Monday, February 16, 2009

About My Grandma and More Witnessing Opportunities

This past Wednesday we received news that my Grandmother needed to have triple bypass surgery, the next day. Her heart was so bad that the artery on one side is completely blocked and the other is eighty-five percent blocked. So, on Thursday morning she had the operation. We praise God that she made it through and is beginning to do a little better, though she is still in the ICU. She is in Illinois so we are not able to be with her, which is hard, especially for my Dad. Thankfully, my two Aunts are with her. Please pray with us for her salvation, God is able to bring her to Himself.

On Friday we were at the abortion clinic early to plead for the babies lives who were appointed to die. When one young mother and her mother parked their car across the street, my Mom went over to offer them information. The young woman rolled down her car window and said she would call the police if my Mom did not leave. My Mom told her that her baby is a person, then showed her a picture of an aborted baby. This made the babies Grandmother jump out of the car and tell my Mom that she would call the police, my Mom told her "Go ahead, I'm not doing anything wrong. This baby is your Grandchild!" Then my Mom showed the young mother, through the closed window, some pictures of developing babies. She looked at them, then began to cry. Her mother jumped out again, yelling at my Mom who continued to calmly answer, "This baby is Your Grandchild." They then drove away and they never came back, as far as we know! We hope and pray that the child was spared. God knows.

When we were done at the abortion clinic, we went to the University of Minnesota Duluth with Josh for a witnessing outreach. We held two gospel signs, while Josh and Michael preached.
One student made his own sign to protest us, which said: "Don't Worry God Loves You No Matter What". Josh had a good conversation with him and found out that he believes the teachings of a certain professor who takes all the "good out of different religions" and believes that, not the "bad". Josh was able to ask some very pointed questions showing the faultiness of that faith and expounded on the resurrection of Jesus as difference between other religions and the Bible. We pray for this young mans salvation.

Remember the lady I talked to on Tuesday the Twentieth? That short conversation had made me think more about our obedience to the gospel versus trying to make the gospel more appealing to the carnal mind. She came back to talk with me this Friday, I'll change her name to Sue.
She told my Mom and I that she is a pantheist, believing that everything is god and that god is everything. My Mom gave her the gospel, which Sue clearly could not understand. She does not believe in life after death and thinks that life is an end in it's self, because it is so "full and beautiful". My Mom explained to her that she is in the darkness and does not know it, using the example of a room that is slowly growing darker and you do not know it is so dark until you turn on the light. We told her that what she believes does not change the way things are, that in the end she will stand before Jesus who is the judge and she will confess that He is Lord. We said that people have so many ideas about the way things are, but what really matters in the end is what God says about things and whether or not we obeyed Him.

At one point I asked her, "Why are you alive? Where do you come from?"
She answered, "From my parents."
"In the beginning where did it all start?"
"With the Big Bang."
"Nobody knows who started that?"
"No, there are some theories, but no one really knows."
"God tells us what happened. He was there, He tells us what He did. You see, the Bible is a history book, written by God who made every thing."
She wondered how anyone could not believe in the big bang and said "Evolution is so beautiful."
"Millions and Billions of years of death, bloodshed and cancer, is beautiful?" I asked.
"Yes, it is."
"By what you are saying, you are showing me that you are in darkness. It does not matter what we tell you or if we are able to answer all your questions and explain everything to you, you would still not believe unless God opens your eyes. It has to be God who shows Himself to you."
She left then but short while after leaving she came back saying that she had thought of some more questions.
She asked, "Does God ever change?"
"No, in His Word He tells us that He never changes."
"Do people change?"
"Yes, all the time."
"Will people who are redeemed still change in Heaven?" She had earlier told us that she thought Heaven was pointless and boring.
I answered, "When we die, our bodies are changed. We will not have flesh and blood like we have now, we will be different. We do not really know what Heaven is like, it is not something we can understand or grasp with our human minds. If God told us what it is like we would not understand, it is too wonderful. We know that we will be praising God and that we will have work to do, but what it is I do not know."
She asked, "If God is all powerful, then why did He make man, since He does not need us?"
We told her that it is true that God does not need us, yet He made us for His glory. Life is not about us but about Him. We ended by saying, that we would pray that God would show Himself to her. Please pray with us for the salvation of Sue.

The thing I love about this conversation was the peace God gave me to just stay true to the Word. It did not matter to me that she said and thought it was "silly" and that it made no sense at all to her. I did not have to think up witty things to say or remember tons of facts to throw at her about the validity of the Bible. I just spoke as God led me, staying true to His Word, knowing that she would not understand unless He opened her eyes. I even told her that her reasoning proved to me even more that God's word is true because He told us that the carnal mind would not understand these things unless He opened their eyes! There is such peace knowing that it is God's work to cause her to understand, not mine! Praise God!!! I love it!

Here is a short clip of me talking with Sue:




Here is the link to our teams YouTube sight where you will find more videos of us: The Way Ministries

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I pray that your Grandma's health will continue to improve--and that she would open her heart to the Lord! How sad for your Dad that he can't be with her. My Dad had a triple bypass way back in 1977 and the Lord gave him many more years to live. Sadly, he just died this past August, at the age of 81, not knowing the Lord. I was able to speak with him a couple of times, sharing the Gospel, but he couldn't receive it. He just patted my arm and said, "My religion is my business".

Regarding the woman that you witnessed to--the pantheist--I can see that the Lord has given you an important understanding that unless He opens her eyes, she won't understand what you say to her. We can't save anyone, it's the Lord's work to take away the stony heart and give them a heart of flesh so they can believe. You are being faithful to simply share the message of Life--and the Lord will build His Church. Modern "evangelism" is missing this understanding, and so they use man's reason, and fleshly persuasion to bring someone to "accept" Jesus through a "sinner's prayer". Don't get me going on that topic :-) How wonderful that the Lord gave you such peace as you spoke to the woman, and it was Him who brought the right words to your mind.

The Lord gave your mom such boldness at the abortion clinic! There was a need to keep pressing the issue, since so much is at stake. It's good that your mother stood her ground against the threats to call the police, and the devil had to back down, praise the Lord for His power!

I look forward to hearing more reports. Praise the Lord for the work He is doing through you and your family and friends!

Leah said...

Oh Brenda, I am sorry to hear about your Father. It must have been very hard to lose him under such circumstances. We lost my Grandfather last January, he was not saved either.
It is comforting to know that we are clay in the Potter's hand, He will form us as He sees best. I am so thankful for the comfort sent by the Comforter.

You are so right about modern evangelism! The enemy is very deceptive. We praise God that He has opened our eyes to see the difference. If it were not for Him we would also be deceived!

Anonymous said...

Dear Leah:
I was wondering if your Grandma is out of the ICU yet? Do you have an update on her condition? Also, are there any other family members with her who are Christians--who could talk with her about the Lord? I know you are busy but if you get some time to respond, I would appreciate it.

Leah said...

Thank you for asking Brenda. My Grandma is out of ICU now and is beginning to do better, though it will be a long recovery for her. My Dad is the only one saved in his family, he plans to go visit her soon.

My Mom said that she will send you an e-mail later today with more details.

Love in Christ,
Leah

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Leah. Having an update helps in knowing how to pray, thanks.

 

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