He had never stepped into a church building before. He was raised with no real input whatsoever about the Bible, the claims of Christ, or God. All he had heard was negative comments about ‘the church’.
But something was stirring in his heart. He was drawn to be here. He was compelled at a certain level to find out what this was all about…
He had said ‘yes’ to attending a Wholehearted Husband’s event, even though he is not married – he is still a teenager. He works for a Christian businessman who thought this might be an opportunity for him to learn something about Jesus.
They had been talking about Jesus at work, and the businessman realized this young man was open-hearted. He was open to see how life could be different from what he had been experiencing so far.
So, it was with a certain degree of hopeful trepidation he agreed to spend a day in a church building with dozens of Christian men learning to become better husbands.
The first session impacted him deeply. The message was the “Father Heart of God” – the critical revelation upon which our marriages and our lives need to be built. The deep revelation that we are beloved sons of our Heavenly Father; that our Father delights in us!
What? A message of love and hope? That is not what this young man had experienced in his life thus far. He could sense his heart, like a bone-dry sponge, beginning to come alive in the waters of life.
At the break he shared with me how the message was resonating deeply within him. He wanted to talk more – this was paradigm shifting Truth for him. He had never heard a message like this before. I could see very clearly the Lord was powerfully drawing him home. We agreed to speak more at the lunch break.
We sat down after eating with 20 minutes before the next session. He poured his heart out further. His life was hopeless; he was at a dead end staring into an abyss. He needed a new beginning; he didn’t want to live in despair any more. It was clear this was his time to meet Jesus. It was time to trade in his ‘death’ for Jesus’ life. It was time to be born again.
How do I summarize the gospel in less than 5 minutes? Lord, please give me a picture that will resonate with this young man. And then the Lord gave me a very simple picture of the choice that lay before this young man – a choice that lies before each of us.
There are two ‘families’: One is the Family of God where our Father loves and delights in His children. It’s a family residing in a house of love led by a Father who longs for His children to know all that is in His heart for them – life, love, freedom, faith, hope, justice, peace, righteousness, and all the other attributes of life for which He has created, crafted and called us.
There is also a dark house. A house ruled by the father of lies who wants to abuse and oppress his ‘family’. He wants ‘his children’ to live in fear, hopelessness, despair, discouragement, hatred, enmity, jealousy, depression and all that is contrary to that for which we have been created by our loving Heavenly Father.
This young man knows what it means to live in this dark house.
However, across the street is the house filled with the children of God, and the Father is calling him to join the family. At the front of the house is Jesus, who is the doorway to being born again into the family of God to live in the delight of our Father.
So, do you want to continue living in the house of darkness with the father of lies, or do want to cross the street, meet Jesus and ask Him to be born again into the Family of God? This young man then said, “I have crossed the street and am standing in front of Jesus saying, ‘I want to join the family of God as a beloved son of my Heavenly Father.'”
So that’s exactly what we did.
Welcome to the family!
Acts 2:21
“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
John 14:6
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'”
James 1:17
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”