"Always Ready"

"Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. 'Do you understand what you are reading?' Philip asked" (Acts 8:30).

Several weeks ago a team from our church went on a mission trip to London. Interestingly it was one week before the deadly bombings and they were in the same area. Their main focus was working with Jay Smith, who has a very interesting ministry to Muslims.*

Our pastor and his wife went, along with several from our church. Galen and Nancy who have a large farm were a part of the team and it was so exciting to see them stepping out in this manner of service for Christ.

Among their efforts was distributing tracts (small literature pamphlets with a Christian message). They came back home with an exciting story concerning their fruitful labor. They were passing out tracts along the sidewalk when a young man came by with a tract in his hand.  Galen asked him if he knew what he was reading.  He told him that he had picked up one of the tracts that had been dropped by someone on the sidewalk. 

And then he told his story.  Graham had lived a life far from the Lord and recognized that he needed a change of direction in his life. He had been reading a Bible placed in his hotel room by the Gideons and it is clear that the Spirit of God had been speaking to him. Galen briefly explained the tract to him and asked him if he was ready to make a decision for Christ.  He said he was and they went to a park area and Galen further explained the plan of salvation. He followed up with a prayer of repentance as Graham asked Jesus to be his Savior and Lord.

Galen told me, "As a farmer I fully understand that when a crop is ready you get ready and harvest it", which is just what happened! Galen realized that the Lord was preparing this young man for a divine encounter since he told him he does not normally walk on that particular sidewalk.

This story sure reminds me of the wonderful personal evangelism experience that Philip had in Acts 8 with the Ethiopian.  Philip was one of the seven chosen (along with Stephen) in Acts 6 and thus it seems the Holy Spirit is demonstrating early on His intent that we all be involved in spreading the Gospel.

An angel of the Lord had directed Philip to where he would meet this man. The man was reading the book of Isaiah while riding in the chariot (I guess he didn't deal with motion sickness.) The Spirit directed Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." "Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet." (Now that's obedience!)

Philip asked him, "Do you understand what you are reading?" So often God ordains human interaction in explaining His truth. The Ethiopian answered, "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Philip went on to explain the Gospel and had a lengthy spiritual conversation with him and led him to the Lord.

Today God is still using people like Philip and Galen as we walk in obedience. Let us be always ready!


Be encouraged today,


Stephen C. Weber

Brooksyne's note: When we visited St. Marys, PA over the weekend I felt prompted to give the cashier at Wal-Mart a pocket calendar with the salvation plan on the opposite side. I was actually walking away from the register area, but after feeling a prompting from God, turned back to give the tract. Having a practical tool such as a pocket calendar on one side of the gospel tract gives you the advantage of doing someone a favor and yet gives opportunity to share the gospel message with those who have not heard.  This woman has been on my heart since Saturday and I'm praying that she will receive Christ if she is not already a believer.

"Father, You know those to whom you are leading us to share the Gospel message.  Sometimes these folks are on our hearts for years and we've prayed for them time and again.  Other times we are prompted by the Holy Spirit to speak to an individual we've never met. We know that you have given us all authority in heaven and on earth to go and make disciples of all nations.  It is not in our own strength, wisdom, personality or talents that we share the message of salvation to those who are lost.  It is in the power of Your Holy Spirit that we go forth bringing the message of hope and forgiveness to those who seek it.  Help us not to be discouraged when we don't see an immediate response for we know that we are all involved in the planting of spiritual seeds.  Germination may take place over a number of years, but we will rejoice in the spiritual harvest to come.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Galen, right, with Graham and Somatra, a young mission team member from Cambodia.

Trip to northern Pennsylvania This last weekend we traveled to northern PA where we had lived the early years of our marriage and ministry.  We planted a church in the community of St. Marys PA in 1977 right out of Bible College and stayed till June of 1993.

I expect this page to be most interesting for those who knew us while we served in this community. However many will also be blessed to read reports of Christ's work in other people, even though they may not know them. We rejoice at seeing long-term fruit and faithfulness to Christ among so many of our friends at that time in our lives and it was great to have a reunion. Of course with twelve years passing many have moved on and we didn't have the opportunity see everyone.

This page may load slowly on dial-up connections since it has a lot of photos. The scenery photos will enlarge by clicking on them if you desire.

New England - This page has photos and comment regarding our trip to New England two weeks ago.

* Here is an article about Jay Smith's ministry.

Here is an excellent website on apologetic ministry to Muslims with lots of resources.

Acts 8:26-40 (The Scripture context of today's message)

Final note: Last week I shared a story about a skunk smell I encountered when returning home from church one night. Here's a radio message audio version of that story. Well last night I stepped out on my deck and lo and behold the skunk was back. Now I didn't see him but he was there for sure. Given my interest in computers and the internet I want to share that scent with you. In order for this feature to work you must have a scent card installed on your computer and it must be enabled. I suggest you turn the scent meter down and be considerate of others around you before clicking on this link.