My Future's so Bright...I Gotta Wear Shades!

Ahhh...the love of a little brother (at least most of the time)...

My boys are five years apart. The admiration Nathan has for Nicholas goes beyond words. You may not be able to see it all the time, they do have their moments of "Separate now...stop talking to one another, if you can't be nice, and go look up some bible verses on brotherly love!" My favorite in times like this is "Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

If I had a dollar for every time they've written that verse...well, let's just say I could buy a few mocha lattes with it! :-)

Then there are days like this one where every thing goes right, the boys love each other and Nicholas doesn't mind it if Nathan "copies" him. Nicholas got a new pair of sunglasses...the maverick kind. He looks so cool in them. Nathan, seeing this, had to have some too. The only problem is he wears glasses. So, after much discussion, I let Nathan get some too.

Dale took Nathan to the mall to pick them out. They did a lot of searching from what I understand and Nathan came home with TWO pairs. "They were two for $20, Mom...it was a great deal!" He was using his own money, so I couldn't argue. Then he begins to tell me how Dad calls them "Inspection without detection" glasses. "What is that?" I asked. "Well, you see, Mom, it's like this...you get the kind with mirror lenses so when you are inspecting a girl...there is no detecting it." Hmmm...so Dad, how often do you use this technique? "Only when I'm looking at you honey, I promise." Good answer...but I don't believe it!

This is the way some of us are as Christians...we're constantly inspecting others for signs of faith and trying not to be detected by them for fear of offending them. I'm reading a great book right now called "Share Jesus Without Fear". It's teaching me to be bold in my inspection. Choosing not the sin of silence or the fear of failure but the commitment to Christ to be His disciple.

Did you know that 90 percent of the people in an average church have not shared their faith in the past year? I have to admit, I'm one of them. No more! It only takes 30 seconds (if you're in a real hurry) to share your faith. Of course, this is not recommended, but it shows it can be done. On average a person has to hear the gospel 7.6 times before it changes his/her life. If my 30 seconds is the .6 they need...get behind me satan...I'm on a mission!

You really have to read this book to get better equipped to share the gospel without getting tongue tied (which I am... no really, I am!) but here are the five questions Bill Fay suggests you use to get the conversation going:

1. Do you have any kind of spiritual belief?
2. To you, who is Jesus?
3. Do you think there is a heaven or a hell?
4. If you died, where would you go? If heaven, why?
5. If what you are believing is not true, would you want to know?

How easy is that? Well, not so much. You have to pray hard about it and the Holy Spirit will give you the strength you need. Each time it will get easier.

"Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to sinners, and they will return to you." Psalm 51:12-13

Here is a photo of the book:
You can get it on Amazon.com for about $10. Well worth it!

Oh yea...and here is a shot of our "Inspection without Detection" boys...heehee
















Blessings!