We can talk. So why don't we?

Disclaimer: My illustrations are lame sometimes. I'm still an amateur at this. I'm just glad that I'm back to writing my regular posts again. So let's get this started...

Timothy is eight years old. Timothy has only lost four of his baby teeth. Timothy does not like pain at all, so when ever Timmy has a loose tooth… Well, Timmy has that loose tooth for a minimum of two weeks. Mom pulled one of his teeth out with thread (because the floss broke) and he painfully pulled out two of his teeth and swallowed one with a bite of hot dog. But the main thing is, Timothy take an excruciatingly l-o-n-g time pulling his teeth out. (Now, I think in abstract ways, so this might not make sense to you at first, but hold on, it will. Erm, eventually…) I imagine that evangelizing can be the same way. Try to remember pulling out a tooth. It hurts really badly at first. You give it a few tester tugs, then, yank! Nothing happens. It’s still in there. Finally, after several seconds, minutes or hours, you decide to do it, no matter the costs. You count, “One. Two. Three!” You pull really hard and then, voila! You did it! You know what? It doesn’t hurt at all.

Now you’re on the streets of Cocoa Village. You walk past Ryan’s Irish Pizza and see some people on benches. You came out because God has been convicting you to evangelize. You’ve been walking for about half-an-hour and you still haven’t said anything. People are starting to look at you weirdly and you can only imagine what’s going through their heads. Finally, you see a bench with a nice-looking person sitting on it. You walk by it and look

around, trying to be nonchalant. You open your mouth but you vocal chords have a sudden bout of paralysis. This has happened six times already and it is not going to happen again. Finally, you decide that this is not going to beat you, when Satan comes in, “Hey! You want to do what?! Man, people don’t want to hear that kinda stuff. Just forget about it and go watch Jeopardy or something. No one wants to listen to you. They have their own lives and they have better things to do than sit around and hear you taking about your ‘God’” Then, another voice speaks up, it’s called the Holy Spirit, “No. You need to do this. God wants you to. Listen, I would know. And this is what you read about in the Bible and in Do Hard Things. I mean, this is what you’re supposed to do with your life. And the bible says, ‘What can it profit a man if he gain the world but loose his soul?’” So you listen to the Holy Spirit and step out in faith, “Hi, um… could I ask you some questions?” And there you go. Now. After you say, “Hi, um… could I ask you some questions?” you are going to need some questions, so I got these questions that were derived from the Ten Commandments.

1.     Have you ever told a lie? Lies include white lies, lies told to protect your reputation, lies told so that you won’t hurt someone’s feelings or promises you never intended to keep.

a.     What is someone who tells a lie called?

2.     Have you ever stolen anything? Stealing includes leaving work early, taking a candy bar from a store when you were a kid, taking a pen or a paper clip that did not belong to you, cutting in line is stealing, copying music from a friends CD or the internet, or cheating on a test is stealing.

a.     What is someone who has stolen something called?

3.     Have you ever looked at another person with lust? (If they say no, ask if they are alive or if they have red blood in their veins.)

4.     Have you ever used the name of God as a cuss word? The names of God include God, Jesus Christ and Son of Man.

5.     Will you stand before God to be judged guilty or innocent of disobeying God?

6.     Have you ever coveted something someone else had? (This does not include coffee.)

7.     Have you ever-committed murder?

a.     The bible says that if you have been angry you have murdered.

8.     Have you ever dishonored your parents? This includes slander, doing things against their will, talking behind their back or represented them badly.

 

You don’t have to ask them all these questions. But ask some of them. (Numbers 1, 2, and 4 are really good because almost everyone in the world has done them.)

Now, that wasn’t so hard was it? You walk away from talking to the nice person on the bench and even though it was difficult, you got through it right? You’re alive. You didn’t drop dead. No one is sitting there rolling on the floor laughing. It was fine. And it doesn’t hurt now. All of that “pain” you went through in the beginning is gone. Next time you evangelize, it will be even easier; you’ll be a little more unaffected by the lies that Satan throws at you next time. 

Just like pulling out a tooth. It hurts at first, but you get over it and a new one grows in. Let's imagine we're sharks for a minute now and imagine we have hundreds of teeth to pull ou and multiple sets of teeth and... eh. never mind...