Sat. street witnessing

Pre-Game Story. Before I even headed out to meet you guys, I ran into my neighbor who saw my Jesus shirt which prompted him to ask about Jesus. I didn't share what Jesus did for him. Man, can you imagine an easier witnessing encounter? The guy meantions Jesus, asked what religion I am, and I still didn't share the gospel with him. I went in the house and Bre asked me if I shared my faith with him. I said "He caught me off guard.". She said "Ryan you have gospel tracts in your pocket.". I laughed and replied, "Well I mean i didn't get to pray and spend time in the word.". She said "You mean like we just did this morning?". What I realized is that I was showing partiality.

You see I've worried in the past about this guy being a sexual preditor towards my wife and kids. My desire for this guy's salvation was small. If only I had the heart of God and saw him as He saw Saul as he preyed on His children. As I walked to meet you, I opened up "Way of the Master Minute". The first one opened to in the middle of the book said, "Caught off guard.".

Game time. I loved the preparation time. We huddled in and turned to Jesus as we prepared to tell people about Him. I was glad we split up. I could sense right off the bat that the first girl felt mobbed. As we walked in our group of three, It still wasn't what I was used to. All other witnessing I had ever done, had been alone. I also never really used tracts before so the first thing I was worried about was what to say as I handed one out. I decided that "Have you seen these?" was my best bet for now. People usually responded with, "What is it?". Then I would say, "It is a gospel tract.". If they seemed willing to talk I would ask them, "Ever think about what happens after you die?" I found that people did not like the "ticket to heaven or ticket to hell" tract when I handed it to them "ticket to hell" side up. Imagine that...... Someone being offended at your desire for their eternal damnation. I think I'll pay attention to which side is up next time since it is heaven I wish for them hoping they will not choose the alternative.

I was sweating as we walked down the unshaded side of sixth street. After I had been rejected by an older couple, I looked up and saw a couple of young girls walking away from Dave ripping up a tract and saying "Oh it's about God, then... (rip)! I guess I'm going to hell!" I thought, "This is going to be interesting." I did not get discouraged though. I remembered Jesus' promise that the world will hate you because they first hated Him. The first good one to one was with some highschoolers. My favorite. One of which was a girl named Sarah who used to go to our church. As one kid claimed Christ, Dave, used the law right away to make sure he understood what he was claiming. I talked to Sarah a little and felt it was an appointment made by God to encourage the faith that she did have. I also had a moment when I felt almost as if I was open air preaching to the four of them for about one minute. I don't recall the names of the three boys. We got them thinking and the seed was planted.

Another one to one was with another few highschool boys. Yippee. Their names were Billy, Jr. and another kid who sat on the ground tearing up our tract. This one went ok. I started with the "Good card". We talked to Billy the most. He had a lot of questions. Jr. was also sceptical. About ten minutes into the conversation Billy said, "Actually I don't believe in God". He also claimed that his soul was of no importance to him. I reasoned with him on that one and he admitted that deep down, he really does care about his soul. I gave Billy and Jr. extra Lee Stroble tracts and a bible. He said would not read it but we instisted that he as least take it home.

Jay and Keith were brothers. I handed Keith a "ticket to heaven or ticket to hell" tract. He said "Sir, why have you just given me a ticket to Hell?" I said "oh it actually explains the gospel on both sides. See?" Keith was confident that he would go to heaven after he died. Jay stayed silent. After Dave engaged Keith, I swung around to talk to Jay. Jay listened very intently. It seemed to make sense to him. He knew he needed to repent and trust Jesus.