Sharing Christ With Others

[REM]

While spending time with others at 3-D tournaments or any other shooting events, do you share Christ with the folks in your shooting group?

[Cato]

I don't shoot enough 3Ds to say. But I definitely try during my every day work, and hobby time, including archery. I find that the best starting point, when possible, is to get to know someone first, and try to earn some credibility as a person. Then you can begin to talk, as it comes up in conversation, about how important your spiritual life is to you.

One goood ice breaker question is, "do you really believe there is a heaven or hell?" Most people are pretty willing to talk about that. It's not too hard to go from there and ask , "where do you think you are going", and "why".

There are lots of ways to share your faith. Mostly, it needs to be real to you. But I did find out early on that learning some verses that provide a logical framework really help. I do not use them in the same way each time, but I do know the major points and verses I like to use to get the message across, when given the opportunity.

[BLACK WOLF]

Absolutely...but it isn't always so blantantly appparent.

I will often give thanks to God on many occasions during conversations while shooting with them. I will generally share Christ through my actions first and open the doors with a couple of other references to my church and other daily activities to try and get them curious about my beliefs, so they end up being the one's asking more of the questions.

I have had better success that way than coming across as a Bible thumper, but I pray to God that He will draw me and guide me in every unique situation, so that I can become more effective. Sometimes under the right circumstances...thumping the Bible can be productive ;)

Ray ;)

[Cato]

Sometimes its a delicate line, and hard to draw. I think all too many Christians are turned off by Bible thumpers, and tend to say they witness by their actions,when in fact, they don't do anything. I'd rather err on the side of saying something.

On the other hand, there is so much hypocrisy in our society from Christian circles, that a lot of people are automatically turned off by discussions, especially of Christ, unless they see something in you they find compelling.
So I do agree that our best opportunity comes through relationships.

Cato

[BLACK WOLF]

I try to follow in Jesus' footsteps as best as I can, and in doing so I believe He has led me to address each person as individuals and meet them at their needs. If you take the same approach with everyone, I don't believe you will be as effective as you could be when you take into consideration an individuals personality and uniqueness. I believe Jesus for the most part addressed each person differently, yet in truth.

I agree with Cato, one of the ways you can be effective is by learning those characteristics by developing a relationship to some degree with each person that you want to witness to.

I also agree with Cato that there are certain verses that have affected each one of us more personally than others, which can be a door that opens the curiousity of others when we share them with others.

The only other way I know of that will guide us in witnessing is through a revelation given to you by God in how to approach an individual.

Ray ;)

[possumtrot]

Throughout the years it seems that the command of Paul in Colossians 4 makes more and more sense as I grow in the Lord; "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." I pray that my talking to people about Christ would first of all be obvious in my life and second that I would not approach a person in a "mechanical" sort of way. It might be as simple as lending a helping hand or be as time consuming as talking hours about the character of God. Each person is different, and I hope that when the opportunity presents itself that I can treat this person with respect and love and present the Gospel in a way that they can clearly understand. The late Walter Martin once said that "you have to get the hay out of the loft where the cows can eat it."... John

[Esquire]

"Preach the gospel constantly - If necessary, use words!"



"Be careful how you live, you may be the only bible some folks will ever read."

[BLACK WOLF]

This past Sunday, we were given a sermon on evangelism and one of the things that was shared with us was to always use the name Jesus at some point in our conversations.

There is power in His name!

One of the ways for example is in questions such as:

Who do you think Jesus was?
Do you believe Jesus really exsisted?

Questions like those can really open the doors to witnessing.

Ray ;)

[PAW]

I love the account that after Christ healed the man of demons he told him to Go, Tell, Things, (what the Lord has done and His compassion) Mark 5:19

I have a friend who is not a believer and who's life and the way he lives is no different than mine, to the observer. The only way that observer will know there IS a difference is if I TELL.

