Changed Lives (Part Two)

To continue from this post, I heard a second story yesterday at church about how this one guy, John McDonald, became a Christian within the past two years. Again, I think he's in his early twenties and is currently in university.

They were promoting the Alpha program at my church yesterday during the announcements. For those that don't know, Alpha is designed around having a meal. Small groups at a single table of about 8 people eat a meal while watching a twenty minute video discussing the basics of Christianity and then anybody with questions or opinions can discuss it. There tends to be two or three Christians at the table and the rest are usually not Christians.

They had John up at the front to discuss it a bit with the pastor and to tell about his experience with Alpha. Like Bekki, who I mentioned in my previous post, John had always rejected Christianity and religion outright. One of his friends invited him to church regularly but he always refused, saying "No, I can't do that."

This friend eventually invited John to watch the Superbowl at our church. It's something that my church has done for many years and it includes a big screen of the game, food, prizes and a guest speaker from the Toronto Argonauts during half-time. John said, "Sure, I can do that."

This friend was helping out with Alpha and he asked John to help set up the table at church and give out pamphlets on one Sunday. The friend argued that, even if John didn't want to go to Alpha, at least he could help his friend and maybe help other people that were interested. So John said, "Sure, I can do that" and he eventually decided to go to Aplha when it started.

In the Alpha program, he said that he was set at ease by the relaxed atmosphere. He didn't say much for the first few weeks but there always seemed to be somebody that would ask the questions that he had. When he eventually became more vocal, he was impressed by the fact that the people he spoke to listened to him. No lectures, no quick answers, no interruptions, they just let him speak his mind and then they would help as best as they could. John eventually became a Christian through the Alpha program thanks to his friend.

John concluded this 'announcement' by suggesting one thing. It's good to be a Christian and it's good to say that you're a Christian when people ask. God is just asking us to lend a hand to others, that's all. Just reach out.