What Is Your Jesus Story?

Hello, this is Matt Slick from the Matt Slick Live Podcast, where I defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundations of the truth of God's Word. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network.

This is the Truth Network. We're excited to talk about your Jesus story. We can't get our eye off the gospel. We can't get our eye off the target of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. And let me tell you about a man of God who's passionate about that, who spends every waking moment in his ministry, the ministry of TruLife.org, talking about how to share your Jesus story.

And he is Jesse Connors. Jesse, it's great to have you on the line of fire, man. You're going to tell us about sharing our Jesus story today. This is what's really important right here, huh?

It really, really is. And after listening to the previous segment, I was just digging through some quotes on evangelism, and I thought this would be a great bridge for our segment. And it's from Leonard Ravenhill. Leonard was an incredible evangelist during the Second World War.

He would tour around and give evangelistic messages to people, and they responded, and many became Christians and also gave their lives into missions. But this is what he is quoted to have said. Are you ready for this? Yes.

America is not dying because of the strength of humanism, but the weakness of evangelism. Mmm. Wow. That is strong. That is strong.

Talk to you! Yeah. And we know that that's the case, because if you look at LifeWay—this is before COVID—LifeWay had a stat out that only 2% share their faith on a regular basis. How in the world could that happen when Jesus was so authoritative when he told us to go?

And he talked about how beautiful the feet are, those that bring good news. He told us to go when he was ascending into heaven, to go therefore and make disciples. And I don't know why people thought that the work of an evangelist was only for a particular person, like me. I'm an evangelist. But the work of evangelism is for everybody. The work of evangelism is for everybody. The evangelist is what equips people to do evangelism.

I love it. And that is what we have done with our wonderful ministry, with truelife.org, where you're able to share your Jesus story. And I also have written Evangelism Boot Camp. You can go to evangelismbootcamp.org, we'll talk about that I hope a little bit more. I want to hear about that book.

Everyone needs to get a copy of this book. Can you tell us, Jesse, your Jesus story, how you got into this, and then we're going to challenge listeners to maybe even call in and tell us their Jesus story. Let's start off with the founder of this awesome ministry.

How did you even come to know the Lord, and how did you come into starting this wonderful ministry, helping others share their Jesus story? Well, I was very blessed to grow up in a Christian home, and my parents were not blessed, and they're actually listening right now, so hi, Mom and Dad. My father, one of his first memories was his mom on the floor bleeding, because his father had beaten her, and he came back from World War II, actually. There's a long story to why that happened, but my dad had a really rough childhood. My mom, not as bad, but still not in a Christian home, but one day somebody walked up to my dad on a pier and gave him a This Is Your Life Now track. He was from California, now he's serving in the Navy, and someone randomly hands him a track, and he opens it up, and he's by himself, he gets on his knees, and he accepts Jesus. Then he goes and knocks on hundreds and hundreds of doors over the next couple of weeks, just telling people about Jesus, and how he had a life change, and how they can have a life change, too.

That's really how truelife.org was born, in many respects. It's a product of my dad's testimony. We have all three video answers to life's hard questions. I know that we're on the Jewish side of the broadcast here.

It's Thursday. If you go to truelife.org, there's a special Judaism section with former believers in Judaism that are now messianic Jews, that believe that Messiah is Jesus, and their stories are there. If they're Mormons, Atheists, Jehovah Witnesses, Buddhists, Muslims, whatever they are, there's former believers in that faith waiting for people to talk to them, or to actually look at the videos so they can hear people like them speak to them.

We know that a former atheist is more likely to convert another atheist, and a Mormon is more likely to convert another Mormon. Where we're at right now with the Share Your Jesus story, is we have combined our website with the opportunity for you to share your Jesus story. On truelife.org, you're able to have your Jesus story sit on top of all of those wonderful videos. It won't be just you sharing your story, your Jesus story, your testimony, etc.

