God overcomes Obstacles

There has been a lot happening in the door to door area. A door to door map is now online on the Bezeugen web site. There are people around the country that are starting to go door to door. One church here in Carrollton has committed to taking one of the zip codes. Dispite all these things, it often seems like there are obstacles.

Today at one house a man could not hear me because his dog was barking so loud. Rather than step outside so that we could have a conversation about everlasting life, he let his dog win and went back inside. I figure if God can use a donkey, then satan can use a dog to prevent someone from hearing the Gospel. One man seemed receptive to the Gospel, but said he had to go someplace with his brother. He accepted a tract. At another house there was another loud dog.

I was getting discouraged.

I just prayed for open doors and hearts and pressed on down the street. I prayed that God would remove the obstacles. I am glad I did.

I met a young father who received Christ as savior and Lord about 14 months ago. He realized he was a wretched sinner and repented and trusted in Christ. We had a long conversation. Please pray for his wife who is unsaved. At the next house was a Christian woman and we had a nice conversation as well.

On to the next street. At the first house, a young man answered. I don’t normally ask for food from teens since I don’t want them giving away food that belongs to their parents. So rather than put him on the spot asking for food, I went right to the Gospel. I asked him if he believed in God. He said Yes. So I asked if he believed in heaven and hell. And he said yes again. He said that good people go to heaven. So I asked if he was good. He readily admitted to breaking the 9th, 3rd and 7th commandment. I told him that God sees him as a liar, a blasphemer and an adulterer. I asked him if he would be innocent or guilty. He said he would be guilty and agreed he would go to hell. I asked if that concerned him. He said Yes! So I lead him through the courtroom example, showing how with a million dollar payment he would be free from a million dollar fine that was due. He said he would be so thankful. So I told him that that is what Christ has done for him and explained the Gospel. Then I asked him if he had ever heard that before. He said, “No!”

So here is a teen ager, going to one of our local churches pretty much his whole life. He thinks he is going to heaven when he dies, and then admits he has never heard the Gospel. How sad. it makes me angry that our “churches” are not preaching the Biblical gospel. But the good news, is he was very receptive to the message. I gave him a Why Christianity? DVD and he said he was going to watch it right away. I explained to him that he can receive Christ by repentance and faith. He said he understood that and that he believed. It seems he received everlasting life right there on his door step!

I never expect to see anything like this. I realize that the full fruit of any efforts door to door or any type of evangelism will not be realized until we are all in heaven one day. But if sure was encouraging and I thank God for letting me see the fruit.

I continued down the street. At one house I noticed a little yellow phamplet that said “Jesus” on it. I could not make out exactly what it was. No one answered the door, so I left a tract. As I walked back towards the street I saw two women coming the other way on the other side of the street. They were going up to houses as well. I thought maybe they were Jehovah’s Witnesses and prayed that God would give me an opportunity to speak with them. I went to the next house and left a tract there. Now I saw a man and a woman coming from the other direction on the street doing the same thing. I walked across the street and introduced myself to the man. His name was Tony. Sure enough. The four of them are JW’s. He claimed that when we die our bodies return to the dust and our souls go to heaven. So I asked “who goes to hell?” He said “no one.” I told him “that is not what the Bible says.” At that point Tina joined us. I asked her the same question. I told them that according to the Bible there is a day of judgment based on the Ten Commandments and that we would all be assigned to heaven or hell based on that. Suddenly they claimed they did not have time to talk but that they would be gald to come to my house sometime. I gave them Why Christianity booklets. She would not take it. But he did. And I gave them each my card with my phone number and email address on it.

I’ll need to re-watch Way of the Master Jehovah’s Witness episode part 1

and part 2

and check out other resources before that discussion.

I then went back to door to door. At one house a man started asking me a bunch of questions about what church I am with. I tried to explain that I have an Evangelism ministry and offered him my card to identify myself. He refused it and asked me to leave. So I went to the next house. I had a couple more good conversations. At this point I was noticing that people were more standoffish. One man was a Christian, but was guarded. Finally, he stepped outside and explained that the JW’s had just been there. I told him about my encounter.

I completed my way around the entire block and put the food that I had collected into the car. I felt the Holy Spirit telling me that I needed to go up the other side of the street where the JW’s had been. So I started down that side of the street putting tracts on the doors where people were not home and talking to those that were. After a few more houses, a police officer pulled up in front of the house. She asked me what I was doing. I told her I was collecting food, gathering prayer requests and sharing the Gospel. She told me there had been a complaint and that I needed a permit to go door to door. She would not tell me who the complaint was from. I can only suspect it was from the man who asked me to leave on the other side of the street. So I will call the records department on Monday. Just like God overcame the other obstacles, God will overcome this obstacle too! More to follow.