HANDS HEADLINES

Since I helped created StorySpot.com, I can’t help but comment on this:

Ashley Smith shared her story with Brian Nichols. God used it. He surrendered.

The whole scenario was quite amazing, but what I find most interesting is that God directed Nichols to a woman with a story – precisely the story he needed to hear. Nichols went to a seemingly random apartment complex, confronted and held hostage a seemingly random woman.

Ashley said, “Most of my time was spent talking to this man about my life and experiences in my life, things that had happened to me.”

Four years prior, Ashley’s husband had been murdered. She was at his side when he died.

Recalling the painful details of that day must have moved Nichols. Beyond that, Smith went on to connect the dots for Nichols – showing him that God could redeem his horrible crimes and involve him in a much grander purpose:
“And I just talked with him a little more, just about — about — we pretty much talked about God … what his reason was, why he made it out of there.
I said, “Do you believe in miracles? Because if you don’t believe in miracles — you are here for a reason. You’re here in my apartment for some reason. You got out of that courthouse with police everywhere, and you don’t think that’s a miracle? You don’t think you’re supposed to be sitting here right in front of me listening to me tell you, you know, your reason here?”
I said, “You know, your miracle could be that you need to — you need to be caught for this. You need to go to prison and you need to share the word of God with them, with all the prisoners there.”

Wow. The power of story. Ashley shared how God changed her life. And then invited Nichols to enter into The Story by allowing God to change him too.

After reading the transcript of what Ashley Smith said to reporters yesterday, I think she does.

Smith was held at gunpoint for several hours by Brian Nichols – the man who killed four people after escaping from guards before his trial in an Atlanta courthouse Friday morning.

Authorities had no clue of his whereabouts until early Saturday morning when Smith called police after Nichols let her walk free from her apartment.

Why did he not harm her after killing others? Why did he even choose to approach Smith at her apartment complex in a very populated area? And why did he let her go – knowing she would call police – and then surrender himself without incident?

My pure opinion says that only God could bring such an amazing end to such a violent beginning.

According to Ashley, Nichols become very calm after several hours with her. Not that she wasn’t scared to death, she did want to gain his trust, so she engaged him in conversation. She stated, “But after we began to talk, he said he thought that I was an angel sent from God. . . .And that he was lost and God lead him right to me to tell him that he had hurt a lot of people. And the families — the people — to let him know how they felt, because I had gone through it myself.“ Ashley Smith’s husband had died four years earlier from stab wounds – himself brutally murdered. She spent much of the time sharing her own story with Nichols. Obviously the Lord used her story to impact him.

And, check this out: She also read him passages from the Bible and a devotional book called The Purpose Driven Life!

Ashley Smith said, “He needed hope for his life. He told me that he was already dead. He said, “Look at me, look at my eyes. I am already dead.”
And I said, “You are not dead. You are standing right in front of me. If you want to die, you can. It’s your choice.”But after I started to read to him, he saw — I guess he saw my faith and what I really believed in. And I told him I was a child of God and that I wanted to do God’s will. I guess he began to want to. That’s what I think.”

That’s what I think too, Ashley.

The full transcript is online at CNN.com. It’s pretty amazing.

George Barna released a report in January entitled Survey Shows How Christians Share Their Faith In it was this comment:

“Young adults are much more likely to share their faith through ongoing discussions with friends and through e-mail and instant message conversations than are middle-aged and older adults…They are less likely to engage in means that their generation finds offensive, such as street preaching or moral confrontation. The early signs suggest that the emerging generation – the Mosaics, who presently are in their early twenties down through early childhood – will continue along this vein. Ministries seeking to prepare people to effectively share their faith in today’s society would advance the process by enabling young adults to carry on knowledgeable conversations about the substance of the Christian faith and how it affects all dimensions of a person’s life. The ability to relate biblical principles to current issues and personal struggles – that is, to interact beyond the level of simply “getting saved” – will be crucial for the future of effective outreach efforts.”

I see two things here:

1. We need to continue to train youth in relational evangelism…continue with the basics…train them up…show them how the Gospel penetrates their lives daily (this mission will never change)

2. We need to continue (begin?) training youth in how to use the internet effectively for ministry. This also includes providing effective tools for ministry to happen.

* Copied from Rob Williams’ effective web ministry notes site: http://eministrynotes.blogspot.com/2005/03/sharing-online.html

A wise man, grandfather, and long time neighborhood friend, Mr. Hammond, recently made an observation on our current family dynamics: “Two kids give the family ‘feel,’ but the third one brings all manner of group consciousness and operational strategies!” Shannon and I have repeated this to one another several times already and it certainly is true!