A couple of friends were witnessing together on a college campus. One of them had flown into town and was visiting the other for the day and said she needed to go witnessing to get her “witnessing fix” for the day. So, as they were passing by a college campus, they pulled into the bookstore parking lot, put some change in the meter, pulled out their witnessing materials, and got busy doing the Lord’s work.
Here is the encounter that one of them had that day:
I saw two guys walking across campus and held out a tract to them. When I saw one of the guys’ t-shirt, I knew I had to talk to him. “What?!” I said as I pointed at his shirt. “Tell me what this means!” It was an instant conversation opener.
I said that I loved his shirt and then explained why I was handing him a tract. He said he was Greek Orthodox and that his grandmother had warned everyone she could about anything Catholic! I wanted to figure out where he was at spiritually, so I asked, “What are the differences that you see between the two?” He wasn’t able to really say, but he did say he believed in a higher power but not the God of organized religion. I asked him to clarify.
Then he said, “I don’t believe that God plans every move that people make.” Then I answered, “Well, that belief is found in Reformation thinking. Are you aware that it’s found in Islam, too?” Amazingly, he said he did, to which I said, “Very interesting that you would know that. You know, I think you’re paying attention to all of this more than you’re letting on. Not many people know that about Islam.”
So, I explained that I wasn’t trying to sign anyone up for “religion,” but for biblical truth. And the truth of the Bible says that no one can go to Heaven without their sins being removed. I continued, “The most important question that any of us has to answer in life is how we get rid of our sins.” Then we talked about the gospel, evolution, the validity of the Bible, etc. We covered a lot of ground in a few short minutes since he was between classes.
Finally, I realized I didn’t know his name. I asked, and he said, “Nicholas.” I started chuckling because it is such a Greek Orthodox name. He caught on immediately and laughed as well, and then added, “Oh, yeah, and my last name is Panopolous, and my middle name is Paul!” We both found that funny.
Nicholas didn’t have any more questions at the moment, but said if he did, he would keep an eye out for me at the “U” as he was walking between classes.
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When someone is wearing a t-shirt that pokes fun at how a properly placed comma might save a life, it’s a short walk to the gospel and how only Jesus can truly save a life.
2 Timothy 1:10
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
Remember to use everyday things around you to break the ice with people. You can use things like t-shirts, tattoos, your surroundings, etc., to start some chit-chat as you’re handing them a tract. If someone has a chance to see that you’re safe and friendly to talk to, many times they’ll open up. Then you’ll be off and rolling with a great conversation about the Lord and all that He’s done for them.
Until the nets are full,
P.S. After hearing Jose’s story, which we featured in Monday’s newsletter (https://markcahill.org/the-lords-freeman/), we decided to order 1,400 DVDs from our replicator so we could give them to a prison ministry group that will distribute them to prisons and jails all across the country. Jose’s story encouraged me so much that I wanted to make sure more prisoners can watch and hear the messages on our DVDs. And if you know anything about prison ministry, you know that a lot of junky teachings get into the libraries of prison chaplains. In prisons, there are a ton of false teachings. Every chance we get, we should want to flood prisons with good, solid biblical teachings.
https://markcahill.org/the-lords-freeman/
P.P.S. To help light a fire for evangelism in your church, youth group, Bible study, or home library, or to help stock your local prison chaplain’s library, you can pick up copies of these DVDs from our website at the following link: https://markcahill.org/product-category/dvds/.
