An interesting evangelism encounter

1Tonne · Jun 21, 2026

I had a great time yesterday sharing the Gospel while giving away sausages.
Near the end, I spoke with one man and, as I shared the Gospel with him, I could see that he was becoming uncomfortable. I was using the Law to show him that he had sinned against God and that he needed a Saviour. As the conversation went on, he became increasingly negative and argumentative. He tried to make excuses and argued that he was a good person.
Then, when I asked him when he would put his faith in Jesus and turn from his sin, he said that he did not believe in God.
I explained that every building has a builder and every painting has a painter. It would be silly to think that either of them came together by themselves. In the same way, creation must have had a creator.
He then agreed that there must have been something, but he argued that I could not be certain about who the Creator was.
So, I said to him:
“Imagine if I wrote a book and, in this book, I wrote down over 300 prophecies about future events, and every single one of them came true with perfect accuracy? You would recognise something extraordinary was happening, something divine. No human can predict the future with such precision.
Yet that’s exactly what we see in the Bible. The Old Testament was written hundreds of years before Jesus, and it contains over 300 prophecies that were fulfilled within His life. Things like His birth in Bethlehem, how He entered Jerusalem on a donkey, His betrayal for 30 pieces of silver, that He would have nail-pierced hands and feet and most importantly, it foretells that He would die for the sins of the world. And that is only 5 out of the 300. No other book—not even the Quran—has this level of prophetic accuracy. The Bible stands alone as the divinely inspired Word of God. So, we need to take note of what it says."

At this point, his attitude seemed to change. Instead of arguing, he began listening and carefully considering what was being said.
After this, he said that what I had told him made sense and that he needed to think about it. I asked whether he would like to come to church, but he declined. However, he said that he believed God had brought him to us so that I could speak with him.
I agreed. God had brought us together, and now he had a serious decision to make. Would he honour God or continue living in rebellion against Him? The issue was no longer whether he had heard the truth; it was what he would do with it.

We then shook hands. He thanked me and walked away.

Reflecting on the conversation afterwards, it reminded me of how the Law, apologetics, and the Gospel can work together. The Law exposed his sin and his need for a Saviour. The apologetics answered his objections and gave him reasons to consider the truth of Christianity. The Gospel then pointed him to the only way of salvation, Jesus Christ. Then it is God who creates the growth.

Aussie52 · Jun 21, 2026

1Tonne said:
I had a great time yesterday sharing the Gospel while giving away sausages.
Near the end, I spoke with one man and, as I shared the Gospel with him, I could see that he was becoming uncomfortable. I was using the Law to show him that he had sinned against God and that he needed a Saviour. As the conversation went on, he became increasingly negative and argumentative. He tried to make excuses and argued that he was a good person.
Then, when I asked him when he would put his faith in Jesus and turn from his sin, he said that he did not believe in God.
I explained that every building has a builder and every painting has a painter. It would be silly to think that either of them came together by themselves. In the same way, creation must have had a creator.
He then agreed that there must have been something, but he argued that I could not be certain about who the Creator was.
So, I said to him:
“Imagine if I wrote a book and, in this book, I wrote down over 300 prophecies about future events, and every single one of them came true with perfect accuracy? You would recognise something extraordinary was happening, something divine. No human can predict the future with such precision.
Yet that’s exactly what we see in the Bible. The Old Testament was written hundreds of years before Jesus, and it contains over 300 prophecies that were fulfilled within His life. Things like His birth in Bethlehem, how He entered Jerusalem on a donkey, His betrayal for 30 pieces of silver, that He would have nail-pierced hands and feet and most importantly, it foretells that He would die for the sins of the world. And that is only 5 out of the 300. No other book—not even the Quran—has this level of prophetic accuracy. The Bible stands alone as the divinely inspired Word of God. So, we need to take note of what it says."

At this point, his attitude seemed to change. Instead of arguing, he began listening and carefully considering what was being said.
After this, he said that what I had told him made sense and that he needed to think about it. I asked whether he would like to come to church, but he declined. However, he said that he believed God had brought him to us so that I could speak with him.
I agreed. God had brought us together, and now he had a serious decision to make. Would he honour God or continue living in rebellion against Him? The issue was no longer whether he had heard the truth; it was what he would do with it.

We then shook hands. He thanked me and walked away.

