History?

Yesterday we witnessed a very special day. Not just because we elected a Democrat into the Whitehouse, not because we elected the first African American to be our Commander-in-Chief. It was special day because we are one of the few countries who peacefully elect, through a democratic process, someone who will be our President for the next four years. I know there are all the special things about January 20, 2009 and I agree they are historic, but I am still impressed with the process.

However, yesterday I watched a woman in her 90’s sit on a towel in our nations Mall. Tears rolled down this woman’s face. Were they tears of joy for what she had hoped and prayed for? Were they tears of sadness because her loved ones could not be there to see what was happening? As I thought about this woman I thought that there may be some, few if any, who would now be able to say they knew someone who had at one time been a slave and was now watching an African American taking the oath of office. What else had this woman’s eyes seen in her journey on this world?

As I thought about that I begin to wonder what it was that I would someday be able to say I had seen. I am not old enough to have known anyone who was a slave, even someone simply born the day before slavery was abolished. I cannot say I saw the day women received the right to vote, or that African-American joined in that privileged group. I cannot say that I lived through the Great Depression (although I may be close now) nor through “the War”. Nor can. . . well you get the picture.

But as I thought longer I begin to realize that when I have grand-children I will be able to say that I saw some things. Here are just a few things that have happened in my life time not in any particular order:

□ The assassination of a President
□ The assassination of a Presidential candidate
□ The Civil-Rights movement
□ Desegregation
□ Man walking on the moon
□ Man living in space
□ The ability to stand in an open field in Texas and call my sons in California and Virginia
□ The death of two Popes
□ The destruction of the wall of separation between the east and west in Germany
□ The ability to place large amounts of information in very small places
□ The ability to draw information almost instantly from places very far off.
□ Three major wars
□ Now the election of a young African-American to the presidency.

I am sure with some thought there could be many more. It seems that my lifetime has been the witness to more changes, big and small, than any other generation. But which ones will “Define” the years in which I lived. Which one is more important to the history of mankind?

As excited as I am about our future with the happenings of this week I am not sure which will be the most important. Could it be that if looked at in a proper chronological order they are all somewhat dependent on each other?

I don’t have that answer. I am just thinking. What do you think?

The "Soul Winner"

What do you think of when you hear the term “Soul Winner?” Is it a particular person that you have known in the past, or currently know that is a role model for your expression of faith? Is it a picture of someone who is persistent, sometimes to the point of aggravation? Is it that person who knocks on your door on Saturday morning with tracts from their special publisher and an attempt to draw you to their particular faith? Or, is it that person who
I am afraid that when I think of “Soul Winner” all of these seem to pop into my mind. Some of them are cherished and some of them are not. But the truth is Proverbs tells us that “He who wins souls is wise” (Prov. 11:30 NIV) and John tells us that his joy was made complete by the telling of the Gospel story. Why is it that we have so few “Soul Winners” in the church today.
Have we become so industrialized and unionized that we have left it to another group of people? That is what evangelist and preachers are called for. I knew a welder who took two days to weld a two inch bead to support a stair case because he was not allowed to complete the job with a light bulb out in the room and he was not allowed to change the bulb because of “union rules”. He had to wait for a certified electrician to replace the bulb.
Are we worried that we will say the wrong thing. I had a lady tell me one time that she did not remember the “Roman Road”. If you do not know this was an evangelistic tool to lead people “Biblically” to recognition of man’s (their) sinfulness and God’s grace in salvation. If that was truly her concern the Roman Road consist of five or six verses (depending on which version you use) and she could have easily re-memorized the path.
What if we mess the prayer up at the end? Do you remember the EXACT words you prayed? I don’t I was to emotional at that moment. But, I do know that I prayed something like I realized I was a sinner and needed God to come into my life. Truth is I was saved and so were you BEFORE you prayed the prayer! To this day I do not have a formula I use when leading someone in the “Prayer of Salvation”. Maybe we should call it the “Prayer after Salvation”.
When we read the book of Acts we see a group of people who did not have the advantage of the “Roman Road”, “Evangelism Explosion”, “Market Place Evangelism”, ‘F.A.I.T.H.” or any of the other hundreds of methods on the market today. They didn’t even have simple tracts.
How did they then spread the Word so effectively? They were all on fire because of their story, their experience. I still believe to this day this is the absolute best form of evangelism. If you are saved, If you have experienced the grace of a loving God in your attempts to save yourself you have a story! The only one that can keep you from telling it is YOU! Go tell the world! Be a Soul Winner.