Hello everyone!
I want to share with you a special story of what happened in my life today and ask you to partner with me in prayer. Today as I was doing school in the basement, my entire house's electricity went off. Unfortunately since all my school work is on the computer and internet, I was unable to do school. So I went to the Grandview McDonald's because they have free wi-fi. (Personally I think it's just to get you to purchase food but yeah....=) )
There was quite an unusually large number of seniors in the McDonalds so I assume they had some type of gathering or celebration or something. Personally I love elderly people. I love to listen to their stories and listen to their wisdom. Most people in my generation don't give them a second of their attention and act as if they don't exist. What great wisdom we are missing out on! We shouldn't shove them in a corner just because they need us to talk a little slower and louder......we should listen intently to what they have to say because they have lived life and know what's coming our way.
As I was sitting there working on my biology homework a very sweet, older gentleman saw me working on my computer and saw the symbol of the brand of my computer on the back of my screen. Jokingly he asked me if my computer was an Apple. I was like, "No sir." wondering what he was going to say next. He said that if it was, he was going to ask if he could take a bite out of it. =) I smiled at this old man's humor. Little did I know this little encounter was going to last 1 1/2 hours.
He started talking to me about how the companies were trying to get our money by showing us that we needed the newest, latest, better version of everything. I responded by saying that my generation would be wise if we would listen to the advice of our grandparents and parents. He said that we should also listen to Christ. I heartily agreed and then he asked if I was a Christian. I said that I was and his next question was if I was part of the International House of Prayer. I said that I was and that my parents are on staff there. At this point I was thinking that he was in favor of the International House of Prayer but his next comment quickly put me in place.
He told me that people from IHOP are antichrists and freaks. Immediately I knew my place was not to argue with him and prove him he was wrong but to rather listen to what he had to say and just question him on why he thought that way. (Later I found out that this instinct was from the Holy Spirit because anyone who knows me knows that I always like to argue and prove I'm right until, well I'm right! =) Also during the conversation I felt a trembling that would rise up inside my stomach to my jaw where it would tremble. I was like, "Not now Holy Spirit! =)" And I kept seeing flashes of light out of the corner of my eyes.)
I asked him why he thought IHOPers were antichrists. His answer was incorrect in that he said that we didn't teach from the Bible; that we paraphrased and taught from the paraphrased version and that was punishable by eternal damnation. He is correct in the fact that if you change the Bible by adding or taking away from it that you are putting yourself in the position of eternal damnation. (It says that in Revelation) He said that the leaders had taken the scriptures, added and taken away from them, and were teaching from that. I had no idea where he got this idea but I knew that the IHOP leaders only teach that which is straight from the scriptures. He was wrong about the IHOP leaders. Mostly the one he kept referring to was Mike Bickle. I told him that Mike Bickle even puts the exact words of the NKJV into notes and hands them out so people can search it out for themselves what he is teaching. This brought us to another point.
He said that the only real version of the scriptures was the original documents due to translation errors by humans. I asked him how the originals were true if they too were written by humans but he didn't have an answer for me. He only said the NIV, NKJV, KJV, NAS, ESV, and many others were wrong. (I don't believe this though.) We talked about many of history's translators, like Wycliff, and I was very thankful for my education where I had studied this! =)
This man was so right on so many issues but just a little bit wrong on a couple of parts, which throws all of it off. He said that he had studied 23 different translations of the Bible, including the Greek and Hebrew. He believes that all scripture is God breathed and infallible. He believes that only God is God. He believes we are saved by grace and that salvation is a free gift from God.
But some things I knew were wrong. He said that there are 3 stages of life for humans. 1) The first generation of humans being before Jesus' death in which men had to perform offerings (works) and attain salvation. 2) The second being the ones after Jesus' resurrection who receive the gift of salvation freely. 3) And the third being those who live in the final days. That in itself wasn't wrong but he said that we don't need Jesus' blood. He said that Jesus wasn't God, but merely an image of God. But then he said that if we reject Christ we will burn in Hell for eternity forever, which is correct. So instead of pointing out he was wrong I simply asked him, "If Christ isn't God, then why does it matter if we reject him or not?" He had to ponder about that one for a while and eventually told me he didn't know the answer.
Another question I asked him was, "If Christ isn't God then how was he born of a virgin?" He responded by telling me that all things are possible with God (true) but that Christ was only an image of God (false). I asked him what he thought about John 1:1 where it says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Wouldn't that be Christ---God? He didn't have an answer for that one either.
Another thing he said was that God and Satan don't dwell on the earth....at all. (false) I asked him if he thought that demons could control the minds of humans and he said no. (I knew this was wrong). Since I could tell he knew the scriptures, I asked him this, "If God doesn't dwell on earth then answer me this. In Acts when Jesus left his disciples, he said that he would send a helper for them and he sent the Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit God?" His answer was that due to the languages of Greek and Hebrew, words mean different things in different orders next to other words. He said that there are 8 different meanings of the words Holy Spirit, one being God and the others meaning a 'good' spirit. In this case, he said, the meaning was a 'good' spirit. He said that God took their bad spirit and gave them a good one. (This is true, it's the message of salvation, but not the Holy Spirit). He also said that man was born good natured with eternal life and that men choose against Christ, when the truth is we are born eternally damned and we receive the free gift of the Christ's salvation.
He said that there were no Christians on the earth today because Christians were the one's who did works, and we didn't need to do works anymore because we were out from under the law. That is true that we are not under the law of Moses anymore and don't need to offer sacrifices because Jesus' blood covers all. But I believe he was wrong about there not being Christians on the earth. True, there are people that claim they are Christians who are not and many of the churches do teach heresy, but not all. There are true Christians on the earth who give up their lives for Christ and true churches who teach the exact words of scripture.
He was so smart. He was able to back up some of what he was saying with correct scripture left and right. He said that he had studied with the Jehovah Witnesses, the Mormons, the Catholics, and many others......no wonder the deception on his mind! He does say that they are not teaching the correct truths of the scriptures, so he is right about that. He said that he was so grateful that I listened to him. He said that most people will just combat everything he said with a statement and not even listen to him. So I was so grateful that the Holy Spirit had allowed me to shut my mouth and just listen and inquire; and not teach. This way the Holy Spirit was able to plant a seed through me in this man.
This man's name is Fred L. Please pray for my newly encountered friend. He is so close and yet so far. And due to his age, I'm not sure how much time this man has left. Please join in with me in praying for this man!
Also please pray for me. Today was the first time I have ever had to really defend my belief in Christ....on my own without my parents or others with me. I had to depend on what I had learned from Scriptures and what I had learned by spending time with Jesus. And while I feel like I was used by the Holy Spirit, I also feel like I failed miserably. After the McDonald encounter, I came home and sobbed for about 2 hours telling my family of my day. How could I profess to be a Christian when I clearly came up short in reciting verses to back up my theology when this man was quoting scripture left and right
and most in context. He even knew the verse address! My calling of being a missionary was very squashed too. I spent 1 1/2 hours with a man who was so hungry for the truth, and I felt like I couldn't convincingly state what I believe.
McDonald's on October 19th, 2010, was a divine encounter set up by the Lord. I'm so grateful He was able to use this to teach me how much more I need Him. I press on towards the goal He has set for me!
Thank you for praying with me for the salvation of Fred! He is blinded and needs to see the truth! Come Lord Jesus!
Blessings,
Ashton