Reflecting on the conversation afterwards, it reminded me of how the Law, apologetics, and the Gospel can work together. The Law exposed his sin and his need for a Saviour. The apologetics answered his objections and gave him reasons to consider the truth of Christianity. The Gospel then pointed him to the only way of salvation, Jesus Christ. Then it is God who creates the growth.

While the Ray Comfort method may work for some, I avoid all 'cookie cutter' methods in evangelism. One size does not fit all. Jesus is our Example and He met different people in different ways. I think that one must have different approach for the careless, the convicted and for the counterfeit.
Blessings.

1Tonne · Jun 21, 2026

Aussie52 said:
While the Ray Comfort method may work for some, I avoid all 'cookie cutter' methods in evangelism. One size does not fit all. Jesus is our Example and He met different people in different ways. I think that one must have different approach for the careless, the convicted and for the counterfeit.
Blessings.

I think you will find that there is no such thing as the "Ray Comfort method." Ray simply copied what Jesus did with the rich young ruler. The rich young ruler came asking how to obtain eternal life, and Jesus used God's commandments to expose his sin and show him his true condition before God. (I find it strange that people attribute that to Ray and not to Jesus. As Christians we should know what Jesus said. Ray was simply copying so he should not get the credit for what Jesus did. It is Jesus' method.)
Of course, there are different conversations recorded in Scripture, and we should exercise wisdom when speaking with different people. But regardless of the person, the Gospel message itself does not change. We may speak it with different wording each time, but the message is the same. So, I share the Gospel with "the carless, the convicted and for the counterfeit" same way each time. I may change the wording a little depending on how the person is responding, but it is the same message each time.
Paul also said that he addressed every man's conscience. (2 Cor 4:2) Paul did not always explicitly quote the Law, but whenever he addressed the conscience he was dealing with God's moral standards, because conscience only functions in relation to right and wrong. The Law is therefore the natural and biblical way to bring conviction of sin.

My concern is that many Christians talk about having different methods, but in practice they rarely get around to actually sharing the Gospel, if at all. Scripture says that the Gospel is "the power of God unto salvation," and if it is the Power, we should trust it.
A poll was done a number of years ago and it found that 20% of Christians regularly spoke about Christian things, so Noah's Ark, David and Goliath and whatever else, but only 2% of Christians regularly share the Gospel. That is poor.

When we share the Gospel, people need to understand why they need saving in the first place. We have sinned against God, broken His law, and deserve judgment. Yet because of His great love, God sent His Son to die in our place. Jesus rose again from the dead, and now all who repent and trust in Him can receive forgiveness and eternal life.

I believe the spoken Gospel has power in it. That is why I have confidence in openly proclaiming the Gospel. I have seen many people change when they hear it. Sometimes people respond immediately, and sometimes they harden their hearts. But I do not think the answer is to speak less about sin, righteousness, judgment, and Christ. The biblical pattern is to faithfully proclaim the truth and leave the results to God.

Also, Jesus said, "The one who has my commandments and keeps them, is the one who loves me." Jesus commanded us to go and share the Gospel. So, those who love Him will do this.
He also said that we should love out neighbours as we love ourselves. And to know that another person is under condemnation and not to warn them about it is not loving at all. To simply do good deeds and waiting for the opportunity is not right either. There is an urgency to the Gospel. We do not know when someone will die.
To do good deeds and then wait for the opportunity to arise is like someone who sees a 2 storied house on fire and in the top story you can see people inside who do not know that they are in great danger. So, because you love them, you choose to show that love by mowing their lawn and doing their gardens. And you do all this, while their house is burning. There is an urgency to the Gospel. We must not procrastinate.
Yes, bless people with good deeds but trust in the spoken message.

Can you tell me how you personally share the Gospel with others?

DragonFox91 · Jun 24, 2026

That is really great that you do that. Who knows, he may not have actually ever heard the Gospel till you pointed it out to him. These days people don't grow up in a church anymore, all they hear is it 2nd hand. 'These Christians want you to believe Jesus is the Savior' but that's the extent. Keep doing it. We need people like you. I like you share your tesitmonies, keep sharing

Myself I noticed the irreligious very quickly go from 'there is no god' to 'there is a god, I just don't like your God' after pointing out creation / design / purpose / love. etc.

I personally have a harder time getting them to the next step, the god is the God of the Bible. I guess taking them right to his Word is the next step.

I like you emphasize sin in your evangelism. The big problem in the Bible is not health, poverty, your dreams being dashed, or life is hard: it's sin. Any evangelism that fails to talk about sin isn't the evangelism of the Bible. The problem is sin & PERSONAL sin.

