I do not wish to downplay the ministry of John R Rice and that of the OP, but will say humbly that I believe he has a total misunderstanding of success in evangelism.
You apparently think I am presenting a pragmatic view of soul-winning and evangelism. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible teaching (and what my OP is about) is that if we are relying on God and His power,
God Himself will supply the fruit.
The answer of effectiveness in evangelism has nothing to do with results, but more to do with the following standards.
Was the true gospel proclaimed?
Was the true gospel understood?
Was Christ glorified?
Was the attitude of the Christian godly as he communicated the gospel?
(Evangelism in the NT by Jon Speed p8).
Does Speed say nothing about the fullness of the Holy Spirit? If this is so, then he has missed the Biblical teaching. And since you don't mention the Holy Spirit and His work here in Speed's quote (whether Speed does or not), you have missed the point of the OP entirely.
I would like for you to comment on the following Scripture. Tell me, what is the fruit mentioned by Jesus?
John 15:16--"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."
When we look at things Biblically speaking if the following are true then the evangelist has been successful. If we have a true Biblical understanding of CONVERSION because it is not our job to make converts; because our job is simply to proclaim the gospel (Rom 10:14-18). The Holy Spirit is the one the convicts of sin (John 16:8-11) and the father is the one that draws his elect to the savior Jesus Christ (John 6:44).
This is close to what I said. And I ask again. Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Right now?
I am aware that lots of people these days are big on results and refer to the results as success, and so many on this board have spoken derogatory things about my ministry because I have not seen a single convert since 2008 (when I started). I have seen a number come close to saving faith, but no actual converts to the best of my knowledge. History is filled with examples of people coming to faith months or years after they heard the gospel. Do you know the story of Luke Short? There is no reason for people to get discouraged because they have not seen people come to faith. As John MacArthur (or maybe it was John Piper said once) we evangelize to the glory of God. That is the primary reason we evangelize.
It being true that you have not seen a single soul come to Christ in 8 years, you desperately need the Holy Spirit to fill you. You are in America, where a huge percentage of people are already believers, there are churches all over, and where there are many just waiting for someone to care enough to give them the Gospel. For crying out loud, you are in America! "The harvest truly is plenteous."
I once preached in a country that was 86% Muslim, and through the faith and work of the missionary and the believers, 700 people (including many Muslims and Hindus) gathered to hear me preach the Gospel, and folks were saved. They had a baptismal service with 46 baptized who were saved prior to me going there.
Your problem may be in the area of compassion. I will ask you again, do you weep when you preach on Hell and judgement, or do you do it with no compassion?
Some good books on evangelism from a Calvinist perspective
The gospel and Personal evangelism by Mark Dever
Evangelism in the NT by Jon Speed
Since you are so big on Calvinism, read the books by Calvinists from which the following quotes come:
“Soul-winning is the chief business of the Christian minister; indeed, it should be the main pursuit of every true believer” (
The Soul Winner. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co, p. 13).
"Paul's ultimate aim in evangelism was to convert his hearers to faith in Christ. The word 'convert' is a translation of the Greek
epistrepho, which means--and is sometimes translated—'turn'. We think of conversion as a work of God, and so from one standpoint it is; but it is striking to observe that in the three New Testament passages where
epistrepho is used transitively, of ’converting’ someone to God, the subject of the verb is not God, as we might have expected, but a preacher. The angel said of John the Baptist: ‘Many of the children of Israel shall he
turn to the Lord their God.’ (Luke 1:16). James says: ‘Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which
converteth the sinner…shall save a soul from death…’ (James 5:19 f.). And Paul himself tells Agrippa how Christ had said to him: ‘I send thee (to the Gentiles) to open their eyes, and to
turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,’ and how he had obeyed the heavenly vision by proclaiming to both Jews and Gentiles ‘that they should repent and turn to God’ (Acts 26:17 ff.). These passages represent the converting of others as the work of God’s people, a task which they are to perform by summoning men to turn to God in repentance and faith” (
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, pp. 49-50; all emphases by Packer).
