What do you believe about Jesus Christ and what have you done with God's love gift He offers you?

I've been sharing a series of letters this week that I wrote to my two sisters-in-law before they came to Christ in faith and repentance for their personal salvation. In these four letters, I laid out one critical issue each regarding how they personally are responsible to act according to the truth explained.

Letter #1 is all about the truth that God loves you and wants to have a personal relationship with you.

Letter #2 explains the barrier that exists between a holy God and sinful people (all of us)--a barrier He can't dismiss or ignore.

Letter #3 lays out the good news of the gospel--the truth that God has proven His love for you by sending Jesus to die as payment for your sin so you can be forgiven.

And today, Letter #4 tells you how to receive what God offers and Jesus died to provide.

I hope these letters are an encouragement to you who are looking for a way to communicate the gospel to someone you care about. Feel free to use this idea, adapt it, be creative, whatever--just be bold and be faithful in sharing the good news with them--whatever their response.

Do one thing before you read today's letter: Get the face of someone you love in your mind--someone who you've been praying would be receptive to hearing God's good news of salvation. Got it? Pray for them right now. Pray they would be open to the Spirit's conviction and ready to turn to Him in faith. Ask God to help you reup your passion of being a messenger of Jesus Christ and then ask for an opportunity. It's witnessing a life transformed by the gospel that keeps you motivated to keep doing it.

If you're reading this and you're the one who has yet to make the choice to surrender your life to Christ Jesus--man, what are you waiting for? God is holding out His arms of love to you. He has provided a way for you to receive forgiveness for your sins and life eternal through His Son Jesus Christ. Take these four letters to heart. We're on the bull's eye of the most important issue in your life. What will you do with these truths?
Hebrews 3:15 says, Today, if you hear [God's] voice, do not harden your heart . . .

Whether you realize it or not--your decision to turn to Christ will be the answer to someone's prayer.

I've been telling you this week about a focused season of prayer and boldness that my wife Kathy and I extended on behalf of her sisters several years ago. During one month's time, I wrote the two girls four letters, one per week, explaining a specific step related to coming to Christ for salvation. We sent each letter and then poured ourselves out in prayer, asking that they would read the letters, understand it, be convicted by the truth, and turn to Christ.

During that season, one of Kathy's sisters came for a visit. I remember so clearly our intentionality one evening in getting a babysitter and just the three of us going to this quaint little Italian restaurant near our house. You can guess the topic of conversation. I remember pushing our plates aside and on the paper tablecloth, drawing the whole bridge illustration of how we can't get to God on our own and how Jesus Christ bridges the gap. I even drew it upside down so she could clearly see it. The whole time we talked, Kathy prayed, sitting there beside us, her heart so full of desire to see this one she loved so much turn to Christ.

But after the illustration was complete and all the points were made and questions answered, I asked if she wanted to receive Christ as her Savior. With big, round, sincere eyes, she stared back at us and said, "Ahh . . . no, I don't think so."

We read in the book of Acts that this happened repeatedly to the apostle Paul as it most assuredly has happened to you. You open the Word and pour out your heart to someone who has yet to turn to Christ, yet they shake their heads.

From the perspective of faith and time, I'm writing now to tell you not to give up. Keep getting the message out--no matter the response. Little did we know how the Spirit was moving and convicting Kathy's sister that night. It would have been so much easier for us to persevere had we known, but God was doing a work of faith in our hearts too in the years that followed.

If you look back at the two blogs posted earlier this week, you'll see the groundwork of this third letter. Too often people start their salvation invitation with today's topic, but in order for us to fully grasp the enormity of mercy extended by Jesus' payment for our sin, we've got to understand the depth of our debt. So if you've not done so already, go back and read the two other letters and then come back here for the solution.

Today's word is for everyone who has prayed for months, that have led to years, that have led to decades, for a loved one to come to Christ. For some of you it's for your mom or a brother you've prayed--or a co-worker or a neighbor, or your adult child or good friend. You want nothing more than to see them turn to Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and to receive by grace through faith God's gift of salvation. You love them so much you ache for them, knowing their certain eternal destination if they continue to stiffen their neck to the gospel. You love them so much you keep telling them--even when it appears they're not listening or don't care.

I'm writing today to you who are beginning to feel weary in doing good. You might be tempted to think, Nothing seems to change and I feel like I've said it all before.

