NSMinistries
October 16th 2004, 01:44 PM
Shopping Mall Evangelism With Crusty the Christian
Seen Here (http://www.christianity.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID19179|CHID119948|CIID1884688,00.html)
"Hi friend," Crusty said walking up to a young man looking as if he were in his mid twenties, "can I tell you about Jesus Christ?"
"Jesus? What do I need him for," came the blunt reply.
Before saying anything else Crusty automatically adjusted his approach. "Well, quite frankly if you think you’d like to go to hell you don’t need him," he answered back.
"Hell’s for criminals and bad people. I obey the laws, try my best not to be prejudiced, give to the poor whenever I can so I don’t need an old myth to keep me out of hell," the young man replied.
"Do you know God?" Crusty asked.
"No," came the brief response.
"Then you need Jesus," Crusty quickly replied.
"Why do I need God?" the young man asked.
"To keep you out of hell," Crusty replied.
"But didn’t you hear me? Hell isn’t for people like me," came the quick answer.
Crusty could feel the frustration building and for a second or two thought about turning around and walking away then he heard a voice saying, "I never gave up on you."
"When you die do you know where you’re going?" Crusty asked.
"Not to hell if that’s what you’re driving at."
"Okay, lets say you’re not going to hell. Where are you going then?" Crusty asked.
"I don’t know. Some spirit world I guess. I’ve got another fifty years to answer that question," the young man’s voice sounded less confident than it did at first.
"I wonder if that’s what some of the young people in the World Trade Center were thinking they had fifty years as well," Crusty commented.
"With all the security we’ve got know it’ll never happen again," the man replied, sounding a little more sure of himself.
"You’ve got a point. But how about the young folks that were in that school out in Colorado, or those people at that church in Arkansas, or at least I think it was Arkansas?" Crusty questions penetrated deeper into the young man mind.
"Why are you telling all this?" the young man asked. "What’s in it for you money or something?"
"I’m doing it because God wants you to get to know him so when you do leave this world you can go to his world," Crusty answered. "And the only thing I’m getting out of it is the fact that I’m doing what God wants me to do."
"Aren’t we back where we started?" the young man asked.
Crusty knew they were and he knew they if he didn’t try something different they’d never get anywhere. "Jesus, what should I say?" he prayed silently.
"Create the need," a voice whispered to him.
Crusty knew to create meant to make something from nothing but what was the need he needed to create in the young man’s life? Looking into the young man’s face Crusty realized the young man was getting pretty smug at winning the argument. Moments later, "Boy! I sure wish I had your confidence and say I didn’t need Jesus," Crusty said.
"Okay, I’ll play your game why do you think you need a myth named Jesus?" the young man said, thinking he was going on the offensive.
"Game, game you think this is a game? Do you think spending eternity in a world where you can see all you ever wanted and yet it is just out of reach is a game? Do you think spending eternity in a world where you could be everything you ever wanted to be but couldn’t achieve it is a game? Do you think spending eternity in a world populated only by you is a game?" Crusty was trying not to get overly excited and over threatening.
Waiting for an answer Crusty saw a strange look flash across the face of the young man. "The world you just described is hell isn’t it?" he asked.
"Yes it is and you were just there weren’t you?" Crusty replied.
"I wasn’t there but somehow I know it’s real and somehow I felt myself being pulled in that direction," the young man replied.
Crusty began to realize that for many people hell had become powerless because it wasn’t a real world without real consequences. Had so many movies of evil desensitized people to hell, had Hollywood fictionalized Satan and hell so much people no longer believed in them, he thought to himself. He knew that the world greatest need was Jesus but the need for Jesus must be preceded by the need to realize the reality of hell. Crusty began to understand what the voice meant by create the need because the young man professed a belief in hell but he had not concept of it at all. The same could be said for his belief in Jesus. So from the nothingness of the young mans belief in Jesus and hell he needed to experience the reality of his needs.
"Can I tell you about how Jesus can keep you out of hell?" Crusty asked the young man.
