The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - The Car and the Ice Storm (An Evangelization Story)

Episode Date: November 22, 2024

We are all called to be activated disciples of Jesus Christ! But what does that mean? Where do we start? Jeff Cavins shares a powerful personal story about one of his evangelization encounters and how the Lord worked through him. Today’s call is to step outside of your comfort zone and see how the Lord can work through you! Snippet from the Show We all have a responsibility to go out into the world and make disciples. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit https://media.ascensionpress.com/?s=&page=2&category%5B0%5D=Ascension%20Podcasts&category%5B1%5D=The%20Jeff%20Cavins%20Show for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kavens show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 404, Evangelization Stories number one, the car, and the ice storm. Good to be with you again, my friend. I'm Jeff Kavans, and if you're new to the show, welcome. You are joined. a whole group of people around the world that get together every week to talk about scripture study, discipleship, learning to walk in simplicity, to deal with our suffering and evangelization. Lots of good things that we love talking about. But all of it really centers on this idea of being an activated disciple, someone who is spending their time with Jesus, but then going out and doing the mission. What a treat. What a privilege it is. And speaking of privilege,

it's a privilege to be with you every week. And I do appreciate it. Someone asked me, I was out of town last week, and they asked me, what does it actually do if people like a show or make comments on a show? Well, what happens then is that it becomes a part of the algorithm, which tells Google, any search engine that people are interested in this topic and people are searching it out. So if you do like the show, you make some comments, share it with others. It really does make a difference. So I'd ask you to do that as a partner in the ministry. Appreciate it.

Well, one of the things that I get a lot of are emails and letters from you. And as I go through those and talk to you in person at conferences around the country, I get a better idea, really, of what our relationship is all about. You know, I don't take this as a show that is just a show that entertains, kind of like entertaining the troops. I really look at it as a relationship with you and something that we do as family members, getting together every week. And as I go through the email and some of your messages,

one of the things I heard from you is that the stories about evangelization really helped you out. in your life. And that is that when I would tell a story, whether it's in one of the great adventure Bible studies at Ascension Press or whether it is one of these talks or something you heard on the road, I do share stories of evangelization. In other words, encountering people on, you know, airplanes or at the mall or some meeting and stepping out of the boat, so to speak, and seeing what the Lord would do. And I know that that is an encouragement because it's an encouragement. It's an encouragement to me when I hear other people telling stories as well. And I'd love to hear your stories, by the way. And you can simply write me at The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com.

Love to hear your stories. I really would. So out of all of this, I'm saying all of that to say this, I want to take some time from time to time. Not every show, obviously, but from time to time. I'd like to take some of these stories, and I would like to present them to you as a way of encouraging you to get out of the boat and follow the Lord. One of the questions I get from so many, and maybe you sent that question in, is why do these things happen to you? Why do these encounters happen to you? They don't seem to happen to me. Well, I would say that these encounters, at least the possibility of an encounter with somebody to share the gospel, probably do happen as much to you as they do to me. But I have tried to develop over the years. I guess you could say,

an awareness of the situation and learn how to step into it and share the gospel, how to start a conversation with others. And I do hope in the course of this series from time to time evangelization stories talk about the skill of opening a conversation with a stranger and how to keep that conversation going, not as a manipulation, but as a real encounter and a real conversation with real people, with real issues at stake. And so from time to time, I'm going to share some of these stories with you. And today, I'm going to share the story of the car and the ice storm. One of the stories that I've shared around the world and people, they like that story, but it's a story about meeting a need during an ice storm in a car on the way to Mayo Clinic

from Minneapolis and what happened. And we'll get to that in just a moment. Hey, by the way, if you do want show notes, it just hit me here. I was looking at some of the scriptures I'm going to share with you today. If you do want the show notes, all you got to do is text my name, Jeff Kavens, one word, Jeff, Jeff Kavins, and you can text it to the number 33777. And we do have some good notes. They try to prepare some good notes for you. And we've got an amazing team that helps to arrange them and get them in order for you. Okay, before we get to the story of car and the ice storm. Let's lay a little foundation on this, okay? Number one, we all have a responsibility to go out into the world and make disciples. We have a responsibility to teach people

what Jesus taught and to take part in the new evangelization that's going on in the world today. It's not just for people who are quote unquote gifted. It is for everyone. And everyone has the capacity, that's you, to share your faith using your gifts, your personality, your surroundings, that's work, home, neighborhood, so forth. I can't get over there. You know, I can't get into the places you can get into. But we all have that calling. And Matthew's gospel ends this way, Matthew 28. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. That's beautiful, isn't it? So we start off with the call. You're called. You are sent. And Jesus said, I'm going to send you, and I'm going to be with you always, and that's by means of the Holy Spirit to guide you, to give you wisdom. And hey, you know what? Confirmation is all about that. When you are confirmed, you receive the Holy Spirit, completing the graces of baptism.

