University of North Texas

January 29, 2011Carlone on one, tract distribution

I was at the University of North Texas today. Went to lunch at the sandwich shop. Gave a tract to the cashier. It was a Super Bowl Trivia tract. He said thanks.

After lunch I handed out a few tracts to random people.

I was sitting on a bench reading a book. I had a business card in the book as a book mark. The wind blew and the bookmark flew out onto the sidewalk. As I was picking up the business card, two college students came walking by. So I quickly grabbed a couple Super Bowl Trivia tracts from my pocket and asked if they were going to watch the Super Bowl.

The both said yes.

So we talked about who was going to win and that kind of thing. Both wanted the Packers to win. One because the Steelers had beaten the Jets (who he roots for) and the other just because he liked the Packers more.

So I asked, “do you think anyone will remember who wins this came in 100 years?”

Both said that the fans might care especially the Steelers fans because they have the most championships. So then I asked “where do you think you will be in 100 years.”

Probably Dead – came the reply.

So I asked, “what do you think happens when you die?”

Neither was sure. Turns out one guy was Jewish. The other had some Christian background. But neither believed in Christ at this point in time. We talked about how creation testifies that there is a God. One of them said, “I want to believe, but I don’t want to just say I believe because I know God would know the truth.” Good point! God knows the heart. He was also confused by how there could be so many religions. They talked about how they don’t worry about death, but rather just live for the moment. Drinking and girls and that kind of thing.

Eventually the one guy said that he was a good person. And his friend agreed. So I asked what standard he uses to determine that he is a good person. He said he compared himself to others.

I told him that according to the Bible, God’s standard of goodness is moral perfection – the Ten Commandments. I asked if they knew any of the Ten Commandments.

The first guy named “you shall not steal”. So I asked if he ever had stolen. He said yes. The other guy said no. What does that make you? A thief! The both agreed.

Neither of them could name any of the other commandments. I told them that the ninth is “you shall not lie” and asked if they every had. Yes came the answer. So I asked what that makes them? They said “a liar”. I then reminded them that Revelation 21:8 says that that all liars will have their place in the lake of fire which is hell. At that the first guy used God’s name in vain to express his shock.

I explained t them that adultery is having sex outside of marriage, but Jesus said that to even look with lust is adultery. They tried to explain that everyone does it, it is the culture, etc. But ultimate, they both agreed that they were guilty of breaking the 7th commandment.

So I asked if they would be innocent or guilty.

Guilty! Said the first. Not sure said the second.

The first guy also said he was concerned that his destiny would be Hell!

So I focused on the first guy. He thought he could simply be forgiven. So I took him to a court room example. I said, let’s say you go out with your friends tonight. You get drunk and commit some crime. You stand before the judge and admit your guilt. He would find your guilty and sentence you to a one million dollar fine or prison time. What would happen.

Prison! He said.

So I said, what if someone walked into the court room and told the judge, “I’d like to pay this mans fine” and set down one million dollars on the judges desk. I asked him, “what would happen to you?”

He said, “the judge would let me go!”

Exactly! I then explained to him that that is exactly what Jesus did for him. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life. Being fully God and fully man he was able too. Then he willingly went to the cross to pay for your sins. Three days later Jesus rose from the dead. He defeated sin and death. I told him that the Bible commands all men everywhere to repent. And that if he would turn from his sin and trust in Christ that he would have eternal life.

Unfortunately, at this time, the guy was more interested in his next party and chasing girls. I asked him if he knew when he was going to die. He said no and even said it could be tomorrow. I told him that that is why the Bible says that today is the day of salvation. We never know if we will have tomorrow.

They were both very flippant about forgiveness and that they could just ask for it and receive it and that they still knew that God would know if they falsely confessed faith. I told them that the issue is that they are not truly concerned about their sin and how it separates them from God. I asked them to read the tract and consider what we talked about.

They thanked me for my time and headed on their way. I pray that they will consider these things, repent of their sin and trust Jesus for their salvation!