Evangelistic Opportunities In Disguise (or How I Almost Put Apple Out Of Business)

by BrianJones.com

April 4, 2013 15 Comments

I’ve been having laptop problems all week.

I was told by my worship pastor that my new MAC laptop would be 100,000,000 times better than my PC because it would “Never have problems.”

MAC’s, I was told, could withstand every attack the dark side could proffer:

• Cat videos on YouTube
• Country music in iTunes
• My mom’s 6,234 email forwards (“This is funny…read this…”)

Alas, I was sold a bill of goods. My MAC crashed this week. Twice.

To say I was ticked, frustrated, etc., is an understatement. So off I headed off in a fit of rage to my local Apple store to get it fixed.

Once in line I began rehearsing my 5 point speech for the manager:

1. Hey idiot, I went from PC to MAC to prevent these problems.
2. Snarky comment about how “All these un-showered hipsters standing around in blue shirts doing nothing remind me of a state highway construction crew.”
3. I read Steve Jobs’ insufferable 1,934 page biography, which should count for something, ANYTHING.
4. Demand a replacement for the lemon I was given.
5. End with a threat – I have 3014 Twitter followers, and JUST ONE TWEET to my coalition of 3 pastors and 3011 online get-rich-quick experts posing as real people, and we’ll bring your stupid company to a grinding halt!

I was ready for ‘em.

But, to his loss, Sean, the manager, never heard my riveting speech.

I was only able to get out the words, “I’m having problems,” before he grabbed two techs who patiently worked on my laptop for over an hour, ultimately fixing my problem.

No, I never got to express my pent-up frustration.

But I did get to talk to one of the techs about what’s going on in his life for over an hour, how God fits into that, and then invite him to visit CCV this weekend.

Which, I realized later, was probably the reason my laptop malfunctioned in the first place.

And which, when you think about it, is probably a good explanation for why we go through most of the lousy things we experience in life.

It’s probably a good practice to remind ourselves that for every computer problem in our life there’s a tech somewhere that needs to hear the gospel.

Ever noticed that in your life?

Just How Big Is God and How Small Are We?

JUSTIN TAYLOR|9:11 AM CT
Just How Big Is God and How Small Are We?



(Image credit: Mark Subbarao, Dinoj Surendran, and Randy Landsberg for the SDSS team.)

Ethan Siegel:

Although “only” about 250,000 galaxies are shown in the above image, the entire Universe is estimated to have at least hundreds of billions of galaxies, spread out over a spherical region about a million times larger in diameter than our galaxy is. In other words, you and everything you know resides on a tiny, wet rock nearly a million times less massive than the star that powers it, in a solar system one ten-millionth the diameter of our galaxy, which contains at least hundreds of billions of stars not so different from ours, in a Universe filled with hundreds of billions of galaxies, and maybe perhaps more.

You. Are. Tiny.

HT: Andrew Sullivan

Here is some video perspective:



And the ultimate perspective:

Psalm 8:3

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 147:4

He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.

Psalm 148:3

Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!

Seeing this again reminded me of a section of J.B. Phillips’s New Testament Christianity, entitled “The Angels’ Point of View (or, The Visited Planet)“:

Once upon a time a very young angel was being shown round the splendours and glories of the universes by a senior and experienced angel. To tell the truth, the little angel was beginning to be tired and a little bored. He had been shown whirling galaxies and blazing suns, infinite distances in the deathly cold of inter-stellar space, and to his mind there seemed to be an awful lot of it all. Finally he was shown the galaxy of which our planetary system is but a small part. As the two of them drew near to the star which we call our sun and to its circling planets, the senior angel pointed to a small and rather insignificant sphere turning very slowly on its axis. It looked as dull as a dirty tennis-ball to the little angel, whose mind was filled with the size and glory of what he had seen.

“I want you to watch that one particularly,” said the senior angel, pointing with his finger.

“Well, it looks very small and rather dirty to me,” said the little angel. “What’s special about that one?”

“That,” replied his senior solemnly, “is the Visited Planet.”

