Benay and I feel that lives are changed through friendships. Each "hello" has eternal consequences. We don't believe in forcing the Good News on anyone. We believe people give their lives to Christ as they see the way people live for Christ, first through friendships and then learning for themselves why these people are different. A transformed life is the best witness to Christ's power.
As we blogged on Monday, I was reminded of that this past Sunday when the three brothers shared their testimonies. How they saw lives changed in the men who were already at the recovery center. This made them want to know more about why the other men were different. The day to day lives of these saved men made a huge impact on the not-yet Christian men.
Their story made me think of a story I read in a book I am currently reading. It's called Total Forgiveness by R.T. Kendall.
Here's his story:
Once, while addressing a group of missionaries in the south of France, I stayed in the home of a Christian missionary who had been a Muslim. I was astonished at this change of life and marveled at his conversion. He told me that he had been led to Christ by some British soldiers when he lived in Madagascar. But what I really wanted to know was what had actually won him over to Christianity. "What argument did they use?" I asked. "What line of reasoning persuaded you to turn from Islam to the Christian faith?" He replied, "It wasn't what they said; it was who they were." His statement really challenged me. It made me see the folly of imagining we are going to win people over by our superior arguments-our great preaching methods. What impresses the world most is changed lives for which there is no natural explanation."
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