SWAT TEAM Springfield, MO Witnessing- 2/17/06

Street Witnessing And Training

Taking Evangelism Across Missouri

Friday night - 2/17/06

Tonight was a really cold night...for Springfield anyway. It was approx. 25 degrees, windy, and it started to snow and sleet a little. There weren't too many people out and about, God used me anyway. Be faithful and God will show Himself to you.

I was on my own tonight. There was a couple more guys going to be out tonight, but for one reason or another it didn't work out.

I arrived at Park Central Square at 8:00pm. There were a couple of young men that I heard cursing and using God's name in vain. I said hello and gave them a giant $100 bill and told them it was a gospel tract, and asked it they went to church. Brandon said he goes to church every Sunday, and Aaron said no. I asked them if they would consider themselves to be a good person. Yes. I asked if I could ask them a few questions to see if that was true.

I took them through the Law (the Ten Commandments). They said they would be guilty on the Day of Judgment. I asked it that concerned them. Brandon said he has been forgiven and Aaron said it concerned him. During this process, Brandon kept quoting scripture. I let them know that there is two things we must do to be born-again: 1) Repent, and 2) Believe. I encouraged them to really think about what we had talked about because we will all die one day, and we don't know when it will be. I gave them a "Save Yourself Some Pain" booklet by Ray Comfort and they said they would read it.

I told Brandon (the one that kept quoting the Bible) that I didn't want to offend him, but if someone was in a plane and it was going down, and there was a parachute on the floor, would just "believing that the parachute" save him? No. It wouldn't. He would have to put on the parachute before it would save him. One day we will jump through the door of death. If we haven't "put on Christ" like we would a parachute (repenting of our sin, turning from them and living each day for Him), that we would be "jumping" without Christ into eternity.

He could even believe in how the parachute was made, the construction of it, etc. but even that wouldn't save him from the jump. Just like many people "believe" that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead three days later. They may know all about the "construction" of Jesus' life...but if they don't "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" like the Bible says, they will not be saved. They thanked me for talking with them. I told them I will be praying for them. Brandon told me he will be praying for me as well.

There was a man named Jody that walked up and sat down in the square. I handed him the giant $100 and told him it was a gospel tract. He tried to give it back to me and said he didn't need it, to give it to someone that it would help. He is a Christian. I asked him to keep it anyway. He has a bachlor's degree in pastoral care from Central Bible College. I told him about the Way of the Master and using the law when witnessing. We went through a role play of the good person test, gave him a "Not My Job" tract and a "Hell's Best Kept Secret" cd to listen to. He said he would listen to it. He was out there to pray. He prayed for me, that I would not be discouraged, for God to give me strength and use me in the days ahead. It was great. I thank God for you, Jody. (I might be spelling your name wrong).

Then, two other young college age guys came up named Thomas and Tyler. I gave them the giant $100 tracts. They said they were out with 16 people (I believe that is the number he told me) that were from Evangel College (Christian college). They were out witnessing. This was their first night out. They will be coming out one Friday night a month. I explained a little about the Way of the Master and using the law when witnessing. Many Christians I talk to have heard of the Way of the Master before, which makes it easier to talk about. I gave each of them a "Hell's Best Kept Secret" cd by Ray Comfort. They said they would listen to it. We shook hands and departed.

On my way out of downtown, I ran into Thomas and Tyler again (I had a very difficult time remembering their name!! Sorry. I think my brain was frozen). They asked me to pray for them, for boldness in witnessing. I pulled out some other tracts, the pink and blue curved illusion, the green intelligence test card, the survey, the ticket to heaven, ten commandment coins, Not My Job bookmarks, etc. They were laughing and we were having a fun time. They said that I was like a Christian "Carrot top" that kept pulling things out of my backpack that was funny. BUT, it was all gospel tracts. I explained how important it is to know what to say when witnessing to someone, to have boldness. It is important to use the law when witnessing to someone...to bring the knowledge of sin to them. They thanked me and they left.

