Redeem the Time

Larimer County Fair Parade

On Wednesday night we went down to Loveland, Colorado. They were having a parade in conjunction with the Larimer County Fair. We were a bit late but were able to catch quite a few people heading back to their cars. We stopped at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and 4th Street and because there was a good amount of traffic from the parade all going north on the one way street, many people were able to see the cross. We handed out tracts to the people passing by and were able to engage a few people in conversation.. We also had some interaction with some local bar patrons and homeless people most of whom were too drunk to really have much intelligent conversation with them. One older gentleman came out of the bar and repeated several times, “Jesus loves you” and then said that we should not make a spectacle of the cross. Another said that his friend told him that he was going to nail me onto the cross. We had a fairly long conversation with both Abraham and Jessica who lived nearby wherein we were able to proclaim the law and the gospel to them. Jessica was congenial and took a New Testament. Abraham was also very nice. He told us he was from Chihuahua. We also talked to a man named Lee who stopped on his bicycle to see what we were doing. He said he was an agnostic fundamentalist and laughed saying it was only a joke he liked to tell. He seemed to be under conviction as we went through some of the commandments with him. As we talked with him, another couple approached us who had a look that said “we really need to tell you something about what you are doing”. We asked them to wait while we finished talking to Lee. Our conversation ended quickly when Tracy told Lee that hatred was murder of the heart. He muttered something about us being “too much” and rode away without looking back. We then turned to the couple that was waiting to talk to us. They both had their arms folded tightly across their chests. Rick and Mya identified themselves as Christians and wanted to know what we believed about President Obama. We told them we were not really there to discuss politics. Rick was sure that Mr. Obama was the anti-Christ. Things went downhill when we began to explain to them the gospel starting with the God and the fall of mankind. We explained that we are all by nature enemies of God. Rick was very sure that we were wrong about this and that God had no enemies at all. We pointed him to Rom 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” Rick was not really interested in hearing what we had to say. Shortly thereafter, he and his companion departed rather abruptly. My question is that if, we have never come to grips with the truth that we are by nature enemies of God, can we really be God's friend? We also had the chance to talk to Chris a very nice young man who was looking for a solid church to attend. Please pray for all who heard or read the truth of the gospel or who were reminded of it by seeing the cross.

Contact Evangelism

What is contact evangelism? It is a general term for going out into your community seeking to contact people in such a way that you are able to proclaim the Law of God and the Gospel of Christ to them either verbally or in written form. It is not primarily relational in the sense that you wait for a relationship to develop to the point where either you or the other person feels comfortable talking about their eternal destiny. There is in contact evangelism the recognition that there are many opportunities to proclaim the good news of the glory of Christ just waiting for the laborer who is ready to make the most of them. If you are reasonably well equipped and willing to step out trusting in God as your strength and shield, the opportunities are more than any of us will ever be able to exhaust. But the laborers are few. We are praying that God would send laborers into His harvest. We are petitioning Him both for the laborers good and the good of the people who will be saved as a result and most importantly for the glory of His name. In many ways it is easier to wait for the fish to “jump into your boat” so to speak. And while I am certainly in favor of evangelism in the context of relationship, the person who is waiting for their friend or family member or neighbor to initiate a conversation about sin, righteousness and judgment in most cases will be waiting for a very long time. It is important I think therefore for every believer to seek to become better equipped to know how to clearly and concisely explain the Christian worldview (Creation, Fall, Redemption and Restoration) which includes the Law and the Gospel. Jonah ran the other way from God’s command to go and call the people of Nineveh to repentance. He had his reasons and we have ours as well. They seem quite reasonable at times. But we are praying that God will not allow us for whatever reason to fail to do what we should do in relation to the unbelievers around us. We who have received mercy, should want to see many others receive the same mercy. If you want to be equipped there are people and resources that have been helpful to us and we think will be helpful to you as well. Contact us at need-answers@hotmail.com