It'll be those that are below you also helping others to come to know Christ. When you do that, there's a link that you can put on your social media. The same link can be put in an email, the same link can be put in a text message, and you'll be able to copy and paste this, and thousands of people can see it, and it's free. So we encourage everyone to go to truelife.org and go to share your Jesus story. Now, our church network doesn't even really know about this, yet we have churches across the country that partner with us, and we make invitation cards for them to hand out because people are afraid to share their faith. So we combine our website in the back of their invitation card so that people will be more likely to share their faith. So you're mobilizing people to share the gospel, you're mobilizing pastors. A pastor sitting in front of a congregation of two or three hundred people, four hundred, five hundred, whatever. Statistically, 90% of those people sitting out in front of that pastor are not sharing the gospel actively.

More than that. And I think, okay, this is a two-fold reason, okay? Number one, that they can go to church their entire life and not know how we got the Bible. There's a failure in Christian education.

40 authors mostly never met over a period of 1600 years, it still tells the same story, it matches with archaeological data perfectly. I mean, National Geographic has been really bad on a lot of things, but as far as documenting the authenticity of scripture and the authority of scripture, it's been doing a great job of archaeological evidence. So we've been seeing a lack of education, and then people think that other religions might have competition for us. In reality, if you look at what we have, all other religions, all other world views, they break down at the archaeological level and many other levels when they're being compared to Christianity. Christianity is a no-brainer, but unfortunately we haven't been telling people that in our churches. We've been going verse by verse, you know, through the Bible, not talking about how we got the Bible. So truelife.org has a Bible section on it for free too, so people can tune in and listen and learn for themselves. But also, whenever they recommend truelife.org to somebody, it also is carrying that same information to the unbelievers, and even their Christian friends, of course, will benefit from it too.

How about let's do this. If someone calls in and shares their Jesus story, it can be in 30 seconds, it can be longer, we want to send you an amazing book, The Evangelism Boot Camp, that is written by my friend Jesse Connors. He's on the air with us right now, it's an awesome book. I read it, he gave a signed copy to me and my daughters when we were up in Lynchburg having dinner.

It was unbelievable, and it's a powerful book, mobilizing, teaching you everything you know, putting on that armor. Jesse, you're going to take us through that book when we come back from this next break, but I want to give the phone number, if you want to call in and share your Jesus story, the first person to do this today is going to get a free copy of his book, we'll drop it in the mail to you, from my friend Jesse, who's helping people, Christians across the world, share their Jesus story. The toll-free number is 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884, share your Jesus story, get a free book, it's an amazing book, it's a workbook, so you actually get involved with it, churches are doing it in a small group form, it's got some sensational big-time endorsements to this book. Jesse, why did you write the book, and I want to get into that more on the other side of this break, we've just got about a minute, tell us real quick why you wrote The Evangelism Boot Camp. Sure, absolutely, well Josh McDowell said it really good on his foreword, he said, you will learn how to share the gospel, and what to say when you have five seconds, five minutes, or an hour. He prepares you for the most probable worldviews that you will encounter, like Mormonism and Islam. You will go on training missions, and you will become who God created you to be, a soldier in his army that regularly shares their faith with others, a soldier who has been trained to battle through doubt and fear, to get to the front lines to share the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. That is Josh McDowell's words to you, my friends. If you're listening, my brothers and sisters across this country right now, evangelismbootcamp.org, evangelismbootcamp.org, those books, this is a 130-page book, it's an incredible resource. Jonathan Falwell recently just told me, who wouldn't want this on their self? This is a great resource. It's only $5, we don't get a single dime if you go to evangelismbootcamp.org.

They're $5 from Amazon, if you have a Prime account, it's free shipping, this is a no-brainer for you. Okay, this book, guys, it's a must-read, and it's a book that, what I love about the book is it actually encourages you to put, like James, the book of James we talk about is the shoe-leather book, you know, putting your faith in action. Can you think of a better way, even hailing back to that quote that Jesse from Ravenhill that you started this segment with, to put your faith in action, to do something, to make a difference, to solve. How many things are solved by people coming to know Christ? Everything! Can I say that quote one more time?

