I have always been annoyed by what you see in the above photo. I have to say that I dislike seeing shoes hanging from telephone wires. It looks ugly and seems impossible to to do anything about. I recently learned that hanging shoes have (at least in Savannah) a more ominous meaning. I've been told that dangling shoes are a sign that the area is a center of illegal drug activity.
The area around where our church meets has many hanging shoes. In fact, I see more all the time.
No matter how many police cars patrol the streets, the drug activity will remain. No matter how many young men are put in jail, the illegal activity will continue.
What will change this type of activity is the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we know, God designed the gospel to flow from one person to another in conversation. This gospel message is contained in a great book - the bible.
This is why I am excited about what happened today. A few of us from the church walked around the church neighborhood and talked with folks. We gave out bibles and shared the gospel. On the surface, nothing earth-shattering happened. No one accepted Christ through streaming tears. However, many bibles were given out.
The bible itself speaks to the power of God's word. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
The bible has great impact. Our hope is that the bibles we gave out today will, through the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, make a difference in more than a few lives.
It was great to get to know a few more people. It was great to share the gospel and see it comprehended (for the first time for some of the people we talked to). It was great to see bibles placed into spiritually needy hands.
I hope to see fewer shoes hanging around the area - not because of increased police presence, but because of hearts radically changed by Jesus Christ.
2 comments:
I couldn't agree with you more. This has been on my mind and heart for awhile. I hope the day will come when we see more christians giving out Bibles and telling others about Christ than we ever belived possible. WE can't give up!! Christ didn't, He went all the way to the cross for the very ones hanging the shoes up.
We have to keep working at it and being creative. God will honor that.
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