Joseph Smith Meets Mike and Mike

Today was a half day at work because, well, we are just running out of things to do. So, I went to the bank then headed to my Mom's house to see if she wanted to catch some lunch. On the way there I ran into a guy from my church named Mike (great name), who just happened to be on his way to do a little street evangelism at the University. It turned out my Mom couldn't do lunch so I went evangelizing with Mike--very cool, very fun, very encouraging.

First of all, Mike is very eloquent and a gifted evangelist. I, on the other hand, am very shy and easily frustrated during street evangelism. We ran into a couple of ex-mormon missionaries who knew all the tricks of the trade, side-stepping every question they could with other questions, which is a very common problem for lost sinners who don't want to see themselves for who they really are in the mirror of God's word. Mike took all this in stride, finally bringing them back to the key issues of sin and salvation in Christ alone. Of course, they dodged this and took off, but I am really thankful that God was able to use this encounter for His glory. They put so much stock in the 'impressions' that 'God' gives them. They don't care about logic and reason. They really don't believe that "...all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god". They really want to do everything they can to save themselves, and then Christ can finish what's leftover.

As a believer this astounds me. How can they keep believing these things and claim to have the Holy Spirit? They must feel a terrible amount of guilt and conviction every time they sin, knowing that they must not have truly repented and therefore are not forgiven. Any person who reads the Bible and honestly looks in their heart must admit that they are a filthy sinner and always will be until God finally changes them at death. If you don't see these things, then you are lying to yourself and ignoring what the Bible says.