Here's the encouragement: Don't be silenced. Keep on doing it.
I know it hurts your heart to keep caring and hoping and sharing--but don't give up.

Earlier this week I shared with you the first in a series of four letters that I wrote to my two sisters-in-law many years ago. The first letter explained how much God loves them. Today's letter explains the sin problem that we all have and how our sin separates us from God. Deep inside, we all know we have areas of sin that we cannot erase from the secret, hidden parts of our heart. Today's letter just puts it on the table.

So for all of you who have prayed, and cried, and pleaded with the Lord on behalf of someone you love, after you've done all those things, do this:
. Keep doing it.
. Even when you've said it before
. Even when prayer doesn't seem to be make any difference
. Even when their repeated rejection feels personal
. Even when you've done everything you know to do to show them the
love and mercy of a forgiving God
. And still, they walk away

Kathy and I wanted nothing more than to see these two girls we love with all our hearts turn their hearts to God. But we still had another 15 years to wait . . .

We've been in the final chapters of the book of Acts at Harvest this month and I just can't get over how often Paul had to share the same message. Over and over he told the story of his conversion, the details of his mistreatment at the hands of the Jews, the details of the unjust accusations against him, etc. etc. He just kept telling the stories again and again to anyone who would listen. Actually that tactic is what God used to get the good news of Jesus from Jerusalem to Rome. In fact, He has also used that perseverance in sharing the good news to reach most of my family too. If you're wondering how to keep going, try writing some letters. Over the next few days I will post the letters Kathy and I wrote to her two sisters and bathed in so much prayer. Little did we know at the time that they were still 15 years away from giving their hearts to Christ. It would have been so much easier had we known how strongly the Lord was working even when we could not see it. Hopefully these letters over the next few days will encourage you to keep sharing your faith. Read the first one, focusing on God's love, below.

Grief is a powerful, penetrating, persistent pain that takes a long time to heal--if it ever totally does. There are however many healthy ways to deal with our grief, ways that warm our hearts to God and encourage those around us. One of the deepest losses I have ever experienced was when a young man, a dear friend of our family named Mitch Swaback, went suddenly to be with the Lord in his early twenties. It was three years ago today. Here is a letter I wrote as part of my grieving on the first anniversary of his home-going. I hope it helps someone struggling with their grief.

In the media blitz surrounding Virginia Tech this week, there was a short clip buried in one of the broadcasts of a woman with tear tracks down her face looking away from the camera. Barely audible, she choked out, "I just don't understand why God lets things like this happen."

That's hard. Who hasn't wrestled with the question of why, when God could have prevented the taking of 32 lives, He didn't. Let me say that I have wrestled with questions like these too, so I wouldn't give you biblical answers if I didn't believe them. Hard questions do not usually have easy answers, so you're gonna have to track with me here.

No matter how hard we try, words cannot express the horror we have felt as we've watched the tragedy unfold at Virginia Tech in the last 48 hours. The anger, the grief, the shock, the compassion, the heartache. We've been told that this is the largest murder scene in U.S. history to date. It's surreal to let that sink in.

It is in times like these that people need God the most. The hard part is our minds are filled with questions that can make God seem very far away. Sometimes they are big questions, hard questions:
Why would God allow this? Where is God when innocent people are dying? How could a God of love--? Those are reasonable to ask in a tragedy like this.

Everyone wants the crown and nobody wants the cross!!! I don't remember if we had a Good Friday service growing up or not, but I remember we didn't get it early on at Harvest.

Good Friday service is not a happy service; it's a sad one. It's not a point of victory, it's a time of gleaning deeper meaning and grieving what we reflect upon. Not good, not in any sense of the word. I mean I get the idea. They call it 'good' Friday because the outcome was good, but let's be very clear--it was NOT a good day. The crowds were filled with bloodthirsty rage, the religious leaders were filled with venomous envy and irrational hatred. The disciples were filled with fear and selfish cowardice. And Jesus was filled with sorrow. He prayed in the garden, "my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death."

All I'm gonna say is that a woman soon to be in my family called a woman already in my family and said, "you'll never guess who died?" drum roll da na da na da na da na, "Anna Nicole Smith!"

Why does that just cause me to have a pit in my stomach? Why does that make me wanna cry? Answer: Because her life was so pathetic and sad for at least 10 miserable reasons: