If you’ve had the joy of leading someone to faith in Jesus Christ, you know it’s one of the most thrilling experiences on earth! Knowing that another soul has entered into the Kingdom of God gives you an excitement that is beyond words! And you can begin encouraging this new believer in their faith. Now, as you begin the discipleship process, it’s so important to practice patience. Often we want to see someone’s bad habits changed overnight. We get discouraged when a new believer isn’t as spiritually mature as we think they should be. But even though it’s important to encourage a new child of God to grow, it’s also important to practice patience. The reality is that it takes each of us time to mature in the Lord. I accepted the Lord as my Savior as a 12 year old boy. And even though it was a very real commitment, I didn’t really begin living the Christian life in its fullness until I was 17. You see, it’s God’s Holy Spirit that brings the growth, not you or me. In First Corinthians 3:6 Paul says, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” So yes, keep encouraging and praying for your friend. But also, let them learn, and grow, in God’s perfect timing.

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.