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Showing posts from June, 2012

Preaching Without Pushing

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Long bus rides are not my preferred form of transportation.  Still they provide evangelism opportunities.  On one such trip from Rockford, Illinois to Minneapolis, I got to minister to a fellow passenger who was going to Rochester, Minnesota.  Originally I approached Ross while he was smoking during a meal stop in Mauston, Wisconsin.  I handed Ross a tract and asked a few questions regarding his eternal destiny but he wasn’t receptive to the gospel. Later during our bus ride, Ross moved up and sat across from me to initiate what became a lengthy conversation.  I found out Ross grew up Jewish but had since become a pagan.  Although he was still resistant to committing his life to Jesus, Ross thanked me for listening to him and not being pushy like other “religious people” he previously encountered (specifically mentioning Jehovah’s Witnesses).  A final seed was planted when I gave Ross a Mark Cahill book explaining the difference between Christianity and various religions. J

Giving Away God’s Word

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Whenever I lead someone to the Lord, I usually take an extra minute to encourage the newborn believer to pray, read the Bible, and attend a good church. When I specifically talk about the Bible, I will ask if he (or she) has one at home. If he doesn’t, then I ask, “If I give you one, will you read it?” Sometimes people will answer, “Probably not.” In cases like that, my next question for them is, “What would happen if you stopped eating food?” They usually say they will get weak or die. I then point out the same thing can happen to them spiritually. Reading God’s word feeds a person’s spirit. Don’t think someone’s salvation isn’t legitimate just because he doesn’t immediately get excited about reading the Bible. One reason may be this person thinks he has to read an older translation like the King James Version that can be hard to understand. Another reason might be some people think they are supposed to read the whole Bible like a regular book. Although that’s a good habit for

Bouncing Back from Blunders

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Proverbs 11:30 says, “He that wins souls is wise.”   One of the benefits to sharing your faith is that it’s a continuing education.  No matter how long one has been doing evangelism, you can always learn new ways to approach people and overcome objections.  A soul-winner must also learn to rebound from mistakes made on the streets. One afternoon in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, I handed out tracts while running errands.  As I was about to walk across a bridge back to the house I was staying at, I offered a tract to a man approaching me on his bicycle.  Sometimes bike riders will snatch tracts out of my hand like a baton from a relay runner.  Originally this man passed by me without taking the tract but then suddenly stopped.  A second later, a woman riding closely behind crashed into him, fell onto a grassy area next to the sidewalk and started crying.  At first I didn’t say anything as I was stunned by what just happened.  Meanwhile, the man helped this woman up and asked if she was

Snake Bitten

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Here’s a prime example why one must rightfully divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).   This past week in West Virginia, a Pentecostal pastor named Mark Wolford died as a result of handing a rattlesnake that bit him during an outdoor service.   This tragedy should have been avoided especially since Pastor Mark saw his father killed three decades ago from doing the same thing.   Snake-handling Christians justify this activity by quoting Jesus in Mark 16:17-18, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them...”   But that doesn’t mean God wants His people purposely handling snakes.   That would be like drinking a bottle of arsenic to see if it won’t kill you.   God would protect a believer only if he accidentally drank a toxic liquid or someone tried to poison him. One might recall how the Apostle Paul