Sharing Your Testimony
by Charles R. Swindoll
A time-honored, effective method of evangelism is your personal testimony. Just telling about your spiritual pilgrimage. The skeptic may deny your doctrine or attack your church, but he cannot honestly ignore the fact that your life has been cleaned up and revolutionized.
Now I’m not talking about some stale, dragged-out verbal marathon. That kind of testimony never attracted anyone! I’m speaking of an effective, powerful missile launched from your lips to the ears of the unsaved. Consider these five suggestions:
1. You want to be listened to, so be interesting. It’s a contradiction to talk about how exciting Christ really is in an uninteresting way. Remember to guard against religious clichés, jargon, and hard-to-understand terminology. Theologians, beware!
2. You want to be understood, so be logical. Think of your salvation in three phases and construct your testimony accordingly: (a) before you were born again—the struggles within, the loneliness, lack of peace, absence of love, unrest, and fears; (b) the decision that revolutionized your life; and (c) the change—the difference it has made since you received Christ.
3. You want the moment of your new birth to be clear, so be specific. Don’t be vague. Speak of Christ, not the church. Emphasize faith more than feeling. Be simple and direct as you describe what you did or what you prayed or what you said. This is crucial!
4. You want your testimony to be used, so be practical. Be human and honest as you talk. Don’t promise, “All your problems will end if you will become a Christian,” for that isn’t true. Try to think as unbelievers think.
5. You want your testimony to produce results, so be warm and genuine. A smile breaks down more barriers than the hammer blows of cold, hard facts. Let your enthusiasm flow freely. It’s hard to convince someone of the sheer joy and excitement of knowing Christ if you’re wearing a face like a jail warden. Above all, be positive and courteous. Absolutely refuse to argue. Nobody I ever met was “arm wrestled” into the kingdom. Insults and put-downs turn people off.
Ask God to open your lips and honor your words . . . but be careful! Once your missile hits the target, you’ll become totally dissatisfied with your former life as an earthbound, secret-service saint.
No persuasive technique will ever take the place of your personal testimony. If you have not discovered the value of telling others how God rearranged your life, you’ve missed a vital link in the chain of His plan for reaching the lost.
Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

Tags: Bible Stories, God, Life, Morals, Preachers & Theologians, memories

I can’t stop reading these amazing articles and studies. They explain so much that I have been pondering over for years. I will post on the topics later, but for now I just wanted to share…Pick a subject and somehow you will end up discovering a part of yourself you never knew or understood. I was a psych major so I know I get a little overly excited about these type things…but in this case I think everyone would be captivated by the studies! If not, oh well, a little 
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=2d2aa081-d5b6-4af4-a106-9f018c356662)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d813f5a0-f10c-4274-bf0d-c591a1c21266)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b93861ed-8f3c-464a-91f6-80dc30255a45)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=05d743b9-a575-48c9-b944-563a0a06d7e9)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=3028e64b-aee6-4e58-bc51-63f95e41560d)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=919f58f3-f294-4c30-bdcd-4a7b83c1be15)












The story of a girl
Who cried a river and drowned the whole world!
And while she looks so sad in photographs,
I absolutely love her,
When she smiles...
How many days in a year?
She woke up with hope but she only found tears.
And how I can be so insincere,
Making her promises never for real!
As long as she stands there waiting,
Wearing the holes in the soles of her shoes!
How many days disappear?
When you look in the mirror so how do you choose?
Your clothes never wear as well the next day,
And your hair never falls in quite the same way-
But you never seem to run out of things to say...
How many lovers would stay?
Just to put of with this shit day after day!
How did we wind up this way?
Watching our mouths for the words that we say.
As long as we stand here waiting,
Wearing the clothes of the souls that we choose!
How do we get there today?
When we're walking to far for the price of our shoes!
Your clothes never wear as well the next day,
And your hair never falls in quite the same way-
But you never seem to run out of things to say!...
This is the story of a girl;
Her pretty face she hid from the world!
And while she looks so sad and lonely there,
I absolutely love her,
When she smiles...