Friendship Evangelism

[Trusting in Him]

We may not all be evangelists, but if we do not act in such a way as to intimidate others and frighten people away. They may come to us and ask questions, if they feel safe with us to do so. In some cases, people who know us, or know about us, will discern things about us and they will perhaps ask us relevent questions about God, or our faith in God. It is always wise to only answer just the question which they ask and keep the answer quick and easy. Don't try to give them anymore and there is always a time when it is time to move on and to end the subject. It is all to easy to put people off and to deter them from coming back to you, if they have more to ask you about at a later time.

In my experience lots of people in my town know that I'm a Christian, even though I don't say much about it. I am a shop keeper and a lot more people in the area know who I am than I actually know who they are. Many of these people know that I've been cippled by My stroke and have noticed the disabled driving school car calling to take me for disabled driving lessons. There have been those who have become friends and even those who ask me the right sort of question about God and Christianity. I don't have do say anything to raise the subject, they do that, not me! I guess that in spite of all my difficulties following my stroke that God has given me a silent testimony in the town. He can do this! Not only for me, but others as well.

We are not all called to be evangelists and preachers, but that does not means that God is not wanting to use us on a smaller scale. We don't need to approach other people, as God will bring them to us if we will let him. There's a lot more people out there, which are seeking, than we know about. Lots of people like to think that Christians are cranks, which is an excuse to ignore them, but when they get to know you and realise that this is not true, some people want to understand more about this. Sometimes it is the beginning of something else! Do you pray for your non-Christian friends? Do you want to see God working miracles? Just pray for your friends, that's all it takes! God does the rest.

I'm not even talking about long prayers, Just a quick one in your heart as it comes to mind. God still hears the short ones as well.

 

[Trusting in Him]

We may feel weak and insignificant and maybe those who we know are just ordinary, waek and insignificant people too. Will not God use those who are on the same level to lead these ones to Him? God works in quiet and mysterious ways. The letter from the Hebrew alphabet which depicts God is the letter aleph. Most of the time, this is a silent letter, it depicts the Ox, who is the strong one, or the leader. He just gets on with it and most people take no notice!

 

[dqhall]

We may not all be evangelists, but if we do not act in such a way as to intimidate others and frighten people away. They may come to us and ask questions, if they feel safe with us to do so. In some cases, people who know us, or know about us, will discern things about us and they will perhaps ask us relevent questions about God, or our faith in God. It is always wise to only answer just the question which they ask and keep the answer quick and easy. Don't try to give them anymore and there is always a time when it is time to move on and to end the subject. It is all to easy to put people off and to deter them from coming back to you, if they have more to ask you about at a later time.

In my experience lots of people in my town know that I'm a Christian, even though I don't say much about it. I am a shop keeper and a lot more people in the area know who I am than I actually know who they are. Many of these people know that I've been cippled by My stroke and have noticed the disabled driving school car calling to take me for disabled driving lessons. There have been those who have become friends and even those who ask me the right sort of question about God and Christianity. I don't have do say anything to raise the subject, they do that, not me! I guess that in spite of all my difficulties following my stroke that God has given me a silent testimony in the town. He can do this! Not only for me, but others as well.

We are not all called to be evangelists and preachers, but that does not means that God is not wanting to use us on a smaller scale. We don't need to approach other people, as God will bring them to us if we will let him. There's a lot more people out there, which are seeking, than we know about. Lots of people like to think that Christians are cranks, which is an excuse to ignore them, but when they get to know you and realise that this is not true, some people want to understand more about this. Sometimes it is the beginning of something else! Do you pray for your non-Christian friends? Do you want to see God working miracles? Just pray for your friends, that's all it takes! God does the rest.

I'm not even talking about long prayers, Just a quick one in your heart as it comes to mind. God still hears the short ones as well.

Studying the Bible might help your testimony. I had a homecare worker doing household chores for me three hours yesterday. She told me one of her sons is named Jeremiah. I had lightly reviewed the book of Jeremiah recently and told her some of what I remembered. I later recalled God commanded Jeremiah not to take a wife.

