Can These Bones Live?

I was reading Ezekiel 37 recently and two things occurred to me...First, God commands Ezekiel to speak to the dead bones. Second, after Ezekiel speaks what God commands him to, God carries out his plan as He ordained and God gets all the glory!

What was Ezekiel's part in this miraculous event? Simple obedience. Speaking what God had told him to speak. Being faithful to the task God had given to him. Ezekiel was just a faithful servant obeying his Master's command.

God is still raising the dead today and for some reason only known to Him, He has chosen to use us in this process. In a similar way, we live in a world where we are surrounded by spiritually dead people (1 Cor 2:6-16). Spiritually speaking, people are walking around us as a heap of dry bones. The job God has given us is like Ezekiel's, to speak what God has told us to speak to the dead bones around us. And God has given us a very specific message that must be spoken in order for the dead to be made alive.

Mark 1:15 - “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 16:15 - And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Repenting and believing the gospel is the means by which dead bones come alive, the means by which God places His Spirit in them and causes them to live again. This is the means by which a dead deserter becomes a disciple of Christ, the means by which God gives the natural man the mind of Christ and he is radically transformed from the inside out. Our part is simple obedience to preach the gospel as our Master has commanded. It is the miraculous work of God to carry out His ordained plan.

Is There a Key to Reaching the Lost?

“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.” Luke 11:52

Have you ever thought, “There must be a key to reaching the lost”? There is—and it’s rusty through lack of use. The Bible does actually call it “the key,” and its purpose is to bring us to Christ, to unlock the Door of the Savior (John 10:9). Much of the Church still doesn't even know it exists. Not only is it biblical, but it can be shown through history that the Church used it to unlock the doors of revival. The problem is that it was lost around the turn of the twentieth century. Keys have a way of getting lost.

Jesus used it. So did Paul (Romans 3:19,20), Timothy (1 Timothy 1:8–11), and James (James2:10). Stephen used it when he preached (Acts 7:53). Peter found that it had been used to open the door to release 3,000 imprisoned souls on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus said that the lawyers had “taken away” the key, and even refused to use it to let people enter into the kingdom of God.

The Pharisees didn't take it away. Instead, they bent it out of shape so that it wouldn't do its work (Mark 7:8). Jesus returned it to its true shape, just as the Scriptures prophesied that He would do (Isaiah 42:21). Satan has tried to prejudice the modern Church against the key. He has maligned it, misused it, twisted it, and, of course, hidden it—he hates it because of what it does. Perhaps you are wondering what this key is. I will tell you. All I ask is that you set aside your traditions and prejudices and look at what God’s Word says on the subject.

In Acts 28:23 the Bible tells us that Paul sought to persuade his hearers “concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets.” Here we have two effective means of persuading the unsaved “concerning Jesus.”

Let’s first look at how the prophets can help persuade sinners concerning Jesus. Fulfilled prophecy proves the inspiration of Scripture. The predictions of the prophets present a powerful case for the inspiration of the Bible. Any skeptic who reads the prophetic words of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, etc., or the words of Jesus in Matthew 24 cannot but be challenged that this is no ordinary book.

The other means by which Paul persuaded sinners concerning Jesus was “out of the law of Moses.” The Bible tells us that the Law of Moses is good if it is used lawfully (1 Timothy 1:8). It was given by God as a “schoolmaster” to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). Paul wrote that he “had not known sin, but by the law” (Romans 7:7). The Law of God (the Ten Commandments) is evidently the “key of knowledge” Jesus spoke of in Luke 11:52. He was speaking to “lawyers”—those who should have been teaching God’s Law so that sinners would receive the “knowledge of sin,” and thus recognize their need of the Savior.

Prophecy speaks to the intellect of the sinner, while the Law speaks to his  conscience. One produces faith in the Word of God; the other brings knowledge of sin in the heart of the sinner. The Law is the God-given “key” to unlock the Door of salvation. See Matthew 19:17–22 comment and Romans 3:19,20.

