pramsay posted on September 05, 2006 02:44 1151 views

HENRY: “I can’t believe it. What do you have to smile about? Weren’t you harassed and threatened, beaten and whipped and kicked out of your city? Weren’t you forced to leave everything behind – your home, your relatives and your jobs?”

MELINDA: “Yes, on one hand it was not easy, but really, everything can be stripped away from us but we still have Christ. It is an honor to suffer rejection for His Name.”

HENRY: “Pardon? I don’t understand. You must be emotionally disturbed. Your thinking is bizarre! Where is this Christ you speak about? I don’t see Him standing at your side!”

Calmly with love Melinda, the Christian would explain the reality of Christ in her heart. But really, she didn’t have to do much explaining. Everything about Melinda – her face, her calmness, her kindness, her smile, her words and her priorities – everything about her convinced Henry that Christ was a living reality in her life. She had the incredible joy of leading the man to Christ.

Hundreds of these stories happened each day and thousands were led to Christ in the early days of the Church.

There are two kinds of preaching in Acts 8.

Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

(Acts 8:4-5)

Who was scattered abroad and who preached the word everywhere they went? Matilda, Jake, Hannah, Matthias, Harry, Wendell, Rose, Victoria, Bob, Martha, Marjorie. Miriam, Jeremiah, Arthur, and all the rest of the Christians! The first word translated “preaching” above simply means they went everywhere ‘telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ’ to every person they met.

If you were a cancer victim and a drug was discovered that guaranteed a swift and immediate cure, wouldn’t you want to tell everybody else who had cancer how it worked for you? It would almost be criminal NOT to tell them. And you would probably tell people who didn’t even have cancer – just because you were so thrilled with the cure. The cashier. The telemarketer. The cab driver. The teacher. The loans officer. Haven’t you had the experience of “just bursting to tell good news” to someone?

Has Christ changed my life and my eternal destiny? Does the bus driver know? The flight attendant? The waiter? The receptionist? My neighbor? My mechanic? My classmate?

The second word for ‘preach’ means standing behind a podium with a microphone in your hand or in a community center surrounded by an audience or in a stadium preaching to thousands. That kind of preaching may not be your thing. But none of us can squirm our way out of our duty to preach the word to people we meet. If telling others about Jesus had been left to only those who stand behind podiums the Gospel would have spread as slowly as a turtle walks or a snail crawls. The acceleration in souls being saved happened and still happens when every Christian shares Christ through daily actions and interactions.

Make it your daily prayer to have the courage to tell someone each day about Christ. You can do it either by words from your mouth or by simply passing them a good gospel paper and saying: “Here’s a story I enjoyed reading. You might like it too. And get yourself a coffee with this little tip!” Say it all in one breath with a friendly smile on your face. Don’t ask them if they would like to have one. Just give it to them with a few coins. Every time you tell someone else about Christ – you are doing exactly what God really wants you to do.

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