Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #29

Three ways to teach evangelism and compassionate ministry:

I have often wondered if there aren’t three ways to teach evangelism and compassionate ministry to your seminary students (and, by extension, to your church).

Method one: hypocritically. This means, you use your mouth and pulpit/lectern only. You don’t actually evangelize yourself, you just talk about it.

Method two: from the margins. You do talk about it, and you do it. But you don’t involve others with you in the ministry. Your teaching thus is separated from your action.

Method three: centrally. You teach and preach about it, and you do it, and you involve others with you. This is Christ’s method.

Insight – I don’t know that I have ever (with any degree of certainty) been taught evangelism by someone who did anything other than the first method.

What evangelism does for the evangelist:
“Evangelism is work, often hard work. Yet it is not drudgery. It puts a person on good humor, and makes him truly human.” (Oswald C.J. Hoffmann)

An outreach idea
AUTO-CARE (www.autocareministry.com) - Policies and procedures (call for passcode & username)

• Monthly ministry to single moms and widows
• Volunteer mechanics provide service and tools
• Services are provided on the church property or site
• Advertisement interest everybody
• Involves everybody in the church to serve
• High exposure to the community leaders and other churches

A bunch of interesting audio seminars to download.
Go for it.

Three transferable insights from John Calvin: Acts 4:1-4
Three things are to be chiefly noted in this narration.

First, that as soon as the truth of the Gospel comes to light, Satan sets himself in opposition to it by every means in his power, and uses every endeavour to crush it in its earliest beginnings.

Secondly, that God furnishes His children with unconquerable fortitude, that they may stand firm and unmoved against all the devices of Satan and may not yield to the violence of the wicked.

Finally, we must not the outcome, that however completely the enemy may appear to be dominant and in control of events, leaving no stone unturned to blot out the Name of Christ, and however much on the other hand the ministers of sound doctrine be as sheep in the mouths of wolves, God none the less spreads abroad the Kingdom of His Son, keeps alive the light of His Gospel, and looks to the safety of His children. (Calvin, Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries, Acts Vol. 1)

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #28

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire reminder:

Pastor Jim Cymbala swears that Brooklyn Tabernacle went from “doomed” to dynamic after he sensed God speaking to him: “If you and your wife will lead my people to pray and call upon my name, you will never lack for something fresh to preach. I will supply all the money that’s needed, both for the church and for your family, and you will never have a building large enough to contain the crowds I will send in response.”

“Lead to pray.” In Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire Cymbala then quotes that great Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church, it must pray. And if he be not there, one of the first tokens of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.

Concerning the National Day of Prayer:
What use is a National Day of Prayer if no one has a prayer life, and local churches aren’t passionately interceding?

We need the following:

• Pastors who spend at least an hour a day in personal prayer thus leading by example in this most consequential church dynamic.
  
  
• Churches who reclaim a time for fervent intercession either during the Sunday service or at something like a Wednesday prayer meeting or both.
  
  
• We need pastors to begin beckoning their people to consistent and ardent prayer and fasting as a local church standard.
  
  
• We need seasons of prayer where pastors and laity alike are honing in on the life of holiness God desires for all of us.
  
  
• Then…we need to participate in the bigger vision of “National Days of Prayer.”

I just have this funny feeling that doing the last without the former won’t mean much to God. And that all of these together in abundant fashion across the nation will likely mean revival. MF

Barna.org
A new survey released by The Barna Group, which has been tracking America’s religious behavior and beliefs since 1984, reveals that one out of every three adults (33%) is classified as unchurched - meaning they have not attended a religious service of any type during the past six months. While that figure is considerably higher than the one out of five who qualified as unchurched in the early Nineties, it is statistically unchanged since 36% were recorded as having avoided religious services in the company’s 1994 study.

Podcast
Rick Warren’s discussion with several about how to minister in an urban setting. Always worth listening to. http://blog.pastors.com/

Lausanne
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA/COLORADO SPRINGS, CO USA, 4 May - The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE, www.lausanne.org) today announced plans for the Third International Congress on World Evangelization, to be held 16-25 October, 2010, in Cape Town, South Africa. "Lausanne III: Cape Town 2010" will gather mission and church leaders from around the world to address challenges and opportunities that are before the church with respect to world evangelization.

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #27

A leadership seminar by Paul:

Luke summarizes Paul’s teaching in Acts 20:18-35, which can be read out loud in 2 minutes and 10 seconds. In other words, we have here less than one-half of 1 percent of Paul’s teaching content, even assuming it was a short one-day seminar. So from one perspective, we could say we have ended up with but a brief summary of the high points that seemed important to Luke. Or, from another perspective, we could say we trust that the Holy Spirit, who inspired Luke as he was writing Acts, guided Luke supernaturally to select the exact items that would be the most important for the leaders of the church through the ages. Let’s move on this latter assumption.

As I read it, it looks as though the seminar could have been divided into four sessions, all of which are important for Christian leaders in all places at all times:

· Session 1: Striving for a servant’s heart (Acts 20:17-21)

· Session 2: Counting the cost of discipleship (Acts 20:22-24)

· Session 3: Guarding against counterfeits (Acts 20:25-31)

· Session 4: Turning the church over to the nationals (Acts 20:32-35) (Peter Wagner, Blazing the Way, 197-200)

Urban Evangelism
Rodney Stark (Christianity Today, 6/15/98; Christian History, 5/30/01) talks about how the early Christian community “outlived the pagans.” Part of this was the urban sanctuary the Christians offered.

