clock is ticking down.

not funny!

I figured I already shared with everyone on Friday the burden I've felt lately for my friend. Evangelism, I've learned, is somewhat like sales. Your success rate will typically only be single digit percentage, but we've got to do it anyways... because those successes really end up paying off in the long run. A lot of times while I'm making cold calls, the only purpose it serves is as a courtesy notice, or a planting of the seed. I don't close the sale on the spot, but at least it gets our members to start thinking about it and how such-and-such a product could actually benefit them.

Fact of the matter is, EVERYBODY needs Jesus. People will always tell you otherwise, but we know it for a fact. Everybody.

Pastor Yu told me a story yesterday that I want to share with you all. When he was in his young teens, during his finals week, a female companion came and asked Pastor Yu if he could go visit one of her family friends to share the gospel with him. Young Pastor Yu agrees and takes the train to the hospital, goes into his room to talk to him and shares the Gospel with him. That same day, the young man gave his life to the Lord. Then that young man said, "There's a man in the next room over who also has a brain tumor, and I feel like he would really benefit from the Gospel. Please go share with him." Pastor Yu walks into the next room and sees a 40-something year old mountain man from the indeginous tribes in Taiwan. The man gets up and walks out of the room, down the elevator, out of the hospital, to a park next door. All the while, young Pastor Yu followed him at a distance, not knowing how to approach him. He's so big. He looks so tough. I can't speak Taiwanese. He looks fearless. I'm scared. Excuses ran through his mind as he hopelessly try to overcome these fears.

Finally, the man went back to the hospital, back up the elevator, and into his room. "Lord, I don't think I can do this. I'm so scared." Right then and there, the love of Christ washed over him, and he saw the sickened man through the eyes of Jesus. His heart filled with compassion for the man and he boldly went into his room and began to share the Gospel with him. Within 10 minutes, the man had given his life to Jesus. They prayed together, then Pastor Yu asked if the man had a Bible and he said no. The next day, Pastor Yu took the train back to the hospital (about 90 minute ride, and keep in mind this is his finals week) to bring the man a bible. Chinese people typically will pray to any and every god in times of distress so he had to remind the gentleman, "remember, there is only one true God. You cannot worship any other gods besides this one." The man told him that his heart was filled with such peace these last 24 hours that he had no doubt he finally found God. He went into surgery later that day, and 3 days later of being in a coma, the man passed away.


***


When I heard this story I really didn't know how to feel. On average, about 7000 people in the US alone die per day, and I think it's safe to say that a majority of them don't have a personal relationship with God. The gospel is what we call, a "non-renewable resource." Each day we don't share is another day lost. It's easy to feel passive about passing on the Gospel, but how amazing would it be if everytime we felt scared or didn't cared about sharing Christ's love with someone close to us, we would also be able to see them through the eyes of Jesus? Evangelism is definitely a weak point in my walk of faith. I look forward to reading what the rest of you have to say on this.