I am in Dallas, Texas for a three day REO real estate conference this week. Before the trip I prayed that the Lord would allow me or my associates from Enternethomes.com to make some good contacts for our real estate business. I also prayed that the Lord would give me some divine appointed opportunities to witness and He has not let me down.
We arrived in Dallas Wednesday at 10:30AM central time zone. The flight was smooth and not crowded at all. It must have been because we were flying out of Charlotte, North Carolina. I really wanted to have an opportunity to witness on the plane, but the gentlemen that sat next to me did not want to talk and slept most of the flight. I really felt down about this because I so eagerly wanted to speak with him. He did wake up about 10 minutes before touchdown and I was able to give him a gospel tract, but just could not get the conversation going in a spiritual direction before unloading the plane.
Once off the plane we headed to our hotel to see if we might be able to check in early. Early check in was a no go, so we headed down the street to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. After lunch we were able to get into our rooms and just relaxed until the Welcome Reception for the conference started over at the Hilton.
The Welcome Reception was crazy. They had a band playing, alcohol pouring and to many people for the reception room. Everyone must have been starving because the three tables with food were packed out. I waited for about hour to get three crab cakes and the only reason I got the anything was because a nice woman in front of me helped me out. After that I could not take it any longer in the banquet hall. There was just too many people boozing it up, the music was too loud to talk and people were elbow to elbow. I headed outside and made my way into the large lobby of Hilton.
Down in the lobby, while trying to locate a cup of coffee, I met Jill. Now Jill was at the conference all by herself and trying to break into the REO business for banks. Jill was a very nice middle aged woman who was married and had one child about 3 years old. We made small talk about family and real estate for about 15 minutes. I was wondering how I could spin the conversation to spiritual things when she said the word that would change everything, God. Jill was about to become my first witnessing accouter in Dallas whether she liked it or not.
Jill said about 10 times how good she was, but once we looked at God’s law (10 commandments) she quickly began to see herself in a different light. Jill’s religious background was Jewish-Christian-Secular-Etc…She thought all roads lead to heaven and only the “real bad people” go to hell. I explained in the gentlest softest tone I could muster that like me and everyone else on this earth, we have all broken God’s law and deserve hell. Jill actually asked “how can anyone be made right with God” and “how does the God’s law get satisfied.” I shared with her about Christ, repentance and placing her faith in what Christ did for us.
Jill then threw me a curve ball. She brought up her Grandmother who had recently passed away. Jill said to me, “so what about my Grandmother, is she in hell for not believing? My Grandmother was a good person, a great person who loved her children.” This was the toughest question I have faced. I tried to be as polite as possible, but pointed out there are none who are good compared to God and all have sinned and fall short of His glory. I asked her to please try and focus on herself and her family.
The conversation with Jill ended when she started talking with another woman next to her. I could tell she did this because she was convicted, so I just politely excused myself. But before leaving I did give her a gospel tract. The seed of God’s truth was planted in Jill’s heart; I just pray that the Lord will grow it. Please pray for her.
I decided to head back to the room around 9PM and when I arrived in the lobby, I realized I had not really had any supper. The restaurant was still open so I sat down to order a burger. While I was waiting to order two women approached me and asked if they could sit at my table and have dinner also. They were in town for the same conference and obviously had the same problem I had over at the Welcome Reception about getting food. I thought to myself, “Lord you are awesome. I prayed before heading out that night that you would bring some divine appointments to me and here are two people I can easily witness to.”
Lonnie, Sharka and me had a nice dinner in the hotel lobby. They were from the San Diego area which was interesting, because I had just earlier in year went on a short mission trip there. While we ate real estate was our topic of discussion. During our causal conversation Lonnie or Sharka mentioned God, and I knew the Lord had given me another easy open door for spinning the conversation towards spiritual things.
