We Have A Home In Jesus.

Last week, I spent three days in Williamsport, PA at a young minister's conference. I met some truly amazing people, especially the guest speakers. Both were incredible men of God in their own unique ways. One hails from Puerto Rico, born in the Bronx, and the other from Armenia. I feel blessed to have attended this event, I came closer to Jesus than I ever had before, and the entire atmosphere has given me an overall new confidence in my faith.

Will all these wonderful things happening around me during the three days, one incident has remained in my head above all others, and it was the only downfall of the three days. My first morning there, as we were preparing to enter the church, a homeless man approached us. He looked extremely ragged, he was staggering and mumbling. He asked for money to get something to eat. One of the guys with me offered to take him up the street and buy him something, and which point I intervened and handed the man ten dollars, and made him promise he was buying food with it. A short time later I found myself convicted. It dawned on me that I had just let a perfect chance to introduce the man to Jesus slip through my hands. Why did I not invite him into church? I prayed for the man, and hoped I would see him again, but I didn't.

I thought of the man's appearance. He was homeless, dirty, off-balance, and staggering as he walked. I think I may have even subconciously judged the man based on this, and somewhere deep in me I may have even thought it unappropriate to invite him into the conference. I felt so bad, here I am always preaching about not judging each other, and yet I did it to this man who obviously needs Jesus! I was searching for any way to find a positive in this, and the idea for this blog blindsided me. We can all learn from this homeless man, and my actions. Let me explain!

Before I came to Jesus, I was spiritually homeless. When Jesus looked at me, he saw a dirty, wayward, staggering person with zero direction. Yet unlike me, Jesus did not judge me and find it unappropriate to invite me in. He didn't make a half-hearted and shallow attempt at comforting me with material things, like I did to the homeless man by giving him ten dollars. It's because Jesus loves us, and wants us to come home to Him. To Him, it doesn't matter where we are in life, what we look like, or what we have done. He will never turn His back on us or judge us. This is why we always fall short of the the greatness of Jesus, because often-times we end up judging or letting chances slip by, even when our intentions are very good. But Jesus is perfect, not only does he make the most of the chances we give Him, he gives us infinite chances to come home.

I wish I could do the situation over with the homeless man, and act as Jesus would. But I can't. Next time I am put that situation, however, I will have learned from this one and act accordingly. So remember, if you are ever feeling like you can't come to Jesus because you aren't clean, know that you can. As many times as you want, and you will never be turned away. I turned away the homeless man although my intentions were good, but when you knock on Jesus' door, he will answer. And if you keep knocking, he will let you in, and finally, you will be home. :)

"When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken." - Psalm 34:17-20.

The Fence.

My my. It's been some weeks since I have written one of these. I had to sit back, take all the input I have been receiving(positive and negative), and decide who exactly I am trying to reach with my words. I have had some people dislike some things I decided to say in my last couple blogs. That is fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But it really got me to thinking. How will I reach NON-CHRISTIANS without speaking from my own personal experiences? I find it important to show people that we don't put ourselves on a pedestal, that we have had trials and tribulations just like they have, that we fall short and sin just like they do. The only way I know how to do this is to speak from my heart, my experiences, and my life. Think about this, if I am trying to reach people who don't know Jesus, then your typical, everyday sermon style blog on God's greatness simply will not do. It's fine if it's only other Christians reading it, because they KNOW God, they love Jesus, and can relate to and apply what you are saying. But if a non-believer were to read it, they would be clueless, because they don't know Jesus!

I almost decided to conform. Then I had a revelation of sorts. I decided it doesn't matter to me what people think about what I am writing, as long as I have a personal experience to back it up. I don't need approval from Theologians, or legions of Christians who can't think outside the box in terms of ways to reach people, especially NON-BELIEVERS. I could sit here all day, read passages, and apply them to a blog sermon-style, or vice versa, and I'm sure I'd be able to impress everyone who doesn't always agree with what I say. But I'm not out for approval, or to impress anyone. I don't need to prove to other Christians that I am a Christian with these blogs. My aim is to put myself at a human level, to show the non-believers and skeptics that faith in Jesus and change is possible. To reach them without projecting a superior attitude, I am almost forced to use my past, and my former sinful ways, and my life experiences as examples. When I blog about these things, it may not align with what some Christians perceive as truth, nor will they fall in love with the examples I choose to use, but I assure you that people can and do relate to it. And as long as people are reading, relating, and learning about Jesus based on the examples I use from my own life, it doesn't matter to me one iota if you don't like it.

In closing, I will say I have a new outlook. There are different styles to reach different people. But like I said, it's not other Christians who need encouragement through these blogs. It's people who don't know Jesus, and have a hard time embracing this thing we call faith because most Christians don't speak to them on a human level. A non-believer will not understand at all if I were writing about a passage, how it relates to life, and God's hand in the situation, because the non-believer doesn't study the Bible, doesn't know God, and can't apply either to his life! So why would I write things that can't be related to by people outside of the Christan security blanket? If you guys want me to interpret a passage and preach to you in these blogs, I will just to prove I am more than capable of doing so. But if there were a tally of who reached the most people, I would be willing to place a bet in Vegas that I'd be the winner, because I relate to people who don't understand God, who don't know where to start should they hear God talking to them, and who simply can't relate to people on imaginary pedestals.

I am not going to be the General who sits in his office and declares war, I will be right in the middle of the fight with my soldiers. The fight being reaching non-believers in the real world, and that's the battle I place myself in. If you all want to sit in your security blankets ("offices") and try to reach these people, it is not going to work. It is impossible to write about things non-Christians don't understand but still expect them to do so, then wonder why you're not reaching anyone when you see nobody is listening. I don't even think I should have to defend the way I write, but I personally believe I can reach more people and get the attention of non-believers, because I used to be just like them, and find is imperative to show them that. I think it's important to do whatever it takes to bring Jesus to the world, and to do so I'll throw every imaginary rulebook out the window. So, stop worrying about opinionating over my blogs. Stop comparing what I say to an imaginary set of rules and thinking you have the authority to see if it aligns with your preconceived notion of what a blog should be. At the end of the day, I just want to reach people, and will do so by any means necessary. My personal experiences and testimonies are the most powerful resources I have when reaching non-believers and everyday people, and I will continue to do regardless of what anyone else thinks about it. Now that I have that off my chest, I can resume my work. Have a wonderful day everyone!