Please do! America is not dying because of the strength of humanism, but the weakness of evangelism. That is something. Leonard Ravenhill, Jesse Connors is our guest, he is with a ministry called True Life, truelife.org, he also has launched a whole new initiative called Share Your Jesus Story, and he's going to tell you when we come back, very basically, he's going to take, he said, we're going to go, folks, we're doing boot camp. You may not have a sensational testimony filled with biker gang stories and drug dealers and prison and all that, and by the way, I love hearing testimonies from all kinds of people. God has given everyone a story, but if you know Jesus, you have a Jesus story.

And today we're going to bring that out of you. Now, if you know your Jesus story and you have one and you want to share it with the world, you can call in right now, it's a toll-free call, we're even going to give you a book. And, you know, don't do it for the book, but do do it for the book, because the book's going to be a blessing to you. It's the Evangelism Boot Camp by Jesse Connors, who is on the air with us right now. This guy is an author, we have him on the air with us right now.

All you've got to do is call the number 866-34-TRUTH, I'll spell it out, 866-348-7884. Call in, tell us your Jesus story. To share with us how to tell a Jesus story, we have Jesse on the line. He's written this book for this purpose to equip pastors, people in the pews, everyone, believers, to tell the good news. Tell me the story of Jesus, tell me your story, your Jesus story.

Jesse Connors, so good to have you with us. We are going to get into boot camp. Now, you've got to get us fired up here. I mean, I read your book, and I opened it to the very first page, and you said, all right, folks, get ready to grab your armor. It's a battle, this is a war, right?

That's right. So talk to us, take us from ground zero, go ahead. Yeah, sure, sorry, I'm going to give you a few nuggets really fast, and talking over you is kind of like my boot camp soldier man coming in. But I want to tell you right now that Ephesians 6, 10 through 20, is where we're talking about our spiritual armor. And did you know that in the verses that precede the listing of our spiritual armor, it says that we must be ready to stand firm? It says stand firm twice, and then it lists your armor, you know, the helmet, the salvation, the breastplate, the righteous, the selpical truth, sword of the spirit, and of course the shield of faith, and then it goes into the gospel of peace, which are the shoes, and then at the end of this, like I'm talking 19 and 20, and Ephesians 19 and 20 is saying to speak boldly. So the first part is saying to stand firm, the second part is saying to speak boldly, and so it's really talking about your shoes and how important they are, because you have to ask yourself, how effective is a shoeless soldier? Wow. How effective is a shoeless soldier? Are you really going to want to go to battle without having your shoes on?

Mmm. That is something. And you know, it doesn't say in Romans 10 how lovely on the mountain, or the feet of them, that bring good news. You have beautiful feet if you're sharing the gospel, if your feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That's right, Romans 10, 15 says, and how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?

Unbelievable. This is why the Scripture says, how beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news. And again, Proverbs 11, 30, he was wise when told. If you guys are wanting to talk about why we're losing the battle of America today, it's because we are not sharing our faith, it's because we're afraid, it's because we haven't been trained. That's okay, it's not too late. We can stand together and make this happen. Let me go into detail. Okay, now Jesse, before you do, we have a caller in who wants your book, who's got a salvation story on the line right now. Larry is calling in. We've got to talk to him. Unbelievable.

This is happening in real time, and by the way, toward the end of the show, Jesse's going to talk to us about a path for revival that's going to blow your mind. It's right out of the good book. Hold on. Let's get Larry on the line. Larry, are you there, sir?

Welcome to the line of fire. Stu Epperson with you, filling in for my good friend, Dr. Michael Brown. Jesse Connors, the author of Evangelism Boot Camp is on the air, and you just won a book!

Great, thank you. We're so glad you called, and tell us your Jesus story, Larry. It's so good to hear from you. Okay, this was close to 50 years ago. I was separated from my wife, living with another woman now, and a knock came on the door at her apartment. I opened the door, and there was this man there telling me about his church, and my heart just, you know, put up a block, and I said, oh, how much does your church need? Do you need some money? So I pulled my wallet out to look for maybe a $5 bill, and he looked at me, and he said, you know, salvation's free.

