From Inseparable Friends and Delinquent Teens to Brothers in Christ

Has God ever given you an opportunity to share the Gospel with somebody, but you didn't have the guts to speak it? I think that if we are honest the answer to that question would be a loud resounding "YES".

I recently got a great email from a friend and it went like this;

"Thanks for the blog. Somehow you decided to start writing the blog at a time in my life when I needed it. I really think the blog was the beginning for me realizing that I have so much more to give and so much more to let go of. I have also learned since my hospitalization that I have more friends than I ever knew that have the same beliefs in God that I do and we just somehow never talked about it. Such a sad thing that we never talked about it. Do you remember when I came to Sparks? I had very recently forged a relationship with God before coming to see you. I was very excited about it and was really living it. Actively going to church. Talking about it with friends. Reading the Bible daily. I was in a good place. When I cam and saw you, you were in a much different place at the time. I remember a rant at a bar we were at when you went off about Creed and their hidden agenda of talking about God. I think at the time you believed you were an atheist. I have always been disappointed in myself for not telling you what I thought that day. I wanted to tell you how wrong you were, but did not have the guts to do so. I am still a more than a little ashamed of that. Not surprisingly, we did not talk much after that. I can only think of a few times we spoke over the next several years. Funny to say that I sometimes thank God for Facebook. I may have never known that you have become a Christian and that everything is right with you now. We very well may have gone the rest of out lives not knowing that we walk in the same shoes. I thank God that you DO have the guts to put yourself out there and shamelessly let the world know that God is the answer. How ironic that it has worked out this way. I am as happy as I can be that we went from being inseparable friends and delinquent teens to brothers in Christ."

When Shawn came to Sparks, NV it was 10+ years ago and he's right, we were in very different places in our lives. I wouldn't say that I was an atheist, I would probably have identified myself as a Satanist. I lived for no one but myself and was more than happy to find my identity in that and get my power from him. Truth be told even if Shawn would have shared the Gospel with me I wouldn't have accepted it, it just wasn't my time God had plenty of work to do in my heart.

So why do we rely on Facebook to tell us that our friends and family have become Christians? Shawn and I have been friends for many years, but it's not like I called him up one day and said "Hey guess what happened to me today, I became a Christian, do you know Jesus?" It wasn't until I started writing this blog that I found out he had became a Christian years ago.

I guess what I'm trying to say is we should be SHOUTING AT THE TOP OF OUR LUNGS THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL! Jesus has pulled us out of the grave and breathed into us new life. Why wouldn't we want to share that with those around us? Is being accepted more important than their death? Pray for God to place people in your life to share the Gospel with and when He does seize the moment! The gift of Grace is too good to keep to yourself, share it with anybody and everybody. It's the seeds that we plant today that God springs forth life!

Shawn, I too thank God for Facebook, I thank God that He has saved the both of us, I thank God that we can say we went from being inseparable friends and delinquent teens to brothers in Christ. I love you brother!

Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes'   

Jason