Evangelism

Share the Gospel Like a Twelve Year Old

A couple of years ago, my 7th and 8th grade sons had to take the standardized state tests for their grade levels. Because I home school them, I took them to the testing facility where they were grouped with other home schoolers their age.

My 7th grade son, Jacob, came home the first day and mentioned that a couple of the kids had picked on him a little, especially a girl his age who made fun of him. She also told him she was an atheist. She continued to tease him for the next two days.

In the car on the way to their last day of testing, Jacob was sitting in the back seat and saw my supply of tracts sticking out of my purse. He asked me if he could have a couple of them. I was so proud. I thought maybe he would leave one in the restroom or on a bench as he’s seen me do before. I told him he was welcome to them.

When I returned to pick them up that afternoon, Jacob told me what he had done with the tracts. He put one at the work station of the atheist girl who had been teasing him. When she found it, she tore it up in Jacob’s face. So he gave her the second one. She tore that one up too and told him that if he ever gave her anything else about Jesus she would “kill him.”

Ladies, I share this story with you, not to brag on my son, but to encourage you. If a twelve year old child can share the gospel with someone so hostile, you can do it too! Share Christ with your friends and family, your neighbors, people you run into at the store. Get yourself some tracts and hand them to cashiers, wait staff, clerks, anyone you come in contact with. Or at least leave them behind when you go somewhere- the library, restaurants, the doctor’s office, etc.

We have a commission from our King to take the gospel to a lost and dying world. Let’s get out there and do it! Here are some resources that can help:

Bezeugen Tract Club– Get a free supply of tracts every month, and follow Bezeugen’s social media pages for fun “tracting” challenges.

Living Waters– Ray Comfort’s phenomenal witnessing ministry offers courses in biblical evangelism, eye-catching tracts, witnessing and apologetics videos, and more!

Wretched– Listen in to Witness Wednesday every week as Todd Friel goes out and about to share the gospel, and participate in The Biggest Project or The Big Toe Challenge.

Christmas, Evangelism, Movies

Movie Tuesday: Christmas Gone Viral

One third of the world celebrates Christmas. That makes this the perfect time of year to carry out the Great Commission. What could be a more natural transition from chit chat to the gospel than talking about Christmas – the birth of Christ? Watch as Ray Comfort and ordinary folks from all over the world share the good news of Jesus with those they encounter.

If you’re looking for other easy ways to share the gospel in the coming weeks, check out my article, 10 Ways to Share the Gospel During the Holidays. You can also order some awesome Christmas-themed tracts to tuck inside your Christmas cards or share as you’re shopping at Living Waters or Bezeugen.

Share Your Testimony

Testimony Tuesday: Sharon’s Story

If you’d like to share your story, please see the info at the end of the article. Though all types of testimonies are welcome, right now, I’m especially looking for brief (1-3 paragraphs) testimonies.

Sharon’s Story

I come from South Africa. I grew up in an Anglican home but my mom and dad were Christmas and Easter churchgoers. However they had the sense to send us to Sunday school and confirmation classes. I went to a church camp when I was thirteen. There I heard the gospel in a new way and I was saved. I wanted to leave the Anglican church but was unable to. In order to attend youth at the Assemblies of God (AOG) church, I had to attend Anglican church on Sunday. I learnt more and grew in the Lord at AOG.

At this time I was living at my dad and stepmother but when I was 18 I moved to live with my mom and go to college. My mom had also been saved and attended AOG. My sister and I went with her.

While I was at AOG I started dating the youth leader, not knowing the man was actually married. My mom trapped him in a lie and did some digging. We discovered he had left a pregnant wife and girlfriend back in Durban. Then he moved to Johannesburg. That was end of that relationship but I was blamed for leading him astray. I was badly treated by the church.

We left and went to another fellowship. After dating and being badly treated by numerous “Christian” men, my heart was in tatters and my faith was low. I met my husband (not a believer, but not an atheist either). We dated seven years and got married.

Nobody ever cautioned me at the time about being unequally yoked. My husband is a good kind man that has never prevented me from going to church or Bible study. We are married 23 years later and happily. I believe God will reach him.

We have two sons. We are a nomadic family. We have been backward and forward from Saudi Arabia to South Africa to New Zealand to United Arab Emirates. I have always found a place to fellowship even in Saudi. God has always given me a spiritual home. When I have strayed and been less than faithful, God has brought me back. My personal life can be likened to Israel. From faithful to idolatrous to being in bondage and being rescued.

In December 2014 we were on holiday in South Africa where we were involved in a horror smash. I was left with a broken back and neck. God got me into a great hospital. I was due for neck surgery on December 26, so they sent me for x-rays. Miracle!!! God had placed the vertebrae back and surgery was not necessary. That was Christmas day. God had given me Jesus as Savior and given me healing. That hospital was special. The nurses were believers and sang and prayed over us. Many miracles occurred there. I was not the only one.

