September 11, 2014 | A Praying Neighbor

Love enough to share

Jesus quoted Leviticus 19 and declared it the second commandment, which coupled with the first charge – to love the Lord with one’s all – summarizes the entire Old Testament.

One of the most important ways to love our neighbors is to share the good news of God’s salvation in Jesus. We do this in many ways, not the least of which occurs at church. In fact, I was blessed to see four souls trust Christ just last Sunday!

One method for relating God’s love is the mega-gathering. Fascinatingly, these are neither outdated nor ineffective. In fact, I have recently seen that whole new populations are interested in attending a huge, world-class concert and having a chance to think through the claims of Jesus.

We have an opportunity to engage in just such a great event on Sunday night, October 5. That evening, many folks around North Texas will be going en masse to a Harvest Crusade at the American Airlines Center (AAC) in Dallas.

I encourage all who live in my region to start right now thinking of people you want to invite … people who need to hear the good news of Jesus, the light of the world. Pray for them. Then invite them. Then bring them with you on October 5.

For more information, visit: HARVEST DALLAS

Awesome example

A pastor friend in California recently shared this story that happened in the lead up to the Harvest event at a packed Anaheim Stadium in California:

One of our folks prayed for every neighbor name on his list.God then prompted him to go and tell his neighbors, “I prayed for you.”

One of those neighbors opened his heart and shared some of his struggles.The Christian shared that he struggles with many of the same things.Then came the question: “Well how do you do it? How do you make it?”

“JESUS, JESUS, JESUS is the answer. He is not only the HOW, but the WHO, WHAT, and WHY!”

This neighbor then went on to share that he’d decided years ago church wasn’t for him because there were just so many hypocrites. The Christian understood, and the two talked more. When asked specifically about his church, the praying neighbor said, “We preach Jesus. We’re all sinners, but God loves us. He doesn’t love our sin, but He sure loves us.”  

The same neighbor who’d just said church wasn’t for him announced, “I’m coming to your church.” 

Why the change? Because God answers prayers. Because God loves us so much, He sent us Jesus.Press on praying neighbors, because God is faithful to use you!