This is the Truth Network. Is there hope for the big apple? New York City, these guys just went on a missions trip. Fred and Jamal, we're going to get an update from them. It's been a Wednesday in the Word.
We got a bunch of guys standing around praying. There's a lot of noise, but Fred, the brothers prayed for you, man. What happened up in New York City? Thank you, Stu. Stu, it was powerful.
The people in New York, a very large part, they're looking for truth. A lot of them are hurting. They got a lot of pain. And they were looking for the gospel. And we were able to share it with a lot of them.
Well, a lot of people are, you know, you hear the word New York, they're like, oh, that place, man, is so corrupt and materialistic, and they got this. This kind of radical mayor, and they kind of almost write it off. Even Christians are like a little bit skeptical, but like, we're called to go up here. Why'd y'all pick New York of all places, Fred?
Well, it's a world mission, Stu. A few people in New York are from New York, but there are people there from all over the country, all over the world, and a lot of people from Asia there. And it's a good place to share the gospel, Stu. A lot of venues up there, a lot of iconic places up there. And they're really, really good places to share the gospel.
Well, and you had some pretty interesting opportunities. People prayed to receive Christ. You had some confrontations, some pretty intense stuff, some rough stuff. Let's talk to your partner in crime. No pun intended.
Jamal, what was the life for you going with this soul-winning man here?
Well, it was a life-changing experience, student. People want to talk about what's going on in New York. I wanted to ask you: well, what are you doing after what's happened in New York? Are you praying about it? Are you going there?
Paul said to go to all the world and preach the gospel. That's New York included.
So, if you think New York is so bad, go there. Have an evangelizing trip. Pray about it.
Now, one of the things I want to add on to it, I was a little skeptical myself, but I said to myself, Well, if I have my issues, why am I not going to go? You know, what's the scripture, here I am, Lord, send me. I said that about Jamal. I said that about me. And once I got there and went to Times Square and I saw the crowd gathering and I saw God moving, I said, God is real.
This is something out of a storybook, and I'm a part of that story.
So it was something so powerful. And I was glad to be a part of it. And you listen out there, you can be a part of God's story as well. Wow.
Now, we talked this morning in Witnessing the Word about 2 Thessalonians, where Paul prayed: of all the prayers Paul could ask to be prayed for him, wasn't about health, wasn't about wealth, wasn't about getting more food. It was to pray that the Word of God. Would run swiftly. Dave Compton, I think that's what we're hearing from these guys. They really did take the word of God to New York City, and you're taking the word of God to everyone on the radio airwaves.
Why is it important that we advance God's word and that we pray this prayer for not just for our pastors, but for each other?
Well, in a time like we're living in now, we need that kind of reinforcement, don't we? We really need that.
So I really admire you, gentlemen, going up to New York City. Wow.
Hey, Fred, give us an example. Give us maybe, take us to the streets in New York City and what God did. Maybe an encounter you had or something like that. And Jamal, I want you to testify too about one of those. Stu, on the sidewalks, a lot of those people that do live in New York, a lot of them are on the job.
They're between on lunch hour or whatever. They're under a time crunch. A few of them we were able to reach, but most of the ones that we were able to reach were at night in the parks and the various venues. I remember one night we encountered a group of kids from Korea, neat, clean kids. Uh, two of them wanted to pray to receive Christ.
On another occasion, I remember some young men there who probably were part of a gang. Hair hanging down in their face and all that kind of stuff. And one of those guys wanted to hear the message of the cross. And I was able to share that with him. And while I was sharing it with him, the other guys got up and they tried to drag him off.
And he wouldn't let them drag him off. He told them, I want to finish what I'm hearing right here. And he prayed to receive Christ. And one businessman that I remember, his name was from, his name was Mark. He was from Miami.
He just wasn't familiar with the scriptures. He let me share those scriptures with him. He prayed to receive Christ. And I may hear from him at some point in time. That's awesome.
So you guys went up there with team challenges up there, too, right? You're part of a little team. That's great.
Some open-air preaching and whatnot. And just going to a different world, isn't it? Very much so. That's a vast, vast area up there. This wasn't Winston-Salem anymore, wasn't it, Fred?
No, no, it's not. Jamal, what were your thoughts? Tell us something maybe something that especially touched you that made an impression on you when you were over there leading people to Christ and sharing the gospel of New York. It was the fact that the church was moving. We have so many people here that go to church on Sunday and go home and they don't take the gospel out to the streets.
Well, thanks to Tommy Scarsborough and Teen Challenge, well I'm sorry, Adult and Teen Challenge for going up there and taking the church to the streets, taking the church to Times Square, to Brooklyn Bridge, to Washington Square Park, to the subway cars.
Now You might be a little apprehensive, a little afraid to do it on your own. I get that. Uh, so partner with somebody. I partnered with Fred and he took me over there. Uh, you have guys partnering with team challenge and they go out in groups.
God said to go out by twos, so there's power in groups.
Now, one of the things that moved me. to this point was when we were in the subway cars. Packed about 50, 70 deep, and we burst out in the song. And we got the looks, we got the stairs because they weren't used to that. I wasn't used to that, but to hear the word of God reverberating throughout that subway car and then have people join in along with us.
People talk about how bad a subway car is and how antisocial people can be.
Well, how is it changed? How is it transformed when you have the word of God being preached and singing out there? And on top of that, to close the points, Stu, while we were singing and bringing a light-hearted tone to the subway cars, we also brought people to Christ.
