Fishing in Ft. Myers

Hey fellow sowers and prayer support (: )), 03-20-2008

Greetings from Sunny Orlando again! (or at least the suburbs ~ : ) ) It feels like we have been traveling more lately! From the family camping trip, to talking with partiers at the Bike Week/Spring break gathering in Daytona, to this past week of getting to meet several of the Way of the Master team, not to mention quite a few soul-winners, and seeing quite a few old friends from various places, and even some soul-winners that we only knew by email ~ : ). This year continues to be full of opportunities!

For those you who didn’t hear yet, Paul got sick right before we left, so that rearranged the schedule for us and those who went with the Grahams. And sadly, we didn’t get a good chance to really catch up and compare notes much, so we’ll have to do that not too long from now…

(Steven’s update)
For me, this past weekend was a blast! (Now getting the flu right before the work week was less exciting... : ) ) It was so neat to get a chance to meet the ‘Way of the Master’ team as well as others! And I really appreciated the reminders of things I had learned from ‘Out of the Comfort Zone’ (Ray’s autobiography) and the ‘Way of the Master’ videos, messages, and the online school. (for more info on those, check out www.wayofthemaster.com and www.livingwaters.com). One main thing I appreciate about their ministry is they point out what sin is. It’s so sad to see the common clichés everywhere: ‘God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life’ and ‘Ask Jesus to come into your heart’ and – ‘If you want to be saved, just say this simple prayer’… I too used to use those phrases, but I’ve been learning more and more to use Jesus’ own words, since God has been using fellow evangelists in my life, like the ‘Way of the Master’ team, and from my own studying of Jesus very own words describing what the costs are to be one of His disciples. Jesus is very specific, once we are saved, once we are a disciple – we can’t lose it. But we must consider the costs (so as not to be a false convert that walks away from following Jesus).

Here are a small sampling of Jesus’ call and the cost to follow Him:
> We are signing ourselves up to be a ‘doulos’ – slave of Jesus Christ – Mt. 6:24
> We are challenged to enter the narrow gate – meaning we aren’t going to be able to take some things with us – Mt. 7:13-14
> As followers of Christ, we might just not have a permanent home here, since we are citizens of another Kingdom! ~ Mt. 8:19-20
> As we follow Jesus Christ, as was His case too, our unsaved family could become hostile to us, but of course, we must continue to reach out to them, praying and pleading for them to repent too – Mt. 10:34
> We will be like true wheat among similar-looking weeds, but we must not let it discourage us or distract us from following Him – Mt. 13:24-43
> We will have to learn to take sin seriously like He does – Mt. 18:8-9
> He will be the single focus and passion of our lives, not just Him as the top of a list of 10, 20, etc… - Mt. 22:37-40
> That to even quality to be one of His followers, we must – deny ourselves – 1) our passions, wants, our habit of calling the shots in our life, 2)take up the tasks He gives us and 3) follow Him with all of our heart – daily. - Luke 9:23 (That’s quite a call, huh? Yeah, it is for me too. The best part is He isn’t looking for perfection in it, just a heart that honestly seeks Him and treasures Him as the invaluable riches and won’t run to any distraction, because they have Him!)
: ) Jesus also said that if that He who loves Him keeps His commandments and He shows His presence to them. That’s pretty cool! ~ John 14:15, 21, 23

That is just a very small sampling I have found as I just finished a study on what Jesus actually said about how to become one of His followers, how we can tell if we are His followers, and the cost… (If anyone is interested in me sending you that study, I’d be glad to, just email me. I went through Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Rev. 2 & 3 – what a very interesting study! It challenged my heart! And then I also heard some of those same verses at the conference, which was so much fun!

