2 Beers Please...
By
October 23, 2008
"Two beers please."
"But sir," the stewardess warned, "the flight is only 30 minutes."
As he settled into the window seat by my wife, Casey replied, "I could down a six pack."
Casey was clean cut, tattooed with matching earrings and an attitude to match! It was an early morning flight and I had planned to have some quiet time reading my Bible and didn't want any interruptions. The Lord had other plans. Before long Casey and my wife were in deep conversation and she was trying to involve me. Judging by how quickly he was downing his favorite brew and by his seemingly carefree attitude, I didn't perceive him as a ready candidate for to receive Christ in the 20 minutes remaining in our flight.
As much as I wanted to leave the chit chat to them so I could continue with some much needed time in the Word, the Holy Spirit kept stirring in me to participate in what He was doing. "But Lord," I argued, "there are only twenty minutes before landing... that's not enough time to do any good."
As I opened the Scriptures, my eyes fell upon this passage in Proverbs 24:
"Deliver those that are drawn toward death, hold back those that are stumbling to the slaughter; If you say, Behold, we knew it not; does not He that weighs the heart consider it? And He that keeps your soul, does not He know it? And shall not He render to every man according to his works?"I may be slow, but I'm not stupid! I immediately turned to Casey and told him how the Lord had been dealing with me to speak to him and how reluctant I was until He directed me to that passage. When I read it to him, he was visibly shaken. Read the rest of the story...
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I was reading my Bible on a plane and we were preparing to land. The man next to me asked me to explain salvation, and was actively seeking to understand God's plan for his life. With the pilot on the intercom telling us to prepare for landing and the stewardess interrupting us, I explained 1 John 5:11-12 and other passages - talk about stressful but very exciting!! I could not have planned that situation - but God was teaching me an important lesson of always being prepared to give an answer for the reason of the hope we have within us. I say all of this to say I can totally relate to this experience. The world is searching...and sometimes at the craziest times our opportunities unfold - we serve an exciting God!
J. McCarthy at 9:53am EDT - October 23, 2008
Amazing...very convicting....thanks!
nathan at 10:06am EDT - October 23, 2008
Regarding to the witnessing opportunity, I have to admit that I do not do this enough. I am impressed that you were obedient to the Holy Spirit and then used what some may call the good person test to get the gentleman to admit his sin.
Rich Bradford at 10:37am EDT - October 23, 2008
My first reaction when I saw your email message was \"Two beers tonight sounds good!\" :) I know this story is not new but the message remains the same... LISTEN for God's prompting and then GO FOR IT! Thank you for your encouragement!
By the way, I'm reading Rainforest Strategy... amazing! Thanks for taking time to \"stop and smell the roses\" and learn from God's creation. Thank God for the wisdom that He has given you as you observed His glory. Now, back to next chapter...
Drew at 2:25pm EDT - October 23, 2008
Today's message is so encouraging! I have been praying for years for my family. Only my sister and myself are truly saved - some family members are entangled in religion and believe that it is the Truth, others are not at all bothered. So this message gives me hope and encouragement to keep on praying.
One thing I am conerned about, however, is that we must be very careful not to turn from persuasion to manipulation. We need to depend on the Holy Spitit's guidance 24/7!
Thanks so much for the encouragement.
Carola Hildebrand at 2:49am EDT - October 24, 2008
I was in a Publics store the other day waiting for my order to be prepared. Next to me was standing young man in his early twenties waiting for his to be done. In a mean time I glanced at a Christian book stand next to us and the book title \"How to manage the money you do not have\" caught my attention. After I read it, I turned to a young man and commented: How do you manage something that you do not have? He chuckled at it too. I said: certainly they got out attention. Then I turned to him and asked him: How many eyes do we have? He said two. Where? In the head! How about thousands upon thousands variety of birds up in the air - From finch to eagle? How many eyes do tey have? Two! Where? In the head! How about all the animals on the ground - From ant to elephants? Two! Where? In the head! How about all the fishes in the ocean, from shrimp to a whale and everything in between? Two! Where? In the head! Why? Because, the eyes are connected with a brain. Then I said: Is it not true that we are the only creature IN THE WORLD fully aware of the existence of a brain IN OUR HEAD serving the purpose to process our thoughts? And we know as a matter of fact that we are not thinking with our kidneys. I got smile out of him. Then I asked him: Is it not true that today we teach the children in our schools theory of evolution, which basically or in principle is stating that in the beginning of it all there was this chemical soup in which free floating molecules bounced all around at random and by chance ended up with variety of living creatures. He confirmed this to be so. Then I asked him final question. Is it not true then that in that initial state molecules were not organized, didn’t have eyes or a brain? Yes! And finally, final question: Then how was possible for a blind and brainless chemical soup to cook up and end up with eyes and brains interconnected in every creature with pair of eyes in a head of each creature on a consistent basis? What are the chanses of this chemical soup developing all of this without thinking or seeing what it was doing? I got a smile on his face. The chances of this happening by chance in mathematical terms, probability are of astronomical proportions. Then the train of thought was concluded with an observation. Each creature is only one of a kind that ended up with a comparable life partner “unintentionally” designed for procreation purpose. Humans are programmed and developed in a womb of our mother where on a fourth day we are smaller then a dot at the end of this sentence, according to National Geographic magazine. In a womb of a pregnant chimpanzee we will never see and find a baby gorilla on ultra sound. There is no chance of this ever to happen there by any chance. Why? The womb of a monkey is design and programmed for development only of its own kind. I didn't mention the name of God in all of this at all. I didn't have to. All I had to do is to love Him with all my heart, soul, strength and mind according to His command. And I did. I loved Him and my neighbor standing next to me - Creature made in His image that was conscious of having a brain I was counting to recognize with it who is behind the thoughtful composition of our bodies and has his eyes on a sparrow, to my knowledge as this is written in a book of life. I repeated the story in less than 90 seconds at a cashier stand leaving cashier and a grocery packing person with a smile on their face. This was done in a loving way. This is why results were good.
This is a result of a challange one minister posted: What can you say in 2 minutes or less abou God.
Geno Svast at 5:33am EDT - October 24, 2008
Hi Michael,
I can really releate to this story, God has been dealing with me on quick obedience and even quicker at listening. I enjoy each of your articles thanks for your insights.
Blessings to you
Kathleen at 5:53pm EDT - October 24, 2008
Michael,
With the eternal destiny of many unsaved souls hanging in the balance, it would be great if you would at least share a brief summay of all 7 principles so that we your readers could apply them without purchasing your book. Just a thought that I am compelled to share with you.God bless you and your ministry.
Isaac at 8:36am EDT - October 27, 2008