I went with Team Hope last night to downtown St Pete, and Vero snagged me to go to the Pier. So she, Tom, and I tracted people and cars along the way to our destination, and then we paused for a couple of great conversations with fishermen.
I actually got to talk to Robin. "Like 'Batman and Robin'?" I asked him.
"Yeah," he replied.
"Do you get that a lot?"
"Not anymore." He was recently discharged from the military and claimed to be a Christian. I asked him to consider John 8:30-32, and he said that he had never looked at it that way--that if someone is not continuing in Jesus' Words, he might not actually be Jesus' disciple.
Later I talked with some youths, who were very excited to see the Million Dollar Bill I was handing out (a local evangelist had custom ordered a different kind). One of them asked for my Bible, saying that he didn't have one. I gladly gave it to him, telling him that I had wondered why God was having me bring my Bible along (it was not pocket-sized), but now I knew for sure. He was amazed and thanked me; I told him to thank God, because I didn't set this up at all. He did.
As the night drew to a close, we tracted another parking lot on the way back to the bus, and I got to talk to a family and a couple of teens briefly. The teens seemed familiar with church, but confused about the Gospel. I made sure that they knew that being in Heaven was a lot more important than attending church (not disparaging that at all, but it is true), and then left them with the tracts.
I think I handed out about three hundred tracts that night, but it didn't seem like there were that many people. Maybe there were.
Then today I played flag football, as part of a community outreach of our new church plant in Coquina Key. We played for about three hours, trying to demonstrate that we must honor God with everything that we do, even the way we play a game. I don't know how deeply the message is getting through, but the field is just exciting to see. All racial barriers have been demolished, and a fair game is actually possible.
I had to do my laundry after that, and got convicted that I was not giving out the tracts that I had. I was thinking that the number of people passing me by was too great for the few tracts I had. But then the Lord reminded me that I cannot ask for more tracts if I don't use the ones I already have. So I started unloading them into the hands of a few people, and, in particular, to a group of three kids. As one of them took it, he asked, "Are you from downtown?"
I said, "Yes," knowing that he was asking about Team Hope.
"We've met a couple of times."
I think he is the third kid from the Rock that I have seen in North St Pete. It has been good catching them away from their friends. They have been cordial enough. He even accepted the tract that I gave him with no fuss whatsoever. But my biggest prayer is that they get saved! I don't just want them to be my friends, though I don't mind that. I want to see all of my friends get to heaven! I don't know his name, but you could pray for all the kids down at the Rock.
Oh, I almost forgot: During one of Tom's conversations, a young man named Joshua prayed to receive the Lord. The fruit of his life will tell if this was a true conversion, but the young man didn't miss the gravity of his sin, nor the love it took for Jesus to sacrifice for him. But I'm excited. His grandmother seemed to be a solid Christian already attending a good church, so we didn't follow up too closely.
I did give Robin directions to our church, so he may show up someday.
Anyway, thanks for praying, and may God richly bless you!
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