Soul-winning after the conference:
But, the icing on the ‘cake’ : ), was we got to go out soul-winning with our friends and fellow soul-winners from St. Pete! That was fun going out with Gabe, Joshua and team. And amazingly God gave us so many good conversations with people! One of my first conversations was with like 6 college students in front of a small restaurant. The main lady I talked who was responding didn’t seem to be affected much – she said that she was raised Orthodox (which I believe was referring to Eastern Orthodoxy – rituals and such, similar to the Catholicism). But after our conversation (and before the group wandered off), I asked them if what I had just explained made sense (the law, and what Jesus did for us) and 4 or 5 of them said yes, so I can only hope and pray that seeds were planted. My favorite conversation was with 3 teenage guys (9th grade or so) not far from where there was a free concert going on. At first these guys were happy go-lucky and all, like nothing really mattered and they were fine, even making some crude jokes amongst themselves. So, I handed each of them million dollar bills and we goofed about that briefly. Then I asked them what they believed was ‘out there’ when we checked out of life. The first guy said definitely a Heaven, second guy said it was a private matter, but then sort of confessed that he didn’t really know, and the third guy agreed (he didn’t really know either. : ) ) So, we talked and they did believe there was a Heaven and so then I pointed out that if God is just then He can’t let rapist, murders and liars get away with their sin and He can’t just ‘wink’ at it and let them into Heaven, right? They agreed. So, I pointed out if God can’t ignore it then He must punish these law-breakers, and especially if God is good, He must punish them, otherwise He becomes unjust, right? They agreed and said that made sense. So then I took them through God’s law and they all agreed that we had lied, used God’s name carelessly, coveted, and committed adultery in our hearts, and only two of them said they knew they had stolen something, the other thought he was innocent on that. I told them I had broken those too and mentioned that we aren’t doing so well, huh? And they agreed. Then I briefly referenced a few more of the commandments and they agreed they had broken those. So, then I asked them if God were to judge us by the 10 Commandments (His Law) would we be innocent or guilty? They agreed we’d be guilt and I agreed. So I asked would He have to reward us or punish us? They agreed He would have to punish us and even before I could finish, the guy who thought he hadn’t stolen anything said he was going to hell and the other guys quickly thought it through and realized it too. So, I asked if that concerned them – and they said yes. Then I asked them if they could promise me that they would wake up in the morning? They said no and it was apparent that it was making sense. So, then I asked if they knew what God had done for us. They didn’t know so I told them about how Jesus died on the cross not for His sins but for ours and that if we take ourselves off the throne of our life and stop calling the shots and make Him our King and let Him call the shots and we obey, and we accept that He paid not His fine, but ours, then we will be saved. One guy said some casual comment implying giving some of the control of his life was alright, and I reminded him that Jesus calls for all or nothing – He either wants to have complete control and allegiance from us or according to Him, we don’t have Him. He nodded in agreement and they agreed, but there was a little part of them that was holding out, so I challenged them again that if they couldn’t promise me that they would wake up in the morning, then they shouldn’t put their head on that pillow tonight before they get right with God. And the response of two of the surprised me – they said they would do it and they would see me in Heaven. I thanked them, and gave some tracts to some of their siblings that had wandered up and heard parts of the conversation, we exchanged handshakes, then headed off. I appreciated their enthusiasm! And I trust that a seed was planted and it is my hope and prayer that they do give Jesus all of their life. There were more stories, but I couldn’t possibly right them done, for one things because the flu I got Sunday afternoon erased some of them ~ just kidding! If Ft. Myers weren’t so far away, my family and I already talked about how we would love to go back, because the people there were pleasant to talk to. Ah, but maybe that is just to remind us to pray for the new soul-winners who are newly trained and will have the opportunities of talking with those in their surrounding communities.

Well, we look forward to seeing at least some of you at the Graham’s house and possibly even more of you downtown. For those who are our prayer partners ~ thank you! We trust that God is also showing you who He is bringing across your paths that He wants you to share the amazing good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with!

Your friends and fellow servants of Christ,
David, Barbara, Steven and Paul

Hey fellow sowers and prayer support J, 03-20-2008

Greetings from Sunny Orlando again! (or at least the suburbs ~ : ) ) It feels like we have been traveling more lately! From the family camping trip, to talking with partiers at the Bike Week/Spring break gathering in Daytona, to this past week of getting to meet several of the Way of the Master team, not to mention quite a few soul-winners, and seeing quite a few old friends from various places, and even some soul-winners that we only knew by email ~ : ). This year continues to be full of opportunities!

For those you who didn’t hear yet, Paul got sick right before we left, so that rearranged the schedule for us and those who went with the Grahams. And sadly, we didn’t get a good chance to really catch up and compare notes much, so we’ll have to do that not too long from now…

(Steven’s update)
For me, this past weekend was a blast! (Now getting the flu right before the work week was less exciting... : ) ) It was so neat to get a chance to meet the ‘Way of the Master’ team as well as others! And I really appreciated the reminders of things I had learned from ‘Out of the Comfort Zone’ (Ray’s autobiography) and the ‘Way of the Master’ videos, messages, and the online school. (for more info on those, check out www.wayofthemaster.com and www.livingwaters.com). One main thing I appreciate about their ministry is they point out what sin is. It’s so sad to see the common clichés everywhere: ‘God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life’ and ‘Ask Jesus to come into your heart’ and – ‘If you want to be saved, just say this simple prayer’… I too used to use those phrases, but I’ve been learning more and more to use Jesus’ own words, since God has been using fellow evangelists in my life, like the ‘Way of the Master’ team, and from my own studying of Jesus very own words describing what the costs are to be one of His disciples. Jesus is very specific, once we are saved, once we are a disciple – we can’t lose it. But we must consider the costs (so as not to be a false convert that walks away from following Jesus).

Here are a small sampling of Jesus’ call and the cost to follow Him:
> We are signing ourselves up to be a ‘doulos’ – slave of Jesus Christ – Mt. 6:24
> We are challenged to enter the narrow gate – meaning we aren’t going to be able to take some things with us – Mt. 7:13-14
> As followers of Christ, we might just not have a permanent home here, since we are citizens of another Kingdom! ~ Mt. 8:19-20
> As we follow Jesus Christ, as was His case too, our unsaved family could become hostile to us, but of course, we must continue to reach out to them, praying and pleading for them to repent too – Mt. 10:34
> We will be like true wheat among similar-looking weeds, but we must not let it discourage us or distract us from following Him – Mt. 13:24-43
> We will have to learn to take sin seriously like He does – Mt. 18:8-9
> He will be the single focus and passion of our lives, not just Him as the top of a list of 10, 20, etc… - Mt. 22:37-40
> That to even quality to be one of His followers, we must – deny ourselves – 1) our passions, wants, our habit of calling the shots in our life, 2)take up the tasks He gives us and 3) follow Him with all of our heart – daily. - Luke 9:23 (That’s quite a call, huh? Yeah, it is for me too. The best part is He isn’t looking for perfection in it, just a heart that honestly seeks Him and treasures Him as the invaluable riches and won’t run to any distraction, because they have Him!)
: ) Jesus also said that if that He who loves Him keeps His commandments and He shows His presence to them. That’s pretty cool! ~ John 14:15, 21, 23

