Monday, January 23, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Unashamed
This past week I went to a conference called passion along with 45,000 other students. I can't wait to share how AMAZING that was but I wanted to share this first. One of my best friends, Kelsey Chancellor, has been wanting a tattoo on her wrist for over a year that says unashamed. In reference to Romans 1:16 -For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Her tattoo's meaning is so perfect for Kels because she is truly unashamed of Jesus! But Passion was over on thursday so we went to the tattoo parlor on friday.We walked in the shop and first saw Mr. Mac, who was dressed inbiker gear from head to toe and then there was Ray. He was covered in tattoos and had those big gage earrings that kind of looked like this..
And of course there was scary rock music playing in the background. Just what you expect at a tattoo place. I looked at Kels and said alright who is going to share the gospel you or me. And we both decided to start up a conversation when he asked the meaning of her tattoo. Long story short we got into a spiritual conversation with Ray and every other word was a cuss word or something negative but as we kept talking he described himself as religious. After that he then said he had met the devil before. My immediate response was oh really? I would love to hear about it. So ray tells us all about his life from his parents hating and abandoning him at 14 to his life that involved heavy drugs, drinking, and wandering away from the Lord. As a young child he always wondered why God hated him and left him. He told us stories from his life that just broke my heart and I cant even imagine having to deal with those circumstances. Two different times during the conversation ray just stopped doing the tattoo and said whoa do you feel that. Look at my arm, I have goosebumps. I only get those when Im talking about God. I think its because y'all are here. I just smiled and was thinking yes that would be the presence of the Lord! He went on to say how he knew we were there for a reason that day and God does nothing by accident and how he has been needing some good people to talk to because he has no one. He also said that he would like to return to church but most people there don't accept him because of the way he looks. By the end of the conversation we were all talking about God's goodness and rays speech completely changed compared to the beginning. We exchanged numbers and hopefully ray will come to church with us! I am not writing this to bring attention to Kelsey or myself. I wanted to share this story because I was so convicted after I left the tattoo parlor of how many "rays" i have missed out on because I was scared. God revealed to me that people are EVERYWHERE EVERYDAY just waiting to talk about Jesus! Yes we will come across those who completely shut the door on the gospel but we will never know what God wants to do unless we have faith. The bible calls for us to share the gospel at every opportunity and to be fearless because it is not us working but His power working through us. We have no idea what God is doing in someones life and heart. I believe he always accomplishes his work and it is nothing but a blessing that we get to take part in that. I want to encourage everyone reading this to be unashamed and take steps of faith in sharing the gospel with a family member, friend, coworker, or a complete stranger. The whole world is waiting to be saved but how will they know unless we tell them?
Kelseys tattoo!!!
I always think well everyone already knows the story of Jesus and why he had to die. We live in America and everyone goes to church. Even if they haven't accepted Jesus yet they still know....right? I justify my fear with these thoughts and end up not saying anything. But one of my best friends, Emily who lives in Florida, shared with me on the phone a story about a conversation between her and her coworker. She said this girl loves to party and has even confessed that she hates to talk or think about anything dealing with Christianity. Which is kind of funny because my friend Emily looooves to talk about Jesus! Again, long story short her coworker had NO IDEA of the story of adam and eve and why Jesus came to save us. She truly believed if you went to church you were a Christian. If you did not go to a building then you were not a christian. She began asking Emily questions such as what do christians do that make them different than non christians? How do you become a christian? My point in telling this story is that we have to stop justifying our fears and proclaim the gospel!! There are so many around us that still don't know.
What if I was the one who still did not know? I would be longing desperately for someone to share the truth with me but would I tell them that? Most likely not so we cannot keep the gospel from them because we think they don't want to hear it. God is constantly working in everyones life and I don't want to miss out on any more opportunities because I am scared of people judging me. Why keep the best news ever to ourselves? It is called good news for a reason!
But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
Romans 10:14-16
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