Since it has finally stayed cold in Texas consistently for over a couple weeks I have been going indoors to share the gospel. Whenever I go to my favorite outdoor "fishing" spot I usually go on Saturday nights, but I decided to go on a Friday this time. That is when a local evangelism team goes out and does the same.
I didn't expect many people to be out there since it was pretty cold outside, but to my surprise their were more groups of people hanging out than when I go on Saturday. As I walked around the area I saw the same team out there, which are very nice and I always enjoy fellowship with them.
I started out by praying for greater manifestations of the Holy Spirit, a great thing to pray for when witnessing or just starting your day out. To see His hand intervene is truly awesome. That doesn't mean for tongue speaking or any other charismatic gift like that to happen, even though it would be nice if I could witness to people that spoke a foreign language in their own language! What I mean is for the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through; unhardening hearts, convicting the conscience, opening peoples eyes, and for opportunities to share the gospel according to His will. God uses all of us. It's just a matter of submitting to how you want Him to use you and I personally want Him to use me to proclaim the gospel of His son, Jesus Christ.
The first group of people I came across was a large group of about 12 boys and girls, mainly consisting of boys dressed in mainly black with piercings and such. When I handed them tracts I noticed a guy in the back who I had met two weeks ago who told me he was an agnostic and who had got really defensive when we started talking about judgment. This was also the same lad who lead me down a rabbit trail. Ironically, when I pointed him out he said he didn't remember me and that "he was a Christian and he likes to party". It's funny how individuals change and present themselves when they are with different groups of people. I have seen this there many times.
Another guy in the group told me he accepted Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior last week. I got caught up in the moment, gave him a high five, and told him to keep reading his bible. I really should have continued to go through the law and the gospel with him anyways. I messed up or maybe it was planned, only God knows, but I pray that his conversion was real. I then moved on as this group was not wanting to hear what I had to say because they were walking away as we talked. I thanked them for their time and let them be, hoping they would read the law and gospel message on the tract.
I then talked with a group of 4 girls that were on the same path and we went through the law and the gospel. There was a lot of joking around going on until we got through the Ten Commandments and we started talking about judgment. Their demeanor immediately changed. This is what I am talking about with manifestation of the Holy spirit. Their conscience was seared because they knew the seriousness of their sin even though they said they were good people and have gotten baptized in the past.
They listened intently and we talked about how repentance and trust in Christ is the only way to true salvation. It was really a great conversation. There were some more encounters that went the same way, but the overall thing that stuck out the most was a lot of people were saying, "well, I believe God is love, and He will forgive us all", or "I believe we go to heaven no matter what", or "I believe God doesn't send people to hell". This is why my blog is called a night of "I believes" because this was I heard more than ANYTHING. People were putting their own personal beliefs over what scripture actually says.
I responded to all these accusations in a gentle and understanding way by saying, "okay, I can see how you would see that, but let me tell you what the bible actually says because this is really important." If they said, no, then I would say, "well lets say IF the bible is real because if hell is then it would benefit you to know what it says. I care about you and I don't want you to go there."
Whenever someone starts getting fussy, ask for their name or call them by name. It makes it more personal and shows that you actually care, which you should. Please know that the reasons I write about my witnessing experiences is because;
1. I like to boast on the things God does (not me, because I'm seriously a wretched person who deserves nothing but hell!)
2. Share what the world outside of the church building actually believes and are saying here in America.
3. Share any tips on sharing your faith and being a witness for Christ. I am not an expert by any means, but I try my best to be obedient. My hope is that you can read about these encounters and learn from my mistakes or utilize any ideas to help further your witness for our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Anyways, the conversations went great. What I mean by that is, there was CONVICTION. They saw the severity of their sin and what they, as we all, deserve. I don't know if they are going to be born again or not. I have and probably will never have ANY idea, but they received the law and the gospel and responded in some fashion which is all I can hope to see. That is why I don't pray with someone after I witness. I don't want to give them a false hope that they are then saved, because that is between them and God.
