How to Witness: Stories from my Past

On the way home from ministering, I pulled into a Seven-eleven store at 2 a.m. There was no one in the store but the attendant. He was very friendly and glad to have some in the break the time of just sitting around.

After I paid him, I graciously handed him a gospel tract. He thanked me and I asked if he knew for sure he was going to heaven. Never ask a person, are you a Christian, for all church members, no matter what they believe, will say, "Yes." Then to ask, "Are you saved" or "have you ever been born again" is just foreign to most folks. This 45 year old man replied, "No, I am not a Christian."

Kindly I pointed out that we are all in the same boat  for we have all done wrong, we have all sinned, "Haven't we" I asked. To start out saying, "the first thing you need to know is that you are a sinner" offends people or, at the least, puts them on the defensive. When you put yourself in the same boat they do not feel you are accusing them nor that you feel "holier than thou" and they all admit they too have sinned.

"Kind sir, I have some good news for you. God loves you and sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to suffer and die for your sins, on the cross, paid the debt in full, rose again and was seen alive by hundreds of people. He died for our sins for the "wages of sins is death" and He paid that debt in full when He was separated from God and died for our sins. Does that make sense to you?" He replied, "It sure does. I never heard it quiet like that" and most haven't.

"Please don't try to do me a favor, if you don't mean it but could you right now let God know you believe Him and want to receive the Lord Jesus as your savior too" I asked. He replied, "I think it is time I did." WOW, that excited me. We bowed our heads and he prayed out loud with me to receive the Lord Jesus as his Savior too.

The he said the most startling thing, "My wife is a Christian and has been begging me to get saved for 15 years. Wait until I get home and tell he I got saved at 2 in the morning." I would have given a pretty penny to have been there and seen the joy of the Lord come over that place. God did that. You can see that too if you just keep planting seed, the gospel, until you find one God has ready.