Last week as I was driving to work I noticed a man standing on the side of the road. He was in his upper fifties, well dressed, and with a look on his face that said "don't worry, I'm not going to kill you."
Plus he was holding a well-made sign that read AIRPORT. This lead me to believe he had done this before. (Plus anyone who takes the time to print their legible sign out in big block letters gets points in my near-sighted view of the world)
So I pick him up.
Turns out he is a Deacon with the Jerusalem Baptist Church of Israel. He's been doing missionary work in Tel Aviv for the last 30 years of his life and he was also with Billy Graham on his evangelistic crusades in Moscow back in the 70's.
So I'm thinking, "WOW! I've just picked up Mother Teresa! (Or something like it) I wish it wasn't such a short trip to the airport!" We make small talk for a bit about who I am and who he is and then it happens. He shifts the conversation to the main thing for any Christian missionary. I think he is going to ask me if I've accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. This is a softball question if there ever was one for a guy who loves Jesus, identifies as a Christian AND happens to work at a church where our main thing is to encourage all people to know the love of Christ.
Instead...
I get a flurry of theological questions thrown at me that are so far over my head that I have no idea how to answer any of them. (Thank goodness he never gave me a chance to answer any of them.) We are now at the airport.
I help him unload his bags from my back seat...
The deacon takes this as a cue and proceeds to use the sidewalk as his pulpit for the next 25 minutes! He rants about everything from Dead Sea Scrolls research to Jonah and the whale to the state of Palestine, and a bunch of other topics that I can't even begin to tell you about because I had no idea what he was talking about at this point. I had completely checked out and wished I had never picked the guy up in the first place.
Then I got to thinking...
What if it would have been a non-believer who had picked up this Christian missionary? Think of the horrible impression this deacon would have made on someone like that had he had the same conversation. What an incredible opportunity to simply tell someone about Jesus! In my mind, he blew it.
When it comes to sharing your faith with someone, take my advice. Less is always more. Use simple language. Don't launch into a sermon and start quoting old testament verses from obscure books. (Obadiah comes to mind...oh, you didn't know that was a book of the old testament? Well let me tell you sir...)
Sometimes all you really need to share the gospel is simply living the way Jesus taught us to. Our actions will always speak louder than any sermon ever could.
Disclaimer: I should point out that I DO NOT encourage anyone to EVER PICK UP HITCHHIKERS. It is very dangerous and to put yourself in that situation on purpose would be foolish. (Yes, I know what you are going to say and I've already heard it from my wife.) :)
Markonius L. Richards IV~
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
A Deep Faith
A long time ago, I was a 17 year old kid in high
school. I know, hard to believe but I was in high school at one point of my
life.
Even though I was active in our church activities and hung around some
Christian friends (the majority of them weren't what you would consider committed followers)
my faith never really seemed to develop at what I would call a deep level.
I
guess I was what you would call a "confused surface Christian."
I didn’t understand what being a committed follower of Christ entailed. It felt
deeper for me than a “do good, feel good” type of person but it wasn’t what Jesus would call a real relationship with Him.
Now, not growing up with an active Christian family didn’t
help to give me a familiar background of what being a Christian meant, nor did
it give me any biblical knowledge or historical value. On the positive side, it
was brand new and I had a choice of whether or not I wanted to learn about this
faith. On the negative side, I was very cynical of who this Christ guy was. But
I have learned that the questions that I asked in life have only helped me to
find more answers. If I wasn’t questioning who God was I wouldn’t have cared
if he existed or not.
When I was questioning God, I was actually searching
for Him.
On my faith journey my relationship with Christ was
practically destroyed. It wasn’t deep enough to withstand some of the life-shattering
events I would have to go through. These events seemed like the perfect reason to leave God. But when I
think about it I wish that I wouldn’t have denied God for so long. I wish I
had known more about my faith instead of pretending to be someone I wasn’t.
This is important to me now because helping students build a
faith has somehow become part of my “job” at Hope Lutheran Church. A goal I would have is to help
deepen your faith by finding the things that help you grow as a Christian. Whether it be questioning God, experiencing His love, or seeing how we can
become part of God's call, I want you to understand how deep His love can go.
It seems that every book we read (for work) states that the church is struggling to
develop a deep faith in our high school and college-aged students.
Since this is my “job” it would help to know
where we can help build your faith. Mark and I both think that joining a church
small group is vital to help build a lasting faith and would encourage you to
do so.
What things help to strengthen your faith and deepen your
relationship with God?
Your brother in Christ,
Adamantium~
Adamantium~
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
God-Vitamins
Sometimes it's easy for us to take the well-worn path isn't it? It makes our lives simple this way. If there is a short cut we take it. If there is an easier way to do things, well why wouldn't we?! I admit that I live my work life by the motto "work smarter, not harder."
What happens when this kind of mentality trickles down into our souls? The bible never says (I'm paraphrasing) that leading a Christ-centered life would be easy, does it? I've never read the part that says "believe in Me and all your problems will magically disappear."
What would that look like if we could take a shortcut with our soul business? What if there was an easier way to eternal salvation? Jesus tells us that he is the way, the truth, and the life. No one shall come to the Father except through Me. Yet what if there was an easier way? Would you take it?
I'll bet if Billie Mays were still alive and I asked him to develop an "amazing new product that could revolutionize the way we follow Christ".....I'll bet he (and the Sham-WOW guy) could come up with some pretty ridiculous things. In no particular order, here is a list of some things we came up with:
1. God-spray.
Having trouble convincing your friends that Jesus really is the bees knees?! One spray of this amazing product and even Billy Graham will be impressed with the fire unleashed from your new friend the super evangelist!
