Telling Others About Jesus

By Chris Callahan

"Witnessing for Jesus 101" or "Beginning Witnessing", this is an anthology of sermons, talks given inside prisons, newspaper articles and additional materials written specifically for this book. Collectively, they will help answer the following questions:
1. What’s the difference between evangelism and witness? Which is better? Why? (Chapters 1 and 21)
2. How do I explain the Holy Spirit to a newcomer and how the Holy Spirit will work in their life? (Chapter 2)
3. How do I explain why churches talk about sin differently? (Chapter 3)
4. How do I explain prayer and how to pray? (Chapter 4)
5. How much faith is necessary? (Chapter 5)
6. How do I explain what the Bible has to say about judging? (Chapter 6)
7. What’s a good example from the New Testament of failure and second chances? (Chapter 11)
8. How do I counter those who use Doubting Thomas as a defense in support of their skepticism and continued fence straddling? (Chapter 12)
9. What are lenses and filters that we often use to miss important points of scripture and our own history? (Chapters 14 and 15)
10. How do I counter pointless discussions about the rapture and Anti-Christ? (Chapter 18)
11. Why do I need a church and which church? (Chapters 15 and 16)
12. When’s a good time to start telling others about Jesus and what should I be prepared to share? (Chapters 9, 10, and 22)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris Callahan
• Release date: Aug 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301904693

Chris Callahan

Chris Callahan was born, and lived most of his life, in rural Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Student Body President during the race riots of 1970 at RS Central High, an All Conference football player, Chris was a Morehead Scholar at UNC-Chapel Hill where he also played football his freshman year and later served on the Student Legislature.A graduate of Wake Forest Law School in 1977, Chris has practiced law exclusively in his home town of Rutherfordton, NC. Ordained in the Charismatic Episcopal Church in November of 2001, he now lives in Swannanoa, NC and is an Elder at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Black Mountain, which he calls the most "servant oriented and intellectual community of believers he has ever experienced."Active in Kairos prison ministry since 2002, Chris initiated Kairos prison ministry at Marion Correctional in Marion, NC, in 2008 and now usually leads music on Kairos weekends in Western North Carolina.Married to Elsie Callahan, he is the father of three sons: Tristan, Joshua and Nicholas; two stepdaughters: Amy Knight and Lesley Gillespie; and one step grandchild, Aurora.

Book preview

Telling Others About Jesus

By Chris Callahan

Copyright 2013 Chris Callahan

Smashwords Edition

License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.

This book is dedicated to the late Bishop Frank Costantino, who taught me not to argue biblical defenses and theology to skeptics and unbelievers but simply to witness my faith.

Table of Contents

Preface

1: Two Witnesses

2: The Holy Spirit

3: Two Views of Sin

4: Hearing God

5: A Speck of Faith

6: What the Bible Has to Say about Judging

7: Whadda' Ya Think?

8: Hitting All the Notes Versus Keeping the Time

9: What Did Jesus Tell Us To Do?

10: What Would Be a Good Test to Determine if One is Following Jesus?

11: Whatever Happened to Mark?

12: Our Brother Thomas

13: The Hunger Games

14: Soli Deo Gloria

15: Well?

16: Why Church?

17: Goin' Fishin'

18: End Times

19: Going All the Way

20: God in a Box

21: Evangelism or Witness

22: When?

23: My Witness

The Author

Bibliography

Preface

The included messages have been given in various formats: some while in prison and others from a pulpit, and a couple on Facebook. Prison ministry has helped teach me how to share Jesus with others.

Some rules are:

• Don't get into arguments about scripture. You can't win this argument no matter how knowledgeable you are about scripture and church history. Save it for teaching in church or classroom settings for those who want to learn. Instead, witness. A nonbeliever can argue all day what scripture might mean, it's hard to argue with what you've seen, heard, experienced.

• Don't get into denominational differences about baptism, communion, prophecy, speaking in tongues, women's ordination, apostolic succession. Save these discussions for a later time when they are committed to Christ.

• Don't use church terms like saved, revival, born again. Don't use theological terms either, like: eschatology, soteriology, pneumatology.

Here's one example of witnessing:

You may be asked: My mother is Jewish, my father is a Christian, which one is right? The preferred answer might be to say, Well, I personally believe Jesus is uniquely the son of God and the way by which my sins are forgiven. This way you have been truthful on what you personally believe. This way you have not made a misstatement in trying to avoid an argument trap, as in they're both true, and so forth. This way you have been a witness. This way you have not responded to a baited argument and began a theological debate that is likely to go nowhere. Instead, talk about how you met Jesus, what your relationship with him is like and how you walk daily with him, and what are to you the benefits and challenges of walking with Jesus daily. Sometimes people like to throw out challenging questions, just like the scribes and Pharisees did in the days of Jesus, but Jesus constantly outfoxed them. Jesus didn't argue with them, either. Remember as evangelist Dr. Tony Evans once taught, The Bible is like a lion, you don't have to defend it, just let it loose.