They fitted a halo brace to support my neck – sheer agony. But thanks be to God, I walked out of hospital a month after I entered. God restored all nervous function to my arms and legs. Prior to going on vacation we bought basic travel insurance which is something we had not done before. I can only think it was the prompting of God. God ensured that all of my medical expenses were covered in this insurance. We were not left with any debts. Praise God!! God has an awesome way of taking care of us even when we are not closely following.

This whole situation was a spiritual wake up call of note. I knew God had His hand on me and was shaking me right. The irony of a broken neck was not lost on me. God had to break my neck of stubbornness to get through to me. He did. And I thank Him.
It’s close to 3 years later and I am walking closely with Him.

I have an awesome fellowship here in United Arab Emirates. I think Isaiah 43:18-19 was made for me. I had to come to the desert to find living water. I am active in fellowship and service. We are prevented from openly evangelising but we go into labor camps to teach English and bring supplies to the poor and we spread the Word there. The Emirates are hungry for truth and not resistant. If they ask questions , we give them the truth. We have led many to Christ. It is however difficult for them to stay in the church.

God is truly awesome! I will continue to serve where He leads me. I enjoy hospital prayer and visitation. I go when I hear of someone in need. God has given me the gift of encouragement and support. I cannot begin to thank or praise God enough for what He has done for me. I have two scars on my forehead from the halo screws. The doctors here wanted to know if I needed plastic surgery to have them removed. I said no. It was my constant reminder of how much God loved me. Praise Him forever!!


Ladies, God is still at work in the hearts and lives of His people, including yours! Would you like to share a testimony of how God saved you, how He has blessed you, convicted you, taught you something from His Word, brought you out from under false doctrine, placed you in a good church or done something otherwise awesome in your life? Private/direct message me on social media, e-mail me (MichelleLesley1@yahoo.com), or comment below. Try to be brief (3-4 paragraphs or less) if possible. I’ll select a few to share on the blog another time. Let’s encourage one another with God’s work in our lives!

Gospel, Homosexuality, Salvation, Sin, Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday ~ Cancer: A Love Story

Originally published April 7, 2013cancer love story

Cancer.

The dreadfulness of the word hung heavy in the air between Jana and her friend Denise.

“The doctor says it’s terminal,” Denise choked, “I’m so confused. I don’t know what to do.”

Jana’s heart broke as she envisioned the difficult emotional road ahead for Denise and watched the tears streaming down her face.

“I’d do anything to take that pain away,” thought Jana. “Anything.”

For days after they parted, Jana’s thoughts were consumed with how she could help Denise accept and feel better about her condition. By the weekend, when they met for coffee, Jana was ready.

“Denise,” she began, “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and I think I know why you’re so uncomfortable with having cancer.”

“Oh? Why?” asked Denise.

“Well, first of all, you shouldn’t be fighting against the idea of having cancer. It’s a completely natural biological event. In fact, you were probably born genetically predisposed to cancer. It’s part of who you are. Accept it and embrace it as something that makes you unique and wonderful!”

Denise seemed skeptical, but Jana plunged ahead.Girlfriends Enjoy A Conversation

“You’re also worried about what other people will think of you. Maybe they’ll think you’re weak and try to help you with things that you’d rather do for yourself.”

“But maybe I’ll need some help,” Denise suggested quietly.

“Nonsense!” Jana retorted, “Having cancer doesn’t make you different from anybody else. It’s exactly the same as not having cancer. What we need to do is show that to the world. Maybe we should have a rally for cancer equality!”

“Jana, that’s great and all,” Denise whispered somberly, “but I’m going to die. That makes all the stuff you’re talking about seem a lot less important.”

Jana seems like a very loving and kind person, but does the “help” she was offering Denise seem…well…helpful?

What if I told you that during this entire scenario, Jana personally knew a doctor who had a proven cure for Denise’s type of cancer, and was giving it away, yet Jana never told Denise? How loving and kind does Jana seem now?

Now read back through this story and substitute “homosexuality” for “cancer”.

We live in a culture that tells Christians that we are to “love” our homosexual friends and loved ones by embracing homosexuality as good and natural. We even hear people who claim to be Christians saying this. But is this how the Bible defines love? Is this how Jesus loved people?

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:10-11

Think back over the encounters Jesus had with people, from the woman at the well, to Zaccheus, to Nicodemus, to the woman caught in adultery, to the rich young ruler, to anybody else Jesus ever interacted with.

Did Jesus ever “love” someone by telling him it was OK to stay in his sin?

No, He didn’t.

Jesus loved sinners by calling them to repentance, forgiveness, and a new life in Christ.

Why? Because it isn’t love to help the slave to embrace his chains. It’s love to set him free.

Christ loved us by going to the cross and becoming the propitiation –satisfying God’s wrath—for our sins. He laid down His life for our freedom.

And, Christian, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. We must lay down our opinions, our politics, our ideas of what we’d like the Bible to say, maybe even our actual lives, in order to help people know freedom in Christ. We have the cure for their spiritual cancer—the gospel—and it is not “love” to knowingly misdiagnose them or keep that cure from them.

