Wednesday

Wednesday, we did a lot some prayer-walking, some surveys, and handed out some granola bars to promote the church. I was in SoHo walking around trying to start conversations, and I was able to get into a few good ones in just over an hour. We had a few guys that shut us down completely, and all we could do was walk away and pray for them. In the afternoon, we went down to Ybor, and Zach and I walked down 8th Avenue talking to and surveying people. We were able to talk to some Roman Catholics, a Muslim, a couple homeless guys, and a couple wealthier guys. We were really glad that we got this mixture of all types of people, and we got some interesting answers to our questions.

After a few conversations, Zach and I realized that we need to start studying a lot more. First, we saw a need to memorize more Bible verses so that we could use those. But I think for conversations like the ones we were having, there was an even greater need to understand more of the concepts and ideas of Christianity in comparison to those of other religions. For example, one man said that he believes in Jesus wholeheartedly, but he also said that other people can find different ways to get to God and to heaven. Zach asked him about the verse (John 14:6) in which Jesus says, "No one comes to the Father except through me." The man said that that verse must've just been misinterpreted, and he proceeded to give Old Testament examples of things that have somehow been misinterpreted throughout the years. Both of us were kind of stumped, and the conversation was over a lot sooner than I wanted it to be. I think this was a great lesson for both of us on the importance of being properly trained in the gospel and in Christian theology, because those who wish to disprove Christianity in one way or another will always find a way to start arguing with the theological points that we mention.

Just a thought for this morning. I just finished reading through the first 2 chapters of Philippians again, my favorite book of the Bible. There are such amazing reminders in there of what Paul went through, and it gives courage to me as I go out to have conversations with people about Christ. May the Lord go with us today.

Corey