Greco-Roman cities were terribly overpopulated. Antioch in Syria, for example, had a population density of about 117 inhabitants per acre—more than three times that of New York City today. Tenement cubicles were smoky, dark, often damp, and always dirty. On the street, mud, open sewers, and manure lay everywhere. Newcomers and strangers, divided into many ethnic groups, harbored antagonism that often erupted into riots. For these ills, Christianity offered a unifying subculture, bridging divisions and providing a strong sense of common identity.

• To cities filled with the homeless and impoverished, Christianity offered charity and hope.
• To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate fellowship.
• To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family.

Why was Paul a “tentmaker” when he didn’t have to?

• Credibility: Paul says twice (1 Cor. 9:12; 2 Cor. 6:3ff) that he works in order not to put an “obstacle: in the way of the gospel. He tries to give the Gentiles no reason to distrust his motivation. He does not want to be classes with exploiters of audiences. He gets nothing, it costs him.
  
  
• Identification: Paul is known for adapting to cultures…including the lower classes. A skilled artisan was somewhere in the lower middle (I Cor. 9:19ff). He would have had to immerse himself in the marketplace to gain the trust of the artisans and laborers. His identification would not be phony…he genuinely earned his living. This would be, of course, an imitation of the incarnational Jesus (Phil. 2:5-11).
  
  
• Modeling: Paul, generally, would model the holy life of one living in an unholy world. “He lived a holy life in the same immoral, idolatrous, cesspool society where he expected converts to live holy lives.” He would do the same, more particularly, with a Christian work ethic.
  
  “With toil and labor, we worked night and day that we night not burden any of you, and to give you an example to follow.” (I Thess. 3:8) Work would not be optional for new believers. He would turn thieves, idlers and drunkards into good providers for families and generous givers to the need (I Cor. 6:10-11; Eph. 4:28; I Tim 5:8). More importantly, Paul established a pattern for lay ministry…all converts were to be full-time, unpaid evangelists in their places of work, extended households and cities, villages. Perspectives, Ruth Siemens

A witness, not a lawyer
”As a lawyer for God, putting up his case, I was a failure. As a witness for God, telling what he had done for me, I was a success. As in a flash I saw my calling: I was to be a witness! It was bitter medicine, bitterly and publicly administered, but I took the medicine and found it cured me of illusions. I would not be God’s able lawyer, but I would be a witness to grace. And I have been a witness - a witness before princes and peasants, before Brahmans and outcastes, before the mighty and the miserable of what Christ has done for an unworthy recipient. I have found that this is what people want to hear – testimony of what has happened and is happening to you.” (E. Stanley Jones, Song of Ascents)

Bible help
Want help in Hebrew and Greek insights. You are missing out if you haven’t discovered the Blue Letter Bible online. http://www.blueletterbible.org/

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #26

Here’s why we grew so wonderfully in the beginning
“Let me state my thesis: Central doctrines of Christianity prompted and sustained attractive, liberating, and effective social relations and organizations. I believe that it was the religion’s particular doctrines that permitted Christianity to be among the most sweeping and successful revitalization movements in history. And it was the way these doctrines took on actual flesh, the way they directed organizational actions and individual behavior, that led to the rise of Christianity.” (Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity)

The Scent of Love
"In his book The Scent of Love Keith Miller proposes the reason why the early Christians were such phenomenally successful evangelists. It was not because of their charisms – such as the gift of speaking in tongues – and not because Christianity was such a palatable doctrine (to the contrary, it is about the unpalatable doctrine there is) but because they had discovered this secret of community. Generally they did not have to lift a finger to evangelize. Someone would be walking down a back alley in Corinth or Ephesus and would see a group of people sitting together talking about the strangest things – something about a man and a tree and an execution and an empty tomb. What they were talking about made no sense to the onlooker. But there was something about the way they spoke to one another, about the way they looked at one another, about the way they cried together, the way they laughed together, the way they touched one another that was strangely appealing. It gave off what Miller called the scent of love. The onlooker would start to drift farther down the alley, only to be pulled back to this little group like a bee to a flower. He would listen some more, still not understanding, and start to drift away again. But again he would be pulled back, thinking, I don’t have the slightest idea what these people are talking about, but whatever it is, I want a part of it.” (M. Scott Peck, The Different Drum, Simon and Schuster, ’87)

Second Generation Leadership
Chapter 9 describes the conversion of Paul, whose ministry dominates the rest of Acts. In fact from now on, except for the pioneering work by Peter in the home of Cornelius, these newer leaders are the standard-bearers of the advance of the kingdom.

• As we noted above, they become initiators while the apostles become verifiers. In a beautiful sequence Peter and John follow the lead given by Philip and preach the gospel in many Samaritan cities (8:25).

• We can detect a certain hesitancy to change among the older established leaders, which is natural.

• Thus, when there is an evangelistic harvest in Samaria by Philip, Peter and John are sent to check things out.

• Peter later resists the message to go to the home of Cornelius (10:9-23).