The question was do I tell while shooting with others. Not enough, Not enough. Marc

[Esquire]

PAW is right. I thought about that after I posted. The opportunity to speak and be heard depends upon relationships, very often. Nobody wants to be "preached at" by a stranger.

On the other hand, how many have been eternally grateful that a "stranger" cared enough about them to speak to them of eternally important matters? I care enough about the latest greatest bow to trumpet its merits to the masses, most of whom do not know me from Adam. I want them to hear the good news - they can get a beautiful, top performing bow without taking out a second mortgage or waiting for years.

Do I care enough about my Savior to speak unashamedly of the wonders of knowing Him personally?

[Matt]

I don't know if you want to hear this, but I can tell you what I see from an outsiders point of view. Being a Mormon I've noticed that I am indeed on the outside. I found this out from posting on this message board. It shocked me at first, but I've grown to accept it.

That brings me to my point. I've noticed that Mainstream Christianity is very clicky. I've been met by politie disregaurd, mild hostility, and lately being totaly ignored. Which is fine, I understand. But if you don't think that non-Chrisian or non-Active Christians notice this too, then you are deluding yourselves.

My expierence with Mainstream Chrisitanity is as follows. A lot that claim to go to church every Sunday, or also go to Bible School, don't know their Bible. I remember once there was a guy going around calling everybody at work a "fool". I told him "You know your not supposed to be saying that", just joking with him. Well, he got fired up and started telling me how Mormons don't even know the Bible and how could I be quoting Bible verse to him. Well after I showed him the Bible verse in the Gospel of Matthew, he just got madder. Instinces like this happend a few times, and I've never considered myself that learned in the Bible. I was suprised.

I've also seen quite a few people who go to church all the time, act like heathens the other 6 days of the week. Apparently this is OK because they are saved, and everybody else is going to hell. This message is not very appealing to those on the outside (me included).

As a lot of you know I was exploring the option of other religions. What finally totally turned me off to the idea was a friend of mines funeral. At first the funeral was beutiful, the family talked about Jim, the spirit was there and it was wonderful. Then the preacher got up there and started using Jims death as a means of getting converts, I guess. It turned into a sermon. About 1/3 of the attendants were Mormon. I guess the preacher thought this would be a great time to preach about the falsness of the Mormon Church too. In all I was sickened by the oportunisim of the moment. The whole time the Baptists in the congreation were saying stuff like "Amen!, mmmhmmm, mmmhmm that's right!" I couldn't beleive the irreverent nature of the people and the preacher. His voice started getting louder and louder 'till he finally started pacing back and forth. The crowed was all worked up and getting into it. It cured me of any and all desire to seek religious training outside of my own.

This post sounds a lot like an attack, but it's not. I'm fully aware that many Mormons, unfortunatly, act the same way. Especially with the clicks. And most people that are not Christian at all would never join any religion because of the reasons I stated.

[BLACK WOLF]

Matt,

I'm so sorry that you had to witness that.

Hypocracy is one of the leading issues that non-believers have with religion.

The sad thing most people don't realize is that everyone can be hypocritical, even those that don't claim to be part of a religion. The fact is, everyone has a belief system and we will often contridict a belief in order to gain something selfishly, no matter who you are or what you believe in.

People are generally never a good example of what is behind a religion, because how hypocritical and selfish we can all become from time to time. People do give us clues into a religion, but people shouldn't be used to judge a belief without first looking into the truth behind the belief.

I believe that in every situation there is a proper way to approach a person or a group of people that will be more successful and less likely to push people away.

There will often be resistance and objection when sharing the Good News and that is one of the things that must be understood, but the fear of it shouldn't keep our mouths shut. It should cause us to be compassionate and understanding.

Ray ;)

[Esquire]

Matt,

I've enjoyed some good dialogue with you in the recent past. You impress me as a fellow who is honestly seeking truth. Please don't stop doing that. I don't think you will. Don't stop asking questions about Christianity just because it has some poor representatives.

