What’s the matter with your eyes?
The first time I spoke with Helen it was not face to face. We communicated through her locked security front door. Helen told me she’d had a stroke some thirteen years earlier, leaving one side of her body paralysed and she was now confined to a wheelchair. But on that particular day she was in bed and not able to come to the door. So I gave her the reason for my visit and then asked her if she believed in Jesus Christ. She said she had very strong doubts, but was in any case, “not really interested in religion.” I told her that we had something in common, because, “neither am I.” Read the rest of this entry »
My church received a phone call one afternoon from a lady, wanting to know if there was someone who would sit and talk with her brother, who was a drug addict. She said he was living with herself and her husband but the situation was becoming increasingly problematic for them all. Apparently he was on a rehabilitation program but not having much success. 
Some church denominations combined for the purpose of promoting television messages which asked questions about death. They were thirty second spots asking something like, “What happens after death?” and, “Where do we go when we die?” As a result of that promotion, many people rang a church in their local area seeking further information or discussion. 
I was walking along the street when Maria stepped out from her gate to place something in her rubbish bin which was sitting on the strip awaiting collection. We had not met previously, but I knew who she was and her name. She and her husband had lost a daughter in a well-publicised multiple murder incident just under two years earlier. 
The moment I mentioned that I was from a local church, Mrs Stark expressed immediate anger. Standing in her doorway she told me in no uncertain terms that she was not interested in God or, “any of you people who say you believe in Him!” Not only was this the voice of an angry woman but more importantly, I heard the voice of a hurting woman. 
The New Testament tells Christians that God uses us, to make clear what it means to know the Lord Jesus Christ. It is like a fragrance that fills the air. To most people we are a deadly fragrance - a stench, a bad smell unto death, while to others we are a life-giving fragrance – a sweet smell that leads to eternal life. A messenger of the gospel can positively or negatively confirm that truth within moments, when he or she begins to open their mouth for Christ. 
The day Mrs Landers came to the door she immediately began to cry when I mentioned that I was from a local church, calling to give her a, “good message from the Lord Jesus Christ.” It was the first week of winter and she said to me, “Always at this time of the year I get sad and it lasts all winter. Would you come in please?” 
My first meeting with Bill, standing at his door lasted half an hour. He told me he saw the world as being in such a mess that there was no hope for it. At the time, the first Gulf war was on and economically things were rather bleak for a lot of people, including Bill who was bricklayer by trade, but currently out of work. As he expressed his thoughts and opinions on life, violence and corruptions etc, it became obvious that this man was a thinker, quite different from some whom I’d met who would take advantage of this time simply to emotionally, complain and blame. 
It was pouring with rain as I stood at the doorstep under my umbrella talking with the man. Perhaps in his early thirties, he told me he’d done a lot of reading in recent times and was very proud to tell me that he’d, “read the Bible from cover to cover.” However, he said that he couldn’t understand it’s relevance for him personally since he was not a Jew or a Christian. I explained to him that the Bible is not an academic book, but rather, it is a spiritual book, and as such, one must be, “born again” to grasp insights into what God wants to communicate to us. 
One day I rang the door bell of a home and when the two men who answered the door learned the reason for my visit, one said, “Just a moment please.” With that they briskly walked back down the hallway calling the name of another person inside. I distinctly heard the words, “There’s someone who wants to talk to you.” 
