{"id":302179,"date":"2010-12-16T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-16T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/sharing-christ-in-the-real-world\/"},"modified":"2010-12-16T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-12-16T17:00:00","slug":"sharing-christ-in-the-real-world","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/sharing-christ-in-the-real-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharing Christ in the Real World"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You can find all kinds of things at the mall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-12-16.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"24.77M","filesize_raw":"25978413","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2821],"tags":[4722,4818,4159],"podcast_series":[7776],"cwp_profile":[9220],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-302179","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reaching-out","tag-christianity","tag-evangelism","tag-gospel","podcast_series-god-talk-at-the-mall","cwp_profile-rich-and-charlene-sevcik","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/302179\/sharing-christ-in-the-real-world","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/302179\/sharing-christ-in-the-real-world","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"9Bq8k3y2Zp\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/sharing-christ-in-the-real-world\/\">Sharing Christ in the Real World<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/sharing-christ-in-the-real-world\/embed\/#?secret=9Bq8k3y2Zp\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Sharing Christ in the Real World&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"9Bq8k3y2Zp\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var 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Rich Sevcik has set up shop in his local mall.\u00a0 A couple of times a year he and some friends rent one of those kiosks and they spend their day engaging people, not selling them a product, but sharing with them the good news of the gospel.\u00a0 And Rich says they are seeing people stop, they\u2019re sharing the gospel with them, and they\u2019re seeing folks come to faith.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 So as I get out there and as I share my faith, God is blessing me.\u00a0 Not only is he blessing me in terms of lighting a fire in my heart and turning me on to Christ, but he\u2019s also blessing us because the greatest miracle in the world is salvation.\u00a0 We get into the mall and we get to see that happen a few times a day!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Thursday, December 16<sup>th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Our host is the President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot happening at your local mall here in the week before Christmas, but we want you to stop today and think about what could be happening all different times during the year.\u00a0 We\u2019ll talk about it today.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 Thanks for joining us.\u00a0 When I was growing up there used to be a special that would come on TV about this time of year \u2013 a musical about the birth of Christ called <em>Ahmal and the Night Visitors<\/em>.\u00a0 Do you remember that?\u00a0 Ever hear of <em>Ahmal and the Night Visitors<\/em>?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Never.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t \u2018a mall\u2019 like the shopping mall.\u00a0 That was the character\u2019s name, \u2018Ahmal.\u2019\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, Ahmal.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 But I always heard it and I would think about people going to the mall and the night visitors.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(Laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, we are going to talk about \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 A mall.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 A mall, but not the guy, the place.\u00a0 And to do that I want to introduce you to a guy who made chips for a living.\u00a0 I know this because he gave me a couple of chips.\u00a0 I want to welcome Rich and Charlene Sevcik to our broadcast.\u00a0 Charlene, Rich, welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today.<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, thank you for having us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Charlene:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I want you to explain to our listeners.\u00a0 First of all, this first chip right here was when you worked at Xilinx.\u00a0 You also worked at Hewlett Packard for twenty years in the semiconductor business.\u00a0 This little chip right here \u2013 what is it, about an inch square?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, the package you\u2019re holding is about an inch square, but the chip that\u2019s inside of it is probably about a half-inch on edge.\u00a0 One of the reasons why I gave you that chip was that\u2019s actually a famous chip.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat was one of the, maybe <em>the<\/em> first chip actually manufactured with one billion transistors on the die \u2013 what\u2019s called the \u2018die.\u2019\u00a0 So that chip actually was a record-breaking chip.\u00a0 We put out a press release back in those days and made a big deal about it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Wait a second.\u00a0 There are a billion transistors in that . . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s as thin \u2013 looks like a piece of chocolate.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It does kind of look like . . