We took a short trip one weekend and, as is often the case, my husband and I were having a wonderful discussion about faith in the car. We were going along on this conversation and things were going quite well, I thought, when suddenly my husband took a left turn and used something that I said to criticize me.

Suddenly, I found myself in the position of defending myself and I was starting to get defensive with him, but I instead stopped the conversation completely and said, “You know, we were having this really nice conversation about faith and suddenly you decided to make it an attempt to change something you don’t like in me. Why would you do that?” My husband didn’t respond, and the result was a lapse into silence for about five miles.

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So today as I was waiting for my friend Morgan to meet me for coffee in Starbucks, I decided to read the bible for a little while. Interestingly enough a man came over and asked me if i was studying the bible. I told him sure, I am reading it, and he asked what language the bible was in and what religion I was. I had a hard time answering this but told him I was a follower of Jesus Christ.

His name was Ernest, he’s African American, older–probably in his fifties, and well dressed and not in a hurry. He asked if he could share some verses with me. We turned to them together, read them together. Ernest asked me what I thought they meant, and then he explained to me what his people thought they meant. It was quite interesting because I don’t think he ever quite understood the answers I gave him or questions I asked back to him.

I asked him what religion he was, he said I probably already knew. But as we began ending the conversation Ernest asked, “So what do religion do you think I am?” I replied that I didn’t really care, and that I was glad that he had faith in God and that he was more interesting as a person to me than what religion he was. He seemed taken back by this. Our conversation ended as Morgan had arrived and Ernest left me with a book explaining the answers to all my questions (so he said). He also invited Morgan and I to a spinning class he teaches at St. Mary’s (hospital) and went on his way.

As he was sitting there doing what he said he always does, and as I was trying my hardest to not preach back, but to just listen, I remembered…God loves him too. It was quite an amazing experience and was so odd to me that this event happened in the midst of all we have been talking about (in the Doable Evangelism Course). Needless to say I am praying for him, too.

–Candace

by Randy Siever

When I disciple people I always tell them the secret to success in spiritual growth and in ministry is really quite simple: Just keep showing up. About 90% of life is about showing up, whether or not you feel inspired, prepared, brave, energized or motivated. Just show up and see what happens. Do your part and God will do His part. Your part: Just show up.

I had no concise biblical text for this pearl of wisdom, just a lot of years of showing up and an apparent oxymoronic biblical principle that apart from Christ we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5), but we can also do anything through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). So it’s pretty much all about what HE does, not what WE do. Fact is, HE likes to do stuff through US, and if we don’t show up He’ll either not do that stuff or He’ll do it through somebody else. So just show up, or miss the party.

Recently I got slapped upside my theological head by a couple of verses I had evangelically filtered out in my systematic reading and studying of the scriptures. Read the rest of this entry »