“Life
only happens once, why not make the most out of it? Whenever you get
the chance spread the Gospel! You never know if you will ever see
the person again, or when the Lord will call you home!”
These
are the famous words of a young man by the name of Avery Jackson.
This young man had a soul that was set on fire for God. Although
he'd usually keep his faith private, and never really got into any
discussions on faith, he desired to live his life in purity & for
the glory of the Lord. Avery always longed to a pilot...much like
his favorite missionary Jim Elliot, but all that changed in 1923,
when Avery outwardly expressed his faith.
Summer
1923 was the turning point in eighteen year old Avery's life. For
ten years he had kept his faith in God private, only because he
thought his faith was nothing anyone else should know about. His
father and mother were missionaries in Afghanistan his twenty year
old brother was a missionary in Germany, and his twenty-one year old
brother was a missionary in Zimbabwe, South Africa, but for Avery, he
longed to be a pilot and not a missionary!
As
he was walking down the street towards his friend Eric's house, he
past an elderly man named Mr. Carlson. Avery nodded polietly as he
walked past him, ignoring the urge to share the Gospel with him.
Soon he was knocking on Eric's door, Avery waited for an answer, when
there was no answer, Avery walked down the steps headed toward home.
As he was hurridly walking down the street, he heard the Lord talking
to him. “My son, why do you rush home? Are
you worried Mr. Carlson might ask you a question regarding your faith
in Me? Share My Word with him, you might like what you'll see.”
Heeding
God's call, Avery walked up to the elderly man and started talking to
him.
“Good
afternoon Mr. Carlson, lovely weather we're having today isn't it?”
“Yes,
yes it is young man. I was hoping to have some rain today though.”
“Well
the day isn't over yet. Mr. Carlson have you ever thought about
where you will go when you die?”
“Hahahaha,
son I may be old, but I'm not that old! But to answer your question,
yes I have. I'll be going to heaven when I die.”
“How
do you know that?”
“Well, only
because I'm a mighty good person.”
“By
whose standards Mr. Carlson? Have you ever heard of the Ten
Commandments?”
“Why
yes I have, my mama used to read them to me everynight.”
Avery began to go
through the Ten Commandments with Mr. Carlson. He soon found out
that Mr. Carlson was not what he seemed to be. He had just recently
gotten out of prison for a crime he had committed twenty years ago.
He had hardly kept any one of the Commandments, God had set in place.
Just before Avery was about to leave, Mr. Carlson asked him one more
question.
“Young
man, you said God can
and will forgive me,
can you tell me what to do to be forgiven?”
“Yes
sir I would love to help you! All you do is pray, asking God to
forgive you, thanking Him for sending His Son to die on the cross for
your sins, and finally thank Him for forgiving you.”
Mr. Carlson and
Avery prayed together, hearing the elderly man pray, brought tears to
Avery's eyes! He was super glad that he had a part in Mr. Carlson's
redemption!
As
Avery walked home that afternoon, he cried to God, “Lord
God, thank you so much for calling me to witness to Mr. Carlson
today! I'm so sorry that I ignored you the first time, please
forgive me. Lord from now on, I will not
keep my faith private! I will share Your Word with the whole world,
I will not be ashamed for living for You. I love you Lord, amen.”
Three
days later, as Avery was reading his Bible and writing the very first
of his many sermons, Eric knocked on the door.
“Avery, you'll
never believed what happened!”
“What's
wrong, is everything okay Eric?”
“Mr.
Carlson passed away last night!”
“You're
joking!”
“No, Avery he
told me to tell you that he was glad you stopped and led him to the
Lord.”
“When
did you talk to him?”
“Two
days ago...I guess he knew his time was coming to an end!”
“Eric
thank you so much for telling me about Mr. Carlson...I really
appreciate it!”
During
his sermon a month later, he used his encounter with Mr. Carlson as
an example. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew how important
heeding the call of God is. He made sure that people knew that
keeping your faith secret isn't always a good thing to do. Part of
his sermon he spoke these words, “Life
only happens once, why not make the most out of it? Whenever you get
the chance spread the Gospel! You never know if you will ever see
the person again, or when the Lord will call you home!”
Since his encounter with Mr. Carlson, he had a burning
desire to spread the Good News. Avery Jackson soon became the best
evangelist known...besides Billy Grahm of course.
Soon
God sent him to China, where he spread the love of God to all the
inhabitants of the land. Avery Jackson was publicly executed for his
faith on June 25, 1925, when he was the age of 20! He lived his life
striving to do what was pleasing to his Savior, and to have a
pleasing integrity.
Serving HIM,
Alisha
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