Do you ever....

[Live4Him]

...start witnessing to random people you run into while out walking on the sidewalk or through a park (or something similar)? What kind of responses have you received? How did you strike up a conversation?

[Brother Rick]

While out on a walk with my family in the park, my kids stopped to feed some ducks with some other kids. From there we started talking with the other adults about kids, then activities, then church, then where they go to church, then...

"You know, it's pretty important to go to church, but church doesn't get anyone to Heaven. It doesn't matter if you go to a Mormon church, a Catholic church, or a Baptist church. I go to a Baptist church, but that doesn't have anything to do with me going to Heaven! Do you know for 100% sure you're going to Heaven, because the Bible says you can know..."

Edited April 13, 2010 by Rick Schworer

[JerryNumbers]

Sorry, but the Catholic and Mormons do not teach people how to be saved. so yes, it does make a difference which church one attends.

Yet you right in part, the church one attends does not get the person to heaven, Jesus does that when one accepts that free gift.

But surely you would not encourage someone to attend a church that does not teach the one and only true path to heaven.

If a true believe is in a church that teaches not the truth, Jesus tells the to come out from among them.

By the way, the Mormons do not even teach about the Jesus of the Bible, they teach about a Jesus who become a God, not the one who was born of a virgin.

[Brother Rick]

Sorry, but the Catholic and Mormons do not teach people how to be saved. so yes, it does make a difference which church one attends.

Yet you right in part, the church one attends does not get the person to heaven, Jesus does that when one accepts that free gift.

But surely you would not encourage someone to attend a church that does not teach the one and only true path to heaven.

If a true believe is in a church that teaches not the truth, Jesus tells the to come out from among them.

By the way, the Mormons do not even teach about the Jesus of the Bible, they teach about a Jesus who become a God, not the one who was born of a virgin.

Of course not, there's no way I would ever recommend anyone go to a cultish church, and I'm very familiar with what other cults teach. I say the above from time to time to make a point - church membership has nothing to do with salvation . Every cult out there teaches elitism, meaning that you must be a part of their organization to be saved from eternal damnation or to "get the best spot" in eternity. The false doctrine of elitism is ingrained in people almost as much as salvation by works, so I go straight at it.

Luke 9:49-50, "And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us." Edited April 14, 2010 by Rick Schworer

[JerryNumbers]

It doesn't matter if you go to a Mormon church, a Catholic church, or a Baptist church.

If you know the difference, them its very foolish of you making this statement that condones people attending any church.

Its very easy to say teach membership does not get a person into heaven without saying it makes no difference what church a person attends. Once in Sunday school class the teacher stated, "It make no difference what church a person attends, just as long as they attend church."

Of course this teacher had an agenda. He was a business owner that worried more about his pocketbook than God's truths and feared if he stood for God's truths it would offend his customers and or prospective customers so that he would not have as many dollars to put in his bank account.

[Brother Rick]

"If you know the difference, them its very foolish of you making this statement that condones people attending any church."


What's the deal, Jerry? Are you looking to just cause contention? Do you you always look for ways to twist people's words like this? I made myself very clear.

Our conversation on this thread is finished.

Edited April 14, 2010 by Rick Schworer

[Live4Him]

Thank you for your response, Rick. I want to share the Gospel with people, I just don't know how to do it!

And how about we keep this thread free of argument, please?

[Brother Rick]

Thank you for your response, Rick. I want to share the Gospel with people, I just don't know how to do it!

There's nothing more fulfilling on earth than to lead someone else to the Lord. Don't stress the details. Be personable, be real, and don’t be rOBotic. Get them to talk; you don't want them to feel like you're forcing something down their throat. At the same time, you must be uncompromising when it comes to the truth.

Big things to remember:

1. SIN SIN SIN SIN SIN. They need to hear that word from you, and they need to know they are guilty before God. Once you've already broken the ice, it's good to say something like, "Can I ask you question, do you think you're a good person?" Everyone says they are. Then go to the 10 commandments and see if they've kept them. Tie murder in with what Jesus said about hating people in your heart, or hating without a cause. Tie adultery in to visual lust. False witness is lying.

2. Explain that God looks at things differently than we do. There is no way we can comprehend his holiness. God says if you've done one sin, in His eyes you're just as guilty as if you've done all of them - because God is the one who put the law in your heart. James 2:10-11 But God doesn't leave you there, He provided a solution in Jesus Christ.

3. Put the emphasis on the conversation and making sure they know the truth in their heart, rather than emphasizing the prayer. Salvation takes place in the heart; a prayer with the correct words means nothing. At the same time, if they don't cross all their "t"s and dot all their "i"s in their prayer, they're still saved if they believe from the heart.

I'm not a great soul winner, but I've won a few here and there. There's nothing better, and it is one of the most important things we need to be doing actively and aggressively. It's like anything, the more you do it the better you get. You'll prOBably feel like your tongue is two inches thick at first, but you'll get better. My wife and I are very active in door to door visitation, one day a week every week. We've found that it takes a lot of doors, but it's worth it knowing that someone is on their way to Heaven and God used you as the messenger.

If you have to knock on 300 doors, it's still worth the work.

[The Gospel Guy]

catholics, is paganism

[Live4Him]

There's nothing more fulfilling on earth than to lead someone else to the Lord. Don't stress the details. Be personable, be real, and don’t be rOBotic. Get them to talk; you don't want them to feel like you're forcing something down their throat. At the same time, you must be uncompromising when it comes to the truth.

