Waiting to Say Yes: Dallas
I am thirty-one years old, and I began attending “SWAT” (Students with a Testimony) in February 2018. Two weeks earlier, Rick, my husband, and I dropped off our two sons, Jacob (going on 16) and Zachary (13) to attend for their first time. After asking them about their experience, my husband and I began talking, and the question came up, why are we not going? Neither of us could come up with a valid excuse, other than our age, but, rather, we came up with a list of reasons why we should go.
Thirty minutes of worship. Thirty minutes of teaching on apologetics (how to defend your faith). Head to witnessing location, which is typically Tyler Mall. Men are paired or grouped up with other men, as is the case with women. One by one, each group disperses into the mall, praying, seeking whom the Lord would have hear the message of the full gospel – we are sinners, separated from a perfect and holy God; but he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, pay for our sins and rise from the dead, three days later; and if we believe this to be true, we will go to heaven (not hell) when we die.
Hand-ge-what-uh? “Handgelism:” is the acronym we use when we are talking to people. Index finger – invite them to church/the crusade. Middle finger – main question: what is the meaning of life? Ring finger – rethink i.e. why do you think the meaning of life is to be happy? Pinky finger – preach the gospel. Thumb – their response.
Who knew…strangers really like to engage in spiritual and eternal conversations. Pair this with the fact that the gospel is powerful to save, when the question comes up if they would like to accept Christ as their lord and savior or recommit their life to him, many times they say yes.
Then why so much fear sharing the gospel with others? The bible even commands us, time and time again, do not fear! But how can we help it, when the enemy and mind work hand in hand to find infinite reasons for us to fear. Today, my biggest “fear” is missing an opportunity to share about Jesus with someone who does not know him…that they will go to hell…and I could have done something about it. Did I do everything I could? Do I truly love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength? If I do not share the gospel every opportunity I can, it is impossible for me to say yes to the previous questions. And perhaps you are reading this thinking, never had an opportunity, so I have never missed one. Then the question becomes, are you praying for or seeking opportunities in your conversations?
Thirty minutes of worship. Thirty minutes of teaching on apologetics (how to defend your faith). Head to witnessing location, which is typically Tyler Mall. Men are paired or grouped up with other men, as is the case with women. One by one, each group disperses into the mall, praying, seeking whom the Lord would have hear the message of the full gospel – we are sinners, separated from a perfect and holy God; but he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, pay for our sins and rise from the dead, three days later; and if we believe this to be true, we will go to heaven (not hell) when we die.
Hand-ge-what-uh? “Handgelism:” is the acronym we use when we are talking to people. Index finger – invite them to church/the crusade. Middle finger – main question: what is the meaning of life? Ring finger – rethink i.e. why do you think the meaning of life is to be happy? Pinky finger – preach the gospel. Thumb – their response.
Who knew…strangers really like to engage in spiritual and eternal conversations. Pair this with the fact that the gospel is powerful to save, when the question comes up if they would like to accept Christ as their lord and savior or recommit their life to him, many times they say yes.
Then why so much fear sharing the gospel with others? The bible even commands us, time and time again, do not fear! But how can we help it, when the enemy and mind work hand in hand to find infinite reasons for us to fear. Today, my biggest “fear” is missing an opportunity to share about Jesus with someone who does not know him…that they will go to hell…and I could have done something about it. Did I do everything I could? Do I truly love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength? If I do not share the gospel every opportunity I can, it is impossible for me to say yes to the previous questions. And perhaps you are reading this thinking, never had an opportunity, so I have never missed one. Then the question becomes, are you praying for or seeking opportunities in your conversations?
So sets the scene for Harvest America June 10, 2018. My husband and our two boys were signed up to go. I, of course, wanted to go, but I was not sure if I was “called to go.” Yes, you guessed it…fear. To eliminate at least two more paragraphs, I will simply say all I was looking at was finances, even though our closest family and friends had already contributed for the boys to go. “Intense fellowship” and several disagreements later, two days before departure, my husband made the executive decision to buy me my airplane tickets.
One-hundred and sixty-seven (167). Did you catch that? One-hundred and sixty-seven is the number of people that God had the SWAT team pray with in the span of four days, one trip to a neighborhood and four trips to malls. I had the privilege of engaging in nineteen (19) conversations where the gospel was shared, resulting in fourteen (14) responses [nine (9) re-commitments and five (5) first-time decisions].
One-hundred and sixty-seven (167). Did you catch that? One-hundred and sixty-seven is the number of people that God had the SWAT team pray with in the span of four days, one trip to a neighborhood and four trips to malls. I had the privilege of engaging in nineteen (19) conversations where the gospel was shared, resulting in fourteen (14) responses [nine (9) re-commitments and five (5) first-time decisions].
‘I have never engaged a Muslim before,’ I shared with the gal I was paired with. Later that day, the Lord brought us two Muslim gals, Felina and Besa, that had never heard the gospel, and they were very interested and believed what we shared with them. The next day I told the same gal I was paired with, ‘I have never engaged someone gay with the gospel before.’ That was when the Lord brought us Izzy and Mary (one identified as gay). It was such an invigorating conversation for the four of us – how sin is sin, regardless of what it is, and it separates us from God. But he is the healer and forgiver.
My faith kindles hotter each time I share about his love to others, and women catch the flame, before my very eyes. In my previous example, both women recommitted their lives to the Lord. They had been wanting to get back to the church. To top it off, later that day at a different mall, the Lord brought us two more women that were “married.” After engaging in a conversation that seemed like eons, echoing a lot of what we had just shared, these two women also recommitted their lives to Christ. Are you warming up yet?
By the time of the crusade, my flesh was altogether beat. The battle already won. The gospel clearly spoken. Heralded in by countless prayers. Again, the gospel was shared, and the people responded. The Lord brought me three women, Melissa, Gracie and Tammy, to pray with as they recommitted their lives to Christ. A little over two-thousand more also made decisions.
What I failed to consider when deciding if I was “called” to go, was that God had already been preparing me [and my family] to go…every bible study, worship song, test, prayer, witnessing opportunity, devotion, memory verse and others. The crazy part is that I was already prepared even before then. God is outside of space and time, working out every big and tiniest detail. When I was sharing with my husband after we came back home, I told him the biggest regret would have been not going…not being used…not doing his good work…as a family. We are all called to share the good news about Jesus Christ. Everywhere. To anyone. At any time. So when was the last time you did?
My faith kindles hotter each time I share about his love to others, and women catch the flame, before my very eyes. In my previous example, both women recommitted their lives to the Lord. They had been wanting to get back to the church. To top it off, later that day at a different mall, the Lord brought us two more women that were “married.” After engaging in a conversation that seemed like eons, echoing a lot of what we had just shared, these two women also recommitted their lives to Christ. Are you warming up yet?
By the time of the crusade, my flesh was altogether beat. The battle already won. The gospel clearly spoken. Heralded in by countless prayers. Again, the gospel was shared, and the people responded. The Lord brought me three women, Melissa, Gracie and Tammy, to pray with as they recommitted their lives to Christ. A little over two-thousand more also made decisions.
What I failed to consider when deciding if I was “called” to go, was that God had already been preparing me [and my family] to go…every bible study, worship song, test, prayer, witnessing opportunity, devotion, memory verse and others. The crazy part is that I was already prepared even before then. God is outside of space and time, working out every big and tiniest detail. When I was sharing with my husband after we came back home, I told him the biggest regret would have been not going…not being used…not doing his good work…as a family. We are all called to share the good news about Jesus Christ. Everywhere. To anyone. At any time. So when was the last time you did?
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