Buy a sandwich for a homeless person. Serve at soup kitchen. Volunteer at a hospital. Become a big brother or a big sister. I trust your intellectual abilities
What Would YOU Say?
- Thread starter ThereRoseaLamb
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Death, burial and resurrection, our old self has to die with HIM in baptism and when we come out we are a new creature.
Hello again ThereRoseaLamb, you are correct! So, especially in a scenario like that one, you ~must~ use words.
Perhaps we should consider some of the things that the Bible has to say about this? So, does it say,
1. Faith comes from doing really nice things for others (w/o saying anything about Jesus and the Gospel) ~or~ 2. Faith comes when others hear the words of the Good News about Jesus from us (Romans 10:17)?
~OR~
Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 1. Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You're the greatest/nicest Guy who's ever lived and we don't wanna hang out with anyone else, ever" ~or~ 2. Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? After all, You're the One who has the ~words~ of eternal life" (John 6:67-68).
I was thirty years old and one night I began to experience what some call, "the dark night of the soul" (it was Halloween night and the unbearable guilt that I felt, because of my many sins, had begun to lead me to despair .. that God wanted nothing more to do with me).
I was out of town on business that week and I'd gotten up too late on the morning after Halloween to get breakfast at our hotel, but fortunately, there was a little breakfast restaurant right across the street, so I went there. Fortunately (PTL) one of my colleagues ended up there as well. He sensed that something was wrong, so he sat down with me and asked me what was up (even though we really didn't know each other, except in passing at work). When I told him the details (a man who I mostly knew by reputation, as partier/womanizer), he started talking to me about the last thing that I would have EVER expected to hear from him (because unbeknownst to me, he had recently become a believer).
To make a long story shorter, he ended up sharing the Gospel with me that morning, right there in that restaurant (the Good News AND the bad news too, the very words that I was, in point of fact, longing to hear), and late the next day I finally became a believer (I say finally because I had been baptized as an infant and raised in the church, so I'd always considered myself a Christian, even though the life that I was leading was so horribly sinful).
That day, Sunday, Nov 2nd, 1986, continues to be (far and away) the VERY best day of my life, and if my colleague had only been "nice" to me that day/had only taken pity on me and sought to make me feel better about myself (and had said nothing about the ~only~ thing that is ~truly~ important for an unbeliever to know), who knows where I might be today?
All I can think to say (about witnessing to others with words) is this, could there have been anything that was more loving, caring, kind or nice that he could have done for me that day (or any other day for that matter)? He was kind, but firm with me about the truth, and it was the "words" that he spoke to me that morning (not his kindness) that helped lead me to the Lord Jesus Christ and to saving faith in Him (and to me KNOWING that which I most needed to know most that day, that God still loved me, still wanted me to become His son, that He would forgive me of all of many sins, and so many other wonderful things too
).God bless you!!
~Deuteronomy
p.s. - here's one of my favorite quotes about witnessing, from one of Spurgeon's sermons.
That reminds me of my grandmother. She loved kids. She would go to yard sales and buy clothes for families that couldn't afford them, she would feed the kids on her street, she was always giving from the little she had. Everyone who knew her loved her. She lived a hard life, but she didn't let it make her bitter.
Hello again ThereRoseaLamb, you are correct! So, especially in a scenario like that one, you ~must~ use words.
Perhaps we should consider some of the things that the Bible has to say about this? So, does it say,
1. Faith comes from doing really nice things for others (w/o saying anything about Jesus and the Gospel) ~or~ 2. Faith comes when others hear the words of the Good News about Jesus from us (Romans 10:17)?
~OR~
Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 1. Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You're the greatest/nicest Guy who's ever lived and we don't wanna hang out with anyone else, ever" ~or~ 2. Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? After all, You're the One who has the ~words~ of eternal life" (John 6:67-68).
I was thirty years old and one night I began to experience what some call, "the dark night of the soul" (it was Halloween night and the unbearable guilt that I felt, because of my many sins, had begun to lead me to despair .. that God wanted nothing more to do with me).
I was out of town on business that week and I'd gotten up too late on the morning after Halloween to get breakfast at our hotel, but fortunately, there was a little breakfast restaurant right across the street, so I went there. Fortunately (PTL) one of my colleagues ended up there as well. He sensed that something was wrong, so he sat down with me and asked me what was up (even though we really didn't know each other, except in passing at work). When I told him the details (a man who I mostly knew by reputation, as partier/womanizer), he started talking to me about the last thing that I would have EVER expected to hear from him (because unbeknownst to me, he had recently become a believer).
