On January 4, 2004, I made a commitment to share my faith everyday after hearing a New Year’s message from my Pastor, Zac Nazarian.
It’s now been 20 years!!!
I don’t even know why I chose to make that commitment on that particular weekend, but I do remember that there were 6 or 7 points to the message. One stuck with me: “In the New Year we should evangelize more.”
How many times have you heard that as a Christian? Easily, a million times. And what did you do about it? Same thing I did: you listened, nodded your head (probably pursed your lips), then you made a half-hearted commitment to start sharing your faith, somehow, somewhere, but ultimately let it pass by the wayside, along with your other vows, like reading through the Bible in a year, or losing twenty pounds. That morning, however, I chose to do something about it. I sat in my chair at church and said to myself, “I’m going to share my faith everyday.”
Mind you, I had no idea how I was going to do it. Like most Christians I only shared my faith when God “opened a door.” Evangelism, of course, was only for those who had the gift. Still, the next day I started my commitment. And wouldn’t you know it? The very first person I talked to—made a profession for Christ!
(There’s a lot more to the story. Click here.)
Flash forward to July 31, 2005. Ray Comfort was invited to speak at our church. I sat in the back of our sanctuary and listened intently to “Hell’s Best Kept Secret”—for about ten minutes.
My mind wandered. I fidgeted, checked my fingernails and looked up at the lighting, you know, like most Christians when they listen to a sermon. Then suddenly, I fixated on what he actually had to say. My eyes narrowed, mind expanding. I never heard this before. It made perfect sense. The proverbial light bulb then went on over my head. I was hooked. After he finished his message I understood how the use of God’s Moral Law—the Ten Commandments—actually shows a sinner what sin is.
When you explain to a sinner that no one can keep God’s Law perfectly, which is His requirement, then the sinner can understand that there is a reason for God to sentence them to Hell: They’ve broken His Law! When a sinner hears the bad news first, it makes the good news really good news!
I got it. By Jove, I got it.
For the past eighteen months I had only given good news, but no one thought they needed it. Without the bad news, my good news made no sense.
Afterward, I giddily shook Ray’s hand and thanked him profusely. He smiled and gave me a gift: a pack of Million Dollar Bill Gospel tracts.
Huh? What are these? He explained during his talk that these were great ice-breakers when initiating a Gospel conversation: “Hi did you get one of these? They are Gospel tracts. The million dollar question is on the back; want to know what it is? If you were to die today, would you go to Heaven or Hell?”
I didn’t have to worry about how to start a conversation anymore; these tracts were the answer.
I even learned how to have a dialogue using a technique called “The Good Person Test.” By asking a few simple questions, sinners would have a clear understanding of where they stood before God. They’d hear about Judgment Day—and Hell. The Gospel would then make sense! I couldn’t wait to try all this new information out. I was hooked and now an on-fire evangelist—just one of my spiritual gifts (along with pastor, teacher, leadership and exhortation).
Soon after, I taught The Way of the Master for seven years at my former church Hope Chapel—and everywhere, even in China! I also led evangelism teams to almost every large event in the L.A. area, including Michael Jackson’s memorial service, (we were outside in the streets), the Academy Awards, The Emmy Awards, the Lakers Championships, the L.A. Kings, and thirteen parades a year.
I was quite the zealous Gospel proclaimer over the years, handing out perhaps, hundreds of thousands of tracts, preaching in the open air, and, of course, having hundreds of one-to-one conversations, reminding people how they had broken God’s Law and how they needed a Savior to be forgiven.
Not only that, our teams preached with Ray Comfort regularly in Huntington Beach and I served as a leader for five years with the Ambassadors’ Academy, the training arm of Living Waters Ministries.
(Watch this one minute video when I forced Ray and Scottie to sing in a car.)
I say all this so you will know that I was totally committed to the cause of preaching the Gospel, because, after all,
“Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?”
20 years later, I don’t have the opportunity to share everyday, but I am just as zealous—just a bit more tactful and patient.
It all started with a sermon and a “yes” response. God willing, I’ll still be doing for this 20 more years.
Will you?