10/29/11 Danny, Mario, Edgar all 16
After dark in a city park I saw some teens messing with some trees that were about to be tranplanted there and I started walking toward them. "I have a question for you" I said and they nervously waited to find out what it was. They thought I was an undercover cop and was about to ask them why they were messing with the trees. "What do you think happens after this life, what comes next?" I asked. One of them, Danny, said "I'm goin' straight to hell" with a laugh and a knowing glance at his friends. I answered "I know you don't believe that, because if you really did, you wouldn't be laughing about it". He had to admit that deep down he believes he is a pretty good person (despite having recently robbed a cab driver) and will end up in heaven. We went on from there to a good conversation. I write this because it reminds me that deep down most people do not believe they will really end up in hell. They try to justify and trivialize their own sin, and they trivialize God's holiness and His love for justice, so they simply can't believe God would punish them in hell. The church is partly to blame for this, with our modern emphasis on God's love for us to the exclusion of His love for justice, or the opposite extreme of hellfire/brimstone preaching which can make God seem like a cruel tyrant and therefore unrealistic and unbelievable. We need to be ready to explain that hell is indeed a reasonable punishment for offenses against an infinitely holy God.
Gospel conversations from the streets and marketplace....
10/28/11 Sean, early 20's
At work yesterday a colleague explained a theory as to why autistic people often have trouble making eye contact in conversations. Their focus on listening is easily distracted by input from the sight of the person talking and the social need to respond, so they look away instead. This gives the impression that they aren't listening when in fact they really are. I believe it was no coincidence that that evening I ran into just such a person - Sean - while witnessing. Sean showed autistic tendencies and acted uninterested, looking away while we talked and even turning his body in the opposite direction. He gave the impression he didn't want to talk, yet we had a reasonably long conversation. He had thought about his faith and had some insightful questions. Had I not had the earlier conversation about autism, I think I would have given up early, assuming Sean didn't want to talk. I love the Lord's timing!
At work yesterday a colleague explained a theory as to why autistic people often have trouble making eye contact in conversations. Their focus on listening is easily distracted by input from the sight of the person talking and the social need to respond, so they look away instead. This gives the impression that they aren't listening when in fact they really are. I believe it was no coincidence that that evening I ran into just such a person - Sean - while witnessing. Sean showed autistic tendencies and acted uninterested, looking away while we talked and even turning his body in the opposite direction. He gave the impression he didn't want to talk, yet we had a reasonably long conversation. He had thought about his faith and had some insightful questions. Had I not had the earlier conversation about autism, I think I would have given up early, assuming Sean didn't want to talk. I love the Lord's timing!
10/20/11 Harold, Mesha in their 30's
After meeting at a Jason's Deli with "Tim" - a seeker who has been attending our church - I asked if he would like to sit in on a witnessing conversation. He agreed, so I asked two African-American men sitting a few tables away if they'd mind if I asked them a few questions. One of them, Mesha, who was very effeminate and most likely gay, didn't mind as long as his friend Harold did the talking, so we sat down for a long conversation. Harold had grown up in a Baptist church but during his teens had growing doubts and chose not to take ownership of the faith he had grown up in. He doubted that the biblical God exists, choosing instead to believe in a less personal higher power and claiming that people have made God into their own image. He believed in various conspiracy theories about the origins of the Bible and wondered why the "lost gospels" were rejected, believing they didn't serve the political climate of the time. I didn't really offer many counterpoints against his statements, because as long as he needed to eliminate the possibility of being judged for his sinful lifestyle, he wouldn't want to hear them. I trust that the 10 Commandments could be used to help Harold realize he needs a savior, so after I had heard Harold's excuses for not believing I began to ask how he would be judged if what the Bible says is true. "How many lies have you told in your life?" I asked. "About as many as my sexual partners" he joked. I stuck to asking about the commandments, because a debate about homosexuality would only confuse the real issue - his realtionship with God. When it came down to it, as friendly as Harold came across in our conversation he still chose to rebel against God no matter what, not seeing it as an act of sinful pride but as "standing on his principles". He couldn't see why the Bible says that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom", so I ended our conversation with a personal account of how the fear of God has led me to experience His love in Christ at the cross. Even though they hadn't agreed to such things as the inspiration of the Bible or the need to fear God and repent of sin, talking about my own experience of forgiveness in Christ seemed the best way to end this conversation. As I later talked to "Tim", the seeker from church I had been meeting with, he could clearly see the results of unbelief and sin, and this led to an interesting conversation with him as well.
