Dispatches from the Front Lines

evangelical, evangelism, witnessing, witness, bible, jesus, tracts, ray, comfort, wotm,
I have long suspected that the standard form of witnessing as sold by Ray Comfort in his Way of the Master series is a dismal failure. (Ray's evangelism "college" costs $150 to attend, btw. Yeah.)

Now, in these stories straight from believers themselves, I have proof of this failure. (Oddly, the believers do not count these stories as failures. They count them as successes. Apparently, simply getting a total stranger to acknowledge your existence is a win for Jesus.)

the lindaman family:

Well, I did it!!!! Twice! First, my husband and I were at a gas station and I just walked up to this girl and handed her a million dollar bill. She looked at me like I just fell off of Mars, but she took it. Second, I was at another gas station, which was full service. I didn't realize it was full service, but God did. The guy walked up to my van, pumped my gas, and when he was done I got to give him a million dollar bill. When I pulled away he was reading it! I can't even tell you how excited it made me. Thanks again for what you do!

1) I believe the expression is "landed from Mars" or "came here from Mars".
2) That's probably the look on my face when people randomly hand me trash to throw away.
3) How was that a success? Basic politeness would make her accept the trash even if she didn't want it.
4) "I didn't realize it was full service, but God did"?! wtf? seriously?
5) Again, how was this a success? The gas station attendant read the trash you handed him. So what?

deanna:

I am very shy, and would never have dreamed I could witness. I have been encouraged by listening to The Way of the Master to start sharing my faith. I now give out million dollar bills when I go to Walmart or the grocery store. God can use even shy people!

at least i don't go to that walmart. i don't like scaring shy people. (apparently she's too shy even for an informative profile.)

danagirl47:

I'm like the friend you described. I am totally itching to share my faith, but I'm so shy I just don't know how. So I usually end up feeling guilty because Christ gave His life for me and I can't even bring myself to talk about it. So I took you up on your challenge last week, and on my very last day I finally made sure I actually had a tract with me and gave it to the K-Mart cashier. It was totally awkward because I didn't really know what to say, but I'm still glad I did it. Thanks for the challenge. Would love some prayer. :)

nothing like involving yourself in an awkward social situation for your faith. still no successes. (and i'd like to hear the story from the cashier's point of view.)

ricardo:

Hola! I work for a Messianic Jewish ministry in San Francisco, CA (I'm a gentile). I've never had the guts to pass out Bible tracts, but after watching the news a couple of weeks ago and seeing Christians get chased out of the Castro District for simply praying, when one of the evangelists on staff asked me the other day if I would help pass out Bible tracts in Union Square I couldn't resist! I stood on the corner for a couple of hours passing out tracts and struck up a great conversation with a really nice elderly Jewish woman. Her and her daughter passed me by at first, but I noticed her take a second look at my shirt which simply says "Y'shua" across the chest. I continued to pass out tracts and I noticed the women looking back at me from about 30 yards away and talking with each other. After a couple of minutes the elderly woman approached me and asked, "Are you here to convert the Jews or the Goyim?" I told her I was here to tell about Y'shua. She asked me the same question again. I told her "I'm not here to convert anyone, I'm here to get to people to consider the facts and make an educated decision as to whether or not Y'shua is the Messiah the Hebrew prophets fortold." Again, she asked me the same question a third time. I said, "Look Miss, I'm here to tell both Jews and Gentiles alike that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob chose the children of Israel to have a special relationship with, and through that special, unique relationship with Israel, God would introduce Himself to the world and all of mankind would be blessed. I'm here to get you to consider whether or not Y'shua is that blessing, through whom God manifested Himself in human form and makes salvation possible for all of mankind." With that she said, "Hmmm. Ok. Let me have one of those." I gave her one, we talked, and shared a laugh. I wish I could say she asked the Lord for forgiveness, but she promised to read the tract and look into it. God's at work! I love your site; many blessings!

Jews for Jesus! Except that he's not a Jew. I love how he couldn't answer the old lady's question. What does the bible say about honesty? something . . . I forget. anyway, still no successes.

Joe Byrd:

Trish-I just read your Challenge blog--Let me tell you something I do ---I go with my wife to Wal-mart and , go loaded down with Living Waters tracts.. I start handing them out with ""The Greeter", but I don't make myself too obvious because--I'm on a mission. While she shops ,I stroll thru the book section and I start browsing through all the magazines and paperbacks, -but before I put one one down and pick the other up I stick a tract securely inside it. When I'm finished with that task, I go to the card section and place a track in front of a few cards . It looks just like a card-----------------I've done this many times ---They work all week long for you. I've done many different things and I get so many good ideas from you and WOTM. I've shared one-on-one many times and You know what? I've never had anyone rude to me when I do the good person test. I did have a lady put her hands over her ears because she was so convicted. I've still yet to open air but am very close.