I thank God for using me tonight to witness to Brandon and Aaron, then getting to speak to the Christians: Jody, Thomas and Tyler, and explaining the importance of knowing how to witness and bringing conviction using the Law.

Please pray for the folks mentioned in this post.

In Christ,
Brad St. Clair
www.repent-and-turn.com
www.gnnlocalleader.com
www.needgod.com - Are you good enough to get to heaven? Take the test.

SWAT TEAM Springfield, MO Witnessing- 2/10/06

Street Witnessing And Training

Taking Evangelism Across Missouri

Friday night - 2/10/06

We had a fruitful night of witnessing. It wasn't as busy in downtown Springfield, Missouri as it was last week (Art Walk was last Friday and the first Friday of every month), but God was using us to reach both Christians and non-Christians.

Here are a couple of pics of the guys that came out tonight. There were 7 of us.

Left to right: Josh Lohn, David Lohn, Luke Lohn, Nathaniel Lohn, Brad St. Clair and Rick Manweiler.

Jeff Dixon and Rick Manweiler

When I arrived at 8:00pm, Jeff Dixon was there with Rick Manweiler. Rick has been a born-again Christian for a week now, even though he went down to "receive Christ" when he was 16 years old. He said that he has always "believed" in Jesus, but never "repented", which is not only to be sorry for your sin, but to make a 180 degree turn from your sin and live your life for Christ.

It's like believing in a parachute to save you from the jump to come. You can "believe" that the parachute will save you all you want, but unless you actually "put on the parachute", you will perish when it comes time to jump through the door of death from this life into the next. I thank God for Rick. God has totally transformed his life since he repented and trusted in Him.

Jeff, Rick and I began walking around passing out gospel tracts, primarily the million dollar bill and giant $100 bill tracts. I handed 5 teenagers: Chelsie, Brittany, Chelsie, Trevor (and two other guys that I can't remember their name) a giant $100 bill and asked them if they had a Christian background. Some did, some didn't. I asked them if they were a "good person". Answers varied on this point. I took them through the "good person test".

They all admitted that they were guilty of breaking God's law, and if they were judged, they would be found guilty on the Day of Judgment. That did concern them. I explained that Jesus said, "except a man be born-again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven". There are two things that one must do to be born-again. 1) Repent (be sorry for committing the sins and make a u-turn, and 2) Believe (trust) in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Then challenged them to think seriously about what we talked about before going to sleep tonight. They were convicted. They thanked us and we left.

Jeff has a passion to seek and save the lost! He walked up to a man and woman and gave them a tract. He was an agnostic and she was a wiccan. The wiccan woman was debating everything. They spent a long time in bantering back and forth about the validity of the Bible, different things that happened in the Bible, etc. Jeff took them through the Law, then grace. They did not seem convicted. However, Jeff did plant God's Word in their hearts and the Bible says in Isaiah 55:11, "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

At this time, a group of Christians from a local church came out, pulling ice chests filled with bottles of water. Roughly 10 of them come out every other Friday night and pass out water and witness to people. I walked up and introduced myself to David, Chris and Mandy, and gave them a giant $100 bill tract. They then gave me one of their gospel tracts that they were handing out. I asked if they had heard of the "Way of the Master". They did. I went through a roll play of how we start up a conversation with people and what we say, using the law to convict their conscience. I gave them a "Not My Job" bookmark gospel tract and a "Hell's Best Kept Secret" cd, and explained that I was the Local Leader for this area for The Great News Network, which is a ministry that partners with Way of the Master. I thanked them for coming out to witness, and that if they would like further information on the Way of the Master witnessing training or needed resource material to let me know.

David Lohn arrived, along with three of his sons: Luke, Josh and Nathaniel. I thank God for David. He is not only teaching evangelism training to his football seniors, he is teaching it to his teenagers! David and Nathaniel paired up and went witnessing and passing out tracts. Jeff and Rick paired off and Luke, Josh and I teamed up.

We had my video camera and had planned on doing a "survey approach", asking people to be on camera, answering questions about the afterlife, trivia questions, etc. However, no one wanted to stand around and talk very much because it was cold. We did pass out tracts to people.