After meeting at a Jason's Deli with "Tim" - a seeker who has been attending our church - I asked if he would like to sit in on a witnessing conversation. He agreed, so I asked two African-American men sitting a few tables away if they'd mind if I asked them a few questions. One of them, Mesha, who was very effeminate and most likely gay, didn't mind as long as his friend Harold did the talking, so we sat down for a long conversation. Harold had grown up in a Baptist church but during his teens had growing doubts and chose not to take ownership of the faith he had grown up in. He doubted that the biblical God exists, choosing instead to believe in a less personal higher power and claiming that people have made God into their own image. He believed in various conspiracy theories about the origins of the Bible and wondered why the "lost gospels" were rejected, believing they didn't serve the political climate of the time. I didn't really offer many counterpoints against his statements, because as long as he needed to eliminate the possibility of being judged for his sinful lifestyle, he wouldn't want to hear them. I trust that the 10 Commandments could be used to help Harold realize he needs a savior, so after I had heard Harold's excuses for not believing I began to ask how he would be judged if what the Bible says is true. "How many lies have you told in your life?" I asked. "About as many as my sexual partners" he joked. I stuck to asking about the commandments, because a debate about homosexuality would only confuse the real issue - his realtionship with God. When it came down to it, as friendly as Harold came across in our conversation he still chose to rebel against God no matter what, not seeing it as an act of sinful pride but as "standing on his principles". He couldn't see why the Bible says that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom", so I ended our conversation with a personal account of how the fear of God has led me to experience His love in Christ at the cross. Even though they hadn't agreed to such things as the inspiration of the Bible or the need to fear God and repent of sin, talking about my own experience of forgiveness in Christ seemed the best way to end this conversation. As I later talked to "Tim", the seeker from church I had been meeting with, he could clearly see the results of unbelief and sin, and this led to an interesting conversation with him as well.
10/17/11 Carlos, about 25
As I walked in a grocery store I gave a miillion dollar bill Gospel tract to a young man (Carlos) who was just leaving, which led to a longer conversation. Carlos is from Spain, grew up as a Roman Catholic, and now would rather just think about day to day concerns. When questioned he ventured that he will either go to heaven or be reincarnated as another person after he dies, but he clearly hadn't thought this through very much. Like Jose whom i spoke with two days ago, Carlos had a sort of halfhearted belief system cobbled together apparently from the kinds of theories presented on "Discovery Channel" or "History Channel". These kinds of TV shows provide just enough excuses for non-belief and attractive alternative beliefs for the average shallow thinker distracted by a self-indulgent lifestyle. After a fairly deep discusion on the subject, Carlos said he'd rather be playing video games than think about such things. The idea of a God who would hold him accountable for his presumed "minor" sins seemed preposterous to him. It was easy to help him realize that even in his own shallow beliefs there is some sort of judgment and accountability, and from there we talked more clearly about the truths of the Bible. He left seeming very interested to read the additional info I gave him.
As I walked in a grocery store I gave a miillion dollar bill Gospel tract to a young man (Carlos) who was just leaving, which led to a longer conversation. Carlos is from Spain, grew up as a Roman Catholic, and now would rather just think about day to day concerns. When questioned he ventured that he will either go to heaven or be reincarnated as another person after he dies, but he clearly hadn't thought this through very much. Like Jose whom i spoke with two days ago, Carlos had a sort of halfhearted belief system cobbled together apparently from the kinds of theories presented on "Discovery Channel" or "History Channel". These kinds of TV shows provide just enough excuses for non-belief and attractive alternative beliefs for the average shallow thinker distracted by a self-indulgent lifestyle. After a fairly deep discusion on the subject, Carlos said he'd rather be playing video games than think about such things. The idea of a God who would hold him accountable for his presumed "minor" sins seemed preposterous to him. It was easy to help him realize that even in his own shallow beliefs there is some sort of judgment and accountability, and from there we talked more clearly about the truths of the Bible. He left seeming very interested to read the additional info I gave him.