“Visited?” said the little one. “you don’t mean visited by ——–?

“Indeed I do. That ball, which I have no doubt looks to you small and insignificant and not perhaps overclean, has been visited by our young Prince of Glory.” And at these words he bowed his head reverently.

“But how?” queried the younger one. “Do you mean that our great and glorious Prince, with all these wonders and splendours of His Creation, and millions more that I’m sure I haven’t seen yet, went down in Person to this fifth-rate little ball? Why should He do a thing like that?”

“It isn’t for us,” said his senior a little stiffly, “to question His ‘why’s', except that I must point out to you that He is not impressed by size and numbers, as you seem to be. But that He really went I know, and all of us in Heaven who know anything know that. As to why He became one of them—how else do you suppose could He visit them?”

The little angels face wrinkled in disgust.

“Do you mean to tell me,” he said, “that He stooped so low as to become one of those creeping, crawling creatures of that floating ball?”

“I do, and I don’t think He would like you to call them ‘creeping, crawling creatures’ in that tone of voice. For, strange as it may seem to us, He loves them. He went down to visit them to lift them up to become like Him.”

The little angel looked blank. Such a thought was almost beyond his comprehension.

“Close your eyes for a moment,” said the senior angel, “and we will go back in what they call Time.”

While the little angels eyes were closed and the two of them moved nearer to the spinning ball, it stopped its spinning, spun backwards quite fast for a while, and then slowly resumed its usual rotation.

“Now look!” And as the little angel did as he was told, there appeared here and there on the dull surface of the globe little flashes of light, some merely momentary and some persisting for quite a time.

“Well, what am I seeing now?” queried the little angel.

“You are watching this little world as it was some thousands of years ago,” returned his companion. “Every flash and glow of light that you see is something of the Father’s knowledge and wisdom breaking into the minds and hearts of people who live upon the earth. Not many people, you see, can hear His Voice or understand what He says, even though He is speaking gently and quietly to them all the time.”

“Why are they so blind and deaf and stupid?” asked the junior angel rather crossly.

“It is not for us to judge them. We who live in the Splendour have no idea what it is like to live in the dark. We hear the music and the Voice like the sound of many waters every day of over lives, but to them—well, there is much darkness and much noise and much distraction upon the earth. Only a few who are quiet and humble and wise hear His Voice. But watch, for in a moment you will see something truly wonderful.”

The Earth went on turning and circling round the sun, and then quite suddenly, in the upper half of the globe, there appeared a light, tiny but so bright in its intensity that both the angels hid their eyes.

“I think I can guess,” said the little angel in a low voice. “That was the Visit, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, that was the Visit. The Light Himself went down there and lived among them; but in a moment, and you will be able to tell that even with your eyes closed, the light will go out.”

“But why? Could He not bear their darkness and stupidity? Did He have to return here?”

“No, it wasn’t that” returned the senior angel. His voice was stern and sad. “They failed to recognise Him for Who He was – or at least only a handful knew Him. For the most part they preferred their darkness to His Light, and in the end they killed Him.”

“The fools, the crazy fools! They don’t deserve —-”

“Neither you nor I, nor any other angel, knows why they were so foolish and so wicked. Nor can we say what they deserve or don’t deserve. But the fact remains, they killed our Prince of Glory while He was Man amongst them.”

“And that I suppose was the end? I see the whole Earth has gone black and dark. All right, I won’t judge them, but surely that is all they could expect?”

“Wait, we are still far from the end of the story of the Visited Planet. Watch now, but be ready to cover your eyes again.”

In utter blackness the earth turned round three times, and then there blazed with unbearable radiance a point of light.

“What now?” asked the little angel, shielding his eyes.

“They killed Him all right, but He conquered death. The thing most of them dread and fear all their lives He broke and conquered. He rose again, and a few of them saw Him and from then on became His utterly devoted slaves.”

“Thank God for that,” said the little angel.

“Amen. Open your eyes now, the dazzling light has gone. The Prince has returned to His Home of Light. But watch the Earth now.”

