The Everyday Club

8/3/11 Jonathan 19
Yesterday I met a young man named Jonathan as he rode his bike past me and then stopped ahead for a rest. I gave him a MDB tract which started a good conversation about his beliefs. Sometimes conversations can go off on a tangent, and this one did as he talked about trying to avoid running with the gangbangers in the neighborhood and looking for a job. I took some time to listen and give plenty of advice in this area, something I've done for years while running a neighborhood youth center. In this case, my knowledge and advice about temporal things gave me credibility about eternal things. We returned to our conversation about his relationship with God with a new level of trust and Jonathan felt free to ask plenty of questions. He asked whether he would be saved because he had been baptised when he was an infant, even though he hasn't attended church in long time. I took the opportunity to explain what baptism represents - the death and resurrection of Jesus - and why this so crucial to a right relationship with God. Jonathan responded with openess and interest; I just pray his worldy concerns won't distract him from the things of God.