'Holy' Oil Spill And 'Holy' Dead Battery...

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

May our great God and Savior, our precious Lord Jesus Christ, continue to sustain and nourish you daily as you continue to trust in Him. May He lavish the riches of His glorious grace upon you, so that one day, when you stand in His presence, He may say unto you...

WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, ENTER THOU INTO THE JOY OF THY LORD...

All because of His glorious saving and sanctifying power in your heart and life, and your yielded surrender and obedience unto His glorious gospel.

Amen.

I thank God again for the opportunities He afforded me this week in sharing His wonderful saving grace. I am sure that I missed some opportunities because of my own cowardice and fear of man, but, because of His power and grace alone, I now gratefully share a few stories of what He did in and through me this week...

ALL IN SPITE OF ME...

ALL BECAUSE OF HIS FAITHFULNESS...

The first story is from this past Tuesday, when I was holding the cross on the median of route 33 here in Harrisonburg. Someone pulled up to the light and honked at me, my back facing the row of cars at the light.

Placing the cross down, I walked back and recognized an old friend, Erica Gregory. I have known her and her family for many years, having shared the gospel with everyone in her family, and being friends with them as well.

Her daughter Ally was in the car with her, and then a gentleman named Charles, whom I did not know. Both Erica and Charles wanted me to give little Ally a bracelet, but right then the light turned green and they had to go!

Quickly I suggested, "Come out here Charles, and let me share with you now, and Erica you pull the car over to the gas station and wait!"

It all happened so quickly. No sooner were the words out of my mouth, than Charles had hopped out of the car and little Ally and Erica were on their way to the gas station, where they would wait.

Charles did not know where he would go when he died, letting me know that he had done quite a few bad things, and knew that he was a 'bad person.'

Sharing with these people is so refreshing. They are humble and have no problem seeing their sin, unlike 'religious people', who think they are going to Heaven because they are 'good'.

There is a really neat gospel tract that I have seen before. It is entitled, 'BAD NEWS FOR GOOD PEOPLE, GOOD NEWS FOR BAD PEOPLE.'

"...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." (1 Tim. 1:15)

"...him that justifieth the ungodly..." (Rom. 4:5)

Do you want to be saved? The first step is taking your place humbly before Him, acknowledging that you are not good.

"...there is none righteous, no, not one:" (Rom. 3:10)

"how much less man, who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water!" (Job 15:16)

"...no one is good except God alone." (Mark 10:18)

There are many other scriptures in the bible regarding the depravity of man. As mentioned, it is refreshing to share with someone who already realizes this.

I did go through the law with Charles, and he had no problem acknowledging his sin: liar, thief, adulterer (lust), murderer (hate and gossip), and blasphemer. Charles understood, like the rest of us, that he deserved hell.

What would keep him from God's electric chair? Charles mentioned 'praying and going to church'. Charles had been raised in a church, and I believe was ready to start doing these things.

Yes, these things are good, but they don't keep us from the electric chair. Since Charles was not the Savior, there was in fact nothing that he could do of himself to stay out of the chair.

The work had already been done. God Himself had sat in his electric chair 2000 years ago in the person of Jesus Christ.

Here is the part of the gospel message that really spoke to Charles' heart and the Holy Spirit actually gave me strong unction as I preached it to him...

"God took your judgment on the cross 2000 years ago! He sat in your chair. GOD HAS ALREADY BEEN JUDGED GUILTY IN YOUR PLACE...A STAMP WAS PLACED UPON HIM...JUDGED GUILTY IN CHARLES PLACE...PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE SINS...EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE EVER DONE, AND WILL EVER DO, HE WAS ALREADY JUDGED GUILTY AND CONDEMNED IN YOUR PLACE...