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Of course a lot of things look like a piece of chocolate to me, don\u2019t they?\u00a0 But there are a billion transistors in this.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 There are a billion transistors.\u00a0 Of course now, by the way, more recently there are chips that have five and ten billion transistors on them in the industry today, but that chip that you\u2019re holding I think is about seven years old, and it was a billion transistors.\u00a0 That was a record.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 A billion transistors.\u00a0 That\u2019s astounding.\u00a0 But the thing that really excites me about your lives \u2013 it\u2019s what happened as a result of you retiring and going to a movie in a mall, not\u00a0 Ahmal.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Share with our listeners what happened.\u00a0 Was it a Friday night, Saturday, Charlene?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Charlene:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, I think it was a Friday night and we were just planning to see a movie and we were sitting in the food court just watching the people pass while we were waiting for our show time, and we saw all these young people passing by, hundreds of them, and they were just milling around in the mall.\u00a0 They had their spiked hair and their tattoos and their gang member jackets, and we just thought, \u201cHow sad it is.\u00a0 I bet none of these young people go to church.\u201d\u00a0 They just looked unchurched.\u00a0 God placed it on our hearts that we need to reach these young people because they\u2019re not going to come to our churches.\u00a0 We need as the church to go outside our buildings and maybe find a way to reach the people that are lost.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo after a few months God placed it on our hearts to open up a kiosk in the mall.\u00a0 So we went through mall management, got the approvals, got all the okays from the mall to go in there, and we called the kiosk \u201cGod Talk,\u201d because we wanted to let people know we\u2019re talking about faith, and we could reach all different faiths by using \u201cGod Talk.\u201d\u00a0 It gave us a platform to talk about Jesus Christ and share our faith.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe started this over five and one-half years ago.\u00a0 We go in twice a year; we go at Easter time, and then we go again at August for school shopping, because that\u2019s a busier time.\u00a0 We don\u2019t sell anything.\u00a0 Most of the vendors there are selling products.\u00a0 We give everything away.\u00a0 We love doing this.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 So this is in the middle of the mall aisle there.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got one of these carts like we see.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Charlene:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You have posters and books \u2013 what have you got.\u00a0 If I walk by, what am I going to see, Rich?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 It was kind of funny when we first approached the mall management.\u00a0 We were thinking that maybe we would open up a store front and the mall management explained to us that it costs about $100,000 a month to have a store in a mall, and we weren\u2019t going to do that.\u00a0 We have a great church, but we couldn\u2019t afford that one.\u00a0 But then the general manager of the mall, who I think was \u2013 You know, God was in this, right?\u00a0 So he actually suggested to us, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you rent a kiosk?\u201d\u00a0 A kiosk is about six feet by four feet.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAs Dennis was saying at the beginning here, I have an engineering background, so we started thinking about this.\u00a0 The price was right and then, Bob, to get to your point, we started spending a little time in the mall and looking at where the traffic was.\u00a0 So we picked a crosswalk where we thought the most traffic was, where shoppers are just walking from one large store to another large store.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAs they were walking by we figured, \u201cWe\u2019ll just hang up a big sign that says \u2018God Talk,\u2019\u201d because we\u2019re not trying to fool anybody.\u00a0 We\u2019re not trying to trick anybody, so we just hang up a big sign that says \u201cGod Talk\u201d and people \u2013 shoppers \u2013 go walking by and you\u2019d be amazed at the reaction we get.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tPeople will look at our sign \u2013 of course, some of them are going to frown and kind of give you an evil look \u2013 but most of them have this look of surprise.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost like, \"What is God doing in the mall?\u00a0 What\u2019s the church doing in the mall?\u201d\u00a0 Very often, because of that surprise, people will just stop and talk to us.\u00a0 Very often, somebody will stop and say \u201cWhat are you guys doing here?\u201d\u00a0 Of course, we\u2019re there to talk about Jesus.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tEven with a lot of our volunteers, we\u2019ll try to train ourselves and train volunteers to, as quickly as possible and in a polite way, lead the conversation to Jesus, and lead the conversation to godly topics.\u00a0 It\u2019s just been an exciting time in a mall.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You know, the exciting thing to me is, and I don\u2019t have anything against the South \u2013 we live in the South \u2013 you\u2019re not doing this anywhere near the Bible Belt.