Churchgoers, a Former ‘Christian’, Muslims and More! – Portsmouth Evangelism
We had a tremendous day of evangelism in Portsmouth. From the beginning, people stopped to chat about the gospel. For the first hour, we had no preaching as the team was busy speaking to individuals and small groups about the Lord Jesus.
One of those we spoke with first stopped at the literature table. He chatted with Nigel, then with me. It was clear the man was not open to the gospel; instead, he wanted to argue and show us why he thought we were wrong in our beliefs. The man revealed he was a former ‘Christian’, and that he had come to see the truth. His opening salvo centred on the deity of the Holy Spirit. He claimed the Bible never taught that the Holy Spirit is God, nor that He should be worshipped.
Using Acts 5:1–4, we showed him that in that passage the Holy Spirit is called God. The man tried to explain it away by saying that was just our view. We then pointed out that since we are commanded to worship God, it stands to reason that the Holy Spirit, who is God, is worthy of worship. I did not want to stay on this debate; instead, I wanted to explore what he meant by former ‘Christian’.
I asked the man, “What is a Christian?” The man struggled to define it, but eventually he agreed with the definition that a Christian is someone who knows Jesus Christ. I then asked, “Did you know Jesus?” The man replied that he had not known Jesus; rather, he only knew about Him. This allowed me to point out that by his own definition, the man was never a Christian in the first place, as there is a difference between knowing and knowing about. The man reluctantly agreed. I also pointed out that 1 John 2:19 says those who leave Christianity reveal they were never Christians in the first place.
The man did not want to stay on the topic of what makes someone a Christian, but I was determined to keep the conversation centred on the gospel. The man heard the good news but rejected it. I challenged him to read the Bible for himself, as what he was saying had no basis in Scripture. He then tried to get on to the topic of Donald Trump, but I directed him back to Jesus. The man shook my hand before leaving, then said he would be back again next week to argue further.
While all this was happening, the team was busy speaking with people. Conversations were taking place all along the street. People from different backgrounds and religions were all hearing the good news of Christ.
Finally, after an hour, we were able to start the preaching. Jim commenced by preaching from 1 John 5:1–4. As he spoke, a man on a bicycle rode up and yelled out, “Jesus never saved me when I fell off a cliff!” Jim simply replied, “You’re here! He saved you physically, and He can save you spiritually!” The man scoffed and rode off.
A lady who was listening was very encouraged by Jim’s preaching. I spoke with her afterwards, and she shared that she attends a Church of England church, but she never hears the Bible preached. Each night, she tries to find preaching on the radio so she can hear something of the Word. The lady was not clear on the gospel, so I gave her the tract ‘Are You Born Again?’ and then pointed her to Grace to You for solid biblical teaching.
Back over at the literature table, I then spoke with another lady who has a family Bible that is over 100 years old; the problem she faced was that she could not understand the old English. She was very grateful to receive a modern English Bible and gospel material.
As before, the team was once again busy chatting with people. Everywhere I looked, team members were telling others about Christ.
One of our new team members, Richard, found himself in a conversation with a Muslim doctor from Kashmir. I was brought into the discussion, and soon we were chatting like old friends. The man wanted to say that since we all come from Abraham, we all believe the same thing, but he then said he rejects Christianity. We had a helpful conversation about who Christ is and the gospel. At the end of our chat, he received a Bible and the booklet ‘Why Muslims Reject Christianity’.
The outreach was very much nearing the end, but I had time to finally preach. I spoke on “The Way to Heaven.” There was little engagement, though at the end a Punjabi Sikh listened, then spoke with Jyothi. He gladly received a New Testament in his own language.
The outreach was busy and constant today; we give thanks to the Lord for all He is doing in Portsmouth. Please pray for all those who heard the gospel.
SDG!
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Josh Williamson is a full-time evangelist with The Open-Air Mission. Since 1853, OAM has been sharing the good news on the streets of the United Kingdom. To stay updated about the work of the Mission, please sign up for the free quarterly magazine and monthly prayer notes.SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAGAZINE AND PRAYER NOTES