Monday, January 16, 2012

Jake the Encourager/Evangelist

     If you read the story on Living the Body of Christ about our autistic nephew, Jake the Encourager, you might be interested in another story about Jake that I recently heard from his grandmother. 

     Jake has a way of making people feel safe around him, even though he's completely uninhibited about sharing his faith. The pastor of Jake's church recognized this quality and asked Jake's mom if he could take Jake calling with him and was given permission to do so. The pastor said this has opened many doors to homes, opened many serious conversations about spiritual things, and opened hearts to the gospel. Jake puts people at ease. He talks about spiritual things and they don't feel threatened, so they too open up and talk.

     God truly does equip the church with all of the spiritual gifts it needs to minister. Sometimes those gifts come in surprising packages...like Jake the evangelist.

Eph. 4:7-8  7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:    “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”  NIV