At this point the world knows I have a 60 pound escape artist of a tortoise! He’s escaped at our home in Texas and he’s escaped at our home in Virginia. The first time he escaped it was completely my fault, I left the gates open! Future escapes have been because he’s strong, or major rain events have caused deterioration to his pen, or something on his pen broke or wore out like this last time. Sometimes it takes us a bit to figure out what we need to fix. As a result he’s now outfitted with a tracker!
There’s always tears and heartache when I lose Franklin. This time was no different. He was gone for 6 days and I cried every one of them. I searched every single day even in the rain knowing the weather was too cool in the evenings for him to go too far or move too much. He was ultimately found less than a half mile from the house by the sweetest girls who were just as elated at having found him an reunited him with us as we were that they found him and he was safe and sound.
I realized while taking steps to ensure we don’t have to go through this heartache again that there was something far more beautiful that has happened each time Frankie has been found.
In our community in Texas and in our community here in Virginia when the trumpet blast was sounded via social media, word of mouth, and text or phone calls, the community sprung into action to help us. When people you don’t know, have never met, and maybe never will, take the time to not only share your post, but to physically go out and walk the neighborhood, to message or comment words of encouragement and let you know they’re praying it ads dimension to the relief of finding Frankie. This is the beauty of community! God created us in His image which includes living in relationship and community together with Him but also with each other.
Finding Frankie in Texas and Virginia has come with its beauty and relief but seeing communities come together to support us in both of those places has been so much more beautiful. Honestly, we were longing for the same type of connection to our new community here in Virginia that we have in Texas. Finding Frankie helped us to see the beauty of this precious community and see with new eyes the joy of connecting to others in it.
I can only imagine what life was like in the early church in Acts chapter 2 as they daily met together and broke bread in their homes and shared their meals and “God added daily to their numbers those who were being saved!” Acts 2:47
Community, connection, unity is important, Paul writes about having the same mind in Philippians 2 loving one another and being united in spirit intent on one purpose. Specifically, he even noted to consider others interests as important as your own.
Our community considered my interests in Finding Frankie. They demonstrated love to us and we are so grateful to be a part of them, but also to see God’s word more clearly as we think about living in community and being united in one spirit intent on furthering the gospel.
This may mean sacrificing my time, my wants, my preferences so that someone else will come to know Jesus as Savior and King. As I reflect on how our community responded in love to help us find Frankie, I also reflect on God’s word and purpose for our lives and the tenacity with which he leaves the 99 to find the one lost (Matt 18 and Luke 15) and hope that we demonstrate that same zeal for sharing the gospel with the lost!
I previously saved the “Love Is” cartoons from the Dallas Morning News which always featured a couple drawn in a precious moments style and a cute saying, like, “love is always kissing her goodnight.” One very aptly read “Love is letting her warm her feet!” This one makes me laugh because my husband HATES cold things touching his skin and he’s always incredibly warm, my feet….not so much…..and I KNOW it’s an act of true love when he sticks his legs up to the bottom of my feet and let’s me warm them! There are a million other things that love is and a million and one that the world will tell you it is.
That’s vulnerability!
My vote is to always look to the word of God to discern what things are because He’s the reason it exists anyway! 1 John 4:8, NIV: Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Jesus tells us the greatest command is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart soul and mind, and the second greatest is like it, to love our neighbors as ourself in Matthew 22:37-39. He wasn’t talking about the house next to you, He was talking about everyone you see. Every person you come into contact with is your neighbor. We could go deeper into that, but let’s follow the “love trail” for today. There’s an entire chapter in 1 Corinthians dedicated to love!
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. 6Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away.
11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. 12Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians literally the whole chapter 13
Did you catch that? Bc it was a lot! Let’s look at an excerpt.
Not only is God all of those things because he is love, as we follow Him and demonstrate His love to others as He has asked us to do this should characterize how we love others.
In youth we had a sign that we would hold across our chests with our hands when we needed to encourage someone to remember how to be loving which consisted of a 1 and a 3 to remind ourselves of this chapter. We also liked to do “Live it outs,” which were practical ways that we would apply Scriptural knowledge and live it out in our daily lives. I mentioned a personal example of Shaun and my cold feet! There are so many others.