10/13/11 Lance, Jim, Will 30's/40's
After being prayed for at our men's Bible study, Nick and I went out to witness and then to return toward the end of the study where we would hear a recap of the lesson, share about the people we talked to, and then pray together with the rest of the guys for these people. I go out with a new partner each week. In this way the Bible study continues but with the continual emphasis and excitement of our call to reach out with the Gospel. Nick and I ran into two men out smoking and in deep discussion on the sidewalk at a strip mall. As we figured out later, the first man, Lance, had autistic tendencies. He responded to our questions about his beliefs with a long disconnected rant about various sociological theories, using the vocabulary of higher learning but lacking complete thought or logical meaning. At first we thought he was joking, but, as his friend Jim put it, "he has issues". Jim turned out to be well-versed in evangelical practice and theology, but in the end he has - in his own mind - discredited the Bible, the church, and any accountability to God. We talked for a while but I soon felt it best to admit that Jim's heart was like some rocky soil that could not be prepared for planting any time soon. We went on to talk with Will, a man who has the typical belief in his own goodness. Unfortunately, after hearing how he stands according to the Ten Commandments, he wasn't willing to stay around to hear the good news. I trust that God's timing is perfect, and that Will will hear it when he is ready...
10/15/11 Jose, about 30
Today at the park I saw a man (Jose) sitting at the edge of the large pond there, not fishing but just looking thoughtfully out over the water, so I went over and asked if he would answer some questions. "What for?" Jose asked, so I just explained that I go to a church nearby and part of the reason is because a lot of church people are out of touch with what non-believers think and believe. This satified him for a while and he went on to tell me about his theories about God, reincarnation, and the end of the world.. Later he asked, "So why are you asking all these questions?" so I went into more detail - "Well, I believe what the Bible teaches about all this, which is..." - and I went on to share what the Bible teaches about these same topics. Toward the end he asked again "So you're out here to preach the Gospel, right?" I responded by asking what he believes the Gospel message is, which turned out to be very different from the biblical Gospel, and then was able to share the Gospel more fully. I share these three questions to say that as we witness we don't have to be afraid or defensive when questioned about our intentions, but can simply use these questions as opportunities to share further truth. As it turned out, Jose and I talked for almost two hours, and though he seemed to abandon all his own shallow religious theories and had a lot of questions about Christianity, I couldn't convince him of the reality that his own "minor" sins deserved condemnation.
Today at the park I saw a man (Jose) sitting at the edge of the large pond there, not fishing but just looking thoughtfully out over the water, so I went over and asked if he would answer some questions. "What for?" Jose asked, so I just explained that I go to a church nearby and part of the reason is because a lot of church people are out of touch with what non-believers think and believe. This satified him for a while and he went on to tell me about his theories about God, reincarnation, and the end of the world.. Later he asked, "So why are you asking all these questions?" so I went into more detail - "Well, I believe what the Bible teaches about all this, which is..." - and I went on to share what the Bible teaches about these same topics. Toward the end he asked again "So you're out here to preach the Gospel, right?" I responded by asking what he believes the Gospel message is, which turned out to be very different from the biblical Gospel, and then was able to share the Gospel more fully. I share these three questions to say that as we witness we don't have to be afraid or defensive when questioned about our intentions, but can simply use these questions as opportunities to share further truth. As it turned out, Jose and I talked for almost two hours, and though he seemed to abandon all his own shallow religious theories and had a lot of questions about Christianity, I couldn't convince him of the reality that his own "minor" sins deserved condemnation.