Both ladies claimed to be Christians and Sharka even used the words “saved” and “repent.” I used the famous knife in the back, three minutes to live scenario to find out if they really understood what being a Christian is. Now for those who do not know what the three minute scenario is let me fill you in. This is great to use for professing Christians. When someone claims to be a Christian and there is even a hint they might not be, this is what I say, “Let’s say you just walked up on me and I have a knife in my back, I am dying and only have three minutes to live. I am not saved, what are you going to tell me?”
Well Sharka failed at helping me understand what I needed to do to be saved. She used “Jesus loves me…pray this prayer…you’re a sinner, etc…” to which politely said, “I don’t believe Jesus existed…how is a prayer going to help me, I’m dying…SINNER, I’m not any worst than anyone else.” Once the three minutes had passed and I was dead in our practice scenario, I asked them both if they would like for me to witness in three minutes. They both seemed eager to hear, so this is basically what I told them.
“First it does not matter if you believe in God or not, you are dying and you are about to meet Him. The Bible says in 1 John that transgression of God’s law is sin. What is God’s law? Well basically it can be summed up in the 10 commandments. Let’s look at just a few. If you tell just one lie you are a liar, if you steal just one thing you a thief, if you just look with lust at someone Jesus said you are guilty of committing adultery, or how about using God’s name in vain? That is called blasphemy and very serious.”
I could tell conviction had come to both Lonnie and Sharka, and God’s law was doing what it was intended to do. I went on to tell them,
“You are about to die and God is going to see you as a lying, thief, blasphemer and adulterer at heart. You will be guilty standing in front of God and will be punished for your crime with eternity in hell.” Now that the law has done its job I could move on to the good news and talk about Christ, the cross, repentance and faith.
Both girls seemed very thankful regarding our evening conversation and said they had a lot to think about. Please pray the Lord will grow His seed in their hearts and find true salvation that only comes from genuine repentance and faith in Christ.
Today I woke up with a small cold. As the day wore on I started feeling worse and worse. I eventually came back to the room earlier to try and get some rest. Tomorrow is my last full day here in Dallas. Hopefully I will be feeling better in the morning and I will have a few more good opportunities to share God’s truth while I’m here, Lord willing.
We arrived in Dallas Wednesday at 10:30AM central time zone. The flight was smooth and not crowded at all. It must have been because we were flying out of Charlotte, North Carolina. I really wanted to have an opportunity to witness on the plane, but the gentlemen that sat next to me did not want to talk and slept most of the flight. I really felt down about this because I so eagerly wanted to speak with him. He did wake up about 10 minutes before touchdown and I was able to give him a gospel tract, but just could not get the conversation going in a spiritual direction before unloading the plane.
Once off the plane we headed to our hotel to see if we might be able to check in early. Early check in was a no go, so we headed down the street to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. After lunch we were able to get into our rooms and just relaxed until the Welcome Reception for the conference started over at the Hilton.
The Welcome Reception was crazy. They had a band playing, alcohol pouring and to many people for the reception room. Everyone must have been starving because the three tables with food were packed out. I waited for about hour to get three crab cakes and the only reason I got the anything was because a nice woman in front of me helped me out. After that I could not take it any longer in the banquet hall. There was just too many people boozing it up, the music was too loud to talk and people were elbow to elbow. I headed outside and made my way into the large lobby of Hilton.
Down in the lobby, while trying to locate a cup of coffee, I met Jill. Now Jill was at the conference all by herself and trying to break into the REO business for banks. Jill was a very nice middle aged woman who was married and had one child about 3 years old. We made small talk about family and real estate for about 15 minutes. I was wondering how I could spin the conversation to spiritual things when she said the word that would change everything, God. Jill was about to become my first witnessing accouter in Dallas whether she liked it or not.
Jill said about 10 times how good she was, but once we looked at God’s law (10 commandments) she quickly began to see herself in a different light. Jill’s religious background was Jewish-Christian-Secular-Etc…She thought all roads lead to heaven and only the “real bad people” go to hell. I explained in the gentlest softest tone I could muster that like me and everyone else on this earth, we have all broken God’s law and deserve hell. Jill actually asked “how can anyone be made right with God” and “how does the God’s law get satisfied.” I shared with her about Christ, repentance and placing her faith in what Christ did for us.
