Featured Evangelism

Yes indeed. Especially since so many these days are obsessed with their smart phones or Facebook and few have the time to sit and chat. My best options have been homeless people, the cults, or college students.

 

Also some of these Calvinists overemphasize sovereignty and don't realize their hyper Calvinist attitude. They forget about what the Bible teaches and what Calvinists like George Whitfield did!!!

If interested Jordan the book Todays Evangelism shows the problem of evangelism today and explains the importance of the five points in evangelism.

I will soon be reading a book on evangelist George Whitfield by Steve Lawson.

 

I do not have that book, but have heard of it. I have so many books.... Bye the way Jordan lets stay out of debates in areas that we do not agree in such as Bible Translations, and or CAL VS. Armin. Lets just focus on evangelism.

 

Right now I am working for the Lura B Walker Foundation. We have a program called Everyday Evangelism (www.EverydayEvangelism.org). So, yes, I have THE coolest job in the world. Right now I go out on 6 different days of the week mentoring pastors from 6 different churches. We do all sorts of different witnessing (actually talking with people and giving a verbal gospel presentation and inviting them to accept Christ). Our ministry has a 12 week course we do with a mentorship aspect to it.

This last month, we saw 15 people come to Christ. Also, one of the pastors led his first person to Christ. Some of the things we do:

1. Street witnessing (invite people to church, hand them a tract, then ask them if they are 100% sure they are on their way to heaven. If we get the chance, we share the gospel)

2. Door-to-door (cold calls, though, they are not cold calls to God)

3. Nursing Homes

4. Food calls (people that have called the church looking for help. The soul winners of the church make the visit and share the gospel)

5. Small church carnival (this Friday night one of the churches is having a carnival with soccer, a petting zoo and several moon bounce things. We will have a tent with a sign that says "Free Gift with a Message". We hope to talk with everyone that shows up to the carnival)

The tract we use is called "Do You Know?". It is designed to be so easy that you can read it to someone and you can lead them to Christ.

 

I do not agree with this approach however I do applaud you for doing evangelism. Let me ask you some questions.

1. Does this evangelism method heavily emphasize the depravity of man, hell, and his disobedience and rejection of God?

2. Does this evangelism method heavily emphasize the holiness of God and show the sinner as being in the hands of an angry God?

3. Why does this method think that saying a prayer is what saves someone?

4. Why is this method so convened with decisions and results? Why emphasize follow up? Did Philip do follow up in Acts? He did not. So why violate what the Bible teaches?

No system is perfect that much is true. But strive for being biblical. WOTM IS not perfect but it's biblical.

 

Remember guys, if you aren't doing WOTM then you are doing it wrong!

:BangHead:

 

Greetings Evangelist6589

I guess I'll start off by ignoring the digs and try to answer your questions in a loving manner...

1. Does this evangelism method heavily emphasize the depravity of man, hell, and his disobedience and rejection of God?

No need to do that. Read the Gospel of John (the only book of the Bible self identified as written to lead people to Christ). These principles are never emphasized for salvation in the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John talks about faith/believe over 80 times (more than the other 3 gospels put together). However, it does not use repentance once.

The gospel is very simple: We have sinned. There is a punishment for sin (eternal separation from God). Jesus paid that punishment, died both spiritually and physically on the cross and (3 days later) rose from the dead. If we put our trust in what He did on the cross, we will be saved.

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2. Does this evangelism method heavily emphasize the holiness of God and show the sinner as being in the hands of an angry God?

See the answer to question 1.

Again, not necessary. It is our job (each and every born again believer) to convey the gospel. It is God's job to convict and convince people about the gospel. If I use Scripture to show people the steps (above), the Holy Spirit can do His ministry to the lost. My job is rather simple, I never want to try and do God's job.

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3. Why does this method think that saying a prayer is what saves someone?

Never said it did. Actually, salvation is easier than that. The moment I ask someone if they would be willing to accept Jesus as their Savior, and they say "yes" they are saved. See, for example, Romans 10:13.
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4. Why is this method so convened with decisions and results? Why emphasize follow up? Did Philip do follow up in Acts? He did not. So why violate what the Bible teaches?

Not sure what you mean by "convened" but, if a house was burning down and I knew how to get people out, I would absolutely be interested in getting out as many as I can.

Um, follow up is part of the Great Commission - go back to Matthew 28:18-20. As for Philip, we don't know if he did any follow up or not - the Bible doesn't say. However, he was not the only one winning people to Christ in the book of Acts. The growth of churches throughout Acts is a testimony to follow up.

Also, Paul was absolutely concerned with "numbers". That is why he told the elders of Ephesus that the blood of no man was on his hands. He wanted them to know he gave a clear gospel presentation and offer to be saved to each and every person in Ephesus.

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Let me suggest you read "The Gospel, Evangelism, and God's Heart" (available on Amazon) written by yours truly, and then we can talk more about this.

And, I have worked with several people doing WOTRC (Way of the Ray Comfort). I usually applaud people that want to share the gospel. However, we are to share the gospel through the fruit of the Spirit and I have yet to see a single person use WOTRC with anything close to love. It usually comes across as condescending and mean. I don't intend to offend. I am just telling you what I have seen with my own eyes. Also, how sad is it to invite people to see a banquet and then never inviting them to enjoy the feast (invite people to accept Christ). And, while I am on a roll, what is it with the WOTRC people putting down Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for Christ? A lot of my growth as a Christian in the 70s came from their ministry. God DOES have a wonderful plan for your life.

