God's Sufficient Grace

Urgency of the gospel

Tonight I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with my dear neighbors, A and Fam. I am so very far behind on blogging that I have not written anything about my trip to Vietnam (or now to India!) and the amazing way that God brought the three of us together - hopefully that will come later - so I hesitate to even share this now except that I am so very grateful that God answered my prayer today to allow me to share more fully about Jesus Christ with them!

How interesting it is/was to share the story of the Bible and talk about Jesus to people who know so little about Him! I guess I do it every day with my students at school, but because the teacher/student relationship is so different and they are so respectful and childlike, they always just listen respectfully (sometimes very eagerly!) and don't always question it (although sometimes they do!). Also, they are hearing it from many of us at ICS, so they are developing an idea of who Jesus is. My neighbors are very solid Buddhists - actually some of the few Thais I've met that seem to be genuinely and thoughtfully/purposely trying to follow the teachings of Buddha and who are earnestly trying to live wise and good lives. I like them very much and surprisingly, I've found that we have many common convictions as to how to live life and/or similar standards - only, of course, our whole reason behind it is different. But they are very good people - far more than I am - generous and loving. And I love spending time with them!

Tonight after dinner I mentioned that our friends Andrew and Becky (MTW missionaries that they also know) were going to return to America for 3 years to go to school to study the Bible (at Covenant Seminary). A was shocked - "the Bible?!" He wondered why it would take 3 whole years to study the Bible. That led to him sharing with me the Buddhist view of life and afterlife and some of what he learned when he was a monk for several months. Then he asked about the Bible. So I told them what the Bible said - the whole story that I've grown to love this past year even so much more than I did before. : )

Again, so interesting the things they had no idea about - and what surprised and shocked them. When I spoke of Jesus' coming back to life again, A's mouth dropped open and he said, "What?! After he was dead he came back?!" He had never heard of such a thing. At some points, he looked at me like he couldn't believe I believed all of what I was saying and I realized how radical it must sound to someone who's never heard it before. And yet, they (especially Fam) listened very thoughtfully, and knowing them, they'll probably continue to think about it. At least, I pray that they will! Please pray with me for them and their salvation. I am really growing to love this couple very much and it grieves me to think about them being apart from Christ!

I have felt such a weight of conviction and urgency concerning the gospel the last several days. Part of it, I know, was brought on by the sights I saw in India - the brokenness and poverty and lostness there. It's all just so overwhelming to me. I've never encountered such brokenness before as I have in the last couple of years and even in the last few weeks. And I'm coming to see how it is all the result of man's "fall" - our sin and rebellion against God. And yet, more and more I am convinced that there is no other solution to this brokenness, injustice, poverty and sin than Jesus Christ. He IS the answer! The only One who is able to heal, redeem and restore this broken earth and make it what it was supposed to be. And, praise God, He WILL! I know He will, and I long for that day more and more as time goes on. Every imperfection in this world and in myself causes me to hunger after the perfection He will bring. But even as I pray for His coming, I find myself praying against it - afraid that if He comes too soon and judges the nations, He will find many who have not trusted in Him. And so I wrestle in prayer for His mercy on those peoples surrounding me - so few of whom have even heard about Him.

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night after (in the middle of?) a rather strange dream and I sat up in bed with the thought - "I've got to tell every person I come in contact with about Jesus - that He is the answer to their every grief and problem - before it's too late!" I soon went back to sleep and when I woke up this morning and thought about it with a more awake brain, it almost seemed silly to me that I would even think that in my 1/2-asleep delirium. Sadly, that's not how I normally think. And yet, that same sense of urgency has been with me this entire day, making me all the more grateful to be able to unleash that desire tonight over dinner.

Please pray that I will continue to feel this way and will have the boldness to bring this hope to the many who are lost around me! It is a rather "urgent" time spiritually at our school: over spring break one of our students (a 7th grader - from India) died suddenly. I didn't know her, but her death has obviously impacted many of the other students and teachers. My prayer is that as our students grieve her loss and encounter the shortness of their own life, they will find hope in Christ and see their need to turn to Him now and not later. Again, please pray to this end!

posted by Catherine Rogers @ 7:25 AM