2. Ladder-to-Heaven
Tired of being burdened with the everlasting quest to make it to Heaven when you die?! Well now you don't have to worry anymore! With this Ladder-To-Heaven you can go upstairs anytime you like! Just make sure that when you push the big red button that the ladder is facing towards the heavens and not...towards the ground.
3. God-Snuggie
Do you hate feeling like the only one in church that doesn't get that warm fuzzy feeling every time you pray? Well now you can have the feeling of God's comforting arms wrapping around you 24 hours a day with the God-Snuggie! Before you had to go through tiresome tasks like helping others or donating your time, or even mourning the loss of a loved one to get that holy God-nuzzle next to your heart. With the God-Snuggie you just put it on and the pain is gone!
4. Heavenly-Halo App
If you're tech savvy, and hate always having to try so hard to "appear" holier than thou to your church friends, fear not! This new app gives you all the glowing glamor of the angels without having to act like one! And for just $.99 this app is going to give Angry Birds a run for it's money!
5. God-Vitamins
Have you ever thought that there has to be an easier way to get your recommended dose of God each week without having to pull yourself out of bed every Sunday morning to go to church? Well now there is! Introducing God Vitamins! Just take two God Vitamins a week and you can be sure that you will be fortified with enough Holy Spirit to get you through the week! Available in chewables, gummies, and unleavened wafers!
Does anyone else see how ridiculous these shortcuts may seem? Like it or not there are no shortcuts when it comes to following after Jesus. We are suppose to pick up our cross daily and follow Him. (Luke 9:23) We are called to be in the world but not of the world. (Romans 12:2) We are told that God detests lukewarm Christians. (Revelations 3:16)
Jesus didn't want us to compartmentalize our faith. We don't act like Christians only on Sundays. We can't serve two masters in the same lifetime, God and "insert the things you put before God here______." (Matthew 6:24) The sooner we realize that we were meant to live a life of faithfulness to Christ, doing what He calls us to do, the better. It's not about what God can do to please us, but what we can do to please Him.
And when we take shortcuts it cheapens our faith. We make it out to be less than what God intended. In fact, we make it into what WE want instead of what HE wants. Jesus wanted fully committed followers willing to do the hard things in life and stick up for a faith that puts us second to God. In return we are promised an eternity in Heaven.
I think the payoff is worth the sacrifice.
Do you?
What happens when this kind of mentality trickles down into our souls? The bible never says (I'm paraphrasing) that leading a Christ-centered life would be easy, does it? I've never read the part that says "believe in Me and all your problems will magically disappear."
What would that look like if we could take a shortcut with our soul business? What if there was an easier way to eternal salvation? Jesus tells us that he is the way, the truth, and the life. No one shall come to the Father except through Me. Yet what if there was an easier way? Would you take it?
I'll bet if Billie Mays were still alive and I asked him to develop an "amazing new product that could revolutionize the way we follow Christ".....I'll bet he (and the Sham-WOW guy) could come up with some pretty ridiculous things. In no particular order, here is a list of some things we came up with:
1. God-spray.
Having trouble convincing your friends that Jesus really is the bees knees?! One spray of this amazing product and even Billy Graham will be impressed with the fire unleashed from your new friend the super evangelist!
2. Ladder-to-Heaven
Tired of being burdened with the everlasting quest to make it to Heaven when you die?! Well now you don't have to worry anymore! With this Ladder-To-Heaven you can go upstairs anytime you like! Just make sure that when you push the big red button that the ladder is facing towards the heavens and not...towards the ground.
3. God-Snuggie
Do you hate feeling like the only one in church that doesn't get that warm fuzzy feeling every time you pray? Well now you can have the feeling of God's comforting arms wrapping around you 24 hours a day with the God-Snuggie! Before you had to go through tiresome tasks like helping others or donating your time, or even mourning the loss of a loved one to get that holy God-nuzzle next to your heart. With the God-Snuggie you just put it on and the pain is gone!
4. Heavenly-Halo App
If you're tech savvy, and hate always having to try so hard to "appear" holier than thou to your church friends, fear not! This new app gives you all the glowing glamor of the angels without having to act like one! And for just $.99 this app is going to give Angry Birds a run for it's money!
5. God-Vitamins
Have you ever thought that there has to be an easier way to get your recommended dose of God each week without having to pull yourself out of bed every Sunday morning to go to church? Well now there is! Introducing God Vitamins! Just take two God Vitamins a week and you can be sure that you will be fortified with enough Holy Spirit to get you through the week! Available in chewables, gummies, and unleavened wafers!
Does anyone else see how ridiculous these shortcuts may seem? Like it or not there are no shortcuts when it comes to following after Jesus. We are suppose to pick up our cross daily and follow Him. (Luke 9:23) We are called to be in the world but not of the world. (Romans 12:2) We are told that God detests lukewarm Christians. (Revelations 3:16)
Jesus didn't want us to compartmentalize our faith. We don't act like Christians only on Sundays. We can't serve two masters in the same lifetime, God and "insert the things you put before God here______." (Matthew 6:24) The sooner we realize that we were meant to live a life of faithfulness to Christ, doing what He calls us to do, the better. It's not about what God can do to please us, but what we can do to please Him.
And when we take shortcuts it cheapens our faith. We make it out to be less than what God intended. In fact, we make it into what WE want instead of what HE wants. Jesus wanted fully committed followers willing to do the hard things in life and stick up for a faith that puts us second to God. In return we are promised an eternity in Heaven.
I think the payoff is worth the sacrifice.
Do you?
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