3 Minutes Flat!

HA! Think you don’t have enough time to get into a conversation with someone about something as deep as ‘eternal destiny’??? Sure you do.

OK, I had to get ANOTHER phone. I won’t bore you with the details but suffice to say, I don’t need a complicated one! So anyway…here I am taking another one back. Marcus was kind enough to help me choose this time. While he and Dennis worked out the details, I planned my approach. I like to keep it simple.

As Marcus rang me up and got me all finished he smiled and said, “Thank you and have a nice day.”

“Thank you Marcus. Hey...where will go when you die?” I casually said. He stared at me with a puzzled look for a second as if he had mis-heard me. I gave him a pleasant smile. “You know we are all going to die some day.”

“Well, I…hopefully I’m going to Heaven.” He answered.

“Oh…how will you get there?” I asked him.

“Well, by being a good person and …uh, you know going to church and hopefully keeping the Commandments and all.” He responded somewhat confidently.

“Let’s test your theory, Marcus. Have you kept the Commandments?”

“I think I’ve done pretty well.” He said.

Marcus changed his mind a few questions later and just as he found out that his destiny was somewhat South and MUCH warmer than his original plan, his boss walked up with some work for him.

I had given him a Good Person tract so I told him he’d better read it to get the solution for his problem. Marcus had a worried look on his face as I walked away- but I know this may be the start of a new day for him. READ IT MARCUS.

It really doesn't take much effort on our part to possibly help change a destiny.

Romans 10:14-15 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without preaching? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things!"

Tony then and now.

Tony then:
It was about two years ago now that I first met Tony. He sure looked sick. He was lying in his bed, pale and very thin. He seemed very cold so, I offered to get him a blanket. He seemed afraid for me to ask. I retrieved one out of the linen cart and covered him up.

“Better?” I asked.

“Oh, yes, better.” He said.

We talked a bit and Tony told me about his life as the owner of a popular sandwich shop. “They called me Tony Baloney.” We laughed and talked some more. Tony told me that he was in the rehab center because he was having trouble with his colon. I noticed that the medication he was on was for cancer patients. When we got to the serious topic of eternity, Tony got very quiet.

As we made our way through the Law of God, Tony began to cry. “Will God ever forgive me?” He sobbed when he realized how grievous his sin actually was to God. I had to wait until he was able to hear me before I gave him the Great News! As I explained what it meant to follow Jesus I gave him the illustration of the parachute that we all like to use. I told him that he should trust Jesus just like a parachute, if his plane were going down. His hands flew to his mouth and he said, “My girlfriend’s grandson was skydiving yesterday and his parachute failed to open!” Tears came to his eyes again and I explained that this was the closest illustration I could think of but that now he could see that Jesus was even more reliable than a parachute that we trust our lives to (or something like that!). I prayed silently that this would not interfere with Tony receiving the Message that he needed. Tony wanted to pray right then to ask God to forgive him. He said he wanted to follow Jesus. I gave Tony a large-print Bible and put his name in the front of it.

A couple of months later I received this note from him…

Tony now:
This year at Christmas I received a note from Tony with a request that I call him sometime. That time was today. It was really nice to talk to him and hear how he is doing. Tony told me today that God has really changed his life since he has been ‘converted’. He told me that for a long time he was an alcoholic, he could not give it up no matter how many times he tried. Since his conversion he has not had a drink. He doesn’t want to offend God. He also told me that he tithes 10% of his income (Social Security). He said that he is currently reading the last chapter of Corinthians. He had a couple of questions for me and we cleared those up. Tony told me that every night he prays to the Lord and when he does he thanks God for sending me and asks God to bless me.

Although Tony is 80 now and not well enough to get out to church, he is growing in the Lord. He is not a false-convert but a living, breathing son of the living God.

Lately I have been praying for clear direction from the Holy Spirit…

Message received loud and clear.

Phillipians 1:3-6 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making my request for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,

Max's Prison

I have been really bad lately about NOT blogging…that has to change...

Today I met a young boy around 12 years of age. Scruffy and dirty, he was heading down the sidewalk in his wheelchair at a park near the slides. As I watched him I realized how very limited he was. He could only go on the hard surfaces so he had to stay apart from the ‘real action’. He had to merely watch while all the other kids took part in the games. When I caught up with him he told me his name was Max. I gave him a Million Dollar Bill and after talking to him a minute, I asked him what he thought happens to us after we die. He said he thought we go to Heaven. After opening the Law with Max he realized that he was not in good standing with God. He became aware that he was going to Hell and told me he didn’t want to go there. We talked about God and how He doesn’t want anyone to go, either.

Although Max had heard of Jesus, he wasn’t sure why He really came. When he understood who He was, and why Jesus came and died, Max told me he wanted to follow Jesus.

Max is just a little boy who will live in this chair for as long as he is on this Earth. He will be in his foster home for a long time-but not for Eternity. No matter what circumstances we face here-they are nothing compared with that.

I pray that Max will follow through with his statement that he will talk to God tonite before going to bed.

May God bless you and keep you, Max.

Matthew 18:10 Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in Heaven their angels always behold the face of My Father in Heaven.

Our Prayer Today

Proverbs 24:10-12
If you falter in times of trouble how small is your strength!
Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering towards the slaughter.