JOHN THE BAPTIST, JESUS AND ME
We were able to attend an international church in Accra on Sunday. We really enjoyed it. The pastor that 
spoke was from Holland. There were many people there other countries including Ghana. The worship was in English and included a few familiar songs. Again, due to the heavy accents and the unfamiliar surroundings I found myself unable to really focus. So I just opened the bible and began to read about the ministry of John the Baptist. I was suddenly overwhelmed by what I was reading and my heart began to burn. I realized John’s ministry was my ministry and that Stuart and I are here to prepare the way of the Lord. Just like John we are here to make room for others to encounter the living God. We are here to testify like John that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Again, like John we are here to declare His Kingdom and give testimony to the fact that He longs to baptize you with His Spirit. I was so encouraged that the Lord was speaking to me.
Suddenly, I looked over at a man in another row. He was visibly oppressed. My heart broke and I could feel his burden. I knew his story was long and he was lost. After the message closed I went to him immediately. His story was a long string of betrayals and abuses. He was practically homeless, his frame was weak, and his body was aged by years of poor choices and sin. He was blind in one eye from someone beating him up. He reminded me of so many of the homeless that we ministered to every month for years in Santa Ana, California. I finally said, “Look you’ve lived your life, you’ve been in charge of it and look what has happened? Where are you at with God?” The first thing he said, “I haven’t been to church in a long time so I came here and this is my second time.” Whenever you hear someone start talking about Church when you ask a question about God it usually means they have no relationship with Him. So I told him, “I don’t care how many times you had been to church, a matter of fact forget church for a moment.” He was surprised by my comment and began to listen. We went on to talk about a personal relationship with God. I asked him if he had ever asked the Lord to forgive him of his sin. You could see the shame as he responded sheepishly, “You don’t know what I have done.” Then came the excuses, “I think I am like this because of my childhood.” I finally just challenged him to get saved. He agreed that he desperately needed to get saved and gave his life to Christ. We introduced him to the pastor of the church and encouraged him to come forward for prayer and to keep coming back.
You know so many of us attend church assuming the person next to us knows the Lord but that’s not true. People wander in all the time because of life circumstances or maybe even come because their children are at an age where they feel they need something spiritual. I have actually run into this one a lot. Keep your eyes open in church and let’s catch the ones that jump into our boat! I left the church that morning rejoicing and excited that I could be a part of what just happen.
As I pondered the things the Lord had shown me during the service and the immediate opportunity to lead someone to Christ I was reminded again, John’s ministry is our ministry. We are all called to prepare the way of the Lord. It’s the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son all working together that birth a new believer and all we have to do is be a voice like John the Baptist. We have to open our mouths. Paul says it this way, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! — Romans 10:14-15. Raise your voice like John who said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” All I did was say the same thing to a man sitting in church and the Lord came. Raise your voice today and prepare the way for someone to have an encounter with Jesus. Amen?
