Dear Friends of Jesus ~
What a great day. Enjoyed a nice coffee drink in the morning, read the Scriptures, went biking, on a beautiful sunny afternoon here in Dallas, with the family, leading some Mormon missionaries to Jesus, my evening power walk, and Bible school with the family at the end of the day!
We have been studying Exodus and was sharing, with my kids, how Moses sought the Lord earnestly and in response to these earnest cries from his heart; God’s glory appeared to Moses as he sat in a cave. Little Ranger told me he wanted to see God too tonight; just as Moses did. So we prayed that the Lord would visit each one in a special manner. My friends, visions won’t do; they want an actual resurrected Jesus appearance tonight. They are excited. Love the hearts of kids! We should be so innocent and wanting to see Jesus too!
As I said –great day! I am really blessed. I want souls more than anything else. I want to see people ministered to even during my daily walk; not simply in some formal ministry meeting (which is fine; but I desire to live out Jesus everyday!) To me following Jesus is an adventure walk; you just never know what will happen. Like what transpired this afternoon on a gorgeous day here in Dallas.
I took my wife and kids to the park for a long ride. We took a few breaks and on one break, two young ladies approached us and introduced themselves.
“We are from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we would like to share with you about our prophet.”
Only if they knew! Ha! No, seriously, I was very kind and loving. Again not really interested in offering up some eloquent defense of the faith but to love on them; to see their hearts melt. It worked!
Both ladies listened as I shared about a Jesus who loves them. Never move away from the simplicity found in the love of Jesus. People hunger genuine love that only comes from God in the flesh. Yes, I did point out that the Jesus of the Bible is presented as being very God (note: Mormons reject the truth that Jesus is very God). I asked if I could use their Bibles to reveal this (apologetic tip: use their own materials to lead them to faith in Jesus). They were sorta surprised by this; as they had no idea they were walking up to someone who was familiar with their belief system. But, they listened intently.
Psalms 100, Philippians 2, Colossians 2 and Hebrews 1 were my focal points and they followed along and you could see the Scriptures were piercing their hearts. Many Mormon missionaries at this point would simply walk away in defiance to being challenged; not so with these young ladies. They were willing to receive prayer and then I asked if they would pray with me to receive this Jesus, who is very God. They said they would. In this public setting while others watched; they opened their minds and lives to Jesus; confessing out loud Jesus is God! This is HUGE as just moments earlier they could not confess this truth!
Though I was joyful in their salvation; I could sense there will be challenges. This spiritual jolt will change everything for these ladies. God’s grace will be with them. Trust me it’s not easy departing from one’s ancestral religious heritage. Every day Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and many others are turning to Christ. Many are first generation disciples that will now face ridicule, misunderstanding, opposition and in some cases bodily injury or even death. Please pray for these young bright ladies who will need strength in the days to come.
What I really loved about this Jesus encounter; was having my young kids witness Dad preaching the gospel and leading cultists to Jesus! Awesome; isn’t it! What I really liked was it a daily life experience; it wasn’t Dad doing some kind of meeting but really living out the faith in real life! Think about the real implications of this to a young mind.