Thank you for your conviction and dedication in witnessing to the lost.

Joe

He's on a mission- from god. I love the sneakiness here. He can't just hand tracts to people, he hides them in books and shelves. (I suppose I might appreciate the free bookmark if I found a tract in my book, but it wouldn't convert me.)

and, what exactly does "they work all week long for you" mean, anyway? work how? it sounds like an ad for an internet sales scheme.

I have to say, I see people selling things in front of Walmart all the time- cookies, candy, etc. They do very well. So why is Jesus such a hard sell? And why do these people take such pride, such joy in engaging in an activity that doesn't seem to work? Most people abandon a losing strategy- these people embrace it.

Cancer Is God's Smackdown

cancer, ray, comfort, religion, christian, religion, christianity, evangelism, wotm, living waters

Ray Comfort, evangelist extraordinaire, believes that cancer is god's punishment and that people with cancer should never, ever so much as see a doctor, let alone get treatment. Even taking medicine for the pain is an insult to god.

I am not making this up.

Ray wrote a book, More Than Just Comfort- An Answer to Cancer, still available for $25.00 Canadian, in which he states

“Therefore you should never take medicine to relieve pain. You should never consult a doctor or go to a hospital for treatment, because you would be interfering with the work of God in your life. If Cancer is the chastening tool of God, then doctors who are fighting cancer are fighting against the work of God. If a preacher or a Christian believes the sickness is a means of chastening, then he should never pray for relief from the sickness, but rather pray that the cancer will continue to grow until the chastening is completed”.

Yeah, you read that right. Even praying to god for relief is forbidden.

What do you suppose happened to people who took this advice? I think you know. Anyone who took that advice died a horrible, painful, preventable death.

The reason I held back on this post was because the book was published in the late 70s. It was entirely possible that Ray had changed his stance on treating cancer, especially in light of the many advances that have been made in the field of cancer treatment. Then I discovered that the book was still for sale, though not in the US.

Yet I still didn't know if Ray actually believed, 30 years later, that cancer is god's punishment and one shouldn't seek treatment. The answer to that question would be yes.

In the comments to Ray's post, Angry About Nothing, Punjab calls Ray on this:

Ray... I don't know what Iago is referring to, but here's a quote from your "book" More Than Just Comfort... An Answer to Cancer

“Therefore you should never take medicine to relieve pain. You should never consult a doctor or go to a hospital for treatment, because you would be interfering with the work of God in your life. If Cancer is the chastening tool of God, then doctors who are fighting cancer are fighting against the work of God. If a preacher or a Christian believes the sickness is a means of chastening, then he should never pray for relief from the sickness, but rather pray that the cancer will continue to grow until the chastening is completed”.

I don't know if you'll post this, as it makes you look more ridiculous than usual, but I was wondering why you would go against your own beliefs and see a doctor.

Ray actually responds to this with:

Iago ..."if a preacher or a Christian sees sickness as a mewans of chastening..."It seems that you don't know what "chastening" means. It means punishment by God. Best wishes.

You'll notice, Ray doesn't deny believing that cancer is god's punishment, nor does he deny believing that people suffering from cancer should not seek treatment. He doesn't repudiate the stance taken in the book he is still selling.

Ray Comfort thinks that if you have cancer, you should die a horrible death, a preventable death.

Ray Comfort is a very bad man.

When Do I Get to Start Scamming People

ray, comfort, way of the master, wotm, bible, religion, evangelism, witness, stupid, jesus,
and calling it salvation?

I talk a lot about Ray Comfort, and about half the reactions I get are "meh- he's stupid, so what?"

He's wildly popular, that's what. Millions of people are paying for his School of Biblical Evangelism (on sale now for $75!), and then using that advice to spread ignorance and bigotry.

This is a sample of the wisdom of Ray Comfort:

If you are familiar with the first law of thermodynamics, then you should be familiar with the second law. It says tells us that it is scientifically impossible for the universe to be eternal. Everything degenerates. Leave an apple on a table for a few weeks and it will rot.

Rotting apples have NOTHING to do with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Nothing. At. All.

So, other than ridiculous analogies involving rotting apples and the SLT, what does one get for $75?

101 Online Lessons
over 45 Audio Lessons
50 Cartoon Kids Lessons
a student community forum

Plus!
The Way of the Master (book)
Out of the Comfort Zone (book)
Hell's Best Kept Secret (cd)
True and False Conversion (cd)

And when you graduate ...
Bonded Leather Evidence Bible
A Quality Graduation Certificate

So, ignorance, ignorance, ignorance for kids, communal ignorance, book ignorance, book ignorance, cd ignorance, cd ignorance, a fancy book and . . . a Quality Graduation Certificate.

Please, someone help me, what the fuck is a "quality" graduation certificate? Anyone?

When do I get to make millions selling ignorance? Oh, right, when I give up those annoying morals and ethics. Always in the way.