• When Paul tries to join the Christians in Jerusalem, he is accepted only after Barnabas intervenes before the apostles on his behalf (9:26-27).

• When the gospel is preached later in Antioch among Gentiles, the Jerusalem11:19-24).

The good thing is that in each of these four instances of groundbreaking changes within the church, the apostles accept the changes after giving them due consideration. Our passion for obedience to God and his ways should make us careful about naively accepting every change that comes along without examining them. But it is our passion for obedience that also enables us to accept the changes even though we may sometimes be uncomfortable with them. In this way we not only encourage healthy change and growth in the church, we also help develop new and creative leadership. The abiding principle we learn from this is that good leaders are open to change that comes from younger creative people and, after giving it proper thought, encourage such change and even learn from it. (Ajith Fernando, Acts – NIV Application Commentary)

How to enthuse a eunuch!

Philip went up to the chariot of the eunuch reading (then, Scripture was always read outloud…learning comes by hearing) a scroll (worth about $20,000 in 2002 dollars). The Ethiopian was a wealthy character…the chief treasurer, a trusted official. He was reading the Isaiah scroll.

• In those days, a eunuch had both testicles and penis removed…which means he could not have been circumcised.So at the temple, he could only proceed as far as the Court of the Gentiles (which had a railing that said “No Gentiles may go beyond this line, if you do you will be responsible for your death which will ensue”).

• The eunuch wants some help from Philip concerning Is. 53.They began there.

• Perhaps they made it as far as 56:“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths who choose the things that please me and hold fast to my covenant – to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.”

• No wonder the eunuch got enthused! (Jim Fleming)

A God beyond our control…
“It can be pointed out that while there is no first-century evidence of the church in Ethiopia, nevertheless several early church fathers attribute to the eunuch the evangelizing of the region (cf. e.g., Irenaeus, Against heresies 3.12.8-10). We can only say, it may be so, and in any case the eunuch can be seen as a fulfillment of the psalmist’s words: “let Ethiopia hasten to stretch out its hand to God” (Ps. 68:31). For Luke’s purposes, however, at least part of the point of this story is to show that with or without apostles, God was going to fulfill his plan to spread the good news to “all flesh” even unto the ends of the earth, even if it required using an evangelist rather than an apostle, and even if it required direct divine intervention in various forms. The human leaders of Christianity in Jerusalem could only try to catch up with the plan of God, which was operating often apart from and quite beyond their control.” (Ben Witherington, The Acts of the Apostles, 301)

How not to evangelize

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #25

The latest Lausanne World Pulse
Some good reading here. http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/

Sober thinking on church planting
Since 1906, and particularly after WWI, new church planting slowed drastically, for a complex variety of reasons. Since 1906 the population has grown roughly 300%, but the number of Protestant churches has grown no more than 35%. This is no more than one new church planted for every 1,000 new residents now. As a result, mainline Protestant churches have had huge declines in membership since the 1960's, and Catholic church attendance has also fallen. If we want to renew our country spiritually, we will have to plant thousands and thousands of new churches annually.

In light of this research, it is clear why America has become decreasingly influenced by a Christian world and life view. It takes new churches to reach new generations, new ethnic groups-and there are far, far fewer churches being planted. Established churches are like "full sponges". The main reason the mainline churches are declining is not bad theology (directly), but the lack of church planting. (The Mormons are not orthodox, but they plant churches like crazy, and thus they are growing.) It should be noted however, that you plant churches because you believe something crucial for others to have…and therefore the culprit is still bad theology in that it produces apathy, and apathy is not exactly great fuel for church planting.

Application to San Francisco
By an approximate count, San Francisco has 300 churches of any potentially Christian stripe. With a population of 760,000, this means there is approximately 1 church for every 2500 residents. (The national average is 12 churches per 10,000 people. San Francisco is at approximately 4 churches per 10,000.) If we wanted to see the number of active Christians in San Francisco double, there is only one way-to get that ratio down to 1 to 1200 or less. That would take at least another 300 churches, this with the assumption that the original 300 were healthy! (City Church/San Francisco website)

Word study: homothymadon (with one mind, of one accord) –

• Denotes the unity of a group…the thymos may be anger, fear, gratitude or political or, in Judaism, religious. At its best Unanimity is achieved in the magnifying of the one Lord (Rom. 15:16). It is a response to God’s action for the community and the world (cf. Acts 1:4; 4:24). It is thus a gift of God to the praise of God. (TDNT, 1 Vol)
  

• “They were characterized by: first, unity of plan to assemble; second, unity of place where physical proximity would lend strength and faith to their vigil; third, unity of purpose which gave direction and focus to their praying; fourth, unity of persistence which afforded drive to their praying; and fifth, unity of prayer which integrated their desires with their objective and thus sealed to them by faith the fulfillment of the Father’s promise to endue them with power from on high.” (The Acts of the Apostles, Carter/Earle)
  
  
• The Greek word itself cannot be said to be a musical term, but the best English word with which to translate it, accord, is decidedly musical. It means, among other things, to agree in pitch and tone. There was no discord.
  
