I wasn’t willing and I knew it. I kept my window seat as our new traveling companion sat down in the aisle seat next to my husband. She smiled warmly when we introduced ourselves and several times later during the three-hour flight. I had some things to do, but if I had been open to God’s leading, I would’ve offered her the window seat right away when she arrived so I could then sit next to her, chat, and find out her interest in spiritual things. I knew God was speaking to me in my heart and mind and yet I didn’t follow His leading.

A week later, we were returning home on a 757 and I was sitting by the window again. As usual, I preferred to do some things during the flight, but at the same time I didn’t want to repeat what happened on the previous flight. We watched as dozens of travelers walked past us and the third seat remained empty. More than twenty minutes later, Sananda arrived. We introduced ourselves, but I stayed in my seat, with my husband sitting between Sananda and myself. Sh...

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“How ya doin’, God?” laughed the man.

He continued with his loud, scoffing remarks as I quickly walked away. I had given “Would You Like To Know God Personally?” to this clerk in the electronics section of Wal-Mart.

Don’t be afraid to encounter the scoffers. The blessings of encountering receptive people FAR outweighs any negative experiences.

In handing out tracts more consistently to hundreds of people for about a decade, only four people refused my offer of a booklet and they did so politely. The vast majority accept it and many of those people are even enthusiastic. The man at Wal-Mart was making a scene and is the only negative experience I have had in over thirty years of witnessing.

I realize the people in your part of the world may be less open. . . even hostile.

I hope this excerpt from page 150 in The Move of the Holy Spirit in the 10/40 Window by Luis Bush and Beverly Peques is an encouragement to you:

“… believers in a church in a North African nation used to meet discreetly, fearing...

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Jesus said we are salt: “You are the salt of the earth.” (Matthew 5:13)

Our presence, even a few of us, should be discernible, making a difference. Where there are many of us, we should have great influence. The things that Jesus brings to a life– love, joy, peace, truth, patience, kindness, self-control, trust, holiness, righteousness, justice and many other character qualities—should be so evident in the children of God that we permeate the community around us. We salt society.

So here’s the problem. In too many places, you can’t taste the salt.

(Read the rest of this post on Judy Douglass’ blog, Kindling.)

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“God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.” ~ John 3:16 CEV

Mike is a long-time Pittsburgh Steelers fan.  The Schmitts are also University of Florida Gators fans; we especially enjoyed watching the football games when Tim Tebow was the quarterback.  Josh saw every game in “The Swamp” his last year at UF.  (Also Tim’s last year.)

Many of you know the Steelers lost to the Broncos Sunday 29 to 23 in “the fastest overtime win in NFL history”.  You may not know that the statistics from that game have caused an eruption of sorts on the internet. (See first point in “notes” below.)  Here’s some of the numbers:

• Tim had 316 total passing yards
• Tim averaged 31.6 yards per pass
• and the final quarter-hour TV rating for the game was 31.6, “the highest-rated wild card game for CBS in 24 years” (see point one in “notes”)

Millions of fans searched the internet for John 3:16 after learning  of Tim’s unus...

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As we celebrate Thanksgiving and thank God for His abundant provision, let’s reflect on God’s great “spiritual harvest” that He invites us to join. Jesus speaks of this harvest in John chapter 4. (Mike has taught from this passage from time-to-time, so we thought you might enjoy some of these spiritual lessons today as well.)

Please grab your Bible, read John 4: 1 – 42, and join Mike for a short Bible study.
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In verse 4, the Scriptures indicate that Christ chose to go through Samaria. In those days Jews avoided Samaria because of a long-standing dislike between the two nations.

Spiritual lesson 1: The Lord of the harvest directs the workers to where the harvest will take place. That place may be dangerous or be uncomfortable for us.

You’ll also notice in verse 7 that Jesus was alone at the well when he initiated a conversation with the Samaritan woman. This surprised her because it violated “cultural norms”.

Spiritual lesson 2: In the harvest, the Lord often ...

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