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s right.\u00a0 In fact, being an engineer I look into statistics.\u00a0 In the Bay area, San Jose Bay area where we live, Silicon Valley, statistically only six percent of people in the Bay go to church on a regular basis.\u00a0 Six percent.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo that basically tells us that ninety-plus percent of the people that we encounter in the mall are going to be unchurched.\u00a0 We like to refer to them as \u201cnot yet saved\u201d people.\u00a0 So our job, as Jesus commanded, our job is to present the gospel to these not yet saved people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s not about church attendance.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 Correct.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s about the person of Jesus Christ, his finished work on the cross, the empty tomb that we celebrate at Easter, and proclaiming the good news of Christ to people who have never heard it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 But I can imagine, Charlene, being in the mall and somebody coming up and saying, \u201cSo what are you guys doing here?\u201d and you say, \u201cOh we\u2019re here to share the good news about Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAt that point, things could get awkward, or they could get even a little ugly.\u00a0 I could imagine some people wanting to take you on, wanting to challenge you, \u2018let\u2019s turn this into a debate.\u2019\u00a0 Does that happen?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Charlene:<\/strong>\u00a0 It does occasionally, but those are very few, and usually, if they try to engage us in that way we just say, \u201cWell, thank you so much for stopping by.\u00a0 We really appreciate it.\u00a0 We can give you some literature to take with you, but we need to talk to other people at this time.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 So it\u2019s not about arguing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Charlene:<\/strong>\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Oh definitely not.\u00a0 We\u2019re not trying the bang them on the head.\u00a0 The age group that we really talk with the most, which is the one that we had started out with this mission in mind \u2013 13 year-olds to 29 year-olds.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOf course there are all ages that we talk with, but that\u2019s the greatest number, and these young people are so precious and they\u2019re so open to hearing.\u00a0 They\u2019ve never heard.\u00a0 They\u2019re not getting it \u2013 their parents don\u2019t go to church, therefore they don\u2019t go, and we\u2019re giving them some good news that they haven\u2019t heard before.\u00a0 We\u2019re telling them that they have hope.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen I\u2019m in the mall I talk with them just like I would talk with my own kids.\u00a0 I\u2019ll say, \u201cWhat are you doing with your life?\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019ll say, \u201cWe\u2019re into drugs\u201d or \u201cWe\u2019re into sex.\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cSo stop it.\u00a0 This is not the right way.\u00a0 You need to change, you know, and God can help you make those changes.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI\u2019ll just be sharing like I would with my own kids.\u00a0 Like I will say, \u201cSo stop it.\u201d\u00a0 We had a great magazine called <em>Make a U-Turn.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cTurn your life around.\u00a0 Turn it to Jesus and he can help you.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ll say, \u201cHow is your life working right now?\u00a0 Are you happy?\u00a0 Is your home life good?\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSome guys will come through and they\u2019ll say, \u201cWe\u2019re homeless.\u00a0 We\u2019re on the streets,\u201d and I\u2019ll say, \u201cWhy?\u201d\u00a0 And they\u2019ll say, \u201cWell my mother is a drug addict, or she\u2019s drunk at home.\u201d\u00a0 They have all kinds of issues that these young people are dealing with, but I say, \u201cIs that working for you?\u00a0 You can change your life right now with Jesus Christ.\u00a0 He can give you hope and a future.\u201d\u00a0 We have great opportunities just to open up.\u00a0 If you\u2019re showing these kids love and care they are really open.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 One time we had this situation:\u00a0 Charlene and I happened to be working in a mall together with another one of our volunteers and I looked down the hallway and there were these five guys coming down the hall.\u00a0 They were like 17 to 21 years old.\u00a0 They were clearly gang members; they were dressed like it and they were acting like jerks.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThey come walking down, and as they got close, there was one big fellow (he was about 6\u20197\u201d) and I just looked at him and I said, \u201cHey, God wants to talk to you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 He looked at me and he said, \u201cWell, what does God want to say?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWell, God wants to tell you that he loves you.\u201d\u00a0 He looked at me and he stopped, and the other four guys that were with him all stopped too.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo Charlene and I and this other volunteer lady \u2013 the three of us engaged these five guys in a godly conversation.\u00a0 To make a long story short, we spent about an hour and a half with them.