As I walk deeper into my discipleship with Jesus, I begin to see more and more of who He has uniquely wired me to be. My calling and vocation are deeply wired into my soul. No matter what my job/career is - it stays the same - preach the Gospel. Every step I take, this is my calling and vocation. It is deeply infused into the ethos of my soul.

This part of me is who I am. I canot run from it - it just flows out. I long to see people who don’t know Jesus, encounter the Gospel for the first time. My life is oriented to this. For this reason is why my soul longs to plant a church because I believe the best way to spread the Gospel is through communities of disciples centered around the Gospel. I long to see a community birthed from scratch, which takes the Gospel with them wherever they go - not just go with the Gospel - but see themselves as missionaries with every step they take. 

For instance, this flowed out of me in a way I did not expect on Saturday. Normally, when I encounter Mormon missionaries, I let them be. They ask to talk to me and I say no thanks. They ask to give me some writing and I say no thanks. However, this Saturday, I took a different approach. I really don’t know why or how, but the inner Francis Chan in me came out (if you’ve never heard him speak of his encounters with Mormons or simply just urging people to open the Bible and pray to the Holy Spirit to reveal, google it and listen to get a better picture of what you are about to read).

These two boys (they did not look a day over 18), dressed in white, with their name badges, with their ties, came up to me holding their Book of Mormon. They asked if they could talk to me about Jesus. 

I think this is what unleashed my passion and my inner Francis Chan. They asked me if they could talk to me about Jesus. This is my sweet spot; this is my happy place; this is what I love to do.

So, without missing a beat, I look at them and say “Unfortunately, I don’t think you can talk to me about Jesus, but maybe I can talk to you about Jesus instead?”

The hook worked.

I then preceded to spend the next 25 minutes pleading with them to put down the Book of Mormon, pray to the Holy Spirit to reveal the Jesus of Scripture, the Historical Jesus - the non-Mormon Jesus - and step into discipleship. They looked at me with shock and awe as I passionately pleaded for their souls. I pleaded with them to just let the Spirit speak through scripture, without the Book of Mormon - because God loves His children and wants His children to encounter Him. See, I told them, what pains me, is how these Mormon missionaries are so close to the truth, yet so far away and the fate of their souls scares me. Normally, in this, Mormons usually casually exit and say we are Christians just like you, please have a nice day.

These boys did not.

They stuck around.

So I kept preaching. 

Instead, they kept pointing me back to the Book of Mormon. I could tell these boys had never had to deviate from their script before. I could tell they were young and new to their mission. So, I pleaded with them more.

My heart was breaking.

They were shocked I knew so much about Mormonism and world religions. They were shocked I was studying to be a pastor. They were shocked. They pleaded with me from their script and I could tell my words and passion were getting through. I pleaded with them to just spend a week and I had faith God would show them the truth.

Then they left.

I don’t know what will come of these boys. While this may not lead to them encountering Jesus - I know their brains and soul now had questions to encounter and wrestle with. 

Like I said, normally I just let them walk. This time, however, my passion and overwhelming concern for their fate came out.

Jesus, please let this flow out more. Do not let it be forced. Do not let me muster it up. Break my heart for those who don’t know you.

Still, days later, my heart and soul cannot stop thinking about these boys. I am praying for them right now.

Holy Spirit, break these boys chains. Break the viel on their eyes. Let them see you. I pray for their fates.