December Logistics

Posted on November 28, 2010 by Carl

Thursday, December 2nd is the First Thursday of the month. We will again be praying for our nation, leaders and revival. We have two locations:

  • City of Carrollton, TX at City Hall. Meet at the Flag Pole at noon for prayer. City Hall is located at the North East corner of Josey and Jackson. I plan to bring the Faith Comes By Hearing Proclaimer that we are sending to Africa and use it to do the Bible reading! Afterward we will go eat lunch together and enjoy some fellowship. Contact Carl for more information.
  • Hobi International office in Dallas. Meet at noon. Contact Craig for access to the building.

The suggested Bible reading comes from Luke 11(v1-13) which is part of the You’ve Got the Time scripture passages for that day. These verses are about the Lord’s Prayer as the disciples asked Jesus how to pray.

If you are interested in participating but are not located in the Dallas area, you may start your own prayer group in your city at City Hall or your place of business. If you post a comment of where you are participating, then others in your area may be able to join you as well.

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Be Bold

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Carl
In John 8:30,31, The word says, ” As He spoke these words , many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, If you abide in my word then you will be my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” Here are a couple of observations concerning this scripture. There is a real distinction between believing in Christ & believing Him. As a matter of fact, the ones whom He says believes Him in this passage, He later calls children of the devil. More evidence that you can believe or know all the details about Jesus and not know Him at all. You can know He is the Lord and even call Him the Lord and it is merely lip service. Matt 15:8. You can even use His name in the title of your religion and it means nothing. We talk to such people on the streets all the time. This also occurs in Matt 7:23 & Matt 25. Jesus says,  “Not every one who says to me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but those who do the will of my father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day Lord, Lord did we not prophecy in your name, cast out demons in your name, do many wonders in your name. And I will declare to them I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.” Notice that 4 times these people call Him the Lord but don’t know Him. The fact that these did not do the will of His Father but practiced lawlessness was the evidence that they never knew Him.
 
I am convinced from scripture that all men know about Christ but only a few in comparison to the vast majority of mankind will actually enter into a relationship with Christ through repentance & faith. Romans 1 says, God has revealed Himself to every man so that every man is without excuse. The word says, ” that although they knew God (knew about Him), they did not glorify Him as God nor were thankful.” Sadly enough the majority of mankind will hear these words from Jesus. “I never knew you.” Can you imagine the utter terror of hearing these words from our Lord. The thought of someone hearing these words and then being cast into Hell should inspire us to share Christ with the world. It should cause us preach Jesus and be bold for Christ regardless of the cost and it really doesn’t cost us much now in this land and at this time. However, I believe it will in the future so you might as well get your practice in and prepare yourselves for what is to come if the Lord tarries His coming. Let’s be bold now to proclaim Christ so that when we are really tested for our faith, we will be able to stand for the Lord! The day will come when we will have to say like Paul. ” For this reason I suffer these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed for I know in Whom I have believed and I am persuaded that He is able to keep what I committed to Him until that day.”
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You’ve got the time

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Carl

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13 ESV)

What is a key to overcoming the fear of man and sharing the Gospel? How do you grow closer to Christ? The answer is the same. Notice in this verse, the key to Peter and John’s boldness is that they had been with Jesus. As 2010 draws to a close, I’d like to encourage all of us to be with Jesus. That is why we are challenging you to join with us as we read and/or listen to the entire New Testament between November 22 and December 31st. That’s right. In about 30 minutes per day, you can read or listen to the entire New Testament in just 40 days.

Based on the You’ve Got the Time (click link for video testimonials) program from Faith Comes By Hearing we will begin with Day 1 on November 22. With just 30 minutes a day, you’ll go through the entire New Testament with us by the end of the year.

Participation in this program is completely FREE. You can listen to the audio each day online or load the podcast into iTunes or your iPod. Or you can download the Bible.IS app for iPhone or Android from iTunes or the Android Marketplace respectively.

