A while ago my team led an evangelistic campaign in the Soviet Union. One evening a Baptist pastor brought a friend with him. This man was a professor at the university and a leading scientist. He listened as I preached the Gospel. Then, to the pastor’s joy, this scientist prayed out loud to receive Jesus Christ. With tears, he came forward to publicly confess Christ. The Russian pastor was astonished at his friend’s open response to the Gospel. Do you know someone like that? Someone you think will never accept Jesus Christ? Over the years I have learned that some of the people I thought would be the most closed to the Good News are often the most receptive. Although they may act like they don’t want to hear the Good News, their hearts really do. The Bible says that God is patient, “not wanting anyone to perish, but EVERYONE to come to repentance.” God is working even in the person you think will never come to Jesus. We must never give up telling them about Jesus. For, as the Bible says, “nothing is impossible with God.”

For many years, Bob Tebow and his family preached the message of Jesus Christ throughout the Philippines. They planted churches, ran an orphanage, and educated pastors. Even today, no matter where they go, the Tebow family is committed to evangelism.

This recently came to light for the rest of the world when Bob’s son, Tim Tebow, accepted the Heisman trophy in New York City. It’s college football’s biggest honor, and yet Tim didn’t take the credit for his amazing talents.

The first words out of his mouth were: “I’d just like to start off by thanking my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave me the ability to play football.”

Isn’t that great? Tim Tebow grew up with parents who modeled a passion for evangelism. And now their son has a huge platform to speak up about his own relationship with Jesus Christ.

Paul says in Philippians 6, “Pray for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” This verse should be the cry of our heart! Remember, our children are watching us. And as they do, they’ll be learning how to reach their world with the Good News Gospel. Isn’t that exciting to think about?

Daniel Naulty was a former major league baseball player who was a powerful pitcher. But Daniel also used performance-enhancing drugs during his career. A few years ago, he admitted his crime and left baseball for good. But, that’s only part of his story.

The other part of the story happened seven years ago when Naulty’s team won the World Series. What should have been the highlight of his life was instead one of his lowest points. “I thought the World Series was going to be God,” Naulty said. “But I realized after we won that it wasn’t salvation.” He began spiraling into a deep depression. Then Daniel began thinking back to what his Christian teammates had shared with him over the years.

They had told Naulty about God’s story of redemption and love through the cross and resurrection of Christ. Daniel finally realized the truth about what was missing from his life. So he asked forgiveness for his sins, and received Jesus into his life.

Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 5, “You are the salt of the earth… you are the light of the world.” Like Daniel’s faithful teammates, you and I can also be salt and light to those around us. Even when we don’t see immediate results, God is at work! Just like he was with Daniel Naulty.

An interesting survey was recently done by the Barna Group. They asked young people to share what kind of perceptions came to mind when the word ’Christianity’ was mentioned. The top three observations that came to mind about Christians were: anti-homosexual, judgmental, and hypocritical. That’s pretty sad, isn’t it?

Now, I’m not saying that all Christians exhibit these kinds of attitudes. But it’s important to realize that there’s a reason many people have very negative perceptions of Christianity. That’s why I believe each one of us should examine our own hearts and minds in light of this topic.

We need to remember that we’re all sinners. Even the apostle Paul said in First Timothy, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst!” You and I don’t need to point out people’s sins to them - that’s the Holy Spirit’s job!

Think about how Jesus treated the lost. He loved people right where they were at. And because of that, sinners’ lives were changed. They believed. They wanted to follow the Lord.

Christ’s perfect balance of love, grace, and truth is a great example for us all to follow.