So that is how you can move, and that's how I was moved. Hey, take it to everywhere and sing and preach and praise. You never know what God can use.
So go out there and be useful to God's word. Brad Hage, you wrote a book on soul winning, and I guess you went out and lived that out in New York City. Of course, you're doing that everywhere you go in North Carolina, too. Fred, if we really believe Jesus Christ is the answer to everything. Why wouldn't we go tell everyone about them, even in New York City?
Stu, we just need to get prepared. That's the most important thing. That's the hardest part to get prepared. When we get prepared and we start praying for that lost soul or we start praying for opportunities, God will answer that prayer. There is no prayer He enjoys answering anymore.
And when we get ready, God will provide the opportunity. Tell everyone a little bit about your book. You're helping prepare every believer because every believer can be a soul winner. But talk about the book, Give Him Jesus, and kind of how that will walk people through that and all that stuff. Stu is designed to help the body of Christ.
95% have never led one person to Jesus. That book is designed to equip the body of Christ to be practical, passionate soul winners. And it's designed to help every person develop a skill set that they develop to fit them. We're all different. We've all got different personality types and all that kind of stuff, strengths and weaknesses.
That book is designed to help you adapt a personal witnessing skill set to fit you. And if you will apply that, and it takes some time, read and apply. Read and apply. I had to read the book I read five times. And after about five times, that book got burnt in my mind.
And if you will do what I've got there in the book, it will burn on you in your mind. And after a certain period of time, you don't think about it anymore. You just become personal witnessing intentional. You look for another opportunity rather than think about what am I going to say or do. And a good place to start is just tell people what Jesus did for you, right?
That's true. Personal testimony is very, very powerful. Jamal, your takeaway from this thing, what do you say to listeners out there?
Sometimes we get cozy and comfortable and we forget that Jesus said, go. Go into all the world, advance the gospel. We forget to pray that the Word of God would rush and run swiftly to impact people for God's glory. What do you say, Jamal? Get out of here.
Well, I would say something that Steve Noble has said. That was featured on Truth Network, and thank you, Stu, for Truth Network Network and all you do.
So, to answer the question, Steve Noble said that this is not a political answer to our problems, this is not a celebrity answer to our problems, this is not going to be a podcasting answer to our problems. The main causal change agent is going to be the gospel.
So, I said, Well, As a political guy myself, we have hit inroads or we've hit blocks. But the main person throughout history that has changed the world has been Jesus Christ, and he did it through love.
So What's going to get you out of the house? What's going to get you out of bed? Hopefully, it's going to be to change that brother, that sister that needs changing in your neighborhood and in the rest of the country.
So, I would say this to you: if you want to change the world, change the world the way Jesus did, go out there, talk about love, not even just talk about it, but do love. Give somebody a ride, give somebody food, go out to a church and. Spread your love through them so you're stronger with the whole group. But go out there and talk about God's word and also share his love as well. That's going to be the main cause of change.
It's not a political thing, it's a It's a Christ love thing. That's going to be the main thing that changes the world. That should be motivation for you to get out and do. The dude just added, share his love. Dave Compton, you've been Sharing God's love on the radio for decades, a long time, encouraging so many souls, including me, and you're a great part of our Truth Network.
People listen to you all over the place. I've heard it said that love isn't love until you give it away. Dave, what did you say getting out of here about the importance of spreading the gospel wherever you are, man? You could be like our financial planning brother over here. You could be like a brother who's in missions.
You could be a pastor. You could be a plumber. whatever you're up to, an athlete, someone just in the home, a housewife.
Well, when Jamal was talking, I thought about that song, and they'll know we are Christians by our love. Amen.
So. I'm glad that people can sense that and they're trustworthy of what we want to share with them. We just have to go about it, do it. And ask God to bless the airfruits. And we want to give.
Fred, you've graciously offered a book to anyone that'll call us, give them Jesus, your awesome little soul-winning book. Which is just a short little paperback. In fact, you redid it so it could fit in someone's pocket, just like your Gideon Bible there. Fred, can we make that available, folks? They will reach out to us.
Yes, we can, Stu. You just let me know what you need, brother. All right. Give them Jesus, reach out to us, email us, and maybe go to the website truthnetwork.com, and we'll find a way to get you a copy of Give Them Jesus. And maybe you can buy a case, get your church involved.
I went to a church the other week. I was talking, I gave a pastor a copy of your book, Fred, and guess what he told me? He said, We have evangelism teams that are going out every week sharing the gospel. I got excited about that. Isn't that cool?
Praise the Lord. And then, one more testimony, we got to go. A friend of mine called me. He said, Stu, I got to put you on the speakerphone. My wife has got a testimony.
He said, We had breakfast with you. A month ago, and you gave us this little book on soul winning called Give Him Jesus by Fred Hagee.
Well, my wife got a call. Her aunt was really, really sick. And she was praying how to share with her. She got a hold of Fred's book, read the whole thing, and she went and shared the gospel with her aunt. Boldly, God gave you gave through me, through Fred, to me, to her, to their family.
To prepare and equip her to share the gospel with her aunt, that could change the eternity, Fred. Stu, I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate that. I'm going to leave you with one last verse. 1 Peter 3:15 changed my life. But in your heart, sanctify the Lord Jesus and be ready always to give an account to every man who asks a reason for the hope that abides in you.
Do it with gentleness and meekness. Praise the Lord, brother. True to the
