This week I have been at my parent's house in Atlanta and thought it would be a week of laziness and comfort, but God had other plans. I had actually kind of gotten comfortable here and thought that there would be no way for me to share with anyone about Christ because my brother has taken my car for the week....his is messed up. Today, I was listening to Mark Cahill on the internet as he challenged believers to step out and share with the lost around you and then it came...God said think of whose around you. So I did and I immediately thought, my neighbors who don't know Jesus. So God said, go and tell em because just as Ezekiel 33:1-11 states, if we don't share the guilt of their eternity will be on us believers who don't share. So I prayed for them, then walked across the street to share with them....I knocked three or four times and they didn't answer even though their cars were there. As I was coming back to my house, I noticed a FedEx bag with a box in it on my porch so I took it in. I was really disappointed that they are still without having heard the gospel from me, but prayed that God would allow them to open the door later in the day. At about 1:30pm I was making lunch when my doorbell rang. I answered the door to the FedEx guy. He said he came to pick up a package. Thats when I realized the package on the porch was that package that my mom had sat for them to pick up later. As he walked away and said, "Hey, I have a good question for you" so he said, "go ahead" and of course I said, "do you know where your going if you died tonight?" and he said, "oh yeah, Heaven"....I came to find out that he was a born again believer and we both stood there and had about a 10 or 15 minute conversation about the lostness of our world while I was able to challenge him to share Jesus with the people at his workplace and his family and friends before Judgement Day comes around or before they die unexpectedly. He was greatly encouraged and left having something to share with those he loved. As I went on to make my lunch, I thought about what had just happened. I soon realized that had I not gone outside and across the street to talk with my neighbors on a step of obedience, I would have never brought the package inside and the FedEx guy would have never heard from me about sharing Christ! I knew that God was in control and all, but man! That showed me that with a simple step of obedience on our part, He will reach the lost around us and around the world. I then thought that had I not encouraged John to share Christ more with those he loved, he may have not shared with his coworkers or family or friends that week and they may have never heard the Gospel. God is good and wants our simple obedience and trust. Obey and trust Him today to shed light on those around you through you. I would hate to find out that a friend of mine I had never shared with got saved from another guy they didn't know when I could have done it. Step out and do it for God!
Many times I’ve sat on the front pew just prior to the sermon time looking at the steps to the pulpit. In these moments each Sunday morning I’m reminded of the great task with which I have been entrusted and my own weakness to perform it. After hours of painstaking study and prayerful preparation, I still stare at those steps and feel under qualified, knowing I’ve only scratched the surface of the message. There is a certain holy trembling a preacher feels before climbing those steps to proclaim God’s eternal Word. In centuries past, preachers like Charles Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd-Jones had to climb winding staircases to reach the “sacred desk”, but many pulpits today are just a few steps above the floor. Whether you have many steps or none at all, it is an other-worldly task we have been given. The following are a few practical steps preachers can take before climbing the real ones on Sunday morning... 1. Get in the Word We must immerse ourselves in the text at the outset o
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