I had a long day yesterday I must admit, I was at Alexa's softball camp from 9am to 2 and did a lot of catching. Which meant squating for long periods of time and standing up to chase the balls that went wild(she was rusty so there was a lot of this, haha) and then throwing them back. I also chased balls in the outfield and infield as well. Then, we got done there and I rushed home where I worked out with Alexa and got some stuff done around the house with Tara. I then went and met a family that we are doing a wedding for at the church and spent time with them and talked over a lot of the details, followed by a run through McDonalds and then home to get the girls cleaned up, bathed and ready for bed. About the time we sat down to eat there was a knock at the door, it was two nicely dressed young men. I went around to the side door and they greated me with smiles and introduced themselves. Then I introduced myself and let them talk a bit. I then let them know that I was a baptist pastor and they still went on. I told them I had studied Mormonisn in seminary and read parts of the Book of Mormon just because I was interested in knowing more. Then, they started with the did you know. I couldn't resist so I fired back at them with a few did you knows from the Bible. We exchanged a few quotes calmly and peacefully. Then, I decided to up the ante by asking them a did you know about the history of Mormonism. I stumped one of them, but the other answered the question carefully. Then I asked a deeper question and neither one of them could answer it and we called it a night.
I like to do these sorts of things, because this is the third time I have had a visit from them, the second time these very two same ones have been at my door. Persistence must be the first class they take at school for mormonism. It did however get me to thinking.
If God loves everyone, and JEsus died on the cross for everyone then why do we usually take no for an answer. I can honestly say if I had gone to the door of someone and they told me they were a mormon I would have shared my testimony and my heart and left it at that, I would not take them on in a trivial pursuit type of situation. I have friends who have told me no to Christianity and I do still invite them to church, but I do not do a great job of being persistent in sharing with them the Gospel.
1 Timothy 4:15-16 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, becaus if you do , you will save both yourself and your hearers.
It does us no good to know the word of GOd without living it. We must persevere in our walk and our talk so that others will be changed through our persistence. Those young men get that, they seem to be walking and talking their beliefs, and they were persistent. But, if I saw one of them smoking pot or stealing from someone I would have a far greater door open to get to them.
So be diligent in your study of the word, your prayer life and in your outward acts so that you can go toe to toe with non-believers with full confidence that God is with you in every aspect of your journey.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
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