And you now are equipped. You're equipped to go out and be bold, courageous, loving, gentle, but to the point. And so the call is where this all begins. And then after you receive the call to do this, which you have, by the way, Jesus has told all of us to go into the world. The second thing to realize is this. You have a choice. Do it or don't do it. When you're faced with a situation where you feel like the Lord wants you to speak to someone or give someone something or meet someone somewhere, whatever it might be, you've got a choice.

Do it or don't do it. And so in every encounter I have, I'm aware of the call for sure, but I'm all saying. so aware of the decision that is set before me. Do it or don't do it. Now, in Matthew Chapter 14, Peter was in that kind of a situation and he wanted to know whether what he was seeing and hearing was truly Jesus. And so we have that great story of Jesus walking on the water in Matthew 14. I'll just read it for you here. And I'm reading it because I want you to see that you have a choice. You can stay in the boat and have a good life, or you can get out of the boat and experience the thrill of knowing you heard from God. You know it. Others might know it.

They didn't get out of the boat, but you know it. Matthew 14 says, Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth, watch of the night. This is in the middle of the night, my friend. He came to them walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, it is a ghost. And they cried out for fear but immediately he spoke to them saying take heart it is i have no fear now here's

where peter comes in this is what i wanted to point out so listen to this and peter answered him lord in the midst of the storm if it is you bid me come to you on the water and jesus didn't say peter it's just a metaphor come on buddy i'm doing a teaching don't go overboard no he didn't say that what did he say come peter said lord if it's you bid me to come to you on the water jesus said come so peter got out of the boat and walked on water and came to jesus boy what is that that's one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve three fourteen words so simple yet so daring So other, we could say, distinct.

It's kind of the definition of holy. To be distinct, to be different, utterly different. Peter got out of the boat and walked down the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, well, he did what you'd do or what I would do most likely. He was afraid and he began to sink. And he cried out, Lord, save me. And Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, man of little faith, why did you doubt? That's Matthew 14, 22 through 31. I'll put in the show notes for

you, though. Okay, so we have Peter, and he sees Jesus walking. In fact, all of them did. And Peter said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. He says, wait, Lord, if that's really you out there, you know, and this isn't Photoshopped in or something, ask me to come to you on the water. And Jesus said, come. And so he got that leg over the boat, and then the other leg. And there he is, standing on the water. of the Sea of Galilee. At that point, at that point, he knew this was Jesus. The other 11, they didn't experience that level of knowing. And the difference between those 11 and Peter was that Peter is the one that got out of the boat. And what I'm asking you to do this week is to think about getting out of the boat at work, at home, in your neighborhood, on vacation,

whatever you might be doing. Airplane, riding camels in Egypt, whatever. Get, out of the boat or get off the camel. So the next thing is, so that's number one is the call. Number two is do it or don't do it. And then the third is looking for opportunities, looking for opportunities. And I want to use Acts chapter three on this one. And this is a story in the book of Acts where the disciples had an opportunity. And somebody wanted something from them. He wanted money. It's not healing. People want money, you know. So he wanted money. from them. And they didn't have it. But what they had, they gave to him. And this is the principle that my story today, after the break, is going to be based on. So it says, so Peter, this guy comes

and he's begging for silver and gold at the temple area. And Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. And he took him by the right hand and raised him up and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong and leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them walking and leaping and praising god isn't that beautiful now i like that so much because what peter is saying is look i've taken inventory you want silver and gold for me i'll tell you right away i think you can look down and you can hear no coins or anything clinging in the pouch. I don't have silver and gold. But then he doesn't stop there, which, by the way, is where we stop so often. I don't have what it takes. I don't have what you

need. I'm not going to be a source for you. I'm not gifted. And we leave it there. But not Peter, he says, I don't have silver and gold. But then he takes inventory. And he says, you know what, though, I do have the power of the Holy Spirit inside of me. I do have that calling. I know Jesus. and so he says, I'll give you what I do have. I can imagine the guy thinking, well, what do you have? And Peter says, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. That's what he had, the power of the Holy Spirit. And of course, he raised down, grabbed the guy's hand and raised him up,

and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And he got up and started leaping, jumping all the way into the temple. Neat story. Beautiful story. no doubt Peter told that story after that said you never believe what happened over at the gate beautiful on the eastern side of the temple this guy was begging for silver and gold

we didn't have anything we didn't have anything we just bought lunch earlier in the day there and we didn't have any cash with us Judas wasn't around at the time otherwise we would have had some money I suppose if he hadn't stolen it all and he said but

so I got to thinking well I do have the power of the Holy Spirit So I said, I'll give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. And guess what? It happened. It happened. So before our break here, let me just remind you this, Luke 137.

