Read the Bible with your closest Unbelieving Friend

"The word of God does the work of God!"—during our time at the Resurrection Church-plant in Lincoln Park, David Doran Jr. drilled this concept into our heads.

Never underestimate the weight the Spirit of God places behind the simple reading and explanation of his word to unbelievers. You don't need to be special or particularly eloquent. God will transform them.

This truth has shown itself to be true in my life time and time again.

When we first went to Zambia, one of my personal goals was to get a group of young men together to read the Bible regularly. It started with Jacob and eventually grew to three or four young adult men.

Nkumbu, a Jehova's Witness, was one of these young men.

After several opportunities I had to read the gospel of John with him, the lights began to flicker on for him. He saw the truth of the gospel through the word clearly explained, and the Spirit moved in his heart!

Here's my encouragement to you—connect with someone who doesn't know Christ, invest in their lives, and invite them to read John with you.

Read a chapter of John and follow this simple model—COMA.

1. Context - ask, "What happened before this section that helps us understand this section?"
2. Observation - "What are some observations you have from the passage?"
3. Meaning - "What did this passage mean to its original hearers?"
4. Application - "How does the principle of the passage apply to you and me?"

You will be surprised how many people will say yes to a simple invitation to read the Scripture together. Here's what I usually say, "I'm meeting with some guys to read the Bible together, would you like to join us?"

Praise God Nkumbu was baptized and added to Kitwe Church in the past few months.

Here are a few things Nkumbu wrote to his family after the Lord began opening his eyes through the Scriptures:

As I read the New Testament thoroughly and without the filter of any organisation’s literature, I began to understand what Paul meant when he wrote that the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword… The word was doing something in me that no meeting, no publication, and no organisational progress had ever done.

The conclusion I arrived at was this: it is never truly the preacher’s work that touches and refreshes people. It is the word itself.

And so I sought him. Directly. Without a publication to filter him. Without an organisational ladder to climb toward him. I looked at the pattern scripture itself lays out for how one becomes a follower of Christ — to repent, to believe, to surrender your life to him — and I did just that.

I found a local church… Simply a community of people gathered around the genuine gospel — the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and what that means for every human being who has ever lived.

Jesus Over Everything!

Austin & Rachel Hunt