  
• 1:14; 2:46; 4:24; 15:28…”Where there is homothumadon among Christians, there the Holy Spirit is present. What men think in the homothumadon way, the Holy Spirit can think with them and inspire their difficult problem solutions. In our first homothumadon reference, Acts 1:14, the Twelve were involved. In the second reference, Acts 2:1, the one hundred and twenty were involved. In the subsequent references, and particularly the last one, the interests of the whole Church are at stake.: (The Acts of the Apostles, Carter/Earle, 26)
  

Three views of Paul in Athens:
John Pollock: Athens had rejected (Paul). He could not know that his speech would go down to posterity. . . as one of the greatest speeches of Athens. He could not know that whole books would be written about it or that in a few hundred years the Parthenon would become a Christian church; and that nineteen centuries on, when Greece after long suppression became once more a sovereign state, the national flag which lies beside the ruins of the Parthenon would be lowered to half-mast each Good Friday and raised on Easter Day in honor of Christ’s resurrection. (John Pollock, Apostle, 155.)

Acts 17:33-34: Although Paul’s message to the university community of his day does not produce massive immediate results, his ministry to the Areopagus is clearly effective. The Areopagus included only those of highest status in this university community, so the conversion of Dionysius is significant. Modern readers who judge Paul’s work in Athens a failure on the basis of 1 Corinthisns 2:1 have missed Luke’s point entirely (the emphasis of Acts is on his success, and the original readers of Acts could not simply turn to 1 Corinthians). (Craig Keener)

Another perspective: “We often quote Paul’s speech at Athens as a model of missionary approach and yet it was one of Paul’s biggest failures. He did not succeed in founding a church there. Mackintosh analyzes his failure thus: ‘The Christian propaganda failed or prospered in proportion as the fresh data for religion present in Jesus were studiously concealed or openly proclaimed. Take Paul’s address at Athens: says some fine things, God’s spirituality, a God not afar off – one in whom we live and move, creation instead of chaos. Providence instead of chance, men of one blood instead of proud distinction between Greek and Barbarian. But at no point is publicity given to the distinctive Christian message. In this studied omission of the cross is the secret of his comparative failure at Athens and his subsequent change at Corinth. He writes penitently, “I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” The gospel had lost its saviour when it was merged in Jewish commonplace.’” (The Originality of the Christian Message, Mackintosh) (The Christ of the Indian Road, E. Stanley Jones)

Luke, on “how not to live your life”
Acts 17:21: (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

Cotton Patch Versions of the New Testament On-line
Brilliant stuff. http://rockhay.tripod.com/cottonpatch/index.htm The Great Commission from Matthew 28, for instance:

Jesus came over to them and said, "Every right to rule in both the spiritual and physical realms has been given to me. As you travel, then, make students of all races and initiate them into the family of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to live by all that I outlined for you. And you know, I am right in there with you—all the time— until the last inning."

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #24

Psalm 22:6
(“But I am a worm and not a man” – a verse that gives us a picture of Christ…the Psalm starts with “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)

When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again.

The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood.

From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood that he might "bring many sons unto glory" (Heb 2:10")! He died for us, that we might live through him! " Ps 22:6" describes such a worm and gives us this picture of Christ. (cf. "Isa 1:18") (from page 73, "Biblical Basis for Modern Science", 1985, Baker Book House, by Henry Morris)

Creeds are nice…but…
“The fact is that the Sermon on the Mount is not in our creeds. As the Apostle’s Creed now stands you can accept every words of it and leave the essential self untouched. Suppose we had written it in our creeds and had repeated each time with conviction: ‘I believe in the Sermon on the Mount and in its way of life, and I intend, Godhelping me, to embody it’! What would have happened? I feel sure that if this had been our main emphasis, the history of Christendom would have been different.” (E. Stanley Jones, The Christ of the Mount)

Barna’s Latest:
Some population segments are notorious church avoiders. For instance, 47% of political liberals are unchurched, more than twice the percentage found among political conservatives (19%). African Americans were less likely to be unchurched (25%) than were whites (32%) or Hispanics (34%). Asians, however, doubled the national average: 63% were unchurched! Single adults continued a historic pattern of being more likely than married adults to stay away from religious services (37% versus 29%, respectively).

Residents of the West (42%) and Northeast (39%) remain the most church resistant, while those in the South are the least prone to avoid religious services (26%). Sexual orientation is closely related to church status, too: while about one-third of heterosexuals are unchurched (31%), half of the homosexual public (49%) met the unchurched criteria.

Within the various faith communities residing in the U.S., Christians are the most consistent church goers. A majority of the adults (61%) who are associated with a faith other than Christianity had not attended any type of religious service in the past half-year. In fact, people aligned with a faith other than Christianity are two-and-a-half times as likely as self-designated Christians to be unchurched (61% versus 24%, respectively).

Looking at the distinctions within the Christian population, evangelicals are the most reliable church goers: just 1% is unchurched. Born again Christians who are not evangelical also had a pretty formidable attendance record: only one out of every six (16%) were unchurched. However, adults who call themselves Christian but are not born again were by far the least reliable church goers within the Christian realm (32% were unchurched).

Catholics have traditionally been more consistent in church attendance than Protestants. However, in the mid-nineties that trend reversed course, and Catholics have been more likely than Protestants to earn the unchurched label throughout the past decade. Currently the gap between the two segments of Christians is five percentage points, with a higher percentage among Catholics (25% are unchurched) than Protestants (20% are unchurched). More, here.

