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I was one of those people. I'm Stu Everson. This is Truth Talk Weekend. With me in the studio is a young man who's been on before. All I can say about this guy is he's a bold, young, on-fire evangelist. Jeremiah Merriweather.

What a name, Jeremiah. Good to have you on, Truth Talk. Thank you so much.

Thank you. You were with us before. You just, something happened.

God got a hold of your heart. Tell our listeners, kind of, who is Jeremiah Merriweather? Yes, I'm a 24-year-old itinerant evangelist.

I mainly work in the southeast. I live in Jacksonville, Florida, and I'm excited for people to come to know and follow Jesus Christ and be really invested in God's Word and making disciples. I've had a dime for everyone that said to me, if we could just bottle this guy up and mass produce him, the whole world would come to Christ because you have that fire. But why aren't more Christians sharing the Gospel? Why aren't more Christians invigorated, emboldened in their faith, to bring people to Jesus Christ, to share the good news of Christ to our lost world, Jeremiah?

What's going on there? You know, one of the first things that God calls us to do when we follow him is to deny ourselves. So if we're still living for ourselves, we're going to deal with a lot of fear of man.

And if that's the case, we're not going to be able to have that real desire to get out and do something that makes us look foolish. So as part of Christ's call, yet so few people, it's interesting, the same anomaly or phenomena is going on in tithing. They say that less than 10% of church-going Christians give 10% to the Lord, and yet all these ministries are desperate for money just to keep the doors open, to continue to keep the Gospel going out. And yet I heard that less than 5% of Christians have ever led someone to Christ, and I heard less than 10% of Christians have ever even shared their faith or are even actively sharing their faith.

So why that? We have what Christ called us to do, but why is it that so many Christians get out of bed every morning and they don't think about, who am I going to lead to Christ today? Who am I going to pray for to receive Christ today? Why is that, Jeremiah? Can you help me understand that? Oh goodness, perhaps there's many reasons, but again, you have to look at your heart every day, examine your heart and say, am I truly following Christ?

Am I a disciple worth reproducing? And just allow the Spirit of God to identify things that need to go, and this is an everyday thing. Amen. So tell us about Jeremiah Merriweather.

Model that for us here on the show. You go and you speak college campuses, on the boardwalk, at the beach, Atlantic Beach, now Jacksonville, Florida area. Tell us a little bit about what you have done there. You've got a neighborhood full of 13 different people groups.

What was that you were telling me earlier at breakfast? Yeah, man, I'm in the hard places all the time, rough neighborhoods, many different places such as that, and the neighborhood that I currently live in, oh goodness, there's so many countries. I told Stu at breakfast here, I think there's 13 different languages spoken. That may be a little high estimate, but this Christmas we are looking to get a Bible into every single home in their own heart language and to really invest in those who are hungry, and so that's the mission for this particular neighborhood in Jacksonville, Florida. Getting them a Bible, in many of their countries it's illegal to own a Bible.

I think it's up to 57 countries now, so you're getting them a Bible. Give us an example of how God's opened a door for you to share the faith, just in your coming and going, interacting, you know, just in your neighborhood. You go to get groceries, you bump into somebody who's checking their mailbox, there you are right there. Tell us something that's happened to you recently. This is actually really great, and the ice cream man in our neighborhood, we got in conversation with him, and he has an incredible story of coming to the Lord, been serving the Lord 40 years, and he's a pastor, and he uses his job to minister, to evangelize, and in terms of investing in people in my neighborhood, I've been invited to dinners that were with groups of men from countries who were absolutely close to the gospel, and we've been able to invest in these relationships, and it's been very, very difficult, but you can know God is working in these very tough places. I can't give much detail.

I got you. So you're working, tell us another example, maybe when you're out there doing your open-air stuff. I mean, you get out there, you start preaching, you start sharing.

Yes, yes, yes. What are some other recent encounters you've had? Yeah, I've definitely done open-air preaching at a heavy metal concert, is what comes to mind, but I do a lot of face-to-face evangelism one-on-one in a lot of tough areas.

You know, I was speaking in another state in June, and I had my headphones on. I was going for a walk. I did not want to really talk to anyone, but I just really felt impressed to speak to these teenagers, so I walk up, and I offer them prayer.

