Black Sheep

It's Time To Get Real... ...about sharing Jesus! Marty Edwards Last month many of us were in Colorado Springs for our 2021 International Leadership Conference (ILS). It was an outstanding event with members from 33 US states attending...so happy to be OUT and seeing their brothers and sisters for the first time in three years! On Saturday morning, our last day of the conference, I was standing before three hundred or so of our members, about to deliver my annual address. The one thought that kept running through my mind was, "It doesn't matter how many new members we have or how 'big' we are as an organization, if we are not seeing an annual net gain of those who are coming to Christ for salvation." If Black Sheep isn't partly responsible for seeing people transformed by the power of God, we're just another motorcycle "club." My dream for BSHDFC is to realize the reality of Acts chapter two: "In the last days, God says, 'I will pour out my Spirit on all people... and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'" (2:17) " When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (2:37-39) "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." (2:41) Shining boots as a way to meet people is a good start, but that's all it is; a good start. Handing out a cup of cold water on a hot days works too - but good deeds are not the goal, they are simply a sincere gesture of kindness in order to create an opportunity to tell people about Jesus. Only the Holy Spirit can draw people to salvation, but it's our job to be actively looking for the opportunity. It's time for us to get real! "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." 1Peter 3:15 So, where do we begin? For many Christians, just hearing the words "testimony" or "sharing the Gospel" causes their hands to sweat and their heart rate to go up. They say, "But I'm not a preacher...I don't have the gift of evangelism" and "I don't know the Bible that well." And yet, we have all been called to "be prepared to give an answer for the hope that we have received." (1Peter 3:15) If we cannot do that, then we need to ask ourselves some seriously important questions. Is it fear? Is it pride? R "Am I afraid of being embarrassed?" R "Am I afraid of not having the answers?" R "Am I afraid of losing friends or respect?" Has not God commanded us to "fear not" and be His witnesses to the ends of the earth? Haven't we learned by now that He will never leave us or forsake us? And even if we are made to look foolish,"God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." (1Corinthians 1:27) Imagine standing before Christ one day and having to say, "But I was afraid to speak up. I didn't want to be embarrassed or look foolish. I didn't want to be made fun of." And in that instant we realize that He was made fun of, He was ridiculed and mocked...so that we might be saved." "Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." (Luke 9:26) And have we not embroidered, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" on our backs? 2. If I believe that I am not qualified, there are two things to consider. In one sense, none of us will never be "qualified." None of us will ever have ALL the answers ...and somebody will always come along, who is able to "stump" us with a difficult question. But we were never asked to be Biblical scholars or experts in hermeneutics. Our response might not be anything more than, "All I know is once I was blind but now I see!" Most Christians will never be expected to give a Biblical dissertation on any subject, but any of us can ask, "Can I tell you what Jesus means to me?" When riding a motorcycle became important to us, we learned how to ride a motorcycle. (It took some longer than

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