Jill then threw me a curve ball. She brought up her Grandmother who had recently passed away. Jill said to me, “so what about my Grandmother, is she in hell for not believing? My Grandmother was a good person, a great person who loved her children.” This was the toughest question I have faced. I tried to be as polite as possible, but pointed out there are none who are good compared to God and all have sinned and fall short of His glory. I asked her to please try and focus on herself and her family.
The conversation with Jill ended when she started talking with another woman next to her. I could tell she did this because she was convicted, so I just politely excused myself. But before leaving I did give her a gospel tract. The seed of God’s truth was planted in Jill’s heart; I just pray that the Lord will grow it. Please pray for her.
I decided to head back to the room around 9PM and when I arrived in the lobby, I realized I had not really had any supper. The restaurant was still open so I sat down to order a burger. While I was waiting to order two women approached me and asked if they could sit at my table and have dinner also. They were in town for the same conference and obviously had the same problem I had over at the Welcome Reception about getting food. I thought to myself, “Lord you are awesome. I prayed before heading out that night that you would bring some divine appointments to me and here are two people I can easily witness to.”
Lonnie, Sharka and me had a nice dinner in the hotel lobby. They were from the San Diego area which was interesting, because I had just earlier in year went on a short mission trip there. While we ate real estate was our topic of discussion. During our causal conversation Lonnie or Sharka mentioned God, and I knew the Lord had given me another easy open door for spinning the conversation towards spiritual things.
Both ladies claimed to be Christians and Sharka even used the words “saved” and “repent.” I used the famous knife in the back, three minutes to live scenario to find out if they really understood what being a Christian is. Now for those who do not know what the three minute scenario is let me fill you in. This is great to use for professing Christians. When someone claims to be a Christian and there is even a hint they might not be, this is what I say, “Let’s say you just walked up on me and I have a knife in my back, I am dying and only have three minutes to live. I am not saved, what are you going to tell me?”
Well Sharka failed at helping me understand what I needed to do to be saved. She used “Jesus loves me…pray this prayer…you’re a sinner, etc…” to which politely said, “I don’t believe Jesus existed…how is a prayer going to help me, I’m dying…SINNER, I’m not any worst than anyone else.” Once the three minutes had passed and I was dead in our practice scenario, I asked them both if they would like for me to witness in three minutes. They both seemed eager to hear, so this is basically what I told them.
“First it does not matter if you believe in God or not, you are dying and you are about to meet Him. The Bible says in 1 John that transgression of God’s law is sin. What is God’s law? Well basically it can be summed up in the 10 commandments. Let’s look at just a few. If you tell just one lie you are a liar, if you steal just one thing you a thief, if you just look with lust at someone Jesus said you are guilty of committing adultery, or how about using God’s name in vain? That is called blasphemy and very serious.”
I could tell conviction had come to both Lonnie and Sharka, and God’s law was doing what it was intended to do. I went on to tell them,
“You are about to die and God is going to see you as a lying, thief, blasphemer and adulterer at heart. You will be guilty standing in front of God and will be punished for your crime with eternity in hell.” Now that the law has done its job I could move on to the good news and talk about Christ, the cross, repentance and faith.
Both girls seemed very thankful regarding our evening conversation and said they had a lot to think about. Please pray the Lord will grow His seed in their hearts and find true salvation that only comes from genuine repentance and faith in Christ.
Today I woke up with a small cold. As the day wore on I started feeling worse and worse. I eventually came back to the room earlier to try and get some rest. Tomorrow is my last full day here in Dallas. Hopefully I will be feeling better in the morning and I will have a few more good opportunities to share God’s truth while I’m here, Lord willing.
1 comment:
I have been to many conferences & it is so easy to get drawn into all the "partying" and drinking that goes on there. I am glad that you stayed strong in the Lord & that Satan was not able to tempt you in those areas. Not only that, you were able to share the Gospel while you were there! God is good!
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