Mom and Teen

Had some interesting encounters today. Here are a couple:

After passing out a couple Million Dollar bills I see a lady telling her kid to pick one up from the floor. (I dont know if someone threw it out or dropped it... it was pretty cold and kind of windy) So I informed her that I was the one passing them out and joked that they are indeed not real but were instead gospel tracts. Then I asked her what she thought happens when someone dies. She said she didnt know, that she thought maybe heaven. So I asked her if she considered herself a good person. She said, "I dont have to go to church to be a good person. Even though I dont go I still do good and pray to myself." I joked "You pray to yourself?" She said, "Oh. No, I pray by myself at home." So I asked her if she kept the Ten Commandments and walked her through some of them. She admitted that she was a lying, thieving, murderer at heart and that she would be guilty on Judgment Day but that she still thought she would go to heaven. While reasoning with her about how a good judge must punish guilty lawbreakers, I asked her if she thought God was good. She said that God was good but also did evil. So I gently pointed out to her that if thats her idea of God that she was guilty of violating the 2nd Commandment, she had formed her own version of God. The Holy Spirit was really working on her heart because at that point she stopped justifying herself and realized that she was headed for hell. (Romans 3:19) I asked her if this was something that concerned her and she said it was. I asked if her if she knew how to get right with God and she said, "No, wont you please tell me?" So I told her that was the reason I came to her, to tell her the Good News! I explained to her how God became a Man, Jesus Christ, and died on the Cross in her place. That even though she broke God's Law, Jesus paid her fine... and that 3 days later, He rose from the dead. Then I told her to repent of all her sins and put her trust in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior and that He would forgive all her sins once and for all and grant her everlasting life. She thanked me for talking to her and told me that no one had ever explained to her why it was that Jesus died on the Cross. I offered her a New Testament but she said that she had a Bible at home and was going straight there to read it. Amen! Please pray for her!

I also got the chance to speak to a bunch of teenagers. One of them sticks out: After walking him through the Commandments I saw that he was really convicted. He realized that he was headed for hell and needed God's forgiveness so I shared the Good News of Jesus Christ dying for his sins and wanting to save him. After explaining to him that he must be born again and asking him if he understood what that meant... I asked him, "So whats stopping you from repenting and receiving Christ right now?" He said, "My friends." His other friend said "Society." So I told them that Jesus said that if your eye causes you to sin, to pluck it out and cast it from you because its better to go to heaven half-blind than to go to hell with both eyes (Matthew 18:9) and asked him, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?" (Matthew 16:26) Then I reminded them that they might die tonight and if they died in their sins they would end up in hell. He was very convicted and seemed on the verge of tears so I pleaded with him to repent and receive Christ in the privacy of his own heart or to lock himself in his room when he got home and get right with God tonight. May the Lord grant him repentance and draw him towards Himself! Please pray for this kid!

I also got the opportunity to meet up with another Christian. We fellowshipped for about 15 minutes. I encouraged him to seek and save the lost and exhorted him to do so soon because there is only a certain amount time.