Just Wondering....
 

I know I ramble alot and stuff but I was thinking(yeah yeah...all of you are gasping in terror at me living dangerously...lol) we talk about outreach...but as far as us who are in church...have you ever been approached by anyone pentecostal or whatever who has made an attempt to reach out to not knowing who you are or where you go to church?...just seems that I walk past so many pentecostal people who seem so closed off...never speak...never gives u a second glance..SURE I have the HolyGhost....

Re: Just Wondering....
 

but THEY dont know that...I hardly ever wear suits...have short sleeves mostly...look like other guys...just kinda disturbs me that not one time in 25 years has anyone tried to witness to me...I know I know...you're thinking DUDE! WHATS UR DEAL? YOU HAVE THE HOLYGHOST! Yeah...but what if I didnt...what if I wasnt born into this?Would someone tried to have won me by now?Would I still be lost?Would people still pass me by?...just thinking...and yes I DO initiate conversations myself...hehe i'll talk to ANYONE

Re: Just Wondering....
 

I'm gonna be really rude and just do this. :slaphappy:ursofunny

HERE, not a chance. NONE. UPC churches do not actually fellowship each other here. The sheep might wander to the other side of the fence. *gasp*

OK, now that I've gotten some people really riled up, yeah I know it's not this way everywhere. It is here though, and it really, really, really bothers me. And if you think people don't notice that UPC people don't even look at each other, much less talk or do things together, y'all are funny too.

Re: Just Wondering....
 

Now that you mention this...there's an old guy who rides the 3 pm bus from the city to my town every day. lol He's a creepy old guy, who happens to attend an UPC church. He approaches everyone. *sigh* It's a shame really, the bus system btwn cities here is kind of rough, and there are people who will really wait an hour for the next bus vs riding the bus with him. (the next bus puts them home 2.5 hours later..and it's worth it to them to miss him)

But no, aside from that I've never been approached. I do know the church I used to go to puts flyers up every now and then, it was twice a month for awhile, I'm not sure about now.

Re: Just Wondering....
 

I just think that if we are being truly effective we should see some overlapping thats all...Or how about ministry? Has anyone ever walked up to you in a Walmart or something(since it IS our natural habitat) and through the course of the conversation ministered to a need in your life?

Re: Just Wondering....
 

Nope. Not someone obviously Apostolic. They avoid everyone as far as I can tell. (and I worked at Walmart, I got to witness quite a few interactions..er..lack of them)

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We moved to this part of town (a subdivision called Forest Park) in 1971.
A few years later a UPC moved to Springdale, next door to Forest Park.

One day we had a knock on our door and one of the members of the UPC was going door to door inviting people to their church. We knew him and his family and talked to him for a while. At that time we were going to an ALJC church.

Re: Just Wondering....
 

I can honestly say that its happened to me just one time...it was over ten years ago and my family had gone through a great loss...we were in this resteraunt and this elderly man and his wife out of the blue invited us over to their table and not even knowing us began to minister to us and prayed for us and bought our meals I remember as my mom and dad wept in that shoneys...that man was a lifesaver...if our own are neglected...how much more are we failing the lost?

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Heres a scenario for you...lets say you were never in church...no family connections to the church or anything,the only contact you could ever have with the church is through a random chance meeting with a total stranger,now lets really get down to the nitty gritty,lets say that the person you randomly come in contact with makes an effort only at the level that you do currently as a HG filled believer,would that level of effort be enough to reach u?Would u still be lost?I probably would and it scares me.

Re: Just Wondering....
 

This is a good thought. We should all think about this. Even if we're afraid of what the answer is. If we truly considered this, how would it change the way we interact with sinners on a daily basis. I would hope it would change us greatly.

Re: Just Wondering....
 

ShayHyler,

This is interesting...I think maybe our mindset of helping 'sinners' is the problem. They have come up with a more socially acceptable term: the unchurched. When you approach anyone making a judgement of their relationship to God you are setting yourself up to offend, even if it is not intentional.

There are many people out there who pray to God every day and are open for a divine appointment but when we come with an attitude that we are in someway better or they are someway inferior then we have lost the witness before it has begun.

Just some things to think about.

Blessings, Rhoni

Re: Just Wondering....
 

AMEN Sis! If you will notice Jesus always met the needs FIRST BEFORE addressing any kind of sin. I think unconciously sometimes we get it backwards...we want the SIN taken care of before the need and God forbid that we be inconvinenced in ANY way!We get too busy with our own lives...our own problems that we have no time for anyone else...almost like we are in a lifeboat passing others who are drowning and we are too afraid to pull them in thinking if we do our boat will capsize.

Re: Just Wondering....
 

Seems like ive read something to the effect of "whoever will seek to save his life will lose it..."I think maybe sometimes our life is in so much turmoil because we keep such a micro-managing deathgrip on it.Im not saying turn family night into a good wholesome game of russian roulette or anything,just think he was saying to quit being so self absorbed and take your hands off the wheel cause you arent doing such a hot job driving,and when you let go you will actually find the life you were searching for.

Re: Just Wondering....
 

I am ONE OF THOSE unchurched peoples.
I believe if there is a hunger,and a thirst..God will satisfy it.
Also, just my observations when I first moved here and seen a (later learned) Pentecostal person for the first time, I was not much impressed by them. All the women I waved and said "HI" to just ignored me. This perplexed me.
But God is good and He is an on-time God!

Re: Just Wondering....
 

Yes, and she does it every time she sees me. Started once years ago at the laundrymat. Grocery store, Wal-mart, cafe, she will lay hands on me and start praying for me out loud, I have never been embarrased by it at all. I don't know what denomination she is but she can pray and I get such peace every time she does it. Some that I know are UPC or Apostolic, they witness almost every day. I have witnessed at work before.
My question for you is do YOU?

Re: Just Wondering....
 

Yes I do nearly every day. I witness and pray for people at their houses AND at my job. Wherever I go I try to connect with someone I dont know.Havent started praying people through in the produce aisle yet...but just hang on that days coming.lol. I just try to let people know that even though I may not know them that I care about whats going on in their life.

Re: Just Wondering....
 

There you go. And may God use you to further His kindgdom.

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Yes, the term sinner that I used was not well thought through...but in all fairness I couldnt use unchurched either because people I talk to GO to church for the most part...they just are unsatisfied because they hunger for something they are not getting and are spiritually neglected. Im sorry if I offended anyone though for using sinner in a general way though. In fact when I am talking to an "unfulfilled" person I avoid discussions about sin like the plague and also religion.I focus only on relationship..

Re: Just Wondering....
 

One of the quickest ways to get someone to turn u off is to come across as my religion, holiness, or relationship is superior to yours. I've been to houses to pick stuff up and the guy gets through half a bottle of wild turkey and a pack of ciggs while we are talking about the goodness of God. I did NOT discount his relationship or experiance.When I was walking back to my truck he told me"Son...for a young guy u make alot of sense...I cant bless u because im a sinner...but I hope God will bless u..."

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What this man said affected me greatly...5 minutes down the road I had to pull over I was weeping so hard because we use God Bless u in church so much its a cliche...but this man...when he said that and for a while afterwards I felt such a strong Presence of God. I felt God tell me that if He walked the Earth in a physical form that these were the kinds of people He would be visiting with and eating with.

Re: Just Wondering....
 

It's called discernment dontcha know? Apostolic people have the abililty to tell if you have the truth or if you don't just by looking at you.