The most important issues for those thinking about their faith is:

• helping them understand the purpose of having witnesses in their life;

• defining how much faith they need;

• giving them an understanding of sin;

• understanding prayer; and

• a clear understanding of how the Holy Spirit will work in their lives.

The purpose of this book is to provide illustrations and examples I've used in communicating these issues over the years that you also might find useful in your witness to others about your relationship with Jesus.

1

Two Witnesses

Six years ago at Western Youth Institute in Morganton during an Epiphany weekend I was serving as table clergy at an Epiphany weekend. (An Epiphany weekend is much like a Kairos, Walk to Emmaus, Via de Christo and Cursillo weekend, but geared toward incarcerated young teenagers.) Anyway, an18 year old said: '"In Revelation 11:3-4, John writes: And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." So this young man asked, Who did I think the two witnesses were? I told him to let me think about it for a while, and I'd get back to him before the weekend was over.

That evening I was called upon to do a wrap up message on the events of the day, which had included four team members role playing about what they had experienced in meeting Jesus. There were skits by team members portraying Peter, John, Mary Magdalene and a shepherd at the nativity of Jesus, throughout the course of that day. Each of team member in their role playing had spoke of meeting Jesus and shared something about that experience.

I told the group about the question that I had been asked earlier that day: who were the two witnesses? I told them it was a good question and that over the years various thought had been given to trying to answer that question. Some theologians had suggested it was: Peter and Paul (representing the apostle to the Jews and apostle to the Gentiles). Some had suggested it represented the two testaments: Old and New of the Bible. Some suggested Moses and Elijah, who had been seen at the Transfiguration. Some, Enoch and Elijah, who had been assumed into heaven without dying.

I thought the better answer was that it was simply the importance of two witnesses. That two was the important issue, not the names of the witnesses. In the law that God gave Moses, it is written in Deuteronomy 19: A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. The Apostle Paul reminds the Corinthians: Let everything be proven by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Jesus sent out his disciples two by two—two witnesses in each group. There were two stone tablets comprising the ten commandments given Moses.

So I reminded the group that during the day, we'd had a re-creation of the testimonies of four witnesses: Peter, John, Mary Magdalene, a shepherd, but in reality all of us on the team were here as witnesses.

Witnessing to what?

I told them that, "The most important question you'll ever answer in your life, is:

Not who you'll marry, nor

Where you go to school, nor

What job or what career you'll have—

But what will you do about Jesus Christ?"

It's not just eternal consequences—heaven or hell—that are the result of this question, but how you live this life now. The kingdom is here, if you're in Christ. You have more joy and peace now, if you have Christ. You have life more abundantly, if you have Christ.

I reminded them that the Book of Hebrews says, we are surrounded by a host of witnesses. And that in one respect this whole life you live is like being a courtroom: you hear witness after witness testifying as to what they've seen and heard. Some you will hear say there is no God. Some will say they're not sure. Some might talk about other gods. Many though, will tell you they have met Jesus Christ and He is real and He is their Lord. You're the jury—you have to decide the truth about all this, from what you hear from these witnesses and what you know from your personal experience.

And so what does a witness do in a real courtroom? Express opinions? No! (That's only for experts.) Discuss theories? No! Instead they only are allowed to tell you what they have actually seen and heard. That's all. It's up to the jury—to you, so to speak—to decide the truth of the matter about this.

I had a Bishop friend named Frank Costantino. He was an amazing guy. Ex Mafia, he served time in prison in the 1960's, met Jesus while incarcerated, formed an international prison ministry after his release and became a noted speaker and author his last 35 years before he passed in April of 2006. Bishop Costantino was convinced that the primary purpose of a Christian witness was:

not to debate Christ;

nor to discuss theology;

but simply to witness to what one has seen, heard and experienced with regard to Jesus Christ.

~

I was present at a summer barbecue when I heard a young Harvard student ask this bishop once, "do you really believe in the resurrection, to which this raspy Marlon Brando Godfather voice said, I don't know about that, but let me tell you, that on September 23, 1968, I met the Lord Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, while in my jail cell."

You see, he understood that debating theology was never going to make much of a difference in this man's life—what he needed to hear over and over again, were witnesses who testified as to what personal relationships with Jesus had meant to them.

Thus the importance of a being surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Thus the importance of at least two witnesses. After all, there is already one witness against you—Satan, who is called the accuser of the brethren in scripture. He's always trying to tell you