Yesterday afternoon I was walking with a crutch and cane in my neighborhood and met a new neighbor decorating a palm tree for Christmas. He also had recent hip surgery. I lamented how I only got a partial hip replacement and others got the better total hip replacement. I told him how the day of my accident I felt God had forsaken me, but then remembered Paul had been shipwrecked and beaten with rods, that I should persevere.

My dad had a stroke when he was 82. He had to get speech therapy to learn to speak better as he had lost the ability to put some of his thoughts into speech. The other day he was talking to me on the phone and described someone as diffident. I had to look the word up. It means shy or lack of confidence. He passed a drivers license exam, but does not drive due to his brain impairments. He is in assisted living where he had fellowship in the community dining room.

 

[Trusting in Him]

Studying the Bible might help your testimony.

Oh yes! His word is a lamp to our feet. We are to walk by faith and not by sight. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I need His word every day!

 

[Tinker Grey]

If you're nice to me only to convert me, you're not a friend but a predator.

 

[Trusting in Him]

Should I not answer their questions then? If I believe that God has sent them, why should I not truthfully answer their questions? Do I obey God, or not?

 

[Tinker Grey]

Should I not answer their questions then? If I believe that God has sent them, why should I not truthfully answer their questions? Do I obey God, or not?

You asking me?

2 things:

1. I am an atheist, I don't believe in gods.
2. I'm not saying you shouldn't answer questions, I saying you should evaluate your motivations. If you want to be a friend, just be a friend with no ulterior motives.

 

[Trusting in Him]

O.K. You are entitled to your point of view, I have no doubt that God exists and that makes a difference. I need to trust Him and believe.

 

[Tinker Grey]

O.K. You are entitled to your point of view, I have no doubt that God exists and that makes a difference. I need to trust Him and believe.

If you use the quote function (or reply) someone will know if you're talking to them.

So no comment on checking one's motiviations?

 

[Trusting in Him]

Thanks for that. I'll try to remember that.

 

[Robban]

We may not all be evangelists, but if we do not act in such a way as to intimidate others and frighten people away. They may come to us and ask questions, if they feel safe with us to do so. In some cases, people who know us, or know about us, will discern things about us and they will perhaps ask us relevent questions about God, or our faith in God. It is always wise to only answer just the question which they ask and keep the answer quick and easy. Don't try to give them anymore and there is always a time when it is time to move on and to end the subject. It is all to easy to put people off and to deter them from coming back to you, if they have more to ask you about at a later time.

In my experience lots of people in my town know that I'm a Christian, even though I don't say much about it. I am a shop keeper and a lot more people in the area know who I am than I actually know who they are. Many of these people know that I've been cippled by My stroke and have noticed the disabled driving school car calling to take me for disabled driving lessons. There have been those who have become friends and even those who ask me the right sort of question about God and Christianity. I don't have do say anything to raise the subject, they do that, not me! I guess that in spite of all my difficulties following my stroke that God has given me a silent testimony in the town. He can do this! Not only for me, but others as well.

We are not all called to be evangelists and preachers, but that does not means that God is not wanting to use us on a smaller scale. We don't need to approach other people, as God will bring them to us if we will let him. There's a lot more people out there, which are seeking, than we know about. Lots of people like to think that Christians are cranks, which is an excuse to ignore them, but when they get to know you and realise that this is not true, some people want to understand more about this. Sometimes it is the beginning of something else! Do you pray for your non-Christian friends? Do you want to see God working miracles? Just pray for your friends, that's all it takes! God does the rest.

I'm not even talking about long prayers, Just a quick one in your heart as it comes to mind. God still hears the short ones as well.

Hi,
what kind of shop do you keep?

 

[Trusting in Him]

I'm a professional picture framer. I have been working towards reopening my shop following my stroke, but now my wife has also had a stroke as well. I am 69 years old, it is not yet clear if I will be re-opening my shop at all. I am waiting to see what God has in store for me and my wife.

 

[Robban]

I'm a professional picture framer. I have been working towards reopening my shop following my stroke, but now my wife has also had a stroke as well. I am 69 years old, it is not yet clear if I will be re-opening my shop at all. I am waiting to see what God has in store for me and my wife.

Sorry to hear that,and your wife too,
O'boy.

How are you both managing?