On Keeping Redhot for the Outgoing Gospel Until the Day You Die
“Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.”
(Psalm 71:18)

Trouble-causers (Ajith Fernando):
Of what “crime” were the Christians accused? “These men…have caused trouble all over the world!” (Acts 17:6). Is it true? The original Greek statement from which this is translated can be interpreted several ways. Check out these translations and verses.

• “Christians turn the world upside down” (King James Version). It’s true. Jesus changes people. Examples: Luke 19:1-10; Acts 9:1-20; Acts 19:18-20; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
  

• “Christians upset the civilized world” (William Barclay’s translation [Barclay, Acts, 127]). It’s true. Jesus’ values conflict with society’s values. See Matthew 5:3-10; Luke 6:20-36; Luke 16:15; Luke 18:14.
  

• “Christians subvert the whole world” (FF. Bruce’s translation [Bruce, Acts, 323]). It’s true. When the Gospel gets into people they become part of a secret force seeking to undermine and overturn the unjust, immoral principles and practices on which godless culture is founded. See Matthew 13:33; Luke 17:20-21; John 19:36; Romans 12:1-21; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.
  

• “Christians cause trouble all over the world” New International Version). It’s true. Christ’s teachings do not please people who don’t want their selfish lifestyles disturbed. Christ’s claims and ideas are often met with discomfort and rage, which leads to trouble. See Luke 12:49-53; John 15:18-16:4.

Faith question: Are you troubling? Subverting? Turning upside down? Upsetting? Causing trouble all over the world? And these…in the name of Jesus and with His love?

Quite an evangelistic hymn (and it has more than four verses!)
Wesley wrote this hymn to com­mem­o­rate the first an­ni­ver­sa­ry of his con­ver­sion to Christ. The stanza that be­gins “O for a thou­sand tongues to sing” is verse seven of Wes­ley’s orig­in­al po­em. This work first ap­peared in 1740.

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and, listening to His voice,
New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come,
And leap, ye lame, for joy.

In Christ your Head, you then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

Glory to God, and praise and love
Be ever, ever given,
By saints below and saints above,
The church in earth and heaven.

On this glad day the glorious Sun
Of Righteousness arose;
On my benighted soul He shone
And filled it with repose.

Sudden expired the legal strife,
’Twas then I ceased to grieve;
My second, real, living life
I then began to live.

Then with my heart I first believed,
Believed with faith divine,
Power with the Holy Ghost received
To call the Savior mine.

I felt my Lord’s atoning blood
Close to my soul applied;
Me, me He loved, the Son of God,
For me, for me He died!

I found and owned His promise true,
Ascertained of my part,
My pardon passed in heaven I knew
When written on my heart.

Look unto Him, ye nations, own
Your God, ye fallen race;
Look, and be saved through faith alone,
Be justified by grace.

See all your sins on Jesus laid:
The Lamb of God was slain,
His soul was once an offering made
For every soul of man.

Awake from guilty nature’s sleep,
And Christ shall give you light,
Cast all your sins into the deep,
And wash the Æthiop white.

Harlots and publicans and thieves
In holy triumph join!
Saved is the sinner that believes
From crimes as great as mine.

Murderers and all ye hellish crew
In holy triumph join!
Believe the Savior died for you;
For me the Savior died.

With me, your chief, ye then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #23

Illustration of the Navigator's "one verse evangelism" on the right.
Might work sometime...









You believe in incarnational ministry? How about to THIS extent?

Evangelistic “wannabes” and seminary professors talk about incarnational ministry – preach it, teach it, read about it, converse on it. “The word became a sermon and was later expanded into a book and the book sold well and inspired other books until the making of books there was no end. And the world died in darkeness and was buried in the theological library. (Clarence Jordan) Occasionally, something pricks our phony worlds of “incarnational” verbiage and we are reminded what it really means…

“During the nineteenth century a group of missionaries in what is now Surinam in South America, wanted to reach the inhabitants of a nearby island with the gospel. Most of these islanders were slaves on the large plantations that covered the island. The plantation owners feared the gospel and its results, and would not even allow the missionaries to talk with the slaves. They would allow only other slaves to talk with slaves.

“So the missionaries sold themselves into slavery in order to take the gospel to the islanders. Working in bondage in the harsh conditions of a tropical climate, they reached many of them with the good news.” Ray Hoo, "Turn Your World Upside Down," Discipleship Journal (July/August 1982)

They will know we are Christians by our love
I know, this is more an American story than a Christian one. But it illustrates the power of coming to people’s rescue one by one.

“Time magazine carried an interesting story about former President George Herbert Walker Bush. It described a trip he took back to the South Pacific. During World War II, Bush had been a bomber pilot, and was shot down by Japanese antiaircraft fire. The article detailed Bush's return to the very spot where he was rescued from his downed aircraft.

“During his return visit, Bush met with a Japanese gentleman who claimed to have witnessed Bush's rescue back in 1944. The man related that as he and others were watching the rescue take place, one of the man's friends remarked, ‘Surely America will win the war if they care so much for the life of one pilot.’” Canadian Edition, Time Magazine (11-23-02); submitted by Darin Latham, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada

Passtion – Do we have it?
Paul said that “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.”

One can understand what “cursed and cut off” meant in the life of Paul from his testimony in his second epistle to the Corinthians: "I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?"

