It's a Long Road...

Devonte in the SHAQ sweater

One of the first things I did when I joined CEF was visit a Good News Club (GNC).  For those of you who aren't familiar with a GNC, a GNC is a 1-2 hour program for (mostly unchurched) kids.  During the club the kids get help with their homework, sing songs, memorize Bible verses and learn Bible lessons.  but maybe most importantly, for that hour or two in the week the children know they are loved.

At the end of the club a six year old boy named Devonte walked up to Leslie (the club teacher) and said that he wanted to receive Jesus.  For the next fifteen minutes I saw Leslie sit down with Devonte, open the Bible and ask him questions about the gospel; Why do you want to receive Jesus?  What is sin?  What did Jesus do for you?  How was Jesus different?...

To my surprise Leslie didn't just say "Okay, repeat after me."  No, instead, using her Bible, she made sure Devonte understood what he was doing before teaching him how to pray to receive Jesus.  And there I sat watching six year old Devonte pray to receive Jesus.

How many Christians would there really be if we made sure everyone truly understood the gospel before leading them to the Lord?  I remember inviting kids to receive Jesus on several occasions and telling them to raise their hands if they wanted to.  There's nothing really wrong with that, except that I never knew if the kids knew what they were doing.

I think too often Christians focus too much on numbers and getting people "saved" that a lot of people who end up making the "decision" don't fully know what they're doing.  How often have we heard people encouraged to receive Jesus for reasons such as: if you want healing; if you want your marriage to be restored; if you want financial blessing; if you want this; if you want that...

Lost in all of that is that the only reason anyone should ever receive Jesus is because they are a sinner and realize that they need Jesus to save them from the punishment of their sins.  No wonder we have so many nominal Christians.

"For God so loved the world He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should never die, but have eternal life."  John 3:16.

Me and Devonte at Jr. camp this summer

Fast forward six years, where's Devonte now?  He's had his ups and downs but he's been the most consistent kid in our inner city ministry.  He's grown a lot spiritually and is viewed as a leader among his peers, he is learning to be a man of truth and is entering his second year in our Leaders in Training program.  He is a leader of leaders and the Lord is capturing more of His heart each day.  There is no limit to how God can use him.  Please keep praying for him.