FRONT PAGE - here you will find the last 20 postings about recent conversations. Please pray for these people!

Default Belief

10/4/14          Fernando         about 50

I reached out to a fellow shopper at Home Depot named Fernando by using a million-dollar Gospel Tract as a conversation starter. “Oh, I have one already, I got it in Mexico” he told me, taking out an old million-peso version from his wallet and unfolding it.  “I’m a Christian too” he added.  Now, I’ve heard many too people claim to be Christians who really trust in their own goodness, so I asked “How can you know you will go to heaven?”  “Well, because Jesus paid for my sins when he was crucified” he answered without hesitating.  “You don’t know how seldom I hear that” I told him.  “Most people say they will go to heaven because they believe they are good enough.  But if we could be good enough to go to heaven, we wouldn’t need Jesus”.  I asked Fernando about his church involvement and found out he, too, regularly shares the Gospel, both on the streets of Chicago and in Mexico, along with other members of his church. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and prayer there at Home Depot.  What I found interesting about this conversation was that it was typical of the small percentage of people I talk to who say they put their faith in Jesus rather than in their goodness as their hope for salvation.  Those who do are usually people who actively share the gospel themselves, like Fernando.  I understand this doesn’t necessarily mean that other people aren’t believers – but it is easy to get distracted from our true faith in Jesus by the seductive and attractive belief that we have somehow earned our salvation.  Our selfish pride wants us to believe that, and it is the default belief that the world keeps dragging us into.  But those who regularly share their faith in Jesus are constantly reminded by the mistaken faith of others in their own good works or their own personal goodness.  And we all need that reminder!

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