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HEART * MINISTRY * MISCELLANIES *

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Created for His Glory ~ In ALL things.........including being a female :)

Yesterday I had the most ackward moment I've ever had in my life, and so I thought I'd blog it........sure, it's one thing to have a normal secular guy ask us out once in awhile.......(right ladies)
But I had never had a man older than my grandfather imply such things in my life.

It was supposed to be a business meeting.....here in my office (I am a Consumer Lender) and we just got to talking about his time in WWII and about books and philosophy and what not.
(I am always looking for ways to get the gospel in.... of course)

Well, a little while into a story he stopped.....and said that he should get going but that he didn't want to because I was "fun" to talk to, and then complimented my exterior person (which is wasting away)
He then asked me if I would ever want an 80 year old boyfriend. Assuming his comment to be lighthearted banter, I replied "I doubt your wife would be on board with that!"
And...that's when his reply made it very clear that he was not joking.
I brushed it off and asked him a question about the story he had started and he got back to sharing it.
Later in our conversation, he spoke of how he was a lukewarm lutheran. Well, with him saying that, I felt at liberty to ask what that meant. :) He said that he disagreed with the doctrines of the church and that he preferred classical music. (insert - shout out to my friend JS)
With this wide open opportunity to make clear the gospel, I went on to speak of my disagreements with the fact that so many churches have forsaken the Gospel. (I was talking to him as if I assumed that he agreed with my position on the matter... :)

Actually, he was going to leave a couple times throughout our discussions regarding WWII and philosophy for sake of time, but he stuck around........that is, until we got to the crux of the matter:
He said something about modern ART being vulgar and that he will never set foot in the Walker again. I said "I know! AND they are actually teaching pornography at the University and calling it ART........they had better get ready for the judgement, when Christ comes back all things will be set right. He's coming back soon......the first time he came as a Lamb, but next time it's going to be devastating for those who do not repent."

That's when the gentleman's face went a tad pale, he paused, and then stood up abruptly and said "Well, I've taken enough of your time, have an enjoyable day, I'll get you the name of the author of that book we discussed."

Praise the Lord !! He was offended by Christ and not by me - and it was quite obvious....

2 Cor 2:16 (NLT, just because I love the wording of this text in NLT)
"To those who are perishing we are a fearful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved we are a life-giving perfume."

Oh.....That we could all be more of the aroma of Christ......at any cost.
I challenge myself often, that if I get vague and very private about the faith for fear of losing my job.......seriously ask myself WHOM DO YOU TRUST? and WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE?

If we wholeheartedly trust the Lord's Sovereignty over ALL things - than we need to prove our faith in our actions as Rahab did. She KNEW that the God of Israel was the Almighty Jahovah, and her faith and desire to take refuge with the people of God, led her to hide the spies.

If we get fired for obedience to Christ, and for the sake of the Name, should we not consider ourselves blessed, and rejoice in Hope?!!
Do we treasure Christ so much that we count all as loss as Paul did ~ including our "beloved careers?" (and so, if we lose our job as we obey Him, will He not will provide for our needs?)
Matt 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." That, is a wonderful promise that frees us to obey !!

Honestly, I am growing weary in speaking about this topic, with trying to convince professing christians (mainly my co-workers) that they need not be ashamed of Christ. Why is there need to whisper His name when the rest of the sentence is spoken in a normal tone?!?!?
Jesus was clear: Luke 9:26 "For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."


Love Him with all that you are friends ~ He is the only one who will never fail us~

Rev 12:11
"And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, for they loved NOT their lives, even unto death."

Constantly Fervent ~

4 Comments:

At 8/09/2006 11:16 AM, Blogger Jennifer said...

Jen, dear, I love it!! That is awesome - I nearly leapt for joy when I read that he was offended at Christ because you were emboldened to profess the truth - thank you for the exhortation!!

 
At 8/10/2006 1:42 PM, Blogger Frank Martens said...

Awesome. I love it when their's such a reaction, it means that truth is cutting to the core.

I'll tell ya, one of my weeknesses is confrontations with people face-to-face about the gospel. I'll preach to them, in large quantities. But face-to-face for me is a different deal. Well actually, depends on the situation and person.

 
At 8/10/2006 3:32 PM, Blogger Heidi said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 8/11/2006 11:44 AM, Blogger Heidi said...

I agree with Jen and Frank--it IS awesome. I was just reading in Mark 13 this morning:

"Brother will betray brother to death, fathers will betray their own children, and children will rise against their parents and cause them to be killed. And everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to me."

What delight that we can be hated for His name's sake! Though I doubt your client "hated" you, he was surely offended by the truth that you spoke. Praise God for the word, "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Heb. 4:12,13)

We pray that the truth spoken in love to this man will indeed "pierce to the division of soul and of spirit."

 

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