A Happy Experience During the Oil Change

This morning I had a happy experience of an unusual sort.  I went to Meineckes for an oil change and met the new manager.  While waiting for the oil change, Kurt and I chatted.

We talked about jobs, how long we had each lived in Muscatine, and about family.  I found out Ethan had already met him and given him an invite card to church!  To have a mutual friend is a great connection and generally releases trust.  That was the case with Kurt and me. After a minute or so of conversation, I asked,” Have you received Jesus Christ into your life?”  His immediate answer was an emphatic,” Yes, I have!”   Kurt went on to explain his background and a particularly meaningful experience he’d had in church.

I gave him another invitation card and invited him to visit church.  Thanks, Ethan, for preparing the way.

I’ve found over and over again that people want to talk about their faith and experiences with God.   Have you found the same?

Ben and the Potting Soil

“Please pick up some potting soil on your way home,” requested my wife.  I stopped by the garden center, located the type of potting soil Kari requested, and completed the purchase.  A young man came out to the car to help load.  While walking together I introduced myself and discovered his name was Ben.

Ben was a laconic fellow in his early twenties who surprised me with his initiative.  Instead of loading one sack at a time, he grabbed two forty pound sacks together and easily set them down in the trunk of the car.  “You’re strong, Ben!” I remarked.  We made some small talk before I asked, “Have you received Jesus Christ into your life?”  “No, I don’t care about that stuff!” was his answer.  He replied with a sense of finality, and I rose to the occasion.

“But God cares about you, Ben!  He proved it by dying on a cross for you and your sins.  You’ve heard about that, haven’t you?”  Ben remained silent and hung his head.  I continued with some good news.  “Jesus Christ not only died for our sins, but he rose out of death to live in us so we could do what’s right.  All we need to do is receive Him and His free gift of salvation.  With Christ inside our body, life becomes a huge adventure.”

Ben stood there, hanging his head and listening.  “You want to go to heaven when you die, don’t you?”  Ben immediately lifted his head and looked me in the eyes.  I had his attention.  “Jesus cares about you personally, Ben.  All you need to do is trust Him and accept Him as a free gift into your life.  It’s not about a lot of does and don’ts.  Think about it.  The choice is yours.”

I got in the car and drove home.  But the story doesn’t end yet.  That same evening Kari and I returned and bought some fruit trees on end-of-the-summer sale.  Ben again helped us load.  “Have you thought any more about what we were talking about?” I asked.  “No,” he admitted, “I’ve been working the whole time.”  With that we loaded the trees together and parted.

But the story does not end yet. . . .  Some researchers report, on average, a person needs to hear the gospel seven times before he responds.  If that’s the case with Ben, he may need only one or two. .  . or six more witnesses to stop by and plead the case for Jesus.  Perhaps God will let you be the reaper.  Don’t let Jesus die in vain.

How many more times will Ben need to hear the gospel before he responds?  What do you think?

The Man Who Wore His Pants So Low

The crowd of ticketed passengers was waiting at the gate for our flight from Portland to Salt Lake City.  As is typical, we were avoiding eye-contact, yet all the while profiling our fellow passengers.  There was the severely overweight man; I hoped not to have to squeeze into a seat by him.  There were the ladies with necklines so low I would be embarrassed to have to sit next to them.  There was a foreign-looking guy with scraggly hair and pants so low his belt was actually below his buttocks.  I’ve never seen a man who wore his pants so low.  Fortunately, he wore such a long-tailed shirt that that he was not exposed.  I mused, “I think I could handle sitting next to him.”

I boarded the plane and found my assigned aisle seat, 27C.  A lady came and took seat 27A by the window.  Finally, just before closing the doors, the man with the low pants came and sat down beside me in 27B.  He immediately fiddled with his cell phone so as to avoid any contact.  After awhile I interrupted him by introducing myself.  “My name is Ze,” he returned.  I found out to spell his name and that he was a Pilipino from Manila.  I told him my trip with my wife to Mindanao and our wonderful experiences in the Philippines.

