Gambler and Jose the Sanitation Worker
These encounters took place on Oct 29, 2005:
My Professor gave us a 15 min break today... so I hit up the NYC streets! These were my two encounters.
First: A gambler. I took him through the Law and he confessed to being a lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart. He said that he would be guilty on Judgement Day but still believed he would go to Heaven as long as he repented before he died. I put him in the court room amd showed him that repentance wasnt enough... he still had a "fine" to pay. ("For the wages of sin is death" Romans 6:23a) He didnt know the way of salvation so I explained to him about Jesus and what He did on the cross. I told him that he needed to not only repent but to put his trust in the Savior. He told me it made sense to him. Basically, it came down to him saying something like, "But if I do that then I cant do this (in reference to betting on horse races or something!)" So I told him that by not getting right with God he was making the ultimate gamble; spending eternity in hell. Pray for him.
Second: I approached Jose, a sanitation worker, with the "Million Dollar Question"... an IQ Test. He got it wrong but found it pretty funny. So then I gave him another chance at the Million Dollar bill... but this one is called the "GoodPersonTest." He said that he did in fact consider himself a good person so I asked him if I could ask him a few questions to see if he really is. I informed him that I would be asking him about the Ten Commandments to which he replied by naming the ones he knew, "Dont lie, Dont kill, Keep God first." So I told him, "Those are great, have you kept them? Lets see... have you lied?" He confessed that he did and was in fact a liar. I told him that God saw hatred as murder to which he also confessed to having been guilty of. And finally I informed him that he obviously hadnt kept God first if he was going around breaking His commandments!
He said that he felt he would be guilty on Judgement Day but... that God forgives. So I put him in the courtroom. He quickly saw that he would be guilty and a good judge would have to punish him, so he confessed that he was headed for hell, a fact which greatly concerned him. So I asked him if he knew what God did for him so he wouldnt have to go to hell... He responded, "He gave me life, and a son?" I told him that God was indeed great for giving us life and other good things, but then we went ahead and sinned against Him... I told him that God had provided a way for us to be made right with Him.
I shared the Good News with him. He said that he had accepted Jesus when he was young but wasnt living for him, but I could see that he was visibly shaken with tears welling up...a little.. So I told him that salvation isnt something you want to play around with, its something you dont want to be wrong about so I suggested he should "rededicate" his life to the Lord.
And he did! He prayed right there! He asked God for forgiveness, asked Jesus to save him, and told Him that he didnt want to live for himself anymore, and instead wanted to live for Him from now on! Then I prayed with him and gave him a Save Yourself Some Pain booklet and a Gospel of John and suggested the he find a Christ-centered Bible believing church to attend.
Then... back to class.
My Professor gave us a 15 min break today... so I hit up the NYC streets! These were my two encounters.
First: A gambler. I took him through the Law and he confessed to being a lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart. He said that he would be guilty on Judgement Day but still believed he would go to Heaven as long as he repented before he died. I put him in the court room amd showed him that repentance wasnt enough... he still had a "fine" to pay. ("For the wages of sin is death" Romans 6:23a) He didnt know the way of salvation so I explained to him about Jesus and what He did on the cross. I told him that he needed to not only repent but to put his trust in the Savior. He told me it made sense to him. Basically, it came down to him saying something like, "But if I do that then I cant do this (in reference to betting on horse races or something!)" So I told him that by not getting right with God he was making the ultimate gamble; spending eternity in hell. Pray for him.
Second: I approached Jose, a sanitation worker, with the "Million Dollar Question"... an IQ Test. He got it wrong but found it pretty funny. So then I gave him another chance at the Million Dollar bill... but this one is called the "GoodPersonTest." He said that he did in fact consider himself a good person so I asked him if I could ask him a few questions to see if he really is. I informed him that I would be asking him about the Ten Commandments to which he replied by naming the ones he knew, "Dont lie, Dont kill, Keep God first." So I told him, "Those are great, have you kept them? Lets see... have you lied?" He confessed that he did and was in fact a liar. I told him that God saw hatred as murder to which he also confessed to having been guilty of. And finally I informed him that he obviously hadnt kept God first if he was going around breaking His commandments!
He said that he felt he would be guilty on Judgement Day but... that God forgives. So I put him in the courtroom. He quickly saw that he would be guilty and a good judge would have to punish him, so he confessed that he was headed for hell, a fact which greatly concerned him. So I asked him if he knew what God did for him so he wouldnt have to go to hell... He responded, "He gave me life, and a son?" I told him that God was indeed great for giving us life and other good things, but then we went ahead and sinned against Him... I told him that God had provided a way for us to be made right with Him.
I shared the Good News with him. He said that he had accepted Jesus when he was young but wasnt living for him, but I could see that he was visibly shaken with tears welling up...a little.. So I told him that salvation isnt something you want to play around with, its something you dont want to be wrong about so I suggested he should "rededicate" his life to the Lord.
And he did! He prayed right there! He asked God for forgiveness, asked Jesus to save him, and told Him that he didnt want to live for himself anymore, and instead wanted to live for Him from now on! Then I prayed with him and gave him a Save Yourself Some Pain booklet and a Gospel of John and suggested the he find a Christ-centered Bible believing church to attend.
Then... back to class.
Labels: Gospel encounters
posted by Adiel at 1:45 PM
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