Today, Elaine (alumni Racer) and I went evangelizing in downtown Gainesville.
As I waited for Elaine to arrive, I sat in my car and overheard some guys talking at the bar as they sat outside drinking their beers and smoking their ciggs. I heard something like “God never says He is God in the Bible.”
TT’s ears perk up with stuff like that, so I got out of my car and asked if I could sit with the two men talking at their table. Yep. That’s what I did.
They graciously let me sit there. The men kept talking and he told this story about a guy he knew in the military who asked his dad for a rifle but got a Bible. He was so mad that his dad gave him a Bible. Decades later, after his dad died, he found that Bible and opened it and there was money for his rifle in the Bible! As he told the story, I decided I was also a part of the conversation:)
“G”, a man in his late 50s, kept talking to me. Elaine arrived and we got to hear all about G’s story. We got to share our testimonies and the gospel. I gave him a Bible and read to him all the verses that were hand picked for the gospel in this Bible.
He said about 2 weeks ago, he was working and a woman said “I feel like i’m supposed to give this to you.” It was a book she wrote with God.
DON”T YOU LOVE GOD’S TIMING!
I love to watch God pursue a man.
G said they call meeting at the bar “church” on Mondays “even though God isn’t always the topic of conversation.” He kinda said it tongue and cheek. But all I know is we had church today on a Monday at that bar. I imagine Jesus would be sitting right there at the table with us sharing His story too.
Then we met 3 homeless men in the square. One could see we were cold and asked if we wanted to go to the nearby coffee shop to be warm. I was so thankful.
It was C’s idea to go to the coffee shop. I was gonna have us sit at a table but he wanted us all to sit in the back where there are couches. C offered to get us something to drink. C loves to create atmospheres like this…like family…I discovered.
We sat there for hours in what became a living room and every single one of us shared our stories. It was incredible. I soaked it up. The honor to hear stranger’s stories and to be able to share not only my story, but more importantly His story within my story.
R, about 60 years old, told us he wasn’t raised in faith and wasn’t a believer. I encouraged him that Emmanuel, God with me, was the best thing I had going for me in the hard and good times. I said “Maybe one day you will believe.”
I asked if we could pray with them before we left. R told us his prayer requests and broke down crying. I prayed for them and as we left, R was still tender and teary.
I believe Jesus showed up in that living room and touched a heart of a son that hopefully will soon accept his Dad.
Thank you Jesus for the joy of interrupting people and sharing the best news for today, yesterday and tomorrow. Your gospel will always be the good news I wanna share.