After the plane took off I asked, “Have you received Jesus Christ into your life?”  He replied affirmatively, yet so vaguely that it left me wondering.  As we conversed I discovered that he was born a Roman Catholic, that he had received Christ as a child, (“a long time ago”), and that he had been divorced four years ago.

As the flight continued, I shared parts of my life and my story with Ze.  He began asking questions about my life.  He was very interested in our farm and what else I did.  I told him I was a marriage counselor and we talked about the many benefits of marriage.  He began to open up about how his marriage had fallen apart and how he had tried, without success, to keep it together.  Ze knew I was interested, so he shared his life.  He has a Bible (“I have many Bibles”), he reads almost daily, doesn’t go to church, and has no current job.

Near the end of the flight I asked if I could pray for him.  “Sure,” came his welcome response.  We had talked almost non-stop for the duration of the trip.  Surprisingly, Ze was more interested in me and my life than perhaps any stranger I have ever met.

Want to make a friend?  Take courage and simply ask, “Have you received Jesus Christ into your life?”  I find this works for me.  If you’re leading people to Christ regularly, I’d like to know how you do it.

Nine Things the Bible Says about the Environment

The Bible speaks hundreds of times about the earth and environmental issues.  This is a Christian issue and the church should own it.  Those who understand and obey the Old and New Testaments are the world’s greatest environmentalists.

1)      God created the earth and the heavens.  (Genesis 1:1)  The earth is His “baby” so to speak, and exists only because of His will and pleasure. (Revelation 4:11 KJV)

2)      The earth belongs to God.  The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.  ( Psalm 24:1)  All the rights of ownership belong to Him.

3)      God commands humans to take care of His earth.  (Genesis 1:28)  Dominion means “to take charge of, to rule over.”  Here He delegates His ownership to humans and makes us responsible to protect and care for the earth.  He mandates some of us to become chemists, biologists, geologists, agronomists, farmers, etc.

4)      God made a covenant with the animals.  (Genesis 9:8-17)  Among other things, the rainbow is a sign of God’s commitment to care for animals of the earth.

5)      The earth is vitally important to God and His purposes.  (Romans 1:19-20)  God values creation.  .  Everyone who claims, “I see God in nature,” knows visible creation reveals the invisible God.  But God’s purpose in nature is greater than a good feeling or general revelation.  His attributes, namely His “eternal power and divine nature” are “clearly seen” and “understood” through the created world.  As a result, nature has an evangelistic purpose: to reveal God Himself.  This environmental witness in nature is so strong that those who deny God’s self-revelation come under divine judgment:  “So they are without excuse.”

6)      God will destroy those who destroy the earth.  (Revelation 11:18)  No clearer statement of God’s care for the environment can be made.

7)      The Bible guards against environmental extremes.  Animal sacrifices and the eating of meat were enjoined.  The tabernacle was covered with animal skins.  Gold and precious stones will be part of the New Jerusalem.  Natural things are to be used, not avoided.

8)      The earth will be destroyed.  This present earth is not eternal.  (2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 16:3)

9)      The earth will be redeemed.  God’s plan includes restoration of planet earth and all the heavens.  (Revelation 21:1 and 5; Romans 8:21)

What does the Bible tell us about environmentalism?  In short, color your Bible cover green–God is the Chief Environmentalist of the Universe.

Witnessing at Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Restaurant at the Detroit Airport was not only crowded, it was chaotic.  People were literally shouting in order to be heard.  This was not your ordinary suburban Wendy’s.  The tables were close; the aisles narrow and loaded with standing travelers trying to down a burger.  I spotted a couple stools against a far wall but with a Frosty in one hand, a burger plus baked potato in the other and luggage over my shoulder, I felt hopeless to reach the far side of the restaurant.  With relief I noticed one empty seat right at my feet.

“May I take this seat?”  I asked the lady sitting at the table.