\u00a0 After about 15 minutes a couple of the guys dropped out, because we were telling them about salvation and following Jesus and making him the Lord of your life and changing your life as Charlene was saying, but the tall guy stayed.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHis name is Jay, and what happened was, after about 45 minutes, Jay prayed with us to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior right there in the mall.\u00a0 By then the other four guys had dropped out, but Jay stayed.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat was interesting during those first 45 minutes as we were talking to Jay, he had his cell phone blue tooth in his ear, and about every three or four minutes he would step away from us, he would take about a 20 second phone call, and then he would come back and talk to us again.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAfter he got saved, we asked him what was going on with the phone calls.\u00a0 He explained to us that he was the head of a 25-member gang who were doing drugs and all kinds of bad stuff in the San Jose area, including in the mall.\u00a0 They were stealing in the mall and selling drugs in the mall, and he was the head, and basically each one of those calls was a drug deal going down.\u00a0 He had to approve the price.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo he was taking these phone calls while we were talking to him about Jesus, and then he accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior, and then we talked to him for another 45 minutes.\u00a0 At one point\u2014the guy was really a bright guy; I was really impressed \u2013 he looked at me and he said, \u201cWell, I guess now that I\u2019m following Jesus I\u2019m going to have to leave the gang, and I can\u2019t do drugs anymore.\u201d\u00a0 And I said, \u201cWell, you\u2019re exactly right, Jay.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to find a job \u2013 and if I can support you I\u2019ll support you \u2013 whatever.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo to make a long story short, whenever people accept Christ in the mall we always try to follow up with them.\u00a0 And so for the next few weeks we stayed in contact with Jay.\u00a0 He actually quit the gang, he started going to a Bible-based church with his grandmother.\u00a0 His grandmother actually had taken him to a Bible-based church when he was five, so he went back to that church in San Jose.\u00a0 He got a job, and then after a few weeks, he disconnected his cell phone so we lost contact with him, so we\u2019re hoping he disconnected his cell phone because he was trying to get out of the gang.\u00a0 We\u2019re not exactly certain what happened to him in the long term, but he certainly prayed with us and we followed up with him for a few weeks.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the kind of thing \u2013 Jesus changes lives, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 He does.\u00a0 When you were sharing this with me, I guess about a year ago \u2013 we were on the phone\u2014I just remember getting so excited.\u00a0 I walked into Bob\u2019s office and I said, \u201cBob, we\u2019ve got to tell this story on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 But I want to prove something here just real quickly.\u00a0 How many years in seminary have you spent, Rich?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 Absolutely zero.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Charlene, how about you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Charlene:<\/strong>\u00a0 Zero.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Now wait a second.\u00a0 So you\u2019re not paid to be good, here.\u00a0 You\u2019re not working for a church . . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 Absolutely not.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You\u2019re doing this coming out of retirement.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Charlene:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Just as church members. . . .\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Who have the love of Christ in your hearts and you\u2019re concerned about the young people because you want to do something for them that will give them forgiveness with God, peace, purpose, and a place to belong.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 So you\u2019ve got a group of folks that are pitching in to pay the bill for the kiosk there in the mall?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 Actually not.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Fortunately, it\u2019s relatively inexpensive.\u00a0 You have to pay rent for the kiosk and we have to have liability insurance and we do a daily raffle, so to make a long story short, the cost in the mall comes to about $80 per day, and for those $80 we get to talk to about 70 or 80 people a day.\u00a0 So the cost per contact is actually extremely low.\u00a0 So it\u2019s not that much money.\u00a0 The issue here is not money.\u00a0 The issue is, as I think Dennis is alluding to, we as Christians need to get out and talk to others about Christ.\u00a0 We need to share our faith.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOne of the things Charlene and I \u2013 especially I have found, is the more I talk to people about my faith, the more on fire for Christ I am.\u00a0 Philemon 6 is an interesting verse.\u00a0 Basically Paul says to Philemon, \u201cI pray that you are actively sharing your faith so that you may more fully know your God.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a promise.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAs I get out there and I share my faith, God is blessing me.\u00a0 Not only is he blessing me in terms of lighting a fire in my heart and turning me on to Christ, but he\u2019s also blessing us because the greatest miracle in the world is salvation.