What Was Your Greatest Gift?

While listening to a sermon last weekend, the pastor stated that the grace which God offers to sinners is the greatest gift ever. I wrote it down; not as a sermon note but as an idea for a conversation starter.

As Christians we are reminded to not conform to the world (Rom 12:2) but we do live in it, and for good reason: the world is the source of the harvest! (Matt 9:37)

Those who are in the world know the world and it's comings and goings. They do not care about the things of God, they dislike God's Word, and they hate Christ. (John 17:14, 16; Matt 10:22; 1 John 3:13)

Discussions about the news and other timely topics can frequently lead to discussions about eternity and the gospel. Because of this, Christians should be aware of such topics and ready to use them to begin or continue conversations.

Such was the case at a local restaurant the other day. Our waitress was taking orders when one of the men at our table mentioned Christmas preparations. I asked the waitress, "Kristi, speaking of Christmas, what is the best gift you've ever received?" She stopped and thought. After a moment I said, "Think about it, then let me know what you come up with."

One thing I learned from bold men of God like Mark Cahill and Tony Miano is that an interaction with a lost person should be a conversation, not a presentation. If your intent is to get through a checklist of the gospel, then do you really care about the person or getting another 'notch' on your gospel-gun?

I was looking forward to what Kristi might come back with, to continue our conversation, when she appeared with refills of water and iced-tea. She looked at me and told me of an item she had received many years ago. I asked her to think about gifts that last longer. I explained that as a boy I really wanted a toy ray-gun, but after a year or so I no longer placed any value in it and had moved on to wanting something else. She went off in thought.

When she next returned, she had a big smile on her face. "My dog! I bought my dog, as a gift for myself, and I love him." She showed me his photo, told me about his habits, and explained the breed. We discussed dogs that each of us had owned in the past, and then I said, "Even though you love your dog and he's been a great pet, I was wondering if you could think of anything that might last for eternity?" This led to a conversation in which I learned of her Catholic training as a young girl, and her disillusion with religion. I was able to explain that I'm not religious and was not trying to push any religion, I simply wanted to explain what I thought the greatest gift is, as described in the Bible.

We had a brief discussion of sin, our need for salvation, the Holiness of God, and the simple steps required of us: repentance and faith. Before leaving I gave her a copy of "One Heartbeat Away" by Mark Cahill, along with a note and an email address for her to send questions to me.

Between now and Christmas approximately 2.1 million people will die. Many of them will stand before God and suddenly understand how Holy He is and how wrong they were to believe the world's lies and false hopes. They will have eternity to think about their rejection of a God who stood ready to forgive. Before that happens, are you willing to put aside your pride, your shyness, and your fear of rejection to share the gospel and give these people something to think about while they still have time?

Today is the day of salvation, now go and plant a seed!

Do Not Just WATCH The Local Christmas Parade

Yesterday was the local Christmas Parade in our small town.

I suppose it's not that small. We've grown quite a bit over the past few years. The total population is about 5000. Still, we're no New York City, or Washington, D.C.

The closest highly populated city is about 28 miles away, with about 50,000 people. Of course, we normally go there for shopping and events. They rarely come to our town.

This morning my son and I headed to town for the Christmas Parade. Not to stand and watch, but to hand out tracts.

We expected several hundred people to line Main Street and watch the local dog-owner clubs, Girl Scouts, Pee-Wee Football Team, and fire equipment roll past.

We arrived about 45 minutes before the start of the parade, and found no one on the streets. No one.

Our little shopping centers (there are two) were busier than usual, but not a single family or lawn chair lined the street.

Perhaps it was because of the temperature? Thirty-four degrees is cold, but not unusual, for this time of year. Still, the sky was blue, and the air was calm. If you stayed in the sun, you could stay fairly warm without being bundled like Randy, the little brother in the movie, A Christmas Story, who had to waddle to school and could not get up when he fell down.

My son and I decided to stick it out. I had prayed before we left, and I was confident there were people who needed to hear or read the gospel. So, we waited. Surely, someone would come.

Only fifteen minutes before the parade was scheduled to begin, we started walking toward the assembly point. My plan was to walk alongside the parade all the way to the end, handing out tracts as we went.

But as we walked to the starting point, we saw only a few people... perhaps three to five each block. Still, we could see that some people were there all along, remaining inside their cars, enjoying the warmth. The promise of small crowds increased as we approached the drums, bagpipes, and police auxiliary who milled about for the start of the festivities.

As the escort car began to roll down the street, I crossed over. My son would take one side, I would take the other, and we'd meet up at the end.

We handed out Christmas Cash from Custom Tract Source. They were perfect! There is a picture of Santa on what appears to be a million dollar bill. On the back is a wonderful gospel presentation.

All we did was walk along with the parade, say "Merry Christmas" and hold the tracts out. People snatched them up with a cheery, "Thank you. Merry Christmas!"

We handed out over 600 tracts!

Here is some of the work we saw God do today:

• Many, many people appeared!
• Only about six or eight people declined to take the tracts, and some of them were probably just trying to keep their hands warm.
• We arrived at the end of the parade route at almost the exact minute the parade ended.
• I ran out of tracts completely just as the parade ended. My son had another pack in his pocket, but he gave out the last of the open tracts at about the same time I did.
• Just as the parade ended, and my son handed out his last two tracts, he was able to witness to two young men.
• One witnessing discussion my son had begun with a young man stating that God does not exist, and ended with him confessing that he needed to repent and give his life to Christ!
  

Interestingly, we saw several people we knew from local churches along the parade route, watching. While there is nothing wrong with watching parades, if we always watch, who is sharing the gospel? No one.

Next year, consider walking with the parade and sharing the gospel. I can promise you, you will be glad you did.