I Found Jesus in the Backseat of a Firebird | Romans 10 | Crossroads Daily

Tell that story. They were just these hippie guys who I was into drugs and things, and they were like, yeah, come hang out. And all I remember is they had a firebird, and they just told me about Jesus. And I mean, it didn't change me necessarily for a while, but the seed was planted, like you, the seed was planted. And then I eventually was like, oh yeah, okay. But that's where I really heard the gospel. This is the Crossroads Daily. No experts, no perfect people, just honest conversations about what happens when the Bible shows up in real life. Hey, I'm Chuck. I'm Jamie. I'm Josh. I'm Alex. So Romans 10, Paul is talking about the gospel, right? Like what does it mean to receive Jesus? And he has this whole thing about like, you only receive the gospel if someone shares it with you. So who was the first person to share the gospel with you? And how did that shape your faith? I'll go first. It was my dad. And it just like, I was fortunate enough to grow up in a house where my mom was raised in a church and my dad was raised in a church. And it's like kind of the family business.

My dad's a minister. My uncles are ministers. My aunts, it's just like a thing. So it didn't feel like a choice. It just was like, oh, you can read things and you understand things. Well, here's the Bible. We're gonna read this together. Do you know why we do this? And so it just was like, like I go back to that as being so foundational in who I am and how I know I should respond and act. And I mean, I don't always, but yeah, it was my mom would probably want like co-authoring credit of like, they probably both were a part. So my parents. Can I ask a question about that? Sure. When did your faith become your own? When did you, so? Yeah, no, that's a really good question. And that is something that I wrestle with very regularly. So I want to say I'm a, like I grew up a people pleaser. I grew up a like, my brother was a Hellion. I can say that. I've known him for 40 something years of my life. And so I was the second child. So, you know, the first child parents are like, oh, we don't know what we're doing. The second I was like, we will not have another one

of those in our household. So there was this thing of like perform in school, perform in church. Like we would get like Bible verses every week. And then the next week you come back and you have to recite it. If you didn't, you didn't get a candy. And they just said, hey, do better next time. Next person kind of a thing. Wow. But then there was this moment, I think I was like maybe eight years old, where I don't know, I'm a challenger. So I just didn't like that. I didn't like that you tell me how I know God or you tell me this is how I have to perform. And so I feel like there was like a moment where it was like, no, I'm gonna choose the, I'm gonna choose to follow God and explore what that means for myself. And I was pretty young. And it just like, it's a reason I've never gotten baptized as an adult. I made that decision at eight and I don't see the need to change that. So yeah, I would say kind of this, like a part of my identity is to challenge things. And there was just this like moment where I had enough. And then I started asking questions to the point where like at one point a pastor was like,

maybe you should explore other religions. A Christian pastor said that to me. And so. Yeah, thank you. Wow. That was great. Yeah. I have an exact opposite experience. I grew up in whatever is the opposite of a church home. My first presentation of the gospel was, my mother was in an interracial marriage and a, what I assume is a door-to-door preacher, I don't know, whatever came with their tracks and for whatever reason they were invited in, which to this day, I don't know why, but they basically condemned my mom and the rest of us to hell because she was in an interracial marriage. That was my first, that was my sort of first foray into the gospel. Now that has since been redeemed. And I came to an understanding of Jesus with a couple of hippies in the back of a firebird who prayed, told me about the gospel, which is another story. The real gospel. The real gospel. Tell that story. They were just these hippie guys who I was into drugs and things. And they were like, yeah, come hang out.

And all I remember is they had a fire. and they just told me about Jesus. And I mean, it didn't change me necessarily for a while, but the seed was planted, like you, the seed was planted. And then I eventually was like, oh yeah, okay. But that's where I really heard the gospels in the backseat of a Firebird. Wow. With my friend Danny. Woo, woo. Well, I also, I'm like Jamie, have incredible parents who I think are probably the first ones who shared Jesus with me, because that's what I grew up in. And I remember so specifically saying that I wanted to get baptized, and the church that I grew up in had a class that you went to if you wanted to get baptized. And I went to that class with my parents, and it was a couple of weeks in a row. I'm probably like eight. And so like, do I really understand? I don't know, but I remember watching this video about the cross and all the things. So I'm sure that's where it was presented to me, where it became real for me, I think was probably more in high school. And I had an incredible youth pastor in middle school and high school who's since passed away and is one of the reasons I'm in ministry.

