Street Pocket Guide
Rapid reference for the street. Bookmark this page on your phone’s home screen, or print it and keep it in your Bible.
Conscience Mirror (W-D-J-D)
- Would you consider yourself to be a good person?
- Do you think you've kept the Ten Commandments? Ever lied, stolen, used God's name as a curse word, or looked with lust (Matthew 5:28)?
- Judgment: If God judged you by the Ten Commandments, would you be innocent or guilty?
- Destiny: Would you go to Heaven or Hell?
- Then ask: "Does that concern you?" And wait.
- Say "we", never gloat, and never leave them under the Law. Go to the Cross.
The Gospel in 60 Seconds
- God's standard: God is holy and good. His Law says don't lie, steal, blaspheme, or lust, and He sees the heart.
- Our guilt: We've all broken it (Romans 3:23). A good judge must punish crime, and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).
- The Cross: But God loves us. Jesus, God in human flesh, died on the cross in our place and paid our fine in full (2 Corinthians 5:21).
- The Resurrection: On the third day He rose from the dead, defeating death (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
- Repent and trust: Turn from your sins and trust Jesus alone, like putting on a parachute (Mark 1:15). God will forgive you and give you everlasting life.
- Close: "Is there anything stopping you from turning and trusting Him today?"
After They Pray
- Assurance: Salvation rests on what Christ did, not on feelings or the words of a prayer (1 John 5:11-13).
- Contact: With permission, swap numbers. Text them within 24 hours.
- Gospel of John: One chapter a day for 21 days. Give them a copy or help them get a Bible app.
- Church: Connect them to a Bible-believing church near them, and offer to go with them.
- Baptism: Jesus commanded it (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38). The promise of the Holy Spirit is for them too (Acts 2:39).
- Pray for them by name, every day.
If They Say No
- Thank them sincerely for their time and honesty.
- Leave Scripture: a Gospel tract or a Gospel of John. God's word "shall not return to Me void" (Isaiah 55:11).
- No pressure. The Holy Spirit is the One who convicts (John 16:8). Jesus let the rich young ruler walk away (Mark 10:21-22).
- Pray for them: ask if you may pray right there, and keep praying for them by name.
- You may be one link in a chain: one plants, another waters, God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).
Atheist / Skeptic
- Kalam: Whatever begins to exist has a cause. The universe began to exist, so its cause is beyond space, time, and matter.
- DNA: The human genome holds about 3 billion "letters" of coded information. In all our experience, code comes from a mind.
- Morality: "Without God, what makes anything truly evil, rather than just something you dislike?"
- Resurrection: The apostles suffered and died for what they said they saw with their own eyes. People die for lies they believe, not for what they know is a lie.
- Then go to the conscience: "Would you consider yourself to be a good person?"
Muslim Friend
- Son of God: Not physical procreation. The Qur'an itself calls Jesus Allah's "Word" (Surah 4:171); the Bible says the eternal Word became flesh (John 1:1, 14).
- Crucifixion: The Roman historian Tacitus (Annals 15.44) records that Christ was executed under Pontius Pilate.
- Substitution theory: If Allah made someone else look like Jesus (Surah 4:157), His own disciples were deceived. Would God do that?
- Assurance: Islam weighs deeds on the scales (Mizan) with no certainty. In Christ you can know you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).
- Tone: Be respectful and ask questions. Never mock the Prophet or the Qur'an.
Mormon / LDS
- Nature of God: "Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me" (Isaiah 43:10).
- Always God: "From everlasting to everlasting, You are God" (Psalm 90:2). He was never a man who became God.
- Grace: Ephesians 2:8-9 vs. 2 Nephi 25:23 ("by grace that we are saved, after all we can do"). Ask: "Have you done all you can do?"
- Christ paid it all: "It is finished!" (John 19:30). He is "able to save to the uttermost" (Hebrews 7:25).
- Tone: Be kind to missionaries. They are often sincere young people far from home.
Jehovah's Witness
- Hebrews 1:5-6: God never called an angel "My Son", and He commands all His angels to worship Jesus. So Jesus is not an angel (not Michael).
- Proskuneō: The NWT says "do obeisance" in Hebrews 1:6, but the Greek word is proskuneō, the same word the NWT translates "worship" when it is given to God (e.g., John 4:24; Revelation 22:9).
- Luke 24:39: "Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." Jesus rose bodily, not as a spirit.
- First and Last: Jehovah says, "I am the First and I am the Last" (Isaiah 44:6), yet in Revelation 1:17-18 the One who "was dead" claims that same title. That is Jesus.
