Folllow up on evangelism....

The post on facebook had a lot of response.  This is in response to those responses....if that makes sense.

So….after posting earlier this week, I have been praying a bunch.  Based off of posts from others in response, I thought that I needed more guidance.  I felt that there had to be a right answer to the question of which approach of evangelism is correct.  I thought I had the right answer, then I went to church today to confirm it with some people that I love and respect.

I was really convicted through the sermon today.  It was all about trying to control situations yourself.  Even if someone feels they’re backed into a corner, the idea is to put your trust in God and let Him do things through you.  So many times, people, including myself, try to get control without seeking to find out what God wants you to do.

The same is true in this situation.  Having seen both sides of the fence, and hearing others' strong convictions of those sides, I felt there was one true answer.  That answer was people are inclined to either relationships or the intentionality and urgency of sharing with as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.  I felt I was inclined to only build relationships and share the Gospel that way.

The truth is, I was trying to control what I wanted to do, not what the Spirit was leading me to.  Each situation and each person requires something different.  Taking the advantage to talk someone on a plane, going door to door, or evangelizing through a relationship all depends on the situation and what God is leading you to do through His Spirit. 

We try and put God in a box and into our own perspectives by saying one or the other is the true way to do it.  Truth is, God works His will in His way.  We cannot understand it nor can we put it in our human sized box.  This means that with every opportunity, we should pray for guidance and follow what the Spirit leads us to do.  It also means stepping outside of our comfort zone and making sure we do not ignore His guidance.

Neither side is right or wrong in this area.  The problem is, we think that there is a side.  Placing ourselves on one side or the other makes us wrong and tries to put us in control of God’s will.  Pray for the Spirit to lead as I will, and ask God to take control of your life.  The Bible shows us over and over that when we try to control things, we lose.  Releasing control of all aspects of our life, including how we share the Gospel is key to the heart of the discussion of my earlier post.

Thanks so much for your comments, I hope this makes sense, and God bless.  Go share the Gospel and listen to what God has to say, not yourself.

So....as per my last post, I'm taking a class on evangelism.  This class has led to projects for evangelizing people, including just plain witnessing.  My current assignment is one that I'm struggling with.  The assignment is this:  witness to someone and bring to the point of a decision for Christ.  I'm scared out of my mind.  I haven't been strong enough to let go and let God do the work here.  There's also the idea of doing this without building a relationship with that person first.  That is also scary.

Down to the point....based on a book we've read by William Fay, there's a down and dirty witnessing idea that I want to put past you all and see what you think about it.  I welcome and encourage all comments.  Once again, these are ideas from Bill Fay, not myself.  As you read down, this is the sequence....

Conversation Joggers:

1. May I ask you a question?
2. What are the biggest problems women face today?
3. What’s your favorite sport?  How much money would it take for a man’s life to be perfect?
4. Do you go to church anywhere?
5. May I give you a five question survey?
6. You know about my spiritual beliefs, but I don’t know about yours.  What are they?
7. Do you ever feel uncertain about what you are depending on spiritually for hope in your life?
8. Has anyone ever told you the difference between religion and a relationship with Jesus Christ?
9. May I have your permission to share seven Scriptures that have changed my life?
10. How many people would it take flipping a quarter before one person hits heads thirty times in a row?  One reason I believe the Bible is true is because of the thirty recorded prophecies of the birth, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus that have come true.  That’s a lot like landing heads thirty times in a row.
11. Does truth matter to you?
12. Has anyone ever explained Christianity to you?
13. I need to ask you forgiveness.  I have not told you about the most important thing in my life.  I have not shared how you can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and I want you to know I’m so sorry.
14. You know, I’ve had many problems as well, but I’ve found a solution for my pain.

The Five Share Jesus Questions:

1. Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs?
2. To you, who is Jesus Christ?
3. Do you think there is heaven or hell?
4. If you died, where would you go?  If heaven, why?
5. If what you are believing is not true, would you want to know?