After a moment or two of hesitation the young man replied, "I’m still not convinced Jesus is anything more than a myth but I’ll listen just in case."
Crusty’s first thought was to try to convince him Jesus was more than a myth but the thought immediately occurred to him that Jesus could defend himself. "The first thing you need to know is that Jesus is real no matter what anyone says or believes he is real. But to believe in Jesus’ reality is the biggest step of faith you’ll ever take because all the evidence points away from it," Crusty stated.
"Okay, stop there," Crusty was interrupted, "faith is when you believe in something until it becomes real even when it."
Crusty replied, "What do you mean by that?"
Stopping for a second before answering. "Faith is the power of your mind in convincing yourself that something exists when it that doesn’t exist. If I believe Jesus is more than a myth long enough suddenly in my mind he will exist. Prove to me that Jesus is real and I’ll believe you," came the reply.
"I can’t prove him to you but at some point in your life you will know Jesus is real and you will bow down to him, hopefully that’ll be now not when after its too late. For me Jesus is real not because I’ve seen him, heard his voice or anything else my five senses can tell me," Crusty confidently replied.
After catching his breath he continued, "he’s real because the circumstances of my life give credence to my faith. True faith is not based on ideologies, believing in something long enough, or wishes it is the unseen power of past experiences illuminated by the God’s Spirit and seen against present and future."
"I’m just not sure I can buy into any of what you’ve said," the young man answered back. "It’s getting pretty late and I need to be getting along. Maybe we’ll meet again and we can discuss it further but I promise you in the mean time I will think about what you’ve told me."
Without giving Crusty the opportunity to reply the man turned and hurried away. Standing in presence of failure a bewildered mall evangelist named Crusty stood alone surrounded by people silently asking his Savior what he did wrong.
All of sudden two strangers walked by and Crusty overheard one telling the other, "you only fail when you never try." Deep inside Crusty knew he’d planted seed and he prayed that someone else would help it germinate and grow.
By Gary Piper
Staff - Admin
Crusty faces failure…
Seen Here (http://www.christianity.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID19179|CHID119948|CIID1884688,00.html)
"Hi friend," Crusty said walking up to a young man looking as if he were in his mid twenties, "can I tell you about Jesus Christ?"
"Jesus? What do I need him for," came the blunt reply.
Before saying anything else Crusty automatically adjusted his approach. "Well, quite frankly if you think you’d like to go to hell you don’t need him," he answered back.
"Hell’s for criminals and bad people. I obey the laws, try my best not to be prejudiced, give to the poor whenever I can so I don’t need an old myth to keep me out of hell," the young man replied.
"Do you know God?" Crusty asked.
"No," came the brief response.
"Then you need Jesus," Crusty quickly replied.
"Why do I need God?" the young man asked.
"To keep you out of hell," Crusty replied.
"But didn’t you hear me? Hell isn’t for people like me," came the quick answer.
Crusty could feel the frustration building and for a second or two thought about turning around and walking away then he heard a voice saying, "I never gave up on you."
"When you die do you know where you’re going?" Crusty asked.
"Not to hell if that’s what you’re driving at."
"Okay, lets say you’re not going to hell. Where are you going then?" Crusty asked.
"I don’t know. Some spirit world I guess. I’ve got another fifty years to answer that question," the young man’s voice sounded less confident than it did at first.
"I wonder if that’s what some of the young people in the World Trade Center were thinking they had fifty years as well," Crusty commented.
"With all the security we’ve got know it’ll never happen again," the man replied, sounding a little more sure of himself.
"You’ve got a point. But how about the young folks that were in that school out in Colorado, or those people at that church in Arkansas, or at least I think it was Arkansas?" Crusty questions penetrated deeper into the young man mind.
"Why are you telling all this?" the young man asked. "What’s in it for you money or something?"
"I’m doing it because God wants you to get to know him so when you do leave this world you can go to his world," Crusty answered. "And the only thing I’m getting out of it is the fact that I’m doing what God wants me to do."