\u00a0 We get into the mall and we get to see that happen a few times a day!\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Charlene:<\/strong>\u00a0 One of the materials that we used when we first opened up five and a half years ago was a magazine by Billy Graham called <em>Heaven and Hell<\/em>.\u00a0 I have a copy over here.\u00a0 It was my favorite magazine because I said, \u201cThat\u2019s exactly why we are in the mall.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAs Christians we know that there is a heaven, but we also know that there is a hell.\u00a0 And if we don\u2019t start sharing our faith, people \u2013 our loved ones, our family members, are going to go to hell.\u201d\u00a0 So that magazine was so used by God.\u00a0 We\u2019ve used all of Billy Graham\u2019s copies up of that magazine.\u00a0 We\u2019re hoping that by being in the mall that we\u2019re planting seeds.\u00a0 If people don\u2019t stop and talk with us we can give them some literature that they can take home with them and read later.\u00a0 Maybe months later they\u2019ll pick it up and read it.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a great opportunity.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Charlene, you really are \u2013 you\u2019re moved to the point of tears thinking about people spending eternity outside of Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Charlene:<\/strong>\u00a0 We have the answer.\u00a0 We have the hope as Christians, and God commands us to go out there and tell \u2013 tell them, tell them that Jesus Christ loves them.\u00a0 We see it in the mall so many times.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen we talk to these young people and we tell them, \u201cJesus Christ loves you.\u00a0 He loves you right where you are, right now, but He doesn\u2019t want to leave you this way.\u00a0 He wants you to change.\u00a0 He wants you to turn your life around and follow Him.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s given us that great opportunity and it is such a joy and a blessing that God gave us this ministry called \u201cGod Talk,\u201d and we\u2019re hoping that this ministry will not only just be for us \u2013 that it will go across the country, that people will hear this message and realize that they can go and talk with their mall management and go into the mall.\u00a0 We have open opportunity but we as Christians have to take that and move out.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 You know, in the last several years we spent a lot of our time recruiting lots of volunteers and lots of churches.\u00a0 We actually in the Bay area have eight partner churches that work with us in this mall.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe have over 400 or 500 different volunteers.\u00a0 We spent a lot of time recruiting, and honestly, what we usually do when we recruit \u2013 talk to somebody about possibly coming into the mall and sharing their faith \u2013 about 99% of the time people will say, \u201cNo, that\u2019s not my gift.\u201d\u00a0 So, just to be blatant about this, I\u2019ve investigated that.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWitnessing is not a gift.\u00a0 Witnessing is a command from Jesus; it occurs at the end of the gospel of Matthew.\u00a0 Now evangelism is a gift, so guys like Billy Graham and Luis Palau and people like that \u2013 that\u2019s evangelism.\u00a0 That\u2019s the gift.\u00a0 Being a witness is a command from Jesus, right?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAll of us Christians are actually commanded to be a witness.\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019re commanded to live holy lives, so that our lives are a witness, but we also have to move our lips and vocalize our love for Jesus, talk to our neighbors about Jesus.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI saw a recent survey, and sadly, only two percent of the Christians in the United States are actually talking to their neighbors about Jesus.\u00a0 Most of my Christian life I was not witnessing either.\u00a0 I was kind of laid back and busy working and maybe letting the wrong things preoccupy my time in terms of spending too many hours at work.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut during the last 15 to 20 years I\u2019ve come to realize -- and I\u2019ve had some great examples in my life \u2013 that we need to be out there and be witnessing.\u00a0 So when we talk to potential new churches to join us and we talk to pastors, we\u2019re basically encouraging the Christian community to get out \u2013 get out of the walls of the church, share the gospel in a friendly, friendly way.\u00a0 As Dennis was saying, you\u2019re never going to argue somebody into salvation. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 We\u2019re not going to debate people into salvation.\u00a0 So what you want to do is be loving, be kind, be friendly, and ultimately this is the work of the Holy Spirit, right?\u00a0 Our job is to plant and water, but it\u2019s only God that can make the seed grow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You know, the Bible spells out a lot of things that are happening right now in heaven.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know for sure that this is happening, but there\u2019s a guy who\u2019s in heaven right now \u2013 his name is Bill Bright \u2013 who was founder of Campus Crusade for Christ.\u00a0 He died a few years ago, and I promise \u2013 well, I can\u2019t promise you because I don\u2019t know for sure \u2013 because Bob is going to correct me if I say I promise \u2013 but Bill is throwing his hands up, he\u2019s hitting his lap, he\u2019s laughing, he\u2019s clapping, and he\u2019s going, \u201cWay to go.