That is just a very small sampling I have found as I just finished a study on what Jesus actually said about how to become one of His followers, how we can tell if we are His followers, and the cost… (If anyone is interested in me sending you that study, I’d be glad to, just email me. I went through Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Rev. 2 & 3 – what a very interesting study! It challenged my heart! And then I also heard some of those same verses at the conference, which was so much fun!

Soul-winning after the conference:
But, the icing on the ‘cake’ : ), was we got to go out soul-winning with our friends and fellow soul-winners from St. Pete! That was fun going out with Gabe, Joshua and team. And amazingly God gave us so many good conversations with people! One of my first conversations was with like 6 college students in front of a small restaurant. The main lady I talked who was responding didn’t seem to be affected much – she said that she was raised Orthodox (which I believe was referring to Eastern Orthodoxy – rituals and such, similar to the Catholicism). But after our conversation (and before the group wandered off), I asked them if what I had just explained made sense (the law, and what Jesus did for us) and 4 or 5 of them said yes, so I can only hope and pray that seeds were planted. My favorite conversation was with 3 teenage guys (9th grade or so) not far from where there was a free concert going on. At first these guys were happy go-lucky and all, like nothing really mattered and they were fine, even making some crude jokes amongst themselves. So, I handed each of them million dollar bills and we goofed about that briefly. Then I asked them what they believed was ‘out there’ when we checked out of life. The first guy said definitely a Heaven, second guy said it was a private matter, but then sort of confessed that he didn’t really know, and the third guy agreed (he didn’t really know either. : ) ) So, we talked and they did believe there was a Heaven and so then I pointed out that if God is just then He can’t let rapist, murders and liars get away with their sin and He can’t just ‘wink’ at it and let them into Heaven, right? They agreed. So, I pointed out if God can’t ignore it then He must punish these law-breakers, and especially if God is good, He must punish them, otherwise He becomes unjust, right? They agreed and said that made sense. So then I took them through God’s law and they all agreed that we had lied, used God’s name carelessly, coveted, and committed adultery in our hearts, and only two of them said they knew they had stolen something, the other thought he was innocent on that. I told them I had broken those too and mentioned that we aren’t doing so well, huh? And they agreed. Then I briefly referenced a few more of the commandments and they agreed they had broken those. So, then I asked them if God were to judge us by the 10 Commandments (His Law) would we be innocent or guilty? They agreed we’d be guilt and I agreed. So I asked would He have to reward us or punish us? They agreed He would have to punish us and even before I could finish, the guy who thought he hadn’t stolen anything said he was going to hell and the other guys quickly thought it through and realized it too. So, I asked if that concerned them – and they said yes. Then I asked them if they could promise me that they would wake up in the morning? They said no and it was apparent that it was making sense. So, then I asked if they knew what God had done for us. They didn’t know so I told them about how Jesus died on the cross not for His sins but for ours and that if we take ourselves off the throne of our life and stop calling the shots and make Him our King and let Him call the shots and we obey, and we accept that He paid not His fine, but ours, then we will be saved. One guy said some casual comment implying giving some of the control of his life was alright, and I reminded him that Jesus calls for all or nothing – He either wants to have complete control and allegiance from us or according to Him, we don’t have Him. He nodded in agreement and they agreed, but there was a little part of them that was holding out, so I challenged them again that if they couldn’t promise me that they would wake up in the morning, then they shouldn’t put their head on that pillow tonight before they get right with God. And the response of two of the surprised me – they said they would do it and they would see me in Heaven. I thanked them, and gave some tracts to some of their siblings that had wandered up and heard parts of the conversation, we exchanged handshakes, then headed off. I appreciated their enthusiasm! And I trust that a seed was planted and it is my hope and prayer that they do give Jesus all of their life. There were more stories, but I couldn’t possibly right them done, for one things because the flu I got Sunday afternoon erased some of them ~ just kidding! If Ft. Myers weren’t so far away, my family and I already talked about how we would love to go back, because the people there were pleasant to talk to. Ah, but maybe that is just to remind us to pray for the new soul-winners who are newly trained and will have the opportunities of talking with those in their surrounding communities.

Well, we look forward to seeing at least some of you at the Graham’s house and possibly even more of you downtown. For those who are our prayer partners ~ thank you! We trust that God is also showing you who He is bringing across your paths that He wants you to share the amazing good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with!

Your friends and fellow servants of Christ,
David, Barbara, Steven and Paul