[Dan Marcum]

Hi Andrew,

Consider using these signs:

• Prayer Station
• Catholic Truth
• Picture only

Those ones don’t mention or depict St. Paul so they shouldn’t be confusing for people. Also, signs are optional. They help people know what to expect at your table/booth but you can do without them if they would be confusing in your context. I hope that helps. 🙂

[Dan Marcum]

Hi Sharon,

I used to lead a team in Ohio. At the time, the most popular tracts we handed out were the Rosary tract and the Why Be Catholic tract. I also always made sure to have on hand some Reasons to Return tracts. I hope that helps!

[Dan Marcum]

Hi Jeffrey,

I’d just like to point out that two of your questions were covered in previous Whaddaya Says:

I am spiritual not religious
https://evangelizationschool.com/forums/topic/march-2020-im-spiritual-but-not-religious/

I ask Jesus directly to forgive my sins i will never confess them to a man
https://evangelizationschool.com/forums/topic/may-2020-is-confession-necessary-i-heard-the-pope-say-its-not/

I hope that helps. God bless!
Dan Marcum

[Dan Marcum]

Good question! It reminds me of some statements by Jesus:

The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. (Matthew 23:2-3)

If [a man] refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 18:17-18)

The reason I listen to sinful people is because the Bible says to. God’s plan allows for wicked men — wolves in sheep’s clothing — to control the positions of power. Sometimes the Church gets saintly leaders as a special gift from God. But corruption, scandal, and even heresy among Church leaders is pretty common too, even among the Church’s leadership.

Scripture foretells that some Church leaders will give bad examples. It also tells us how to react, and it is not by leaving the Church. The only way to heal the Body is to beg for God’s grace as a member of His Body. “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ … If one member suffers, all suffer together.” (1 Cor. 12:21-26)

So let’s not abandon the Body of Christ or ignore its leaders, let’s work together to heal the Body and pray for its leaders!

[Dan Marcum]

The author here makes some interesting points:

Regardless of the warnings or information, there are always Catholics who say they will not give up their yoga because it makes them feel good and they personally don’t use it for religion. But there is a further consideration with yoga. By participating in yoga, or when a school or church sponsors classes, it gives the message of blanket approval. If yoga is okay with the Church or with Sally Stretchy, then it’s obviously okay, is the impression.

I think part of the controversy is a communication issue. Some people use the word yoga and mean stretching. Others use the word yoga and mean the religion. If we all used the term with the same meaning, our discourse might change. If we all meant stretching, then it is not always a sin for a Christian to practice yoga (stretching). If we all meant the eastern religion, then it is always a sin for a Christian to practice yoga (another religion).

Since the word does double duty in English, I don’t ever plan to tell someone “I’m doing yoga later” or anything like that. Because even if I only mean “I’m doing stretching later,” the person I’m talking to may not know that the word has two meanings. If the other person decides to sign up for a yoga class to get started, those classes often blend yoga spirituality in with the stretching, so now the other person has begun practicing another religion in part because of what I said.

[Dan Marcum]

I used my personal email but I’ve seen other team leaders create a separate email for SPSE business cards, like spse.sanjose@gmail.com or something like that.

Note that we have printable, customizable business cards here with our logo in various colors:

Black logo: /wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SPSE-editable-business-card-black.pdf
Red logo: /wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SPSE-editable-business-card-red.pdf
Blue logo: /wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SPSE-editable-business-card-blue.pdf

We also offer something we call the Catholic Audio Card in our online store: https://evangelizationschool.com/store/product/spse-catholic-audio-card/

It’s got a spot for putting your contact information and it also has a link to various free Catholic mp3s on our website.

