"Ah! if we did but love Christ better, my brothers and sisters, if we lived nearer to the cross, if we knew more of the value of his blood, if we wept like him over Jerusalem, if we felt more what it was for souls to perish, and what it was for men to be saved—if we did but rejoice with Christ in the prospect of his seeing the travail of his soul, and being abundantly satisfied—if we did but delight more in the divine decree, that the kingdoms of this world shall be given to Christ, I am sure we would all of us find more ways and more means for sending forth the gospel of Christ".
C.H. Spurgeon
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hello everyone.
ReplyDeleteI gave my class of 5 women their final golf lesson this morning. I had previously shared the gospel with Kelsey and today was able to share with Jennel and Teresa- after our lesson was over. They had told me in the past that they grew up together and had been best friends since grade school. I asked them if they attended the same church then growing up. They said no and Teresa started making fun of Jennel's church, she started making these funny faces and circular motions with her hands. Jennel started to laugh so I asked what type of church that was. Free Will Baptist. Teresa grew up Methodist. This led to an interesting conversation about faith and baptism. I won't go into it all but I was able to share the gospel with both of them and it seemed to me that they both were encouraged by my statements and willingness to bring it up. I invited them to Mercy Hill for tomorrow night and they really looked excited about it. But, Teresa has company coming in so she cannot attend, but Jennel said to be sure and let her know when the next gathering was.
Neat visit.
Mags
Well, needless to say, I have been woefully silent for some time now. So perhaps the first thing I need to do is to repent of my silence. I also need to say that while I have been silent in my reports on this blog, by the grace of God I have not been silent in opportunities to share the gospel.
ReplyDeleteI have had some wonderful gospel encounters and I believe it is not exaggerating to say that I have shared the gospel every day since last Monday, June 15. I have previously shared my gospel encounters on our wedding anniversary (June 15) and a couple of days following. On Thursday, June 18, as Karen and I were preparing to leave for our trip to Louisville, KY for the Southern Baptist Convention, I had the opportunity to share the gospel with a young lady who works at a local bank. When I asked her if she had a biblical understanding of the gospel she answered in a way that was very encouraging. We then spoke of the need to have a biblical assurance of salvation, trusting in Jesus Christ's finished work and making our calling and election sure. That evening we traveled to Tulsa to make pastoral visits and had more opportunities to share the gospel with a waitress and a QT clerk.
On Friday we flew out of Tulsa to Louisville and along the way I had the opportunity to share the gospel with two people whom I sat next to on our flights. One was religious but didn't seem to have a clue about the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was cordial, but more tolerant than interested. The other was totally uninterested and turned away from me and went to sleep. How sad.
In Louisville there were several more opportunities to share the gospel. On Sunday, June 21, we went to lunch at Red Lobster's and had a great encounter with a young waitress who listened patiently and appreciatively as I shared the good news of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection on behalf of sinners. She claimed to be a Christ-follower and we prayed for her and some concerns she shared with us.
I am going to restrain myself and not write a day by day chronicling of evangelistic encounters. I will mention three in closing. On Thursday evening we ate at a very interesting restaurant in Old Louisville called "Ramsi's Cafe on the World." Our waitress (whose name is Alexis) was one of the kindest and most gentle people I have ever met. I asked her if she believed that Jesus Christ died on the cross for her sins and had risen from the grave so that she could become a Christ-follower. She said she didn't know and was definitely not a Christ-follower. She said she was considering various world religions because she was seeking inner peace by looking within herself. I told her that many world religions encourage people to "look within themselves" because they cannot point "outward" to a crucified Savior Who rose from the dead. I asked her if she had a copy of the Bible and she said she did. I encouraged her to read the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection (from the Gospel of John) and then to read the companion letter (1 John). She told us that she is a struggling artist and gave us information on her website. We promised to pray for her that she would find true peace in the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
This concludes "Part 1" of this blog. "Part 2" will follow.
Bro. Bill Ascol
Catching Up -- Part 2
ReplyDeleteOn the plane ride back to Tulsa on Friday I had two good opportunities to share the gospel. One was with a young soldier (Russell Akers) who had graduated from Army Boot Camp at Fort Knox was was being transferred to San Antonio to train as a Medic. He opened up and told me about his upbringing and journey. He claimed that at the age of 18 he had trusted in Jesus Christ to be his Lord and Savior. When I asked him about his understanding of how one becomes a Christian he was very vague. We talked the entire 1 1/2 hours of the flight, mostly talking about the meaning of life and the inevitability of death. He spoke very soberly about the likelihood of himself or one of his "battle buddies" on the plane dying in combat (probably in Afghanistan). I asked him if he was "ready to die" and face God in judgment. He said that he was, but that many of his buddies were not. I told him that I would pray for him, that if indeed he was a true follower of Jesus Christ that God would enable him to be a witness in a very challenging environment. He thanked me. At one point I even read various Scripture passages to him from his military issue Bible.
The second leg of our trip presented an opportunity for an hour long conversation with "Liz," a young college student returning from Central America after five weeks of language study. She was raised as a Catholic and claimed that she became a Christian in her uncle's Methodist church. I told her that I do not like to use the word "Christian" very much because it doesn't mean much any more. As I shared the gospel with her, she became very contemplative. I told her that I would pray for her, asking the Lord to make her a committed follower of Jesus Christ.
On my way out of the airport parking lot I met a man at the Exit who I discovered had once been a member at Bethel in the days of Andy O'Kelley. I asked him where he was attending now and he told me that he had moved to Tulsa and was not going anywhere on a regular basis. I chided him and told him the Bethel was still easily within driving distance and that I would expect to see him this coming Sunday. He was very cordial (even stuck out his hand for me to shake it) and we could have spoken more, but the driver behind me became impatient (I guess the handshake did it) and so I had to move on.
It is good to "be back in the loop" of this blog. Take care and God bless.
Bro. Bill Ascol
Blessings All,
ReplyDeleteI was convinced that there was going to be no way for me to share the Gospel with anyone today. The Alert Base is a little like being in prison in that I cannot go anywhere.
This will be short again, I'm typing on my iPhone. God gave me an audience of four today, it blew my mind. The conversation started with a discussion on motorcycles and through a series of several questions and what seemed like a hundred different topics it finally got to a point where I gave a defense for the Gospel. It was awesome, God allowed me to capture their attention, drive the conversation to the Gospel and do this in a way that they felt completely comfortable asking questions. The entire conversation was about 2 hours long. God is amazing!