In Season, Out of Season

2 Timothy 4:1-2 

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Wow...Friday was a whirlwind day for evangelism & ministering under the blue sky here in Marshalltown. If you labor out-of-doors like we do, you know there are days when you can't get one single tract into someone's hand, or you can't get a gospel conversation started...and it is real easy to get discouraged. But, we keep on keeping on, knowing our labor in the Lord is not in vain no matter what (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Well, Friday as not like that. Over my lunch break I went downtown with my satchel full of tracts, and one Bible to give away. I ran into a couple, Molli &John, in front of Zamora's Fresh Market on
the corner of Main & Center Street. A Round Tuit gospel tract led to a 20-minute conversation about Heaven, Hell, the gospel, salvation, Bible doctrine vs. Roman Catholicism, sanctification & living as a believer. They took a Bible, too, and were very open to the things of God we were discussing.

I drove to my Wal-Mart corner after work, and set up the "Free Bibles...Need Prayer?" sign, and brought out a couple of different witnessing crosses to the corner. It was uncharacteristically calm for Iowa: I could hold the cross up on my shoulder which gives better visibility to south-bound traffic. Had several people stop, either to encourage me or for Bibles. Either way, I always share the hope that I have in Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:15), because I've found that many people who stop by to say thanks or to give a cold soda (summer) or hot chocolate (winter), many of these don't have assurance of salvation or a clear understanding of how to be saved. To those who do know the Lord, I usually ask them to pass along a gospel tract to someone they know who needs it, and encourage them to boldly share Jesus Christ with as many people they can, until He comes!

It was about 6 PM when I called Mary to let her know I was wrapping up and heading home. But after I hung up, a couple things happened: my phone battery died, cutting off communication with my wife, and the Lord brought 3 additional encounters my way.

Lorenzo came over as I was loading up my stuff in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Seems he is here from Romania, and was panhandling for money to get him & his family down to Arizona. We talked a bit; he said he needed enough money for 4 tanks of gas to get down there from here. I was able to bless him with $50 that I had on me for just such an occasion (Jesus says it is more blessed to give than receive, so I had that in an envelope, just waiting for an opportunity). But with the cash I also gave Lorenzo a "God of Wonders" DVD, which is sub-titled in Romanian, and also a deep discussion on the differences between his traditional Orthodox religion (as in Greek Orthodox or Russian Orthodox) and Biblical Christianity. Being raised a Roman Catholic, I can identify with much of his religion, plus I've read up on it a bit. He also took a Bible, and I shared with him some scriptures & we discussed how our religions were contrary to much of God's revealed word (Exodus 20, John 3:16, 26; 1 John 5:13, Philippians 4:6-7). He acknowledged his need to trust Jesus alone, and expressed that he was repentant and was trusting in the Lord Jesus right there. He wanted to give me a hug as we parted, and I pray he truly understands the gospel and is a now a new man in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17).

While we were talking, Terry, a local homeless man came up and hung around a few feet away. I met Terry a couple of years ago while out ministering, when I bought him a meal at Hy-Vee and shared Jesus with him. Terry has gone from a shaky situation then to just flat-out on the rocks since. I always greet him with "How ya doing?" and he always replies, "Not very good." I'm not the fountain of money for habitual panhandlers, so I usually point Terry to the House of Compassion for a meal when he hits me up. Not because I don't care, but because I don't want to help Terry keep on going down the destructive path he's on. This evening, when he replied with the usual, "Not very good!", I just sat in the open hatch of my car and started talking to Terry man-to-man: like what was he doing with his life, and what was he going to do to get on a better trajectory? Terry shared about how his drugging & alcohol had destroyed the fragile family ties he had, and that now none of his family would have anything to do with him. He said he hadn't just burned his bridges with his family, he'd blown them up!

I told him that first, he needed to get his life right with Almighty God, through genuine repentance & faith in Jesus Christ. Then, he needed to find any kind of work possible - how God created us men to work, and how that if a man wouldn't work, he shouldn't get food from people who do (2 Thess 3:10). By getting on track with God first, and then taking personal responsibility, I suggested he go to his family and seek forgiveness for being such a jerk of a brother, and that God was in the business of fixing even blown-up bridges. I ended up giving Terry some cash for a meal (violating my own rule!), and he took a New Testament & Psalms, saying he needed to get right with God, and that he wanted to know where my church was because he wanted to go there. Now I am no prophet, but Terry will not be showing up at my church building any time soon. But I do pray he will open his heart and mind to the truth of the gospel, and come to Jesus Christ before it is eternally too late.

Finally, as Terry walked away towards Wal-Mart, a couple came up asking for help finding a place to stay for the night. They'd been at the House of Compassion last night, but there were no rooms for Friday night. They were putting in applications to find work here, and needed to wash clothes and get cleaned up so they could land something. Aside from HOC, I couldn't think of any place, so I offered to get them a motel for the night. They insisted they didn't want charity, but I let them know that I knew of nothing else, and that God has blessed me with eternal life, and I wanted to bless them by helping out. So we went a couple blocks south to the Motel 6, and I got them 3 nights, to get them through the weekend, and gave them a "God of Wonders", a "One Second After" book, and a Bible. We talked about the gospel, and I let them know that they could eat a couple of meals at our friend Andy's China Buffet restaurant up the road, my treat.

I stopped at the China Buffet to arrange things, and it was after 7 PM, so I borrowed a phone to call Mary, who was now out looking for me, since I had told her I was heading home earlier, and had not responded to her text messages since then! Well, it is not always convenient, but when at all possible, we want to be ministering the gospel & demonstrating the love of God, so that others may come to know Him, whom to know is LIFE ETERNAL! (John 17:3) Convenience has nothing to do with laboring for our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh God, give me the desire, the strength and the energy to live a yielded life to you!

Friends, please join us in praying for these dear souls mentioned, and also pray for us, and for our brothers and sisters in Jesus around the world. Maranatha!