There's nothing like walking up to a group of young men who are engrossed in their conversation and looking like they want no parts of anything you have to say....so you introduce yourself and give them an invitation to church, they politely take it...and say "Thank You!" But the icing on the cake is when you get to the last of the crew and the guy doing most of the talking is your cousin! We hugged a big hug and said, "I love you Cuz!" That alone made the other guys pay attention and show even more respect!...."Oh, she's
his family!
It was a beautiful day to walk, pray and share the gospel. No one refused the invitations....everyone was so accepting which just let me know that people need Jesus in their lives. Their eyes tell the story.
I encountered a young man who grew up in a very VERY strict church and he told me that when he became an adult he never wanted to see the inside of a church ever again....(we had our conversation while he was rolling something, but that didn't matter) He told me how he couldn't play sports, play with other kids, go to the movies and a list of other No No's. He said he has 3 children and he has never taken them to church. He told me he even used to play the piano but after feeling so condemned about everything, he stopped playing. He wasn't blaming God for his upbringing....just that church. The world must see Jesus first! Feel His genuine Love flowing from us! All of the other religious man-made rhetoric, is of the devil and I believe that God will judge this kind of thing...
In all my years of sharing the gospel on the streets, I have run into people who were backslidden, other religions or even atheists. But this was the first time I've ever had a conversation with someone who was hurt so badly as a child by the church. Our conversation was lengthy to say the least and he knew that my focus was Jesus and what He does in our lives once we accept Him as Lord and Savior.
I walked away praying for him and praying that the seeds I planted all fell on good soil and produce good crops, In Jesus' Name.
Pray with me that Jesus invades the hearts of the men and women and teens that I talked to today. And that Jesus brings them to repentance. My prayer was that they feel His love through me as I shared Him with them. I know Jesus did that! I just know He did!