\u00a0 Way to go.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 If he\u2019s tuned in to <em>FamilyLife Today.<\/em>\u00a0 We don\u2019t know that they get it in heaven.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 He would not be listening to another broadcast, Bob.\u00a0 This would be the preferred broadcast of choice.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The celestial program, right?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(Laughter)\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 This could be on loudspeakers.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 But seriously, Bill was all about the Great Commission, and he believed the greatest privilege we have is just as you said, Charlene, earlier:\u00a0 to introduce someone to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and to give them the opportunity to embrace Christ\u2019s finished work on the cross on their behalf, and to believe, and then, like the gang leader, become a follower.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Rich:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I think for our nation it\u2019s the only hope.\u00a0 The gospel is the only hope for the United States.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And you guys have not only modeled this, but you\u2019ve come up with a way to share your experience with others so that if somebody in another community said, \u201cI\u2019d like to do that.\u00a0 Our church could do that.\u00a0 We could get together with some other churches and we could make a project out of that,\u201d they can benefit from the experience that you guys have had.\u00a0 If you go to our website, FamilyLifeToday.com, there\u2019s a link to Rich\u2019s website and there he kind of lays out the whole process, and shares again from their experience \u2013 what to say to the mall manager, kind of the do\u2019s and the don\u2019ts, how to recruit volunteers, the whole thing.\u00a0 Again, go to FamilyLifeToday.com and click on the link and you\u2019ll get the information you need.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you do this, if you get together with some friends or your church does it, let us know.\u00a0 Send us a note and tell us about your experience and what it was like.\u00a0 I just think it would be cool if the next time that you went to the mall \u2013 in virtually in every mall in America there was a kiosk like this set up \u2013 what a great way to . . . .\u00a0 It\u2019s like going to the well in Samaria.\u00a0 If the mall is the modern day well in Samaria \u2013 it\u2019s like going there and engaging people in conversation about the gospel.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAgain, our website FamilyLifeToday.com; click on the link that will take you to Rich\u2019s website, and you can get the information you need to set this up.\u00a0 And then be sure to let us know if you do something like this.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd then before we\u2019re done here today, a quick reminder if I can about the matching gift opportunity that\u2019s been made available to us here during the month of December.\u00a0 More than $2 million has been set aside from friends of the ministry who have said, \u201cWe will match the donations that come into FamilyLife during the month of December on a dollar for dollar basis, as a way to try to encourage regular listeners to help support the ministry.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThese are folks who appreciate <em>FamilyLife Today,<\/em> some of them have been to our <em>Weekend to Remember Marriage Getaways,<\/em> they\u2019ve used the resources that we have and they want to see the program continue to stay stable and to grow.\u00a0 So they\u2019ve said, \u201cWe want to encourage others to join with us.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen you make a donation this month of any amount, that donation is going to be matched dollar for dollar.\u00a0 So whether it\u2019s $10 or $100 or $1000 or more, they\u2019ll match that donation dollar for dollar up to a total of now more than $2 million.\u00a0 We\u2019re not there yet, so we\u2019re hoping that you\u2019ll go online at FamilyLifeToday.com or that you\u2019ll call us a 1-800-FL-TODAY and make a donation over the phone.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got just a couple weeks left now in the month and so we want to encourage you to make that donation as soon as you can so that we can take advantage of this matching gift before the end of the year.\u00a0 Again our website:\u00a0 FamilyLifeToday.com or you can make a donation at 1- 800 \u201cF\u201d as in Family, \u201cL\u201d as in Life, and then the word \u201cTODAY.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow let me encourage you to be back with us tomorrow.\u00a0 Rich and Charlene Sevcik are going to be here again; we\u2019re going to talk more about their experience at the mall, not as shoppers, but as sharers, and I hope you can tune in to hear about that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We will see you back next time for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today.\u00a0 Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t2010 Copyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>www.FamilyLife.com<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/302179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302179"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=302179"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=302179"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=302179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}