J.C. Ryle

"When a man’s heart is cold and unconcerned about religion – when his hands are never employed in doing God’s work – when his feet are not familiar with God’s ways – when his tongue is seldom or never used in prayer and praise – when his eyes are blind to the beauty of the kingdom of heaven – when his mind is full of the world, and has no room for spiritual things – when these marks are to be found in a man the word of the Bible is the right word to use about him, and that word is, ‘Dead.’”

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Paying Fines


Today I was waiting outside the municipal court to pay my ticket that I had gotten a few weeks ago. I have never been to this court and didn’t really know what to expect! I ended up showing up a little early and the court was not open yet. As I waited for the court to open, I really wasn’t planning on talking to anyone as there wasn’t any one around. In fact, my one-on-ones lately had been few and far between and I had been pleading with God to use me. Then, Anthony, 15, got out of his Mom’s car and stood right next to me and I thought I’m going to talk to him.

I asked him if he had gotten a ticket too and he said yes. When I asked him what for he said he had gotten suspended for fighting at high school. I reached into my purse and handed him a million dollar bill and said, “Hey, read this. This will make you think about what happens when you break God’s law.” He smiled and said that he had gotten one of these before which is something I hear quite a lot lately! I asked him then what he had thought about it when he read it and he said that it made him go to church. I said, “So after reading that you went to church but yet you are still in trouble for fighting?” He kind of smiled.

I asked him then if he knew where he would go when he died and he gave me the typical answer that he was going to heaven because he was a good person.

I said, “Anthony, since you are in high school you are used to taking tests right? Mind if I give you a little test right now to see if you are that good person? You’ve heard of the 10 Commandments right?”

So I took Anthony through the Law and he was guilty of being a liar, thief, blasphemer and adulterer at heart but he still thought he was going to heaven. So I took him through the court of law just as we were somewhat about to do to pay the fines for the laws that we had broken. This made sense to him. Then Anthony got quiet and I could tell the conversation was going to stop there.

We had a little more small talk I learned that he was from Chicago and was planning on moving back there. He also mentioned that he went to church every Sunday with his five brothers and sisters.

I left Anthony pleading with him to think about what we had discussed and I gave him the Mind Game tract as well. Even though my encounter was brief, only the Lord knows what was really going on in his heart as outwardly I could not tell from his expressions but my faith and hope remains in what I can not see.

Lord, bring Anthony to you. Open his eyes so that he will have a change of heart and turn from his sins.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009