The daily schedule is:

Day 1 (November 22) Matthew 1-7
Day 2 (November 23) Matthew 8-12
Day 3 (November 24) Matthew 13-18
Day 4 (Novmeber 25) Matthew 19-24
Day 5 (November 26) Matthew 25-28
Day 6 (November 27) Mark 1-6
Day 7 (November 28) Mark 7-11
Day 8 (November 29) Mark 12-16
Day 9 (November 30) Luke 1-4
Day 10 (December 1) Luke 5-9
Day 11 (December 2) Luke 10-13
Day 12 (December 3) Luke 14-19
Day 13 (December 4) Luke 20-24
Day 14 (December 5) John 1-5
Day 15 (December 6) John 6-9
Day 16 (December 7) John 10-14
Day 17 (December 8) John 15-19
Day 18 (December 9) John 20-Acts 4
Day 19 (December 10) Acts 5-9
Day 20 (December 11) Acts 10-15
Day 21 (December 12) Acts 16-20
Day 22 (December 13) Acts 21-26
Day 23 (December 14) Acts 27-Romans 4
Day 24 (December 15) Romans 5-10
Day 25 (December 16) Romans 11-1 Corinthians 1
Day 26 (December 17) 1 Corinthians 2-9
Day 27 (December 18) 1 Corinthians 10-15
Day 28 (December 19) 1 Corinthians 16-2 Corinthians 9
Day 29 (December 20) 2 Corinthians 10-Galatians 4
Day 30 (December 21) Galatians 5 – Philippians 1
Day 31 (December 22) Philippians 2 – 1 Thessalonians 2

Day 32 (December 23) 1 Thessalonians 3 – 1 Timothy 5
Day 33 (December 24) 1 Timothy 6 – Hebrews 1
Day 34 (December 25) Hebrews 2-10
Day 35 (December 26) Hebrews 11-James 5
Day 36 (December 27) 1 Peter 1 – 1 John 1
Day 37 (December 28) 1 John 2 – Jude
Day 38 (December 29) Revelation 1-7
Day 39 (December 30) Revelation 8-15
Day 40 (December 31) Revelation 16-22

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Brookhaven Outreach

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Carl

On Thursday was our latest outreach at Brookhaven College. This is becoming one of our favorite fishing spots. I was joined by Todd, Brian and David. Todd met me at the car and helped me carry the things from the car to the free speech area. I pulled the cooler of water and carried two new “Free Water” signs that I just got from Watchman Gospel Signs. By the way, as an aside, Watchman Gospel Signs does a great job printing signs. You can order from a large selection of inventory or request custom signs. I highly recommend them! Todd pulled the wheeled crate which had an extra case of water, tracts and Bibles in it as well as a box of books and DVD’s stacked on the top. I know you are probably wondering, “Carl why are you giving so much detail as to what was in the cart?” Well it becomes critical.

As we were walking to the free speech area we were discussing an interesting question (that I may blog about later) that I had brought up with Todd. We eventually reach the area and I set up the easel and put one of the free water signs on it and put the other free water sign leaning up against the table. I got out the box of tracts and start putting stacks of tracts on the table. Then I am looking around for the box of books and DVDs. Not finding it, I ask Todd, “where is the box of books?” He’s not sure, but remembers specifically it being on the cart. So he goes to back track our steps. He gets back to the car and calls me on the phone. “Have you found it?” “No”, I respond. So I suggest he come back and I’ll go look.

About the same time he got back, a woman and a police officer come walking up to me. “Is this your box” this police officer asks? “Yes!” Turns out that the box had fallen off the cart. As a security measure they pick up anything unattended and bring it to the woman’s office. She then asks “are you giving those books away?” I told her we were. She asked for a copy of Ray Comfort’s World Religions in a Nutshell that we had to give out. Todd was then able to talk with her for 10-15 minutes. She was a believer in Christ from Europe. It was really amazing because we are really only supposed to talk to people in the free speech area. The fact that the box of books dropped and then delivered to us allowed us to speak with her. Todd says that the conversation was a real encouragement to her.

