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I hope all that makes sense.

Is it your church's practice to 'lead someone to Christ' one-on-one?  Assuming that it is for many, do you lead that person in a prayer (sometimes called the 'sinner's prayer)

What is the content of that prayer?  Would you ask them to repeat it aloud or silently?

I'm also wondering whether this practice is a cultural thing.  Is it biblically mandated or just an effective option.

I'd really love to hear some of your thoughts.  I know that 67 people are getting this email, so speak up!

A new evangelistic tool?

From Christianity Today:

"James Choung, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, set out to help college students explain the gospel to their friends, he turned to the most beloved tool in an engineer's arsenal: the napkin diagram. Choung, who now serves as the divisional director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in San Diego, has spent his life in ministry on and around college campuses, where Christians today are met with a paradoxical and perplexing combination of suspicion and openness."


Choung has developed a new gospel presentation using 4 circles that can be drawn and explained on a napkin.

We were designed for good

We are damaged by evil

We are restored for better

We are sent together to heal

Read the CT interview with Choung HERE and please respond in the comments if you'd like.

You can see a video demonstration HERE.

It seems that many pastors get so busy that while they encourage others to be involved in personal evangelism, they find themselves only rarely in conversation with people who are not Christians.

Those of us who are pastors probably need to make it a point to get out of the office more often and in a place where we can interact with people.

Some have suggested to do some of your study and sermon prep in a local coffeeshop.  I use my workouts at the gym several times a week to make and maintain relationships with people who seem far from God.

So here is the question / challenge: what do you do to get out from behind your desk and in a place where you're able to interact with people?

...The School of Evangelism that is!

Seriously, this is your chance to move beyond reading books on your own and lean and interact with others who share your passion for evangelism.  Here's the details:

Preaching Evangelistically
Why preaching is evangelism.
by Myron Augsburger

From the book Growing Your Church Through Evangelism and Outreach

I remain committed to evangelistic preaching, not just because of the Great Commission, but also because of its great satisfaction.
—Myron Augsburger

Since day one, the church has used one method to reach out to people more frequently and more successfully than any other.

It's the way the gospel was brought to Europe by Paul, and the way it spread throughout the West by the Dominican and Franciscan orders, among others. It was central in the life, worship, and outreach of the Reformation. It was the means by which lives were ignited and entire towns transformed in the great awakenings in this country. Today, it remains the one task, more than any other, that most congregations expect of their pastors, because it is the main vehicle for communicating to them and the larger community God's grace and peace.

I'm talking, of course, about preaching.

A church can and should reach out to the community in a variety of ways, many of which are discussed in this book. But we would be remiss if we overlooked preaching, particularly evangelistic preaching. All preaching seeks to communicate God's grace and peace, but evangelistic preaching is unique. In that sense, it deserves particular attention.

_____________

You can link HEREto the rest of the article from Outreach Magazine where the author addresses many of the objections that are put forth against preaching as a primary evangelistic method.

What do you think?

I'd welcome comments, feedback, etc. from the following article:

By John MacArthur Jr.

I believe that the Church has never made a greater effort at evangelism, but our current weakness is the absence of a strong theological undercurrent. Often style becomes the substance, and thats unfortunate because the Churchs biggest problem is a lack of discernment. The Church sort of has spiritual age --it has a deficient immune system, so it can die of a thousand diseases because its not discerning enough to protect itself.

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THEOLOGY

In the medical field, the bar of medical qualification is set extremely high in order to protect patients from malpractice. That doesnt happen in todays Church because anybody can go down the street and start one. An NBC interviewer said to me once, As an outsider looking at Christianity, Id like to know who polices your movement.

Well, nobody, I said.

In a denomination theres a certain amount of policing going on, and there are certain standards in place. But in the continuing explosion of independence that defines evangelicalism we have lots of ill-prepared or ill-qualified people with an awful lot of passion and zeal, but who maybe arent as careful as they need to be in protecting the content of the message. What matters is that we get the Truth--the way God revealed the Truth--out to people. Im not nearly as concerned with methods as I am with the protection of the essential message. I think theres plenty of room for communicating it in a myriad of ways, but we better make sure that its intact when it come out of the other end of the creative pipeline.

A SANCTIFIED CONGREGATION

Unconverted people flow into our church like crazy! And church attenders whove experienced a life change are the ones bringing the unbelievers.

The credibility of what a newcomer hears is either confirmed or denied by somebody they know whose life has been transformed. Thats why changed lives are the key to evangelism. Its one thing to be converted, but its something else to be mature and to live a godly life. The depth, breadth, length and height of a persons spiritual devotion to Christ is whats so compelling about the Christians faith--not a clever message or a cleave method. Thats why, in the end, its the sanctified congregation that has the greatest impact.

