Two People - One Question

With the warm, sunny weather, and daylight savings moving the clocks forward an hour, I was able to get outdoors with a witness cross and free Bibles a couple of times this week. Got to talk to people, and gave out some Bibles, DVD's & gospel tracts.

It was interesting that I had basically the same question from 2 different people. It was basically something like this: "I've seen you out here before. What's your story...why are you out here, what are you trying to do?" Same basic question: "what?" and "why?" However, one was from a believer, and the other from an un-believer. They both got the same message, with a little variation.

What are we doing? Encouraging & challenging the saints, calling sinners to consider their eternal soul, and to look to Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Wherever we can, in whatever way that we can, while we can.

When I meet brothers or sisters in Jesus Christ, I just want to encourage them in their walk with the Lord, and also encourage them to share the good news of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible. Sometimes I'll hand a tract to a person, and they'll hand it back while telling me that they are saved and don't need it. My response is to tell them that they probably know someone who needs to hear this message, and most of the time they will agree and take it with them. This week, after some good conversation, this person left with a "God of Wonders DVD", and the booklet "One Second After You Die."

If it's clear that the person does not know the Lord - is not born again through faith in Jesus Christ alone, then I want to point them to the Lord, and encourage them to seriously look into what the Bible says. With the young man who stopped by yesterday, I gave him my last copy of the book "One Heartbeat Away." We had an amicable conversation, and I explained that my job was to deliver the message of the hope we have in Jesus Christ, and it was up to him what he did with that message. I hope the questions I asked will get him to think deeply on both what he believes, and why he believes that way. I pray that God will do everything possible to help this young man understand the message of the gospel, and that this young man would turn in repentance & faith to Jesus Christ.

Why do we go out? Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And second greatest was to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31). If I saw a person here in Marshalltown about to step out in front of a bus, I would at least yell to them to look out. That is, if I cared at all about them. If I couldn't care less, well, too bad for them...not my problem. Right?

Stepping out in front of a bus is nothing compared to the reality of an eternal Hell. Conversely, being the richest, most successful person in the world is nothing compared to the reality of an eternal Heaven, in the presence of our Creator God. Because the Bible is God's word to men, and because all of us have indeed sinned against God and have placed ourselves under his righteous judgment; because Hell is the just punishment for our turning away from God, and because God did something so that he could give us mercy instead of judgment.."The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world." (1 John 4:14). Because forgiveness of all our sins and life eternal is a gift bought & paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ, offered to "whosoever will" (Revelation 22:17). Because Jesus did all of that for me - out of a grateful heart - out of appreciation for the great love that God has shown me - and out of obedience to my Lord who said:

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

So this is what we do, and why we do it, by the Lord's grace and by his Spirit. Check out the video, "Lost At Sea", that I embedded on the upper right of page. It portrays the "why?" in a dramatic way. And don't miss the credits at the end of the video: they are very challenging!