Sherry - 39 years old

Pete & I met Sherry in the food court at North Hill Centre sipping her Jumba Juice and looking at some children's books. We asked her if she would mind answering some questions from a spiritual questionnaire and she was quite happy to do so.  It took no time to find that Sherry was friendly, bubbly, and willing to engage in conversation.

She said that she had a religious background in the United Church when she was a kid, but that her family dropped out when they began to be involved in sports and she hasn't been back since.

"I don't know anyone who goes to church," she said.

"No one?" Pete asked.

"No. None of my friends go to church. I don't know of anyone who attends anymore."

She said that looking back on her religious experience as a kid, she would describe it with the words, "community," "fun," & "singing."

If she had the opporunity to ask God any questions, she said that she was not sure she would have any questions.

"Not even about the meaning of life? What your purpose is?"

She said, "No, I think it's up to each one of us to determine that."

"If at the end of your life, God said to you, 'Why should I let you into heaven?' what would you say?"

"You tell me," Sherry responded.  "I would say to God, You tell me what kind of person you think I am.  How would you evaluate my life?"  Sherry said she'd evaluate her own life at an 8 on a scale of 1-10.

"Do you mind if I ask you another question?" I said.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Do you believe that there is a personal God who created us?"

"Yes."

"And do you believe that there is something else awaiting us after we leave this planet?"

"Yes. Most definitely. I cannot believe this is all there is."

"You said that you wondered how God would evaluate your life," I said as Sherry nodded.  "Do you know what standard he would use to evaluate you?"

"No, I don't," she said.  "My 8 year old son was just asking me these kinds of questions recently and I didn't know what to say.  Do you know? What do you believe?"

"Thanks for asking.  I think that God will judge us by the Ten Commandments? Have you heard of those?"  Sherry nodded her head.

"I believe that we will have to give an account to our Creator of how we lived our lives against that standard.  We have all broken them, and since God is a just God, he must deal with that fact justly."  Sherry continued to nod, thinking about what we were saying.

"That's the bad news," I continued.  "But Jesus willingly took the justice our sins deserved when he died on the cross and had the sins of the world laid upon him and compressed upon him during those 6 hours he hung on the cross.  Because he did that, he can offer to us the forgiveness of our sins because that's exactly what  we need.  Jesus calls us to turn from our sins and our lives of independence, and turn in trust to him for his forgiveness and salvation."

This was clearly new to Sherry, and she seemed to be understanding it, but still made some comments that evidenced that she was still trapped in our cultural assumptions that no one can really know the truth.

I asked her if she had a New Testament, and she said she did.  I said, my name is John, and I want you to pick up the New Testament and turn to the Gospel of John and read it anew and in light of our conversation.  She said that she would, and Pete added that it might be good for her to read it with her 8 year old son (Mark) since he was asking these sorts of questions.  She seemed to be very agreeable to the idea.

She asked us what church we belonged to, and we told her about NCC.  We gave her a booklet explaining the gospel, as well as our contact info and NCC's website.  She lives about 45 minutes away in a neighboring city to Calgary, but said that she may just have to make the trip sometime if she could find a Sunday that didn't have anything else going on.

We thanked her for her conversation with us, and she thanked us as well saying that she was glad to have the opportunity to talk about these things since we don't normally do this in our culture.

--
1 John 5:13, "I write these things to you who believe in the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life."

Lord Jesus, thank you for opening a door for conversation about your Gospel, and I pray that you will use this in Sherry's life (and in her family's life) to reveal yourself to them that they may believe and have eternal life.

Chris - 24

My friend, Pete, & I headed over to a new fishing ground, North Hill Centre, close to our church.  With the colder weather setting in, people are moving inside.

We met Chris, a young, sharp dressed college student reading his Kindle.  He was glad to answer some questions about his spiritual beliefs and opinions. He is from a Roman Catholic background, but considers himself something of a religious skeptic. When asked about his religious experience, he used the words "family," "comfort," and "the importance of spirituality" to describe it.