To make a long story shorter, he ended up sharing the Gospel with me that morning, right there in that restaurant (the Good News AND the bad news too, the very words that I was, in point of fact, longing to hear), and late the next day I finally became a believer (I say finally because I had been baptized as an infant and raised in the church, so I'd always considered myself a Christian, even though the life that I was leading was so horribly sinful).
That day, Sunday, Nov 2nd, 1986, continues to be (far and away) the VERY best day of my life, and if my colleague had only been "nice" to me that day/had only taken pity on me and sought to make me feel better about myself (and had said nothing about the ~only~ thing that is ~truly~ important for an unbeliever to know), who knows where I might be today?
All I can think to say (about witnessing to others with words) is this, could there have been anything that was more loving, caring, kind or nice that he could have done for me that day (or any other day for that matter)? He was kind, but firm with me about the truth, and it was the "words" that he spoke to me that morning (not his kindness) that helped lead me to the Lord Jesus Christ and to saving faith in Him (and to me KNOWING that which I most needed to know most that day, that God still loved me, still wanted me to become His son, that He would forgive me of all of many sins, and so many other wonderful things too
God bless you!!
~Deuteronomy
p.s. - here's one of my favorite quotes about witnessing, from one of Spurgeon's sermons.
That is an amazing quote and hits home for me because I was in evangelism ministry for many years. Your story reminds me of a friend who has now passed. He was a terrible drinker. So one night he met a friend at a bar and they were crying in their beers about how awful their lives were. So his friend said " You know what, my mother told me I need to go to church and get saved, that's what we should do!!" They agreed and that Sunday my friend went to church and indeed became saved. Unfortunately he friend did not do the same. I don't know if the friend was ever saved. But my friend was a wonderful Christian, a husband and dad, and granddad. He was such an encouragement to me. We moved to the US and when I heard that he had died I was heartbroken, and happy at the same time. God truly works in mysterious ways.
Your friend used discernment and listened to what God told him to do. I think every situation calls for us to listen for God's voice to confirm what He would have us do. It's never good to run ahead of God. Thank you for sharing your wonderful testimony! Blessings!
Hello again @ThereRoseaLamb (et al), when I was reading through this thread, I noticed a quote that I used to think was the best thing since sliced bread (from the moment that I first heard it). It's the one credited to St. Francis of Assisi, that says,
It reads,
).
Then along came the quote above and I thought, "so, I don't have to use words when I witness to people anymore (which most people seem to hate), all I have to do is be kind/nice/helpful to people instead and my job is done?", and you know what, people loved it, and they loved the "new" me, too. The problem was that this manner of witnessing never resulted in anyone even considering coming to saving faith in Jesus
(though many ended up feeling better about themselves, even though they were still reprobate 
).
Theologian, Ligon Duncan, wrote a companion quote (to the one that Francis supposedly wrote) as an analogy, of sorts, to point out and help us understand one of the fundamental problems with it. His quote goes as follows,
God bless you!!
~Deuteronomy (David)
p.s. - here's a magazine article that talks about St. Francis and the quote above that he was given credit for writing (but actually did not write). It's informative and well-written. Enjoy
"Preach the Gospel daily, use words if necessary".
The thing is, we know that St. Francis never said it, or anything like it, and that the life he led (as a busy, itinerant preacher) would have made him a practical hypocrite if he did (because preaching/witnessing/evangelizing is what he did, what his daily life consisted of, day in and day out). In fact, when he wasn't preaching/teaching/witnessing to humans in town after town after town, he turned to horses and cows and told them the Good News too (he apparently took the end of Mark 16:15 quite literally It reads,
“Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature"
The reason that I loved that quote (the one above, credited to St. Francis) from the very moment that I heard it was because I was raised by an abusive, alcoholic father, and I became a chronic people-pleaser as a result. So, I began to seek out peace and kindness above all else, and I treated people that way all the time, hoping to be treated in the same way in return. I was also taught to share the Gospel early on in my Christian walk, which included telling people why they needed the Savior (and it didn't take me long to realize how much most people didn't want to hear what I had to say about that ). Then along came the quote above and I thought, "so, I don't have to use words when I witness to people anymore (which most people seem to hate), all I have to do is be kind/nice/helpful to people instead and my job is done?", and you know what, people loved it, and they loved the "new" me, too. The problem was that this manner of witnessing never resulted in anyone even considering coming to saving faith in Jesus
(though many ended up feeling better about themselves, even though they were still reprobate ).Theologian, Ligon Duncan, wrote a companion quote (to the one that Francis supposedly wrote) as an analogy, of sorts, to point out and help us understand one of the fundamental problems with it. His quote goes as follows,
"Saying, 'Preach the Gospel daily, use words if necessary', is like saying, 'Feed the hungry daily, use food if necessary'".