As they looked, in place of the dazzling light there was a bright glow which throbbed and pulsated. And then as the Earth turned many times little points of light spread out. A few flickered and died; but for the most part the lights burned steadily, and as they continued to watch, in many Parts of the globe there was a glow over many areas.

“You see what is happening?” asked the senior angel. “The bright glow is the company of loyal men and women He left behind, and with His help they spread the glow and now lights begin to shine all over the Earth.”

“Yes, yes,” said the little angel impatiently, “but how does it end? Will the little lights join up with each other? Will it all be light, as it is in Heaven?”

His senior shook his head. “We simply do not know,” he replied. “It is in the Father’s hands. Sometimes it is agony to watch and sometimes it is joy unspeakable. The end is not yet. But now I am sure you can see why this little ball is so important. He has visited it; He is working out His Plan upon it.”

“Yes, I see, though I don’t understand. I shall never forget that this is the Visited Planet.”

Are We Telling People To Go To Hell?

I am currently reading "the unchurched next door" by Thom S. Rainer, dean at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

At the end of chapter 2 he tells a story about a lady named Deanna who had recently accepted Christ and signed up for a Bible study in her neighborhood. When she arrived she was surprised to see people that she knew there, and began asking them if they were Christians. They all responded that they were.

Deanna became very upset with these so called Christians because they had never shared Jesus with her. She told them that they might as well have told me to go to hell, because that's what their silence said.

Are we telling people to go to hell?

John Piper encourages us to spend our lives working to make Christ known and to live as if He is our Treasure. He challenges us to show that Christ is our Treasure by the way we spend our time. So how do we spend our time at home? In front ot the television? In front of the computer?

If Christ is our Treasure we should live like it and share our Treasure with all.

My Friend: The man with no hope

I met a man a couple of months ago who had no hope. I have wracked my brain trying to remember his name but am not able to recall it. He is about 60, grey hair, beard, very intelligent, drives an old beat up Suburban from the late 70's but has an engine in it that would smoke a Vett. I know this because I saw it and talked to him about his Suburban at length.

My friend, who I met at the state park on Camano Island, was putting his fishing gear in the back when I asked him about the tires on his Suburban. You see this Suburban was not just any Suburban. This Suburban was old. I mean real old. There were more holes around the fender wells from rust than there were not. The interior was rotted and the cloth thing that is on the ceiling of the Suburban was hanging down in several spots. That is why I asked him about his tires. His tires were racing tires. The back tires were easily 4 inches wider than normal. They just looked fast. Fast like the cars you see when you go to a drag race.

My friend's eyes lit up. He immediately started telling me about his "truck". He told me how he had been fixing it up for several years now. He told me how he had to rebuild the engine 2x because he had blown something up in it (Im not a mechanic otherwise I might be able to remember what blew). He told me how he had to do something to the transmission because the transmission he had in it would not be able to keep up with the engine that was now in it.

I asked him if he had raced anyone and he just smiled and said "no". When I asked him if he was crazy he just smiled and once again said "no". So I asked him if anyone had ever come up beside him who had a fast car and if he had revved the engine trying to get them to race. He said that he hadnt but that he did have some "punk kid" fly up on his back bumper on the interstate one time and that it had "pissed" him off. He said that when the kid got up beside him as he was trying to pass, my friend said that he looked at the kid, made eye contact and punched it. All that was left was a cloud of dust. He said the kid tried to keep up with him but that he blew the doors of the "little Jap" car. Several minutes later after he had slowed down to a safer speed, the kid pulled up beside him. Laughing, my friend said that the kids eyes were as big as saucers. He said the kid never knew what hit him.

As we talked I was able to ask him some probing questions about his life. I found out that his wife, who was almost 20 years his senior, had recently passed. She was his world. She was his only friend. He was a loner. He said that he didnt know how to make friends. He was lost with out her.

Since he had retired about 5 years ago from Microsoft due to medical reasons (my friends health was not so good) he said that he only had time to think about her. He said that was why he was out fishing. He had gone and bought brand new fishing equipment so that he would make himself get out of his house so that he could stop thinking about his wife and try to leave his loneliness for a time.

