Never discount your efforts...

Pastor Morton struck home with me last night in regards to witnessing and bringing people to God.

I believe that most people think like I do and it prevents us from telling people about the greatest thing that has every happened to us. I fear that they'll ask something that I won't know the answer to. You know, as I'm typing this post, I've thought back to all of the people I've talked to about God and I don't remember one question that I wasn't able to answer... so much for my own fear!

Anyway... that's not where I was going when I started this post. I wanted to tell you about something that happened last summer. My sister, who lives in Kelowna, along with her two children, took almost 6 weeks and went to New Brunswick on a holiday with my parents. They travelled all over the area where we grew up and while there, they attended the church that we had attended back in the '70s before we moved to Alberta. While at the church in Chatham, Sharon was becoming re-acquainted with some of our friends and family that still attend that church. Thank you Jesus for keeping many of our youth in church through to adulthood! While Sharon was talking to our cousin and Sis. Wanda (both were our best friends growing up), Sis. Wanda pointed across the church to another sister that was standing there. She asked Sharon if she recognized her but after 29 years, it was a little difficult. Sis. Wanda was all excited as she told Sharon, "That's Allison!". Sharon was overwhelmed. We had been 11 & 12 years old the last time we had seen Allison and I believe she was a year or two younger than I was. Allison was a little girl that we would invite to Sunday school with us. I don't even remember how we came to know her. She lived too far from our house to ride our bikes over to play very often and I don't remember going to school with her. Anyway, if we happened to be walking by her house on the way to church, we'd stop and pick her up. I don't remember how many times Allison attended church with us but I know it wasn't a lot. Allison's family lived in low-income housing and she's the only one in her family that I remember coming to church with us but I could be mistaken. After we left New Brunswick in '79, we lost contact with her and she stopped going to church.

Fast forward 25 years... Allison is now grown and as she told my sister, she was in one bad relationship after another. One of her boyfriends even went so far as holding a loaded gun to her head and threatened to kill her on the spot. She was telling Sharon, when she hit rock bottom and her life was in shambles, she knew just where to turn. She knew in her heart that God was the only one that could help her and she knew exactly what church to go to in order to find Him.

By this time in her testimony, they're all crying and rejoicing and Allison turns to my sister and she just kept saying, "I never forgot the altar calls. I always remembered the altar calls." Sis. Allison has now been in the church for a few years, she is married to one of the ushers and has 2 beautiful daughters that she is raising to believe in God. All because 2 little girls invited her to Sunday school on occasion and allowed God to use them to witness.

So... we need to be as children and lose our inhibitions and start telling people about Jesus. We don't know what effect it will have or when God will use it to draw them closer. We tend to get discouraged when we invite someone and they may come once or twice. They may even pray through to the Holy Ghost and get baptized in Jesus' name... and then they stop coming. I was backslidden myself for 22 years... but I never forgot the message and I always knew where I needed to be. I thank God for his mercy and grace that allowed me to come home!

As Bro. Morton preached last night... right now, there is someone in our city that needs Jesus and they know it. They may not recognize that it's Jesus they're looking for, but they know they're empty and they're searching for 'something'. They just don't know which direction to turn in order to find Him. That's where our light comes in. We need to be the beacon that leads them home. There are souls that are seeking for what we have and we have an abundance to share! We don't have to worry about losing our portion of God if we share Him with others. The more we share, the more we will get back. I personally would love more and more! With God's power and strength, I pray that we help find the lost before it's too late!

God Bless!