I have had my fair share of bad experiences in church and with those who claim to be "christians." I have had very good friends who were Mormons. I did not adopt Mormonism despite the attractive people I have known who were Mormons, and I did not abandon Christianity despite the unnattractive people I have known who were Christians.

I hope one bad experience does not sour you to truth seeking, my friend. No matter where it takes you.

Mike

[Cato]

Hey Matt,

I'm glad you hung in there and still come out here. My experience so far has been that you are honest about your thoughts, beliefs, struggles, etc. and always respond in a respectul way.

You mention religion. It has consistently been the downfall of the human being. Historically, men try to achieve or find God, or convince themselves they are pleasing God, through their own efforts (keeping rules, etc.) in the form of some kind of religion. That is not what God's Word teaches.

The real message of God is that He wants us to have a personal realtionship with Jesus, the Savior of mankind. As I think you know, it is possible to ask Christ to come into your life, as your Lord and Savior, and take over. That is an act of the will. It must be a continuous act, seeking Him daily. And the message of the Bible is that the pursuit of this relationship is the root of everything. The root must be healthy for the plant to thrive. If the root is not nurtured, the fruit will suffer. The most important thing in our lives is to nurture our personal relationship with God. If we do not do that, all our efforts will most likely turn out to be ineffective, and possibly hypocritical.

Most men trying to be "religious" miss the most important thing, that that is the necessity of nuturing our relationship with God through Christ. God doesn't really need our money; He doesn't really need us to do anything. But He has given us the great privilege of being on His team, if and only if we make our relationship with Him the top priority in our lives.

I'm pretty sure I'm preaching to the choir.

[Matt]

I apreciate the responces. Actually I was starting to get the impression that I was on some ingnore lists. :)

I was also concerned that my post would come off too negative and put people on gaurd. I'm glad this wasn't the case. Jim was Baptist, whom became Mormon, whom went back to being Baptist. During his last days he had lost the ability to speak. When his Reverend came to see him before he died he had written on a piece of paper "Let them know". The Preacher said that Jim wanted his family to know he had no fear of dying and he was ready. I found this very touching. It was after explaining this that preacher expounded on "Let them know" to let us know. That didn't offend me either. That very well could have been important to Jim as well. It was when the Preacher started into the LDS people with "There are some people here that would tell you what you do here is what gets you into heaven. I'm here to tell you that this is not the case!"....and he did. :) Then him and the croud got fired up. I was afraid we were going to be mobbed! :) Now there may be a time for that in one of his sermons, but I think his timing was poor. The attendees were and acredit to Jim's life. He was friends with everybody no matter who you were. Words that divide people one from another really have no place at somebody's funeral. Especially a Man who was a credit to his country, family, and friends, and that made friends with all.

I grew up in a town that was settled by Mormons around the turn of the century. Needless to say certain LDS families became prominent. As the town grew other, non-Mormon, people moved in. It seems that the LDS people wern't very warm. It fostered a lot of resenment. Even a century later as I grew up there was division. I was even LDS, from an LDS family, but I was never looked favorably upon because my family name wasn't right and my dad was a drinker/smoker. I was exluded in sports and activites because of my name. That was sad because I had talent. The "Good LDS kids" never accepted me, even though I was a good kid and went to church.

My good demenor didn't last though, because the rough kids accepted me with open arms. I got into drugs and heavy metal. I had friends that dabbled in witchcraft. I kinda started to as well, then I had coupleexierences that would curl your toes. That cured that desire :) (that's some bad stuff there). I kept my chastity though and I never quit praying. I eventually got control and changed my life. I try to live a good life now and have a family I love dearly. My past is past and I don't find any similarities with that boy from over a decade ago. But even though I've changed I still love my old friends. We don't hang out anymore because our life styles are too different. But I'll always speak to them and never turn my head to them. No matter how they live there lives.