I tried to express my concern for him. I asked him if he would like to meet at another time so that we could fish together. He replied "no... I dont like fishing. I think that Ill just go home. My dog needs me".

I asked him about his dog.

He told me that he loved his dog. He said with a faint grin that his dog loved it when he came home. Drifting off he added, "when my dog is gone... Ill have nothing. Ya when my dog is gone, I will too".

Knowing what he meant I still asked him what he was talking about.

With little strength he looked at the ground and said, "when my dog dies I will have no reason to go on living. When he dies I will take my life. Nothing can take away my loneliness."

I knew that I had little time to share Jesus with him so I started asking him what he understood about the Bible, who Jesus was etc...

He knew.

He knew all the right answers.

However he didnt know Jesus and he didnt want to know Him.

My friend opened his car door and climbed in.

I tried to keep the conversation going.

He didnt want to talk.

I asked him to wait just a minute while I grabbed something out of my car.

I grabbed a tract that was in the glove box.

It was my last chance to...

He kindly waited.

I handed it to him and asked him again if I could meet him at that park in the future so that we could go fishing together.

He never answered. He smiled and drove off...

My Friend: J_____

I met J on a beach on Lopez Island north of Seattle, Wa. I will not give all the details that I learned about him, just the ones that hopefully will express and remind us of man's depravity.

This 20 something young man was a talented, young photographer and was one of the brightest kids I had ever met. Being a wanna be photographer who is one step above a point and shoot photographer, I had to ask him all kinds of questions regarding taking great photos. Soon the conversation came around to religion. As the evening wore on, it grew dark. Because he was so bright and was coming up with some great questions as well as objections to religion (Christianity more specifically), I offered to give him a ride to where he was staying that night because his friends had already come by and told him they were ready to leave about 30 minutes prior. On the way to where he was staying, the conversation continued to go deeper and deeper regarding Christianity... My friend soon admitted to sexual sins that most parents shudder at. As well, this same sin causes many parents to disown their children when they discover their involvement in it. However my friend did not stop with sharing this information.

He continued.

I soon found out that this young man's sexual sins were far worse than the previous admitted sin and as a result, he was suicidal. I will stop and just say that I am not able to write about it at this time. I only write this in order to help paint a picture of J's lostness and man's depravity.

Even after several hours of one on one Scripture study, counseling with, loving on and encouraging, this young man only wanted to reject the Truth that I had been sharing with him. Though he really and truly understood how wrong his life was, he did not want to give up the desire to be loved and cared for that he had. He thought that the only way he could be truly loved and cared for was through a human relationship. The reason I know that he truly understood why his life choices were wrong again is not able to be discussed any further in this venue other than that he had suicidal thoughts as a direct result of his newest step downward into his sexual sin. Like Judas, J was remorseful as a result of his sin. Remorseful to the point of wanting to kill himself. However J, like Judas, did not want to submit to the Lord and repent of his sins.

I left my friend that night as I watched him walk to the boat that he was staying on for the night, praying that God would reveal Himself to him; praying that He would give J a new heart that would understand the depth of his depravity, not just because his sexual sin was great, but because even his most mundane sin is great. I prayed that seeing his depravity, J would repent and turn to the Lord, trusting in the Sacrifice that was made 2000 years before.

Sadly that night my new friend had no desire to bow to his Maker. His number one desire was to be loved; just not by God.

Somedays later, after being haunted by the discussion of this night, I began to wonder if the reason for my friends sexual sins was a result of his tyrant mother who I found out during our discussion was a mother who was vile and evil. She would constantly belittle him, embarrass him and abuse him in every way other than sexually. Sometimes as a little boy, J told me that his mother would come to him out of the blue and ask him how many times she was going to hit him in the face. He said that he knew that he had to answer her because if he didnt it would get real bad. He said that he learned that if he didnt guess a high enough number, her response would be bad as well. So he said that if he guessed 7 or 8 times she would usually accept that and begin hitting him. I wondered if the reason he was so mixed up in his sexual identity was because he did not see women as people capable of not only being trusted, but loved. Maybe that is the catalyst that sent this young man down such a lonely, dark, horrendous nightmare of a life. Because I do not wish to share my friends information further, you will have to trust that his life was, and at this time, is a sad, lonely, living nightmare.

