My Great Evangelism Adventure, Part 6: “The Comfort Zone”

The kid was yelling and swearing at a security guard when we pulled into our parking spot at the Los Cerritos Mall. From the safety of her truck cab the guard demanded that the rebellious youth leave the premises immediately, but he refused. I jumped out of my car and told the kid to apologize to the guard for being so rude. Amazingly he did. I assured the security lady that he would leave—after we had a little chat… (Click here to start at Part 1 of “My Great Evangelism Adventure”)

A group of us went out to Bellflower to evangelize with Ray Comfort, the man who changed my entire perspective when sharing the Gospel  after hearing his teaching of “Hell’s Best Kept Secret.” We received two signs from God as we left the parking lot of our meeting place. The first was on our church billboard: “The wages of sin is death; repent before payday.” The second sign was a double rainbow.

E-vangie Tales #72B “Witnessing With the Evangelist” By Bruce Gardner

(This is part 2. Read #72 first)

I asked my Good Stuff lunch partner, Bruce, to write his version of the events of last week’s E-vangie Tales #72. Here it is:

In Steve’s last Evangie-Tale, he described the “incident” at Good Stuff restaurant in Redondo Beach in which some entirely different responses to the “MILLION DOLLAR BILL (MDB)” evangelism approach were observed. I’m the guy who was having lunch that day with Steve, and so was in the enviable (?) position of witnessing first-hand how this approach would play out in reality as opposed to simply reading about it in an Evangie-Tale.

I found it extremely instructive to observe the widely differing reactions of the three Good Stuff waitresses on the receiving end of this approach. I also found quite interesting to observe my own reaction to their reactions, and what that might possibly be revealing about my own deep down beliefs and willingness to act upon the “Heaven vs. Hell” message.

E-vangie Tales #72 “Good Stuff, Bad Stuff”

I had just finished a really great lunch with my friend when something wonderful—and terrible—happened at a cool little restaurant called Good Stuff…

Before we paid the check, I wanted to give our waitress a million-dollar bill to show my lunch partner, Bruce, how easy it was. These Gospel tracts are the best, and I never tire of giving them out. People actually enjoy reading that they are lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterers-at-heart who will be condemned to hell if they don’t repent and turn to Jesus. Well, maybe they don’t enjoy reading that, but they sure delight in getting a real, genuine, one-hundred-percent-authentic—phony—greenback.

E-vangie Tales #71: Cop Out

The motorcycle cop was hiding—very sneakily—in the shadows, waiting, waiting…. I peeked at my speedometer and gently tapped the brake as I passed. Too late! The red and blue lights flashed hideously in the rearview mirror. That was quite alright though; I was ready and willing to show this cop what was up…. and down.

Pulling over, my two little girls panicked in their car seats. I assured them that I was only going to get a ticket, hoping of course that I would be let off with a warning; after all, I was a servant of the Most High God.

“License please,” the policeman requested firmly without a smile.

E-vangie Tales #70 “Year End Closeout!”

Apart from the sovereignty of God I’ve found the mysterious hidden knowledge, the deeper secrets, of how to lead people to repentance and a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ….

Just ask. Duh!

I was getting discouraged; two years of evangelizing nearly everyday had not produced many converts to Christ. Don’t get me wrong. I was still sowing seed trusting that God’s Word never returned empty, but still…. I wanted to see people actually get saved! Frankly, I was just darn tired of being a Johnny Appleseed for Jesus. “I’m an evangelist, not a Savior,” I’d protest defensively to naysayers.