Ministering To An Athiest

[forgodlovedtheworld]

Someone has e-mailed me, to which I have been talking to him for a while, and is saying that the story of Adam and Eve is symbollic and not true etc. There are more things but i'm not going to go into that now. But how should I reply? If you are wondering more about this, please e-mail dismasgesmasjesus@yahoo.com. Thanks.

Oh, can someone pray that I can minister to this person? I have been in contact with him for a while and I would like to help him so he can be saved.
thanks.

Adam:fish

[TheTreeOfLife]

Transitioning into a coversation about the Spirit:

1. People invest time and energy into developing their career, their bodies and relationships, but often neglect the spiritual dimension of their lives. How do you actively pursue spiritual growth?

2. Do you think much about spiritual things? (This usually leads to conversation about what "spiritual" means--i.e. religion vs. relationship.)

3. How has this experience affected the way you look at God?

4. We've never had a chance to talk about your religious background. Where would you say you are in your spiritual pilgrimage?

5. I'd like to tell you how I established a personal relationship with God. (Tell your personal testimony of how you became a Christian. Keep it to three minutes, using the following outline: Before--What characterized my life before I trusted Christ. During--How I came to trust Christ. After--How I am different now.)

6. What is your concept of God? Do you view Him positively or negatively?

7. Have you ever come to a point in your life where you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, or do you think that is something you're still moving toward? May I share with you how I came to that point?

8. Do you find that faith and spiritual values play a role in your (work) (day) (marriage) (perspective on life)?

9. If you could be sure there is a God, would you want to know Him? Or if you could know God personally, would you want to?

10. Bring a friend to your church or a Christian event, then ask:


What did you think of it?

Did it make sense to you?

Have you made the wonderful discovery of knowing God personally?

You'd like to, wouldn't you?
11. Do you go to church? Why or why not?

12. I'd hate for you to come to my church and not understand what it's all about. Would you want to get together and discuss our basic beliefs?

13. We've been friends for quite some time now, and I've never really talked to you about the most important thing in my life. May I take a few moments and do so?

14. Is church something that has had an influence in your life? Are you at a point now that you want church to be a bigger part of your life? What prompted this? Would you want to hear our basic beliefs so you'll know if that fits in with what you're looking for?

15. How do you think someone becomes a Christian?

16. Can I share the thing I've found most important to me as a (dad), (mom), (boss)?

17. What do you think about when you go to sleep at night? (If anxiety or guilt rob them of sleep, introduce the peace found in a relationship with Christ).>

18. Most people in America say they believe in God. What does believing in God mean to you?

19. Before I came to know Christ personally, God was a vague concept that I could not relate to or grasp. How would you describe your view of God? Jesus? Is He a reality to you or more of a vague concept?

20. If you were to die tonight are you sure you'd go to heaven? Has anyone ever explained how you can know for sure?

Once you've transitioned to the gospel, what do you actually tell your friend? Whatever approach you use, never argue or condemn the other person's beliefs. Focus on God's love for the person, Jesus' death on the cross for our sins, His resurrection, and the person's need to make a commitment to follow Christ. Invite the person to actually pray with you and commit his or her life to Christ.

[OneJoe]

The story of Adam and Eve was a real event or true story, but in what manner does your friend mean by only "symbolic"? Perhaps your friend is using the story of Adam and Eve as a symbolism for the fall of man, or maybe he really doesn't believe the bible or that part of the bible. I don't know the whole story, but the story of Adam was not only true, but is also used to symbolize mans disobedience to God and our spiritual condition today and to show why we need God so bad.

[Redeemed777]

you have my preyers man
trust in him i mean it i mean it i mean it i mean it
love

[Potters House]

Whenever I get into a conversation with an atheist, I always like to ask them this question...
Its late at night, and you are driving your car thru the worst part of town. You are lost. The streets are dark. The people hanging out on the sidewalks are checking you out as you drive by. As you approach a stop sign your car stalls and dies , right in front of a group of young men, that immediatly surround your car and start looking in the windows at you. Does it make you feel any better, to know that these young men, just left their regular Bible study meeting?

[holliel99]

Adam,
I will definately pray that Jesus speaks through you to this person. I will pray that Jesus softens his heart so that He may enter in! God Bless you!

Hollie

[likeadeerpantsforwater]

I am a Christian, and i believe that the story was Adam and Eve, as with the creation story, was not literally true. God did not create the world in 7 days, evil was not brought into the world exactly like that. They are stories, used to explain to us why things happened. It does not make them less important, but i think it is bad to take them too literally

[Rylee]

Everything in the Bible is fact. Not just stories to teach us a lesson, but stories to help us learn why and how things are like they are. The Bible is entirely non-fiction.

God's upstairs at his computer, and he's like, "Hmmm... let me write a story about these two peeps. I'm gonna make it all science-fiction like and have a chick pop out of this dude's rib, and then I'm gonna have this snake talk! Totally!" Sound silly? So does saying that the bible has fictional stories.

[blueheron32]

"Man is created evil with the capacity to receive truth and good from God. "

swedenborgian...one rule of understanding a parable, is that the conclusions you arrive at concerning the meaning of a parable, must harmonize with everything else the bible says...your above statement does not pass that test....under no circumstances was man created evil as you suggest adam was created...

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

God made that statement after he had made man....and he said ALL his creation was "very good"....There was no defect whatsoever in Adam...Adam was good, and not evil....perhaps you would like to reevaluate...:-)

blueheron32