With that excitement over, we got the books and DVDs set up on the table and got to work handing out bottles of water and tracts to the students as they passed by. The ones that appeared to be in not too big of a hurry we would engage in conversation. All four of us were actively engaged in conversations the entire time we were there.

With two young ladies that I was talking too they agreed that there is a God and a Heaven and a Hell. We discussed how to get to Heaven and they started talking about being good. So I asked if they are good enough to go to heaven? They thought that they were. I then asked,. “can I get my lie detector and check?” They got this funny look on their face and were saying no no. But I turned to the table, opened my camera bag and pulled out my lie detector. The look on their faces was incredible. So I handed the wand to one of them and said, “if you are good enough to go to heaven just point to the yes”. Of course the magnets in it points the wand directly to the NO! Same with the other one. As I was talking with them, a large crowd of 15-20 students gathered. This allowed me to share the Law and the Gospel with the whole group. If you don’t have one of these Lie Detectors, I highly recommend getting one.

One woman came by, saw the sign that quotes John 14:4 and asked “are you giving out water that will make me never thirst again?” I said, “no, this is regular Ozarka bottled water. Would you like some?” I really like the way the sign draws people to us to talk with us. I had a good conversation with her about how Jesus is the Living Water!

One guy who was agnostic picked up one of each tract from the table. He said they were “inspirational” to him. We had seen and talked to him before. He was not really interested in getting into conversation with us. But he sure did like the different tracts. I pray that he reads them and that through reading he is lead to repent and trust Jesus alone to save him.

I had a long conversation withe a Bhuddist name Sonny. Sonny listened intently to the Law and the Gospel and readily admitted his destiny would be Hell. He seemed unconcerned because he said, “I don’t believe that.” We had a great conversation about the difference between what you believe and what is true. So he asked “how do you know the Bible is true?” I gave him some basic proofs. He said he had never read the Bible. So I gave him a copy to read. I encouraged him to start with John. He said he felt bad taking it, but I told him it was my gift to him. I told him if nothing else, it is the most widely distributed book in the history of the world and therefore was worth his time to check out. I also told him that it was a good example of literature and would be good for his literature class and reading skills (since he was a foreign student and had admitted he was trying to learn English and literature).

We handed out all 100 bottles of water in about an hour. Todd had already headed out to get back to work. Brian and David were wrapping up conversations. So I started to put everything away. Even in the midst of putting things away another two young ladies came over to the table and asked what we were doing. I asked if they liked movies. They said yes. So I gave them each a copy of Fly Wheel. As I talked to them, it seemed like one professed to be a Christian and the other was fairly agnostic having had a Christian background. Eventually I asked if they considered themselves to be good and if I could get my Lie Detector to check. They were astonished when I pulled the Lie Detector out of the camera bag. Again a small crowd gathered as I shared the Law and Gospel with them.

David and Brian finished their conversations. We picked the rest of the stuff up and headed out. We handed out 100 bottles of water, a couple hundred tracts, three Bibles, and I am not even sure how many copies of DVD’s (The Board, Why Christianity?) and books (One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, One Heartbeat Away, World Religions in a Nutshell). Plus we had countless one on one conversations! Please pray that these students will repent and believe the Gospel. We walked back to the car praising God for a great time of sharing the Gospel!

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November Summary

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Carl

On Thursday, November 4th we held our sixth First Thursday day of prayer. Again we had two locations. We utilized all or parts of 2 Corinthians 5 as our scripture reading.

At Craig’s office about 40 people participated. There were a number of prayer requests that were put into a prayer request box during the month. During the prayer meeting they prayed for those requests and also for other requests that were presented at the meeting.

At Carrollton City Hall, we had four people praying for our Nation. We read 2 Corinthians 5 and also some verses from Isaiah 50. An interesting observation is that often when people consider 2 Corinthians 5 and talk about the ministry of reconciliation, they put it in terms of people or groups being reconciled to each other. However, what this scripture is really talking about is God reconciling man to Himself through Jesus Christ. This allowed us to focus our prayers for our nation and leaders that people would be reconciled to God.