“I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law. The Law is the needle, and you cannot draw the silken thread of the gospel through a man’s heart unless you first send the needle of the Law to make way for it.” Charles Spurgeon

Source: The Evidence Bible

The Importance of Family Discipleship

This is our first duty, we are to begin at the family hearth; he is a bad preacher who does not commence his ministry at home. The heathen are to be sought by all means, and the highways and hedges are to be searched, but home has a prior claim, and woe unto those who reverse the order of the Lord's arrangements. To teach our children is a personal duty; we cannot delegate it to Sunday School Teachers, or other friendly aids, these can assist us, but cannot deliver us from the sacred obligation; proxies and sponsors are wicked devices in this case; mothers and fathers must, like Abraham, command their households in the fear of God, and talk with their offspring concerning the wondrous works of the Most High... Plots of Popery (reliance on the religious professionals) is covertly advancing in our land, and one of the most effectual means for resisting its inroads is left almost neglected, namely, the instruction of children in the faith. Would that parents would awaken to a sense of the importance of this matter. (Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, P387, July 11)

I Will Follow You, But....

Luke 9:57-62: Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

What a sobering message Jesus gave to someone who claimed that he would follow Jesus wherever He went. Jesus is essentially saying that a follower of His will be marked by three things:

1. You will be rejected wherever you go.

“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

2. Your primary focus in life will be to go and preach the kingdom of God.

“Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

3. If you think twice about your commitment to Jesus, you are not fit to follow Him.
“No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Jesus seems to be moving from the end result to the root cause in these verses. The end result is that they will be rejected. The root cause for this rejection is wholeheartedly following Jesus. In the middle, we see that a wholehearted follower of Jesus will be primarily focused with preaching the kingdom of God.

In summary, if you have a complete commitment to follow Christ (v.62) the result will be that you will go and preach the kingdom of God (v.60) and as a result you will be rejected by the world and you will have nowhere to lay your head (v.58).

Hopeful Apologetics

We read through Romans 1-8 this weekend in church and it was a time of blessing. Hearing the pure Word of God and allowing it to minister to me and the rest of the people at our church was refreshing. God revealed many things to me during that time, two of which were somewhat related to evangelism so I wanted to write them down here before I forget them.

God's ExistenceOne of the simplest proofs for God’s existence is the building-builder, painting-painter, Creation-Creator analogy. If you are unfamiliar with that proof, check it out here under the heading “Does God Exist?”. This proof is powerfully summarized in Hebrews 3:4.

As we were reading through Romans we came across Romans 4:17: (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

This Scripture states that everything that has come into existence has been called into existence by God. Most people realize the absurdity of an eternally existent universe and know that it cannot have existed forever. As a result, most everyone agrees that the universe came into existence at some time in the past. With this starting point, you can take someone to Romans 4:17 to show them that God, not some natural mechanism, is the One who calls things that do not exist into existence. It is a Scriptural support to the apologetic of trying to prove the existence of God to an atheist or non-believer.

Hope and Faith
Later on in Romans, we came to Romans 8:24-25: For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

The way this can be helpful in evangelism is confronting atheists or those who believe that “faith” is something contrary to logic and reason and therefore distance themselves from having “faith” or believing in something they cannot see or analyze with their 5 senses. Most atheists are ready to defend their worldview when it comes to “faith” and explain why they don’t have the same type of “faith” as a religious person. However, this verse showed me an alternate approach to the idea of faith with an atheist; a backdoor, so to speak. Rather than trying to get them to admit they have faith, ask them if they have any hopes about their future or have ever hoped for anything in the past. They will undoubtedly say yes. But what is hope? It is a type of faith about a future event or circumstance that you cannot see and has not yet come to pass. We hope for good health, for a good job, for a long life, to get married, to fall in love, to be successful and much more. The truth is that the object of your hope, by definition, has to be something we have not yet seen or known otherwise it would not be hope. It is a type of faith we have in looking forward to a future event. Romans 8:24-25 brought this to my attention during my reading this weekend and I look forward to using this apologetic as necessary during conversations on the street with lost people.

Answering Objections - The Bible is Full of Errors

When you are out talking to people about Jesus and the Gospel it is not uncommon to come across questions and objections. Some are valid objections and an honest answer will help prepare the person's heart for the seed of the gospel.  Others are just smoke screens that people hide behind because the truth of God's existence and our accountability to Him for our actions would throw a wet blanket on their current lifestyle.

So, I wanted to address a common objection that you might come across along the way and offer some potential answers that I have found helpful when trying to respond. The next time you are talking with someone about the Bible and they throw an argument out there like: "the Bible is full of errors" here is a potential way you can respond.