Jewish Friend
- Daniel 9:26: "Messiah shall be cut off," and then the city and sanctuary are destroyed. The Temple fell in AD 70, so Messiah had to come before then.
- Isaiah 53:5: "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities." Ask: who is this?
- Leviticus 17:11: "It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul." With no Temple since AD 70, where is the atonement? Yeshua is our Yom Kippur.
- Jeremiah 31:31: God promised a New Covenant "with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."
- Tone: Yeshua and the apostles were Jewish. Believing in Messiah is not leaving Israel's God.
Catholic Friend
- Common ground first: the Trinity, Jesus fully God and fully man, His death and bodily resurrection, the creeds. Never say "Catholics aren't Christians."
- Assurance: "...that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). Ask: "If you died tonight, what would you be trusting in?"
- Faith and works: saved by grace through faith, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9), and real faith always works (Ephesians 2:10; James 2:26). Works are the fruit, not the root.
- Mary: honour her, and do what she said: "Whatever He says to you, do it" (John 2:5). There is one Mediator, Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).
- Purgatory: Jesus "by Himself purged our sins" (Hebrews 1:3), and His blood "cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
- Tradition: value church history, but test every tradition by Scripture, as Jesus did (Mark 7:13) and the Bereans did (Acts 17:11).
Hindu / Buddhist Friend
- Ask first: beliefs vary widely between Hindu traditions and Buddhist schools. "What does your family believe? What do you practise?"
- All paths? The traditions disagree about God, the problem and the goal. Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).
- Karma vs. grace: karma can repay but never forgive. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23).
- Rebirth: "It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Freedom is offered now: "if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).
- Not one avatar among many: Jesus came once, in history, to die for sinners and rise again (Hebrews 9:26; 1 Timothy 1:15).
- Respect: never mock images, temples or meditation. Offer to pray in Jesus' name, only with permission; many are glad to be prayed for.
Hebrew Israelite
- Stay calm. Don't get pulled into a shouting match. Let Scripture do the work.
- Genesis 22:18: "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" (see also Genesis 12:3).
- Galatians 3:28-29: "...you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed..."
- Galatians 3:13: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law," including the curses of Deuteronomy 28.
- Revelation 7:9: Heaven holds a multitude "of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues."
Deconstructed / Church Hurt
- Listen first. Acknowledge real hurt, and never defend abusers.
- 2 Corinthians 5:19: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself." The Cross is not "cosmic child abuse"; it is God giving Himself (John 10:18).
- Matthew 23: Jesus condemned religious hypocrisy more than anyone. Don't judge the Doctor by the sick patients.
- Matthew 11:28: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
- Ask: "Did you walk away from Jesus, or from the way people represented Him?"
Heckler Turnarounds
- Stay calm, smile, thank them, and repeat the question so the crowd hears it.
- "What about the hypocrites in church?" → "You're right, hypocrisy is real, and Jesus condemned it (Matthew 23). Come to Him, the only One who was never a hypocrite."
- "Why does God allow evil?" → "If God stamped out all evil at midnight tonight, would any of us be here at 12:01? He's waiting so people can repent (2 Peter 3:9)."
- "The Bible was written by men!" → "Men held the pens, but God is the Author: holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21)."
- "Who are you to judge?" → "I'm not judging you; I've broken the same Law. I'm one beggar telling another where to find bread."
Street Healing (30 Seconds)
- Ask: "May I pray a quick prayer for your body, in Jesus' name?" Only with a yes.
- Consent to touch: "Is it okay if I put a hand on your shoulder?" Shoulder only, or no touch at all.
- Pray short: "In the name of Jesus, pain, leave this knee. Be healed."
- Test gently: "Try moving it, only as far as is safe. What do you notice?"
- Integrity: Never tell anyone to stop medication or discard a medical aid: "Go get it confirmed by your doctor." Never guarantee results, and never blame their faith.
- Nothing changed? Pray again (Mark 8:22-25), keep loving them, and share the Gospel anyway. Miracles are the dinner bell; the Gospel is the meal.
Street Conduct & Safety
- Team of 2+: One talks, one watches the crowd.
- Consent: Never touch anyone without asking first.
- Police: Stay calm and polite, and don't argue. Comply now, seek clarification later.
- Minors: Never target or isolate them. Talk further only with a parent present.
- Don't block doors, entrances, walkways, or crosswalks.
- Stay calm: Never retaliate. If it turns physical, step back, leave, and call for help.
- Film openly, only where lawful. Leave the area cleaner than you found it.
- Know the law: U.S. sidewalk rights are general information, not legal advice. Ordinances vary; abroad, learn your local law.