You know, hey, is there anything I can pray for you about? It could be school, job, family member, sickness, and they all kind of laughed, and then they ended up—one kid ended up sharing. A lot of difficult things were going on at home, and the rest ended up really listening, because it seemed like he was kind of the leader of this group. So I was able to share with them how Jesus changed my life when I was 16 years old in 2009. As I'm walking away, I can hear someone as if they're running up to me, and it's nighttime, it's about 10 p.m., and I turn around, and it's one of these kids, and he has tears in his eyes, and he just said, please do not stop what you're doing. You are changing this city. You are working for God.

Thank you so much. And I had never met this kid before 10 minutes ago. He actually went to give me $3, and I said, I'm not going to accept your money.

I don't know you. And he said, no, no, please take this. This is like kind of me investing in what you're doing. And so I said, look, I would rather burn this money than see you not serve God wholeheartedly. So if you can give this money from a genuine place, I'll accept it. But if this is just kind of like, I'll give you this money so you can do God's work, as opposed to God doing the same thing through your life. It was a very powerful experience.

That is so convicting. And really, that's what our goal is at Christian Radio. We want people listening to support. Please donate to the ministries you hear on The Truth Network, on these other awesome stations that carry this program.

People are going to hear you in your native town there of Jacksonville on 91.7 FM The Truth, 91.3 just up north around Brunswick, 91.9 FM, WYL down in St. Augustine. They'll hear you on this show, Truth Talk Weekend with Stu Epperson, Jeremiah, and we want them to get around you and support you. But we also want them, the ones writing the checks, to turn around and share Christ. Why has God put you in that manufacturing job that you can't stand? Why has God put you in that trial agency? He's put you there to be a missionary. Hey Doc, you're a medical missionary. You're working on hearts, but God's called you to reach other hearts. Well, I can't just go in there and bust the doors of preaching.

No! But you can quietly pray in your heart, Lord, I pray for this patient. I pray for their healing, but I pray they'll find you as your Savior. And all of a sudden, they grab your arm and say, Doc, what is that cross around your neck? Doc, can you say a prayer for me? Doc, who is Jesus?

I mean, I've heard these things have happened because all we have to do is be willing, submissive voices. John the Baptist said, who are you? They said, are you the Christ? No. Are you the light?

No. I am a voice. God's saying, be a voice. Allow me to speak through you, to reach people. The message of Jesus, the gospel that can save you, the power of God to salvation. Jeremiah, what's your final parting challenge? All of our listeners out there. My final parting challenge is, if you're in the workplace, invest in relationships, but each and every day, know that God wants to use your life to multiply what He has put in your life for the advancement of His kingdom. So don't be silent, don't be afraid.

You may only have one chance to really impact someone with the gospel verbally, but be sensitive to how the Spirit is leading you, whether through relationship or bold proclamation of the gospel. That's just tremendous, and this is also a good time of year. Now, this show may play in July or August as the best of, but you know, you seize those seasons. That'd be a good cliche or a good little catchphrase. Seize the seasons.

There you go. Which means, hey, a lot of folks go to Christmas, to Church at Christmas and Easter that may otherwise never darken the door of a church. Their hearts are tender to the things of God at certain times of year. Even Halloween, weirdly enough, hearts are more open or minds are more perceptive to the spiritual domain.

And we can knock all the witchcraft and the evil stuff, but hey, let's talk about this. There is light and darkness, and if you don't know Christ, your destination will be with the demons. The ghoulish things that you will live for eternity as you burn in the lake of fire, they will be your company.

They will be those that you dwell with, and that's why you need Jesus. That's where I was going. I was on my way that day.

Let's go down and get you a triptych. Let's get you your travel plans, because if you don't know Christ, hearing my voice right now, you're on your way to hell. And the only challenge, the one thing you'd say to those people that don't know Jesus right now, Jeremiah, is what? The time is short, and Jesus is Lord, and we all have a relationship with God. It's either a good one or a bad one, but Jesus alone makes us right with God. Call to Christ. Trust in Him to be saved. Learn more at our website.

More information is there at truthnetwork.com. God bless you. Thanks for being an evangelist for Christ. May we all join Jeremiah in your boldness in Christ and sharing the gospel wherever we go. How lovely are the feet of Him that bring the gospel of peace, the gospel of goodness. Romans 10. This is the Truth Network.