He'd like to ask God, "Why? What's the purpose of everything."  If God were to ask him, "Why should I let you into heaven?" Chris responded, "He shouldn't.  I mean if he has to ask that question, I wouldn't want to go."

So Pete and I probed in this area, and had a good discussion that lasted quite some time.

Chris told us that he believes that God accepts everyone into heaven? When we pressed him on this ("Even someone like Hitler?"), he tried to keep to his original position by stating that God sees the big picture and he knows what social factors (& even mental deficiencies) would go into producing something like a Hitler.

I pressed him about personal responsibility, and how it would be hard to conceive of a God who didn't demand justice.  That is, if there is no justice and God just sort of 'overlooks' everything, how could we conceive of God being good, let alone just.

Chris eventually conceded that some people could end up banished from God's presence, though Chris clearly disliked the idea that this could be eternal. Pete pressed him a bit more and asked him if it was possible that someone who didn't want to be with God in this life could still have those same desires in the next life.  Chris had to admit that this was possible.

I asked him how he--being a Roman Catholic--understood something like the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and Chris responded by saying that he died as an example.

He said he'd be curious as to what we thought the message of the crucifixion was, and we told him we'd be glad to explain.  I explained that we are moral agents with a responsibility to live in accordance with God's standards, the Ten Commandments, but that we have all broken them and stand guilty before God.  Jesus died in the place of people like us, thus making a way for us to go from being guilty on the Day of Judgment to being innocent. God is just since he doesn't sweep sin under the carpet nor look the other way, and he can be merciful since Jesus stood in the sinner's place condemned.

In the end, Chris said that he couldn't accept that God would be that upset with our sins, even though he conceded that Jesus in some sense died for our sins.

We invited him to NCC & gave him our contact info promising to buy him a beer or coffee if he would like to discuss these things at a deeper level.  So, after about 45 minutes to an hour, we thanked him for his conversation.

We trust that we were able to clearly articulate the gospel, challenge a number of Chris' assumptions, and placed a pebble in his shoe with some things to think about.   May the Lord use this to draw Chris to himself.

--
I John 3:4, "Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness."

Lord, would you convince Chris of your holy standard, and of your holy opposition to our sin, that he might find in you the forgiveness that you offer to all lawbreakers.

Dusty-22 years old & Lance-29 years old (part 2)

**Read part 1 first
-----

"Can I tell you guys what I think will happen when we die? I'd be curious what you'd think," I asked.

"Sure," Dusty & Lance said eagerly.

"I believe that we were created by an infinite & powerful God who made us in His image. That means that we have the ability to make moral decisions--the ability to choose between right & wrong. When we die, we will be judged according to the Ten Commandments. Have you heard of those?" They both nodded, Lance more definitively, Dusty more hesitatingly as if searching to remember.

Directing my question to Lance, I said, "Can you name any of them?"

"There's something about theft or some kind of #%$&@%. Something about your neighbour."

"Yeah, you remember some. Let me help you out. Let's say that what I believe is true: God will judge us by the Ten Commandments. How do you think you would do?"

"Oh, I'd be screwed," Lance quickly affirmed. Dusty laughed, nodding his head in agreement.

"Well, let's look at a couple of them and see," I offered. "Have you ever lied or stolen anything?"

"#%$&@%  yeah," Lance said. Dusty nodded.

"Have you ever used God's name in vain? Do you find yourself using God's name as a cuss word?"

"I used to, but I try not to anymore," Lance admitted. Dusty nodded.

"Have you ever committed adultery?" They both hesitated so I clarified, "Adultery is having sex with anyone who is not your spouse."

Lance laughed pointing his finger at Dusty, "Dude, you  #%$&@  committed adultery 5 times this #%$&@! week." Dusty blushed like a kid caught with his hand in the cooking jar. Lance boasted, "I haven't had sex in a year. I'm like a  #%$&@%  born-again virgin!" he boasted, both fists in the air above his head.

