What's That You Say?

What’s That You Say?

June 17, Burlington, VT

            What an experience! Camping in Burlington, ,VT. The campground we chose only had about 120 sites. However, they were very narrow. I am so glad we had our bunkhouse. On one side of was a popup camper and on the other side a mini-van camper.  We were in close quarters. Good thing our bunkhouse was towards the front of our site or we would have been sleeping with the neighbors!

            Most of the folks camping in the campground were French Canadian. We tried to help the couples next to us put up a kitchen canopy and only of the ladies spoke really good English.  WE tried to find out the name of the canopy so Norm could see a picture, but to no avail. It was hard trying to communicate with the lady who owned it because she did not speak very much English at all. Her friend would have to interpret everything I said. It was difficult at best!  And, sometimes frustrating!  Finally, the lady who owned the canopy threw up her hands and told her friend she was going to throw the canopy away.

            We Christians have a tendency to speak “Christianese” when we are trying to witness to our lost friends. We use words like “washed in the blood”, “covered with the blood”, salvation, baptism, or resurrection.  I know we scare folks off sometimes with all the Christian jargon we use, thinking everyone knows what we are talking about. The poor folks we are witnessing to  probably wish they had an interpreter so they could understand what we are saying. Maybe that’s why we don’t communicate our gospel message too well.

            The gospel is really easy… as ABC! A is for admit… admit that you have done wrong against God and not followed His Word. B is for believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior and can wipe your slate clean of all the sins you have ever committed and C for confess. Confess those sins to the Father in heaven and He will forgive you of those and come into your life. That’s it in a nutshell.

There is more time after a person experiences the saving grace of the Father to explain and disciple them in the Faith. Then, you can begin with them like you do a child, one small step at a time. The Holy Spirit will guide them, and you can be there to help them understand what the Christian life is all about. It’s called a journey for a reason! It’s not a one-day event and it’s over. It’s a one-day event and it’s the beginning.

Find a way to communicate the gospel with others… ABC, the Roman Road using Romans, the Four Spiritual Laws or allow God to give you your testimony and you share how you got saved. That works well because it happened to you. Make a determination today you will share the gospel with someone in the near future. Ask the Lord to lead you to them and to give you the words you need. He is faithful!