June 11, 2025
Dear Friends,
This week one man prayed with me according to the pattern of Luke 18:13 & Romans 10:9.
The man is from Europe. Mid 20s. A university lecturer (sort of like our nontenured assistant professor in the US) on the topic of film and he’s a filmmaker. He wrote:
Dear Dr. Tour, I am a [country] lecturer and a fan of your scholarly work (as far as I understand it…). I am what one generally calls an atheist. I have heard that you have conversations with people who do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. I am very interested in this topic and would like to volunteer for such an online conversation. You are also welcome to record the conversation and upload it to your YouTube channel if you want to. Hoping for a fruitful collaboration, __________.
I declined to record it since it detracts from the attention to the topic that I seek. This young atheist readily received the gospel message. That he reached out to me for this conversation alerted me to his openness in spite of his claim of atheism.
Sometimes Paul shared the gospel regardless of signs of gospel interest, like in Acts 17, where Paul engaged the hearers because he was grieved by their idolatry. In other cases, the Scriptures affirm that interest in the gospel may be a divine signal that God is working in someone’s heart. The Bible shows many cases where such interest is the beginning of evangelism, not its result:
Acts 8:30-31, 35
Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?" … Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.
The eunuch’s interest in Scripture prompted Philip to share the gospel. Such is the case when I am sharing with people who respond to my internet invitations, to hear about why I embrace the resurrection of Jesus. When a person has already shown interest, the success rate in conversion is much higher in my experience. Of course, this has been noticed by many long before me, like John Calvin. Hence, if you enjoy seeing conversions, immediately act upon those instances where you see people showing some interest in the gospel or Christian things. This can be as subtle as an unbeliever’s comment like, “So you attend church each week?” Or, “You seem pretty religious.” Or, “How did you learn so much about the Bible?” Or, “What makes you so kind to others?” We must strike immediately in those moments. I am all for prayer. But if you delay talking to them because you need to “pray about it” for a few days, you might have lost the opportunity. Just say a quick prayer to the Lord in that moment, and speak up to continue the conversation with an intent to share the gospel. Don’t be timid. Timidity is not from God.
Nehemiah 2:4-5
Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
Mark 8:38
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.
God bless,
Dr. James Tour
