Tonight was a wonderfully interesting night!  On our way home from a 90th birthday party of a good friend, we stopped at Walmart at about 10:00.  What a time to meet and witness to young people just "hangin' out."  I took some gospel tracts and began speaking to a group of young people, one guy (David) and two girls.  The conversation started with one of the tracts asking the question in the form of a scratch off ticket, "What is the world's most popular fairytale?"  This girl immediately sensed that I was a Christian and responded with a bold, "I think the Bible is the biggest fairy tale."  The conversation continued with trying to reason with this very immature girl who couldn't have come up with more red herrings if she tried.  "How can you believe that Paul could throw dirt into someone's face and it be a good thing?"  Um...first of all young lady, it wasn't Paul, and second of all, Jesus made clay and put it in the man's eyes and healed him, and thirdly, Jesus gets to do anything He wants to because he's God.  (Going through my mind, but not out my mouth ;)  The entire time this self righteous, proud, and disrespectful girl was conversing with me, the young man was listening intently.  When finally their friends came out of the store, and the girl gladly announced that she had to go, this young man steps forward and asks for the 24 page "WHY CHRISTIANITY?" tract (available at WayoftheMaster.com) that I had, and basically wanted to know where he could go to church or if he could go with me.....That's one hard part of having a church so far from where your circle of influence is.  I have to trust God that he will provide for that humble, seeking soul.  I sent him to our church's website and told him that we could meet him or pick him up any Sunday, but the reality of that is slim.  I was completely unprepared for his open hearted reaction as that is the first person who genuinely knew he needed to do something now!  He understood repentance and the need to turn from sin, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and his death and resurection.  The tract he received goes through all of that in depth, but I also wish I could tell him, "Yeah, Sunday, we are having church right down the street at 10 am!"  Perhaps a small group in our own town park once a month or something would be beneficial to help our churches grow from without.  There are so many people out there that have perfect soil for the word, but so many times it never gets sown in their hearts.  God will find a way to reach a soul if he wants to, but why not be used as reaper for His harvest.  As the old song sadly says, "They all want to sit around my table, but no one wants to work in my fields." 

The next people we talked to were believers but I still wanted to walk them through the law and show them our need for a Saviour and what true repentance and conversion is.  They were very encouraged and encouraged me to continue to speak to people on the street because, "there aren't many people who do what you do."  This is a sad truth that I don't take pride in but rather encourage more believers to share the Gospel to a lost a dying world.

  

Speaking of lost and dying, the last group of people I talked to took it all out of me.  I need to sleep now and be rejuvenated by the spirit before heading back out into the world to seek and save those who are lost. Their names were Ronan, Chris (pictured), and Dingbat with a capital "D".  (The entire time I was talking with these guys, satan had the Dingbat mumbling incoherent nothings about how they had to "drive" because there were people waiting for them cause they were gonna "party, man!")  

I started by speaking with Ronan as he pumped gas into his old beater truck.  I had just seen Chris carry about 3 cases of beer into the truck and thought this would certainly be a couple guys who could stand to hear the Gospel.  Ronan was a backslidden catholic ;) as he readily admitted that he smokes weed 

and drinks.  As I began to reason with Ronan, Chris gets out of the truck and starts "f-ing this and that" and telling me to basically beat it because they have a party to go to.  (Well, shoot fire, what was I doing getting in their way?  They obviously didn't want me to talk about Jesus to them, so why not just let them be?  What was that Jesus said about not coming to save the righteous, but SINNERS?  Well here where three of them and thankfully God gave me courage to stand and speak truth to these guys.)  As Chris stepped in to "protect" Ronan and shoo me away, the conversation 

turned to him.  I was able to show, to Chris, the reason I was talking to them, when I asked him the simple question.  "If you saw an old blind man walking toward the interstate ramp while a Mack truck was bearing down on him, what would you do?"  

"I would help him."  

"Why?"  

"Because it's the right thing to do."  

"Why!?"  

"Because I value his life!"

"Right.  And that's why I'm here talking to you."

I tried to reason with Chris that the Bible is the Truth based on historicity and helped him to realize that the sin that he found so pleasureable would be the same sin that God would punish by sending him to Hell eternally.  Just as a judge won't let a condemned criminal go unpunished, so God has all the right to throw us into Hell forever.  Even asking for forgiveness won't do a bit of good.  God only allows us to go free because of what he did to his only begotten Son.  Noone is simply "forgiven".  He poured out all his wrath on Him as he hung in our place.  We must repent from our sin, and trust in Jesus' death on the cross as complete payment for our sin.

Chris went from a cursing smoking sinner to a cursing less, smoking sinner who had the seed of the Gospel planted in his head and heart.  I have no idea what God has in mind for that young man, but I've heard of much greater sinners who have fallen to their knees and repented before a Holy God.  Please pray for Chris, Ronan, and the Dingbat, as well as David and Paul and Teresa who all had the seed of the Gospel planted into their hearts.  I don't get to choose the soil on which I sow.  God be praised He is the one that does the saving, not me!