Everyday Evangelism-Writing in the Sand

Every time I hear a particular song, I have a memory that goes with it. The song is called, "Here I am to Worship". It reminds me of a time when our family went to the beach a couple of years ago. My son and I came up with a new hobby while at the beach; writing in the sand. One time he wrote the 10 Commandments in the sand at the beach. Every time I wrote something, it took up so much room. I don't remember what exactly I wrote most of the time, but I know it was related to the Gospel. There is a part to the song, "Here I am to Worship" that goes like this; "I'll never know how much it costs to see my sin upon that Cross." I wrote that in the sand while we were on this particular beach trip. Late one afternoon, there was no one on the beach because of red tide. Occasionally, some one would stroll through. I believe I was writing this verse of the song during that time, in the sand. A group of people that consisted of what looked like two moms with some children were walking along the beach. They seemed polite and one of the moms was trying to get her child to be careful around my writing. If I remember correctly, as they were going past the words, the mom had the strangest look on her face as if she were thinking, 'Get me out of here!'. We had fun at the beach that time. We also took a bottle and put some tracts in it, and launched it on the water. I left my email address in it, but have not heard from any recipients. God's word will go out with power, whether we see the effect or not. It will not return to Him void.

Everyday Evangelism- New Ideas to Open Doors for the Gospel

I was thinking of some ways to create open doors that will enable opportunities to present the Gospel. Some of these ideas we have already done, and can elaborate on them more, others have not been incorporated yet. These opportunities do not replace the usual everyday opportunities that we have to preach the Gospel while we are at the stores, parks, or wherever we go to give out tracts and talk to people. I will try to expound on some of these ideas. Any other ideas would be appreciated as well. Post them underneath this post and tell if you have already used this idea and how it went.

Evangelism Outreach Ideas

1. Make bread and deliver it to the neighbors on a regular basis. I used to make bread at Christmas time and give it out to the neighbors, but this was such a burden because we were so busy and the neighbors were rarely home! However, one time I did give some goodies to the neighbors and somehow a lady I just met asked me some questions about the church. I was able to answer them with the Gospel. I am thinking about just making bread and giving that out periodically instead of at Christmas. Maybe more people will be home and I will have more time to talk to them and get to know them.

2. Christmas Caroling Project-I have a post on this already. We get together and go in a neighborhood and sing authentic Christmas carols and give each family we visit a bag with things related to the Gospel and a few other goodies.

3. Easter Idea- Show movie of Passion of the Christ and give out John Piper’s book to each participant. This is an idea from John Piper. I would imagine it could be done the day before Easter or Good Friday, either at a church building or a home. I have not done this one yet.

4. Have something cooked on hand when people come to work on the house. Give it to them as they leave along with a tract or a toy (with Scripture). I have done this at times, and it is very effective. If I know someone is coming to my house to work on something in the house, I will make some cookies or something appealing for them. People really seemed touched by this. I also give them a tract as they leave. I make sure that people who are doing strenuous work have a bottle or two of cooled water as well. Sometimes by the time they get the tract, they start a conversation.

5. Hold a class in the neighborhood on apologetics. Have a Bible club for children at the house.I have quite a few videos on apologetics and would love to share them in a setting. While I know this isn't primarily evangelistic, it may end up being just that. It is open to anyone who has an interest in finding out the reasons why Christianity is valid. It can also spur believers into action in defending the faith and evangelism preparation.

6. Free Speech Green at UCF- UCF is a nearby college that has something called a Free Speech Green where evangelists go to do open air as well as other evangelism methods.

7. Table at the local community colleges. This is great if you can do this. We set up a table with tracts and books and have other items on it too, like an electric billboard. I would put interesting questions on the electric billboard to create an interest to come to the table. One question I asked was about why God would allow wars. A Jehovah's Witness young woman came up and was trying to argue, but I was able to say things to her to make her silent. By the way, they had a table out there too.

8. Farmer's markets-I haven't done this yet, but imagine that it can be done. It is better to do it in winter or spring around here before it gets too hot to be outside.

9. Walmart- There are people in the US that have gotten permission to set up a table outside of Walmart. I tried a couple of them around here, but they didn't seem to understand what I was talking about. Walmart is a great place to share the Gospel. If you can get permission to set up a table, go for it.

Everyday Evangelism- Tracts and People

Usually when I go out with the intention to share the Gospel, I run into situations that have to run their course. Sometimes, I will run into Jewish people. Other times, I try to talk to people who believe the Bible was written by man. These situations seems to run in groups. Last week, I got a couple of people who told me they already got a tract. It happened more than once. When I asked them, "Did you get one of these?" they tell me that they did. That used to happen occasionally. But it happened a couple of times last week. One time, I gave a man who was going into the store, a tract. Then I went to the store across the street. I gave a tract to a man sitting in the car in front of the store. He then told me that I just gave him one at the other store! But the other challenge I got last week was that of two different cashiers telling me that they weren't allowed to take the tract because it was considered soliciting. I have my definition on soliciting, but didn't bring it up. I am sure it is an excuse to not take the tract. I am tempted to lecture these people, but I would be doing it out of anger because they are (and I know they are) probably rejecting the tract because they know what it is. I will have to think more about this soliciting excuse. For one thing, solicitation has to do with asking the other person for something. Anyway, maybe it's time to start thinking of another tract to use as an ice-breaker. I would have to come up with something to say when I give them out. I know that time will come someday, maybe even soon, because at some point, I'm sure that most of the people in this area will already have received a tract. That is good because the person can either respond and want more information, or, they can just not want to take the tract because they know what it is. I can give the tract to someone else who will want to know the truth.