As this prayer meeting came two days after our national elections, we also prayed for all of the new leaders that will be sworn into the government.

Our next First Thursday Day of Prayer will be on Thursday, December 2nd. You are welcome to join us at one of our two locations. Please consider starting your own monthly prayer meeting at your city hall or place of business. Prayer is effective. Please join us!

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Witnessing to Muslims from Mark 12

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Carl

I have written previously about witnessing to Muslims (see also this BLOG). These articles have covered dealing with the concept of the trinity and other common objections. In the Share Jesus article, I also mentioned witnessing to a Muslim by having him read from the New Testament. He had indicated that the Bible and the quran had the same basic message. However, once we covered a few of the verses he said the message was indeed different. A recent online discussions with a Muslim on Facebook lead me to an interesting observance which I thought it would be good to share here.

I should first note that I have witnessed to this guy a number of times over the last six to nine months. He will readily admit that he has broken any number of the Ten Commandments. He does not believe Jesus is who Jesus claimed to be, namely God. To prove his point, the man took me to Mark 12:29 which says:

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

Here is how I responded to him. First, I explained from Genesis 1 how the trinity is One God.

Them, I explained that Mark 12:29 is the first of a two part answer that Jesus give when he was asked “”Which commandment is the most important of all?” The people that Jesus was talking to were religious people. They not only had the Law of God, but had made up even more law to make sure they did not break the law. The Jews have something like 613 different laws that they try to keep. They made a special point to keep the most important ones. So they asked him which ones are the most important. It should be noted that the thought is not complete in verse 29 alone. In verse 30 Jesus says:

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

He continues in Verse 31

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

This lead me back to the Ten Commandments. This is something I really like about using The Way of the Master Biblical Evangelism. You start with “Would you consider yourself to be a good person?” and then move to “Do you think you’ve kept the Ten Commandments?” Sometimes the conversations get side tracked with things like discussions about Melchizidek or the Trinity. So in those cases, the goal is to bring the conversation back to the Law and eventually back to “Judgment” and “Do you think you will be innocent or guilty”

The fact that this man brought the discussion right back to Mark 12 allowed me to go right back to the Ten Commandments. I explained that the first four of the Ten Commandments tell how to “love God”

1) you shall have no other God’s before the God of the Bible
2) you shall not make an idol
3) you shall not use the name of the Lord God in vain – blasphemy
4) remember the sabbath day and keep it holy

And the last six tell how to love “your neighbor as yourself”

5) honor your mother and father
6) do not murder – in matthew 5, Jesus includes hatred and calling someone a fool
7) do not commit adultery – In matthew 5, Jesus includes looking with lust
8) do not steal
9) do not lie
10) do not covet

I referred him to Exodus 20 and reminded him that the Law is from the Prophet Moses. This is important to remind him that even as a Muslim he is to revere the other prophets that came before.

I then reminded him that he has already told me previously that he has not kept these commandments. Therefore on judgment day (Hebrews 9:27) he will stand guilty before God. I reminded him that Revelation 21:8 says he will end up in the lake of fire (which is Hell)…

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers (6th commandment), the sexually immoral (7th commandment), sorcerers, idolaters (2nd commandment), and all liars (9th commandment) their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

I concluded by asking him again “does it concern you that your eternal destiny is Hell? It concerns me. It should concern you too. I am merely the messenger. The watchmen on the wall. (See Ezekiel 33). I pray that you will repent and trust Jesus alone to save you.”

As you witness, pray for opportunities to go back tot he Law to convict the person of their sin. Don’t be side tracked by hundreds of objections. Yes, you may need to (and I have) answer some of the objections. But, ultimately as a watchmen we need to bring the person back to face their sin that separates them from God. In this case, he has already heard the Gospel. I did leave the message where it is. I will often conclude with Mark 1:15 and or Luke 13:5 to call them to repentance. I pray this is helpful in discussions not only with Muslims but also others.

