Everyday Evangelism - Many Claim the Bible is a Book of Fairy Tales

  Ever wonder why people make claims about the Bible that are false? Now we know they are false claims, but why are people so eager about making sure that these false claims are made known?

   A common false claim is that the Bible was written by men. Actually, the words of the Bible were penned by men, so that part of it is correct. But what the Skeptic is trying to communicate is that basically, the Bible is not God's Word to us. The statement is taking a partial truth, and adding a lie to it, to make the whole premise false.
 
  Another one I have seen a lot of recently is the one about the Bible being a book of fairy-tales. I have to marvel at this one, for, I have not yet seen a debate forum on whether Aesop's Fables are from God or not. Nor have I seen anyone struggling to figure out what God was saying to Zeus and the other Roman/Greek gods and goddesses. I think Greek mythology is interesting. While it is interesting, there is no controversy about those writings being from God or not. No one is concerned, and no one has seemed to have thought about it.

  But when it comes to the Bible, there has always been a struggle with that book. Did you know that in at least 52 countries, the Bible is forbidden? Now let me ask you a question; If the Bible is a book of fairy-tales or mythology, why is it forbidden in so many places? I haven't seen the Iliad forbidden anywhere. Nor have I seen Aesop's Fables forbidden. In some countries, a person will go to prison if they are found possessing a Bible. They must keep their Bibles well hidden for those who would, by force, break into the house if the people living there are suspected of being Christians.

   Could it be that there is a real force behind the hiding of the truth of the Bible? Could we really have an Enemy of our souls that hates us and wants to keep us from the Truth? Remember, Satan is angry at God, and he is angry at people, Christians in particular. (By Christian, I mean people who have realized their sinful state before God and repented of their sins, and who trust in the sacrifice that Jesus provided on the Cross for them). I am aware that another trick of Satan is to take words like 'Christian' or 'religion' and twist their meaning around so people get a warped view of what they are. We need to see through the tricks of the Enemy and not give into his wishes, for his desire is to deceive us and destroy us. He would like to destroy you and your family, and he will if you let him. He comes in the door by telling us lies that we are likely to believe in. Then he has us where he wants us.

                                           

Everyday Evangelism - The Suggestion to Evangelize While We Have Freedom

Lately, I have been thanking God for the freedoms we have right now, in our country. It would seem like we could take over our country with evangelism, if we wanted to. Just think, the Bible is banned in 52 countries or more around the world. I thank God every day that we have Bibles here, and don't have to be afraid of going to jail because they are in our possession. There are people, right now, that would give anything to be able to have a Bible, but they are hard to come by, for them. How easy it is for us. I probably bought three different Bibles this year, let alone, a case of New Testaments. The Bibles are for me to use, and the New Testaments are to give away. I don't have to be afraid of someone finding my order receipts and coming to my house, and arresting me. Not yet, anyway.

  Here is a plea from a man who lives in Laos. When he first came to Christ, even before he really had a good understanding of the Gospel, he couldn't help, but, to share his faith. He was warned not to evangelize, but continued to do so. Finally, in 1999, he was sentenced to 15 years of prison. Somehow, he did manage to smuggle Bibles into his cell, and he was set free before the sentence was over.

   He has a word for us. He thanks us for praying for him and credits the prayers for him as the reason for his being alive. Here is his request for us "Please pray for my country,...Pray that everyone accepts Jesus Christ, because I know that nothing is worthy in this life except becoming a Christian and following Jesus Christ. I know how hard life is, but I want to encourage believers in America to be strong in their faith. I know many Americans have not accepted Jesus Christ yet, but you have the freedom to proclaim Jesus and share the gospel. Go evangelize in the name of Jesus because you can. You have the right to read the Bible, to pray, and go to church. Please do that."

  Can you hear the desire of this man's heart? He wants us to preach the gospel and do evangelism, because we can do that here. He is right. If Jesus really is precious to us, shouldn't we be telling people of Him? If we love people, shouldn't we be telling them the good news of the Gospel? And what better place than in America, where people have heard the Gospel, but many still haven't. One day, our freedom to do this may be gone. We need to be on our knees and evangelizing, today. Tomorrow, it may be too late.

