For future reference, if you tell them you’re heading out, but ask if they can come back at a specified time/date, they are usually very happy to oblige.

I, too, enjoy the mormons coming to the door, though I usually only get one shot per residence. In most places, they go back to warn the others not to bother. In one case, though, a pair came back a second time. One of them went to church with me the next Sunday and converted. He’s now a strong leader in that church.

Kevin, that is an awesome story.

I once had quite a few bible studies with Jehovah Witness’ that had came to my door.

The reason I did this, is because have you ever thought that maybe God sent them to your door so you could plant that seed? So I agreed to bible study with these two, because It gave me the chance to do 2 things:

1. Learn about other religions and the way they think, and how they worship and view Jesus Christ.

2. It gave me the chance to not only learn about them, but to also plant my seeds along the way.

Durring these numerous studies we held, I insisted that I use my holy bible instead of theirs, and I learned a couple of their techniques. For one they were only picking verses out of their bible that they knew in my bible only refered to God. They were avoiding anything whatsoever that even refered to jesus christ.

So as time went on, I started getting Jesus Christ into the discussions, by asking them questions about verses that refered to him in the holy bible and somewhat sparked discussions about it and every chance I would get, I would bring up Jesus.

I was also getting advise and techniques from my uncles brother, who is a pastor.

This lasted for quite a few studies that we held, and soon the bible studies were becoming scarse.

But before the studies come to a complete halt and I seen no more of them, I found out that one of them was a former christian, so I knew it was going to be pretty hard or probably almost impossible to persuae them to convert but at least I can say I tried.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good debate. I relish and savor it. It isn’t uncommon for me to drive others crazy because I love to debate and my interest in a debate will often go much longer than the other party’s. I find debate both entertaining and edifying.

Tim, I enjoyed our debate very much. I learned so much from it and even though my arguments had so many holes they could have been considered “holy” I don’t regret it because I learned alot about politics and a whole lot about how republicans think

But even after our debate, I still think y’all is crazy (just kidding)

Kevin: That’s a good idea about arranging another time. Oh well. At least they don’t have a warning out against me yet, so maybe they will show up again. *sigh*

I’m with Christopher about your story, it was awesome!

David: I find it interesting to find out what they learn too. I also read over their materials after our two or three week “Bible study,” writing up a piece debunking it point-by-point — it was an interesting exercise in that it made me figure out how to defend my faith on various doctrines they attack.

As far as using one’s own Bible, this pair was fine with that, but they insisted on using their little book (I think the one they used that time was “Truth that Brings Everlasting Life”) most of the time and referencing the Bible only to the verses that fit their point (as you noticed). I directed them to passages that relayed my points, although they always had some book to pull out of their bag about why my point wasn’t valid. I really thought I’d finally got something when I pointed out some Greek translation issues with John 1:1 — but they even had some information on Greek translation! Ack! I finally gave up when they wouldn’t ever quit pulling out material and actually express their own thoughts.

They were determined though — they kept hinting about me joining the local Kingdom Hall and speaking there. I doubt they’d like what I’d have to say. At any rate, pastoral advice on such a challenge is definitely helpful. I didn’t receive any before getting myself into that, but I did consult a lot of good books on the subject.

About your second message: I’m glad you enjoyed our debate! I agree that I’m crazy.

I took a different tack. I put the book aside and took a more relational approach. I took the angle that what God really wants is for us to stop trying to work it all out on our own and instead believe that He has done it for us through His Son. I listen to them, get them telling family stories, then tell some of my stories, interjecting truths of Christ along the way, but in a less combative method. Then, before they leave, I ask if they will pray with me, and I earnestly pray.

A few times, I’ve seen that one or the other of the pair was getting it. In most of those cases, they’ve set the appointment for a second meeting, but never come back. My assumption is that the one who wasn’t getting it reported on the meeting and the elder elders decided it wasn’t safe to send them back. My prayer, though, is that the planted seed would eventually sprout.

I have a college professor (Dallas Theological Seminary grad) who had some come back persistently. One day he saw them coming and quickly removed his Washington Bible College sweatshirt only to find a Dallas Theological Seminary T-shirt beneath so he spend the entire discussion with his arms crossed over the DTS name as he didn’t want them to stop coming. He had his classes praying for them. It was kinda fun to get the updates as they returned. Don’t know that they continued coming back though.

Thanks for the encouraging story Kevin.

If you’ve ever toured the JW site in NYC from which they do their promotional materials (not the tower) you’ll see how incredibly organized they are. It’s truly amazing and humbling. Pretty much, they could close themselves off from the world and be self-existent for a long time. They even have their own farms and dry cleaners.

Kevin: I tried to get to that point, but I suspect these were “well trained” JW’s. They never really budged from the “pre-programmed” Bible study. They kept wanting to come back though. It would have been nice had they been willing to put the book aside. Even with them hanging on to it, we did have some nice conversations, it was just a bit limiting.

As far as the debunking thing, that was a private exercise — I didn’t do anything combative with them around (perhaps that’s why they were talking about me joining Kingdom Hall). While they where here I simply tried to get a discussion going… ask questions, see what they thought of things, etc. The best moment I got was when they sat down the book for a moment and talked about a JW event at the arena…

I do hope I planted a seed, although I suspect these were a very tough group of Witnesses. sigh

How’d you get them to quit using the books?

Josiah: That’s a pretty funny image of your professor trying to hide his shirt. Sounds like the first shirt was almost better than the second.

Kevin and David,

An interesting point came up in a Bible Study just a couple of weeks ago. The point was to remember (when ministering to others) that joy should not come from the anticipation of the results, but from being allowed to share in God’s work. This was especially meaningful to me at the time because of my involvement with music ministry that often seemed unfruitful.

Good point, Arch! Thanks.