I hope this is helpful. God bless!
Dan Marcum

[Dan Marcum]

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[Dan Marcum]

Consider adding a line to your invitation about the Church and its purpose. Something like, “Jesus built the Catholic Church to continue His mission, to bring others to Christ, and to restore us to salvation when we commit a serious sin.” Then continue with your invitation. In our Why Be Catholic pamphlet, we build on the basic 4-part proclamation of the gospel by adding two additional points:

1. We are made in God’s image and likeness, meant for a deep, loving relationship with him. (Genesis 1:27)
2. Due to sin, we have broken this friendship with God. (Romans 6:23)
3. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, became man, died on the cross, and rose from the grave for our salvation. (Philippians 2:7-10)
4. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and through Jesus our relationship with God is restored. (Ephesians 2:8)
5. Through the Catholic Church which Jesus established while on earth, we have access to grace by Baptism and are nourished by the Eucharist and other sacraments. (Matthew 16:18-19)
6. Through these sacraments, the Holy Spirit changes us, perfects us, fulfills our every desire, ultimately bringing us to eternal beatitude in heaven. (Matthew 5:48)

[Dan Marcum]

Thank you for sharing this, Peter. The responses of your friend and your brother gave me a lot to think about. The word that keeps coming to mind is “receptivity.” God’s grace paves a way in people’s hearts for them to be responsive to the message of the gospel. If they’re not receptive right now, perhaps it’s just not time yet. Anyway you’ve planted the seed. Maybe God will give someone else the task of watering it. I am reminded of “The Seven Times Factor” in advertising: as a general rule, potential customers needs to see an ad seven times or more before they buy. I think a similar thing applies in evangelization. You may not have been the “seventh time” for your friend or your brother, but maybe you were the second or third time! I hope that’s encouraging. May God bless your efforts.

[Dan Marcum]

Brian said…
C.S. Lewis was a devout Christian most notable for his liar, lunatic, or Lord argument.

I don’t think that’s what he’s most notable for. The Chronicles of Narnia are known to a much wider segment of the population, partly due to the movies but also because they were just immensely popular novels.

[Dan Marcum]

Reincarnated, huh? I’ve never met someone who believes in reincarnation. Can you tell me more? [After she speaks for a while I would continue:] I once looked up reincarnation in the Bible to see what it has to say, because I believe the Bible always tells the truth. Here’s what the Bible says, “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Heb. 9:27 And the Book of Job says, “For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return.” Job 16:22 What do you think about that?

Then I would wait for her answer. Depending on what she says, I might try to give her reasons to think the Bible is reliable, or I might discuss how to know which interpretation is true, or anything really. It’s hard to tell in advance, but I usually try to bring these discussions back to the Bible and then go from there depending on whether or not the person believes the Bible is true.

[Dan Marcum]

My one good reason for going to Confession is because I need it! Jesus said, “Whoever you forgive shall be forgiven.” (John 20:23) I sin pretty frequently so I’m in constant need of forgiveness. When I evangelize, if I’m talking to a non-Catholic Christian I sometimes ask them if they think the church should follow the bible, and then I’ll ask them if their church does something that’s pretty unique to Catholicism. “Does your church offer confession and absolution?” is a great question to ask! You can show them right where it comes from in the Bible and it can give them some food for thought.

[Dan Marcum]

Ed, I brought up your suggestions with Steve (our president) and Adam (our chief operations officer). You’re not the only one who’s asked for a new pamphlet; we’ve also received requests for a simpler Rosary pamphlet and a pamphlet about Paul the Apostle. Adam recently asked me to tell you that we are all working hard as a staff to get our school of evangelization up and running, both the live version and the online version. Since the School of Evangelization is our current primary focus, we would be moving away from that focus by taking the time to create a new pamphlet, add it to our website, and stock our inventory with thousands of copies. However, if you check back with us in six months, things might be different, and we might be able to add a pamphlet on Hell. I hope this message finds you well. Try checking back with us in six months. God bless!

[Dan Marcum]

Did you see the pamphlet on The Four Last Things (Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell)? It might be exactly what you’re looking for: https://streetevangelization.com/docs/tracts/color/10-LastThings-Color.pdf

[Author]

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