God bless you!!
~Deuteronomy (David)
p.s. - here's a magazine article that talks about St. Francis and the quote above that he was given credit for writing (but actually did not write). It's informative and well-written. Enjoy
I'd love to hear a bit more about that (if you ever have the time and don't mind doing so, that is).
Thanks
1Co 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
If you tell them in one sentence believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus they want to know why.
It has to make sense to them.
That one sentence should make some kind of sense that gets them wondering.
Saying God loves you and believe in Jesus does not work with some people for they want it to make sense.
But you cannot tell them too much in one sentence unless you lay it all down and say that is one sentence.
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.
Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know.
Act 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Act 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Peter explained to the Jews why Jesus is Lord and Savior.
Act 8:26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
Act 8:27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship.
Act 8:30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
Act 8:31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
Act 8:32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his
shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
Act 8:33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
Act 8:34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
Act 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
Act 8:36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
Philip explained to the Ethiopian about Jesus.
Luk 24:25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
Luk 24:26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
Luk 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Jesus explained to the disciples.
1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
1Pe 2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Reaching out to people without words would be done by being Christlike which they can observe.
A person that competes in the world's strongest man competition does not have to tell you with words that they are strong for you can observe it.
But what does it matter to people who say God chooses people to be saved or not saved without their choice for if they do not act Christlike it will have no bearing then.
1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
But the bride is supposed to say God wants all people to be saved and anybody can have salvation and understand the Bible.
God wants all people to be saved and their hypocrisy is turning people away.
I'm short of time this morning. But I will come back and read this again. I appreciate the discussions we are having here. I thank all of you for taking part. It's been very interesting.
I'd love to hear a bit more about that (if you ever have the time and don't mind doing so, that is).
Thanks
I guess I should have mentioned that years ago when I started CC but I never did. It's my testimony and I've been afraid to share it because to some it seems like I'm bragging. I've mentioned it over the years at CC and people have thrown it back at me. Even in every day life I have not shared much about it. But my father has taken ill with dementia and it has hit me how much of our lives were involved in this, rather odd to others, undertaking. I don't have time to do it justice now. But maybe this evening when I have a quiet moment I will share some of how it all came about.
Hello again @ThereRoseaLamb (et al), when I was reading through this thread, I noticed a quote that I used to think was the best thing since sliced bread (from the moment that I first heard it). It's the one credited to St. Francis of Assisi, that says,
"Preach the Gospel daily, use words if necessary".The thing is, we know that St. Francis never said it, or anything like it, and that the life he led (as a busy, itinerant preacher) would have made him a practical hypocrite if he did (because preaching/witnessing/evangelizing is what he did, what his daily life consisted of, day in and day out). In fact, when he wasn't preaching/teaching/witnessing to humans in town after town after town, he turned to horses and cows and told them the Good News too (he apparently took the end of Mark 16:15 quite literally
It reads,
“Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature"The reason that I loved that quote (the one above, credited to St. Francis) from the very moment that I heard it was because I was raised by an abusive, alcoholic father, and I became a chronic people-pleaser as a result. So, I began to seek out peace and kindness above all else, and I treated people that way all the time, hoping to be treated in the same way in return. I was also taught to share the Gospel early on in my Christian walk, which included telling people why they needed the Savior (and it didn't take me long to realize how much most people didn't want to hear what I had to say about that
Then along came the quote above and I thought, "so, I don't have to use words when I witness to people anymore (which most people seem to hate), all I have to do is be kind/nice/helpful to people instead and my job is done?", and you know what, people loved it, and they loved the "new" me, too. The problem was that this manner of witnessing never resulted in anyone even considering coming to saving faith in Jesus
Theologian, Ligon Duncan, wrote a companion quote (to the one that Francis supposedly wrote) as an analogy, of sorts, to point out and help us understand one of the fundamental problems with it. His quote goes as follows,
"Saying, 'Preach the Gospel daily, use words if necessary', is like saying, 'Feed the hungry daily, use food if necessary'".
God bless you!!
