Sowing on Sabbatical

Just because I'm on sabbatical doesn't mean I won't be out sowing seeds (talking to people about the reality of sin, death, judgment, and God's Grace). I don't consider that only a part of my job, but also a part of my personal life.

Last evening Michelle and I, along with Richie F., Renee F., Javier J., and Gary K. went to the new Highlands outdoor shopping mall in Arlington for a witnessing outing. As we drove together we prayed for boldness, clarity in our speech and for divine appointments. As always the LORD was faithful. We broke up into teams of two and after 75 minutes or so we met up to tell our stories. Each person was indeed bold in their witnessing and the LORD did provide appointments.

My divine appointment was with Cheryl. Cheryl and her (girl) friend were sitting at a table outside an ice cream store enjoying some ice cream in a cup. I approached them with Million Dollar Bill tracts. Then transitioned the conversation quickly to spiritual matters by asking them if they thought they were good enough to go to heaven. Cheryl responded that she thought she was. I then pulled out two Ten Commandment coins and aksed if I could ask them a few questions to see if they were indeed good enough. They agreed and off I went through the commandments.

After confessing to be lying, theiving, blaspheming, adulterers at heart, they agreed that they would be in trouble on jugment day if God didn't forgive them. Cheryl then said that she was glad that God was a forgiving God. I then began to talk about the necessity of repentance--that without repentance there is no pardon. After several stories and illustrations I asked them if they had repented of their sin and turned to God. Cheryl admitted that she had not done so. I then asked her what was keeping her from doing so. I urged her to repent of her sin and turn to God and place her trust in Jesus. I asked her to carefully consider all that I had said to her.

And as I parted company with them, I looked Cheryl in the eyes and said, "Make sure before you close your eyes tonight you tell God how sorry you are for you sins and that you are repenting and turning from them to him, and ask his forgiveness. If you do, He will forgive you and give you eternal life rght then." Then, I said that I wanted to see her again when we get to eternity. With a big smile on her face she thrust her hand out to shake mine and she thanked me for talking to them.

When you learn to speak to a person's conscience, rather than to their intellect, you can make an eternal difference in a stangers life in just 5 or 10 minutes!