For with God, nothing will be impossible. Nothing. Now, you either live by that philosophy that nothing in Christ, nothing will be impossible, or you live with that philosophy of lots of things are. impossible. But not with God, not with God. Okay, after the break, I'm going to come back. I'm going to tell you the story. The story is about the car and the ice storm. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and I would like to invite you to spend Advent with me on the Ascension app. Sometimes Advent is just that season where we kind of pre-celebrate

Christmas. Imagine if I were to die on December 25th, how would I spend that season? How would I spend that season of Advent in a way that would prepare me to actually be ready to see the Lord face to face? So this Advent, we're having a series called Face to Face. That'll be a collection of Sunday homilies, as well as daily reflections on the Ascension app that every day you could spend time reflecting on how can you and I grow in love each day of Advent so that we can be ready on December 25th to see the Lord face to face. If you're interested in joining me and you're interested in joining the wait list, go to the

Ascension app or you could go to ascensionpress.com slash Father Mike Advent. Join us on the Ascension app today. God bless. Welcome back. Okay. All right, you ready for it? This is the first. I'm going to sprinkle these out throughout shows in the future. And this is evangelization stories, number one, the car and the ice storm. All right, there I was. Leaving the Twin Cities. I had a checkup at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. It was the fall, late fall. And late fall in Minnesota means that we can get snow. We can get ice storms. Roads are slippery. It can go down even to the teens at that time of the year. It's not like January where we can get 20 below. But it can be cold and it can be windy in the

fall. And so I'm on my way down there and I'm listening, you know, to podcasts and things like that. and kind of enjoying a nice ride down to Rochester, Mayo Clinic. And I looked up ahead, and there was a car pulled over on the right side of the road. And I could tell even from far away that the hood was up. And I thought, huh, boy, it's rainy, kind of icy out and windy and some snow mixed in. And I thought, boy, that's a terrible place and a terrible time to have a car break down on you. So I slowed down. There was no one behind me.

So I slowed down to see if I could get a glimpse going by of what was happening. And as I went by, there was a woman who was standing overlooking the engine with the hood up. And I stood, you know, kind of went down almost a crawl at that point. And, you know, I've often thought to myself that if my wife, Emily, was stranded on the side of the road somewhere, I would want some nice guy, some holy guy, some guy that knew the lower. to pull over and help her. So I thought, well, you know, maybe her husband's praying for someone. So I pulled over in front of her and I got out of my car and I started walking back to her, you know, holding my hands above my eyes kind of trying to keep some of that sleet from hitting me in the face.

And she turned to me and I said to her kind of at a yelling voice because of the wind and everything. I said, what seems to be the problem? And she looked back at me and shrugged her shoulders and she said, I don't know. She said, it just stopped. I just had to pull over. It just stopped. And then she asked me the question that you probably even know the answer to. She said, do you know anything about cars?

Yeah, they got four wheels. And if you got a real nice one, it probably has a glove. apartment. Yeah, no, I don't know anything about cars. So I said to her, oh man, and it felt a little embarrassed. You know, I'm a man. I'm supposed to, you know, be a fixer-upper kind of guy. And truth is, I'm not. I'm really bad at fixing things. I mean, I changed the wiring in one of our rooms. It was so easy to do. In fact, I looked on YouTube and figured out how to do it. And my whole family rejoiced. It was like one of the feasts in the Bible after that when dad actually changed a fixture in the ceiling. And I was afraid to even turn it on because I thought that what if I get a

fire, you know? My point is I don't know how to do a lot of stuff. I know a little about a lot and I know nothing about even more. And so she says, do you, do you know anything about cars? And I'm walking toward her and I said, no, no, I really don't. And I'm thinking, well, I'll just give her a ride to the next exit, maybe a gas station, maybe she's out of gas or something. And I had asked her that. And she said, no, I got gas. So I thought, hmm. And then, you know, here's the key. Acts 36 came up. It just came up in my thinking. Now, is that God or is that a coincidence? No, it's not a coincidence. I don't just run into people and suddenly a verse pops up for no reason. And what was that verse?

Silver and gold, I do not have, but what I have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. So I said to her, no, I don't. I don't know anything about that. But, you know, I'm a Christian, the disciple of the Lord, and I can pray for your car. And she immediately let out with this. What? and I said, I said, I can pray for your car.

And she said, are you serious? I said, yes, that's all I've got. I don't have what it takes here. You know, I can give you this. I'll pray for your car. And she kind of chuckled a little bit. And she said, well, okay. And I said, you go back in the car and put the key in.

