Foolish Obedience DR. STEVE GREENE for Charisma News
It seems so long ago that my wife and I ministered in parking lots in the Baton Rouge area with our newly launched church. At age 19, married and on fire for Jesus, we joined a church team and spent Saturdays asking grocery shoppers if they knew Jesus. There, God taught me many lessons that still bear powerful fruit.
Our church had a flatbed truck for music teams. The Power Company was our lead group and sang worship music of the day while most of us had conversations. I sang with the Light Company, and our job was to keep the anointing fresh while the A-team rested a bit. Thankfully, the Gas Company never formed.
I recall many conversations with seekers from 48 years ago. Sure, there were many rejections and much mocking, but my memory serves up hungry faces of people looking for help. I learned to simply tell folks what Jesus did for me, hand out tracts and offer to pray with them. Those were truly the good ol’ days.
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In my Greenelines podcast interview with Donna Sparks this week, she shares a story that reminded me of my experience in busy parking lots. The Holy Spirit asked her, “Are you willing to look foolish for Me?”
As an evangelist for the Assemblies of God, Sparks travels to speak and minister at churches. She admits to a tendency to slip into introversion. But she works hard to prepare and find the favor of pastors she visits.
“I had to think about that for a minute,” she says. “Because as an evangelist, I don’t want to look foolish. The Holy Spirit began to speak to my heart about my focus and to quit trying to sound intelligent, quit trying to sound smart. The Spirit told me to ‘just do what I asked you to do.'”