"Did you know that Jesus said that if you look at a woman with lust, you've already committed adultery with her in your heart?" I queried.

"Aw,  #%$&@" he said. "I'm  #%$&@  screwed."

"Let me ask both of you something: If you were to die tonight and God judged you by the Ten Commandments, would he find you innocent or guilty of breaking them?"

They both said at the same time, "Guilty."

"But doesn't God forgive? I mean, if we ask him to forgive us, doesn't he have to?" Lance asked.

"Let's shift gears a bit. Let's say that your buddy, Dusty, killed your mom."

Dusty laughed nervously, but Lance began making fists and said to him, "If you did that, I'd #%$&@%  kill you. You don't  #%$&@% with my mom."

Trying to refocus him, I said, "Lance, what would you think if Dusty told the judge, 'I'm sorry for doing this, and I'll never do it again. Please forgive me.' And the judge lets him go. What would you think?

"I'd  #%$&@%  track him down and kill him," referring to Dusty while making fists with a scowl on his face.

"What would you think about the judge if he let him off without demanding justice?"

"He'd be a  #%$&@%  d'bag," he said with indignation.

"Well, let's transfer this to God. He is just & righteous and will no means clear the guilty. What would you think of God if he just swept things under the rug and just forgave everyone of their crimes?"

The wheels were turning in Lance's head. "I see what you mean," and then he protested, " If God judges us by the Ten Commandments, then we're all  #%$&@  screwed."

"Yes, we are," I concurred. "All of us, You, Dusty, Annie, and I are all screwed because we have all sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard. But if you could go from being guilty to innocent on judgment day, wouldn't you want to know?"

"#%$&@%  yeah," said Lance. I looked at Dusty who nodded in agreement.

So I told them about how God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. He lived the perfect life (obeyed the Ten Commandments perfectly) and died in the place of people like us. Because he did that, God can be just (the penalty has been paid) and merciful.

"Does that make sense?" I asked.

"Yeah, it does," Lance said he as turned to Dusty who was nodding in agreement. Then -- and this is the  great part -- Lance began to ask Dusty,"Can you imagine anyone being willing to take your   #%$&@%  punishment? I mean, a priest or a rabbi or some other good person might be willing to, but really, who would want to do that for you?" Dusty continued to nod his head in agreement.

I said, "You don't know this but you are basically quoting Scripture: 'For a good person, someone might be willing to die. But God demonstrates his love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Dusty & Lance were hanging on every word.

"Guys," I said, "you've heard the bad news (we're all screwed because we've all sinned) and you've heard the good news (Christ died for people like us). Now we've got to do something with what we've heard. We have to respond to this news, and we do that by turning from our sins and trusting in what Christ did for us. 'For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

"Wow, I've got a lot to think about," said Lance.

Nodding in agreement, Dusty said, "Yeah, me too."

Annie & I encouraged them to think deeply on these things and to respond to the gospel. Neither of them had a copy of the Bible, so I gave Dusty a New Testament and Lance a copy of The Essential Jesus (the Gospel of Luke), along with booklets explaining the Gospel for which they were thankful.  Lance said he'd read the Gospel of John before, and he opened to it and was skimming the words.

I asked if I could take a picture with them, and they were delighted to do so. They insisted that I stand in the middle of them. From left to right, Lance, yours truly, and Dusty.

Luke 19:10, "For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost."
__

Lord Jesus, would you seek out and save these two new friends, Lance & Dusty. My heart breaks for them, but I sense your pursuit of them. Just as you have shown mercy to me, would you show mercy to them?

Dusty-22 years old & Lance-29 years old (part 1)

My friend, Annie, & I headed downtown to the Occupy Calgary protest to do some interviews and to see if we could get into spiritual conversations with some of the folks there.

[On a side note, some friends of mine (thanks Pete & Bruce) sent a link to an article on the very different ways in which the police and city are handling the Occupy protesters over against Christians working / preaching on the same spot. You will find it interesting.]