1Tonne · Jun 24, 2026

DragonFox91 said:
I personally have a harder time getting them to the next step, the god is the God of the Bible. I guess taking them right to his Word is the next step.

I find that the 2 most helpful apologetics are, "The Builder Built the Building, The Painter Painted the Painting, and the Creator Created Creation" as this shows that there had to be a creator, and also "There is no other book in the world that can tell the future like the bible does" as this shows the divinity of the Bible. (I use them in this order)
This second apologetic, which is about how the bible tells the future, is modelled off Acts 28:23 it says:
“He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus.”
So, Paul was using the Law with his Jewish audience to show sin and their need for a saviour, and he was also using Old Testament Scriptures to prove that Jesus was the promised Messiah. He would likely have pointed to passages such as: Isaiah 53 (the suffering servant), Daniel 7 (the Son of Man), Jeremiah 31 (the new covenant), Zechariah 12–13 (the pierced one and the shepherd)
We too can use prophecy to show the Bibles authenticity.

After using these 2 apologetics, I find that about 60% of atheists will change to believing that there is a God, and they say that they just need a bit more time to investigate Christianity little more but that the Christian God most likely is the real God. So, they take some pretty big steps.

Practice and memorise this as it will help a lot.
"Imagine if I wrote a book and, in this book, I wrote down over 300 prophecies about future events, and every single one of them came true with perfect accuracy? You would recognise something extraordinary was happening, something divine. No human can predict the future with such precision.
Yet that’s exactly what we see in the Bible. The Old Testament was written hundreds of years before Jesus, and it contains over 300 prophecies that were fulfilled within His life. Things like His birth in Bethlehem, how He entered Jerusalem on a donkey, His betrayal for 30 pieces of silver, that He would have nail-pierced hands and feet and most importantly, it foretells that He would die for the sins of the world. And that is only 5 out of the 300. No other book—not even the Quran—has this level of prophetic accuracy. The Bible stands alone as the divinely inspired Word of God. So, we need to take note of what it says."

And also, the Builder Buit the Building:
"If you look at a building, you know without a doubt that there was a builder. No one would believe that a building simply fell together by itself. And if I did say it fell together by itself you would think I was foolish. You can see order and design in it and so you know that there had to be a builder. Likewise, when we see a painting, we naturally know that there was a painter, even if that painter died centuries ago. We know that there was a painter.
In the same way, when we look at creation—the stars, the sun, the moon, the clouds, the flowers, the trees, and every living creature—you must say that, if the builder built the building, and the painter painted the painting, then the creator must have made creation."
(Comes from Hebrews 3:4. “For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.”)

rachelrising · Jul 1, 2026

What did you say to this person when they said they are a good person after you told them they needed to accept Jesus Christ because they are sinful. I have known some atheists online and they do not like being told that they are a sinner or even we need our sins to be forgiven. They will say that they are a good person and be vehement on it sometimes. Is there a way that you could re-word so people will be less likely to be reply back that they are a good person. Telling people they have sinned against God if you make it sound personal for any person may be difficult. Perhaps you responded compassionately to when they said they are a good person so I am interested in the response you gave. Did you approach this person or did they approach you? I don't think that they could have been harmed by that discussion, just that there may be other more workable ways to do it.

See here an atheist too finding it difficult to being told about sins and the need to be forgiven. They raised the question themselves.

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This was my reply to them-

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Keep it as simple as you can for strangers with little or no interest. Telling them that believing in Jesus gives us the chance of eternal life. Jesus came to forgive our sins as human beings because we can all be sinful before God by nature and it is only Christ who is perfect.

The rest of what you wrote in inspiring and you came well prepared. It is good to see you still doing this.

See this post to and I am Greenblaze and posted a sermon in that thread which may interest you-

Evangelists

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1Tonne · Jul 1, 2026

rachelrising said:
What did you say to this person when they said they are a good person

I had already taken him through the Law, so, "Have you ever lied" and he said yes. "Have you ever stolen" and he said yes. "Blasphemed?", yes. And had he ever hated which in the bible it says hate is like murder, and he said yes. So, by his own admission, he said that he was a lying, thieving, blaspheming, murderer. Then I asked his if he was guilty of innocent and he said innocent. So, I simply said that the bible says, "All liars will have their part in the lake with fire and brimstone" and so he was in big trouble. The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death" and he has sinned and therefore earned the death sentence.
So, he knew he was not a good person. Some people will continue to deny it once I have taken them through the law, but I know that deep down they know that they have broken God's law. Their conscience testifies to it to them.

rachelrising said:
I have known some atheists online and they do not like being told that they are a sinner or even we need our sins to be forgiven. They will say that they are a good person and be vehement on it sometimes.