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

blurry-sky-cross
But as important as it is to rescue the perishing, there’s an even greater issue at stake here for those of us who claim the name of Christ.

For our sin, our Savior endured wrongful conviction, ridicule, mockery, and bullying.

For our sin, our Savior was slapped, punched, spit on, had His beard yanked out, and thorns and brambles mashed into His skull.

For our sin, our Savior had the skin flayed off His back, buttocks, and legs, whipped nearly to death until He was a bloody mess.

For our sin, our Savior, beaten, bloody, and broken of body, hoisted a heavy, splintery cross onto His shoulders and carried it through town and up the hill to His execution.

One nail.

Two nails.

Three nails.

For your sin. For my sin. For our neighbors’ sin.

How dare you, or I, or anyone spit in the face of our bleeding, dying Savior by saying that the sin that put Him on the cross is OK?

How dare we?

How can any of us claim to love Christ while celebrating the nails, the spear, the crown of thorns?

By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
1 John 2:5b-6

Jesus walked the way of leading people to repentance from sin and to the beauty, the freedom of a glorious new life through faith in Himself. Will we, who say we abide in Him, love Jesus and our homosexual neighbor enough to walk in the same way in which He walked?

Mostloving

Abortion, Share Your Testimony

Testimony Tuesday: Sharron’s Story

If you’d like to share your story, please see the info at the end of the article. Though all types of testimonies are welcome, right now, I’m especially looking for brief (1-3 paragraphs) testimonies of those who had to leave an unbiblical church, but diligently searched for and found a doctrinally sound church.

Sharron’s Story

I grew up in a very liberal church that, as far as I can remember, never spoke of the need for salvation, being born-again or Christ’s coming return. I was baptized, confirmed and at the age of 18 I hightailed it out because it was so boring. Thinking only of my newfound independence in moving out of my parent’s home I got into drugs and alcohol and partying. I maintained a good job and found out I could hold a job AND party!

I became sexually promiscuous and at the age of 25 I became pregnant. Giving no thought to it being a child (the idea actually never crossed my mind!) I promptly had an abortion thinking it would quickly solve my dilemma. It instead led to a lot of new self-destructive behavior.

I got married two years later and became pregnant with a child I truly wanted. I still didn’t understand the scope of abortion. It was 1975. All I knew is that it was newly legal so it must be fine.

My husband and I continued to party, we made a lot of money and could afford to live the high life.

One day, 18 years later in 1993, a neighbor came to my house and began telling me about her life before “Jesus saved her”. I thought, “uh-oh, a holy roller”. She told me she had been into drugs and alcohol and had had an abortion and had even tried to end her life. I thought “why is she telling me this!”

But it struck a nerve. That was MY life she was describing! She asked me if I knew Jesus. In a huff, I got up and locked myself in the bathroom. I stayed in there for what seemed like hours. Then it dawned on me….I was in MY house locked in MY bathroom waiting for HER to leave!

I came out and she gently led me over to my couch and I begrudgingly sat down. She told me Jesus forgave her for everything horrible she ever did. I said, ” even your abortion?” She said yes in a way that made me believe her. She shared the gospel with me and asked me if I wanted to pray and ask Him to forgive me of all my sins. She said Jesus is a gentleman and He was standing at the door of my heart, knocking – waiting for me to invite Him into my life. Suddenly a giant picture of Jesus knocking on a door that hung over the choir loft of my childhood church – filled my mind. I never knew whose door that was He was knocking at!

I began to cry so hard. 18 years of bottled up junk came pouring out. She helped me pray because I didn’t know how and that moment I was forgiven and my life was radically changed almost instantly. My neighbor helped me to join a good Bible church and my 10 year old daughter was saved two weeks later!

I devoured the Bible twice in a short time and read everything my neighbor had in her full library.

The first thing God did was heal me from the guilt and shame of my abortion. It haunted me but as my understanding of His mercy and love and forgiveness began to go deep into my heart, He healed me. It wasn’t overnight. It took a long time. But because He did heal me, 10 years later God placed me in a biblical post-abortion Healing ministry, Healing Hearts Ministries International. I trained to become a counselor and have taken many, many women through the post-abortion Bible study written by the founder of Healing Hearts. I’ve had the privilege of watching God forgive, heal and set women free from the aftermath of abortion.

I’ve been in this ministry for over 11 years and I’m always amazed at the way God brings post-abortive women into my path. God never lets anything go to waste if we allow Him to use the mess of our past.


Ladies, God is still at work in the hearts and lives of His people, including yours! Would you like to share a testimony of how God saved you, how He has blessed you, convicted you, taught you something from His word, brought you out from under false doctrine, placed you in a good church or done something otherwise awesome in your life? Private/direct message me on social media, e-mail me (MichelleLesley1@yahoo.com), or comment below. Try to be brief (3-4 paragraphs or less) if possible. I’ll select a few to share on the blog another time. Let’s encourage one another with God’s work in our lives!