You Can Give Them "Death" or You Can Give Them "Life"

A middle aged man became a Christian in my youth room yesterday at church. That's the awesome news! The end of the story first. Here is the journey of how he got there.
Every year Westside Church, my church, has "Christ Care". We are helping 72 families this year with Christmas. Our church members walk with the families that need alittle help this year through some Sunday school rooms full of clothes, toys, and other things and help them Christmas shop. We build relationships while we help. A middle aged man that came to Westside for help has some teenagers that he would like to see come to church.  So,  he asked to talk with the youth leader...That's Me!!!  We talked for a while. I even showed him our Youth Room.
It was there where God helped me to be quite and listen. I am a terrible listener! I mean really bad at listening!  Not yesterday. I heard every word this guy said. He was depressed, hurting, guilty, ashamed, ect... I was just piddle-farting around earlier that day before I met this guy. Now, I'm right there with him, feeing his hurt, pain, and shamefulness. I have good news. He just didn't know it yet!
During my piddle-farts earlier that morning I was yapping with Pastor Ed about food and fun stuff. I noticed some Christian witnessing tracts on his book shelf. Being fidgety and nervous I grabbed one and put it in my pocket. I have never done that before. Most tracts I've read are corny. Back to the guy...
He is telling me how amazing his teenagers are and he wants the absolute best for them. He said he has liver cancer and he can't provide for them the way he used to. He sometimes thought, since his days are numbered,  it would be better if he weren't around, at least his kids would have the insurance money to help them. His kids think of their dad as their "Best Friend"!
It was my turn to finally talk. I said in response for his kids, "You can give them death or you can give them life". Puzzled, he said, "What do you mean?" "If you give your life to Jesus, then, when you die, you can go to heaven. You will give your kids hope because they will be able to see you again. You could help give them life. If you died now you would only give them death." He said, "I've never thought about it like that!" I shared with him the verses on the tract. On the back of the tract there is a prayer to receive Jesus. He wanted to pray and ask God to forgive him and to save his soul right then and there in the youth room!
This past month I have been challenging our youth group to be better witnesses. I would have them come up to me and witness to me as practice using verses from the bible. Nervous and afraid they witness to their youth leader. I encourage them and give them helpful hints. Now I know God will want me to lead out in this. Where? and When? is the question.  Yesterday it was around 1:00PM when it happened. This guy was forgiven, not guilty, not ashamed, full of grace, full of hope, and his eternity was pointed toward heaven! He was crying and thanking me for taking time to talk with him and pray with him. I was sitting next to him in the "Shock & Awe" face. Humbled, thankful, not feeling worthy, amazed, and other words were flooding my heart. I gave this man a bible and my business card with my phone #. Taken back, he said, "You mean I can call you?" I said, "Yeh! That's why I'm here! Anytime you need prayer, let me know."
We are Ambassadors for Jesus Christ. We are the hands, feet, and mouth for Him. If we don't tell people how awesome and amazing Jesus really is, who will? Praise God he turned my piddle-farts into something truly AWESOME! Praise God Today! Glory to God forever.