Do the Work of An Evangelist

Today I meet my good friend Danny Shaw after school to hit some pitches at the batting cages. We had a blast and got some good practice in for our softball game tomorrow. Afterwards, we decided to go over to the nearest park at Jackson Elementary. I played there when I was in little league and thought it would be a perfect place to play some catch and shag some balls. As Danny and I were playing catch, he missed one of the balls and it hit him in the knee, instantly making him fall down with laughter because of his clumsiness. While this was going on, there were two Jr. High kids that were sitting on the other side of the school yard who were laughing at us. I laughed back to them laugh and it caused them to think I was making fun of them, so they mocked me by saying some sexual comment about my mom or whatever.

Whatever the word was, it was not edifying and definitely not appropriate for anyone to say publicly to another person. This caused me to walk over to him and confront him by saying, "What did you say? Speak up, say it again." I walked over to him all serious and it scared the living daylights out of these two kids. It was so funny, but it was also mean because I looked so serious and they probably thought I was coming over to pound them in the ground, lol. Nevertheless, I wanted them to learn a lesson they would never forget. When I got closer to them, one of the kids (the kid sitting next to the other kid who said the "momma joke") started to back away from his friend. When I got right next to him, I said again, "What did you say? Say it to my face." So the kid said in a very scared voice, "I said your momma..." Well right after he admitted to what he said, and I heard what he said, I replied, "Oh ok, your forgiven bro. No hard feelings. You were scared huh?" Man, it was so funny but at the same time such a lesson this kid learned about saying bad things about people and making fun of others.

So these two kids started to laugh with me after I told them that I was messing with them to teach them a valuable lesson. They listened to me, and accepted my forgiveness towards them. This opened the door to preach the Gospel! I shared for 30 minutes the trustworthiness of the Bible, Deity of Christ, and the Gospel message. They were so convicted after they confessed their sins and they both wanted to ask Christ into their lives as their God and Savior. We prayed together and they both received Christ!

What a great work! God is awesome how he used me and Danny in such a random way! Glory to God! The Lord showed me two things:

1. To always be ready in season and out of season to preach the Word.
"Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching." 2 Timothy 4:2

2. To have the heart to do the work of an evangelist!
"You, however, be self-controlled 1 in all things, endure hardship, do an evangelist’s work, fulfill your ministry." 2 Timothy 4:5

Paul in Athens, Greece preaching the Gospel!