~Deuteronomy (David)
p.s. - here's a magazine article that talks about St. Francis and the quote above that he was given credit for writing (but actually did not write). It's informative and well-written. Enjoy
I am sorry for your upbringing. It's similar to my fathers, but it was a step father in his situation. I understand it can have a terrible effect on a child and changes who that child is. The happy ending is my fathers step father came to the Lord before he passed, and my father had a big influence in his becoming saved.
I didn't know the information about St Francis. I understand what people mean by the quote, but we are told to go and preach... that means using words. I will look at that article when I get a chance this evening. Thanks for sharing this. It's making me think, and I usually do that this early in the morning! rofl
In one sentence....."come and see"
I believe that many seekers as well as unbelievers dont understand the whats and why's of what the Lord has blessed us to hear and believe.
I've found that the best why to preach is to listen to those who are seeking and what they have heard.
Our adversary has been so busy in corrupting the truth with myths and lies that to even establish a conversation is a blessing and can sew seeds.
If we are fishers of men we need to know how to bait the hook. Curiosity has often brought people to interact.
Many preachers are received as criticizing or imposing there beliefs as the only truth. Which Jesus is the only truth indeed but that is what the hearers need to arrive at not the preachers insisting.
I believe that many seekers as well as unbelievers dont understand the whats and why's of what the Lord has blessed us to hear and believe.
I've found that the best why to preach is to listen to those who are seeking and what they have heard.
Our adversary has been so busy in corrupting the truth with myths and lies that to even establish a conversation is a blessing and can sew seeds.
If we are fishers of men we need to know how to bait the hook. Curiosity has often brought people to interact.
Many preachers are received as criticizing or imposing there beliefs as the only truth. Which Jesus is the only truth indeed but that is what the hearers need to arrive at not the preachers insisting.
GOD is LOVE for His Creation and is pleading for us to return to Him. John 3:16
I'd love to hear a bit more about that (if you ever have the time and don't mind doing so, that is).
Thanks
Let's see how can I make a long story short? I felt called into ministry when I was a preteen. I actually thought I was called into missionary work ( still time
) and that scared me a bit. I finally talked to my mother and she of course said you're very young and God won't send you to Africa tomorrow. lol That made me feel better. My father sang a lot in church and was hired on as the soloist for our church. Later he traveled as a group with our pastor and his wife. One day my mother said to my father that I knew all the songs he sang. He decided to test me and realized that I could sing. Well, then my younger sister said she knew the songs too! She sang alto. And that was the start. We got invited to different events and the next thing we were going to churches. It continued to expand to different provinces till we were asked to go to the US.
My father sought his credentials and he also began to preach. He had one rule wherever we went, that we would preach Jesus stills saves and He was crucified and died for all. We went to churches of just about every denomination, even a few Catholic churches. We did open air church services, we did outdoor services in parks, parking lots, camp grounds, wherever there was an invite to preach the Gospel. I was surprised how many people would attend church yet not understand what it meant to be saved! We met so many wonderful people, made life long friends and hopefully added to the number going home. It was a blessing when young people and children would want to come and talk with you. I have scrapbooks of pictures children would draw and give us after the concert. Looking back I feel blessed to have been a small part in people hearing the Gospel and the truth that Jesus saves!!
Right now we have prophecy unfolding and a perfect time to give a account of what's happening.
God not only speaks truth he shows truth. " see that it is so" watch for the day is near.
The testimony of God will be played out right on this very earth as it has in the past.
These are the days when the Bible comes to life what a exciting time it is to explain what its all about.
Who can refute what is happening right before there eyes??? (dont get me started)...
It all points back to Jesus and Calvary. Give them a clear understanding of the truth. Sow them seeds, water them young plants,
Let the Lord harvest his fields.
God not only speaks truth he shows truth. " see that it is so" watch for the day is near.
The testimony of God will be played out right on this very earth as it has in the past.
These are the days when the Bible comes to life what a exciting time it is to explain what its all about.
Who can refute what is happening right before there eyes??? (dont get me started)...
It all points back to Jesus and Calvary. Give them a clear understanding of the truth. Sow them seeds, water them young plants,
Let the Lord harvest his fields.
We know God loves us because, after becoming the human being Jesus of Nazareth, and after going about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, He let mankind despise, abuse and kill Him, without striking down those detractors and murderers; and yet, after rising out from among the dead and after being confirmed as Lord over all creation, Jesus is not withholding forgiveness and reconciliation from anyone, and is offering the gift of God's Holy Spirit to dwell with, and remain with, whomsoever is choosing to take their trust off of other things, and instead to put that trust into the loving and merciful and ever-living Jesus Christ, and the God from Whom He came down.