Turkey and A Tattoo

Today I ate at a sandwich shop with a friend. The woman behind the counter had an unusual tattoo across the side of her neck. I didn't want to be obvious, but when I realized it spelled a word, I stared until I was able to make it out. It said, "Karma".

I asked her, "Why do you have a tattoo that says Karma?"

She nicely replied that she believes in it. I asked her what she thought Karma was. She explained that good things would come back to her with good consequences and bad things with bad consequences.

I asked her, "What do you base that on?" (One of the 4 deadly questions!)

She answered that she just believes it. I said something about not wanting to get paid back for all the bad things I do!

A few minutes later she handed me my food on a tray and the fork caught on something and flew off onto the floor. I said, "What did you do this morning to deserve that??" We giggled at the thought.

I found a "Why Christianity" booklet in my purse and gave it to her before I left. I called her over to give it to her and told her I had something very special for her. She was beginning to read it before I even walked away. Looking up she said, "Thank you very much" with a big smile on her face. Such a simple interaction but one I pray will result in eternal life!

-Lisa

Faithful Witness

I have heard it said before "90 or 99% of life is just showing up. The rest is just details."

I have never truly agreed with this statement. I know that there are many things that can be done in preparation for any task or event and that showing up and asking for the details to just work out doesn't usually work.

So how does this all relate to our fishing trip this week? Well, my talk a group of 4 teenagers brings me to this point. I was able to have a good time talking to them using the intelligence test. What I have found is that even though the test in the second half asks many questions about the persons spiritual beliefs, it is still hard to transition to a deeper spiritual conversation beyond that.

Sometimes I think this is because I am scared or worried about what the people will think. In this case, however, I think it was because of a lack of preparation on my part. I did ask more questions than the survey. But the people I talked to were still open to talking more, if I had been prepared to answer their questions.

I think of what things I can do to prepare for a weekly trip to talk to people and also everyday as I am around others. I need first to understand that I can do nothing alone. I must rely on God for it all. Without him I labor in vain. I can pray for wisdom and guidance each day in how to witness to others through my actions and spiritual conversations.

I can make sure that I am setting aside time for spending with God in prayer daily. To confess my sin and grow in my relationship with Him.

I know especially that I should carry with me a small Bible with highlighted verses that deal with salvation and repentence and about who Jesus Christ is.

My learning from this week is that it is not enough to show up only, I need to be thinking and preparing always for an opportunity that God presents for me to be faithful. I pray that I would be wise in my use of time that He has given to be faithful in my preparation as well.

I am thankful for the opportunity I had with the group of teenagers I met with. I pray that I have planted a seed with each of them.

Matt B.

Is Truth What We Make It?

This last month has been hard on me. Before that I had been starting to get into a pattern of feeling frenzied about witnessing with a "gotta do this" attitude. The Lord has really been working on me. It's been hard - but good.

So last night when I went to the mall, I had hoped to be able to just sit and talk with someone in detail for an extended period of time instead of a few 5-10 minute conversations. The Lord gave me that desire...

I sat down to watch my children play in the children's area. There was a lady sitting next to me that looked like a nurse. Right away I asked her if she was a nurse and she just opened up to me about her job and schooling! It was really great.

She talked with me for awhile about her work as a certified nurse's assistant and so I was able to turn the conversation to spiritual matters with her job as a starting point. She was Catholic but wasn't able to explain much at all. It ended up coming down to her beliefs that our good outweighs our bad, that we're punished here on earth and that she would go to purgatory first. And, she said that she believes the Bible.

Those two statements contradict each other, though. Why? Because the Bible says that one sin sends us to hell (not a scale of good outweighing the bad), that there really is a place called 'hell', and purgatory isn't in the Bible (it is a Catholic, human tradition). I told her not to take my word for it but to go look it up and read her Bible. I presented the Gospel and then pointed her towards reading Romans and James. So, do we make truth? Or, does Truth make us? Read the words that the compass is pointing towards in the above picture!

There is so many other things that I thought about later that I could have told her, but, since I was praying before, during and after the conversation, I trust that the Lord worked His will through me.

-Sarah

New Posts Coming Soon!

Antsy for the newest witnessing stories? Lord-willing, we will be going out tomorrow night so look for new stories soon!

Please Check This Link Out

I enjoy reading another blog called Evangie Tales. This entry was particularly interesting and very sad. Read it by clicking here.

-Sarah

Do you ever wonder why...

Last night at the mall was fairly dry for me. I spent the entire hour walking around, looking for the "right" people to get into a conversation about spiritual things. Both times, as I approached teen guys to have them take a survey, the answer was, "No thanks - we're in a hurry."

So I spent my time walking around praying. Funny thing - others in our group were having conversations. And there were a couple within our group that were having good conversations about spiritual things. Conversations that needed to occur. So this was a good reminder that God's ways are not my ways, but He still accomplishes his work though his people.

-t

Local Fair Outreach Event

Cornerstone Church participates in a local fair by setting up a "What's In A Name?" using an individual's name as an opening to present the gospel in a tract-form. This year we also walked in the parade and handed out candy and gospel tracts geared towards children.

This is a photo of the booth...

Then we also sent some out into the crowd to witness. This was new for this year since it has just been in the last 6 months or so that we, as a church, learned how to share our faith Biblically - without sounding foolish. Law to the proud, grace to the humble.