September 27, 2007

Turkey and A Tattoo


Today I ate at a sandwich shop with a friend. The woman behind the counter had an unusual tattoo across the side of her neck. I didn't want to be obvious, but when I realized it spelled a word, I stared until I was able to make it out. It said, "Karma".

I asked her, "Why do you have a tattoo that says Karma?"

She nicely replied that she believes in it. I asked her what she thought Karma was. She explained that good things would come back to her with good consequences and bad things with bad consequences.

I asked her, "What do you base that on?" (One of the 4 deadly questions!)

She answered that she just believes it. I said something about not wanting to get paid back for all the bad things I do!

A few minutes later she handed me my food on a tray and the fork caught on something and flew off onto the floor. I said, "What did you do this morning to deserve that??" We giggled at the thought.

I found a "Why Christianity" booklet in my purse and gave it to her before I left. I called her over to give it to her and told her I had something very special for her. She was beginning to read it before I even walked away. Looking up she said, "Thank you very much" with a big smile on her face. Such a simple interaction but one I pray will result in eternal life!

-Lisa

Faithful Witness

I have heard it said before "90 or 99% of life is just showing up. The rest is just details."

I have never truly agreed with this statement. I know that there are many things that can be done in preparation for any task or event and that showing up and asking for the details to just work out doesn't usually work.

So how does this all relate to our fishing trip this week? Well, my talk a group of 4 teenagers brings me to this point. I was able to have a good time talking to them using the intelligence test. What I have found is that even though the test in the second half asks many questions about the persons spiritual beliefs, it is still hard to transition to a deeper spiritual conversation beyond that.

Sometimes I think this is because I am scared or worried about what the people will think. In this case, however, I think it was because of a lack of preparation on my part. I did ask more questions than the survey. But the people I talked to were still open to talking more, if I had been prepared to answer their questions.

I think of what things I can do to prepare for a weekly trip to talk to people and also everyday as I am around others. I need first to understand that I can do nothing alone. I must rely on God for it all. Without him I labor in vain. I can pray for wisdom and guidance each day in how to witness to others through my actions and spiritual conversations.

I can make sure that I am setting aside time for spending with God in prayer daily. To confess my sin and grow in my relationship with Him.

I know especially that I should carry with me a small Bible with highlighted verses that deal with salvation and repentence and about who Jesus Christ is.

My learning from this week is that it is not enough to show up only, I need to be thinking and preparing always for an opportunity that God presents for me to be faithful. I pray that I would be wise in my use of time that He has given to be faithful in my preparation as well.

I am thankful for the opportunity I had with the group of teenagers I met with. I pray that I have planted a seed with each of them.

Matt B.

Is Truth What We Make It?

This last month has been hard on me. Before that I had been starting to get into a pattern of feeling frenzied about witnessing with a "gotta do this" attitude. The Lord has really been working on me. It's been hard - but good.

So last night when I went to the mall, I had hoped to be able to just sit and talk with someone in detail for an extended period of time instead of a few 5-10 minute conversations. The Lord gave me that desire...
I sat down to watch my children play in the children's area. There was a lady sitting next to me that looked like a nurse. Right away I asked her if she was a nurse and she just opened up to me about her job and schooling! It was really great.

She talked with me for awhile about her work as a certified nurse's assistant and so I was able to turn the conversation to spiritual matters with her job as a starting point. She was Catholic but wasn't able to explain much at all. It ended up coming down to her beliefs that our good outweighs our bad, that we're punished here on earth and that she would go to purgatory first. And, she said that she believes the Bible.

Those two statements contradict each other, though. Why? Because the Bible says that one sin sends us to hell (not a scale of good outweighing the bad), that there really is a place called 'hell', and purgatory isn't in the Bible (it is a Catholic, human tradition). I told her not to take my word for it but to go look it up and read her Bible. I presented the Gospel and then pointed her towards reading Romans and James. So, do we make truth? Or, does Truth make us? Read the words that the compass is pointing towards in the above picture!

There is so many other things that I thought about later that I could have told her, but, since I was praying before, during and after the conversation, I trust that the Lord worked His will through me.

-Sarah

September 25, 2007

New Posts Coming Soon!

Antsy for the newest witnessing stories? Lord-willing, we will be going out tomorrow night so look for new stories soon!

September 17, 2007

Please Check This Link Out

I enjoy reading another blog called Evangie Tales. This entry was particularly interesting and very sad. Read it by clicking here.

-Sarah

September 13, 2007

Do you ever wonder why...

Last night at the mall was fairly dry for me. I spent the entire hour walking around, looking for the "right" people to get into a conversation about spiritual things. Both times, as I approached teen guys to have them take a survey, the answer was, "No thanks - we're in a hurry."

So I spent my time walking around praying. Funny thing - others in our group were having conversations. And there were a couple within our group that were having good conversations about spiritual things. Conversations that needed to occur. So this was a good reminder that God's ways are not my ways, but He still accomplishes his work though his people.