1. Challenge them to show you 3 supposed errors by asking "Can you show me in the Bible some of the errors you are referring to?" Chances are they won't because they are just parroting out what they heard in some classroom, blog, movie, radio show, etc. If they give you something tangible and you don't have a good answer for it, go here to learn about supposed Bible Difficulties and how to respond to them. If you do not have an immediate explanation, then your starting assumption that the Bible is true must take precedence, and you just have to learn more. In every case, there is a logical explanation— we just have to clear up our own ignorance. The idea that God made an error is never a possibility.
2. Since they are affirming errors in the Bible ask them some questions to see how familiar they are with the Bible. If you can show that they don't know some of the most basic truths about the Bible then their argument will lose any credibility and you can counter with some positive truths about the infallibility of Scripture. One way to do this is to say "oh, so you are familiar with the Bible?" If they say no, then you can just say "well why should I believe you when you tell me there are errors if you yourself are not familiar with it." If they say yes they are familiar with the Bible then ask them some basic questions that anyone remotely familiar with the Bible should know.
1. Question 1: How many books are in the Bible? Answer: 66.
2. Question 2: What is the first book in the New Testament? Answer: Matthew.
3. Question 3: How many Gospels are in the New Testament? Answer 4.
4. Question 4: Who wrote the letter to the Philippians? Answer: The Apostle Paul
5. Question 5: What is the 2nd book of the Bible? Answer: Exodus
6. You really could ask any number of basic questions. The idea is to really see if the person is at all familiar with the Bible. If not, call their bluff and tell them that since they don't really know the Bible it makes no sense for me to take anything they say about the Bible seriously. Then you can reason with them from the Scriptures about why the Bible is reliable, trustworthy and true. See the following link for examples: Can we trust the Bible?
3. If they are sharp enough, they might call you out and say well how do you know that all other religious books and beliefs are not true, are you familiar with all of them? Below is a helpful response to this challenge thanks to my friend Tony over at Systematic Evangelism.
1. Your answer should be no, that's unnecessary and impossible, and here's why:  If I know that 1 + 1 = 2 and only 2, I do not have to check to see if 3, 4 , 5 or any other number are possible answers.  By knowing the correct answer and knowing that there is only one right answer, I can know for sure that all other answers are false.  In the same way, by knowing that Christianity is true, I do not have to investigate every false religion under the sun.  If Christianity is true, all other religions are false. And here are just a few of the reasons why I know Christianity is true...( see Can we trust the Bible?)

Hopefully, you find some of this information useful. The most important thing to remember is that you must be respectful and gentle when responding to any objection (1 Peter 3:15-16). Remember, lost people are deceived (2 Cor 4:4) therefore we should have compassion on them and pray for them. Our hope is that by answering intellectual objections it will help soften their heart to the truth of the Gospel. But don't spend all your time addressing their intellect, remember that it is the Law, not our arguments, that is the school master that will ultimately lead them to Christ (Galatians 3:24).

Third Street Promenade

Third Street Promenade

 1 Corinthians 3:7: So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 

Recently, I teamed up with my friend Tony from Systematic Evangelism at Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA. In 5 hours we were able to spread the gospel message in many different ways. We did some open air preaching using the sketchboard evangelism technique from Open Air Campaigners Ministry, interviewed people on camera, engaged people in one to one conversation and passed out hundreds of gospel tracts. I am amazed at the amount of people that can be reached by only two people in a relatively short period of time on a Friday night. Please pray for the gospel seeds that were planted in the hearts of the people we encountered.

Be encouraged. You can make a difference for eternity simply by being obedient to Jesus' command to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15). That is our job. It is God's job to change hearts. God bless you!

Interview at El Camino College

Part 1:

Part 2:

Sharing Your Faith Without Fear

This past weekend I had the privilege and responsibility to help teach a class on the subject of evangelism at my church. It was a three hour class that focused on the who, what, where, when, why and how of evangelism. The goal of this class was to help equip, encourage and exhort our local church body to actively pursue and evangelize the lost in their daily lives. After the class, three of the class attendees and myself went down to the Redondo Beach Pier to practice some of what we had learned.

