In Part 1 of this newsletter, we saw how Jon received a failing review of his physical therapy practice because they played Christian music. Yet the lady who gave the bad review not only came back to his practice but ended up on Jon’s schedule. This amazing story unfolds in the paragraphs below.
“During my first visit with her, I prayed for God to lead the conversation. I looked her in the eyes and gave her all of my attention. We laughed a lot and got along very well during the session. God opened up an opportunity to turn the conversation, but we were interrupted, and our conversation came to an abrupt end for the day.
“On the next visit, we again had a great visit with a lot of conversation, and I discussed the cancel culture in the US (and other parts of the world) that is preventing normal discourse and discussion of important issues in society. Societies are marked by how they handle disagreement, not agreement. Societies can make much better decisions on an issue when opposing views are discussed. If we see an issue from both sides, we can reach a much better decision on how to handle it as a society. Cancel culture is a nightmare for a society. It eliminates the discussion. We have to be able to discuss things we disagree on while respecting each other. She agreed.
“That set the stage for the next visit. God had her open up the topic of the gospel when she asked me how I decided to purchase this $50K Class IV laser for my practice. God answered a specific prayer and told me to purchase it. I also told her that there were a couple of things that totally changed the way I think about sharing the gospel. She asked what those were: 1) Meeting Mark Cahill and reading his book, 2) Penn Jillette’s short video on getting the gift of a Bible from a Christian. I told her the quote from Penn, ‘How much do you (Christian) have to hate someone not to tell them?’
“I also got to introduce the gospel to her by sharing a gospel conversation I had with an atheist and how much I respected the atheist for his honesty. The atheist was what I call a sincere atheist because he had legitimate and intelligent questions. He had never been able to get answers for them from any Christian he knew, so I answered his questions for about 40 minutes or so, and he was excited to hear those answers. He still had more questions, so I encouraged him to keep searching, gave him the resource of One Heartbeat Away, and told him to search for the answers together with the two Christians who were with him that day. He was so excited. He wasn’t just trying to ‘stump the Christian’; he had real questions which deserved answers.
“She then admitted that she used to go to church, but she is now an atheist. I told her that I loved her and her honesty and that I was sure she had very good reasons for being an atheist. Our conversation was again interrupted, but that visit ended with her saying that she might read One Heartbeat Away. I’m praying that during our next visit, we can get into what turned her to atheism and continue to allow her to see the real Jesus.”
Jon
_______________
Now, you can see why God uses Jon. He speaks the truth. He is not shy when it comes to talking to someone about Jesus. But he is very loving in how he does so. Very kind. Very gracious. And God will always use Christian men and women who are like that.
Real Questions, Real Answers
Ephesians 4:15
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
As I tell people, they might be able to argue with the truth you share, but they cannot argue with the love you show.
I received a really neat compliment from James the other day. He works at another coffee shop I go to. I walked in one Sunday afternoon, and you could tell he was stressed! The place was slammed, and he was near the end of his shift. He basically gave me the signal that he couldn’t chat, but eventually looked at me and said, “Would you like to go out and eat tonight?” Well, that was an easy question to answer. I like the easy ones!
James is 25 and is wrestling with some of the bigger questions of life. He likes to chat, and we had one of those fun two-hour dinners. But he said something interesting to me along the lines of, “One thing I notice about you, Mark, is that whether you are talking with an atheist, a Muslim, a reincarnation person, or a Christian, you don’t seem to change much. You are very kind and loving to each one of them, and nothing really seems to throw you.” Wow. What a neat thing to hear.
He said that he watches Christians get very defensive, like when they are talking with an atheist. But there is no need to do that. Most of them have legitimate questions. And, of course, we have legitimate answers. And if we get flustered or say something like “you are going to hell unless you change,” why would they ever listen to the truths we want to share with them about Jesus?
People will listen to you when you speak God’s truths in love.
Jon is a very successful businessman. Funny thing is that I have never looked at his profit and loss statement to come to that conclusion.
Strive to make your life as successful as possible in the eyes of the Lord and when you do, others will often see you as successful as well. The Lord is watching and so is the world.
Until the nets are full,
P.S. And by the way, does Penn Jillette know something you don’t know?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6md638smQd8
P.P.S. Be Bold! Do you ever see people who have a Bible in the front window of their dash or on back window of their car? You see it a decent amount of times in the South. I walked
up to a car, recently, that had a book there. I looked a little closer, and it was the Book of Mormon! The good news is the lady of the car was sitting in the driver’s seat. I said to her,
“You do know that book is false teaching, correct?” Yes, that might have been a little direct, but directness isn’t always a bad thing. She looked at me and said, “You are the second person to tell me that!” God is good!
Before I left, the Book of Mormon was in my hand, she heard the gospel, and she received some gospel literature.
There are all kinds of ways to plant seeds. Be bold and go for it!
Previous / Next Newsletter