I have to say first of all that I was really disappointed that there were only 2 responses to part 1. I was really hoping to get an idea of how others would respond.
Oh well...
Let me begin by telling you what is happening in Galesburg right now. I was just sharing this with my wife last night. It is the "IN" thing for the junior high and high school age girls to be a lesbian. Many of the girls are openly proclaiming that they are. If they don't make this claim, they at least hint at it, or bare minimum, want to hang around with someone who is.
A few years ago, when we were pastoring at West Frankfort, the same thing occurred in that community. It really got bad, where the high school girls were having huge "slumber parties" and you can imagine how bad it got. We really live in a depraved world. I see the same thing developing here in Galesburg right now. It helps to understand what the circumstances are in which this young lady speaks from.
My response to her may not be at all what many would expect. To hit her full force with the gospel at this point would just further her convictions that Christians are judgmental jerks.
I would simply start out by telling her that she and her friend don't have to impress or win over me or any other person. I would tell her that she was wrong about God not accept her friend because he accepts all of us, just as we are; that all of us come to him in the same condition.
I will explain to her that it does not matter what label you put on the action, sin is sin is sin.
Then I hope that she will simply give me enough time to share with her what Christ has done in my life and the transformation that has taken place since then.
More than anything, I want to impress upon her that God loves her, as well as her friend, so much that he sent his only son, Jesus, to die for them that they might be ransomed from a devil's hell.
I also want to address her accusation that God places all these demands on us. I want to tell her that it is not that God demanded me to change or to do anything or to stop doing other things, but rather the more I fell in love with Jesus, the more the desires of my heart changed. God never once "demanded" change... he placed a desire in my heart to change.
I want her to see and understand the difference, but all of this may not occur the first time we talk. I know that I have to win the right to be heard by her, and this is going to mean I have to be her friend first. I know she is going to "test the waters" to see if she can shock me, or even try to provoke the judgmental side to come out of me. Most lkely, it will only be after she sees that I will accept her as she is, that she will begin to see that God will accept her.
For all you who read this and are Christians, will you please pray for her, her friend as well as me?
I make this statement to my church all the time: "Talk with God about your friend before you talk to your friend about God." By that I mean ask the Holy Spirit to prepare their hearts to receive the seed of the Gospel. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a "divine set-up" where you and your friend are in the right place, at the right time, and the right situation for the seed to take root.
Please pray with me for such a set-up from God... a "next time" unlike any this young girl has ever experienced before.
9 comments:
Hey, Darrell. That's what it's all about. I am praying that God will prepare all of you. God bless
Father I pray right now that you would prepare this young lady's heart and make the soil of her heart fertile ground for the seed of the Word of God- we ask that you would draw her unto yourself by the power of your Holy Spirit-we also ask that you would give Brother Garrett another opportunity to minister to her and give him words to speak in Jesus' name AMEN!
God bless you Pastor G- I truly believe we are living in the days of the end-time harvest and God is going to begin to send us more and more of these types of people to love, accept, and tell them of Christ's offer of forgiveness.
I believe her heart has to be open. But not to man, to God. My prayer is when this young woman is alone God stirs her heart to Him her Father. God already knows the argument and will answer in kind. I will pray for her to seek truth not opinions.
Hey Randy,
Your right you misunderstood me.
Read Matthew 10: 16-20 Pay paticular close attention to verse 20
16 Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.
17 But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues;
18 and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
19 But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.
20 For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
I agree with Pastor Henry. This girls heart needs to be prepared. She had already made "wrong" assumptions of who Darrel (my pastor) is and how he was going to respond to her. Her ears were closed whether Darrell was going to preach fire and brimstone or if we he was going to simply tell her God loves her. She already chose to not let him respond. So the only thing left is to leave it in God's hands. It's in His hands anyway way right?
To Randy (and others)
I wanted to explain why I deleted your comment. I don't think your comment was really inappropriate, but I knew what Shawn was saying and that it was just misunderstood. Had I known Shawn would respond again to further explain what he meant, I would have left it posted. I hope you will feel free to post again in the future.
Not man but God is something I tend to forget especially with my own family. I remember all thoughts in my head when people tried to "preach" at me. What I tend to forget is the time I finally said I'd go to a service just to shut my mother up. I tend to forget that while others were praying for a healing in me thinking that is why I was there, that a friend was praying that I remember who Jesus is and prayed that I straighten things out with God and not run away but to him. It was then I realized her pray was dead on and I rededicated. It was about a year and half after that I thanked her for her prayer and she didn't even recall what she prayed. She was ready and prepared and didn't even have a clue.
I get caught up in the fact I might say the wrong thing so I'll say nothng. What I need to remember is it isn't about me but God working through me.
I,m praying for this girl, and for God to prepare her heart !!! GBU Pastor!!
Amy
Speaking as a teenage girl, I do not think the "in" thing is to be lesbian. I think it's just something that girls are trying.
When I was in jr. high I struggled with myself, trying to figure out "do I like girls?or boys?or both?"Eventualy I relised that I shouldnt question what is right, when knowing that women are ment for men and men are ment for women.
Now, I'm sure that some girls are doing it because everyone else is doing i t. But some girls are doing it because they arent sure of themselves. I really hope that you get thru to her and let her know that she can find herself through God rather than following the trend...and hopefully she will find out that some Christians may have been in her same shoes, trying to find herself, trying to figur out who she wants to be.
God Bless.
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