And how about this passionate prayer:

“My God, grant me the conversion of my parish; I am willing to suffer all my life whatsoever it may please thee to lay upon me; yes even for a hundred years am I prepared to endure the sharpest pains; only let my people be converted. My God, convert my parish.” Cure d'Ars Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney (better known as the Cure' d'Ars, or curate of Ars) was the son of a peasant farmer, born in France in 1786. Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 4. The foregoing stories and the quote from PreachingToday.com – one great resource for illustrative material and more.

How about this for a Charles Wesley hymn.
A class hymn by a classic evangelist/poet. Songs of righteous responsibility are a bit rare these days, aren’t they?

My talents, gifts, and graces, Lord,
Into Thy blessed hands receive;
And let me live to preach Thy Word
And let me to Thy glory live!
My every sacred moment spend
In publishing the sinner’s Friend!

Enlarge, inflame, and fill my heart
With boundless charity divine.
So shall I all my strength exert
And love them with a love like Thine
And lead them to Thy open side,
The sheep for whom their Shepherd died.

Charles Finney on revivalism and evangelism contrasted
They are not the same, to be sure. A few thoughts on how they are different.

1. Revivalism is by periods; evangelism is perennial.

2. Revival is the Lord at work in the Church; evangelism is the Church at work for the Lord.

3. Revival is concerned with the conservation of spiritual realities; evangelism concentrates on the conversion of those who are aliens to spiritual realities;

4. In revivalism the accent is on the prevailing atmosphere, while in evangelism it is on a transforming decision for Christ.

“In a revival, Christians…will feel grieved that others do not love God, when they love him so much. And they will set themselves feelingly to persuade their neighbors to give him their hearts…When the churches are thus awakened…the reformation and salvation of sinners will follow.” (Finney, Revival Lectures)

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #22

I know, I know...this is Thursday.

Metaphor City!
A nice evangelism thought from Glynn Pope, pastor in Byram, MS.: Jesus is the door. We are the doorknobs (that which God uses to open the Door).

• A door can look an awful lot like a wall without a doorknob.
• A doorknob needs to be able to twist, turn to be effective.
• A doorknob can act as a way in, or a lock.
• A doorknob has to be pushed before the door opens.
• A doorknob can look inviting, or not.

Other possible implications to our evangelistic life?

Some evangelistic proverbs:
Actually, all the proverbs are relevant for evangelism, since they lead us to the life of wisdom. And that life is attractive, able to share appropriately, and will know when to do what and how. Even so, some specific proverbs:

• "The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment." (10:21)
• "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise." (11:30)
• "The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death." (13:14)
• "A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is deceitful." (14:25)
• "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death." (14:27)
• "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones." (15:30)
• "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions." (18:2)
• "He who answers before listening - that is his folly and his shame." (18:13)
• "A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great." (18:16)
• "What a man desires is unfailing love..." (19:22)
• "Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel." (20:15)
• "Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters." (25:13)
• "Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone." (25:15)

God's lesson for me this week
A precious friend and parishoner was sentenced to jail this week for carjacking (see item below on this blog). It has broken my heart. Having wept, we then have to ask - What now?

Evangelism is "good news" not just in presenting the gospel, but in perpetuating it in the life of the believer. So we will go and visit Michael, help take care of his wife and children, continue to disciple the family and embrace them through the next four years of incarceration...and beyond. Most evangelists are perceived as loud, bold, daring, short-term. Evangelism now, in this case, will have to be loving, tender, listening, long-term. You will never get real evangelism with only the former sans the latter.


You Tube - Evangelism Teacher?

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #21

A precious story from the front lines and my incoming e-mail:

"We have a para-plegic woman who attends our church who had a severe auto accident 15 yrs ago. She had a long and painful recovery during which her husband left her and took their two children. Her parents took over her care. She was told by one doctor that she would never get out of bed. She now can walk with a walker. Her motor skills are severely limited and she has trouble speaking so that we can understand her--but it doesn't stop her from trying. She can't sing, so during our worship she yells out and stands. That's her way to worship. She had been attending a church which asked her not to do that. It took some getting used to, but now we love it. Since we started public worship services at --------------- in September, she has missed only a few Sundays due to a knee operation. She has been an inspiration to us about not giving up. Whenever we get to feeling wimpy, we just look at ----------- which gives us an instant attitude adjustment."

Matt: I think I speak for most churches in love with Jesus that if yelling is all you can do to praise the Lord, come yell with us!


Divine moments
"God can and does use multiple spiritual resources as He creates divine moments that cause growth in people's lives. You may be thinking, 'What do you mean by "divine moment?'" A divine moment is a spiritual step of obedience a person takes, in response to the Holy Spirit's prompting. It always involves a person somewhere along the process of moving from 'pre-Christian' to becoming a 'global disciple.' The decision to begin attending a church, saving faith becoming personal, a decision for baptism, becoming a self-feeding Christian, joining a Sunday School class or small group, desiring spiritual growth and accountability, joining the church, becoming a worshiper, experiencing and growing in sanctification, getting involved in the church, using spiritual gifts in meaningful ministry, becoming a tither, giving beyond the tithe to the mission of Christianity worldwide, engaging in personal witnessing, are all steps in this process.

