Yesterday we went to a different section of the village we've been preaching in and started going door to door.  Most of the preaching I've done has been either open air or walking up to people on the street or just talking to people you meet doing everyday things.  So this was a little new, but by the grace of God, seemed to bear much fruit.  We went to one house and a lady invited us in and most of her family was there.  She had a son and daughter who were in their late teens and another son who was probably in his early twenties.  We gave them all Gospels of Johns and then spent the next hour doing a bible study with them pointing them to Jesus Christ.  They claimed to be Christians like so many people do but their understanding of being a Christian is just living a moral life and not being as bad as the next person.  So we were able to show them that even with their imaginary righteousness they were still guilty sinners condemned before a Holy God needing salvation. We explained the Good News of the Gospel and exhorted them to flee to Christ for the Salvation that only He can provide.  The mother and the older son seemed to be soaking up every word and you could tell they were truly understanding what we were saying.  The other teenage son seemed to be wrestling with the truth.  He would sit there and just squirm every now and then under conviction and then nod his head in agreement.  It was like there was an internal struggle with the truth in his heart and then he would acknowledge that God was right.  It was good to see him not harden his heart like so many do when they come under conviction of sin.  There's HOPE for the man who will humble himself before God and agree with Him regarding the true sinful state of their heart.  God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble.  When we were finished they asked us if we would come back and continue to teach them the word of God.  So, praise the Lord, we'll be going back on Saturday to go through the scriptures with the whole family. 

So we left the house and then started walking up a steep hill to the top of the village.  There was a man trying to drive his car down the hill be seemed to be unable to.  So he just parked it and began walking down the hill.  We stopped him so we could talk with him.  He begins to tell us all his family problems and how he's been thinking of killing himself.  We preached to him for a while and took the opportunity to point him to Christ.  He was so absorbed with all his problems it was hard for him think about anything else.  It took a while to get him to see that all the problems in his life were a result of him living in sin and rebellion to God. They were merely the fruit of his wicked heart.  The scripture says a bad tree will bear bad fruit.  He didn't need to get his problems fixed, replace the bad fruit, he need to have his heart changed (become a different tree - a good tree that produces good fruit).  We explained to him the saving power of Jesus Christ to free him from the bondage of sin and the power of the devil and the HOPE that is ONLY found in the Gospel.  We spent some time praying for him and gave him a gospel of John.  Pray with me that the seed sown in his heart will grow and produce the fruit of repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ.  He said he was going to try to come to one of our meetings at the drug rehab but you never know.  We must do like scripture says and make the most of every opportunity... to preach the word in season and out of season.  We never know if we'll meet a person again or if they will even be alive the next day. 

I went over to Aaron's house again the other day.  He's the Jehovah's witness guy I've been preaching too.  We had a good conversation until we started talking about the scriptures.  I had given him a C.D. with the testimony of a man who was a hard core Jehovah's witness who was later truly saved and born again into the truth faith of God.  I asked Aaron if he listened to it and he said he did but couldn't accept the concept of God sending people to hell.  He's been so indoctrinate with Jehovah's witness literature that he cannot see the plain teaching of Jesus on truth of Hell.  And not that he just can't see it, he doesn't want to see it.  He doesn't want to think that there will actually be consequences for his sin.  His proud heart will keep him out of the kingdom of God.  It's kinda ironic and sad that there is a whole group of people (Jehovah's witness) who preach about a kingdom that they themselves cannot see nor have they entered into.  So I began to open up the scriptures to him about the judgment of God towards the ungodly using old and new testament examples.  I confronted him on his open sin and preached what God thinks about it and what will happen to him if he continues in his rebellion to God.  The Spirit of God was so strong on me as I preached to him.  He was coming under such conviction you could see it in his face.  I've never seen someone so abruptly try to change the subject as he did.  He was clearly hardening his heart unlike the man I wrote about above who humbled himself and agreed with the Word and Spirit of God.  I exhorted him to just lay down all the Jehovah's witness literature and just read the bible.  That God will be faithful to reveal the truth to him if he will just seek Him with a sincere heart.  Even though he seems hard hearted right now I still have hope.  We don't always know what God is doing on in inside of someone.  I know God has continued to put this man in my path so I continue pray for him and know that only God can give him the revelation of the true Gospel that he so desperately needs.

John Oliver
4/24/2008 06:25:54 am

Great post with a strong story and good pix.

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4/25/2008 06:46:10 am

Very, very cool!
Keep up the good work!

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Brett
4/25/2008 10:18:26 am

Hello! Those are some encouraging words. I dont know how is hardest to share the Gospel with: Jehovahs Witnesses, or Muslims. Both are frustrating to talk to but the Jehovahs break my hear more because they totally deny some scriptures and rearrange the Word.
Its nice to see you guys are doing well and building the Kingdom. I know you are enjoying the fruits of your labor. Continue to have a bold spirit!!

Brett

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