PIE Night June 24, 2008

We decided last week that we needed a break between classes and this would include our PIE Nights. We both moped around Monday and then Dennis came to me mid-morning and said, “Do you think we should have a PIE Night tonite?” We both jumped up and I ran to the computer to put out the call. Every email notification I got stated that people had already made plans and could not make it. I was disappointed but undaunted. We went to the beach at the appointed time and around the corner walked Diana!! While eating a slice up walked Sharon!! God had doubled our team! We grabbed our new 4th of July Million Dollar Bills and we were off!

We quickly engaged Teddy, a man from Indonesia who turned out to be a follower of Jesus Christ! He told us that his impression before coming to the United States was that it was a Christian nation. “But…I think this is not true.” He told us that although he had been in the country for six months, not one person had come up to him to tell him of Jesus. Why aren’t we shocked at this statement? Will it take a tsunami for us to wake up?

We met Joe, a lifeguard who had held a dying baby in his arms. He is disillusioned with people who call themselves Christians and don’t live it out. He was also unimpressed with ‘organized religion’. We talked to Joe at length and he didn’t seem concerned at the prospect of spending eternity in Hell…until we talked about ‘believing’ we can swim vs. the reality of not being able to swim. We told him that whatever he believed it certainly better line up with what was true. We explained why Jesus had to live and die and he stopped us…”Wait a minute! I want to ask you something…is that why Jesus came here?” He explained that he had seen a ‘documentary’ on Jesus the night before.

“Yes Joe, He came to live a perfectly sinless life in order that He might be able to provide the perfect sacrifice that was needed to pay for us...the Judge stepped down from the bench after sentencing you and took the punishment himself so that you could be free!!” Joe’s face began to take on a troubled look. “It was no coincidence that you were watching that last night and then God sent us to speak with you tonite.”

“I’ll give you that one.” He stood and gathered his things. We thanked him for talking to us and gave him a booklet called “Are You a Good Person?” along with a copy of the Gospel of John (provided free from www.pocketpower.org ). Please pray for Joe-he has some searching to do.

Diana found a man named Dick who was watching the waves from a bench. He is hurting after recently losing his wife. Diana knows hard times and she was able to speak with Dick first hand on that subject. God will take the trials we’ve been through and use them to minister to people. They had a great conversation and he wants to talk again.

Sharon and I approached two men, one had a ponytail and the other said his name was Gary. When Sharon walked over to Ponytail he said, “I am re-born!” and had a creepy smile on his face. While she talked to Ponytail, I started talking to Gary about his spiritual beliefs. He immediately said, “I’m saved.” I asked if he would humor me and let me give him a little test. As we went through the questions he became very sober and anxious. He almost cried as he realized, “I am going to Hell!” I told Gary that there was Good News. Ponytail began to sing loudly, “I surrender all...” Gary and I moved away toward the water and I asked Gary what was stopping him from following the Lord right then. He said, “Nothing!” and he prayed right then and there! Praise God because He still works today!!

Dennis spent his time between two Muslim men and a "Christian" who said he didn't want to talk about the Law but rather his style of talking to people included deep theological discussions in order to bring whoever he was talking to up to the 'next level'. Hmmm...wonder how that works for him?

I love to fish!