"How would you like to have a church filled with people taking these kinds of spiritual steps?....Are you regularly and specifically praying for them to happen?" (Larry McKain, Falling in Love With the Church)


How to personally evangelize
1. Identify your unchurched friends, relatives, associates and neighbors. Everybody has them, we typically don't identify them for purposes of redemption, however. Spend 90% of your evangelistic energy here. It is the most fruitful avenue of spreading the good news. "Stranger evangelism" typically doesn't work.

2. Pray daily, regularly for two months (and then more) that God would go before you and pave the way for their salvation.

3. Lovingly "touch" them 5-10 times. The more, the great their receptivity. Love is a powerful resource of the Christian, and too underutilized. A "touch" includes things like taking them out to eat, being there in compassionate ways when tragedy strikes, taking care of their kids so he can take his wife out on a date, etc.

4. Let them hear the gospel message three times, preferably from your own testimony.

5. Challenge them to pray with you, and then to come with you to your dynamic, discipling church.

6. Go with them to the discipling dynamics of your church, and help them to make seven or more friends in the church ASAP.

7. Repeat. But always remember - prayer, love and testimony are a powerful trinity of tools for the salvation of the world.


Old books you need in your library
To Dream Again, by Robert Dale (talks about the life cycle of the church and how your church can "Dream Again" and budge out of decline and even death).

Daws, by Betty Lee Skinner (the inspiring story of Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators...like, really inspiring)

Nothing to Do But to Save Souls, by Robert Coleman (you cannot put enough study into how John Wesley sparked a revival that still reverberates...and when Coleman says it, you can believe it)

Old books? Sure they are probably out of print. Get on the internet and find them. They are cheap and better than what is being published today.

And a New Movie!
Check out the great new movie on William Wilberforce called Amazing Grace. Trailer here.

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #20

Quotables:
“The problem of evangelization is gigantic because the factors in it are colossal, involving on the one hand the whole world of the unsaved, and on the other the whole church of the redeemed.” (Arthur T. Pierson, Evangelistic Work in Principle and Practice)

Comment: The local pastor of a church that has been plateaued and declining will agree – “gigantic!” There are loads of lost people out there, and loads of unmoving, uncaring people in here. And therein lies the challenge of just about every church over ten years of age.

“Christ must be proclaimed by life and word so that men shall come to a point of decision, and at that point, however they may come to it, they will accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour, and thus discover the Christian experience of faith in God within the fellowship of the Church.” (Myron Green)

Comment: “Life and word.” Too many cop out saying “my life is my message” without ever talking to their friends about the truth-claims of the gospel. Others cop out by thinking their talk without a life of righteousness can make the better difference. Life and word are the two wings of an airplane, and when flying no one is fool enough to prefer one wing over the other.

“Evangelism is really the outflow and the overflow of a spiritually vigorous church. Evangelism is the glow of an inner warmth, and the go of an inner compulsion…Evangelism is not the cause but the result of a spiritual church.” (C. William Fisher)

Comment: I hear “outflow” and “overflow” a lot from churches that don’t want to train their people for evangelism. And what isn’t trained for and expected and committed to with time and energy won’t typically happen.

Finney’s seven signs that indicate when a revival may be expected:

1. When the providence of God indicates that a revival is at hand.

2. When the wickedness of the wicked grieves and humbles and distresses Christians.

3. When Christians have a spirit of prayer for a revival.

4. When the attention of ministers is especially directed to this particular object.

5. When Christians begin to confess their sins to one another.

6. When Christians are found willing to make the sacrifice necessary to carry it on.

7. When ministers and professors are willing to have God promote it by what instruments he pleases. (Revival Lectures)

Finney’s four hindrances to revivals:

1. A revival will cease when Christians become mechanical in their attempt to promote. When their faith is strong, and their heartsare warm and mellow, and their prayers fully of holy emotion and their words with power, then the work goes on.

2. A revival will cease when Christians get the idea that the work will go on without their aid.

3. A revival will cease when the church prefers to attend to their own concerns rather than God’s business…They begin to think they cannot afford sufficient time from their worldly employments to carry on a revival.

4. A revival will cease when Christians refuse to render to the Lord according to the benefits received…God has opened the windows of heaven to a church, and poured them out a blessing, and then He reasonably expects them to bring in the tithes into this store-house. (Revival Lectures)

Some possible evangelism-related insights from political commentators…can you make the “gospel” connections?

In WORLD's continuing series profiling presidential candidates, Marvin Olasky looks this week at former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee:

John Kennedy in 1960 and John Kerry in 2004 both pledged not to let their Catholic standing affect their policy decisions. Reporters this year are pushing Mitt Romney regarding his Mormon beliefs. But Mike Huckabee, the former Baptist pastor and Arkansas governor who now seeks the GOP presidential nomination, says he is "appalled" when candidates separate their religion from their policy positions.

"At the heart of my governing is my faith," Huckabee told WORLD on Jan. 26, the morning before he announced on Meet the Press that he was setting up a committee for a run to the White House.

Huckabee said those who say their beliefs don't affect governing have a faith "so inconsequential that [he] can marginalize and compartmentalize it."