 

Did Peter, Stephen's and Paul's sermons in Acts emphasize these themes? No, they preached Jesus as Son of God and resurrected.

Did Peter, Stephen's and Paul's sermons in Acts emphasize these themes? No, they preached Jesus as Son of God and resurrected. Does 1 Cor. 15 teach this? No.

Romans 10:9-10, 13; Luke 18:13

Show me an evangelist in the Bible that used total depravity, sinners in the hands of an angry God, disobedience to God, etc. C'mon, show me.

 

I will reply to the rest of this when I get to my Mac tonight. But for the moment if you wish to send me your book I will take it. Just PM me. I have read other books of this style of witnessing. While WOTM is not perfect even Mac, and Washer emphasize a similar style of evangelism minus using the law to show sinners they are bound and depraved to the kingdom of Hell and emphasizing the Holiness of God. Was just reading Washer the other day in a book and he was hitting hard on sin and mans total depravity. He commented on Edwards Sinners in the hands of an angry God and such. It was a great read!!! Need to go back and read it slower to comprehend more...



So yes I will read your book if you send it.

 

I look forward to talking further with you on this topic - it is very near and dear to my heart.

Again, I would encourage you to read the Gospel of John and (as InTheLight pointed out) the Book of Acts. I am sure, if you read these books with an open mind as to how Jesus, John, Paul, Peter, Stephen and Philip presented the gospel to people you will realize that Ray Comfort is slightly off on what he emphasizes.

Case in point: in your footer on your postings you quote Romans 7:7 and then you say something like, "The LAW convicted Paul, use the LAW in your witnessing." Well, actually, Paul's conversion is recorded in Acts and his personal testimony is recorded twice. He never says anything about the LAW being used by Jesus in His gospel presentation.

The books you mentioned may be good to read in a theory class or in your soteriology class. But, if you want to learn how to share your faith and see people come to a saving knowledge of the Savior, study the sermons of Peter and Paul, look what Jesus did in the Gospel of John, look at how John presents Jesus. And then just love all over people.

As for sending you a copy of my book, in the next month it is coming out on Kindle. The introductory price of the Kindle version will be something like $1.00. I'll let you know when that happens.

 

Good post.

Evan6589 admits that WOTM, to his knowledge, has never worked for him, yet he persists, "because it is the best system available."

FYI, Evan6589 does not read e-books. Just doesn't do it.

 

Actually I believe in the sovereignty of God in salvation and all I believe in doing is preaching and witnessing and like the Christians in Acts trusting in God to bring forth the elect and add to the number. God may or may not choose to use me in bring His elect to salvation. So by that token I am not concerned with results only in obedience to the great commission and I evangelize for the glory of God anyways as it is His job to elect people to salvation.

Check out the book Evangelism and the sovereignty of God by Packer.

 

Hi Jordan,

We are in closer agreement than you might think.

Point 1. I think people need to repent to be saved. I just think they don't need to understand that they are repenting. Just like, a person never has to understand they breath oxygen to live. But, they MUST breath oxygen to live. So, I agree with all you said. For someone to be saved they must turn from those things. They just don't have to understand that the official word for that is repentance. Does that make sense? So, I am fairly sure we agree on this.

As for using the other 3 gospels since they were in existence, I don't think that is the case. John did use the word "repentance" 10 times in the Book of the Revelation (6 of those times he was speaking to the 7 churches). So, he knew enough about repentance to use it. And, I think if he thought it was important enough for people to understand, he would have used it in the gospel to keep his book stand-alone. After all, how could he be sure a lost person would have any of the other gospels at their disposal? John 20:31 implies that the Gospel of John, alone, contains enough information for someone to make a decision to put their trust in Christ.

Point 2. As for "God has a wonderful plan for your life". I had completely forgotten about that quote for the last 30 years until someone using WOTRC brought it up and told me that Ray Comfort was selling a book that preached against it. I DO believe that God DOES have an awesomely wonderful plan for every person, something on this earth that is perfect for them. I just never use that when I am witnessing. So, again, I agree with you.

And, finally, I don't think I ever said anything about God being someone's personal genie. I'm sure you didn't mean it to be but, that came across as slightly insulting.

 

What was that awesomely wonderful plan for the world of the ungodly at the time of the worldwide flood of Noah's day?

What was that plan for millions who have lived in places in the world who have never heard of Jesus?:wavey:

 

Evangelist6589,

I think you are on the right track in that it absolutely IS God that gives the increase. However, it has been my experience that He really, really WANTS to give the increase. So, if you are giving an effective gospel presentation you should absolutely see, before your very eyes, people coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus. As much as we want to see people saved from an eternity in hell, God wants it infinitely more. The harvest really is very plentiful and the workers really are few. So, if a Christian is willing to open his mouth to declare Jesus, God will honor that with fruit though souls coming into the Kingdom.

If you are sharing the gospel with others (anywhere in the world) and you are not seeing people coming to Christ, you should re-examine your presentation.

I have used the same method for the last 10 years and I have seen God bring people to Him all over America, Africa, the far east, the middle east and the Caribbean. I have led people to Christ from all over Europe and South America. The gospel works EVEYWHERE. If you lift up Jesus people WILL come to Him - it is as predictable as the sun following the moon.