This article came from 'Voice of the Martyrs' magazine, August 2012 

Tim Keller on Evangelism Best Practices | Tim Brister

Tim Keller on Evangelism Best Practices | Tim Brister

Here is an article with some evangelism thoughts. I like the first one, although I struggle with how to do this one right. Let people around you know you are a Christian in a natural, unforced way. I remember coming up with ideas on how to let people around know that you are a Christian, like using Christian cliches like, "Praise the Lord" or "Praise God". Bumper stickers were a favorite too. I could never use the cliches though, because it seemed so unnatural. What has worked a couple of times, is to have a good conversation with a Christian friend, and be in a place where people can hear your conversation. Let it be a natural dialog, not put on. I have heard of people doing the cliche thing and it really looks unnatural and put on.
   Asking people questions is a good way to get into a dialog with someone. And who knows. Perhaps the dialog will lead right into the Gospel or into a truth the other person needs to hear. Always be kind and considerate. That doesn't mean you have to participate in sinful activities. Remember, Jesus was a friend to sinners, but He never condoned sin. But He did reach deep into the hearts of sinful people by being a friend.
  One other thing; people love to talk about themselves. Let them talk about themselves. And don't correct them when they say things that you know are wrong. Not yet, anyway.
  Somehow, we met a couple last night, who were homeless, and claimed to need money to take the woman to the hospital. She seemed to be in a lot of pain, and appeared sick. We gave them a little money, and listened to their story. They were living together in a tent. She was divorced and had two children who were living with their father. Anyway, I know in the past, I would have wondered what to do with people who were living in sin. We showed compassion to them and prayed for them (included the Gospel in the prayer). We didn't blast them out of the water because they were living together. I would love to see them again, and explain the Gospel to them further. Pray for them. Their names were Steven and Therese I think.

Everyday Evangelism - Battling at my Grocery Store

   I have a few favorite grocery stores, and some of them I frequent quite often. One of them I might be frequently less often though, for people who work there seemed to be distressed about my giving out tracts. As you will recall, I was at this particular grocery store a couple of weeks ago, and I offered a tract to an older woman getting into her car, and she was not happy when I told her it was a Gospel tract. I went into the store after that and bought a few items, and as I was on my way out a man who had a 'customer service' badge on appeared to be looking for me and stopped me to inform me that I was not allowed to pass tracts out in the parking lot. I was really surprised because this particular brand of grocery stores tries to please their customers and make their customers happy.
   I decided I had two options. One would be to go to another one of these grocery stores down the road, or, use smaller tracts when I go into this particular one. So, today I went back to this particular store, and brought a prescription in to be refilled. I didn't even buy anything and was in the store probably no more than 5 minutes.
  On my way out, I went over to the Coke machines like I normally do, and put a million dollar bill in the place where you can put dollar bills in to get change. Before I left the store, as I was passing the 'customer service' department, I checked to see if Ryan was there, the man who told me I wasn't allowed to pass out tracts a couple of weeks ago. I did not see him there, and as I exited, I didn't really see anyone who would notice my putting the tract into the Coke machine.
  I was on my way out, right at the exit door, when I hear someone saying something out loud and it had the word 'trash' in it. I turned around and one of the workers (possibly a bag boy?) pulled the tract out angrily and walked away. Maybe it was a store manager, I don't know, but, I am beginning to think that my presence in the store will either be welcoming (which it has been all along with most people) or it will be unwelcoming. I have to go back to pick up my prescription tomorrow and will see what happens then. I may get banned from the store.
   I have to think about what usually happened when Paul was in different places preaching the Gospel. The results were pretty much the same. Some people listened and wanted to hear more. Other people opposed him. People responded. People rejected. That's just the nature of preaching the Gospel in a darkened world. Some people are going to be totally irritated by it. Others will be thankful throughout eternity for hearing the words of life.
  If you think of it, I would ask for prayer for me. I don't want to react in a sinful way to people when they stop me from doing this. I don't want anger in my heart towards them. And I still want the open door to have opportunities to talk to people about the Gospel there. Thanks.

