A trip to the mall

On Tuesday’s I meet Wally at Stonebriar Mall in Frisco. We have lunch and then do some witnessing. We always have some good conversations with people and get to share the Gospel. Sometimes other friends will join us. Sometimes it is just the two of us.  Yesterday’s trip was one God ordained appointment after another. When I got out of the car, I felt lead to take a CD (click Can Good Men go to Hell?) that I had recently listened to and a New Testament with a Bible bookmark.

We have been eating lunch at the same “terriyaki Chicken” place for a couple months now. We can split a plate and eat cheap! Turns out they also have a punched card program that we had filled up. So this lunch was going to be FREE! I decided to splurge and go get some sweet tea for us from Chik-fil-a.

At the line at Chik-fil-a there was a young guy there. He was probably in his early 20’s. As we waited, I asked, “got peace” and handed him a got peace tract. I said “that’s great, where did you get it?”

He said, “from Jesus.”

Great! So few people give this answer. So I asked “how did you become a Christian.” He then explained that he was Catholic and came from West Texas and his whole family is Catholic. So I asked him “why do you call yourself Catholic? What do you think is the difference between Catholic and Christian?” He gave the question some thought and then said, “you know, to be completely honest, I am not really sure.”

At that, I was up to the register. I told my new friend that I’d like to buy his lunch and asked him what he wanted. He got a little uncomfortable at that as I asked again and I told him that I really wanted to buy his lunch. I placed the order for my two cups of sweet tea and told the guy at the register that I was buying his lunch also. My new friend said no. But the guy at the register had heard our conversation so far and he said, “I am unable to complete this transaction until I have your order”. “I’ll have a number 4”, my new friend said. The cashier turned out to be the general manager of the store. As I handed him the money for the bill, he reduced the bill by the amount of the number 4 and then by the amount of the two sweet tea’s and then said “it’s on the house.” At that, my new friend was totally blown away. I could see it in his eyes. And he said “that was really impactful to me”. I explained that Jesus said it is better to give than receive. I asked if he had time to sit with Wally and I to eat lunch. He declined saying he was in a hurry to get back to work. I knew which kiosk he worked at, so I figured I could follow up.  I explained the Gospel to him and then offered him a CD which he took and said he would listen to.

As Wally and I ate lunch, I suggested that we go to the Apple Store and ask people about Steve Jobs’ death. As we walked there, we stopped at a kiosk where there was an iPad on display. So after a quick discussion about the guys product we asked what he thought happened to Steve Jobs. Had an interesting discussion with him about eternity. He believes in native Indian religion and returning to the dust. But he saw no problem with the fact that is in contradiction to Steve Jobs’ belief in Buddhism or in the judgment described in the Bible. We gave him a tract and went into the Apple Store.

In the Apple Store we were looking around at the iPads. I flipped one of them on to the video camera and made this recording of Wally sharing the Gospel! And then posted it to YouTube right from the store!

Afterward we talked with one of the store employees. But he was fairly standoffish when we started talking about Steve Jobs. So we left there and continued down the mall. Incidentally, without even sharing the video on Facebook or Twitter, a few hours later, I had a comment in my inbox about the video. So I know it was watched!

As you may know, the Texas Rangers are in the ALCS. Carrying Rangers Trivia tracts makes them extremely easy to hand out. You might consider making some trivia tracts for your local team to hand out around town during the season. I gave one to an employee at the chocolate store and suggested she quiz her boyfriend.

We were walking down the mall when we realized there were not many people down at this end of the mall. We decided to turn back and check on someone we had talked to last week.

As we turned back we were right by a kiosk and started to talk to the gal that was working it. We asked her about the products and then about her accent. She said she was from Napal and had been in the US for six years. So I asked about religion in Napa. She said it is Hindu. So we had a good discussion about the differences in beliefs between Hindu and Christianity. I asked if she had ever considered what the Bible said. She said no. So I pulled out the New Testament from my pocket along with the Bible Bookmark and took her through the verses and questions on the bookmark. She read each verse from the New Testament and answered each question. She thanked us for taking the time to show her that. I gave her the New Testament and the bookmark. She was very appreciative and said she would read it. WOW! That is the power of God’s word. If you have not tried witnessing using these bookmarks, I encourage you to try it out. Let me know if you need some of them.

We talked to a couple of other people. But let me draw to a close with a two more comments.

First, we ran into our new friend who had received lunch from Chik-fil-a. He came over, shook hands and thanked me again. He said that he was so blown away, that he had never expected anyone to buy his lunch and that he had called his wife to tell her what had happened! We talked for a few more minutes, exchanged contact information and he said he would call me after he listens to the CD.

Second, we did find the guy were were looking for from the previous week. The week before we had had a nice conversation with a gentleman who was walking in the mall and had a booklet about the festivals of the Old Testament. He had given Wally and I each a copy. Then after talking to him we ended up talking to this guy. After talking to him and walking away, he ran down the mall to catch us and asked about the booklet we were carrying. So I gave him the copy that I had received a few minutes earlier. Wally had since read the booklet so he was able to talk with him about it. Wally gave him a Save Yourself Some Pain booklet for him to read next.

As we got to talking the guy told us that he believes in science and that he does not have a soul. I said, “since you don’t believe you have a soul and I am trying to collect souls, can I buy yours for a dollar?” He said yes. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my money, thumbed through to find a single and handed it to him saying, “thanks, now I own your soul.”

I asked him how he came to believe in science. He gave it some thought and then said that he has looked at religion and science and then went with the one that made more sense.

Wally and I then gave him some scientific facts from the Bible. We talked about how science used to think the world was flat, that there were a limited number of stars and how doctors used to wash their hands in standing water. Then we explained that the Bible has always indicated that the earth is round, free floats in space, that there are innumerable stars and how running water is good for life. He was fairly amazed. So we then turned to historical and archaeological information about the Bible. Finally we discussed prophecy and the prophecy of Jesus. I added that math states that the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus in one man is statistically impossible, yet it is recorded as true in the Bible.

He offered to give me my dollar back. I told him it was his to keep. We explained that it is not really possible to sell a soul anyway, but that I wanted him to think about what we had talked about and that he was willing to sell his soul when he spent that dollar. I think that made a big impact on him. We shared the Gospel with him, suggested he read the booklet and then gave him a tract as a summary. I asked him to call us when he read the booklet.

On the way out of the mall we quizzed a guy that had the Texas Rangers emblem tattooed on his wrist from the Rangers Trivia tract. That was interrupted by him getting a customer. They both received tracts and we headed home!

Keep in mind this trip to the mall was geared around sharing the Gospel. However, many of the individual events are things that anyone could do to share the Gospel “as you go” throughout your day. It is for that reason that I have shared this here. Please be encouraged to go and share your faith in Jesus with others. There are people dying and going to Hell. The least we can do is warn them as Jesus commands us to do! For more ways to share the Gospel As You Go please see the As You Go BLOG.