Spirit And Truth Series

Alrighty, well we’re going to continue our series we’re calling “Amazed.” Amazed at the words of Jesus. One of the encounters that I had where I was amazed at Jesus and His words was when we were in Amsterdam in the early 1990s and we were there doing outreaches in Central Station. If you guys know anything about Amsterdam, it’s kind of like the Las Vegas of Europe- the “Sin City” of Europe. And Central Station is where all of the trains come and go and people come from all over the world, let alone Europe and there in Central Station, we were doing dramas and we were talking to people about Jesus and we were doing music and we would draw a crowd, and share with people about Jesus and then we would break up and just talk individually with people. So after we did one of these dramas and music times, a guy walked up and I introduced myself and say, “Hey, I’m Jimmy and I said what’s your name?” an he said, “My name’s Johannes from Sweden.” And I said Johannes, did you get a chance to see the little drama we did on the life of Jesus or sharing about Jesus? And he said, “Jesus? I want nothing to do with Jesus, I want nothing to do with God, I hate God!” And so, obviously, there’s pain in this guy’s life and I said, “Hey, tell me more about it.” Instead of being defensive, I said “hey man, what’s your pain, just tell me what’s going on?” He said, “two months ago I was in a boating accident and my brother and sister died, I was the only one to survive. What kind of a God was that? How could God do that to us? How could God do that to me?” He began to share more of his life and the pain in his life and I just listened and I’m asking the Lord while I’m talking to this guy, “Lord, what do I say to this guy?” And it seems to me that the Holy Spirit is speaking to me, tell him to repent and come to me. And I said, “God, you got anything else? That sounds a little harsh. Anything else?” As we’re continuing to talk, same thing, tell him to repent and come to me. So, with as much compassion as I can muster, I said, “hey, Johannes, I just really feel like God’s speaking to my heart while listening to you, He’s saying repent. That just means, “Quit doing things your own way.” You’re not going to get there from your own viewpoint by doing things your own way, even by expressing your own anger the wrong way. You’re not going to get there, you’re made for Jesus so come to Him. And in some supernatural way, he all but falls in my arms crying uncontrollably and said, “I need Jesus. I need Jesus. ” You know?

In that moment we prayed together and man, it was like Heaven on Earth, all of a sudden the peace of God and the love of God and the burden of his heart just broke away…one of those divine encounters with God. It was one conversation and one encounter with Jesus, and when that happened we were sitting there just kind of basking in it and he looks down at his watch and says, “Oh no, I’ve got to go!” He said, “I’m going to miss my train!” and I said, “Wait, Johannes!” and there was a gal there who was doing outreach with us from Sweden and I said “Ava, come over here, we’ve got to get his information so you can follow up with Johannes and about two minutes later, she’s says “We’re from the same city! I know exactly where he lives!” So they write down the information. Two months later, I call Ava and say hey, what’s happened with Johannes, did you get a chance to connect with him? Is he walking with the Lord? And she said, “Oh yeah, he’s involved with this young adults thing we’re doing and he’s all in, man.” Four months later, Johannes writes me a long letter telling me everything God’s doing in his life and said, “I went to this little event where they, kind of like our World Mandate where they talked about God’s heart for the world and he said “I feel like God’s telling me to go to South Africa.” And I said, “That’s awesome Johannes!” I wrote a letter back, those were the days where we actually did letters and it took a few days to get back and forth. So he keeps up with me about every six months he writes me a letter. Eventually he meets a godly young lady, they marry and after three years of that moment of interaction, he writes me a letter and says I’m headed to South Africa. God’s called us and we’re on the way to the great adventure that He has for us. And I thought, “Yes, way to go Jesus!” One conversation, one encounter with Jesus changed not only this guy’s personal life, but it changed the trajectory of his future and Lord willing, the future of thousands around him.