this guy & talk to him. Another Phillip! Gave him a gospel tract & turned out he was Christian too!
But like so many he �believed but didn�t speak� L
What a tragedy that so many who profess to follow Jesus these days & dare to call Him �Lord� seem to live as if His commands are �optional suggestions� ?!
Indeed this was how I was for so much of my �Christian� life but He is working J
Praise God He loves us too much to leave us as we are!!
Lessons:
* evangelism-- JUST DO IT!
* Evangelism is so much easier when you listen to the voice of truth rather than the voice of fear! (f.e.a.r. = false evidence �appearing� �real�)
* fear in evangelising means I�m blocking God�s �perfect love & life � from flowing through me.
* regularly make the me to get real with The Lover of our souls!
* don�t always trust your feelings when deciding to do something/go somewhere or not!
* don�t fear that people sitting with earphones in their ears would rather do anything than listen to me try to share the gospel!
* always, always, always!!! keep well-stocked with gospel tracts!!
* gospel tracts are easy to leave around but you get heaps better value by taking someone personally through it!!
Application:
* get more gospel tracts to give out!
( I find the tracts at wayofthemaster.com
a song Papa put in my mental jukebox as I walked home from tonight:
Live Out Loud - Steven Curtis Chapman
1. Imagine this�I get a phone call from Regis | He says, "Do you want to be a millionaire?" They put me on the show and I win with two lifelines to spare | Now picture this�I act like nothing ever happened | And bury all the money in a coffee can | Well, I�ve been given more than Regis ever gave away | I was a dead man who was called to come out of my grave | And I think it�s time for makin� some noise!
Chorus: Wake the neighbours, get the word out | Come on�crank up the music�climb a mountain and shout | This is life we�ve been given made to be lived out | So live out loud | Live out loud, yeah
2. Think about this�try to keep a bird from singing | After it�s soared up in the sky | Give the sun a cloudless day and tell it not to shine | Now think about this�if we really have been given | The gift of a life that will never end | And if we have been filled with living hope we�re gonna overflow | And if God�s love is burning in our hearts we�re gonna glow | There�s just no way to keep it in! Chorus:
Everybody, come on | live out loud | I want to hear everybody sing | live out loud, loud, loud
Every corner of creation is a living declaration | Come join the song we were made to sing Chorus:
No comments:
Post a Comment