I do full-time ministry, and he's one of the reasons. And I think because he was able to explain the gospel in a way that was actually actionable, because we can all have good intentions, and we can believe the gospel is true, but if we don't do anything about it, then what's it actually for? And I think he's the one who challenged me in that to actually go share it with my friends. And I did that, and that started when I was in high school. I love that, it makes me think about, Paul says, how then will they call on him, Jesus, in whom they've not believed? And how are they to believe in him whom they've never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? And so I just think it's really awesome to think about your parents, think about two dudes in the back of a Firebird, thinking about your parents and that youth pastor, they were sent. And they may not have worn preacher garb, they didn't, didn't sound like any of those cases, but they preached to you, they proclaimed the good news of Jesus to you. And I think it's really important for us to remember, no matter where you find yourself, I don't know, there's a range of people, some of us who are watching right now are blue collar workers, some of us are incarcerated,

some of us work on Wall Street, all the things in between. Some of us are at home raising children, all of those things. I just wanna remind you and me, myself, that we are sent. That you might be the only Jesus someone ever meets. You might be, and as much as you might be like, I don't know how I'm gonna have the right words and all that, but like, I don't gather that you guys could recite all the words that those people told you. Don't remember a single one. It was the spirit of what they shared with you that planted the seed, right? And so I just wanna encourage all of us, like, man, we're part of that, you know? And it's funny, because mine was also a childhood story. My parents were certainly the first ones to preach the gospel to me. I grew up in church, so I got to thankfully hear the gospel often, and that was really valuable for me. But I also love what Paul says in Romans 10, 9, and 10. He says, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And what I will say is I love the simplicity of faith required for the gospel. You can confess that at eight.

You can believe that at eight. Depending on the kid, you know, six, seven, 10, whatever it is. And so I just love the simplicity of the gospel, that that's real. Oh God, I did say six, seven, did I? Yes! I was ready to say that one. I was ready to say that one. I saw it happen, and I thought, please don't acknowledge that. Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry. It's me. Oh my gosh, yes. Gospel applied to six, seven. Look at that. So maybe there's a redemptive, but like there is beauty in knowing that the gospel is that simple. And I would also say this, you can, as simple as it is, you can attend a church for a really long time and not have made that confession. So what's the, I mean, Paul connects confessing and believing here. What do we need to know about that? The connection between those two? How's that play out in your life? Because it's that combination of a confess, a believe, and a confess that really produces faith.

What do you make of that? I think it's the action step from knowledge. Like I can know a lot of things. I can read through the Bible and know the things, but there's an. Action or an intervention that test that knowledge which then produces belief like or like how I know I believe And so then I think the confession Steps in of like, okay. This is gonna go from being just a head thing God to an acknowledgement in a heart belief like I I Understand as much as I can as much as you revealed And I'm choosing to believe this and I'm choosing To turn my life towards you. Yeah, but if I just leave it at knowledge Then I can recite a lot of stuff back, but it's not taking root. Yeah That's what's it. It's really well said I Think I've always struggled with like it says if you believe but then there's faith and right and I think Faith precedes belief. Hmm. So faith is what allows me to have this eight year old belief Like I believe in Santa at eight, of course, you do. Yeah, of course you do like you believe it and I think I Know that faith is what saves me and it's the belief that changes me. You said it like belief is action Yeah, and I think we were we are required to act on our faith Yeah And that makes it belief. I think that makes it belief. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's kind of like I was saying I mean Steve my youth pastor. That's it was like what made it actionable for me? I mean I can intend or believe Anything I can believe that I need food and intend to go to the grocery store to get it But if I don't actually get in my car and go I'm not gonna get the food And so you have to not only confess with your mouth I'm going to the grocery store. Like I do believe this thing. I believe that Jesus is is Lord I confess it with my mouth and then I go and I share that with others and I actually let my life act like it Yes. Yes. I love that. I want to reframe if we have time. I want to reframe that confess with your mouth

So that idea I think confess with your mouth in in in Culture nowadays, maybe it may look like a guy on a corner or a lady on a corner with a bullhorn Yelling shouting scripture verses or even condemnation So sure that may be our but I think confessing the the way I think about it is I love my wife And if I never say it If I I do I do sure she will never know it Yeah, if I never say it she will never know it and I think that's what I think That's what that means that confession. It's I'm I'm going to say that. I love you Lord and that I'm and I don't I don't think it's a religious practice. I think it's it's a life. It's a relation No, yes, it's how you know, and not only will your wife not know it but No, nobody else will know it. Nobody else. No one else Everyone in my life who knows me knows how much I love my wife and she never has to say a word That's right. Yeah, she will never have to say a word. That's right That's really good. I I think there's something rich in this for us today as we think about these words And you know, I I would actually say I do believe that once you make a decision to follow Jesus because it's not based on Your works, but the work of Jesus. That's a permanent thing I agree that and I will also tell you I think the confessing and believing is part of your spiritual growth journey, too There are new things that I am understanding about God. They give me a new opportunity to confess and believe once again, right, you know We talked about one like just the fact of like God is actually Not waiting for me to deal with all my crap before I come to him He's a loving father Like I've got to confess that and I need to believe that by going to God as the Bible says boldly When I need his mercy, which is usually when I mess up So I think there are things like that over time that also become part of our confession and belief and our growth journey So if you've never made that decision There's no better decision you can make yeah, no better decision you can make and no matter how you're engaging us There is an action step you can take right now, whether it's clicking a button and talking to somebody sending in a prayer request Whatever it is there This is something that we as a community want to be with you in if you're making that first step and let's all be on a journey of continuing to confess and believe

Because that's where life comes from You