Since it was pretty cold outside. We had to do the Christian thing and go get a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop. :-) Luke ran into some teenagers that he knew that attended a local church. He gave them a tract and started witnessing to them, standing right there in the middle of the coffee shop. While we were there, another one of David's football players arrived. His name is Ben.

At the coffee shop, they have an area where people place literature about what is going on, on the counter for folks to take. I placed about 40 million dollar bill gospel tracts on the counter. We do this almost every time we go in there. They are all taken I guess, because we never find them sitting on the counter later.

On the way back to Park Central Square, all the guys were passing out tracts to people. Luke gave tracts to some Bible college students that were talking with another guy. On our way out, one of their guys, Tim, came up and yelled for us to come back. He wanted to pray for us for being faithful to come out and witness for Christ. We all stood around and he prayed for us. We thanked him and I gave him a "Not My Job" tract. I didn't have any more of the "Hell's Best Kept Secret" cd's, or I would have given him one.

Like I said before, there are many Christians that go out into the downtown Springfield, Missouri area to witness. It is important that when we go out to witness, we are presenting the gospel the right way. We need to be loving, caring, and not yelling at people telling them they are going to hell. However, if we take someone through the Ten Commandments (we sometimes call it, the "good person test"), it will bring conviction to the person. It will show them that they have violated God's Law and have offended him, and they have to stand before Him on the Day of Judgment. This is a very Biblical and effective way to witness.

Please pray for the people mentioned in this post.

I thank God for everyone that came out tonight and was obedient to the Great Commission.

In Christ,

Brad St. Clair

www.repent-and-turn.com

www.gnnlocalleader.com

www.needgod.com - Are you good enough to go to heaven? Take the test.

SWAT TEAM Springfield MO Witnessing - 2/03/06

Street Witnessing And Training

Taking Evangelism Across Missouri

Tonight was interesting in downtown Springfield, Missouri. The "First Friday Art Walk" was going on, which caused it to be more crowded than usual.

We talked to Christians, non-Christians, fire-breathing bible college students and ran interference on a fight ready to break out, got shoved around, and a tract ripped up and thrown on the ground. Overall, a very fruitful night of witnessing! It sure beats sitting around the house watching TV. :-) What did you do Friday night?

Our meeting place is Park Central Square, next to the fountain. I arrived a little before 8:00pm and began passing out the giant $100 bill gospel tracts to people. Many of the people didn't want to take a tract tonight at first.

A little later, GNN Seed Sower David Lohn arrived, with his sons, Luke and Nathaniel. T.J. Crain also came along. It's great that these young mean are fired up for Jesus and willing to hit the streets and be a witness. David is the coach of the homeschool football team here, and Luke and T.J. are some of the seniors on his team that are learning to use "The Way of the Master" and are out putting it into action on the streets.David and Nathaniel paired off together, so me, Luke and T.J. formed a team.

Luke passed out gospel tracts to Jason, Andy, Jason, Joel, Megan and Jen. Luke talked to them for a while and found out they went to a local Christian high school. I asked them if we could take them through how we witness to someone, they said yes. I walked them through using the law, then grace. We then found out they have other high school members that are out in that area that come out to witness. However, Jen said that they go out and witness, but they aren't really trained on how to do it. They have heard about Kirk Cameron and "The Way of the Master". I gave them a "Not My Job" bookmark and a "Hell's Best Kept Secret" cd for them to listen to and share. If they need any resources or training in how to witness, please let me know.

After finishing this conversation, we went into the art gallery behind us to look for T.J. The man behind the counter, Roderick, asked who we are looking for. We described T.J. and Roderick said, "Yeah, big buck guy. He gave me this big $100 bill and went off towards the back. He's probably wall papering the store with them," and laughed. Luke went to get him, then I pulled the pink and blue gospel tract on Roderick. Then gave him the intelligence test on him. Both Roderick and the other guy behind the counter were nice guys.