IF YOU WILL BUT PLACE ALL OF YOUR TRUST IN HIM, RIGHT THERE AT THE CROSS, THE PLACE OF JUDGMENT FOR YOU, ALREADY DONE 2000 YEARS AGO, THEN WHEN YOU STAND BEFORE GOD, ONE DAY, GOD WILL NOT JUDGE YOU GUILTY FOR ANY OF YOUR SINS, FOR HE WAS ALREADY JUDGED GUILTY IN YOUR PLACE..."

Charles expression changed at this point to one of some peace and relief and he spoke up...

'Thank you. That makes sense. I had never heard that before.'

"Yes, and the resurrection proves that God is completely satisfied with the work of Christ on your behalf...paid-in-full"

"So, the one thing that you can do Charles, is simply to believe, to believe on what Christ has already done for you, to trust in Him."

"Do you now believe?"...'Yes'.

"So, how sure that you would go to Heaven?"...'100%'

"And why?"...'I believe that He died for me.'

So I continued, "With the heart you believe unto righteousness, His righteousness, not yours. That is, you are now trusting what He did for you, not what you are doing. And with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation."

"Charles, when do you want to place all of your trust in Him?"

'Every day'.

"When do you want to start?"

'Today.'

I clarified with Charles that Jesus is not only the Son of God, but that He is God himself, incarnate in human flesh. I shared John 1:1 and John 1:14 and he received the truth.

I reviewed the gospel and asked Charles, "Are you ready to be saved and once saved, are you ready to live for Him?"

To both questions, Charles answered in the affirmative.

Before prayer, Charles spoke up...'I've done a lot of bad things...'

I prayed for him, and then I led him in a prayer. At the end, Charles spoke up...

'I repent of my sins.'

I asked Charles, "What just happened to you?"

He replied, 'I DON'T KNOW, BUT I FEEL DIFFERENT, I REALLY DO.'

We went through John 6:47, and he confessed that he was now 100% sure of Heaven because of what Jesus did for him on the cross. We talked about how he could now grow in his faith. I prayed for Charles at the end, and then asked him if he would like to say anything to God, to which he replied once again...

'I REPENT OF MY SINS.'

Before he left, he wanted a bracelet for little Ally who of course was waiting in the car with her mother Erica. He agreed to let me give her the bracelet, so I could share the message with her.

Little Ally, 12 years old, was a little shy, but after a while she opened up to me. Mom was really good to stay completely out of it, and allow me to have the full attention of her daughter. Ally was in the back of the car by herself, so that made it easier.

We talked about sin, and she acknowledged her own. We talked about punishment, and how her mom would put her in a room when she needed to be punished.

Then, we talked about what Jesus had done for her in taking her punishment on the cross, in 'going to the room' for her.

Ally knew that Jesus was the Son of God, but needed me to explain to her that he was fully God...God the Son. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Ally wanted to place her trust in God as her Savior and prayed with me accordingly...

'HE CAME INSIDE OF ME.'

Then she said her heart felt, 'HAPPY'.

The pic tells it all...

On to Thursday, which was a real doozie...

I pulled my ministry van into the EL CHARRO Mexican restaurant parking lot, and had to park in a different spot, as my usual spot was taken. This proved to be very fortuitous, or should we say, a God thing.

Upon exiting my van, I noticed a large pool of fluid in the parking lot. Upon further examination, a line extended from the pool and then became a much larger stream all the way to the road. From the other side of the pool, the line of fluid extended, yes, right under my van.

The fluid was oil, and yes, it was coming from my ministry van. Knowing very little about vehicles, I looked for help. A gentleman had just exited a car not too far away, and I motioned for his assistance.

Well, his name was...

IMMANUEL...which of course means, 'GOD WITH US.'

I told him, "Before we do anything, let's place our hands on the van and pray." We did.

Upon examination, Immanuel told me the best case scenario was a hose leak. Worst case scenario would necessitate a new engine. I sincerely thanked him and then I offered him a bracelet.

Immanuel had previously received a bracelet from me in front of the courthouse and actually was already somewhat familiar with the message. He needed to go to work in '2 minutes' so I had to make it fast.

