Evangelism

Nearly every Monday night spent in Pigeon Forge, TN was spent going out into the streets of either Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg and sharing the gospel. I remember my first night quite vividly. My team had been assigned Patriot Park in Pigeon Forge, and we parked the car in front of the cute little shopping center opposite the park. I was freaking out and so were my teammates. I remember saying, "Let's just get back in the car and go back to the cabin." I was probably thinking, "We don't really need to do this." That was Satan speaking through fear but even though we were all scared, team leader Carolina was there to save the day, speaking II Timothy 1:7 to us. "For God has given us a spirit not of fear but of power, love, and self-control." Isn't that awesome? Here we all were, scared and freaking out about approaching strangers and sharing the gospel with them and God, always being ready to help us combat the devil, whips out that verse, reassures us and brings us into willing obedience to him.

Now ready for anything the world had coming for us my partner and I approached our first victim (just kidding), our first person who we would share our illustration, known as the Bridge, with. He was a man, probably around his early 30s sitting with his adorable child who was heartily enjoying a very colorful lollipop that was also all over his face. So we approached him saying, "Hi, my name is Kayla and this is my friend Eriona. We're going around asking people to give their opinion of an illustration of the main theme of the Bible. Can we show it to you and get your opinion?" My friend was actually the one sharing this time so she started going through Romans 6:23 with him. About half-way through our presentation, the man's father came out of the store and we soon learned that the father was a pastor. We were amazed. All this time we had been sharing the gospel with the son of preacher. They allowed us to finish our presentation and we learned that the son was saved. That night was very encouraging even though after that we got several rejections. Each week it got easier but there were always those butterflies that refused to relent.

Now that I'm back on campus I wanted to put to use everything that I had learned over STP and for the past two weeks now my friend and I have been going out together once a week and sharing the bridge together. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us for the rest of the semester!

What do I know of holy?

"but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" ~I Peter 3:16

What does it mean to be holy?

A word study on net.bible.org produced these definitions:

holy: set apart to the service or worship of God; reserved from profane or common use; free from sinful affections; pure in heart; godly; guiltless; acceptable to God

Oswald Chambers has this to say on the subject of holiness,

"Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or for others, any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means absolute purity of your walk before God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind--placing every detail of your life under the scrutiny of God Himself."

WHOA! God demands holiness, absolute purity, in EVERY aspect of my life. But how can this holiness be attained when every aspect of my being--my speech, my actions, my thoughts, my desires and feelings, my mind, soul and body--is completely, totally and all-inclusively infected, degraded and depraved by my sin?

We need to be holy and live holy lives--anything less is unacceptable to God. We gain this holiness through a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is our substitute, our propitiation for our sins. His righteousness is transferred to us and God reconciles us to Himself through him.

"God can put [us] into perfect oneness with Himself through the death of Jesus Christ, without a trace of anything coming between us any longer."

-Oswald Chambers

My fellow Christians, my brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Do you believe that we need to be holy? Do you believe that God can come into you and make you holy through the blood of Jesus Christ? Search your being. What parts of your life do you still need to surrender to God? What unholiness are you tolerating in your own life? Are you willing to give up the sin in your life so that God can work his holiness in you and bring glory to himself? Ask your heavenly Father, who is ready and willing to do all that you ask of him, to transform your heart, to give you a heart of absolute purity. We are called to be holy, and even more, we are destined for it. Don't let anything hold you back from attaining it.