                                                 
Next time I'm using a 10 Commandment Coin instead!

Everyday Evangelism - Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right

"Two wrongs don't make a right" was a quote my mother used a lot when I was a kid. When you think about it, it makes sense. It adds up. It was a good piece of wisdom, even if I didn't get the meaning back then. 
  We have situations in life today where this would apply easily. One such situation is a woman, who is not married, who considers abortion as an option. She may be thinking, 'if I get rid of this baby, no one will know, and I won't have to take care of this child the rest of my life'.' What happens is, we get ourselves into a bad situation (not realizing it's bad) and then the effects start happening. We look at those as bad. We want to get rid of the effects. In this case, an abortion would take care of that.
   Did you know that abortion is murder? A baby human is conceived when a male cell (sperm) unites with a female cell (ovum). A child develops fast from this union, and in about 9 month, a fully formed person usually comes into the world. 
   Early in the pregnancy, the little heart starts beating and brain waves are moving. Organs are developing, and this little person starts taking form. At some point babies can yawn and have hiccups. They can feel pain too. And the baby is either a boy or a girl. That was decided at conception.
   When a mother goes in for a late term pregnancy, if she wants an abortion, the doctor has to go in and basically chop the baby up so it dies inside the womb. If a baby is born, and is still alive, it is not allowed to be killed. But it can be killed if it is inside the womb. Do you think the baby doesn't feel anything inside the womb that he or she would feel outside the womb? Why would a baby not be considered a person while inside the womb, only outside? Do you see why this is murder?
   So, two wrongs do not make a right. One wrong is bad enough. The problem of unwanted pregnancy is not corrected by having an abortion. It only amounts to more wrongdoing. 
   If you are pregnant and trying to decide what to do with your baby, please know that life is not going to be easy for you, but, there is a lot of hope and answers that are waiting for you to discover. There are multitudes of people that want to adopt a child. If you are unable to support your baby, please consider adoption as an option. 
   Abortion is murder. It is cruel. Abortion does not fix the problem of unwanted pregnancy. The first wrong though, is immorality. I do understand that some married women go for abortions, and that is inexcusable. But I am thinking about unmarried women who have ended up pregnant. The first problem here is that you have to be in a marriage context to procreate. Not biologically, of course. 
  Matthew 5:27 and 28 You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shalt not commit adultery:
 But I say unto you, That whoever look ons a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. (Jesus' words)
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
  You see that if you are not married, and you are having a sexual relationship with another person, it is called fornication. If you are a woman and you have a boyfriend who is sweet talking you into sleeping with him, don't fall for it. Believe me, most probably when he finds out you get pregnant, he will be gone, or he will want you to get an abortion. He doesn't want to be responsible for his sin. 
   So, living in a sexual relationship outside of marriage is sin, but having an abortion is like doing the unthinkable. Two wrongs do not make a right. One wrong is bad enough. If you have questions about the Gospel or salvation, please go to The Gospel Conversation

Everyday Evangelism - Why Be a Friend?