Getting trained in on my new job has left me little time to write up the stories of my everyday conversations. Fortunately a reader named Eric Stidham sent me a conversation story of his own. Here it is....
10/12/11 Sherri, a young student
"On my lunch hour, i went to our college campus to strike up a conversation. I met Sherri. She was a young student waiting at the bus stop. She said she would answer my questions about her beliefs. Although she didnt seem too thrilled. she said she believes in God, she believes in 3 destinations for the afterlife. Heaven, earthly paradise & hell. so i asked her where she was going if she died right now. She said she would go to paradise. Then i asked if she was a good person. She said she was but not perfect. i went thru a few of the commandments, however Sherri said she had done those things in the past & there have only been 2 perfect people in history. I felt like asking who those perfect pple were would have gotten me off track. I explained that both she & i were lawbreakers. then i shared the courtroom analgy. I explained that Jesus took our place on the cross taking Gods wrath.& he gives us his righteousness. Sherri had some questions about 7 day creation and the validity of the bible. I gave her a mdb as she left for the bus. I prayed that God would use that conversation. Its amazing that by asking about other pples beliefs can give you the opportunity to share the gospel."
10/12/11 Sherri, a young student
"On my lunch hour, i went to our college campus to strike up a conversation. I met Sherri. She was a young student waiting at the bus stop. She said she would answer my questions about her beliefs. Although she didnt seem too thrilled. she said she believes in God, she believes in 3 destinations for the afterlife. Heaven, earthly paradise & hell. so i asked her where she was going if she died right now. She said she would go to paradise. Then i asked if she was a good person. She said she was but not perfect. i went thru a few of the commandments, however Sherri said she had done those things in the past & there have only been 2 perfect people in history. I felt like asking who those perfect pple were would have gotten me off track. I explained that both she & i were lawbreakers. then i shared the courtroom analgy. I explained that Jesus took our place on the cross taking Gods wrath.& he gives us his righteousness. Sherri had some questions about 7 day creation and the validity of the bible. I gave her a mdb as she left for the bus. I prayed that God would use that conversation. Its amazing that by asking about other pples beliefs can give you the opportunity to share the gospel."
10/9/11 Jody, about 45
I was an hour early to church where I found John, another church brother, who was also early, so we decided to head out onto the streets to look for witnessing conversations. The Chicago Marathon was in progress and passing nearby so we headed in that direction and found an African-American man named Jody, who works at a nearby gas station, out among the cheering fans. He had taken a break from work to look for his wife who was running in the marathon. I asked if he would answer an interesting question and when I asked about his beliefs about heaven he initially said he takes a wait and see attitude about it. I explained a little of the importance of our eternal destination and asked again and this time he took it much more seriously and seemed surprised, like he had never really thought about it before. It reminded me that so many people are so caught up with day to day concerns that they rarely step back to think about eternal things. They need people to remind them to do so. We talked a while and Jody had to get back to work but he invited us to talk with him later, now clearly more interested to hear more.
I was an hour early to church where I found John, another church brother, who was also early, so we decided to head out onto the streets to look for witnessing conversations. The Chicago Marathon was in progress and passing nearby so we headed in that direction and found an African-American man named Jody, who works at a nearby gas station, out among the cheering fans. He had taken a break from work to look for his wife who was running in the marathon. I asked if he would answer an interesting question and when I asked about his beliefs about heaven he initially said he takes a wait and see attitude about it. I explained a little of the importance of our eternal destination and asked again and this time he took it much more seriously and seemed surprised, like he had never really thought about it before. It reminded me that so many people are so caught up with day to day concerns that they rarely step back to think about eternal things. They need people to remind them to do so. We talked a while and Jody had to get back to work but he invited us to talk with him later, now clearly more interested to hear more.