Read John Bell's article on "Gay Village" HERE

Read Bob Thune's article HERE

UPDATE

I must share the following. It has now been several months since I met J. We are now Facebook friends so I am able to shoot him encouraging notes, letting him know that I am praying for him. Just this past week I was reading "Total Church" where they were explaining Pascal's Wager. Because J and I had discussed Pascal's Wager that night I wanted to share with him what Pascal's point was so I basically plagiarized a page from the book and sent it to him.

Please do not think that I am pointing to myself at all when you read J's response.

J-"Wow that was very enlightening thanks. I'd like you to know that your prayer has brought about change and I really honestly believe it's your prayer that has allowed God to be like ready or not here I come. My relationship with God was not self initiated it was not me saying God take control of my life. It was God through the holy spirit and reinforced by your prayer being like whether you like it or not you are wrong you know it and I know you know it so hearer I come. Thank you and please continue to pray for me, being a Christian is not easy for me, it does not make life easier, it's not all flowers and sunshine. It's a constant struggle in which my will is put to the challenge on a daily basis by the will of God. He broke my hip.

Thank you, J

P.S.- Maybe sometime when I'm in Texas again we can go get coffee or something, this Christmas I will be in Washington if you are to and want to get some food or something It would be an honor."

Only our God can change hearts of stone to hearts of flesh! Our God is great! He is a merciful God, a God who gives grace to underserving sinners like ourselves. Praises to our Lord and Savior!

My Friend: Kelly

M-
Sadly, since we have been here I have not had a lot of opportunities to talk with people. As well, since we have now lived in 6 different houses (one of the houses 2 different times) I have not had the opportunity to build any relationships. Of course this is somewhat discouraging for me since I really enjoy getting to know people. That is not to say that I have not met people here who have impacted me greatly. I want to share with you four different people who have crossed my path here in the Northwest over the next 4 blog posts. I will go in order of when I met them.

Today I will begin with Kelly. Kelly is a man of about 45 or so. I met him soon after arriving here in the Seattle area. One Sunday after church services I was leaving Soma Communities and I struck up a conversation with a young man who was holding the door open for me. In our conversation I discovered that he lived "on the hill". Because of the way that he said "on the hill" made me ask him why he said it like that. He told me that "the hill", 10 years before, was one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in all of the U.S. However much change has taken place in that sector of the city and it is no longer one of the most dangerous in the U.S.
Being interested in where this neighborhood was I asked him how to get there. He said that I was on the edge of 'the hill' now and that all I needed to do was, as he pointed up a street, to go up that hill.
So I hopped in the truck and proceeded up the hill. As I got close to the top I turned down a main street. Not long after turning, I noticed a guy having a yard sale on the sidewalk so I looked to see what he was selling as I drove buy. Seeing some old toys that were from back in the day (yes Im still very much a kid) I turned around a couple of blocks up the street and headed back so that I could stop and peruse his goods.
This man introduced himself to me as Kelly. I quickly determined that he was a crack head from the burns on his lips and fingers and that he was homeless. He told me that he was selling items for some friends who lived in the house that we were standing in front of.
After much conversation I also found out that he was a regular kid at one time. In the early and mid 80's he told me that he was one of the best baseball players in all of the Northwest and that he had been drafted by a major league team. He said that he wasn't good enough to play in the big leagues at that time so he had to play minor league ball until he was able to move up.
I asked him what happened that prevented him from moving up.
He said that during his minor league days he discovered crack along with other drugs and from that point his new life style quickly led him to the streets. Kelly shared some stories with me that had occurred in the last 25+ years that would make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.
His stories were never prideful nor bragging, just very sad... even hopeless.
When a bridge to sharing Jesus opened up, I began to talk to him beginning in Genesis. As the story progressed he began to quietly cry. His started to slowly rock his head to the left and to the right. By the time I got to Abraham he was holding his head in his hands as he continued to rock his head.
-It was clear that the Spirit was moving-
When I got to Jesus' birth he was squatting, holding his head and rocking back and forth and crying. He continued doing this as I went through the New Testament. By the time I reached the crucifixion, he was still in the squatting position, holding his head, only now he would make sounds, sort of like short, brief moans.
Finally when I had finished, I asked him if he felt God calling him to Himself.
Kelly responded, "Feel Him? I am overwhelmed with Him!... I am consumed in Him... I feel Him everywhere."
I then asked Kelly if he was ready to ask for forgiveness and submit to the One who was overwhelming him.
Kelly's response was enough to make any Calvinist rethink his theology.
My friend said... "no".
After much more discussion regarding Kelly's condition and what needed to be done to alleviate it I discovered that just a few minutes before I pulled up, Kelly told me that he was in such a bad place, that he had just prayed asking God to save him (from his homelessness). He said that as he prayed, he was looking down the street (the direction that I had come) "knowing" that God's answer would come from that direction.