Big things to remember:

1. SIN SIN SIN SIN SIN. They need to hear that word from you, and they need to know they are guilty before God. Once you've already broken the ice, it's good to say something like, "Can I ask you question, do you think you're a good person?" Everyone says they are. Then go to the 10 commandments and see if they've kept them. Tie murder in with what Jesus said about hating people in your heart, or hating without a cause. Tie adultery in to visual lust. False witness is lying.

2. Explain that God looks at things differently than we do. There is no way we can comprehend his holiness. God says if you've done one sin, in His eyes you're just as guilty as if you've done all of them - because God is the one who put the law in your heart. James 2:10-11 But God doesn't leave you there, He provided a solution in Jesus Christ.

3. Put the emphasis on the conversation and making sure they know the truth in their heart, rather than emphasizing the prayer. Salvation takes place in the heart; a prayer with the correct words means nothing. At the same time, if they don't cross all their "t"s and dot all their "i"s in their prayer, they're still saved if they believe from the heart.

I'm not a great soul winner, but I've won a few here and there. There's nothing better, and it is one of the most important things we need to be doing actively and aggressively. It's like anything, the more you do it the better you get. You'll prOBably feel like your tongue is two inches thick at first, but you'll get better. My wife and I are very active in door to door visitation, one day a week every week. We've found that it takes a lot of doors, but it's worth it knowing that someone is on their way to Heaven and God used you as the messenger.

If you have to knock on 300 doors, it's still worth the work.

Thank you for the very encouraging words! I've been going door-to-door with my church lately, but I've been too nervous to actually talk! I'll be sure to remember what you told me.

[JerryNumbers]

Perhaps you don't know the difference, now that you've been told would be a good time to do a bit of searching and learn a bit about both of them. Surely you would rather do a bit of study and find out, instead of leading some into false teachings.

Yes, its wonderful to lead someone to Christ, but its awful to lead someone, yet there is nothing sadder than leading someone wrong, and with statements like you made is exactly what can happen.

And I know we don't want anyone on this board recommending either Mormon or Catholic Churches.

Here is a link where you can check out the teachings of the Mormon and Catholic Churches.

Is Mormons false teachers?

Is Catholic false teaching?

By the way, I'm not trying to cause contention, I'm trying to show you where you were wrong, so that you will not make that mistake a 2nd time.

[Brother Rick]

Thank you for the very encouraging words! I've been going door-to-door with my church lately, but I've been too nervous to actually talk! I'll be sure to remember what you told me.

You bet, the Lord will reward your efforts and courage at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and the more you do it the better you'll get. The most important thing is making sure you get the tract into the person's hand. Most of the time, you aren't going to be able to lead them to the Lord or even get a witness in - but if you get the tract into the person's hand you've accomplished a lot. There are many testimonies of people getting saved because of tracts.

The best way to give some a tract is to simply hold it out to them while you are greeting them. Don't stick in in their face, just hold it out there as you say something like, "Hi my name is ______, and this is my friend ______, we're from such and such church and we're just out in the area inviting people to our services..." If you just hold it out there, and even it you keep holding it out there for like 3 seconds, they'll take it. Maybe 1 in 100 won't, but you'll get the word out if you do it that way. Don't ask them if they want it, just stick it out there.

[irishman]

You bet, the Lord will reward your efforts and courage at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and the more you do it the better you'll get. The most important thing is making sure you get the tract into the person's hand. Most of the time, you aren't going to be able to lead them to the Lord or even get a witness in - but if you get the tract into the person's hand you've accomplished a lot. There are many testimonies of people getting saved because of tracts.

The best way to give some a tract is to simply hold it out to them while you are greeting them. Don't stick in in their face, just hold it out there as you say something like, "Hi my name is ______, and this is my friend ______, we're from such and such church and we're just out in the area inviting people to our services..." If you just hold it out there, and even it you keep holding it out there for like 3 seconds, they'll take it. Maybe 1 in 100 won't, but you'll get the word out if you do it that way. Don't ask them if they want it, just stick it out there.

I do that with every door I knock on. I say much the same thing, except I like to interject that I am giving them a "personal" (personalize it) invitation to our church, almost everyone takes it whether they get saved right then or not.

Yes, I have witnessed to people as they passed by; personally, I like that better--you are both in "neutral" territory from the start. I have had better success with this method (and it lead to a street preaching ministry!) than knocking on doors, but I recommend both ways! Edited April 16, 2010 by irishman

[lettheredeemedsayso]

I witness through the things that I say whether I am talking to a Christian or a non-Christian. I believe that how we treat others speaks volumes for the Lord. I love Christians that are real and love the Lord and walk humbly before their God. It is believers like this that led me to the Lord and strengthened my walk with Him.

[Brother Rick]

I witness through the things that I say whether I am talking to a Christian or a non-Christian. I believe that how we treat others speaks volumes for the Lord. I love Christians that are real and love the Lord and walk humbly before their God. It is believers like this that led me to the Lord and strengthened my walk with Him.

I agree, testimony is critical. But God wants us to go a step further(and I'm not suggesting you were saying otherwise) and aggressively go to them and present them the gospel.

"Go ye into all the world and preach..."

I don't believe lifestyle evangelism is not taught in the Scriptures. And once again, I'm not being critical of what you said, I agree, but we as Christians must never lose sight of the fact that they will not hear without a preacher. They will not know unless we tell them verbally. Edited April 17, 2010 by Rick Schworer