As we set out, the first two groups of people we encountered all seemed to be very hard hearted and self righteous. After the second witnessing encounter I had to stop and pray because my heart was very heavy. It reminded me that every time we go out and talk to the lost about Jesus Christ, it is the last thing the enemy wants us to do and we are entering right into the front line battle for peoples souls. Even more, the last thing the enemy wants is for evangelists to equip and exhort more Christians to enter into the ministry of evangelising the lost. For this reason, I think the battle was particularly strong that day, trying to discourage both me as well as the people who were out there for the first time.

Praise be to God, we continued on and shortly thereafter we encountered a family of 5. At first, it seemed as if nothing we were saying was registering with them, but they told us at the end that they wanted to repent and trust Jesus Christ as Lord. My brother John, who was with me for the first time, was able to talk to them about how to do that. John was also able to speak with other people we encountered that day and at the end of the day we were all very encouraged and were looking forward to future opportunities to share the gospel.

Once the four of us met back up at the end of our time down there, one of them mentioned how important it is for all Christians to go out and preach the gospel, not just those who are "evangelists". All Christians are all called to evangelize and be fishers of men. Fishermen go to the fish and don't wait for them to come to them. When he said this, I realized something important. That morning, when I was helping teach my brothers and sisters about evangelism, I was being an evangelist. However, that afternoon, when we were out there at the pier we were just being normal Christians. It occurred to me at that point that an evangelist is simply someone who helps teach and encourage other Christians to simply be Christians. The reason people see it as radical or abnormal is because so few Christians actually witness the way we see the disciples and early church witness in the Gospels and the Book of Acts.

As for the hard hearted and self righteous people we encountered at the beginning, only God knows what seeds were planted. I hope and pray that they consider the things we discussed and that God's kindness would lead them to repentance and they would trust Jesus while He has given them time.

Breaking the Sound Barrier - Hermosa Beach

This was my first time using the Open Air Campaigners technique to communicate the gospel in the open air. Thanks to Barry Felis who spent his time on Thursday evenings teaching me the basics of street painting and how to effectively communicate the gospel using this technique. Barry Felis has been doing this type of evangelism for the past ten years and it's been a blessing to observe him in action and to be taught by him. The painting I did here is titled "God-Man".

Black Friday

This past Friday was Black Friday. I think I have gone shopping on Black Friday once about 5 years ago but have never been one who gets up before dawn to take part in the "early bird" sales each year. This past  Friday was a bit different in that it was the first time I got up before dawn to go to the stores on Black Friday. A few months back I realized for the first time what an awesome opportunity Black Friday presented to reaching a lot of people in a short period of time with the Gospel. This year, myself and a few others decided to get up early to go share the gospel with the people waiting in line.
Our schedule was as follows:
1. Kohl's (South Bay Galleria) - Doors open at 3am so we got there at 230 am.
2. Target (across the street from Kohl's) - Doors open at 4am so we would go there after Kohl's.
3. Best Buy (Hawthorne) - Doors open at 5am so we got there at 415 am.
4. Best Buy (El Segundo) - Doors open at 5am so we got there right before they opened.

It was quite a morning. Personally, I was expecting to see less than 50 people or so waiting outside of these stores so I was blown away by what I saw when I drove up to Kohl's at 230 am. First, when I passed by Target, which didn't open until 4am, there must have been 500 people outside with blankets and chairs waiting to go in when they opened. Kohl's probably had 400 people outside and cars were steadily streaming into the parking lot. I immediately got nervous and excited at the shear number of people outside of these stores knowing that in a few minutes we would be sharing the gospel with them. Our plan was to start from the back of the line handing out Million Dollar Bill gospel tracts to the people in line and then preach the gospel to them as they stood in line after they had a chance to read the message on the gospel tracts. Up until about 6 months ago I would have never pictured myself as someone who would address a group of strangers by publicly declaring the gospel to them. Since then, God has been changing my heart in that area and giving me a burden to share the gospel with all creation. A lot of the change has to do with the way I see the early church living out their faith which I wrote about in an earlier blog post.

When we got to Kohl's we passed out a lot of tracts and then Tony and I shared a message with the people in line. Tony started off showing people that God exists by pointing to creation as well as fulfilled prophecies in the Bible. I followed that up with God's Law, using the Ten Commandments to show people their sin before God and that they are in desperate need of a Savior, and then sharing the grace of God shown to us through Christ's death and resurrection. Tony then came back up and shared why so many people reject the gift (John 3:16-22) and encouraged them to repent and trust Christ today for salvation.

