Day 40 - The Harvest Is Plentiful: John, Richard, Buddy and the Community Service Crowd

At about 7:45 each morning, crowds begin to gather outside of the Tulsa County Courthouse waiting for the doors to open at 8:00. The open area in the photo fills up with people in the morning. They then form a large line to go through the metal detector. It's a great place to share the gospel. The harvest is plentiful there. Me and some friends from Tulsa Bible Church shared with crowds, small groups, and one-on-one this morning. We had some great witnessing encounters.

John, Richard, and others that I met today did not know what their eternal destiny would be if they died today. I asked if they wanted to know, and they did. With their permission, I went through the Way of the Master approach to sharing the Gospel with them (see the video clips at the bottom of this blog for great examples of the WOTM approach). I urged them to obey the gospel by repenting of their sins and trusting in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. John said he wasn't sure that he was ready to act the truth today. I warned him gently and sincerely to act today, before it's too late, because he's not assured of another day.

Buddy, a young man probably in his 20s, had been sentenced to community service and was at the Courthouse to see his probation officer. He professed to be a born again believer. I asked him if he was following the Lord. He said he was. I asked how he followed the Lord. He said he talked to Him occasionally. I said that's good, but asked him if he wanted to know what Jesus said about how to follow the Lord. He said he did. I explained to him that Jesus said in John 8:31-32 that His true followers continue in His word daily (Matt. 4:4) and seek to obey the truth. I also shared with Buddy how Jesus said his true followers follow Jesus' example in learning how to fish for men and in going out and actually fishing for men, since that's the Lord's mission. He honestly admitted that he wasn't reading the word and wasn't learning how to fish for men. I explained that the bible encourages us to examine ourselves carefully to make sure that we're really in the faith and asked him to consider whether he's growing in his walk with the Lord and moving toward holiness with an increasing hatred for evil. He thought about that. I encouraged him to get his bible out each day, start reading the book of John, and ask the Lord to help him obey what he reads. I hope the encouragement awakened in Buddy a realization that he needs a genuine daily walk with the Lord that leads to true holiness and living with an eye on the Lord's mission while he still has time.

Then there was David. David had a humble, contrite spirit. He, too, had been sentenced to community service and was on probation. He had a believing grandmother he had encouraged him to separate from the evil influences that he had been involved in that had led him astray. She urged him to repent and trust in Christ for salvation, which he said he had done. She exhorted him to get on the right path with his life by getting plugged into a strong church (and he named a strong church that he had gotten plugged into). He was now starting to spend time in the word since having been in jail for a period of time. He demonstrated a genuine desire to put the Lord first in his life in order to allow the Lord to turn his life around from a path of destruction to a path of life. I encouraged David to continue following the Godly counsel of his loving grandmother and to continue daily in the Word of God for growth and maturity. What a blessing to see how the Lord was already at work in David's life.

Then there were the crowds of community service workers waiting for their supervisor to pick them up. They were so attentive to the word and to the gospel. They could totally relate to judgment and justice, having experienced it first hand. They could understand having to stand before God in judgment one day (Heb. 9:27) and how He could not simply turn a blind eye to sin. The gospel then made sense to them as they saw the legal effect of Jesus' substitutionary atonement for their sin. I pray the Lord caused many to repent and trust Him for salvation today! The mornings at the Courthouse are some of the most rewarding and exciting times of my life! I remember what it was like to be in bondage to sin, and I remember the inexpressible joy of knowing that I had been forgiven and saved and that my eternal destiny was secure by the loving sacrifice of God himself. I want everyone to experience that, too!