We showed up at Summit a little early. I was standing in the foyer and realized all of a sudden that he was standing right next to me. I introduced myself and Daniel. We chit chatted a little bit.
He paused...looked at Daniel and said "Daniel, how old are you?"
Daniel says "I'm 13...almost 14."
Mark asks "Are you home schooled, public, private schooled?"
Daniel says "Public school."
Mark - "What grade are you going into?"
Daniel - "9th grade, I'm going to be a Freshman."
Mark - "Daniel, do you know that through my entire four years of High School - not one other person in that school that called themselves a Christian ever shared the Gospel with me? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
Daniel looks kinda sheepishly and says "Oh...that is a bad thing."
And that's the kind of guy Mark Cahill is, he's also very kind, actually pretty soft spoken and a bit of a jokester (more later) - but he carries and executes the responsibility of our great commission very seriously. Did I mention he's kinda tall too (6 foot 6).
He gave his "Being A Light In A Very Dark World" message, most of which I've heard, but he did add some new real life witnessing stories and encounters. It's one thing to hear him speak, but another to see him speak in real life. This is one brother with an all consuming passion for The Gospel, for sharing that Gospel with as many people as possible...and also to train, equip and quite often to convict "Christians" in truth and love that they should be doing so too.
You can listen to the audio message "Being A Light In A Dark World" by clicking here.
We returned to Summit for his evening session, he conducts an open forum where the Summit students can ask questions, get some clarification on his message and get to know him a little more. The session was great, Mark shoots from the hip really well - because he knows his Bible pretty well, and of course his conviction carries well through that kind of forum.
The ugly "friendship evangelism" thing reared it's ugly head as one kid pushed into the realm of "Well...I don't want to sound antagonistic, but I mean...where do we draw the line? I mean the world is different and we don't want to go around offending people..."
I cherished Mark's response...he said it with a lot of care and it was right from his heart for the truth; "People, when are we who call ourselves Christians going to stop worrying about offending people...and start worrying about offending God by disobeying the command to witness that he has given us." He continued, as he pointed out how we should expect persecution, how we deliver the message with great love and compassion. And that holding our tongues is much more tantamount to an offense to God AND the lost because they're going to Hell and we're not warning them about it, that we have this supposedly amazing, abiding love in our hearts...and we keep it to ourselves?
So...after the session we hung out and talked to Mark for a bit. He asked Daniel what he like to do. Daniel tells him biking, Mountain Biking, dirt jumping. See the picture above...Mark says "Well, you must have had one crazy wreck to have that chain end up around your neck."
We talked some more...we prayed for Mark and headed into Manitou Springs to find someone to witness to. Daniel has been watching and practicing a little. But I assure him, that I didn't want him to do it unless it was from his heart - it has to be from the love of Christ within HIM desiring to share it with someone else. Never, ever because he might think I expect it from him.
We walked around for a bit, Daniel wasn't quite ready - but we found three kids (in their 20's). One girl had green hair, piercings and tattoos; the other girl had red hair, piercings and tattoos; and the boy was pretty plain by comparison. We started chatting, I asked them the million dollar question. I got to present them the Gospel. They were so quiet, just nodding their heads in agreement, such nice, humble kids!
As Daniel and I walked to the car...Daniel said "That was really weird...they didn't hardly say ANYTHING, it was almost like they were hypnotized." I said "Well, they could have been stoned...or they may have just been convicted, humbled and very receptive to the message".
By the way! We stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner before Cahill's evening session.
Our waitress...bless her heart...as I walked through the Gospel. She stopped me and asked me to please write down the Ten Commandments...because she really wanted to be sure she knew what they were. She hung on every word of the Cross and grace!
God is amazing...I am nothing, I could not do any of this if it weren't for the love and the words he has put in my mouth.
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