   How does being a friend help in the process of evangelism? You might be thinking, "Oh no, no friendship evangelism for me. It's not the way its supposed to be done". Before I make any more statements here, let me say that I am not for 'friendship evangelism' either. The main reason is that, once we make friends with a person, we rarely share the Gospel with him or her. We become afraid to speak the words of truth to our new friends for fear that we might offend them. I totally believe in doing open air work, giving out tracts, doing one on one evangelism, and whatever other ways to communicate the truth of the Gospel with someone, especially people we don't know.
   But here is my point; If God is working in a person's heart, if that person wants to get more information about the Gospel, he or she is more likely to go to a trusted friend or church to ask questions rather than call a number on a tract or send an email on the back of the tract.
  If you have ever seen the short video called, I got off at George Street (Frank Jenner story) you will understand what I am saying. Frank Jenner was a man who was used mightily by God, by going downtown everyday and giving out tracts to people. Sometimes he would ask them if they were ready for heaven. Some people got angry. Others walked away. But many of them took his words to heart, and when they got back home, they were troubled about their souls and went to a friend or a church they were familiar with to find out more about the Gospel. Many came to Christ. People were affected by this faithful man giving out tracts and asking them the most important question ever. Frank Jenner did his part. But the other people who were friends of the recipients of the tracts were the ones who closed the deal, so to speak. Perhaps they were people who had shared the Gospel with their friend, but the friend was reluctant to respond at the time. The friend remembered though, after he or she got the tract from the man on George Street.
   I give out a lot of tracts and ask people the same kinds of questions as Frank Jenner. Now I am also trying to incorporate building a relationship with these people. I want them to feel comfortable when they talk to me. I don't want them to be afraid to ask me questions. I know they might not be ready to respond to the Gospel now, but I want to be open to them so that when the time comes for that, they would be ok with coming to me and asking for help.
  1 Corinthians 3:6-8
 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that plants any thing, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase. Now he that plants and he that waters are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.
  The good news is that you can both plant and water. God will bless those efforts and they work together. But God is the One who works in the heart.

Will It Happen The First Time, Second Time, Fifth Time, Twenty-seventh Time or Some Other Time?

  Long time ago, I heard from someone that a person has to hear the Gospel six times before he or she comes to know the Lord. I heard more recently that the number jumped up to Seventeen, I think. It seems silly to assume that a person has to hear the Gospel message a certain amount of times before that person can come to know the Lord. But there is some truth to this concept, and I think it would be wise to pay attention to it.
   When I was growing up, everyone went to church, or at least some kind of church. People were familiar with some Bible lingo. Many people knew John 3:16. But many of those churches did not grasp the Gospel message. In some ways, it was harder to reach people with the Gospel because many of them already had a form of Godliness, but the heart of the Gospel was missing. Today, we have people who have never stepped into a church building. Many have left the denominations they were brought up in. So we basically have today, a culture of people that are very unfamiliar with the meaning of the Gospel.
   A person may receive a tract, and it could seem like Greek to him or her, because they are unfamiliar with the context of the message of the Bible. But each time that person hears the Gospel message, whether it be through a tract, or a friend sharing Scriptures, the person becomes more acquainted with the Gospel. By the time he or she hears the Gospel for the sixth time, that person might be ready to respond.
  Sowing seeds, like giving out tracts or doing open air, helps prepare the person for salvation. Since the message of the Gospel is so distant from people in our culture today, we need to be sowing many seeds. When we communicate God's truth to someone, God gives the person understanding. God will convict the person of sin. He will help the person to repent and turn to Christ. God opens the heart and mind to the scriptures. We must be faithful in giving the Scriptures out and proclaiming the Gospel message.
   The man you gave a tract to, this afternoon, may have thrown it away. Maybe a Christian neighbor or friend will share the Gospel message with him. He may remember the tract you gave him and the message he wasn't ready to hear. Perhaps you will be the twenty-seventh person to talk to someone, and that may be that person's day to comprehend the Gospel. Maybe that cashier you see every week will be ready to respond when you give her the tract. Maybe four other people talked to her about her relationship with God this month, and she sees Him working in her heart.
   Don't be afraid to sow seeds. There is no 'one and only' way to do this. Some people give out tracts. Some leave them in library books. Some put them in trick or treat bags. Others preach the Gospel to groups of people in a park or on the street. Another idea is to create a blog and write the Gospel in your blog. Just be careful of setting up a standard that you think you have to meet or if you don't (or if others don't) then you have failed at evangelism. Also, be careful of other people's standards when it comes to statistics. Some people tell themselves that they have to give out 10 tracts every day. Or that they have to talk to a person every day. Those goals are fine as long as they are motivated by love and are not set in stone for you and others to keep. Otherwise, they could lead to legalism.