Dec 7, I'm not all that courageous
April 12, 1987 was the day I made the trip from my pew to the altar where Pastor Kevin Childs was standing. I bowed down and begged Jesus to forgive me of my sin and asked him to come into my life. I was literally changed that day. I'm not perfect, but Christ got all of me.
At that time I was teaching 7th and 8th grade and coaching Middle School football. I instantly became very vocal about my new found faith in Jesus Christ. Shared with my students and players. In fact I always kept a Bible on my desk in hopes students would ask. I wanted to share with anyone that would listen about what Christ had done on my life. How He had changed a royal screw up like me into a child of God.
Since 1987 my faith has only grown. My burden for the lost has grown and due to this I have grown even bolder in sharing my faith. And I thought my courage for Christ had grown also. People are constantly telling me they wished they had my passion and courage to stand for Christ. Then I went to Africa.!
We arrived in Africa on Wednesday, November 23rd at 11:00 am. After a quick shower and lunch we headed out to our church. I began speaking to a packed church. Was using the scripture out of Acts 4 oh Peter and John being so courageous for Christ and that all of us must do the same! I hadn't been speaking 5 minutes when a Tanzanian Government vehicle came pulling up. This quite out of the norm since there are VERY FEW vehicles at our church. It was the immigration office demanding to see my passport. After showing it they informed me I was breaking Tanzanian law by teaching the Bible without the proper documentation. Went onto tell me we would possibly be heading to jail. All of this was nothing but a ploy yo scare us out of town. No one went to jail. We met at the immigration office the following morning and took care of everything.
But here is my point in all of this. I had a very long night that night thinking we might be going to jail in a third world country. I was scared and prayed that God would not allow this to happen. But what if this had been God's Will? What if God was going to use me in jail? None of that mattered to me, all I wanted was not to go to jail. Let me be brutally honest , I found myself scared and wondering should we run to the airport and get the heck out of town?
As I laid in a third world country hotel wondering what the next morning held I began thinking about the very message I had taught. We must be bold and courageous for our faith. Where was my courage? One of the very attributes so many people had given me credit for. You see its easy to be courageous in America because no one can really do anything. If I want to talk about Jesus I can. I may be called some names but that is it.
I will say it again. Africa always does more for me than I can ever do for her. God used this experience to have me look at myself and just how far I'm willing to go for Him. Am I ready to experience the type of persecution the disciples did? The question I had to ask my self was am I really all that courageous?
Acts 4:13
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
I want that type of courage. I want to tell the world Jesus is Lord regardless of what happens. I want to stand so boldly that people take notice and see that I've been ever changed by the blood of Jesus.
Let me finish by asking all of us a simple question. What is the last courageous thing you've done for Christ? What have you done that is very uncomfortable for you? When is the last time someone took notice of you because of your stance for Christ?
Couple of other thoughts:
* Jacob is out of town so Deb and I are ALONE. Date night tonight. Copper River and a movie tonight.
* Please remember to park a long ways off Sunday. We need all the spots we can get. Park behind Robinsons and Kearns.
* I will be showing a bunch of pics tomorrow from our trip.
At that time I was teaching 7th and 8th grade and coaching Middle School football. I instantly became very vocal about my new found faith in Jesus Christ. Shared with my students and players. In fact I always kept a Bible on my desk in hopes students would ask. I wanted to share with anyone that would listen about what Christ had done on my life. How He had changed a royal screw up like me into a child of God.
Since 1987 my faith has only grown. My burden for the lost has grown and due to this I have grown even bolder in sharing my faith. And I thought my courage for Christ had grown also. People are constantly telling me they wished they had my passion and courage to stand for Christ. Then I went to Africa.!
We arrived in Africa on Wednesday, November 23rd at 11:00 am. After a quick shower and lunch we headed out to our church. I began speaking to a packed church. Was using the scripture out of Acts 4 oh Peter and John being so courageous for Christ and that all of us must do the same! I hadn't been speaking 5 minutes when a Tanzanian Government vehicle came pulling up. This quite out of the norm since there are VERY FEW vehicles at our church. It was the immigration office demanding to see my passport. After showing it they informed me I was breaking Tanzanian law by teaching the Bible without the proper documentation. Went onto tell me we would possibly be heading to jail. All of this was nothing but a ploy yo scare us out of town. No one went to jail. We met at the immigration office the following morning and took care of everything.
But here is my point in all of this. I had a very long night that night thinking we might be going to jail in a third world country. I was scared and prayed that God would not allow this to happen. But what if this had been God's Will? What if God was going to use me in jail? None of that mattered to me, all I wanted was not to go to jail. Let me be brutally honest , I found myself scared and wondering should we run to the airport and get the heck out of town?
As I laid in a third world country hotel wondering what the next morning held I began thinking about the very message I had taught. We must be bold and courageous for our faith. Where was my courage? One of the very attributes so many people had given me credit for. You see its easy to be courageous in America because no one can really do anything. If I want to talk about Jesus I can. I may be called some names but that is it.
I will say it again. Africa always does more for me than I can ever do for her. God used this experience to have me look at myself and just how far I'm willing to go for Him. Am I ready to experience the type of persecution the disciples did? The question I had to ask my self was am I really all that courageous?
Acts 4:13
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
I want that type of courage. I want to tell the world Jesus is Lord regardless of what happens. I want to stand so boldly that people take notice and see that I've been ever changed by the blood of Jesus.
Let me finish by asking all of us a simple question. What is the last courageous thing you've done for Christ? What have you done that is very uncomfortable for you? When is the last time someone took notice of you because of your stance for Christ?
Couple of other thoughts:
* Jacob is out of town so Deb and I are ALONE. Date night tonight. Copper River and a movie tonight.
* Please remember to park a long ways off Sunday. We need all the spots we can get. Park behind Robinsons and Kearns.
* I will be showing a bunch of pics tomorrow from our trip.
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