And when I tell you to turn the ignition, then turn it. And she went, all right, all right. And she went back in the car, and I'm in the front of the car, leaning over this quiet engine that's not going. Doesn't seem to show any signs of life. And I said, Lord, I know you love her so much. Would you just show her today, Lord, how much you love her and that you're overseeing her life as a shepherd? And either way, Lord, I mean, this is all I've got. I'm trusting you.

And so I put my hands on the engine. I laid my hands in the engine. And I said, Jesus, please. and I yelled out, turn the car on. And she turned the ignition on and it went, and it started right up. I'm telling you, it started right up. And I took the fingers, my left finger, my right finger,

and I twirled them like I had a pistol in my hand, blew off the ends. Like, woo, can you believe it? It happened. It happened on the side of the road on the way to Mayo Clinic in a sleet storm. She came flying out of her car. And she goes, thank you. thank you. And I said, whoa, whoa, no. I said, don't thank me. Thank the Lord. The Lord is the one that is

showing you today. He's watching over you. And she goes, I guess. And she got back in her car and I got back in my car and I drove off and she drove off. And that's the story of the car and the ice storm. Now, take it apart for a moment here. What did I learn from that? What could you learn from an analogy like that well number one i saw a need and i thought i might be able to do something is very innocent very simple the genesis of this story is very simple drive up see something that i might be able to help maybe i can do something that's the beginning of it how many times have you driven by somebody and you do have to use some wisdom here don't just stop for everybody that you see that's dangerous but if you feel like you can do something

and you have people with you in certain circumstances. Well, by all means, you know, tried to do it. But I drove by and I saw the need I had a decision to make. But how many times, as I was saying, have you missed it? You go up about a mile or two and you think yourself, man, I should have pulled over. Or you heard something at a gas station and then you left and thought later, man, I should have said something.

You know, we have that regret of not doing things. well that's what this series is about the evangelization stories it's about not missing those opportunities so number one i saw a need and thought i might be able to do something about it number two the lord can speak to you and he can speak to me and it was much easier than i thought it would be i just felt a move of my heart to pull over and when uh when the need arose that the car wasn't working, well, it actually seemed kind of easy. I don't know how to make a car work, but I do know the Lord. So number three, I don't need to be afraid. I need to be gently bold. I'll say it again. I need to be gently bold. And so do you. You need to be gently bold. Number three, number four,

I found that there was something I had. There was something I had to give away. And it wasn't a technical knowledge of cars and electricity and, you know, catalytic converters and whatever else is under there. I didn't know anything about that, but I did have something to give. And so do you. I had something to give. And you take a broken down car and what I do, biblical studies, teaching, speaking, pilgrimages. Would the two ever come together?

Oh, they would. in a storm on the way to Mayo Clinic. So I found that there was something I had to give away, and that which I had to give away was Jesus Christ. Number five, after that car started up, I continue to pray about that encounter. And I don't remember her name, but I can pray. And I'm quite sure that she has told that story to many people.

And so after the event, whatever it is that God gets you into, afterwards you can pray and pray Lord may whatever that lady's going through today would you remind her of what happened on that late fall afternoon in Minnesota in the middle of a sleet storm Lord would you bring that back to her memory show her again did you love her so much and if her life is in danger Lord save it I beg you so praying afterwards is very very important and finally I want to just encourage you with this. You can do it. You can do it.

Keep your eyes and your ears open and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. This, my friend, is why you were confirmed. To walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. What's the difference between me and you, you might ask? I simply got out of the car. That was it. I got out of the car, saw that I was a loser in the area of auto mechanics, and gave her what I had.

Men, it worked. Someone might ask, well, what if it didn't work? Well, then what do you think? It didn't work. I'm not afraid of that. There's a lot of things I do in my life that don't work. That worked. But I can also tell you stories that didn't work.

But I'm not going to. But that one worked right there. It worked and it can in your life too. So I'm going to challenge you this week. In this first of the evangelization stories, evangelization stories, the car and the ice storm, I'm going to encourage you to keep your eyes open this week for opportunities to share Christ with people.

And I would ask you to send it to me via email. The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. I would love to hear. or you can put it in the show you can put it in the notes um you know an apple or google wherever you're listening and you can give it a like maybe other people are there are trying to learn how to share christ and we make it too too too too complicated oh we do you know we do we make it complicated let's not do that anymore let's step out in love and be jesus in this world let's pray In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, we love you so much.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us opportunities this week. Give us courage. Keep our eyes open, O Lord, in our hearts to notice the opportunities and give us courage to get out of the car, get out of the boat, and walk on water. In Jesus' name, amen. I love you, my friend. Looking forward to talking to you next week. Thank you.