You might ask at this point if you could share some scripture.  If they say yes, continue, otherwise do nothing.  You have not failed because you have been obedient to sharing the gospel and the results belong to God, not us.

The Share Jesus Scriptures:

1. Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
2. Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
3. John 3:3 – “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4. John 14:6 – “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”
5. Romans 10:9-11 – “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.’”
6. 2 Corinthians 5:15 – “And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
7. Revelation 3:20 – “Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he will hear me.”

The Five Commitment Questions

1. Are you a sinner?
2. Do you want forgiveness of sins?
3. Do you believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and rose again?
4. Are you willing to surrender your life to Jesus Christ?
5. Are you ready to invite Jesus Christ into your life and into your heart?

Sinner’s Prayer

            Heavenly Father, I have sinned against you.  I want forgiveness for all my sins.  I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me and rose again.  Father, I give you my life to do with as you wish.  I want Jesus Christ to come into my life and into my heart.  This I ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

The Why Principle

If someone says no, ask why until they have no explanation.

New Believer Questions and Directions

1. How many sins has Christ paid for?
2. How many of your sins does Christ remember?
3. Where does Christ live?
4. Let’s pray. (New believe should say what’s on his/her heart)
5. Who has been praying for you?
6. Do  you know where your friend goes to church?
7. Do you know your friend’s phone number?  Let’s call that person now!
8. May I take you to church with me?
9. Read the Gospel of John.
10. I will call you tomorrow to see if the Word became different. 

Thoughts?  Comments?

Passages on Evangelism

As I am beginning a new class, I am doing some studies in new ways. I would like to take the opportunity to share those here, in this forum. My current class is cross-cultural studies as it relates to evangelism.

After thinking for a while, I've decided that there are too many passages that address the subject of World Evangelization. As I wrote them down, I decided to categorize them into three topics or categories.

First, there is a reason why we must evangelize. We must realize that God loves us greatly. He wants us to be with Him forever. That being said, he also has no tolerance for wickedness or those that turn away from Him. This is our reason for urgency and evangelization. The Bible explicitly lays this out in many passages. A few of these passages are Proverbs 11:30, Mark 16:16, John 3:3, 3:16-18, 14:6, and Romans 6:23. How can we deny the reasoning?

Second, we are commanded to evangelize. We are not to keep the Good News to ourselves. The New Testament is riddled with passages making sure we know that we are supposed to do this. Some of these passages include Matthew 9:37-38, 28:18-20, Mark 13:10, 16:15, Acts 16:31, Hebrews 10:25, 1 Peter 3:15, and 2 Timothy 4:5. We cannot ignore the commandments of God!

Third, we are told to follow Jesus' example and the example of those that followed Him. Jesus led the way by evangelizing others, teaching about evangelization, and telling stories to show that example. His disciples also taught us about evangelization and we can also follow their examples. We can see this through various passages including Psalm 71:24, Matthew 13, 24:14, Luke 9:23, John 20:21. Acts 2:38, 8:4, Isaiah 6:8, 1 Cor 1:17, and 11:1.

Basically, it's hard to narrow down the list to a few. There are so many passage, a lot of which say the same thing in different ways. How could any be more important than the others?

Take the time to look these passage up and let me know what you think?

A life transforming group to strengthen the entire body

http://jeremy-airforcelife.blogspot.com/

The link above is to the actual blog I've been writing in. However, I will still include it in the notes here so more people can/will read it. The information written below is from some guys at church, but it's been on my mind a lot, so I thought I would write about it. Please let me know if there's something to add, or if I have misrepresented any ideas along the way.

Some time ago, I shared with my gospel community the desire and need for us all to become closer to each other. The idea of knowing each other's hearts was real and present. I wondered why it was so hard, while also knowing that I wasn't 100% willing to share a lot of things myself. Talking with some other guys, we discovered that people are so afraid of what other people might think about them. So, we don't share. However, we don't seem to be afraid of what God thinks. Why?

