Evangelist Ray Consolation is understood for boldly sharing the Gospel via motion pictures, social media, and different inventive means, however the Residing Waters founder additionally has a ardour for in-person, one-on-one dialogue with younger individuals.
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“I’m going out twice a day to a neighborhood faculty, after which I’m going to Huntington Seaside on Saturdays, and we movie for our tv program and for our YouTube channel every time,” Consolation mentioned. “I [also] go on to the native faculty on an electrical bike with my canine on a platform.”
His canine, who dons sun shades throughout these excursions, is a good device for opening conversations with college students, breaking down limitations, and sparking Gospel conversations.
“I like it every day,” Consolation mentioned of those interactions.
The evangelist has spent the previous 5 a long time open-air preaching and launched a ebook final 12 months titled “Fifty Years of Open-Air Preaching: The whole lot I’ve Discovered,” revealing every part he’s discovered and skilled alongside the way in which.
Consolation spoke about his method to speaking to younger individuals. He’ll typically ask in the event that they imagine in an afterlife. If they are saying they don’t know, he’ll ask in the event that they’re afraid of dying.
“And so they take a look at me and say, ‘A little bit bit.’ And I say, ‘A little bit bit? Are you kidding? Somebody’s going to place you in a field and bury you six toes down within the floor. It’s horrific,’” he mentioned. “And you may see their eyes widen.”
The dialog typically progresses from there, with Consolation partaking them on an “intimate degree of their deepest-rooted fears.” He’ll then ask in the event that they’ve learn the Bible, and he’ll proceed to make use of the problem of demise as a foray right into a dialog about everlasting life.
“I say … so, do you know that the Previous Testomony tells us that God promised he would destroy demise?” he mentioned. “And within the New Testomony, we’re instructed how He did it. … So would you want to listen to about that?”
Consolation mentioned even atheists are curious to listen to what he has to say on the matter, opening highly effective doorways. In the end, he believes these matters apply to everybody and that there’s pure intrigue.
“Human beings aren’t canines, cats, horses, or cows — they’re human beings made within the picture of God, and God has positioned eternity of their hearts,” he mentioned. “So, there’s a longing in them for all times and a cry of, ‘Oh, I don’t wish to die.’ So I discover many, many younger individuals who can be antagonistic if I addressed their mind, however as a result of I addressed their conscience, it opens them to the Gospel.”
One of many classes Consolation has discovered is to not interact the mind for too lengthy, because it’s a “place of battle.” As a substitute, he goes into deeper and extra unrestricted arenas.
“Study to have interaction the conscience as Jesus did as a result of it’s a spot of concord,” he mentioned.
Consolation’s ways have labored one-on-one and thru the Residing Waters YouTube channel, which has logged tons of of tens of millions of views with its evangelistic content material.
The evangelist additionally spoke about a number of the international examples we’ve seen of late of individuals being punished for sharing their religion. From buffer zones in Europe to Päivi Räsänen, a member of Finland’s parliament who has been on trial for sharing a Bible verse, these incidents are troubling.
“I do have issues in regards to the future that individuals are making an attempt to cease us from having freedom of speech, nevertheless it’s not going to cease me,” Consolation mentioned. “Have a look at the ebook of Acts. The disciples mentioned, ‘Take a hike…we obey God quite than males.’”
His level? He has no plans to cease spreading the Gospel. Consolation additionally identified that we’re privileged proper now in America to have the ability to share the reality, pointing again to his every day evangelistic efforts at a neighborhood college.
And to those that say they might by no means open-air preach the way in which he does, the religion chief has a message.
“Folks trip on rollercoasters, threat their lives, leap off planes, they bungee leap, and with nice pleasure — Christians do this,” Consolation mentioned. “Properly, I say, for those who’re going to threat your life on one thing as dumb as bungee leaping or skydiving, why don’t you threat your life by going to the native faculty and preaching the Gospel? That’ll scare the residing daylights out of you, if that’s what you need.”
Consolation additionally provided different helpful ideas, like utilizing trivia to seize viewers consideration; he typically arms out greenback payments to those that get it proper. All of this helps make individuals receptive to the Gospel message.
The evangelist is hoping individuals learn “Fifty Years of Open-Air Preaching: The whole lot I’ve Discovered” and take away ideas they’ll use in their very own ministry. At 75, he is aware of his time is proscribed and he needs to equip others based mostly on his sweeping expertise.
“I wish to cross the baton on to the subsequent technology and say, ‘You are able to do this,’” he mentioned. “The hot button is to obey the Nice Fee and go into all of the world and preach the Gospel to each creature.”
Watch the above video to additionally study why Consolation believes the Sinner’s Prayer is unbiblical.
