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He sat across from me, peppering me with questions. His friends were there too, three against one. I didn't know if I would be able to explain Christianity to Jim but he sure was interested in debating. It was hard for me to believe that this conversation was the result of a simple poster with the words "I found it."
The I found it campaign found its genesis in the 70s. It was a popular campaign which saw itself on billboards, t-shirts and all manner of media. The idea of the campaign was simple. People were teased with the statement "I Found It!" in all manner of advertisements. The purpose was to cause curiosity among people, to create a stir, to cause people to ask the question, "What is it that you found?" On the campus of UC Davis, this campaign was resurrected for the students so they could hear about the Gospel. Advertisements played a big role in building curiosity, so did t-shirts. Christian students from every major Campus Christian group wore t-shirts which said, "I found it too!" Naturally people would ask what you found and that is when students got to share the Gospel.
So it was not unnexpected that I found myself sitting across from a self declared atheist and several members of the atheist club, looking for opportunities to tell of the wonderful news of Jesus. Of course, their desire was to debate. We debated every issue relating to every aspect of Christianity. I knew that these students were accomplished debaters; that is, after all, the pastime of many atheists. My wish was to be able to show that Christianity was not an unintelligent religion, that an intelligent, thoughtful person could easily believe in it. As we debated, I was peppered with many questions. "Isn't these two verses a contradiction?" "If there is a God then why is there evil in the world? Either God is powerless or he creates evil." "How can you say a resurrection is even possible?" "Can you even prove that Jesus was not a legend made up by people?"
As I was talking with Jim, it seemed like I had the perfect answer for every question. I wondered where all these answers were coming from and then I remembered what Jesus told the disciples. He told them that when they would be questioned in front of authorities, not to worry what they will say but that the Holy Spirit will give them what to say. I realized that God probably had Jim in His sights, that He wanted Jim in the Kingdom. At the end of the debate, Jim told me that he really enjoyed talking to me and asked me if I would join him for lunch the next day. I asked him if he would hear my story. He said "Yes, I would love to hear your story."
The next day I got a chance to share my testimony. At the end of it, Jim asked why a person needs to believe in Jesus. That was my opening and I began to share the Gospel with him. He heard the whole presentation patiently and afterwards had more questions. Before we departed, he said that that was the first time he had ever had those answers to his questions and as we discussed further, I could see that he realized that it was possible to be intelligent and a Christian.
So it was a piece of paper, a t-shirt, a newspaper ad. It said three simple words, "I found it!" It is sometimes within the simplest of things that the Gospel goes out. Pray for Jim, the Lord is inviting him into the Kingdom if only he will hear.
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