"Aren’t we back where we started?" the young man asked.
Crusty knew they were and he knew they if he didn’t try something different they’d never get anywhere. "Jesus, what should I say?" he prayed silently.
"Create the need," a voice whispered to him.
Crusty knew to create meant to make something from nothing but what was the need he needed to create in the young man’s life? Looking into the young man’s face Crusty realized the young man was getting pretty smug at winning the argument. Moments later, "Boy! I sure wish I had your confidence and say I didn’t need Jesus," Crusty said.
"Okay, I’ll play your game why do you think you need a myth named Jesus?" the young man said, thinking he was going on the offensive.
"Game, game you think this is a game? Do you think spending eternity in a world where you can see all you ever wanted and yet it is just out of reach is a game? Do you think spending eternity in a world where you could be everything you ever wanted to be but couldn’t achieve it is a game? Do you think spending eternity in a world populated only by you is a game?" Crusty was trying not to get overly excited and over threatening.
Waiting for an answer Crusty saw a strange look flash across the face of the young man. "The world you just described is hell isn’t it?" he asked.
"Yes it is and you were just there weren’t you?" Crusty replied.
"I wasn’t there but somehow I know it’s real and somehow I felt myself being pulled in that direction," the young man replied.
Crusty began to realize that for many people hell had become powerless because it wasn’t a real world without real consequences. Had so many movies of evil desensitized people to hell, had Hollywood fictionalized Satan and hell so much people no longer believed in them, he thought to himself. He knew that the world greatest need was Jesus but the need for Jesus must be preceded by the need to realize the reality of hell. Crusty began to understand what the voice meant by create the need because the young man professed a belief in hell but he had not concept of it at all. The same could be said for his belief in Jesus. So from the nothingness of the young mans belief in Jesus and hell he needed to experience the reality of his needs.
"Can I tell you about how Jesus can keep you out of hell?" Crusty asked the young man.
After a moment or two of hesitation the young man replied, "I’m still not convinced Jesus is anything more than a myth but I’ll listen just in case."
Crusty’s first thought was to try to convince him Jesus was more than a myth but the thought immediately occurred to him that Jesus could defend himself. "The first thing you need to know is that Jesus is real no matter what anyone says or believes he is real. But to believe in Jesus’ reality is the biggest step of faith you’ll ever take because all the evidence points away from it," Crusty stated.
"Okay, stop there," Crusty was interrupted, "faith is when you believe in something until it becomes real even when it."
Crusty replied, "What do you mean by that?"
Stopping for a second before answering. "Faith is the power of your mind in convincing yourself that something exists when it that doesn’t exist. If I believe Jesus is more than a myth long enough suddenly in my mind he will exist. Prove to me that Jesus is real and I’ll believe you," came the reply.
"I can’t prove him to you but at some point in your life you will know Jesus is real and you will bow down to him, hopefully that’ll be now not when after its too late. For me Jesus is real not because I’ve seen him, heard his voice or anything else my five senses can tell me," Crusty confidently replied.
After catching his breath he continued, "he’s real because the circumstances of my life give credence to my faith. True faith is not based on ideologies, believing in something long enough, or wishes it is the unseen power of past experiences illuminated by the God’s Spirit and seen against present and future."
"I’m just not sure I can buy into any of what you’ve said," the young man answered back. "It’s getting pretty late and I need to be getting along. Maybe we’ll meet again and we can discuss it further but I promise you in the mean time I will think about what you’ve told me."
Without giving Crusty the opportunity to reply the man turned and hurried away. Standing in presence of failure a bewildered mall evangelist named Crusty stood alone surrounded by people silently asking his Savior what he did wrong.
All of sudden two strangers walked by and Crusty overheard one telling the other, "you only fail when you never try." Deep inside Crusty knew he’d planted seed and he prayed that someone else would help it germinate and grow.
By Gary Piper
Staff - Admin
Crusty faces failure…