We ended up getting into a very interesting conversation with someone who was reading upstairs in the Penn bookstore. He was a devout Muslim, which led to some deep theological discussions and debates.
We were able to share the gospel with him and to further explain discrepancies that exist between us regarding salvation. We generally tried to stress these differences to present core beliefs of Christianity and their distinct functions. I feel that we were able to challenge him in these areas and leave him with an understanding of the Christian perspective.
It was quite difficult to tell if what we were saying was getting through to him. He asked some questions that Muslims commonly bring up about Christianity. We addressed each of the issues as best as we could; he didn't press the issues further, but I'm not sure that this correlated to his assent.
Overall, it was an informative conversation for us about the beliefs of Islam and the things they feel are "corrupt" in Christianity and other religions. I think it helped to better grasp what these issues are and sparked a need to gain knowledge in these areas.
Though I cannot tell the extent to which the conversation was used by God, we were thankful that we were at least able to present the Gospel, clear up misconceptions, and present defenses for our faith. We were thankful for the opportunity that God provided.
Also, please pray for this individual. He got married this past weekend, and I believe he is spending time away this week. Pray that God could reveal Himself to him even through this blessing of His common grace in his life.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Sunday, April 1, 2007
innae & sky's conversations
we had two really great conversations as well!
we first spoke with a couple (Wanna and Michael) sitting on a bench who told us that they were Greek Orthodox. When asked to explain when they believed exactly and waht it meant to be Greek Orthodox, they got a little flustered when they realized they couldn't really explain it themselves. As we continued to probe and ask more questions, we eventually shared the TWTL presentation. I asked which way they felt like they were living, and Wanna said that she felt we should try to find a balance between the two because there were areas in our lives which we controlled and areas where we didn't have control. We tried to explain that the two ways of living weren't necessarily related to control, but this topic sparked a discussion between the couple where Michael said that we weren't really in control and Wanna disagreed...
in the end, we felt like God really used us because through our talk we got the couple to talk more about spiritual things and question what they really did believe.
we tried to talk to two people who were walking, but both said they had stuff going on, so we just wished them well and moved on.
The last individual was a student named Sylvan. He professed to be a Christian and said he believed in Christ - prayed and read his Bible daily - but he seemed to emphasize his good works and his efforts in being a good person. He admitted to not going to church on a weekly basis but believed that you didn't need to go to church to have a connection with God. He also said that Christ died for our sins, and went to heaven (which I thought was odd because he didn't mention the resurrection, but he could've just misspoke). Sky asked him the question about getting into Heaven, to which he responded "I think so, because I believe in God and I've been trying to lifve a good life." We recapped the TWTL presentation really quickly, touching on what was similar and also what was slightly different. I felt that he believed most of the correct things of the Christian faith but was missing out on some key points... but we weren't 100% sure where he stood. What WAS good is that we invited him to service next Sunday (pointing out that it was Easter and he SHOULD come to church on that day, if anything) and he seemed receptive to that.
woot. God is good.
we first spoke with a couple (Wanna and Michael) sitting on a bench who told us that they were Greek Orthodox. When asked to explain when they believed exactly and waht it meant to be Greek Orthodox, they got a little flustered when they realized they couldn't really explain it themselves. As we continued to probe and ask more questions, we eventually shared the TWTL presentation. I asked which way they felt like they were living, and Wanna said that she felt we should try to find a balance between the two because there were areas in our lives which we controlled and areas where we didn't have control. We tried to explain that the two ways of living weren't necessarily related to control, but this topic sparked a discussion between the couple where Michael said that we weren't really in control and Wanna disagreed...
in the end, we felt like God really used us because through our talk we got the couple to talk more about spiritual things and question what they really did believe.
we tried to talk to two people who were walking, but both said they had stuff going on, so we just wished them well and moved on.
The last individual was a student named Sylvan. He professed to be a Christian and said he believed in Christ - prayed and read his Bible daily - but he seemed to emphasize his good works and his efforts in being a good person. He admitted to not going to church on a weekly basis but believed that you didn't need to go to church to have a connection with God. He also said that Christ died for our sins, and went to heaven (which I thought was odd because he didn't mention the resurrection, but he could've just misspoke). Sky asked him the question about getting into Heaven, to which he responded "I think so, because I believe in God and I've been trying to lifve a good life." We recapped the TWTL presentation really quickly, touching on what was similar and also what was slightly different. I felt that he believed most of the correct things of the Christian faith but was missing out on some key points... but we weren't 100% sure where he stood. What WAS good is that we invited him to service next Sunday (pointing out that it was Easter and he SHOULD come to church on that day, if anything) and he seemed receptive to that.
woot. God is good.
Evangelism Outing Testimony
Charlotte and I were able to have conversations with two people: a female Penn student and a middle-aged man, who was there with his wife and young child.
The female Penn student comes from an Anglican background and is clearly familiar with some things about Christianity. But she doesn't see the Bible as "literally true," but rather approaches it as a collection of really interesting stories. She might even say that those stories are "true" in some sense, I think, in that they communicate spiritual truth, but not in that they actually happened. This was actually a difficult conversation, in my view, because in a sense, my responses to her, which pointed out that Jesus not only gave us an example but died to accomplish something objectively true, were basically saying, "Your view of Christianity is inaccurate." Of course, even though I said these things very gently (I THINK I did, but you can ask Charlotte...I really do think I did! :), she was basically not too happy with my responses.
The middle-aged man has an interesting background. He grew up in a Methodist church, I think and had a bad experience when taking confirmation class when he was 12 years old. Basically, when the pastor asked him if he believed in Jesus, the man said no. The pastor responded very harshly to this, according to the man, saying that he would go to hell and other things as well, apparently. The man has also seen a lot of hypocrisy in the church, and he basically is a Daoist now and tries to live "according to the balance of nature." He was open to hearing the gospel, and I think he appreciated hearing the story and having Christians, even "fundamentalists," listen respectfully to his views and his experiences. His name is Brian. Please pray that God would stir his heart to continue seeking the truth.
The female Penn student comes from an Anglican background and is clearly familiar with some things about Christianity. But she doesn't see the Bible as "literally true," but rather approaches it as a collection of really interesting stories. She might even say that those stories are "true" in some sense, I think, in that they communicate spiritual truth, but not in that they actually happened. This was actually a difficult conversation, in my view, because in a sense, my responses to her, which pointed out that Jesus not only gave us an example but died to accomplish something objectively true, were basically saying, "Your view of Christianity is inaccurate." Of course, even though I said these things very gently (I THINK I did, but you can ask Charlotte...I really do think I did! :), she was basically not too happy with my responses.
The middle-aged man has an interesting background. He grew up in a Methodist church, I think and had a bad experience when taking confirmation class when he was 12 years old. Basically, when the pastor asked him if he believed in Jesus, the man said no. The pastor responded very harshly to this, according to the man, saying that he would go to hell and other things as well, apparently. The man has also seen a lot of hypocrisy in the church, and he basically is a Daoist now and tries to live "according to the balance of nature." He was open to hearing the gospel, and I think he appreciated hearing the story and having Christians, even "fundamentalists," listen respectfully to his views and his experiences. His name is Brian. Please pray that God would stir his heart to continue seeking the truth.
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