Everday Evangelism- Feruary 25 th

Nothing earth-shaking has happened recently in my world of evangelism. I'm still looking for places where there are lots of people that I can talk to. Park Avenue seems to have a lot of people. I went there on Saturday and had a limited amount of tracts with me. I talked with a woman who was a professing believer and she was very encouraging to talk to. I seem to talk to a lot of people who really like what I am doing. Hopefully, it will encourage them to be out there with the Gospel message.

I have an idea of taking a little longer when I go to the stores, and roam the parking lots. I will still be a customer, just in case someone wants to report me. The other day, the weather was great, and I was at an Office Depot store to pick up some ink cartridges. After I got done, I walked over to the gym next door and saw a man getting on his motorcycle. His name was Will. He took a tract. He had never heard the Gospel before. I was able to share a little with him. What was neat to share with him though, was the use of his motorcycle as an example of a way people can get killed. I told him that he could get on the motorcycle one day, and it could be his last day on earth. He said he was actually talking about that the other day with someone. He wasn't ready to respond to the Gospel though. But I hope to have said enough to him to make him think of eternity and want to prepare for that time. Pray for Will to be granted repentance and faith. And for God to be real to him. Thanks.

Everyday Evangelism-Around the World in a Minute

Last week, I was reading through my Face Book updates, and one of my Face Book Friends was in a conversation with a Muslim man. He explained a little bit of this in his status. I asked him a question about what he thought the Muslim man might say in response to a question I had. I didn't realize that the Muslim man, Aji, became friends on Face Book with my friend, so he started answering the questions himself! The conversation centered around the deity of Christ. We started showing him verses out of the New Testament that Jesus said about Himself. Aji has shown us verses out of the Quran that talk about Jesus and Mary. They don't agree with the Biblical account though. So it appears that one of us is wrong. Now we are showing him verses out of the Old Testament that prophesied the coming of Christ. He is very knowledgable about the Quran and tells us about it in detail.

Aji lives in Indonesia. The time zone makes us have a difference of 12 hours. So when we are on Face Book during the day, he is probably sleeping, and vice-versa. Please by praying for Aji to have eyes to see the True and Living God, and his own need for a Savior. He is asking questions and we are giving the best answers we know. But he is still defending Allah and the Quran. Please pray for me and the others in this conversation on Face Book to have good answers for him that he will understand. We can inform him of what the Bible says, but it is God who reveals Himself to people. Salvation is of the Lord. And it is amazing that we can preach the Gospel on the other side of the world and not even go outside! Who would have thought of this ever happening, except for God?

Everyday Evangelism-Wordless Color Evangelism Open Air

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv0w3wovWII

Everyday Evangelism- Parachutes and Helium Balloons

Here is a unique idea on how to spread the Gospel. Make some parachutes out of muslin material, attach thin rope, and presto, you have your parachute. This is actually being done right now in Columbia. People in America are making the parachutes (from a pattern obtainable from Voice of the Martyrs) and sending them in. They are collected and sent off to Columbia where they will have Bibles or radios attached to them, then they will be dropped from a plane. As people see these parachutes, they can find the radios (which are pretuned to a Christian channel) or the Bibles that are attached. The Gospel can go out via parachutes sent out from a plane.
How would that work in America? Are there places we can do this as well? Well, if you have a plane available it could be possible! Another option would be to attach the items to helium balloons. There are a couple of difficulties we have in America that aren't in other countries. We have cars to contend with. Could a parachute land on a car? I don't know. We can pray for God to direct the balloons and parachutes. There isn't the need here yet to attach radios to the parachutes because we can still legally listen to Christian radio and get solid Bible teachings. But could we make these parachutes and send them off. I think we could. If we could make sure they would work, we could attach parachute men to them with tracts attached, or just put the tracts with the parachutes. We attached balloons with tracts on them and sent them off. We don't know where they landed (except the ones that ended up in a neighbor's tree!), but God knows and He can send them where He wants them to go.
We sent a tract attached to 3 balloons up in the air from our driveway. Very interesting experience. The balloons got caught in a neighbor's tree at the very top. The balloons were red, black and green. A Giant Money tract was attached to them. The balloons were very noticeable at first and it looked like our neighbors were having a party! During the day the Giant Money tract hung in such a way that it looked like part of the tree, but the front of the tract was facing the road! It looked like money was growing on the tree. Now who will read that tract? Perhaps a tree trimmer will find it. Maybe the wind will blow it down once the balloons have deflated. One thing I learned from that experience was to make sure you are in an open space when letting the balloons go up! Now I am on a hunt for a place that doesn't have a bunch of trees around it or telephone wires that the balloons could get caught in. Again, God can direct the tracts where He wants them to go. Let's pray that they will be found by the exact people who will need to see them, whose hearts God is preparing to know Him.