The logical place to start would be to fill in the blanks about what's going on in our lives here in Missouri (since we left off long, long ago when we were moving into the new house!), but I will try to do that at the end of this coming week. I really wanted to blog about something different, so bear with me.
I am getting my Master's of Christian Education from Southwestern Seminary, and so I spent this past week in Fort Worth, Texas taking a class. The class is a 1-week intensive course that goes from 8:00 to 5:15 every day! Needless to say, it is tiring. But the week ended up being a pretty cool experience. Here's how it went down...
Sunday night, I arrived in Fort Worth and checked into my 5-star hotel...the Delux Inn! (No typo there, they left the "e" off on purpose!) In an effort to save money and be frugal for our family budget, I put my life on the line and stayed here...
As you can see, it had cable! You can also see the candle and bottle of Febreeze! I should mention that this was hotel #2. #1 lasted about 5 seconds because the room to the left on mine had a notice from the Health Department on the door prohibiting entrance due to "overwhelming amount of roaches". That's what was written by the Health Inspector--and I'm guessing that he's seen a lot of roaches!! Anyway, back to the week!So I survived my sleeping arrangements and went through the first few days of class. The class was on the subject of evangelism, and one of the assignments was to share the Gospel with 4 individuals in one afternoon. To be honest, I was upset about the assignment and did not want to participate at all. It was not because I was ashamed of my salvation or afraid of sharing, but it dealt more with the issue of authenticity and follow-up. (I'll save my reservations for another post or you can ask if you're interested in knowing why I was apprehensive) I worked with another student, Daniel, and found a way to make the assignment work for me and my apprehensions, so we set out on Thursday to complete the assignment. That is when I encountered Mike.
It was freezing cold outside, so Daniel and I decided to head to the mall and see if anyone was stirring there. Upon entering, we walked past a coffee shop where a middle-aged, black man was sitting at a table with 3 duffel bags at his feet. It was immediately obvious to me that he was homeless and seeking some shelter from the freezing temperatures outside. I walked right past and continued my conversation with Daniel not thinking anything about this man. We went through the mall for almost an hour and had some good conversations with a few employees and some students who were out of school due to the ice. During all our conversations, God kept putting the face of that man on my mind. Daniel and I decided to split up for a while and just hang out in different areas, so I knew where I was going. I went back to the coffee shop, and the man was still sitting in the same place.
I walked up and introduced myself to him. His name was Mike. I told him that I was heading to the food court to get some food, and that I'd be happy to buy his meal if he wanted to walk with me. He asked why I would buy him anything so I told him that I just wanted to make sure that he knew Jesus loved him. He turned down my offer but asked me for the money instead. We had a funny discussion about why I wouldn't give him cash, but I re-extended the offer and told him that I would be waiting in the food court. I honestly thought that the conversation was over. But it wasn't.
About 10 minutes later, Mike tapped on my shoulder and said, "Can I still take you up on that offer?" Are you kidding? OF COURSE! So Mike and I walked to "Phil's Philly Cheese-Steak Stand" where he bought a $12 sandwich! If if was extra and could be squeezed on a sandwich...then he had them put it on there! As we waited, we talked. Mike was from Louisville, KY and was talking to Waco, TX in hopes of finding work. He had nothing but the bags he was carrying. He hadn't had a home for about 3 years. He had lived with a lady for a few years before leaving for the streets about a year ago. Mike and I began to talk about church, God, and sin.
Mike would tell me something that he had heard about God or thought about church, and I would share straight verses straight from the Bible. Mike was eating it up! In fact, his food was served and Mike didn't touch it because he was so involved in the conversation! Here is a man that admitted he hadn't eaten since the morning of the day before, but he was too involved in this conversation about sin and salvation to touch his food. Mike let me share about my background, my church, and eventually my testimony. Mike sat and listened to the Gospel and got really honest with me. He told me that because of his circumstances and how he had been treated, he didn't want to trust anybody, not even Jesus. We continued to talk about who God really is and all that He has done for us. I could really see Mike's wheels turning. As we finished the conversation, Mike made a statement that profoundly impacted me.
Mike thanked me for the food, but then he thanked me for sharing with him that Jesus really did love him. He actually apologized to me for not trusting Jesus to be the authority and savior in his life. He said that he wanted to do that, but he just couldn't cause he wasn't ready. Then he said, "But you made me think about it and I promise I'm gonna keep thinking about it."
In no way do I think that I did even an adequate job of describing God and what He did for us by sending Jesus to the cross. And I definitely don't share this to say "look what I did." I share this so that you might pray for Mike. I pray that God sends another Christian into his path to keep his mind on his need for Christ. I also share to remind myself and you that there are dying people all around us that have only one hope...Jesus Christ. My encounter with Mike has my mind continuously thinking, "Am I intentionally sharing the redeeming power of Jesus Christ with all that I can?"
"When we see man for what he is, the wrath of God for what it is, and the cross for what it is, then and only then do we see love for what it is." --Leon Morris
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