ChosenRebel's Blog

Not Much Basketball going on outside in Illinois right now, but this will all melt and it won’t be long before driveways are free for play again. Here’s an idea that costs you no more than some time and maybe some sore muscles.  Here’s a story from my neighborhood three years ago in Bolingbrook.

So an hour and a half of playing basketball in my driveway this afternoon has left my tired bones extremely sore. But eight African-American boys and I had a great time. It was a good investment in their lives and good exercise for me. While I was engaged with the boys, my Muslim neighbor did me a favor and cut the grass medium strip in front of my house, returning a favor that I have done for him dozens of time.

Later this month he and his wife are coming over for an apple pie desert. It will be an opportunity to bring the gospel into greater clarity and deepen our friendship (at the risk of our friendship).

And here’s an update on 18 Years of Ineffective Ministry. A Christian sister in the neighborhood knows Barb and tells me that at least two other Christians have interacted with her over the years. But … I still don’t know if anyone of the believers on our block has given clarity to the gospel or any verbal testimony of Christ to her.

So here’s the discussion track:  

• • With all this interaction and activity, is the gospel any clearer to anyone in my neighborhood or yours?  

  • How do we get beyond activity to gospel?

  • How are you doing it in your neck of the woods?

I know we need to be patient;
I know we don’t want people to associate us with JW’s or other cultic groups;
I know we want to be sensitive;
I know we don’t want to look or sound “weird.”

Those are givens. But let’s talk about how to get to the gospel out and on to our neighbor’s turf. 

How can we make Jesus the issue behind every door in the neighborhood?