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September 24th, 2007

The A-bike Evangelist

I have discovered that one of the people who was up against me in the Creative Blog Category in the Christian Blog Awards is an evangelist who navigates around Britain in a sailing boat, stopping here and there to evangelise riding a Sinclair A-bike whilst dressed as John Wesley.

You don’t believe me do you?

a-bike evangelist

Here’s a snippet from his website:

I went for a coffee in the local Nero’s and met Grant who like many many other people was intrigued with my A-Bike, which following an explanation of its workings allowed me to continue our conversation with me sharing the gospel with him.

On my way back to see if my new friend had arrived at the meeting point I was astonished to be stopped by an elderly lady who must have been well into her 80’s who wanted to talk to me about my bike.

I would reiterate what I have said in an earlier newsletter that if you are at a loss on how to start conversations with people to share the good news about Jesus with them, then buy an A-Bike and you will have many such encounters each day. They can be obtained from www.a-bike.co.uk for £149.95.

The A-bike, in case you are wondering, is a folding bicycle. It is apparently great to carry but not so great to ride. If you want a space-age bike that is great to ride but not quite so great to fold then I’d recommend the Strida. Not that I’ve got one, but who knows, one day.

Anyway, enough about bicycles. John is the intrepid evangelist’s name. I wish him all the best on his mission.

10 Comments »



This is a single Cartoon Blog entry, posted by Dave on Monday, September 24th, 2007 at 11:27 pm.

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10 Responses to “The A-bike Evangelist”


  1. Black Wolf says:

    Nice hair. Classic hair.

    September 25th, 2007 at 5:01 am
  2. David Keen says:

    It could only happen in Britain.

    Fair play to the guy, St. Paul became all things to all people in order to save some, and by the law of averages there must be at least one person out there who is most liable to be saved by a bike-riding costume-wearing evangelist. Judging by his blog, more than one. On the outfit: having been to a fancy dress party at the weekend dressed as Adam Ant, 3 hours of pure embarassment, I 100% admire his guts!

    September 25th, 2007 at 9:49 am
  3. chris clark says:

    I assume that in order to keep ahead in the creative blogging game you will be doing something similar to augment the cartoons. We look forward to reports around the villages of Essex.

    However I hope you will stand up for the Calvinists and dress up as George Whitefield :-)

    September 25th, 2007 at 10:07 am
  4. joe says:

    I think maybe there is some misunderstanding here. It is perfectly natural. Here is the real story:

    1. Some guy buys an electric kid’s scooter.
    2. Due to his strange dress sense, the scooter manufacturers see him as being an unusual but interesting marketing ploy and so secretly sign him up as their marketing manager with particular responsibility for the christian market.
    3. Said strangely-dressed-gent then starts telling people about the said scooter, cleverly using the term ‘gospel’. That is gospel as in its common secular useage rather than refering the Christian religion.
    4. The sales manager can then honestly say he has been spreading the gospel, refering to the story about the new product.
    5. Christian media and websites having not much to talk about pick up the use of the word ‘gospel’
    6. Christians associate the scooter with evangelism.
    7. Sales of said scooter increase exponentially amongst the community of strangely dressed evangelists.

    September 25th, 2007 at 10:10 am
  5. Russ says:

    Wonder if he sings the classic Wesley hymn with the immortal line: “My chains fell off …” ?

    September 25th, 2007 at 11:39 am
  6. Dave says:

    Like David I admire the mans guts, but I’m not a fan of street preaching.

    Chris – I was thinking of just cycling around the place as ‘lifestyle evangelism’.

    Joe – it is not an electric scooter – it is a proper bicycle. By the way, what was wrong with my tie??

    Russ – Brilliant. Knowing that the a-bike has 2 chains marks you out as a secret folding bike enthusiast though…

    September 25th, 2007 at 11:45 am
  7. joe says:

    It looks more like a scooter than a proper bicycle. Whatever.

    If that is evangelism, I’m a pickled onion.

    September 25th, 2007 at 11:56 am
  8. Karin says:

    I think you must be a pickled onion, Joe.

    Surely evangelism these days is about using wierd and whacky gimmicks as a vehicle for telling people they must be saved, which in turn is a euphemism for signing up to a particular church’s doctrine and turning up on Sunday as pew fodder willing to put something on the collection plate.

    In many circles evangelism seems to mean anything but spreading the good news of God’s love by trying to live in a way that reflects that.

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
  9. Simon says:

    I’m now expecting a series on the useful nature or otherwise of folding items when preaching the gospel. Ladders, trestle tables, inflatable canoes – the possibilities are endless.

    September 25th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
  10. Russ says:

    Jacob’s Ladder – the health & safety perspective
    Would Jesus have used wallpaper pasting tables for the Last Supper? The B&Q Version
    Calming the storm – is it possible from an inflatable dinghy?
    How to explain the ABC of Salvation using a folding Bible …
    You’re right, Simon, you’re so right.

    September 25th, 2007 at 5:14 pm