Here was God, desiring to restore Kelly not only from his homeless condition, but infinitely more, to restore his spiritual condition. And here was Kelly, unquestionably overwhelmed with God's presence knowing that God would save him, however rejecting Him, wanting to continue to submit to his god - crack cocaine.

Please pray for Kelly. Even after two months I am still deeply disturbed and burdened for him. Pray that God continues to pursue him and that Kelly responds in repentance.

Gospel Centered-Joe Thorn

At Redeemer Fellowship we talk a lot about being gospel-centered as a church, and we encourage gospel-centered living among our people. From time to time we get asked by our newcomers, “What exactly does that mean? What does it look like?” Here is a brief explanation.

To continue click HERE.

The Diagram by Joe Thorn

Most Americans go to church and believe they are “Christian.” Many believe they are even “born again.” But helping people to see where they really stand before God can be tough. Even when laying out law/gospel for someone I have found it helpful to draw a diagram that gives him or her something to look at. It takes me one minute to draw it, and 5 to 10 to talk someone through it. Check it out below (here is a larger version).

To read this post in its entirety click HERE.

Sharing the Gospel in the Gay Village

June 19 marked the beginning of Toronto’s annual Pride Week. Now in its 28th year, this is a week-long celebration of diverse sexual and gender identities. Here is how the organizers describe it: “Pride Week celebrates our diverse sexual and gender identities, histories, cultures, creativities, families, friends and lives. It includes a three-day street festival with over eight stages of live entertainment, an extensive street fair (including community booths, vendors, food stalls), a special Family Pride program, a politically charged Dyke March and the infamous Pride Parade.”

My friend John Bell pastors New City Baptist Church right in the heart of Toronto and has an active evangelistic ministry within Toronto’s gay village. I asked him if he would write an article reflecting on some of the joys and challenges in this unique ministry.

To read the rest of this article click HERE.

Book Review-The Heart of Evangelism

Book Review: The Heart of Evangelism 
by Bill Yarbrough

Reading Jerram Barrs’ book The Heart of Evangelism has been like a breath of fresh air for me, for a few reasons. The first is that evangelism has been so much a part of my life since my early days in the Jesus Movement. So I consider tools and perspectives that feed and equip the Church for that task to be gifts. Secondly, the book is rooted deeply in a Reformed and covenantal view of Scripture and the world—something I never had (or at least didn’t understand) in those early years. And thirdly, I love what Barrs writes in the first sentence of his introduction: “This is more than 30 years of reflection on what the New Testament teaches us about evangelism; and it is the fruit of more than 30 years of desiring to practice in some poor way what I have learned from that study.” It’s this kind of personal insight that makes this book sing.

 

There is an emphasis on the Spirit in this book that scratches an itch many of us have in our work around the globe. There has been a tendency to either ignore or minimize the Spirit’s work in many aspects of our ministries, mostly I believe in reaction to the extremes witnessed in parts of the... continue reading this article from InVision.