tales from the cripps

 

A Few Tips from J. D. Greear for Gospel Sharing

  • I frequent the same places. People in our society don't respond well to strangers, so I try to eat, drink coffee, buy gas, get my car worked on, and shop, etc at the same places. Relationship is not essential for evangelism, but it sure helps. At most of those places I mentioned people know me by name. Inevitably a chance comes up to pray for them, ask about their lives, invite them to church, etc. For example, several of the people from my local coffee shop have started to come to our church, and a few have become believers and gotten baptized. My mechanic has recently attended our church.
  • Where relevant, I leave BIG tips. Especially if I know someone is having a bad day. I'll jot a little note and tell them I'm praying for them.
  • I ask people, sometimes, how I can pray for them. Most people don't mind to be prayed for, and if they don't want to talk, they answer shortly and I let it drop.
  • I invite them to church. Over and over.
  • When in a conversation, I use an acrostic I learned years ago to help guide the conversation. F- Family; I- interests; R- Religion; E - Evangelism. Yes, that can seem wooden, I know... but it can also help you move a conversation along. Sometimes in talking about religion I'll say, "Do you feel like you have a relationship with God?" I get the most interesting responses back to that question. And usually, it provides me a chance to tell them my story... how I grew up in church but came to know God personally later. As I talk about how I came to know Christ, I make sure to give the Gospel along the way. People don't like to be preached to, but they do like to be asked their opinions, and they do like to hear your story.
HT: J. D. G.

Filed under  //   J. D. Greear   ev   gospel  
Posted January 23, 2010
 

Christmas Christing

Chris Castaldo over at Chris-tocentric has some helpful thoughts on sharing Christ with your friends, family, and acquaintances at Christmas.  Here is his beginning presupposition, which the rest of the article goes on to explicate:

“Evangelism is the activity in which the entire Church prayerfully and intentionally relies on God in sharing gospel love and truth, in order to bring people one step closer to Jesus Christ.”

He concludes with this helpful word:

What we need to learn is how to gradually plant seeds of gospel truth that help people incrementally move one step closer to Christ. Therefore, instead of defining evangelism strictly as a comprehensive presentation of the “full delmonte” (i.e., everything there is to say about salvation) culminating into a Billy-Graham-like invitation, we need to view the incremental efforts of seed planting, which we perform in the course of natural relationships, as not only a legitimate form of evangelism but also a critical method among our loved ones.

Filed under  //   ev   gospel  
Posted December 19, 2009
 

Paul Washer - The Shocking Youth Message

This is the message that Paul Washer preached at the 2002 Alabama State Youth Evangelism Conference.  

I first heard this message in a time in our lives where we, too, were being (mildly) persecuted for the same biblical doctrines for which Mr. Washer spoke in this video.  I was then, and am now, thankful for his courage and fidelity in speaking the truth to a social network that calls themselves the church, made up of people who take the name of Christ, but who never follow Him.  Watch and listen.

Filed under  //   Paul Washer   gospel   repentence   youtube  
Posted November 7, 2009