By the time we were done, there were probably an additional 200 people in line and we passed tracts out to them before we left. At Target, we distributed tracts to everybody in line and then one of the workers told us that we were not aloud to be there handing out literature. Rather than arguing with them, we decided to go to Best Buy since we had already had the opportunity to give tracts to everybody in line. At Best Buy, there were another 500-600 people in line and we spent about half an hour going through the line, talking to people and sharing the gospel with them. Our friend Carlos Ramos shared a short gospel message with the crowd and by then it was about 445. With 15 minutes left we went to the Best Buy in El Segundo and passed out tracts to the people standing in line right before they started letting people inside.

Overall, we probably distributed 2000 tracts with people on Black Friday. Most everybody took tracts and some even asked for extra to give to their family. We received some negative comments from a handful of people and also some very encouraging comments from other believers in line who thanked us for being out there sharing the gospel with people. At the end of the morning, we rejoiced that we were able to reach that many people and prayed for the seeds that were sown and for the Holy Spirit to convict people of sin, righteousness and judgment. I thank God for Black Friday and how Christians can take advantage of worldly gatherings to share the gospel with multitudes of people, especially ones who might not ever step foot into a gospel preaching church.

Below is an audio player and link to some of the audio from the message we shared with the people standing in line at Kohl's. I pray that it might be used to encourage you in your walk with Christ.



Link to Audio

Mobil or Shell?

On our way home from dinner at my mom's tonight we were low on gas and needed to stop. There were two gas stations on opposite corners, Shell was cheaper, but Mobil was more accessible and would allow me to get on the freeway easier when we left. Thus, I pulled into Mobil to get some gas. Soon after pulling in, we found out the real reason why God had ordained that we go to the Mobil station.

As soon as I got out to pump gas, I was approached by a man who by all appearances was homeless. The first thing he did was apologize for talking to me and then proceeded to ask me for a quarter. I told him I didn't have any cash on me, but that I would buy him something inside the store if he needed anything. I told him I'd be right with him once I got my gas pumping. Once I got my gas pumping, I walked over to him and he was sitting on the curb. He said, "whatever you want to get is fine," and I said, "nope, you're coming in with me, let's go." So we walked into the store and I made sure he got two sandwiches and two drinks not just for today, but for tomorrow. He kept saying "you saved my life man, you saved my life, I haven't eaten for two days, you saved my life." I told him, "Jesus said, it's more blessed to give than to receive, and I didn't save your life, God did."

After paying for the food and walking outside I asked him if he knew where he would spend eternity if he were to die tonight. He said, "I hope heaven." I shared with him that we have all transgressed God's law, and that Jesus Christ died in our place so that God could dismiss our death sentence on Judgment Day. If we repent (turn) from our sin and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, then God will grant us everlasting life and we will go to heaven when we die. I gave him a gospel tract to read and he said he would hold onto it forever and that he'd never forget me. As he continued to say "you saved my life" I reminded him that God saved his life and that God loves him more than he could ever imagine. He then said, "tell God I'm sorry for all the things I've done." I told him to tell God himself, he loves you, and and will forgive you if you confess your sin to Him (1 John 1:9). I told him, there's no sin so big God can't forgive you for it.

He then told me that he was from Cleveland, that his wife left him because of his drinking problems, and that he had lost his house. He would do anything to get back there if he could. My mind wondered what this man must have looked like a year or two ago, where he used to work, what he used to wear, the car he used to drive, and the house he used to sleep in everyday. But here he was, in old torn clothes, with dirty and cut up hands, unshaven, shoes failing and with weeds and bushes hanging off of his clothes. I so wanted to help this man more, but I didn't know what to do. So I gave him my personal contact card which has my email address and website on it. I told him, if he ever got to a computer or someone let him use their phone for email, to email me and that I would love to do whatever I could to help him out.

And so, we parted our ways. He walked up the street, turned and looked back, and waved to us as we pulled away. His name is Jerry. God knows him, God loves him, and I pray God watches over him wherever he is at tonight. He's got two sandwiches a Gatorade, and a water....He also has a gospel tract. Please say a prayer for Jerry as often as you remember.

Time to Think...

