The Everyday Club

5/15/12           Mario, Louie        both about 35
Evangelism is a team effort. Like a winning coach, God has the master plan and we must simply be faithful to carry out our small part even if we can't see the big picture. I meet people at various steps in their relationship to God, and my hope is for God to use me to help them take their next big step of faith, whatever that may mean. For Mario, a tough looking hombre at the park yesterday with a pit bull to match, that next step is simply to acknowledge God in his life. He claims to be an atheist because of all the death and destruction he has experienced through years of gang involvement. He refused to even admit the possibility of God's existence so all I could do was challenge him with some logical questions about creation and a warning that if God does indeed exist we will be held accountable for our actions. Right after Mario I met Louie, who had almost the same background and lack of belief in God, yet he is trying to leave his gang involvement behind and be responsible with his new job and neighborhood. His mind was open enough to at least consider the possibility of God, and I explained that, unlike atheists, agnostics are at least able to admit ignorance about things they can't prove, which he agreed with. From there I used the Ten Commandments and his own conscience to help him see the possibility of being accountable to God, .and the effect was, at least during our conversation, that he forgot about his doubts about God's existence. He began to see his need for forgiveness which would have seemed ridiculous to him half an hour earlier. I know Louie has many steps of faith to take, but I'm just glad I'm part of a team. "So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow" 1 Cor. 3:7