We walked over to the square where we ran into Chad and Kristine. T.J. gave them gospel tracts and began talking to Chad. Chad said that he was a good person, so T.J. took him through the law and grace. He seemed very sincere and said he didn't know what God did so that we wouldn't have to go to hell. T.J. told him what it is to be born-again.

He has to two things to be born again.
1) Repent - Not only be sorry for your sins in offending God, but hating sin and turning from them.
"God is not willing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
2 Peter 3:9
"Jesus said, unless you repent, you will perish." Luke 13:3
"Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out..." Acts 3:19
"..whoever confesses and forsakes his sin finds mercy." Proverbs 28:13

2) Believe - Believe in Jesus, which means to trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
"But God demonstrated his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
"...the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23
"For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
"Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13

I gave Chad a "Are You Good Enough To Go To Heaven" tract, which explains our sin and what Jesus did for us in detail. He thanked us, shook our hands and we left.

We ran into a young man named Jesse at the square who goes to Central Bible College in Springfield. He was out with some of his buddies that also attend CBC. He is with the fire-breathing bible college students I first mentioned in this post (more on this later). He has watched "The Way of the Master" television show and knows this "method" of witnessing. I gave him a "Not My Job" bookmark tract and a "Hell's Besk Kept Secret" cd. He thanked me. They come out to witness in downtown sometimes.

David and Nathaniel talked to a man that grew up catholic, but was saved a year ago. They also talked to a 17 year old young lady who was not a Christian. David talked to her, took her through the "Good Person Test", and explained what Jesus did for her, she was very close to making a committment. She was really convicted. There were a couple other Christian young ladies that were there and stayed and talked further with her.

While we were in the square, David noticed 10-12 big college age guys that formed a circle around another young man. They were getting ready to beat up this guy. David said, "it's time for a little intervention". He walked over, tapped one of the larger guys on the shoulder and asked him, "did you get one of these?". He was handing him a giant $100 bill. The big guy said, "I don't want it, go away" and tried to turn back to the fight ready to break out. David told him, "hey, you should take one of these".

Well, the guy turned around and told David to get away, started shoving him backwards, walking towards him, continuing to shove him backwards. At this time, he took the giant $100 gospel tract, ripped it up and threw it up in the air. The guys gathered around began looking at the big guy and David, which allowed the one guy that was going to get beat up time to get away. One of the big guy's buddies came over and took another giant $100 bill gospel tract from David. He looked like he was apologizing for his buddy. I thank God for David stepping up and assisting this young man from getting hurt, and was very bold and humble about it at the same time. Not offensive at all.

David called me the next morning and told me that I should have given the tough guy that ripped up the tract one of the "Tickets to Heaven", which cannot be ripped.hehe I wish I would have thought about that.

At this time, two of the Central Bible College students (that was with Jesse, who we talked to earlier) started to draw a crowd. They began juggling balls, juggling fire sticks and breathing fire. He would hold lighter fluid in his mouth and then spit it out onto the fire stick and make a big blow torch effect. He said that he loves people (just in case he dies while doing this). However, they didn't witness or preach afterwards.

He had many hecklers. From a group of 3 8-10 year old kids to the other people that were there. Probably 60-70 people were there altogether. The fire department showed up right after that, looking for whoever had the fire. By this time, they already packed it up and were walking around. We will try to get in some open-air preaching on one of these Friday nights when they are all gathered around.

I thought we were all leaving, so I left. On my way home, Luke called me and he was fired up! He got to talk to a man that brought up different religions and was arguing using the intellect. However, Luke was able to take him through some of the Ten Commandments and told him about grace. There was also another bible college girl that heard Luke and this guy talking and walked up and started assisting Luke in some of this guy's questions.

There are many Christians in downtown Springfield witnessing to people. Some of them are witnessing, but don't really know how (as per their own admission) and some are witnessing telling others they are going to hell, making people not want to listed to them. Part of our ministry is to teach others how to share their faith boldly.

If you haven't listed to "Hell's Best Kept Secret" yet, click on it and listen over the internet for free.

In Christ,
Brad St. Clair
www.repent-and-turn.com
www.gnnlocalleader.com