What do other's thoughts of us matter when compared to those of God? Why are we so eager to please others or change ourselves so they will like us? Why do we not always care about disappointing God? God wants a real relationship with us. We screwed it up, and we continue to do so through our sin. If we read through the Bible, Jesus gave us the example and the answer to fix these problems.

At the same time, I was wondering why the accountability in the high school boys' group I work with wasn't working well. In life, we try to hold ourselves accountable to each other. People will always fail one another. However, God will never let us down. God is always there, people will put us on hold for other things. We need to be accountable to God, and we need to encourage others to do just that.

Back to the example of Jesus. Jesus had different levels of relationships. He had a relationship with those he taught, His disciples, and a closer and much smaller group of those that were even closer. Jesus gave us the example. We have our corporate gathering on Sundays, our gospel communities of yet smaller numbers, and we should have yet smaller groups of just a few.

These small groups have the opportunity to really get to know one another's hearts. Instead of what we know as accountability groups, they could be called encouragement groups, or any other thing you want to call it. The purpose is multi-fold. You encourage each other to stay in the word. You discuss what you have learned and applications. You pray for one another, pray for the lost, share your hearts and pray for healing and relationships. You encourage each other to be accountable to God. You probe your hearts together with hard questions to offer up your true heart to God.

Some of these questions could be: Have you been living the Gospel through your words and/or actions? Have you been prideful about money, possessions, etc.? Have you been intentional with your time with your family? Have you damaged someone with your words or actions? Has someone damaged you? Have you talked to your mentor? Do you have a mentor or prayed for one? Have you allowed something to control you and who you are (fear, anger, drugs, pornography)? Have you been honest with me and more over God in answering these questions?

This is NOT accountability with each other, but accountability to God. We are just encouraging each other with this. Through this we build a stronger relationship with God, which will reflect in our lives, strengthening our relationships with each other. As the small group grows in relationship, the gospel community will grow in relationship, and the corporate church will grow in relationship.

This is what I have gathered from the guys that I talked with about this initially. This is what has grown in my heart. I know that there is more to it, and I encourage you to add to this post with it. Once again, if I have misrepresented anything, please tell me, but it was on my heart so I thought I would share. I pray that this can change your life as I know it has changed others'. It is yet another way to help display and declare Christ to the community and world around us.

The idea of our relationship with Christ as a marriage

I heard a chaplain talk about this one Sunday. I had heard the analogy, but never really applied it. I did some research, and even used this as a lesson with the youth group. Please let me know if there's anything wrong with it, or if you have anything to add.

First step in a Jewish marriage was the betrothal. The groom would travel from his father's house to that of the bride. The bride's father and the groom would negotiate a price for the covenant or contract. As soon as the groom paid the price, they were considered to be married. As a symbol of this, the groom would offer the bride a cup of wine. If she drank of it, she agreed. At this point, the bride and groom would be separated. During this time, the bride would prepare herself to begin her married life to the groom. Meanwhile, the groom would be preparing the dwelling place and accommodations for his bride.

At a time of the groom's choosing, unbeknownst to the bride, the groom would gather his wedding party, and go to collect his bride. She would know he was coming, but not the exact time. In order to warn her of his arrival, he would raise a shout. I am not really sure what this shout was like, but I'm sure it was interesting. Something like, "Hey baby, here I come!" That's at least what came to mind. When the bride and groom would return home, the house would be filled with wedding guests. At this time, the bride will remain hidden for seven days during the festivities before she is revealed to the attendants.

John 14:1-3 shows us the promise that Jesus makes that aligns itself with these traditions. Here Jesus tells us of His father's house and that He will be leaving to prepare a place for us. Eph 5:22-23 takes it further showing us again the analogy of the Jewish wedding. We see that Jesus traveled from His Father's house to earth, to find us, His bride. He offered us the cup of the covenant, and we drink from it, acknowledging Him as our savior and groom (1 Cor 11:25). He paid the price of His life, that we may be with Him forever. Therefore, we belong to Him. He paid the price for us (1 Cor 6:19-20). We have been set aside, exclusively for Christ (Eph 5:25-27; 1 Cor 1:2, 6:11)!

