Sharing the Gospel and Listening to Christmas Music

You Mean I Don't Have To Get Baptized?

It was about an hour before the end of the day and I stopped two young men as they were walking.  They were 22 years old, and on their way to the bar to have a few drinks.  I asked them why the celebrated Christmas.  Our conversation slowly began to take shape, and I began to ask them questions about Jesus, heaven, hell, their life's purpose, After establishing some trust and openess, I asked one of the young men whose named was Gustavo if he died today what would happen to him. He thought for a few seconds and said that he would without a doubt go to hell.  I asked him why he thought that.  His response was chilling.  "Because I have not been baptized yet." I related ot him quickly, as growing up in the Lutheran church this is what I was taught. I then shared the Gospel to him.  It was the first time he had ever heard in his life that His salvation rested in faith in Christ, not in a church tradition. I shared an illustration with him of a dirty car.  Believing that baptism saves you is kind of like believing that taking your car to the car wash once will keep it clean forever.  i am always amazed at hoe the man made doctrines held in many churches are keeping people from receiving the grace offered in Christ.  Pray for Eduardo, and that he would look to Christ for salvation, not a tradition.

Hot and Cold

The first week of our Greatest Gift Outreach was amazing.  I would like to say it was hot and cold.  Some days we had just open doors like crazy, countless conversations, and many opportunities to share the Gospel.  Peoples seemed to be very receptive and willing to discuss what they believe and why.  They were curious about Jesus, and the people joining us felt encouraged.  Then, the very next day, it was almost as if we had a complete opposite experience.  Things went from "hot to cold".  People were non receptive, very angry and aggressive, and it seemed as if we were as Paul said, "the scorn of the earth".  This all is part of the territory when it comes to evangelism isn't it?  One of the reasons we see people grow weary is that they are so focused on experience rather than reality.  Experiences will always waver, truth never will.  We try and remind ourselves of this daily.  That whether things be hot or cold, our witness shall never waver.  The reality is, sharing the Gospel although life giving, can be very discouraging and hard.  This should not surprise us, and may we always look to Christs example to not grow weary in proclaiming His name.

Greatest Gift Outreach Week One

This past week we started our Greatest Gift outreach.  The above picture are of some people from 4 different churches who are part of the Gospel Guy Network who hit the streets with us.  this week alone we saw 15 different people participate in our outreach.  What a blessing to see the body of Christ come together for this outreach.  One of the great things we have noticed is that all these people have different fears when it comes to evangelism, but through the Gospel Guy, they are overcoming them and becoming more bold in their witness.  God is so good!  Please continue to pray for this outreach as we hit the streets again on Monday!