I live in a different town now. The Church members here are a lot better, and treat people better. I think that's because Mormons were not the majority here at first. It was a Baptist town. There were troubles, but not anymore. I think every body learned how to respect each other, where in the town I grew up in they didn't. It has became a great town full of great people who respect each other.

This long story is to illistrate the way I am. Like the town live in now, I've been on both sides of the fence. I understand people and their strifes. I can see the diamond in the ruff. Because I've lived it and I know where they come from. This makes me open with people. I don't hide who I am. I am who I am. I've even been very open with the people in my church. They all know my past. I'm not ashamed of who I am, or the lessons I learned. I think if we all speak with other people from their shoes, and not judge them from ours, we'd all be better off. I'm as guilty as anybody else, sometimes, on being blind to other peoples beleifs and concerns. I think that if we address people not as somebody who has something others don't, but as ourselves equal and not greater to the other person, we'd all have more success.

Jim lived his life this way, and when his funeral was held you could tell. There were so many people there that the church couldn't hold them all. They were streaming down the hallways and standing outside. They were all religons too. This is a sign of a man who lived his life like he truly was a brother too all. He really did lead from the front.

[Cato]

Very interesting stuff Matt. You know, life on this earth is not fair, at least in our eyes, is it? All of us get handed a set of circumstances that we must accept and deal with. How we do it makes us who we are, at least it seems.

If I remember correctly, you know a lot about the Bible. You will remember that Jesus reached out to most people that society did not want to accept. Matthew, the tax collector, who cheated his fellow Jews for a living; the Woman at the well, who had been married numerous times and was living in imorality; the woman caught in adultry; 12 uneducated fishermen; and I'm sure you can think of more.

Thank goodness; no,thank God. He loved me enough to want to restore me to fellowship with him, in spite of my unlovliness.

Hang in there Matt. God wants our hearts. That's all He asks for, is a heart completey given to Him.

Cato

[Matt]

Cato,

One of my favorite stories is about when Jesus met Matthew.

9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the breceipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

I have a soft spot for the gospel of Matthew anyway :) , but I think this story really captures the spirit of Christ and his mission.

[DaveHawk]

excelent points Matt.

Last night Stagmitis or Charly a friend and hunting buddy for the last 18 years and a man the Lord layed on my heart 18 years ago. Charly and I sat till 1:30 just hashing over our relationship. Allot of talked passed under the bridge last night. 1 points the sticks out was he said; If I were you I would have dropped me years ago.
He didn't know you can't go anywhere till the Lord moves you on. God placed me in Charlys life and who am I to question the path layed out for me but to follow it in faith. Charly began to understand for the 1st time who Dave Hawk is after many hunting forrays and trips , dinners and BD partys. I spoke to him how as a believer our lives are not ours but the Lord's and when you have a connection with Him and through prayer always you are lead and given wisdom to ack on ideas & emotions in a friendship. Weather or not to speek up of let a passing comment go in one ear and out the other. For it is the Lord we follow and the Lord who gives us our strength as He see's fit not as I see fit. Faith is all we have beside Hope and with both faith and hope we can help to lead others to the Lord as he guides us through our every meeting of new hunters.
Charly thought I was either dump or stupid for inviting guys from forums I have meet over the years and it made him a little upset to say the least and I knew that but it wasn't my place to correct him at the time. I knew one day the Lord was going to reveil it to him. I was to keep making new hunting friends and sharing the Lord with them.

Please don't pass up the chance to share the Lord when the Spirit pricks your heart. I did once and I never saw the young man again. He died in his sleep from the uppers and other drugs he was taking to keep up a 24/7 hunting life style. He never showed for an early morning goose hunt on the river.

[Cato]

Wow. Great story Dave.

Cato

[BLACK WOLF]

I agree! Great story.

Ray ;)

[DaveHawk]

I want to add, Charly is on fire for God. He's diving into the Word and he rekindled a fire in me. Strang how the Spirit works when your in need He fills it though some of the most unimaginable ways.

P.S. sorry for the bad spelling , but it has gotten better. LOL