As the bride and groom remained separated in the interim, we remain separated from God, although we are able to share in the knowledge that we will soon be with Him. Just as the groom traveled at an unknown time to the house of the bride, Christ will come back for us (1 Thes 4:16). He will shout for us, and we will know that the time has come. Once this has happened, the church will remain hidden in heaven during the seven years of tribulation. This corresponds to the bride remaining hidden during the week of festivities. Col. 3:4 shows us that the church will be revealed at the end of that time, so that everyone will see, know and bow to Jesus.

Yes, communion represents the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It also represents a covenant of unending love. Communion is a promise, each and every time you take it. You are renewing your vows to Jesus. This is not something you do to go through the motions. It's serious. Would you just go through the marriage ceremony without meaning it? Why would you to that with Christ.

Think of the vows in a wedding. Now think of it this way. Jesus, takes you, the sinner, as His bride. He will love you and honor your all the days of eternity. He will be faithful, through sickness and health, for richer, for poorer, regardless of how you treat Him, with God as His witness.

Some notes from this morning: Romans 11

Did God reject His people? How often to we exalt ourselves and look down on others, because we are Christians? Verse 17 sets us straight. We have been "grafted" in among the natural branches. We share in the nourishment. The roots nourish us, not the other way around. Because of God's grace and mercy, we have been offered salvation. Not that we deserve it, but God has given us mercy and grace. Even though branches have been shed that we might be saved, we could be broken off just as easy. John 15 says that if the branch does not produce fruit, it will be pruned. Why, then, are we arrogant and not humble? Do we display and declare Christ in all aspect of our lives?

You might say, "We see that the Israelites have fallen numerous times throughout the Bible. God gave them chance after chance, but they kept turning away." Are you perfect? Am I perfect? Have any of us fallen beyond the reach of God's grace?

That is grace. We do not deserve it! Verse 6 shows us that our works have nothing to do with grace. If we pay a price for it, it is not grace.

There's a lot of stuff in Chapter 11. I don't want to talk about all of it right now, but this is what I'm chewing on right now. This whole book is amazing, each chapter equally so. What I find so amazing in this chapter is that Paul teaches and convicts, yet concludes with praise to God.

I find myself searching my mind and trying to ask myself questions to be accountable to Christ. I have spent so much time as accountability partners with people, and I wasn't sure what was really wrong with that. However, Jeremy C. stated it well today. When we are accountable to each other, we will undoubtedly let each other down. We should encourage one another and stay accountable to Christ.

I'm going to try and use an outline suggested this morning. I'm going to use it with the youth discipleship group, my small group, and hopefully some friends at work. I will share with anyone else who finds this helpful and wants to try and be more intentional.

Pray for humility. Thank God for grace! Stay in the word, living it out daily; displaying and declaring Christ. Thank God that we are not beyond saving. Thank Him for sending His only Son that we might have eternal life with God. God bless!

Long time, no chat

Well, I almost forgot this was here. However, I thought of it today, and I figured I'd try and update a bit. Since my last one, I've graduated OTS, gone to training in California, and graduated. Now, I'm on my way to FEWarren to be a missilier

Things have been great. I finished ASBC, and Kate is pregnant with a boy. He is due March 9th, 2010. There are pictures on my facebook.

We're staying in Barstow, California tonight. It is very interesting, and I don't think that I will ever stay here again. Mostly, it is because after looking for someplace to eat, the only thing I could think to say was, "If I eat at any of these places, I will get sick."

I guess, we're hoping and praying for good weather for the next few days, and that we can find the house for us in Cheyenne. I'm excited to be within a days drive to Omaha, and be back in the midwest with restaurants that are good, etc. I liked living in Cali by the ocean, but seasons and no daily fog is really nice.

Well, hopefully, there will be more later, and not so long between posts.