Mike Anderson » God Mission Evangelism Gospel Holy Spirit

I recently found myself holding the hands of a 250 lb, sweaty ex-soldier while he cried. Here's the backstory...

I was at the gym near my house—doing a workout near the punching bags. A huge, tough looking dude was just wailing on the bags. This wasn't just boxing—he was trying to kill the bags.

I had zero desire to interrupt this man unloading his anger, but I felt a push to approach him and ask him how he was doing.

“How are you doing?” I asked.

“[Bad],” he replied.

“I'm sorry.”

“I found out last night my brother has an aggressive brain tumor. I drank until I blacked out. When I woke up I was so angry that I came here to take it out on the bags.” 

He started to get angry—like scary angry. I thought that I was about to become the next punching bag.

“Can I pray for you?”

His anger broke. A few tears replaced the fury. He grabbed both my hands with his sweaty and slightly bloody hands. “Yes,” he said. “I need God really badly right now.”

Expect that God Will Put You in Weird Places

I don't want you to take this story and feel like you need to go out and spend a few Saturdays doing “contact evangelism.” Instead I want to encourage you to ask and beg the Holy Spirit to give you opportunities to show people the radical grace of Jesus, to put you in weird places for the gospel, and to give you the discernment and courage to boldly and graciously love people in Jesus' name.

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