With the arrival of the New Year I needed to stop by and get a calendar, and, upon announcing my plans, a number of others (family member) also asked me to get calendars for them. I took a pocketful of tracts since I knew I would be around a number of other people at our little mall.
After buying calendars I gave the lady working the checkout some tracts and started talking about spiritual things. After going through the “good person” test she said she was saved – but as we talked further it didn’t sound like she was living for the Lord (she hasn’t been attending church, doesn’t read her Bible, and works at a kiosk which also sells some wicked calendars). We only talked for several minutes, and she again heard the gospel, as well as the importance of following what the Lord has told us in his Word…
I headed off to Sears to see if there were any good deals on shirts (I’m hard to fit, in terms of measurements I have a small neck, small to medium chest, and large/long arms - yes, I know, I should probably look into shirts that are sized for orangutans). As I was walking through the mall I handed out a few tracts to men that were waiting outside stores for their wives.
At Sears, as I was looking through the shirts a teenager with several younger boys (probably brothers) came through the area, and it was obvious he was having trouble controlling them. I said I had something he could use to keep the boys’ attention and gave him a million dollar bill tract, as well as an IQ test tract. I told him they were gospel tracts and to make sure he read the backs. Then I shared the curved illusion tract with the younger boys. They enjoyed the illusion and I showed them the gospel message on the back – and then gave it to them. They thanked me, and I went back to browsing. About that time their mother arrived and they were very excitedly showing her their tracts. I shared with her that they were gospel tracts that the boys would enjoy – and she shared that they were out shopping for funeral clothes since her father-in-law had passed away the day before. I expressed my condolences. On the positive side, a family that was going through a death now had gospel tracts, but, I also feel I should have shared more with the mother. Missed opportunities are never pleasant to reflect upon.
Afterwards I went to a hardware store looking for a part for my brother. As I was checking out I gave the lady a ten-commandment collector’s coin as well as an optical illusion card. She was grateful for them, and even surprised they were for her to keep (she thought I was simply showing them to her and that she had to give them back)!
I was about to leave the mall and noticed the lady at the movie theater ticket counter. It was noon, and we have a very small mall – the place was practically deserted. Since she wasn’t doing anything I walked over and asked if she was interested in reading something. I gave her a million dollar bill and said it contained the “good person” test on the back side. I asked if she had ever taken the “good person” test and she said ‘no’. I asked if she wanted to take it and she hesitantly said she would.
We started with lying, then stealing (she professed and maintained innocence in regards to stealing and I didn’t belabor the point), followed by blaspheme and murder. Part way through she said, ‘I don’t think I want to take this test!’ I asked if she wanted to stop because she was failing it – but then shared that we ALL fail the “good person” test. At the end, she acknowledged guilt before God and, in a quieter voice, said she would be headed for hell – and that it concerned her. It was exciting to share the gospel with her.
We talked about deadly diseases, and I asked if she had a terminal disease, would she seek a cure or simply live the rest of her life trying to have as much fun as possible? She said she would seek for a cure. I shared how our sin is a deadly disease, that the ten commandments are clear indicators that we have this disease, and I said I was offering her the cure.
I encouraged her to not simply pray and then go to church, as God doesn’t want another “church attending hypocrite” – He wants her heart and her life (you could tell she really understood that point). I challenged her to get right with God and deal with her sin and guilt.
I gave her a more in-depth tract (and shared that it went back through the “good person” test in more detail) and that it had our website on the back, and that my mother or sister would be more than willing to answer any questions she has about the Bible and God. She thanked me for sharing and I then went on my way. She heard and understood the gospel - and we're praying that she will repent and put her trust in Christ.
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