The Bible says that most people will confess their own goodness. So, we need to show them that they may think that they are good because they judge themselves by looking at others, but when they judge themselves by God's law, they are not good. They have earnt the death sentence.
"Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom 3:20
And some may say that they do not need their sins forgiven as there is no God and so sin is only a figure of your imagination. But, once again, we know that they know that they have broken God's law. (Especially if we have taken them through the law).

rachelrising said:
Did you approach this person or did they approach you?

They were walking past and since I was giving away free sausages, I simply offered him a free sausage. He then asked what this was all about and I said that we are giving away free sausages and then if people wish, they can also do a good person test. (This is a flipchart that takes you through the law and then tells the Gospel). He accepted the sausage and the said that he wanted to try this Good person test.
Here is a link to the Good Person Test First time using a Flipchart for evangelism in public

When using the Good Person Test and the apologetics that I mentioned above, "The builder built the building and the painter painted the painting" and "The Bible is the only book that can tell the future, so it is divine", I find that about 60% of those who profess to be atheists, will have a change of mind and admit that there is a God. They say then that they just need to investigate more.

But in the end, there will be some people who just do not want to acknowledge that there is a God. If they did acknowledge Him, then they are accountable to Him and have to live in a way that honours Him. And many people love their sin and so choose to not believe.

1Tonne · Jul 1, 2026

Oh. Also, some Christians think that what I am doing is too hard hitting and that I need to dial it down. They say that I should just be preaching a message of just love and forgiveness. But Jesus did not do a message simply of love and forgiveness. He did the same thing that I am doing. He showed them their sins (Mark 10:17-22), and that I why people did not like Him. He said that the world hated Him because He testified to it that its deeds were evil
"The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil." John 7:7
He also said that if we choose to do as He did, that the world will also hate us.
"Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours." John 15:20

In saying this, we do need to be careful though, as we speak this hard-hitting message, we need to do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).

rachelrising · Jul 2, 2026

1Tonne said:
I had already taken him through the Law, so, "Have you ever lied" and he said yes. "Have you ever stolen" and he said yes. "Blasphemed?", yes. And had he ever hated which in the bible it says hate is like murder, and he said yes. So, by his own admission, he said that he was a lying, thieving, blaspheming, murderer. Then I asked his if he was guilty of innocent and he said innocent. So, I simply said that the bible says, "All liars will have their part in the lake with fire and brimstone" and so he was in big trouble. The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death" and he has sinned and therefore earned the death sentence.
So, he knew he was not a good person. Some people will continue to deny it once I have taken them through the law, but I know that deep down they know that they have broken God's law. Their conscience testifies to it to them.

The Bible says that most people will confess their own goodness. So, we need to show them that they may think that they are good because they judge themselves by looking at others, but when they judge themselves by God's law, they are not good. They have earnt the death sentence.
"Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom 3:20
And some may say that they do not need their sins forgiven as there is no God and so sin is only a figure of your imagination. But, once again, we know that they know that they have broken God's law. (Especially if we have taken them through the law).

They were walking past and since I was giving away free sausages, I simply offered him a free sausage. He then asked what this was all about and I said that we are giving away free sausages and then if people wish, they can also do a good person test. (This is a flipchart that takes you through the law and then tells the Gospel). He accepted the sausage and the said that he wanted to try this Good person test.
Here is a link to the Good Person Test First time using a Flipchart for evangelism in public

When using the Good Person Test and the apologetics that I mentioned above, "The builder built the building and the painter painted the painting" and "The Bible is the only book that can tell the future, so it is divine", I find that about 60% of those who profess to be atheists, will have a change of mind and admit that there is a God. They say then that they just need to investigate more.

But in the end, there will be some people who just do not want to acknowledge that there is a God. If they did acknowledge Him, then they are accountable to Him and have to live in a way that honours Him. And many people love their sin and so choose to not believe.

It sounds like you handled it well when you have written that they confessed themselves those sins.

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An interesting evangelism encounter

1Tonne

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Aussie52

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1Tonne

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DragonFox91

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1Tonne

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rachelrising

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1Tonne

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