 

[Trusting in Him]

Well, we are hanging on in there! Life is a bit like being in a straight jacket right now. You know, I'm still amazed that I'm still alive. After a heart attack, one smaller stroke and one which was quite a lot bigger and more serious, I could easily be dead. Even now I am not well, I just choose to believe that God still has a plan and purpose for my life. My wife is coming home from hospital tomorrow.

Trusting Him is not just me forum name, but also my day to day existance after my stroke. To look death in the face and live is truly life changing. It is not possible to be the same after this has happened. I was a Christian long before this all happened, but I'm much more serious about what He means to me now.

 

[Robban]

Well, we are hanging on in there! Life is a bit like being in a straight jacket right now. You know, I'm still amazed that I'm still alive. After a heart attack, one smaller stroke and one which was quite a lot bigger and more serious, I could easily be dead. Even now I am not well, I just choose to believe that God still has a plan and purpose for my life. My wife is coming home from hospital tomorrow.

Trusting Him is not just me forum name, but also my day to day existance after my stroke. To look death in the face and live is truly life changing. It is not possible to be the same after this has happened. I was a Christian long before this all happened, but I'm much more serious about what He means to me now.

Oj oj oj!

Well you will have your wife home tomorrow,


May He protect you both in the shadow of His protective wings.


(I rewrote the well wish part)

 

[Sunshinee777]

We don't need to approach other people, as God will bring them to us if we will let him. There's a lot more people out there, which are seeking, than we know about. Lots of people like to think that Christians are cranks, which is an excuse to ignore them, but when they get to know you and realise that this is not true, some people want to understand more about this. Sometimes it is the beginning of something else! Do you pray for your non-Christian friends? Do you want to see God working miracles? Just pray for your friends, that's all it takes! God does the rest.

Absolutely God is working behind the scenes all the time and sending people to our lives. God is connecting people who need each other, no matter is it five minutes or five years God is working and we can learn so much from other people. I know I have...

 

[Sunshinee777]

If you're nice to me only to convert me, you're not a friend but a predator.

Isn’t this a little too harsh? How God’s love can be predatory? Im interested to know what you mean.

 

[Tinker Grey]

Isn’t this a little too harsh? How God’s love can be predatory? Im interested to know what you mean.

I think you are misunderstanding me. If you are sharing only to convert me, then you are not really my friend. I am your target, an object, prey for your conversion project.

If there is a conversion to be had, friendship may be the only real way to get there, but you should be able to see that person as a friend regardless of their response to your sharing.

As long as my friends share interests with me such that we can be friendly (have conversations, get a meal, play games, go to the movies, etc.) then the fact that they like whiskey X and I don't isn't an issue.

For the last 18 years, I've been going to get drinks (sometimes a meal, concerts) with a friend who is a Christian. I reached out to him when I was an elder in our church and he and I thought there might be reason to believe that one or more of his kids was a victim of child abuse by a fellow parishioner. He was with me when I walked through my de-conversion process. We argue politics and sometimes religion though not much since neither of us handle the anxiety that comes with the level of intensity of such discussions. BUT, we both can and do say, "OK, that's enough of that conversation." He called me, among the first, when one of his kids decided that the kid (I'm going to say 'he/him' for ease of writing) was androgynous and decided to change his birth name. His wife wasn't going to go to his oldest daughter's wedding because the siblings supported him. (Eventually, this worked itself out and I can't claim to have had anything to do with it other than being there for him.)

We've been through a lot. He more-or-less understands me. And I more-or-less understand him. We both understand where our limitations are in this relationship.

He doesn't try to convert me. I don't try to deconvert him. If he made it his mission to convert me, our friendship would likely end.

If "friendship evangelism" is to work, you have to be a real friend regardless of your friend's inclination to convert.

Again, I'm not saying you can't share. But it should be only when they ask. If it's early in the relationship, maybe you are sharing about yourself -- well, then, OK. But if they ask you to stop, stop.

It occurs to me now after writing this wall of text, that what I am saying is your friendship must be authentic. It can't be premised on converting the person.

 

[Sunshinee777]

I think you are misunderstanding me. If you are sharing only to convert me, then you are not really my friend. I am your target, an object, prey for your conversion project.

Yes but they want good for you. Predator doesn’t want good for you.