When you ask questions, it allows people to express their viewpoint. People love to give their opinions. When you ask a question, don't respond with your own answer. Then you won't end up on some rabbit trail. The minute the other person says he's going to reincarnate or fizzle when he dies, you are going to want to jump in and respond. But don't!

In addition to the following questions, I sometimes use other introductory "bridge" questions. Here's one of my favorites: Do you go to church anywhere? It's so nonthreatening. Try that on people at work and watch what happens. That question can serve as an effective transition into the questions that follow.

1. Do you have any kind of spiritual belief? The first question does not ask people if they believe in God. That'll give you the response, "None of your business." But if you ask them if they have any spiritual beliefs, they'll talk to you, some for 5 or 10 minutes. Let them talk, because when they're done they'll have very little to fight with you about. If they simply answer yes without explaining, go on to the next question.

2. To you, who is Jesus? When you ask a person what he thinks of Jesus, he will usually respond, "The Son of God," or "The man who died on the cross." But if I were to ask one of you who Jesus is, I hope your response would reflect your personal relationship to Him. I hope you would say, "My Lord and my Savior." So listen carefully to the person's answer.

3. Do you think there is a heaven and a hell? The third question is safe. It is an intellectual question. It simply asks what they believe about the life to come.

4. If you died right now, where would you go? If heaven, why? I asked a woman, "Do you think there is a heaven and a hell?" Her exact words were "Absolutely not." But the fourth question is personal. So when I asked her where she would go when she died, she said, "Heaven, of course." The issue went from her head to her heart. When you start talking about the personal aspect of a person's life, he or she will get very serious.

If people answer, "Heaven," you ask, "Why?" The answer they give will pinpoint their true beliefs. If they say, "I don't know," continue on to the next question.

5. If what you believe were not true, would you want to know it? The last question is a tough one. Jesus drove the Pharisees and Sadducees nuts with hard questions, so I make no apology for asking them. What are the two possible answers to question number 5? Yes or no. If it's yes, you go on. If the answer is no, stop. And I'll tell you what will happen almost every time you stop. The person will say, "Well, aren't you going to tell me?" Very rarely will you ever get a no that sticks. If you do get a no, remember, it's not your problem, it's God's.

You can vary the approach a number of ways. Let me give you some examples.

Example 1: I was at an airport and I happened to be where they take the tickets before you get on the airplane. I noticed a woman who was all by herself. I walked up and said, "I have a question." And she said, "What is it?" I said, "If you died right now, where would you go?" She said, "That's an important question." So I took her off to the side while she gave her life to Jesus Christ.

These questions are merely a probe to see if the heart is ready. You can adjust them any way you want. If you want to go right to the heart of the matter, just ask. There isn't a conversation you can't turn to any of these questions.

Example 2: You could say to someone, "In the newspaper you read about sports superstars who are making lots of money but whose personal lives are a mess. What do you think makes a person happy? I'm curious, do you have spiritual belief in anything? What is your understanding of who Jesus is?"

Example 3: You could say, "You know, with the current world tensions and wars going on, do you think about all those soldiers who may die? Do you ever wonder what may happen to people when they die? I'm curious, what about you? If you died right now, where would you go?"

You can turn any conversation into a tender confrontation. But don't get away from the questions, or you may not get the opportunity to talk with them about the Lord.

Example 4: A Jehovah's Witness came to my door. I was running late for an appointment, but I opened the door anyway. She said, "Hi, I'm here from the Watchtower." I said, "Look, I really need to go but I have just one question." She said, "What is it?" I said, "If what you believe were not true, would you want to know it?" She replied, "Oh, but sir, what I believe is true, and I came here to share truth and revelation with you." I said, "Ma'am, that's not my question." I did this 12 times. Finally she said, "Well, yes." And she's been back twice.

The whole idea of these questions is to get to the Bible. The power is in God's Word. I want to get to His Book.

Example 5: I have a friend who reads 1,200 words a minute and remembers everything he has ever read. For 20 years he was a practicing atheist with a hobby of tearing apart other people's religious beliefs.

Then one day in Guam, on a bus, he saw a guy who was being teased by several people. Someone grabbed the man's Bible and tossed it out the window. My friend, who had a sensitive heart, walked up and said, "Why do you let them do this to you?" The man said, "I'm a Christian."

My friend responded, "Do you mean to tell me that you believe that somebody got vomited out of the mouth of a whale?" The guy's answer was yes. My friend's immediate response was, "How do you know?" His answer was, "My Bible tells me so."

This went on with more questions and the man replying with a yes or a no and saying, "My Bible tells me so." This shook my friend so badly that he went home, borrowed a Bible, and read it through over the weekend. A verse in Job that said "Stop and consider God's wonders" spoke to him (Job 37:14).

For 2 weeks he intellectually struggled between killing himself or trusting Christ before he gave himself to the Lord. Today he a strong Christian defender of the faith.

The point is this: Don't get intimidated. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.

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