Sometimes loving others makes us nervous, AWKWARD, vulnerable, and look weird…ok a lot of times it can do that. It can be not coming back with that zinger while verbally sparring with someone that is sure to win you popularity points with the class or crowd and get a good laugh but humiliate the other person. Love may look like sitting beside a friend who’s lost a loved one and not saying a word just being present so they know they aren’t alone because nothing you can say would make a difference in that moment anyway. Love may look like a text to say you were thinking about them. It may look like showing up with dinner for a family after they’ve received rough news or been through something or have been sick. It may look like a shift at the hospital with a friend who’s fighting for their life or healing from an injury or surgery, it may look like walking in and doing the dishes or laundry for a friend after the loss of a loved one or even when they have children and just need a break. It may look like walking in and holding the baby for a friend so she can shower or nap for a bit. It may look like an invitation to literally anything. It sounds a whole lot like doing life together, even when it’s awkward and you don’t know what to say! It’s certainly always sharing the gospel because that is the greatest demonstration of love ever and it shows you care about them spiritually, not just physically and if you’ve ever done that it can be real awkward. Sometimes love is speaking the truth IN LOVE saying the hard things in the softest of ways. Love only looks like things that glorify God the Father because He is love. Let’s untether from our worldly, hallmark, and other awful movie depictions of love and tether ourselves to the Father who will show us how we can love each other sacrificially in Him and by His power!
I’m back on movies again, who’s seen “The Maze Runner” series? I certainly found it an entertaining story where you fell in love with characters and wanted to see humanity saved. I had actually read the books, which were far better, but I never noticed the allegorical element until the movies. Sometimes I’m slow or need a visual!
Allegory-a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
No, this isn’t an English class, but its crazy to me the parallel that the story holds. Thomas was sent to the Glade and from the beginning he’s different from all the other kids that have been sent. He tries to live differently and do things differently in front of the rest of them and ends up being the one to help them find a way out and leading them …fast forward to the end of the series where his blood contains the cure for humanity.
I’m not suggesting that the Maze Runner is a Christian movie or perfectly exemplifies Jesus, but I do see some similarities and by the time we realize that Thomas’ blood has the cure and vaccines can be made from it to share with everyone, we’re ready to run around vaccinating the world. I get really into my books, but see how a movie quote could turn into a gospel conversation! You make that connection, you start a conversation about Jesus!
Gospel Conversations Don’t Happen Without Intentionality
We do have the death cure…and we don’t even have to stab anyone with a needle to share it.
While studying Acts with our youth, the one thing that jumped out to me the most on this topic was the different approaches Paul took to sharing the gospel message in different situations.
In Acts 17:16-34 Paul addresses the People of Athens…when I read this one I can’t help leaping into a chair and reading in my very best Shakespearian/heralding voice. Paul takes some time to get to know his audience and then addresses them in a way that is not demeaning, but the way they are best communicated to. In Acts 22:3 when addressing the Jews, Paul’s own people, who knew all of things he had done, he employed a personal appeal. His own personal testimony.
I heard it quoted in my Contemporary Evangelism class one time, although I did not catch the professor’s name from the student who was quoting it,
“If you know enough to be saved, you know enough to lead someone to Christ.”
likely Dr. Matt Queen
That stuck with me in a big way. This one did too.
“No one can refute your personal story about what Christ has done in your life.”
Dr. Seiberhagen
One of the most valuable exercises I have participated in to be able to equip me share my testimony is writing it down. There is something about dragging a pen across the page or typing words so they’ll appear on paper or a screen that forces you to be still enough to truly think through your salvation and articulate it (meaning put into words). As far as sharing the gospel goes, your own testimony is one of the best, easily accessible tools in your toolkit because it is your personal story about how Jesus changed your life which makes it far more difficult to forget.
In doing this exercise with our youth one time, asking them to write their evangelistic testimony (tell me about when you were saved) one of our youth approached us and said he had just realized he didn’t have a testimony and was not saved. I had shared my own testimony as a way of modeling to them how to both write it and share it, then go back in and add the verses from the Bible that helped share truth about coinciding events happening in their own story. He realized there was never a point that he recognized Jesus had paid the wage of sin for him or professed with his mouth Jesus as Lord after repenting of those sins. It was because of the Lord obviously, but his family and mine were somewhat similar, and because the major faith tradition I had been raised in was similar to what he had heard, something about my realization about sin and the cost of it from my personal testimony ,coupled with the Scriptures to support how to have Jesus Venmo that to him (yah…that’s not in Scripture) clicked with him just the way it had with me when Josh McDowell shared the gospel at a concert when I was 13. Your personal testimony is an easier conversation to have than walking up so someone and saying HEY DO YOU KNOW MY FRIEND JESUS!!!!??????