“Yes,” came the reply.

I ate silently and quickly.  Clearing my garbage, I thanked the lady for the seat.  She smiled, “You’re welcome!”

We engaged in brief chit-chat and shared our travel destinations.  I asked her, “Have you given your life to Jesus Christ?”

“Yes, we have,” she replied, apparently including her family.  “And we all go to the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Omaha”.

Since I had once lived in a black neighborhood in Omaha I related a significant event I had experienced there.  We got acquainted in the next minutes as her family joined in the conversation.  With smiles we blessed each other as I left for my departing gate.  Strangers across race and distance had become bonded in Christ, pleasantly satisfied by our brief encounter in a crowded restaurant.  It was all possible because of the question, “Have you received Jesus Christ into your Life?”

How to Make a Friend: Howard and the Butcher Plant

I raise grassfed Lamb.  My work takes me to a butcher plant in a neighboring town.  An employee named Howard and I have talked briefly several times over a period of years. You could say we have “chewed the fat” about weather, lambs, his work and so on.  I knew his name, but I don’t know if he knew mine.  We were acquaintances, nothing more.

One day I dropped off some young lambs at the locker.  Howard and some other workers were arriving.   We greeted each other with a “Hello” and “Good morning”. Then I took courage—it’s often breathtaking—and asked Howard in front of another worker, “Have you received Jesus Christ into your life?”  He looked at his co-worker, who turned away, busy with his preparation for the day.  Howard turned to me and began to pour out personal stuff from his heart.  Stuff most men don’t often open up about.  “Well, I think so, but I’m not sure.”  He went on telling some of his struggles and admitting his faults.  I could tell he really wasn’t sure. Nonetheless, as he kept talking, he was making a public confession of his faith in Jesus Christ, perhaps for the first time in a public way.

I was not able to go farther with Howard that day.  Yet something had changed in our relationship. . . .

The next time I saw Howard was several weeks later.  He was standing in a group of workers and customers at the locker.  He immediately turned his attention to me and introduced me to another worker.  His introduction was kind, gracious and full of wit, claiming that I was “a wise man and filled with wisdom”.  He made jokes about how he and I each had the same occupation.  Always pleasant in the past, this time he was overtly friendly.  You see, we had both taken a risk and shared something in common—faith in Christ.  We were brothers.  We had come to the same table and eaten together.  And he wasn’t afraid to show it in front of a group of co-workers.

I experience this “brother factor” phenomenon repeatedly and with few exceptions.  Men (and women) want authenticity.  People want to talk about their faith and their struggles with God.  All of us are looking for real people with whom we can open up.  Sometimes it’s easiest with a stranger.  Would you give someone the opportunity?

Texas State Student Opens to Christ

A surprise knock on our door at 8:30 one morning brought me face to face with a handsome young man named Troy.  He was pitching children’s books to pay for his education at Texas State.  After making it clear we had no children in his target age group, we chatted briefly about Texas football—the Aggies and the Longhorns.  Shortly, the inevitable question came easily:  “Have you received Jesus Christ into your life?”  He demurred, but I could tell he was interested.

Since he asked for a plat map of our neighborhood, I disappeared into the house to fetch the map.  When I returned I asked again, “Have you given your life to Jesus Christ?”  This time he answered clearly, “No, but I want to.  I was raised Catholic.  My grandma has been diagnosed with cancer with only 6 months to live.  I pray for her every day.”

I commended Troy for his desire and his prayers, but did not want to get sidetracked.  I continued with the gospel message about Jesus Christ dying for our sins and rising again for us.  “Salvation is a free gift that we can receive in simple child-like trust.  Is there any reason why you wouldn’t want to receive Jesus Christ into your life right now?” I asked.  He affirmed his desire to receive Christ and “get back with Him”.   I explained how he could receive Christ either right now or at home when he was alone.  He affirmed that now he knew how to receive Christ as Savior and chose to pray alone that night.

I blessed him and he went on his way.