I don't want your money. And he said, thank you very much for your time. And I closed the door, and I thought, oh my gosh, what was that about? A little bit later, I was in a mall, sat down, had an ice cream cone, and right beside me was this chick track. I picked it up and started reading it, talked about salvation. I thought, hmm, put that down. Out on my car one day, a little bit, a couple months later, was something stuck to my windshield, talked about salvation.

I thought, somebody's trying to tell me something. So I found a Bible, a little wedding Bible in the apartment, and I started reading it. And it convicted me that I was a sinner, and right there in the apartment, I dropped down on my knees and accepted the Lord, and finally had to move out of the apartment with my girlfriend. And eventually, to make a long story short, my wife and I got back together, and she received the Lord, and our marriage was saved. And I've been walking with her ever since.

Beauty for masses. Wow, that is so... Jesse, what does it do in your soul to hear Larry share about how he came to know Christ? Somebody banged on his door, someone put gas in the car, drove to his neighborhood, someone took the time to take a shower, brush their hair, and go and canvass and go share the gospel. Someone left a gospel track, a Chick track of all tracks.

Can I highlight this? This is so important for us to discuss, okay? So Larry, I love you, brother, thank you for sharing that with us, and I hope you stand on the line with us.

So basically, here we are, Larry. The guy knocks on your door, and he is the recipient of your closed door. He saw you close the door in his face. He probably doesn't even know that you became a Christian. He probably doesn't even know that he played a role in your life that was that significant, that it was really foundational to get the momentum going. I cannot thank that man enough for knocking on your door and taking that scorn, that shame, and that well-goddess-in-your-hands type of approach and still going, because that's the work of an evangelist.

Do you want to add on that? I'm just so encouraged, and I'm so encouraged that, you know, everyone—here's the wild thing. Larry included, Jesse, Stu are awesome producers in there of The Line of Fire. Everyone who has a Jesus story has a Jesus story because someone else had a Jesus story.

That's right. Think about that. And so we hear the Reverend Billy Graham, we hear Ravenhill, who you quoted, we hear about D.L. Moody and the millions who have been impacted by him, and C.T. Studd and Jim Elliott and all these godly people. Well, go find out who led them to Christ.

Ask yourself this question. Who brought you to Jesus so that you're able now to share with a nationwide and international audience on this radio show, The Good News of Christ? Larry, your story has gone out to hundreds of thousands of people because someone shared their Jesus story with you. And I'm so encouraged. Larry, we're going to put you on hold so we can get your details, your address, so we can drop a copy of this book. You're going to love it.

From Jesse, we're going to get the author to sign it himself. And Larry, God bless you. Thanks for calling in today for sharing your story. Larry, I love you, brother.

Larry, I love you, brother. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the man that knocked on your door, and God bless the person that gave me that sick track.

That is so cool. May God bless them. Praise the Lord. Yeah, you know, it's fun to do a spiritual genealogy at some point in your life, Jesse, where you go back, okay, who led them to the Lord? Who led them to the Lord? I was with a buddy who I had helped lead to the Lord, and we were seeing a man who helped lead me to the Lord, who was a pastor. We were driving through Asheville, we stopped at the guy's church, I gave him a good hug, and you know what my buddy said to him, Jesse?

What did he say? He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, I said, He said, I said, I said, I said, He said, I said, I said, I said, Yes, I said, I said, I said, I said, I said, I said, I said, I said, I said, I said, I said, story that you just heard was probably 30 seconds. When you go to TrueLife.org, there is a Share Your Jesus Story button. When you click on the Share Your Jesus Story button, you put in your information, it's all free, and then he can simply take what he said and put it on on our system, and you can do this on your on your phone, record it on your phone, and then you can upload it from your phone, and then you can place it on top of the TrueLife.org website. And again, if you recall from the previous segment, there's lots of people and answers like Ken Ham, Josh McDowell, Jonathan Falwell, many others are below us answering questions, so it's not just you trying to share your faith. You can have a 30-second testimony or a 10-minute testimony, it's up to you. So listen, the key element here is at the end of every single Jesus story, you're going to be saying, you can share your Jesus story like I have, click this Share Your Jesus Story button right above me. Get the book Evangelism Boot Camp by my friend Jesse Connors. This is the Truth Network.