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Watch Out

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Carl

As many of you know, I am training to run a marathon on December 5th. During my training runs I have lot’s of time to think and pray. Often these prayers lead to new tracts and ministry ideas. Other times, I observe something around me and then pray about the spiritual implications. Today I’d like to share one of those which stems from the need to “watch out” when I run.

In a natural sense there are two main places where this comes up.

First, I must “watch out” when I run. Of course there are the big things like cars and trucks and crossing streets. There are also the little things like cracks in the sidewalk, uneven pavement or ground, cats, dogs, and other animals. One morning when I left home I stumbled on something. Somehow one of those little fences that goes around a tomato plant was in the middle of the sidewalk. Since it was dark, I did not even see it and thankfully, I just kicked it out of the way without falling.

I’ve noticed more and more that drivers do not pay much attention to runners. In our neighborhood there are a lot of re-entry houses. Cars will often shoot out of the alley without stopping. I’ve gotten used to watching out for them there with caution. I’ve also noticed that when people are turning right out of a side street onto the main street, they will look left to see if cars are coming, but rarely look left to see if there is anyone on the sidewalk. I’ve gotten used to proceeding with caution.

Second, all of these things, especially the driving has made me more aware of runners and bikers when I am driving.

I’ve only run with headphones on a few times. I’ve ruined my iPod and a second mp3 player has just been revived. While listening to music, I’ve had some good times of reflecting on the lyrics and then come home and looked up Bible verses for those songs.

So I spend much of my time running in prayer. Sometimes I’ll take prayer requests. Other times, I just pray for whatever is on my mind.

As I’ve considered the idea of “watch out” something came to mind from a sermon that I’d heard on Ezekiel 33 about the Watchman on the Wall. We as Christians are all called to “watch out” for those that are lost and warn them of the need to repent and believe the Gospel. Consider the words of Ezekiel 33:1-6

 1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. 5 Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’ 

 A persons salvation is not my responsibility, but warning them is!

As I continued to pray about the idea of watch out Psalm 103:11-12 came to mind:

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
   so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
   so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Think of this when you pull up to as stop light in your car. Look both ways. To the left and to the right. To the east and to the west. For those who repent and trust Christ, that is how far He has removed you from your sins.

There are many other places in scripture where “watch out” is used. Jesus asked his disciples to “watch and pray”. I encourage you to watch for those who come across your path and share the Gospel with them.

As for the bucket list update… I ran 17 miles on Sunday. There are three more long training runs before running the marathon on December 5th. Thanks for all the support and encouragement!

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November Logistics

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Carl

Our next First Thursday Day of Prayer for our Nation, Leaders and Revival is on Thursday, November 4th.

With the mid-term elections having passed yesterday, there is much to pray about for the country. If you are in North Texas, you can join Carl at the Carrollton City Hall at the Northeast corner of Josey and Jackson or Craig at his office in Dallas. If you are not able to join either of these locations then please consider having your own time of prayer at your place of business or at your city hall.

In Carrollton we meet at the flag pole in front of city hall at noon. Prayer is until about 12:20. Then we go eat lunch at a local restaurant and have some fellowship.

In Dallas, the meeting is at Craig’s office. You must contact him in advance to gain access to the building. Prayer time is noon to 12:15PM.

Are you planning to host a prayer time? Then please post a comment with your logistics so others may be able to join you.

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Share Jesus – Part 2

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Carl

In part 1 of this blog, I recommended listening to the Share Jesus Without Fear seminar by Bill Faye. In this part, I’d like to talk about how I have been utilizing this material.

I’d first like to say that I believe this approach offers several great benefits. First, the transitional questions provided by Bill Faye are excellent. These really help to transition a conversation. Second, there is a great power in having people read from the Bible directly. Even as compared to quoting a verse to them, they could still argue with what you say. But, when they read the words directly from a Bible themselves, they do not tend to argue with what it says. They may not agree, but at least they can not say that it does not say what they just read.