10/5/11 Kate, Aaron both about 20
"Is it poossible to be a Christian without believing in eternal life?" -I thought to myself as I talked with Kate and Aaron, an Asian couple born in China who moved to America and more recently to our neighborhood. I had met them at a strip mall here in Chicago, and asked about their beliefs. They didn't believe in eternal life, yet described themselves as new Christians. They had grown up under an atheist world view, and didn't seem to have considered the possibility of eternal life. What had attracted them to Christianity, apparently, was the joy and perhaps the prosperity of some Christians they had met. Aaron had recently been baptised, and Kate excitedly recited a Bible verse she had recently memorized. They asked about my church, excited to be invited to a church in the neighborhood. I wasn't sure how to share the Gospel with them, because I didn't want to wreck their enthusiasm about church with an explanation of our sin and condemnation that makes God's grace amazing. I guess I felt I needed a lot more time to talk than I had there in the parking lot, considering they needed to change an entire world view, and I hope they do come to church so we can continue the conversation
"Is it poossible to be a Christian without believing in eternal life?" -I thought to myself as I talked with Kate and Aaron, an Asian couple born in China who moved to America and more recently to our neighborhood. I had met them at a strip mall here in Chicago, and asked about their beliefs. They didn't believe in eternal life, yet described themselves as new Christians. They had grown up under an atheist world view, and didn't seem to have considered the possibility of eternal life. What had attracted them to Christianity, apparently, was the joy and perhaps the prosperity of some Christians they had met. Aaron had recently been baptised, and Kate excitedly recited a Bible verse she had recently memorized. They asked about my church, excited to be invited to a church in the neighborhood. I wasn't sure how to share the Gospel with them, because I didn't want to wreck their enthusiasm about church with an explanation of our sin and condemnation that makes God's grace amazing. I guess I felt I needed a lot more time to talk than I had there in the parking lot, considering they needed to change an entire world view, and I hope they do come to church so we can continue the conversation
11/3/11 Lauren
Here's a post from a reader named Eric
Hey Jeff - 1st thank u for your faithfulness. God has blessed me thru reading your posts. Today i went on my lunch hour with the intention of sharing the gospel. I went to the mall and almosts wasted the hour trying to find the perfect person. Finally as i was leaving i came upon a young woman outside smoking. I paused wondering if i could or should. I used a mdb to get the conversation going. she said that they have those at work. I was a little surprised. She works at an ins co. They use them to talk about life insurance. I asked if she believes in heaven and she said yes. She said she had a christian bground growing up & her mom is very devout. When i asked her "why should God let her into heaven?" she said "b/c i deserve it" and added "b/c i believe in Him". i explained to her that what helped me understand the gospel was the 10 commandments. They show me that i wasnt good enough or deserving of heaven. I asked if she was born again? She said she was & that happen when she was inHS She said she was born again in HS. She stated she didn't like how some people feel pressured to make a profession of faith. She said she waited until she was ready. She goes to church but hasnt read her Bible in a long time. I asked whats your favorite book in the bible? She didnt have a favorite. At this i felt like my time was up. Her name was Lauren she was in her mid 20s. I prayed in my car that God would use that conversation. is Lauren a real believer? not sure. I need to remember to use scripture in speaking with folks. Gods word is the sword of the Spirit. He changes hearts.
Here's a post from a reader named Eric
Hey Jeff - 1st thank u for your faithfulness. God has blessed me thru reading your posts. Today i went on my lunch hour with the intention of sharing the gospel. I went to the mall and almosts wasted the hour trying to find the perfect person. Finally as i was leaving i came upon a young woman outside smoking. I paused wondering if i could or should. I used a mdb to get the conversation going. she said that they have those at work. I was a little surprised. She works at an ins co. They use them to talk about life insurance. I asked if she believes in heaven and she said yes. She said she had a christian bground growing up & her mom is very devout. When i asked her "why should God let her into heaven?" she said "b/c i deserve it" and added "b/c i believe in Him". i explained to her that what helped me understand the gospel was the 10 commandments. They show me that i wasnt good enough or deserving of heaven. I asked if she was born again? She said she was & that happen when she was inHS She said she was born again in HS. She stated she didn't like how some people feel pressured to make a profession of faith. She said she waited until she was ready. She goes to church but hasnt read her Bible in a long time. I asked whats your favorite book in the bible? She didnt have a favorite. At this i felt like my time was up. Her name was Lauren she was in her mid 20s. I prayed in my car that God would use that conversation. is Lauren a real believer? not sure. I need to remember to use scripture in speaking with folks. Gods word is the sword of the Spirit. He changes hearts.