CREATING AN EVNIRONMENT OF EVANGELISM WHAT WORKS

In building an atmosphere of evangelism, you first have to create a church environment that is so powerful and life-changing from top to bottom that you dont have to tell your people to bring their friends. Theyre going to bring them and theyre going to come because the congregation is so thrilled and excited about their church. I have people outside out church tell me all the time, I dont feel like bringing anybody I know to my church because the music is pretty bad and the preaching is not that great. Thats a sad thing.

Second, its important to reiterate to a congregation that theyre only here for one reason, and that s to bring people to Christ. Everything else that a salvation produces--for example, fellowship, worship and obedience--would be better in heaven. But theres only one thing you cant do in heaven, and thats evangelize the lost! Thats the only reason for Christ to leave us here once were saved. Therefore, the end product of everything the Church does--the end product of everything we do as Christians--should be to reach people with the Gospel. Our goal is to focus on teaching and maturing our people in Christ so that they are a force of evangelism. That way its not necessarily bring them to church, and I, as the pastor, will evangelize them. Instead, its about maturing the congregation and allowing them to do the work.

Third, we have a baptism during every Sunday night service, and that works dynamically for us. When people step into the water, we ask them to tell everyone how they came to Christ and how their life has changed. This is compelling stuff because people are reminded every Sunday that while there might be resistance to evangelism, there are some prepared hearts out there. Theyre a reminder that we just need to be faithful, and God will take us across the path of somebody who needs to hear His message. Thats a strong stimulant to evangelism.

MARKETING FOR MARKETINGS SAKE

My fear is that theres so much superficial success in church marketing. As the Church, weve learned the cultural hot buttons. If we put Starbucks in the lobby, set boxes of Krispy Kremes outside the front door, and host fifteen different 12-step groups, we know that we can attract people from the community. In other words, we know how to get a crowd, which is a head-trip.

Although these things arent bad in and of themselves, my concern is that were going to become enamored with that ability to draw a crowd and start pouring more and more energy into that. And that means that doctrine and the faithful proclamation of Scripture will get pushed further down the priority line.

DEVELOPING LIFELONG EVANGELISTS

Make your ministry the shaping of lives over the long haul. Take the long-range view that if your people really come to know the Lord, as Hes revealed in Scripture, youre going to make a lifelong evangelist. You wont have to prop people up with half-time pep talks about outreach. You wont have to depend upon the methodology. We wont have to whip up our people who are mature in the Lord to do evangelism. It will be just natural overflow.

-Outreach magazine, "Point of View," January/February 2003

I have a friend from High School.  I became a Christian and he didn't.  Our lives have gone in much different directions and now he is wondering what's going on.

I had an idea that's just begun but is showing promise already.  We're taking turns - through email - asking each other questions about life, perspectives, faith, etc.  We're both really enjoying it.  I'm learning about him and he's learning about me - and God.

Are there people you could have this type of conversation with?

The following is from an on-line devotional that I publish for my church and its friends. From time-to-time I use something to raise the evangelistic temperature. This is an example.

“Treasures”
Reading: Colossians 2.1-3
BY Steve Dunn

     Landisville and Salunga are twin towns that sit side by side along the Harrisburg Pike northwest of Lancaster. The pike forms Main Street for both communities. Every Memorial Day they become home to a huge, almost wall to wall yard sale, that extends along this thoroughfare and then branches out into the side streets feeding off of Main. It creates quite a carnival of bargain hunting, and a creeping traffic jam for about 8-9 hours. (Think Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge but with less expensive junk, and perhaps more useful stuff.)

     I had one of those garage sales. I made $65 in my “this is not going back into my garage sale.”
Not bad for 10 cent to two buck sales.  Enough for 2-3 trucks from the collectors/vendors at the parks and some extra cash into the bank. In fact, I only had less than a table’s worth to put back into the garage. Two tables became very valuable to people when I simply marked “free” on their contents a little before noon.

     It is said that one man’s junk is another person’s treasure.  That it is if you can get the junk out of the basement or out of the garage into the street.  But once that stuff comes into the light of the day, all kinds of people would like to possess it.

     Of far greater worth than used lamps, tee shirts, kitchen pots, and golf bags is the mystery of God. It contains the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that once you begin to understand them, will change your life forever.  Paul says here that we need to labor to get that treasure into the spiritual light of day, no matter how great the struggle. People are waiting to grab hold of it.  So start cleaning that treasure out of the private places of your home and get it into the street.

This e-mail devotional THRIVING IN CHRIST is published on behalf of the Church of God of Landisville PA and its friends. © 2008 by Stephen Dunn. All rights reserved. Subscription matters can be sent to Patty at coglandisville@coglandisville.org.  Directly communicate with Steve at sdunnpastor@coglandisville.org