I tell people that repentance and trust in Christ is the ONLY thing that will save them. I tell them to cry out to God because every breath they have is a gift from God and they never know when they will breathe their last breath. I also encourage them to read John in their bible to check out if what I am saying is true.
The last conversations of the night were really interesting though. There was a group of about 15 guys with piercings/tattoos as well. When I gave them million dollar bill tracts they let me know that it's not a good idea to give them fake money because I might get killed. They were probably joking around, but I simply replied, "Really? That wouldn't be cool. This has the million dollar question on the back. So what do you think happens after death?" About half them walked off after I said the word "God".
The guys that stayed showed serious concern and some of the ones that walked off actually came back. A lot of them had their own opinions about God and forgiveness. And they talked about their Catholic views and asked what the difference was between being Catholic and Christian which I have heard before. *If you're Catholic, don't get mad please, I am just writing what was said.* They told me that it was about forgiveness and that as long as you ask for it after you sin then you can go to heaven. I then asked them if they knew what the bible said about it. They said no, and we went through the Ten Commandments and then they got quite and there facial expression changed to one more of earnestness.
We took the forgiveness claim to the court room scenario. Most of them said they had been there before, not on a good account. I asked them if a good and righteous judge would let them go for their crime or punish them for what they deserved. They seemed adamant on saying that a good judge would let them go, but then I asked if someone killed your mother would you want justice or should they be let go? That made them see it differently. I told them we can't change the judges standard just because we are the ones in the hot seat. They grasped that understanding and agreed that a good judge will not let someone go for saying sorry, meaning it, and doing good things if he is really good.
I then asked them what they would think if someone walked up and paid that fine for them and they were free to go. I explained that, that is what Jesus Christ did. God is so loving and just that He see's all sin the same, lying, stealing, rape, murder, hate, you name it. He is so fair and good that He will punish ALL sin. Christ is the only one who can legally dismiss their case, BUT they have to repent and put their trust in Him. Relying on doing anything or going to church, and asking for forgiveness will not give them salvation. It is not a work to be maintained. It is a gift to be embraced with EVERYTHING you have that God grants you.
They didn't have any questions after I lead them to the cross. They thanked me for the time we shared and said they were going to think about what I said. We then parted ways. I am so thankful for the opportunity to talk to these guys. Even though they appeared tough and as though they didn't care at first they do have souls and they did care.
After a couple more conversations I had my last conversation of the night. What was funny is groups of people were asking for more than one tract and they were passing them out to other people trying to be funny. How ironic, and what a blessing! I even had some of them putting them on peoples cars because they thought it was funny as well.
Okay, well the last conversation there was a group of 6 guys standing around kind of acting goofy. I saw that they had the tracts in their hand, but I had not given them to them. I asked if they were the ones who put them on the cars and they said no, and that they were doing an activity for a bible study...Anyways, once we started talking one of the guys pulls out a video camera and starts filming me and the whole conversation. He said it was for the bible study. If it really was, awesome, if not, then I don't know what was going on.
They were honest and listened intently. It was a fun conversation as they were neat guys. I also told them for their bible study to look up Revelation 21:8 because we cannot ignore the severity of hell and who is going there. I also explained John 14:6 that no other religion leads to God. I tried to get in everything I could in case the video really was for a bible study or if anyone besides them would see it as it would be a great opportunity. I also explained to them that if they are Christians what the importance of sharing their faith is and told them to refer to Matthew 28 and Mark 15.
I finished the night by sharing stories with the evangelism team and telling them I appreciate what they do. We also talked about the Hell's Best Kept Secret/True and False Conversions CD that I handed out to their team the last time I saw them. If you haven't heard the message it is amazing and available for free at www.livingwaters.com - I try to carry a few CDs with me in case I ever meet other evangelists. Thank you Lord for cargo pants!
The team consists of a dad, his kids, and a couple of people from their church who go out and do it regularly. Praise God for His faithful laborers and that He would raise up more for His glory.
Thank you for reading and may God bless you and yours!
In Christ,
Joey
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