This morning I had the task of going to the local Social Security Office to get my daughter, Lexi’s, Social Security Number. Upon walking in, I was confronted with the reality that this was going to take a long time. The place was packed with people. I took my number, found a seat and began reading my Bible. About 2 minutes later, a woman walked in, took and number and sat next to me. I kept reading but wondered if I was supposed to share the gospel with her. Tucked inside my Bible was a “How Good Are You?” tract in case there was an opportunity to talk with someone. The woman seemed pretty content talking to a friend in the next seat over. When her friend left, I began to talk with her a little but after talking for a few more minutes, there was an awkward silence. I believe God wanted me to try to get into a Gospel conversation with her.
I started by asking on a scale from 1 to 10, “How good are you?” She answered. Then I spoke and she began scream boisterously and was raging mad. The security guard came over and immediately threw me out of the place. Not only was I embarrassed and humiliated but I didn’t get the Social Security Number. What a wasted trip!
(record scratch noise!!!) Hang on a minute. Back to reality. That last part didn’t really happen. I didn’t get thrown out of the Social Security Office. She didn’t become angry. This is what my mind imagined would happen if I shared with her. In that moment, I let fear begin to grip my heart and extinguish the passion for the gospel going forth. A sinful fear of man was taking hold of my heart.
I’m grateful that God helped me to overcome fear and this opportunity was not lost. By His grace I pulled out the tract and began to ask her about herself and how good she thought she was. I’d love to be able to report that we got through the whole booklet and she fell down on her knees and repented and believed in Christ, but she didn’t. We actually had a brief, pleasant exchange and I asked, “Would you mind if we talk about this little booklet further?” She said, “Yeah, I’m OK. I’d rather not. But thank you.” I responded, “OK. That’s fine” and asked if she would like to keep it to read later. She kept it.
We went on to discuss other topics and didn’t get back to the Gospel but that is OK. I believe I did what God wanted me to do in trying to share the gospel. And, how wonderful! I didn’t get thrown out of the place and the conversation was easier than I thought it would be!
The Gospel Message is far too valuable to not be shared because of fear. May we be people who pray every day for open doors (Col. 4:3) to share the gospel with people around us AND may we be bold and walk through doors when they open.
Written by C.J. Mahaney, this book focuses on the pursuit of intimacy, not sex, as the goal of the marriage relationship established in Genesis 2. Sex within marriage is meant to reflect and deepen intimacy, not create it. Addressing guys in particular, C.J repeatedly emphasizes the importance of “touching her mind before you touch her body”. The chapter on studying your wife to learn how to bless her has been especially helpful in my own marriage.
Randy Alcorn explains why the pursuit of purity is the pursuit of pleasure. God intends us to fight lust not by embracing self-sufficient stoicism, sacrificing pleasure and joy for the sake of what is “right”. Rather we fight for purity by seeking real, lasting joy in God instead of settling for the façade of joy offered by lust, which ultimately proves an empty promise. Read this short book and learn to fight lust with a superior pleasure.
Formerly published under the title, Not Even a Hint, Josh Harris explains how the fight against lust is essentially a battle to protect the incredible, God-glorifying gift of sex. Several of the chapters candidly explain how to fight specific temptations to sexual immorality with the truth of the gospel. Josh consistently points the reader to God’s grace, not our own effort, as the only source of true strength in the fight for purity.
