Coming Alive

Those of you who were in Men's Fraternity with me will recognize that phrase almost as much as Carter's trademark "you young pups/us old dogs". One of the purposes of Men's Fraternity, the Biblical study of masculinity at my church, was to help men find what makes them come alive.

I am pleased to say that I have found one thing that makes me come alive and that is telling people about the gospel. I taught the Grace Church Bible study on Wednesday night on the new birth, John 3:1-7, and thanks be to God! it went very well. I also preached on "repenting from religion" out of Luke 3 and by God's grace, and was told it served as an important reminder from those present. I loved both delivering the messages and doing the research to prepare for them. It helps to have online resources (Desiring God and Spurgeon's Gems).

But I think I am most excited about the messages given on Saturday in Enniscorthy, a town about 45 minutes away. There, I met up with my friends Johnny and Georgina from Dublin, along with their friends Brian and Celine, who were delightful. They all were there celebrating Celine's 27th birthday, and mine. We walked around the city and saw an old castle and cathedral, but not much was planned out, so that didn't last too long. We spent a good amount of time talking at the hotel bar (and watching a rugby game there) and at the Italian restaurant.

When you pray for opportunities to share the gospel, it's no coincidence that they actually will occur. At one point, both of the girls and Johnny went to change clothes and get ready for dinner. I had no clothes to change into, so I stayed down at the hotel bar and Brian stayed with me. I asked him a lot of questions about rugby, and then he started asking me questions about Grace Church. He said something to the effect of, "I'm not religious and not familiar with the terminology...what exactly does grace mean?" In other words, please explain to me the gospel. So I did. I explained (in summary) that so many teach that following certain practices or doing certain things make you ok before God, but the Bible really teaches that only Jesus makes us right before God. He said this was a refreshing teaching, but then asked, "but what's the catch?" I told him it wasn't a gimmick, it is called free grace. It is free for us because Jesus paid the full price. Those who truly understand this will willingly submit their lives to Christ because He will be their treasure.

While he and I were still talking, Celine came down and heard some of what I was saying. Brian then left to get ready and she and I began talking. She started with, "I believe in God, but lost a little faith when my sister-in-law died of cancer last year." I told her how very sorry I am for her loss and comforted her by explaining that death, disease, pain and suffering were not God's ideal for the world, but entered the world when man sought to become his own god. The good news is, though, pain and sorrow only exists for a short time (in the grand scheme of eternity) for those who are in Christ. Because Christ defeated death on the cross, it reversed man's transgression, so that all who trust Jesus will see the glory of God's ideal world, His perfect Kingdom, everlasting joy. While we were still talking, Georgina came and sat and heard what I was saying. She praised me (though it was surely the Spirit working through me) and said they really wanted to hear me preach. I suppose she didn't consider that she just had. Johnny and I spent a day together a couple weeks ago in which we were able to talk about Jesus a good bit (see the previous post).

No one there was ready at that moment to trust Christ as their Savior (nor did I push it), but they all heard the gospel truth and they all received it somewhat openly. Thank God for knocking down barriers to the gospel. By God's grace, these Irish young people like, respect and are willing to listen to me.

Johnny and Georgina had talked about coming to hear me preach on Sunday morning, though they didn't make any commitments. They apparently stayed in bed as opposed to getting up for a 10:30 service 40 minutes or so away from where they were staying. I was praying all week that they would come to church to hear the gospel preached. But God knew they didn't need to come to church to hear it preached; he allowed me to take it to them, and their friends. He allowed this to happen in a natural, conversational manner, to which they are likely to respond more favorably than hearing a sermon preached. Please pray for God to continue to give me opportunities to share the gospel with young people, especially those around New Ross. Pray that God would ordain relationships for His glory. Thank you!

Johnny and I in front of the Enniscorthy Cathedral