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Sisters and Visitors

My sister is coming to visit from California. The economic outlook for people in California isn't pretty. It's downright scary. I am hoping that my sister will come to Kentucky, relax and see that she can make a life here in Kentucky. However wonderful that thought is, my first hope would be that she would come to understand the truth and her need of the gospel. She thinks she is a good person and I am a religious nut. She comes by that assessment of me honestly. I was pretty zealous about what I thought the gospel was and pretty ignorant of what it truly means to be saved. The two are a poor combination.

Theology matters and what you win them with is what you win them to. These are both things I have learned from my friend, James White. I have learned a great deal from him. I wish I had learned it earlier. I might not have botched up the relationship I have with my sister. For many years she avoided me and I in my pride, I thought it was because my righteous life made her feel guilty. Yeah, great way to be winsome.

Along with our lack of gentility, I think we have lost the notion that it is important to be winsome. Not that we can charm people into the kingdom, but it's much easier to listen to us when we are being winsome than when we sound like screeching pipes.

I am hoping to be both winsome and loving while my sister stays with me. I hope to be fun. I want us to laugh and remember our childhoods together. I want her to know beyond a shadow of doubt that I love her and that my love for her compels me to share the gospel with her. Lord, help me undo the years of ignorance that get in the way.

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