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You are a child of God first. On second thought, don't grab two people to disciple, grab someone to disciple you,
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Letter to a Greek Orthodox Church
- Thread starter evangelist6589
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You are a child of God first. On second thought, don't grab two people to disciple, grab someone to disciple you,
Real evangelistic dialogue begins with mutual respect and consideration of those whom you want to evangelize. Honesty is essential, and you should not waste the other person's time. It all starts with a relationship.
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Dear [Church]:
Let me introduce myself. [Brief introduction.]
I am a Christian and a member of a Baptist church. I am not interested in converting to the Greek Orthodox communion, but I am interested in having a conversation about beliefs that the Greek Orthodox community holds. Would it be possible to meet with a presbyter for coffee and baklava so we could have a conversation regarding the similarities and differences of our faith?
Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.
[Real name of evangelist6589 and contact information]
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If you are only interested in condemning them, then you are not acting as a representative of Jesus (John 3:17).
First, if it is a true church then you do not need to witness to them. You also do not need to correct their doctrine you find wrong as they are not your responsibility. How would you feel if a godly pastor of a true Christian church (that you do not personally know) heard about the many things you've disclosed on this forum and started writing letters demanding that you repent?
Second, if it is a false church (a perversion of Christianity) then you are commanded by God to stay away from them. There is no need to address such faiths as they are truly demonic and lead people away from God. We are never obedient to a command by being disobedient in it's fulfillment.
Third, if you just happened to be talking to a non-Christian (who cares what their misunderstanding of God may be) share the gospel. When you find they hold a false faith, simply respond to their questions and comments while continuing to share the gospel.
From your post I thought you were just writing to these "churches" about their error of doctrine. I am glad you are writing to people you have encountered who happen to be disciples of an unChristian faith and not the pastors and leaders of those organizations. At least you have that going for you....right?
They will deny the true Gospel, so why even bother?
There are good ways to get to know these people. We have a Greek Orthodox congregation nearby and several times a year they have events or festivals open to the community. Great food. We also have a very large Islamic population that come to the U.S. from Northern Iraq. Again, they have festivals open to the community....and great food.
Get to know the people God places in your life, brother. It seems you are losing what you should be holding while grasping at what is just beyond your reach. Be faithful where you are, with your family, friends, and the people who come your way.
Also much easier to share and witness to anyone outside the faith on a personal basis, as I shared with a catholic friend for an entire year, and he finally accepted Jesus and became now a Baptist!
What if the person God used to reach you (either personally or via another means) thought the same?
Most do not convert the first time they hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Do they deserve a second chance? No, they didn't deserve the first. And neither did we. But by the grace of God, here we are.
People will deny the gospel. People will turn to God. People will be saved. People will remain lost. These are not our concerns. Ours is to share the gospel even with the people who will deny the gospel message.
That's fantastic! I've found Catholics (my age and older, anyway) are a difficult bunch because they view Catholicism as much a family tradition as faith.
God uses us as his epistles to be read and seen by others, but no so much letters addressed to an entire church, not unless we are an Apostle!
We attended a bible institute at same time, once a week went our with him for supper after class, and never talkde down Vatholic church, but kept in on the bible itself, and God did the rest!
So our only choices are letters, CDs or open air sermons?
Don't be so technical! You know when I mean CD I can also mean Internet, radio, or podcast!
I am faithful but I have to also include that I have 3 big boxes filled with lots of types of tracts I've collected going back to 2008. I need to distribute them.
Thinking about this post...I sure could go for some qabali, naan, and baklava right now....
You can’t base the evangelism you do on the amount of tracts you have purchased. If you have more than you can really use, then you could donate them to a local church that uses tracts. Maybe it will help others get a start in evangelism. Doesn’t your church use tracts?
BTW, I did the same thing with John Piper's book "Desiring God". Although I do not like using books for adult study groups, I had bought about 20 of these books for the class. We never got around to using them, and later I found myself with 20 identical John Piper books on by shelf. I kept two and gave the rest away.
Our church uses books all the time for our adult study groups. Why do you not like using books?
That's not what he said.
When we do evangelism God's way here is what happens.
When each Christian makes just one disciple per year, and teaches the new disciple to make disciples, after one year there are two making disciples. At the end of two years there are four making disciples. Here is what happens when we do it God's way:
The first column is the year. The second column is the number of disciples:
1=1
2=2
3=4
4=8
5=16
6=32
7=64
8=128
9=256
10=512
11=1,024
12=2,048
13=4,096
14=8,192
15=16,384
16=32,768
17=65,536
18=131,072
19=262,144
20=524,288
21=1,048,576
So, after 20 years there are over one million disciples making disciples.
But when we do it man's way we end up with:
11=0
I like God's way better.
When each Christian makes just one disciple per year, and teaches the new disciple to make disciples, after one year there are two making disciples. At the end of two years there are four making disciples. Here is what happens when we do it God's way:
The first column is the year. The second column is the number of disciples:
1=1
2=2
3=4
4=8
5=16
6=32
7=64
8=128
9=256
10=512
11=1,024
12=2,048
13=4,096
14=8,192
15=16,384
16=32,768
17=65,536
18=131,072
19=262,144
20=524,288
21=1,048,576
So, after 20 years there are over one million disciples making disciples.
But when we do it man's way we end up with:
11=0
I like God's way better.
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