I gave him a quick review, and Immanuel understood that if he put all of his faith in Christ alone, he would be 100% sure of going to Heaven. Immanuel prayed with me...

Immanuel told me that I could put a quart of oil in the van, and then drive it to a local mechanic. Upon further review with my brother and friend Rob Gilmer, this was not a viable option as further damage could be done to the van.

I decided to call my new friend Dwight Miller. I met Dwight at a local church a few years ago, and the last few weeks Dwight has been coming by my house for evangelism training.

God bless Dwight. He called his mechanic, who actually sent one of his workers out to look at the van right there in the parking lot. All of this took about an hour, and the whole time this was being taken care of, I had been able to hold the cross.

Mechanic Aaron showed up, a.k.a 'cupcake'. I told him that I would call him Aaron, 'cupcake' was reserved for his wife one day. Dwight had told me that he wasn't sure Aaron would be open to the gospel, but that I was free to give it a shot.

When Aaron saw me with the cross, he responded with a great big smile. We walked together back to the van, and he examined the damage. I was sitting down on the grass with him, as he crawled under the van.

Good news. Aaron believed that it was just a few pipes that had burst. I was very thankful and expressed my appreciation to this friendly young man.

Aaron actually wanted a bracelet, and to my surprise, he wanted to hear the message. Aaron, like Charles, had experienced a lot of struggles in life and had even been referred to as 'the bad sheep.'

Because of this, Aaron was only 30% sure of Heaven, but was hoping that his 'helping people' would possibly get him in. Aaron had no problem understanding his sin and the consequent punishment which he deserved...Hell.

What would get him out of the punishment? He told me, 'Start with number nine.' That is, he was saying, 'Keep the commandments, and start with the ninth.'

I explained that the law, or commandments, were simply a mirror which revealed his sin. He should not rely upon the law, which was the mirror, to make him clean.

What would make him clean? We talked about Christ and what He had done for him. Aaron at first did not understand that Christ was God himself incarnate in human flesh. Aaron also erroneously thought that his salvation was part him and part God.

Aaron needed to trust in Christ alone. The same thing that seemed to resonate with Charles also resonated with Aaron: Christ had already been judged guilty in his place. He simply needed to trust in Him.

At the end, Aaron told me that he was 'getting there' at 99% now. He also told me that he wasn't 100% sure that Christ had died and risen.

So, I just gave the invitation this way, not expecting what happened next...

"So, WHEN would you like to place all of your trust in Him?"

'Now.' (Boy, I was surprised.)

We reviewed and then I prayed for him, and he prayed with me. There was a really long pause, and then I asked him how his heart felt...

"ALL THE PRESSURE THAT WAS ON ME HAS BEEN REMOVED." (kinda like all the oil from the van! we both laughed)

Aaron had a nice big smile on his face. We went through John 6:47 and Aaron told me that he now 'believed'. He then said that he had 'eternal life', 'right now', and was now '100% sure'. THANK YOU GOD!

Here is Aaron after I gave him a bunch of follow up materials from the van...

Back to the van...

So, Aaron reported the situation to Dwight, and Dwight actually sent a tow truck out to get the van. We gave the towing company explicit instructions not to start the van as to prevent any possible further damage.

Take a look at the extent of the oil spill...

Right under my van...

All the way out to the street...

The man from the tow truck company told me to make sure that we cleaned up the oil to prevent damage to the asphalt.

I need to give two shout outs at this point. One to my friend Dwight Miller who arranged all of this so I could continue holding the cross and sharing the gospel with others. Also, he took care of the towing expense.

Here is Dwight putting kitty litter in the parking lot. He did this so I was able to continue holding the cross...

The last shout out goes to EL CHARRO Mexican restaurant. After having been run off one parking lot, I have been parking my van behind EL CHARRO for several months. They have been so gracious in allowing me to do so.