The verses that Bill Faye suggests are:

  • Romans 3:23
  • Romans 6:23
  • John 14:6
  • Romans 10:9
  • 2 Corinthians 5:15
  • Revelation 3:20

There are several things that I don’t like about this list of verses. First, there is no mention of specifically what sin is. Romans 3:23 says “all have sinned” however, the person is not personally realizing what sin is, or even what sin is. Most people seem to know that they are “a sinner” but it seems like they take that as being synonomous with being “a person”. While that is true, it does not lead them to know that they have sinner by transgressing God’s Law (1 John 3:4). Secondly, there is no mention of the need to repent. And finally, Revelation 3:20 is taken out of context since it is a message to a particular church, not a call to a person to open the door.

To deal with these concerns, I searched the scriptures, prayed and asked several people for their input. The goal was to make a list also of about six verses. We settled on nine!

  • Hebrews 9:27
  • Romans 3:23
  • 1 John 3:4
  • Matthew 19:18-19
  • Revelation 21:8
  • 2 Peter 3:9
  • 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
  • John 3:3, 16, 36
  • Mark 1:15

I limited myself to the New Testament so that I could easily use some pocket New Testaments that I have on hand. I really like these shirt pocket New Testaments as they are easy to carry when going to witness at the mall. Inside each New Testament I write on the first page “to start turn to page 298 and read Hebrews 9:27”.

First Experience
I’ve had the chance to try this out about a dozen times now. The first time, Craig and I were in the West End of Dallas at the DART station. I explained to him what I was trying to do and told him I wanted to try it on someone. He pointed to a guy about 30 feet behind me and said, “what about that guy?” So we went over to him and struck up a conversation. Eventually we swung the conversation to the spiritual by asking what he thought would happen when he died. He said he was not sure. So, I asked, “can we show you what the Bible says?” He said yes. So I pulled out the marked up pocket New Testament, turned to page 298 and asked him to read the highlighted text.

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27)

After he read it, I asked, “what does that mean to you?” He responded with something about how we would each die and then be judged. Very good! So I asked if he knew why we would be judged. He said no. So I turned to Romans 3:23 and asked him to read it.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

I ask him what it means. He said that we have all sinned. Very good. Wow! This was going well. So I asked him, “do you know what sin is?” He said he was not sure. So I said, let me show you what the Bible says sin is. He agreed. I turned to 1 John 3:4

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

Then I asked him again, what is sin? Breaking the law he said. So I asked, what sin do you think it is talking about? He said he was not sure. So I turned to Matthew 19:18-19

Jesus replied, ” ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.'”

Then I asked, have you kept those Laws? He said no. He had unknowingly, just given himself the “good person test”. I explained that those are six of God’s Ten Commandments. Then we turned to Revelation 21:8 and asked him to read it.

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

I asked him if he had ever done any of the things in that list? He said yes again. So I asked him, according to this verse what do you think the “fiery lake” is? He said, “hell!” So I asked, where will you go when you die according to God’s word? He said, “Hell”. I asked if that concerned him. He said yes.

We turned to 2 Peter 3:9and I asked him to read it.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

I asked, what does this say to you. He gave his answer and then I told him that it is saying God does not want anyone to go to Hell. He seemed to be tracking with us. I could see sorrow in his eyes. And at the same time, we were starting to wonder when his train might come. Craig would tell me later that he was praying like crazy that they guys train would not come yet. His prayer was answered. I assured him that there were only a couple more verses to go and turned to 1 Corinthians 15 and asked him to read verses 3 & 4.

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

Again, I asked him what this means. He said that Christ died for sin. Very good. So we turned to John 3 and I asked him to read verses 3 16 and 36

3In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

Again I asked what does this mean. His answer included that Jesus died for all sin. Right on! So I told him there was one last verse. We turned to Mark 1:15

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

I asked him, “what does that mean?” He said it means that he needs to repent. Great! So I asked, do you have any questions? He said, “yes, what does it mean to repent?” Craig spent a few minutes with him explaining what it meant. We had a nice conversation with him as we wrapped up. When his train finally did come, I handed him the New Testament and a tract. I told him he could start back on page 298 to read those verses again. He thanked us for our time, took the New Testament and left.

