Apprentice2Jesus

Ramblings of a Confessing Pentecostal

Archive for the category “Evangelism”

10 Feb 2012

The Beautiful Obligation

16 If I preach the gospel, I have no reason to brag, since I’m obligated to do it. I’m in trouble if I don’t preach the gospel.(1 Cor. 9:16, CEB)

16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! (1 Cor. 9:16, NIV)

16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! (1 Cor. 9:16, ESV)

The supposed freedom we may think we have in the gospel is indeed freedom, but it is a freedom binding us to a new “obligation.” The gospel of Jesus Christ turns all our definitions upside down.

Any sense of “obligation” we have in our lives today we tend to run from like it was the plague.

Any sense of “freedom” we think we may have, we sometimes viciously fight for that sense of “freedom,” only to find it has a steep price after all.

But in the Kingdom, the freedom of Christ has a sense of duty. It is a sense of call. It is the duty of proclamation. And it is not just proclamation in some way that WE feel “comfortable” with. It is the proclamation of the gospel in such a way that we work hard to make sure the gospel is communicated clearly to our audience.

For Paul, it meant that even with tremendous “freedoms” he felt no qualms about being “all things to all people so as to win some.” He wanted Jews to understand without too many barriers. He wanted Gentiles to understand without too many barriers.

That’s just hard work. Why? He was compelled. He had an obligation. Yet, it was a beautiful obligation. It was a longing for all to understand the freedom he found in Christ.

As Christians we give up “freedoms” and “privileges” at times because we want to be able to communicate as clearly as possible the beautiful message of freedom in Christ. It is not “losing” in the Kingdom. It may seem like “losing” to everyone around us, but it is not losing at all. When other find freedom in Christ, gain happens. We all win.

Posted in Bible Study, Evangelism and tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment
06 Nov 2011

Passing Along Passion

This article on missions is challenging.

Am I sharing God’s passion for the lost? As we have wrapped up our missions emphasis this year at church I have been blessed by seeing the passion for missions raised in our Faith Promise giving for next year. It looks like another increase! I am so deeply grateful.

But there is something more stirring in me. I am seeking out what the Spirit is truly trying to say to me. The longing in my heart that has been there for years is that one day I can have the opportunity to teach pastors overseas in some way on a regular basis. I want to equip leaders in new areas of church planting where they don’t get the advantage of a Bible school. I want to help. Maybe that stirring from the Spirit now is something to do with that.

What I do know is that I cannot be satisfied with writing a check. I must keep stretching myself in passion for the Kingdom. To know him, and to make him known.

Posted in Evangelism, Missions, Spiritual hunger and tagged | Leave a Comment
23 Sep 2011
2 Comments

The King Jesus Gospel — Messing Up the Message

I am beginning to work my way through The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight. My church staff will be making our way through it the next several weeks as well.

The diagnosis of the “evangelical problem” resonates with me. The struggle over “decisions” and “disciples” has been something I’ve felt for all my years in ministry. McKnight lays out his take on why this isn’t working.

As evangelicals, we come up with ways to explain “the plan of salvation” to people. We want to lead them to a decision. The problem is that it doesn’t capture the gospel.

The Plan of Salvation, to put it crudely, isn’t discipleship or justice or obedience. The Plan of Salvation leads to one thing and to one thing only: salvation. Justification leads to a declaration by God that we are in the right, that we are the people of God; it doesn’t lead inexorably to a life of justice or goodness or lovingkindess. If it did, all Christians would be more just and more filled with goodnes and drenched in love.

The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited

Posted in Church, Culture, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Ministry, Theology and tagged
06 Jul 2011
2 Comments

Evangelism — Orthodox and “Evangelical”

I have not been a fan of using church services alone to “evangelize.” A worship service is for…well… worship. It’s FOR Christ. Not us. But that’s just me. Obviously. ;)

This interview with Bishop Kallistos Ware (bishop of the Orthodox Church in England) is a good read. I like this exchange on “evangelism”:

To draw in the unchurched, evangelical churches often strip away things that might be mysterious or strange. But when you invite someone into an Orthodox liturgy, you hit them full-on with strange symbolism and unfamiliar words.

Yes, and let them understand what God gives them to understand. Throw them in at the deep end of the swimming pool and see what happens. That is very much our Orthodox approach. I would not want to offer a watered-down version of Orthodoxy.

The basic rules of Christianity, our relation to Christ, are very simple. Because they are simple they are also often difficult to understand.

On the other hand, we should not be content with a bare minimum. We should offer people the fullness of the faith in all its diversity and depth. I would wish people, when they come to the Orthodox liturgy, not to think that they understand everything the first time. I hope, rather, that they have an experience of mystery, a sense of awe and wonder. If we lose that from our worship, we have lost something very precious.

 

Posted in Evangelicalism, Evangelism and tagged , ,
04 Feb 2011

Super Sunday

Evangelism paradigms shift from time to time. I admit I am far more relational in my approach to evangelism than event driven. In my circles, it’s almost crazy. We’re so driven by numbers and “big days.”

This article by Mark Galli is refreshing to me. Aggravating to others, I’m sure, but refreshing to me.

