Well Done

While we were members at Lynhurst Baptist Church the Lay Institute for Evangelism (LIFE) conducted by Campus Crusade for Christ came for six days and nights. I signed up for the morning sessions because the girls were in school, and no childcare was needed. Rex attended the evening sessions while I stayed home with the girls. Every evening, I would wait for Rex to return home and hear his comments. LIFE was not anything like we expected. Both of us thought it would be training in Scripture memorization and how to use it when sharing with others about our Lord. For me it was utterly life changing. The first session of LIFE the instructor gave this comparison of a Christian’s life. If a toy electric train were running around the tracks and a metal bar was placed across the tracks it would short circuit the power and the train would stop. He said the entire electric power of the city of Indianapolis could not move that train with the metal bar short circuiting that power. He said that is what sin does in a Christian’s life if not confessed and turned from. Sin short circuits the power of God in your life. Then he had us separate and sit alone somewhere in the auditorium. We were each given a sheet of paper and told to write down any sins we needed to confess. The instructor told us to be honest as God already knew. No one would look at another’s paper as we would take it home with us and destroy it when finished. About ten minutes later he told us to write on our paper First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I wrote it down on my paper, but what the instructor said next socked me between the eyes: “It is not enough to write it down because if you do not believe that God has forgiven you of your confessed sins, which is the SIN of UNBELIEF.” He explained we are only variable, “if we.” No “if” on God’s part. Up until then I had felt defeated in my Christian walk, but now this very heavy burden lifted because I chose to believe God. The second session of LIFE was spiritual breathing. Exhaling was confession and inhaling was asking the Holy Spirit to fill us. No need to make a list as we had the day before. The instructor shared with us if we were filled with God’s Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God would convict us when we sinned. We only needed to confess any sin as soon as we were convicted (exhale) and appropriate the filling of His Spirit (inhale). Waiting until bedtime prayers to confess rather than immediately upon conviction by the Holy Spirit made you an easy target for your enemy of your soul. By the end of the week, we were out visiting people in the community taking a survey and sharing our faith with those who were interested. Several made decisions to become Christ followers. God uses His Word to change hearts. – Franklin Graham