The Power of a Question: “If you died today . . .”
September 6, 2007
|
Posted by Ray Fowler
Having been trained in Evangelism Explosion and as a frequent listener to WAFG radio when I lived in South Florida, I found the following paragraphs from the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church press release on Dr. D. James Kennedy’s death very interesting:
Dr. Kennedy was born Nov. 3, 1930, but his Christian life did not begin until 1953. Sleeping late on a Sunday morning, his radio alarm went off and a preacher’s booming voice invaded his slumber. “Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to ask you, ‘What right do you have to enter into My heaven?’—what would you say?”
Dr. Kennedy soon discovered that answer was to trust in Christ alone for eternal life, and shortly after he made that commitment was called into the Gospel ministry. Crediting this radio program for hearing the call to Christianity, he founded WAFG (90.3 FM) in 1974 as an outreach for Christ to the South Florida community.
Anyone who has taken E.E. (Evangelism Explosion) knows the two diagnostic questions that help you transition a conversation into sharing the gospel:
- “Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to heaven, or is that something you would say you’re still working on?”
- “Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to say to you, ‘Why should I let you into My heaven?’ what would you say?”
I have personally seen the power of asking these questions to many people over the years. What I didn’t know is that God used a variation of these questions to bring Dr. Kennedy to faith! I also did not know that God used the medium of radio to bring this question to bear on Dr. Kennedy’s life, and that this was part of what inspired him to launch WAFG so many years later. What a wonderful testimony to God’s grace and how he works in our lives to advance his kingdom!
Related posts:
Categories: Death, Evangelism, Heaven
|
Leave a reply
I’ve been doing street evangelism since I was 12. I was fortunate enough that my tiny youth group was taught by students from Moody Bible institute of Chicago. We were trained for street work at a very early age. I started at age 12 in the early 60’s leading housewives to the Lord with my GF as we sold her mom’s Tupperware. The approach to “if you died today do you know for sure you are going to heaven”- was attributed to one person and I can not remember who that approach was named after. My church is starting a new branch of ministry called Taking it to the Streets. I’d love to help get it organized but want to be accurate. Do you remember the name of this approach?
Jeanne – The questions were first made popular through the ministry of D. James Kennedy and Evangelism Explosion. If you look up Evangelism Explosion (also called Everyday Evangelism), you can find more information.