When I explained the initial oil spill, the employees just smiled at me. After cleaning everything up to the best of our ability, there was no stern rebuke from EL CHARRO or no hint of frustration with us. I apologized to them several times and thanked them for their patience.

I did pray a prayer of blessing over their business. If you are able, make sure you visit this restaurant and bless them with your business.

The next day I spoke with Aaron on the phone. He told me the good news, that indeed it was only two broken pipes and that the engine was still in good shape.

Then he said, 'If the van had run for ten more seconds, you would be needing a new engine.'

THANK YOU GOD!THE 'HOLY" DEAD BATTERY

As of yesterday morning, I thought that my sharing for the gospel was completed for the week. However, God did one more neat thing yesterday afternoon. I will try to make it as short as possible.

Two precious Christian friends, Josh and Leesey Clark, picked me up yesterday afternoon to go visit Leesey's father, Pastor Phil Smuland. He was the long time pastor here in Harrisonburg of Covenant Presbyterian Church, and then pastor of Bethlehem Bible Church in McGaheysville. Pastor Phil and I went to Uganda together on a mission trip seven years ago.

Josh, Leesey and I stopped at the CHICK-FIL-A in Waynesboro to get a coke for Leesey's grandmother who now lives in Waynesboro.

When Josh came back out of the restaurant, guess what happened?

His truck would not start. Dead battery. We prayed.

I thought, 'Okay God, oil spill on Thursday, and now this. Help me to share the gospel as needed, but not to get in the way of any assistance here.'

Well, two employees of CHICK-FIL-A came out, Sebastian and Michael. They drove one of their cars over adjacent to our truck so they could jump it. I remained in the truck, not wanting to get in the way, and also, honestly, probably being a little hesistant at the thought of sharing the gospel.

I was thinking, 'Do I share with Sebastian or with Michael?' Well, I waited on the Lord and He made it crystal clear.

Josh recognized Michael! They both go to Tabernacle Presbyterian Church in Waynesboro, where Pastor Phil now attends. They spoke a little and then I hopped out of the van with the intention of sharing with Sebastian.

Yes, he wanted a bracelet, and yes he wanted to hear what the colors meant. Josh had already hooked up the battery cables and we were charging.

Sebastian seemed like a sincere, honest young man who just needed to hear the truth of the gospel. He was 50/50 that he would go to Heaven because he 'was a generally positive person who tried to help people.'

Yes, in man's eyes he was a 'good guy', but what about in God's eyes. So, we took the good person test to see if Sebastian measured up.

Nope, like the rest of us he fell short...liar, thief, adulterer, murderer, blasphemer. Then he said something significant...

'But what about my good, won't it outweigh my bad?'

This is what many unsaved people believe. They will stand before the Lord one day, and they hope that the good on the scales will outweigh the bad. This is not the gospel.

I had to explain to Sebastian that God's law was like a window. The first sin, or rock that we throw, shatters the window. Whether 1000 rocks or 10, we all have shattered God's window.

Also..."For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 2:10)

I explained to Sebastian, that by trusting in his good, he was trusting himself as the Savior. Could he save himself? Hardly.

How could he be saved? Trust the one who paid his debt with His death on the cross, and who rose again to show his complete acceptance of that payment. It was not Sebastian's good, but rather Christ's payment of his sin debt on the cross.

"Sebastian, are you ready to transfer your trust to Christ as your Savior?"

'Yes.'

We prayed. After prayer and going through John 6:47, Sebastian said that he was now '100% sure' of going to Heaven and that he had eternal life 'right now'.

'HE SAVED ME.'

We prayed again before I left and Sebastian told the Lord...

'THANKS FOR SAVING ME.'

I told Michael to follow up with Sebastian and he invited him to his church.

THANKFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT COME MY WAY!

THANKFUL FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST THAT ASSISTS ME WITH THOSE OPPORTUNITIES!

THANKFUL FOR THE DAILY DISTURBANCES THAT GIVE RISE TO THOSE OPPORTUNITIES!

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

AMEN!