Subsequent experiences
Since that first time, I’ve used this method about a dozen times now. With one Muslim man at the mall he explained how he thought the Bible and Quran were the same basic message. I asked if we could show him what the Bible said. By the time we went through the verses he was realizing that his understanding of the Bible being the same message was false. We gave him the Bible so he could read more of it.

Now you have to realize that like any witnessing encounter this may not go perfectly each time. One Jewish man from Israel at the mall would not even take the Bible from us. However, most people we’ve tried this with will go through at least some of the verses. What I’ve found is that by asking once what the Bible says and then giving a brief explanation, asking a few questions to move through the WDJD model and then using these Bible verses the Law and Gospel is presented. In some cases we get through all the verses. In some we don’t. That is OK. But, what I’ve seen is the power of God’s Word opened up for the unbeliever to read for themselves. They really can not argue with the words that are right before their eyes.

It only takes a little advanced planning to mark and highlight a Bible. If you give it to them, then you’ll have to do it over and over again. But, to get God’s word into their hands, it is definitely worth it! Try it and let me know your experience.

In case you get the pocket New Testament from Biblica, the page numbers of the verses used are:

  • Hebrews 9:27 (page 298)
  • Romans 3:23 (page 204)
  • 1 John 3:4 (page 322)
  • Matthew 19:18-19 (page 27)
  • Revelation 21:8 (page 348)
  • 2 Peter 3:9 (page 318)
  • 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (page 234)
  • John 3:3, 16, 36 (page 124)
  • Mark 1:15 (page 46)
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Share Jesus – Part 1

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Carl

This is the first of what will be a two part series.

A couple of years ago a friend handed me a CD by Bill Faye titled “Share Jesus Without Fear”. I listened to the CD. It presents a method of Evangelism where after transitioning a conversation from the natural to the spiritual,  you have someone read verses out of the Bible and tell what they mean to them. After listening to it, I thought to myself, “I’ll just stick with what I am doing.” What I was doing was using the Way of the Master to share the Law and the Gospel. At the time, I did not give the Share Jesus Without Fear much more thought.

About a year later, another friend was doing some evangelism training that I attended. Among other things during the training, he had us role play using the Share Jesus Without Fear method. This gave me a little bit of hands on experience with the method. However, even then as I thought about it, I was thinking, “it’s not like I’ll be walking around the mall with my Bible so I could actually use this.”

At that point, I did not give it any more thought until about three weeks ago when I was asked about it. A friend showed me the book and said, “this is the first Evangelism training that I used.” He offered to loan me the book, but I had already looked into it so I declined. After our conversation, I thought, “maybe I should look into this again.” If nothing else, it would be a way to connect with my friend.

So I looked up the method on google. I found two sites that I’d like to share here. The first is the Share Jesus Without Fear site which includes an audio version of the seminar put on by Bill Faye. I listened to each of the sessions of the audio. Listening to Bill Faye the method came alive. He shared some exciting witnessing encounters (like the mock funeral in session one – that’s all I’ll say, listen and check it out yourself). As I listened, I was praying about how I could (should) and would use this.

The second link I’d like to share is to this site that provides a nice two part overview of the material.

I encourage you to check out the two sites above. Give some consideration and prayer to the approach that Bill Faye shares. I learned a lot from listening to him especially in terms of transitioning a conversation to the spiritual and using God’s Word in sharing the Gospel.

I realized that there were a couple of things that I didn’t like about the method from when I had heard about it previously. As I prayed, I realized how I could overcome my own objections. In part 2, I’ll share my objections, how I’ve over come them, and my experiences using this method to evangelize in the West End of Dallas and the malls using this method in the last couple weeks!

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