Church in a Parking Lot
10/2/11 John and Mary, about 60
Can we "have church" in a parking lot?
I needed to run an errand
to Home Depot after church, and as I got out of the car I noticed an
African-American couple - John and Mary - in the car next to me. I used
an interesting Bible tract as a conversation starter, and talked with
them about their beliefs. John described himself as a backslider who has
drifted away from church, and Mary is a church attender who happened to
miss church that day.
Both John and Mary were under the
impression that they can be saved through their good works, so I spent
some time explaining the way of salvation more clearly to them. They
both thanked me profusely as I left, with Mary saying "I might have
missed church today, but we just had church right here in the parking
lot!" That was encouraging.
10/1/11 Noemi and Esther, both in their 20's
Many churches like to sponsor days of community service and outreach, and these can be wonderful opportunities for evangelism not just to the people we are reaching out to, but to the volunteers these kinds of events often attract. That was the case today as I led three volunteers in the streets to witness, one of whom was a young lady named Esther. Esther and I went into a Dunkin' Donuts where I asked another young lady, Noemi, who was there with her father (he only spoke Spanish) if she would be willing to talk with us. Noemi agreed, and as we talked I found out that she was "saved" at her parent's church (though she wasn't sure what that meant) at an early age, has long since drifted away from church and the Bible, and now believes that her good works will be what allows her to go to heaven. Before the conversation, I had explained to Esther of the need to "prepare the stony soil" of people's hearts with the law before planting the Gospel seeds of grace. I was doing just that with Noemi, using the Ten Commandments to help her see she is not the good person she believes herself to be, when suddenly Esther felt sorry for her and jumped in with comforting words of grace - prematurely, I believe. She talked about Jesus to Noemi, but it felt like she was just throwing seeds on stony ground that hadn't been prepared for planting. She hadn't done the work of an evangelist, preparing the soil. In fact, she wasn't sure of the gospel herself, and as we talked later she said she believes a person is saved when they confess their sins and God sees the sincerity of their heart - another works or self-righteous based belief system, I think. If she is in fact a believer she is very confused about her own faith, and there's nothing like getting involved in witnessing conversations to help bring clarity to one's own beliefs.
Many churches like to sponsor days of community service and outreach, and these can be wonderful opportunities for evangelism not just to the people we are reaching out to, but to the volunteers these kinds of events often attract. That was the case today as I led three volunteers in the streets to witness, one of whom was a young lady named Esther. Esther and I went into a Dunkin' Donuts where I asked another young lady, Noemi, who was there with her father (he only spoke Spanish) if she would be willing to talk with us. Noemi agreed, and as we talked I found out that she was "saved" at her parent's church (though she wasn't sure what that meant) at an early age, has long since drifted away from church and the Bible, and now believes that her good works will be what allows her to go to heaven. Before the conversation, I had explained to Esther of the need to "prepare the stony soil" of people's hearts with the law before planting the Gospel seeds of grace. I was doing just that with Noemi, using the Ten Commandments to help her see she is not the good person she believes herself to be, when suddenly Esther felt sorry for her and jumped in with comforting words of grace - prematurely, I believe. She talked about Jesus to Noemi, but it felt like she was just throwing seeds on stony ground that hadn't been prepared for planting. She hadn't done the work of an evangelist, preparing the soil. In fact, she wasn't sure of the gospel herself, and as we talked later she said she believes a person is saved when they confess their sins and God sees the sincerity of their heart - another works or self-righteous based belief system, I think. If she is in fact a believer she is very confused about her own faith, and there's nothing like getting involved in witnessing conversations to help bring clarity to one's own beliefs.
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