D.C. Trip and Evangelism

Lizzie and I arrived home late last night from an encouraging 5 days in our nation's capital. We spent absolutely no time whatsoever doing anything one normally does in D.C. Instead we enjoyed the company and fellowship of the wonderful brothers and sisters of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, and, in particular, our dear friends the Gilbart-Smiths. Mike and Hannah were exceedingly gracious to host Liz and me for the week. This entailed: a lot of British/American jokes; loads of questions thrown at Mike from me; observation of two patient, godly parents doing their best to bring up Abigail, Joshua and Daniel in the fear and admonition of the Lord; and some good eats (i.e. Wimbledon cake - very light!). We are so encouraged by our time, and we praise God for such Christ-exalting friends.

Mike exhorted me to work on my personal evangelism and discipleship efforts. He also helped me think through some things. For example, as a seminary student I have a quick and easy road to take conversations towards the Gospel. I had certainly attempted to use this in the past, but I realized that I have been too heavy on "periods" instead of "question marks." So instead of: "I'm training to be a preacher of the gospel" (which requires no response whatsoever), I should say, "I'm training to be a preacher of the gospel. What about you? Are you a religious person? Why do you believe that?" and so on. And the conversation could go anywhere from there. Here's the point: seize opportunities to ask "why" questions. Steer the ship towards the glory of Christ in the gospel.

Okay, off to watch an episode of Planet Earth with the one whom my soul loves...