Last week, I stopped in to buy a snack from at a Exxon gas station.  One of Switchfoot's songs was on the radio.  I asked the attendant, Manuel, who is 22 years old, if he had heard the song before. Manuel said that he had.  I asked him if he had ever listened to the words.  Manuel said that he hadn't.  So, I started speaking the words of the song as Switchfoot was singing.  Then I asked Manuel what he thought those words meant.  From that, the door was flung open for me to share, over the next 30 minutes, a full presentation of sin, righteousness and judgment.  He asked questions and I answered them.  Before leaving, I asked Manuel if he had a Bible at home.  He said that he did.  I encouraged him to read it because it would explain in greater detail what I just got through sharing with him.  Manuel said that he would.

Today, I stopped back in the Exxon station to buy another snack (Sobe's and Snickers are great snacks after a workout - carbs and protein). Manuel was in there again.  Immediately he exclaimed, "Welcome, my friend!"  I returned the greeting.  My daughter was in the car so I couldn't stay and talk, but as I was checking out, I asked him if he had thought any more concerning what we talked about.  He said that he has thought alot about it.  I asked him if he has started reading his Bible.  He told me that he had started reading a little bit each day since then.  I told him that I would stop back by later when I had more time (I had a meeting to get to).  He answered, "Okay."

As I drove away, he waved bye to me.

Two prayer requests:

1. Prayer of thanksgiving and praise that God has 'begun a good work' in Manuel AND that God would take the next step in that work (i.e. salvation).
   
2. Forsyth County (the county in which I live) has the 7th fasted growing community in the nation.  Being that there are a lot of home developments, many Latinos are moving to the area to find work.  The Latino population is increasing steadily.  When I was at Carson-Newman, one way I reached out to the Brazilians on the men's soccer team was letting them teach me a little bit of Portuguese - their native language.  You could see they were very grateful and felt honored for someone trying to learn their language and great friendships were cultivated as a result.  I desire to witness to the Latino's, however, I do not know Spanish. Please be in prayer that God would provide the resources to purchase computer software to help me learn Spanish or that God would, perhaps, provide someone in a local church who can teach me. I want to use every opportunity I have to share the Gospel.

As always, thank you for your prayers and e-mails/phone calls of encouragement.

This past weekend, my family and I drove up to Atlanta.  While we were getting gas, I began talking to the attendant, Dubon.  I asked him if he could give me directions.  He asked, "To where?"  I answered, "Heaven."  "What?" he chuckled.  I continued, "Well, you give directions to everywhere else, can you give me directions to Heaven?"  He responded, "Yeah, you just kind of caught me off guard.  You have to believe in Jesus Christ and repent."  I said, "Yep.  Now have you done that?"  He said, "Yes. I go to church up the road from here."  Then I said, "That's awesome. Now, are you living the life Christ has called you to live?" He answered, "Like I said, I do go to church."  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you are going to church, but its more than just attending church.  Jesus Christ has called us to be his disciple.  You've heard that word in church haven't you?"  Dubon repsonded, "Yeah."  I continued, "Well, the word disciple means 'learner,' or 'someone who takes what they learn and put it in to practice. Are you practicing what you learn at church?  You see its like working here at the gas station and then taking your paycheck, ripping it up and throwing it away.  You wouldn't do that would you?  Going to church, but not putting into practice what you learn, is like work here, but throwing away your paycheck.  Its almost like wasting your time and the time you spend at church is, therefore, not worth much."  Dubon replied, "You know, I've never really thought about it that way.  That actually makes a lot sense." We parted and Dubon thanked me for taking the time to talk to him.