Sunday morning we were getting ready to leave for Valencia and celebrate Memorial Day with my grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. As I was taking out the trash and putting away the beach chairs and umbrella in my garage I saw a young man working on his motorcycle right across the street. Now earlier that morning I was at Church on the Beach and had brought some gospel tracts along just in case. As I was removing these tracts from my beach chair and heading back upstairs, I knew God wanted me to share the gospel with that young man working on his bike. So, I went over to talk with him.

As I began talking with him I learned that his name was Billy and he was prepping his bike for a ride from Redondo Beach to Boston sometime this week. We chatted for about 10 minutes about motorcycles, college, and road trips, and he told me he was looking forward to having lots of "time to think" while driving across the country. Speaking of thinking...I asked him what he thought happenned to us when we die. He told me he was raised a Christian, a pastor's son, and he thought he had a pretty good chance of going to heaven when he passed away, but wasn't completely sure.

John writes to us in 1 John 5:13 that we may know we have eternal life. "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." If he didn't know that, there is a chance he is not saved and I wanted to talk to him further to find out where he was at with his faith. As a pastor's son, he had seen hypocrisy between what his father taught and how he acted, he saw how people who call themselves Christians can be hypocritical, and this had made him question his faith and he was not sure of his salvation. My encouragement to him was not to let hypocrites keep him from the God of this universe who is crazy about him. Hypocrites are everywhere, they are at the malls we go to, the restaurants we eat at, the movies we go see, our workplaces, etc. If we don't let hypocrites keep us from going to malls, restaurants, and movie theaters, why would we ever let them keep us from the God of this universe, who loves us enough to send his only Son to die so that we may have eternal life! I left him with a gospel tract along with a tract for him to order a free book that deals thoroughly with the question of eternity.

My prayer is that he takes the time to read the gospel tract and really takes time to think as he travels across the country this week.

"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." John 17:3

Interview with Tyler and Shaun

Link: www.archive.org/details/InterviewWithShaunAndTyler

Yesterday, we hit the Redondo Beach Pier with some gospel tracts and some gospels of John hoping to talk to some people about where they are going to spend eternity. The first two people I talked to were two brothers, Tyler and Shaun. The beginning of the conversation was spent listening to their thoughts on the afterlife. They seemed to believe that whatever a person believed, based on how they were raised, determines what happens to a person when they die. Before I had a chance to explain the gospel to them, their bus came and they were about to leave. I tried my best to convey the truth about heaven to them but only had a short time to do so. They boarded the bus and I was off to find some others to witness to.

As I was walking around talking to others, I heard Shaun and Tyler call my name. Apparently, the bus was not leaving for another 10-15 minutes and they wanted to finish our conversation. I was thrilled. I didn't want this opportunity to slip away so I made sure to explain the gospel to them before they left. By the end of the conversation, they were eager to take some gospels home and were soon back on the bus.

I enjoyed talking with these two young men. They told me they were 17, which is the same age I was when I became born again. I pray that they would come to place their trust in the only one who can lead us to the Father in heaven, Jesus Christ, who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, except through me." John 14:6

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Think about this question: What is one thing you will never be able to do in heaven? Answer: Share your faith with a lost person. Why? Because everyone in heaven is a believer. Since that is true, shouldn't it be a priority for us to reach out to as many lost people as we can while we have time.

If you do something enough, you are going to get pretty good at it. I grew up playing ice hockey and golf. I practiced multiple times a week in preparation for tournaments and games on the weekends. Through dedication and commitment to improving my skills, I was able to compete on teams that won state championships and traveled throughout Canada looking for better competition. I even spent 3 weeks during summer at an ice hockey camp in Minnesota to improve my skills. It was not only a time investment, but financial as well. Many of you are probably familiar with the idea of spending time and money in order to improve your skills at some sport, hobby, or personal talent.

The same is true for sharing our faith. So if we can't witness in heaven and can only witness here on earth, what is the only way we will ever get good at it? Practice, practice, practice! I believe that witnessing is a learned talent. God burdens our hearts for the lost, but we must get out there and start practicing those conversations. The funny thing I've discovered recently is that the more you practice, the easier it becomes!

Can you think of someone you need to practice with today? I'm not talking about role playing, but an actual conversation with a friend, co-worker, or neighbor? Go for it! You will be glad you did!