It was a cold (41F/5C), cloudy day, and when we first arrived, we found the place to be a near ghost-town.  I've never seen this part of downtown Calgary this vacant. Usually the Olympic Plaza is filled with people milling around, people watching, etc. This time was very different.

We did find Dusty & Lance hanging around outside their tents (they later told us they had been a part of the protest for two weeks). [If you look hard at the picture you can see them in the center.] We approached them & told them we were with a group called New City Church & we were asking people 5 brief questions from an informal spiritual questionnaire. They said they'd be glad to participate.

Dusty believes that there is "a god," but most likely there are other spiritual beings greater than God (the "Illuminati," as he called them). He has had no spiritual upbringing or background and came to these beliefs as an adult. He would describe his present spirituality as "strong, powerful, & great."

He would like to ask God, "How did we get here, and what's our purpose?" If he were to face God when he died, he would tell God that the reason he should get into heaven--if it existed--is that he is a kind, spirited guy (which seemed to be true).   He'd also rank himself on a scale of 1-10 at a "7."

His buddy Lance--the more vocal of the two--is a former Jehovah's Witness. It might be more accurate to say that his mother was a JW because they were kicked out of that organization when his mother got divorced. Lance was 10 years old when this happened.

When asked what one question he'd like to ask God, he agreed with the question that Dusty put forward and added, "When is the end of the world going to  #%$&@%  happen?" Annie was quick to ask why this question was significant.  Lance said that he'd wants to prepare for it. Annie sought to clarify, "Does that mean physical preparation or spiritual?"And Lance said, "Both.  I've got to stock up on food and  #%$&@%, but I've also got to get right with God." I'm already drooling.

Lance also went on to tell us about his belief that aliens are already here on the earth, and that there are probably spaceships everywhere in our atmosphere, we just can't see them. He also told us about hearing God's voice one time when he jokingly told a Muslim woman he passed in the streets that he was God.  When he turned the corner, the sky parted and a ray of sun shone down and a loud, audible voice said, "No, you're not God. I am." Which basically freaked him out.

Lance says he has seen the Devil when he was a little high on crystal meth ("not that high") and the Devil & demons were beckoning him to come onto their side. He saw a very visible manifestation of the Grim Reaper passing by. Then a "warrior angel" appeared wearing battle gear and having a huge wingspan.  Lance said that this angel flapped its wings once lifting itself instantly about 20 feet off the ground. The shockwave of the wing-thrust shook the earth and dispelled the vision.  The angel then disappeared, and Lance says he knew right then that God was looking after him.

When asked what he would say when he dies if God were to ask him, "Why should I let you into heaven?", Dusty admitted frankly, "Please forgive me.  I know that I've done a lot of  #%$&@%  in my life and I need  #%$&@%  forgiveness." In spite of this, Lance would rank himself at a 7.5 on the goodness scale. "I've done a lot of good things. I even let Dusty stay at my place once when he needed somewhere to stay."

I thanked them for their answers to their questions and asked if I could ask them one more. They readily agreed.

"What do you think happens when you die?"

Dusty said, "I don't know. I think we go on to some kind of existence. I definitely believe in reincarnation."

"Maybe you could help me out on this, Dusty," I said. "Who gets to decide how we come back? I mean, who or what determines if we come back as a roach or a human or an angel? Is it God, or one of these other beings you say exists? Is it the outworking of an impersonal force?"

"Wow, that's a good question. I never thought about that."

"Doesn't that also imply some sort of standard by which you will be judged?"

"Yes," Dusty said, his eyes seemingly searching for a possible answer.

"Do you know what that standard will be by which you will be judged?" I probed.

"No, I don't," he admitted.

"That must be pretty scary," I said. Dusty nodded in sober agreement.

"Can I tell you guys what I think will happen when we die?  I'd be curious what you'd think."

"Sure," they both said eagerly.

See part 2.