by Pastor Nolan Wynn
When I was in Burlington, NC I was assistant to a church planter for 14 years and had the privilege to see many souls get saved. Outside of my ministry, I used to be bi-vocational and work a full-time job as a route driver for a major company in Greensboro. I had been working at this job for over 2 years and it was actually helpful by being able to work 4 ten hour shifts and have the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off.
This helped because it gave me more time to do things with my family and in the ministry. Since I was informed that I would be having surgery on my knee, they had given me a new employee to train to take over my route while I would be on leave.
Well, I knew that would give me a lot of time to establish a relationship and get know the new employee that would be assigned to my route. His name was Jewel and he was truly a great person with good manners. This was different considering the line of work I had been in the first two years. I found out that he was raised with good strict parents with great morals. I think he also had good manners because he respects preachers and everyone let him know who he was riding with before he started.
We spent at least 3 to 4 weeks getting to know each other and established a friendship that will last a lifetime. I went out for surgery and when I came back I knew that I would only have about 4 to 5 more weeks with him on my route. I gave him a tract before I left and told him to read it and think about what it meant to him. When I got back the questions began to come in rapid-fire form. I knew then that God truly been dealing with his heart.
The second day I was back I confronted him with the question, “Are you 100% sure if you died today heaven would your home?” He looked down quietly and said I am about 80% sure. I then told him how he could be 100% sure right now in this truck. He replied with a, “I will have to think about it.” So I invited him to church the next night to teen service even though he wasn’t a teen. He showed up and came into our teen service and that night I just so happened to be preaching about the urgency of knowing Christ and reaching people for Christ. He was the first one down the aisle that night to ask Jesus into his heart. He went home that night told everyone what he did.
That next Sunday he invited his family from Raleigh to see him get baptized. He was truly excited about what God had in store for him and his family. I shared this story for all of us to remember that we can be a light in this dark world, at work, in public, and anywhere we go. If we would just take the time to look at the lost and dying souls all around us in our daily activities of life, we may not have to go far to find someone who needs Jesus in the heart.
Let’s remember the words of Christ in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
by Pastor Nolan Wynn
Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church