The Everyday Club

4/25/10 Gus, about 65
I dropped my son Sammy off for worship practice before church and had a little extra time so I drove over to the park to pray and hopefully initiate a witnessing conversation. Approaching me there on the sidewalk was a serious-looking older man (Gus), so I said one last prayer for help and asked him "Excuse me, do you have a minute for a few questions? He looked at me and said "Sure, what about?" "Well I'd just like to ask about your spiritual beliefs. For example, do you believe in a higher power of any sort?" He said "Well sure, I believe in God. I'd just like to ask Him one question though." "What's that?" "Why did He have to take my wife away?" This started a wonderful conversation in which I was able to counsel Gus about the loss of his wife, some battle experiences in Vietnam, and some false beliefs about God and the Bible. Gus and his wife of 42 years had stopped attending church about halfway through their marriage and he has just been assuming - like so many people - that he is "good enough" to go to heaven, so I spent some time explaining the law of God in order for him to understand and appreciate the grace of God. Gus told me "I wish they would have explained things so clearly at church" and I told him "It can be easy to overlook the basic message of the Bible when they are trying to teach the whole thing. Do you have your own Bible?" He didn't, so I gave him one, an outreach New Testament, and showed him all the special helps it has for beginners including an article called "God's Plan to Save You" I've given out good follow-up tracts to people, but giving a New Testament seems especially appropriate. (These New Testaments can be bought online for only about $1 or $2 each at www.crossway.org)