Got a call the other day from Bill Legg.  He said he and his wife were here visiting family and would like to meet up with us.  I had talked to Bill once and a few times through email, but never in person.  Bill is a seed sower back in Fayetteville NC and we know each other through Carl Culotta.  Anyway, it was great to meet him and his wife in person.  We shared many “glory stories” about witnessing encounters and it was like we were long lost buddies.  He gave us tons of ideas about making our own tracts, prayer stations and a bunch of other stuff.  Nothing like sharing time with other seed sowers.  This picture is of us and Bill and Linda.

Wonder what they thought of our snowstorm the last day or two…

Thanks Robert (and Kevin) for my new cross.  It is a beauty and stands about 5 foot tall.  It is a little bigger than my buddy, Tony Miano’s cross, as it should be ;). 

I am thinking of making it stand out by staining it darker and maybe put something like what Tony has on his…   ARE YOU READY?  Sounds good, huh?

Props like this are great to get conversations going, and to draw attention to what you are saying.  Another prop I would love to get is a coffin.  I have heard of churches that set a coffin up in a park or public place somewhere, and put a mirror inside the open lid.  When people look into the coffin they see themselves, and it is a great way to discuss what happens after you die.  But that is another blog post. 

Now some may think this is foolish.  Well, the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God ( 1 Corinthians 1:18 ).  Seeds will be planted and conversations made, and stories to tell for eternity.  I was reminded of this last week in church.  Pastor Lance talked about the parable of the woman at the well.  In John 4, Jesus is witnessing to the woman at the well.  Afterwards, when His disciples showed up, He told them…….

“My food, said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent me to finish His work.  Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’?  I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!  They are ripe for harvest.  EVEN NOW THE REAPER DRAWS HIS WAGES, EVEN NOW HE HARVESTS THE CROP FOR ETERNAL LIFE, SO THAT THE SOWER AND THE REAPER MAY BE GLAD TOGETHER.  Thus the saying ‘One sows and the other reaps’ is true.  I sent you to reap what you have not worked for.  Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

We will have plenty of stories to tell and celebrations in heaven for all eternity.  Let’s get out there and share our faith!

Got to witness at the lake for the first time this year.  It was great to get out, but got cloudy later one and most of the folks left as it got pretty chilly.  We did, however, talk to a bunch of folks and handed out lots of tracts.  There are a lot of hispanics there and some do not speak english, so we did get to hand out some Spanish tracts too. 

One of the tracts I really like are the “red and blues” optical illusion tracts.  The kids get a kick out of them and it can get a whole group of kids over to get them.  Another thing is that once we get the tracts into their hands, they start showing everyone else how they work.  So the tracts get a lot of use and get around. 

The pictures below are the “red and blues” in action.  Middle picture is Robert and Dan witnessing. 

We had a great time of preaching at the Tea Party here in town.  Well, we did not preach AT the Tea Party, but at the main gate of the park it was held at.  So as the people came and went, we got to read scripture and preach the gospel.  Robert brought his cross and we “tag teamed” in getting up on the wall and preaching.  It was scary, fun, interesting and AWESOME!   There is nothing quite like sharing the gospel in this way.

There were a few folks that thanked us for doing this and many mockers too.  A lot of high schoolers from across the street came over and a few of them heckled us and mocked what we were doing.  The hecklers were good as it drew a few more people over.  All in all, it was a great day of glorifying the Lord in the proclamation of His Word.  There were many who heard the gospel, which is the power of God to salvation, as we preached the cross and Him crucified.  Many were convicted and mouths were stopped by speaking to their conscience through the law of God.  Many took tracts too, including the high schoolers.   

One woman walked by and yelled that no one will listen to us and no one will be saved by what we were doing.  Well, maybe not.  I did respond that the gospel is the power of God to salvation( Romans 1:16 ), not us.  But all the results are God’s job, not ours.  We have been faithful in proclaiming the gospel to many who will never go to church.  It has been said that one open air preaching session can reach more of the lost in one session than most churches do in a year.  But it is not up to us for the results.  One sows, one waters, but only God makes it grow( 1 Corinthians 3:6-8 ). 

Robert called me up today and wanted to go witnessing, even though the wind was howling at 40mph.  But it sounded good because I had been wanting to do the same thing….so off we went.  On my way downtown, I got a phone call from Dan.  Dan just moved here today and “randomly” called Austin Bluffs church to see if anyone ever went out to witness.  So he got my phone number and called, and it was SUCH A GOD THING that I was on my way to witness right then.  So he jumped in his care and met us.

While I was waiting for Robert and Dan, a guy came up and asked if I was “holding”.  I asked him what he was looking for, and he said “weed”.  Wow….first time for that!  Then someone came up to me later asked if I was a cop…go figure.  

Anyway, the wind was not as bad as we thought and we got to share the gospel with a bunch of folks.  Lots of kids who had gone to church in the past, but were not doing it now.  We first walked up to a crowd of kids and I gave them the good person test.  I spoke specifically to Andrea in the crowd and offered her $5 if she could prove she was a good person.  Sometimes this is a great way to get started witnessing because EVERYONE will take a test for money.  We spent quite a bit of time after the presentation witnessing to them.  Andrea was definitely convicted and said she was going to go home tonight and read her bible. 

It was good to be out there and sharing the gospel and meeting Dan.  What a “God thing” for him to call when he did and meet us downtown.  He had been witnessing while living in Tampa and now has moved to Colorado Springs, so we are looking forward to getting out with him this summer. 

This picture is of Dan(on the left) and Robert(on the right in the distance) witnessing one-to-one.