From George Will:

John Patrick Diggins's new book, " Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History" - Diggins's thesis is that the 1980s were America's "Emersonian moment" because Reagan, a "political romantic" from the Midwest and West, echoed New England's Ralph Waldo Emerson. "Emerson was right," Reagan said several times of the man who wrote, "No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature." Hence Reagan's unique, and perhaps oxymoronic, doctrine -- conservatism without anxieties. Reagan's preternatural serenity derived from his conception of the supernatural.

Diggins says Reagan imbibed his mother's form of Christianity, a strand of 19th-century Unitarianism from which Reagan took a foundational belief that he expressed in a 1951 letter: "God couldn't create evil so the desires he planted in us are good." This logic -- God is good, therefore so are God-given desires -- leads to the Emersonian faith that we please God by pleasing ourselves. Therefore there is no need for the people to discipline their desires. So, no leader needs to suggest that the public has shortcomings and should engage in critical self-examination.

Diggins thinks that Reagan's religion "enables us to forget religion" because it banishes the idea of "a God of judgment and punishment." Reagan's popularity was largely the result of "his blaming government for problems that are inherent in democracy itself." To Reagan, the idea of problems inherent in democracy was unintelligible because it implied that there were inherent problems with the demos -- the people. There was nothing -- nothing-- in Reagan's thinking akin to Lincoln's melancholy fatalism, his belief (see his Second Inaugural) that the failings of the people on both sides of the Civil War were the reasons why "the war came."

As Diggins says, Reagan's "theory of government has little reference to the principles of the American founding." To the Founders, and especially to the wisest of them, James Madison, government's principal function is to resist, modulate and even frustrate the public's unruly passions, which arise from desires.

HWLW (used by Dawson Trotman – “His Word the Last Word” – which to Trotman was a great way to end every talk)

“Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.” (Proverbs 25:15)

Tuesday morning evangelistic smack-down, #18

Some good articles for you to check out from the Lausanners:

• In successive eras, Bible translation has been at the heart of the communication of the Christian message. Societal changes and upheavals have not stopped this; indeed, at times they have only accelerated the process. (Read Article)
• The goal of the twenty-five leading Bible agencies which are part of the Forum for Bible Agencies International is working together to maximize worldwide access and impact of God's Word. (Read Article)
• Bible translation does not take place in a vacuum. Not only are there societal factors to consider, there are also developments in biblical studies, linguistics and the social sciences. (Read Article)
• To plant or grow a church congregation, two basic things must repeatedly occur: people must come to know Jesus and they must become members of his body. Read the perspective of the Bible League's Ronald Vander Griend on the relationship between the Bible and church growth. (Read Article)

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Fasting. I have taken a new interest in fasting. In the New Testament Jesus instructs his disciples that “When they fast…” Not “if.” But also interesting in the Acts is this passage:

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
"Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:2-3)

One has to wonder that if we were more intense at the point of fasting (integrating worshipping and praying, of course) that we might be a more missional, evangelistic, sending church.

When in Nigeria I asked if they fasted. They were stunned that I even asked. Of course! It is an answer that you can hardly imagine the average believer in the West to emulate.

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Quotables: Wesleyan preacher William Bramwell wrote in 1809 that the reason many do not live in the power of their salvation is because ‘there is too much sleep, too much meat and drink, too little fasting and self-denial, too much taking part in the world ... and too little self-examination and prayer.’

When we finish a fast, we cool into tempered Christians strong with self-control. The dross and cinders of our lustful cravings are skimmed off. Fasting produces a work of art - the tempered, selfless Christian - that can be created through no other process of refinement. [Lee Bueno]

Humility and self-denial are two sides of the same coin. Jesus’ greatest calling for us to deny ourselves came when He stated, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me’ (Matt. 16:24). By fasting as unto the Lord we answer His call to deny ourselves for the sake of the cross. [Lee Bueno]

"Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works. If you see a poor man, take pity on him. If you see a friend being honored, do not envy him. Do not let only your mouth fast, but also the eye, and the ear, and let the feet, and the hands, and all the members of our bodies. Let the hands fast, by being free of avarice. Let t feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin. Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at what is sinful...Let the ear fast...by not listening to evil talk or gossip...Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism. For what good is it if we abstain from meat and fish, but bite and devour our brothers?" (St. John the Chrysostom)

"The sisters of fasting are five: 1) prayer, 2) charity, 3) humility, 4) abstinence, 5) love. Fasting without prayer is simply a medical diet, a healthy diet, a change of eating habits. Fasting without charity is selfishness and co-worker with.... greed. Fasting without humility is food for the monster of vanity. Fasting without abstinence is simply mockery. Fasting without love can become cannibalism!" (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia)

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Rainer: The book Effective Evangelistic Churches is the product of a survey of 576 fruitful soul-winning churches. Author Thom Rainer observes that intercessory prayer and fasting is a crucial component:

Fasting has often been a key factor not only in focusing the people but also in bringing about spiritual power. One pastor wrote, “I pray and fast one day a week. Though I do not advertise it, the church has become aware of it and many have followed my example” (Rainer, p. 75). Of those responding to the survey were “many testimonies from church leaders about the miraculous work of God after a new corporate prayer emphasis was begun, or after the leadership of the church called the people to an extended lime of prayer and fasting. Not only did numerical and evangelistic growth result, but new ministries often began as well” (Rainer, p. 152).