This quote is powerful:

Second, we can do what Jesus told us to do. He did not tell us to market our neighbors, but to love them. That means refusing to treat them as potential customers or clients who need to be talked into something. What made us think non-Christians would enjoy that type of relationship with us in the first place? Instead, we are called to love, to take the initiative to get to know others, to not hold their sins against them, to be generous with our time and goods, to be faithful and kind, and so forth.

So, here is to a SUPER SUNDAY… and a great Monday… and a significant Tuesday where we can interact with people all around us and see what the Spirit may just do through an “ordinary” conversation.

Posted in Culture, Evangelism | Leave a Comment
02 Feb 2010
5 Comments

Marketing and the Church

I get into debates with myself over what is “marketing” for the church. What “counts” vs. what “doesn’t count,” etc.

But then I read articles like this one and just get sick. The article begins like this:

In the back room of a theater on Beale Street, John Renken, 42, a pastor, recently led a group of young men in prayer.

“Father, we thank you for tonight,” he said. “We pray that we will be a representation of you.”

An hour later, a member of his flock who had bowed his head was now unleashing a torrent of blows on an opponent, and Mr. Renken was offering guidance that was not exactly prayerful.

“Hard punches!” he shouted from the sidelines of a martial arts event called Cage Assault. “Finish the fight! To the head! To the head!”

The author of the article calls it right a few paragraphs later when he says these are “recruitment efforts.”

When we are reduced to using terms (and gladly using them, I might add) like “recruitment,” I am deeply saddened. Especially in a venue like this. Since we do not know our history very well, it may do me no good to say something silly like, “Sounds like Rome and the gladiators to me.”

Something just seems terribly wrong in the American church, and I don’t think it’s me just being old and crotchety.

Posted in Church Life, Culture, Evangelicalism, Evangelism and tagged , , ,
02 Nov 2009

The World Was Not Worthy of Them

Hebrews 11:38 ends the passage on the “hall of faith” with that phrase. People who believed God and suffered greatly for their faith. They believed, even though they might not have received the fullness of their reward in this life. The world was not worthy of them.

It was only fitting that All Saints Day landed on Sunday. I was able to be with my church… and when we are believers in Christ, we are all truly “saints.” And our body of saints heard from missionaries representing two very different parts of the world. One family spoke of God’s amazing healing power as they came through some severe trials during their last term. Another family spoke of lands that cannot be mentioned in too public of a place and their names cannot be published because of the nature of their ministry. I came away from both missions services full of gratefulness to the Lord. I was truly around people of faith. The world is not worthy of them.

The ones serving in a land that needs to go unnamed freely spoke of their willingness to put it on the line, even it if meant their lives. The reason is quite simple: You can’t get harvest from a place you haven’t sown seed. We’ve left huge areas of the world alone as the Church because we assumed it was unreachable. Then, we don’t see harvest. Our conclusion is that it’s a hard area. This family’s contention is that it’s hard because no one is plowing. They are willing to plow. They are willing to plant.

This All Saints Day was amazing. I have been around people who are walking with God. My church represents that, and I am grateful. Those missionaries represent that, and I am impacted deeply.

May we dare to sow seed where it has not been sown before.

Posted in Church, Church Life, Evangelism, Ministry, Missions and tagged , , , | Leave a Comment
08 Oct 2009
3 Comments

Important New Study on Islam

This report relates findings from an in-depth study done on Islam around the world. Statistics show that almost 1 in 4 on the planet are Muslim. It also shows what has been true for decades: Islam is not predominantly Arabic. The largest Muslim nations are not in the Middle East.

I write on this because I have a heart for Muslims. Unlike some other evangelicals/Pentecostals, I do not want to see Muslims as a threat. Since 9/11 the deep-seeded fears have caused us to step back a little from engaging Muslims. The city where I pastor has a significant Muslim population and I count many Muslims in my community friends. I have helped them in many areas of business and government. They have come to my aid at times in significant ways.

The field is ripe for harvest. We have an opportunity at our door. It is never time for fear. Not for the saints of the Most High. It is always time for faith. It is time to see the beauty of Jesus in our lives, come to a place of total surrender to our Lord, and get busy in the harvest.

Posted in Evangelism, Ministry, Missions and tagged
17 Oct 2008

Silence is Golden… or Tis the Season

At a Bible study this week the conversation was all over the map, as they tend to be in this group. During this “season”, because we have some people involved in political offices, we have a LOT of political discussion. That, of course, seeps over to any passage of Scripture we might be reading together at the time.

After a session of making political stabs, complaining about one particular issue or another, and finding a way to actually read Scripture, we came to our prayer time. We went around the table and people gave their prayer requests. Mostly the prayer requests were for the election.

When it came to me I wanted to give thanks. I told them about our incredible Wednesday night when a nationally known youth speaker came to our service. We had new teenagers from all over the metro area. We also had teenagers from our own group who needed Jesus. I told them about the band, the message and the altar time, how so many came forward to give their lives to Jesus Christ.

The reaction?

Silence.

One guy asked, “So what is your prayer request?”

I can chalk it up to being the season, but it is so telling when we can spend two hours griping about politics and when one piece of good news about people coming to Jesus comes along, we don’t know what to say.

“God help us,” is what I say.

Posted in Evangelism | Leave a Comment

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