There are many tools you can use to get to that question too, but if you haven’t built a decent relationship with them through conversation or life or don’t have a reputation for being goofy it may turn someone away rather than to Christ!
One of the easiest ways to insert the gospel into a conversation that I have personally witnessed youth doing is FIRE….we actually used to call it FIRM but since I’m a firearms instructor and DR. B called it fire in class we adopted that….plus it makes me think of the flaming tongues coming down at Pentecost so the gospel could be shared to everyone everywhere in different languages, which is what FIRE is all about.
Family- You might ask if they have brothers or sisters and then share about your own.
IInterest-You might ask if they play sports, have hobbies, or have pets, and share about your own.
Religion (think holidays) You might ask their favorite holiday or if they celebrate Christmas or Easter and then share how and WHY you do.
Evangelism- If they celebrate Christmas and Easter because they profess to be Christian too, you can rejoice with them and tell them about when you first believed, if they don’t you can transition really easily from why you celebrate Christmas and Easter the way you do, share your testimony, and offer them an opportunity to ask questions or respond.
This is helpful for evangelism with people you don’t know.
What about everyday conversations with people you do know?
Still intentional…. You have to be intentionally committed to allowing or steering the conversation there when given an opportunity. This doesn’t always look like sharing the Romans Road. It may look like.
Friend: “Why aren’t you coming to the party?”
Me: “Well there’s going to be things going on there that I don’t need or want to be tempted to participate in. I remember what happened the last time (he/she) had a party and what went down. I’m asking the Lord to give me wisdom to help me understand when I need to stay away from or avoid tempting situations.”
This gives you an opportunity to not only live out the faith you profess, but you could then easily transition into your testimony or a FIRE conversation with this friend. Some of these questions you likely will already know the answer to, so it will be easier. Don’t forget to ask your friend what they think, or if they have any questions about it or would like to respond.
Friend: “Why do you always have your little brother in the car with you even when you’re just dropping off a boy after church?”
Me: “Well he’s cute, I’m cute, together we know we’re cute which could have the potential to escalate into something that doesn’t honor God so if my Little Bro is always with us then his presence keeps us both accountable.”
When your friends start seeing you talk about and make decisions based on the faith you say you believe, it becomes an opportunity to model Biblical behavior and an easy way to transition to gospel conversations where you get the opportunity to tell them about Jesus and disciple, after all, Jesus said to teach them to obey all I have commanded-make disciples!
You may even try FIRE with them, already having some of the answers, you may carry a gospel track with you that you can use as an outline when sharing the scriptures, you may use the 3 circles app-story. Sharing the gospel is just like anything else, the more you practice the better you become. It’s a great idea to equip yourself with different tools you feel comfortable with like the 3 circles app, FIRE, and carrying a written copy of your testimony with a highlighted track in your purse, phone case or wallet you can use as an outline. You can’t use a flat head screwdriver on a Phillips head screw, nor could you bang in a nail with your Phillips head screwdriver, you might be able to, but both of you might be worse for the wear after, it certainly wouldn’t be the best tool for the job. Different tools are better in different situations. Also don’t hesitate to get with friend and practice sharing your testimony and role play these conversations, this will make it so much easier when the opportunity arises with others!
What about questions you can’t answer? NO ONE knows everything! I think just because we went to college forever, sometimes my kids and our youth think we know everything….really I think it just impressed upon me the fact that I have a lifetime of learning to do because God is A LOT…..which means you’re going to encounter questions you don’t know the answers to. That doesn’t necessarily mean you drag the asker to your pastor or youth pastor’s office and lock them in there. It’s a great time to say, “you know what, I’m not sure, but I’d love to find out with you.” Then you appeal to someone who may have a direction in the Bible you should look so you can all mine(dig it out) the Scripture together! That’s how discipleship starts organically (naturally without forcing it)! Without you even having to try! Did Jesus say make disciples or just make converts? Disciples are those who have been taught about the word of God in a way that they can teach someone else. A convert is someone who has just believed in the truth of the gospel message and received or professed Christ. Untether yourself from feeling like you need to know everything before you can start, know you’re going to need to study, and use it as an opportunity to do discipleship! Remember, “if you know enough to be saved, you know enough to lead someone to Christ!”
Raychel Writes 