Mark Cahill — The Best Evangelist You Might Not Have Heard Of
We….no, let’s make that, I, have been blessed over the last two days by the best evangelist you might never have heard of. His name is Mark Cahill. If you care about where people spend eternity, if you want to be challenged to be a better soul-winner, if you have a sense of spiritual apathy or complacency in your life — then you must, MUST, get acquainted with this man.
Several years ago, someone introduced me to a book entitled “One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven“. I read a lot of books and I thought this one was good, but too quickly, it and it’s message, got lost under a lot of reading i was doing. Then the author, Mark Cahill, spoke at a church near Charlotte and quite a few of our young people went up to hear him speak and came back “Changed” with a Capital “C”. They started witnessing individually and in groups. They talked about how to reach others for Christ. Then one of our deacons, John Ferndandez, who heads up our annual 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament (Share the Rock) asked if we could invite him in to speak to the scores of unsaved ball players that come to that event. I agree and decided to ask Mark to stay over a Sunday to speak to our church and to do some training.
Saturday was our tournament and Mark came in to speak. He’s a tall drink of water with a shaved head and I immediately sized him up as a young jock with a cool story of being an All-American Basketball player from Auburn University who likes to speak to young people. We chatted politely before he was to speak and I was blown away to discover that he and I are the same age (45). (Never have I felt so short, fat and old as standing next to him.) His style is very casual and conversational. (He likes to say, “Witnessing is about having a conversation not making a presentation.) For 40 minutes, a hundred sweaty, hard-core ballplayers sat on wooden bleachers and listened to his every word. He might be a jock with a cool story, but I was soon to find he was much, much more than just a typical youth speaker.
This morning, he spoke to our church for 45 minutes on winning people to Christ and it seemed like 5 minutes. Tonight, he packed out our Fine Arts Center with hundreds of folks where he spoke for 90 minutes how to be a more effective witness. He could have gone on for another hour and no one would have complained. His passion and heart for the unsaved is contagious and I watched people gain a vision for being better soul-winners with tears coursing down their cheeks.
But there’sanother side our folks didn’t see. It was what I sawat lunch today where it literally took him 30 minutes to get from the car to the seat in the restaurant as he casually engaged people in conversation, sharing his testimony, giving them tracts and books that told them how to have eternal life. It was watching him pick up the check for a couple of African-American ladies with a small child explaining that “kids are expensive” and he just wanted to be an encouragement to them. It was talking to the middle-aged African American businessman who claimed to be “spiritual” but didn’t know the Lord — and watching that man came back up to Mark later on to re-engage him in conversation about the Lord. (Oh, and Mark paid his check too.) It was listening to him engage two sharp looking high school boys from our local Catholic High School in a conversation about life, death and eternity and seeing him give them books and watching them come back to thank him and to introduce their dad to him. It was learning the life story of our very efficient young waiter who had just recently moved to Charlotte. It was seeing him get up and down throughout the meal to chat with folks all over the restaurant to the point that people were coming to him for his books. It was casual, contagious and Christianity at it’s core.
No show, no rushing, no pretence, no pressure — just engaging people in conversation and helping them learn God’s plan of salvation. I was convicted to my core as I thought how I’m usually immediately evaluating the quality of the food and the service when I go to a restaurant. None of that for Mark — he was there for divine appointments.
Mark has written another book, “One Heartbeat Away” which is a great tool for sharing the gospel. Another unique thing about Mark is that he doesn’t peddle his wares like a carnival barker at church. He sets up tables, asks people to give a donation if they want, tells people to take them if they want them, but to make sure they use them and let’s God cover the rest. He lives in a rented apartment and doesn’t have financial resources, yet he gave away hundreds and hundreds of dollars just while I watched him.
Seriously, you need to get acquainted with this guy. Go to his website at www.markcahill.org or click here. Find out when he is speaking near you and go there. If you are a pastor, call me and let me tell you more — you’ll be scheduling him as soon as we get off the phone. Check out his materials and listen to his presentation on his website. Order his books and DVD’s.
It’s rare when I meet someone whose ministry I’d like to endorse and even promote. Mark Cahill is one of the few and I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more strongly about introducing him to others. Don’t miss checking this guy out. He is annointed. I can’t wait until the next time he comes back to Northside. I don’t think our church will ever be the same. I know I won’t.