-t

September 9, 2007

Local Fair Outreach Event


Cornerstone Church participates in a local fair by setting up a "What's In A Name?" using an individual's name as an opening to present the gospel in a tract-form. This year we also walked in the parade and handed out candy and gospel tracts geared towards children.











This is a photo of the booth...





Then we also sent some out into the crowd to witness. This was new for this year since it has just been in the last 6 months or so that we, as a church, learned how to share our faith Biblically - without sounding foolish. Law to the proud, grace to the humble.






September 5, 2007

Tracts Galore!

We had an awesome night at the mall this evening! We did something different in that we met 15 minutes earlier than usual for a time of prayer (which we usually do) encouragement and a witnessing story. Then, everyone was sent off with a stack of "ticket to Heaven" tracts to hand out (along with talking to people) - - in addition to just walking around trying to find someone to talk to. We handed out 100 tracts in about 40 minutes and had to dig into our other stock of tracts we had on hand! Really - that is amazing. Here we are getting ready to witness...

My husband's co-worker, Adrian, and his wife, Karen, along with Adrian's friend, Matt (another Matt), came along tonight. Adrian and Matt (the other one) are doing the Basic Training together and wanted help with their homework so I took the three of them along with me. Karen was just going to watch and she ended up feeling comfortable enough to hand out one tract before the hour was up! Yeah!

Andria also came along to watch and pray for the third week in a row! She was handing out tracts, too! She has been such an encouragement to us because she came out with us and then she keeps coming out with us! Yeah! (Do I say that too much? LOL)

Dave (our elder) also came along tonight! Wow, that was really an encouragement!!

Here is Tony talking to three teens. He is using a survey tract pad which he really likes to use. He's found his "niche."

Here is Lisa talking... I think she might have known these people, though?????

Adrian or Matt (I can't remember who) had given this young teen a "ticket to Heaven" so I sat down next to him to talk to him about what he was reading. His mom interrupted us before we got too far into the conversation, though.


Lisa was told she had to stop handing out tracts. She's going to talk with mall management this week to see if she can get permission for herself. Pray about that.

Like I said, Dave came tonight and I wasn't around him most of the "fishing" hour but he was still a huge encouragement to me. I was really glad to have his leadership and, plus, he was so matter-of-fact and passionate about this. He was right out there doing it like he'd been handing out tracts at the mall his whole life. And!... When you see Dave around, ask him about the lady at the mall with the ball point pen!

I took Matt (that other one) with me while I talked to two twenty-something men sitting on a bench looking bored. That went well... The both were given a tract, a booklet for new and growing Christians and one was given the Gospel of John in a magazine format. Matt, who hadn't seen this done in person yet, seemed really encouraged and said, "It's just like what they do on the training DVDs!"

A few minutes later I handed a "Bible is Full of Mistakes" tract to an 18-year old couple. As Matt and I were a few yards away, the guy yelled out, "Hey, I want to talk to you. I thought you were handing me something religious but since you're not, I want to talk to you! So, talk to me!!! What's up?" How awesome is that!!! So, I just said, "Well, do you think you're a good person?" The tract was perfect for him because it got us talking about God without him realizing it. His 'oats' were being salted so that by the time I started talking about Jesus Christ, he was thirsty and it wasn't foolishness. His girlfriend was soooooo receptive. I wonder if she would have given her life to Christ on the spot if it weren't for being with her BF and running out of time to talk. Pray for her (I don't know her name but God does).

After handing out over 100 gospel messages and talking to numerous people we sat down to eat and fellowship...

Sorry Dave... I took three pictures of you and Sam but you were chewing or talking in all of them. :c)






-Sarah

Same 3 Teens (First part of the story)

Lisa didn't mention that those same three teens had gone through the "Intelligence Test" survey with me. They seemed genuinely interested, although toward the end of the conversation I sensed that they were ready to continue their roaming through the mall, so I thanked them for their time and let them go.

About ten minutes later, Lisa saw me and said, "You should go talk to those three boys sitting on that bench." (She knows that I target young men about that age for the Intelligence Test Survey). So I tell her, "I talked to them about five minutes ago. You should go give them the ticket to heaven tract." So she does and uses her great on liner (read her post below).

Now that's what I call a tag-team effort. Me, my wife and GOD!!!

Pray for them...

I also talked to a slightly older young man (same approach - Intelligence Test Survey). The conversation was going quite well. He was clearly interested, and offered his opinions as to how one knows the difference between right and wrong, and whether God has standards. It was a good conversation.

It could have been even better, but his wife/girlfriend/significant other walked up just as I was starting to get to the questions of depth. Since she appeared to want to talk to him, I thanked him for his time and left.

As I was leaving, I noticed that one in our group had given him a 'ticket to heaven' tract that he was holding. You can pray for him. His name is Eric...

-t

A Sure Thing That Matters


I handed 3 teenage boys Ticket to Heaven tracts tonight at the mall. As they looked down at them I said, "You'll need these because there's 100% chance you're going to die."

The middle boy gasped and said, "What did you say?"

I repeated, "There's 100% chance you're going to die."

I walked away praying for their souls to be saved, chuckling at the look of shock on their faces. The truth is so jolting sometimes.