Evangelism Coach

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How can pastors find time to do evangelism? The simple answer — be intentional in doing personal evangelism

The New York Times reports of a multi-cultural church transformation in Georgia. This story is about a church that knew it had to change to meet the needs of the growing multi-national community around it. The church culture had to change, but the gospel didn’t.

Exposing five popular myths about evangelism. I like the last line: Evangelism methods never used never work. So go out and do something to let people know about Jesus

Do you ever wonder how you can pray for your friends who don’t know Christ? Here is a simple acronym to pray through: HEART.

Christianity today does an article on church planting and evangelism. “Church planting actually involves quite different strategies for evangelism: immigrant, missional, and attractional, for a start.”

Sally Morganthaler, author of Worship Evangelism, has changed her mind about the connection between worship and Evangelism.

This is a major shift in her thinking that has led her to a deep personal cost: dismantling her teaching ministry and website. I had high regards for her book, but also agree with her evaluation as to what has become of “worship driven” churches.

She writes: “For all the money, time, and effort we’ve spent on cultural relevance—and that includes culturally relevant worship—it seems we came through the last 15 years with a significant net loss in churchgoers, proliferation of megachurches and all.”

Have a great weekend.

Here is an outreach idea that a church is doing, in response to their local situation:

Church offers free coffee on Mondays.

The idea is to provide a gathering spot, a relational context where evangelism can naturally happen. Visitors do get a card with church information.

While not strictly evangelism as we define it here, it is one way that a church can connect to the neighborhood and learn of its needs. A church can raise awareness of its presence in the community. Personal evangelism can be an outgrowth of this.

In an article I read at Mark Robert’s blog on missional living, there is the following:

Q: “Even though you talk about ‘just being honest,’ I’m still not comfortable with the idea of sharing my faith with others. What would you suggest to help me get started?”

Years ago someone admitted to me, “Evangelism is such a pain. It just makes me feel guilty. I wish I didn’t have to think about it.” As I reflected upon his confession, I framed a simple model for getting started in sharing Christ. I called it the “P.A.I.N.S. of Evangelism.” . . . .

Prayer. Since evangelism is primarily God’s work, begin by praying. Confess your hesitations and fears to God. Ask him to give you courage. Ask for a wide open door to share your faith with someone. Pray for those in your life who don’t know the Lord. . . .

Availability. If you are available, God will use you. As you pray, tell the Lord that you are open to be used to share the good news. Then, as you go about your normal business, remain available. God will sometimes give you a chance to share when you least expect it.

Invitation. Don’t panic! . . . . I’m encouraging you to invite people to gatherings where they will hear the good news. . . . . . I have seen many tongue-tied Christians help lead a friend to Christ simply by inviting that friend to a place where someone else does most of the talking about Jesus.

Neighborliness. Scripture teaches you to love your neighbor as yourself. If you keep this in mind, God will open up opportunities for you to speak easily about Jesus. Moreover, your love will pave the way for a open-minded hearing of what you have to say.

Sharing. When God opens a door, walk through it. In an honest and humble way, simply share with people your faith in Christ. You don’t have to preach. You don’t have to pretend to be the Bible Answer Man. Simply explain what Jesus means to you and how he has enabled you to be reconciled to God. As you share, the Spirit will help you.

I think this is a great little ACRONYM to consider as a reminder in keeping our personal evangelistic fires hot.

I’m more and more convinced that personal evangelism is fueled by prayer. Prayer not only prepares the way, but it also prepares you for the work of evangelism.

Let me ask you this?
Who do you know who is apart from Christ that you can pray for right now? Spend a few minutes before leaving this article and pray.

A little denominational humor:

“What do you get when you cross a Jehovah’s Witness with Presbyterian?,” Nishioka asked.

“Someone who knocks on the door but doesn’t have anything to say.” Captured in a Outlook article on Roger Nishioka’s speech to the Presbyterian Communicators Network.

Other Friday Finds:

An article on cultural trends with young adults, at least in mainline churches.

Goodmanson looks at the oft quoted phrase “church planting is the most effective form of evangelism” and wonders how an established local church recapture the missional mindset.

Being intentional in looking for spiritual conversation.

Get out of the office and hang out at Starbucks. Intentional connections to the neighborhood.

A divine appointment?

I was caught off guard.

I was in class, describing my ideal job.

I would be a full time evangelist, working with churches to implement evangelism programs, conduct live  Evangelism Training Seminars and Workshops  in a local church to keep evangelism fires hot, and conduct outreaches with the local church into a neighborhood.

A student asked me: “What is an evangelist?”

I sensed this was one of those moments that God had set up.  A person who was spiritually thirsty had a natural curiosity to know what an evangelist was.  How would I explain this to her without confusing her.  I had to come up with a definition for evangelist right on the spot.

“God, I need your help, now.”  I felt the promptings of the Holy Spirit to share a specific answer.

My answer: “An evangelist is someone who can explain the good news about Jesus Christ, and what He has accomplished for you to help you move into a relationship with God.”

Let me ask you this?
How would you have answered that question to someone who doesn’t know what an evangelist is?

Pray for this fellow student, as last week I was also asked “What is a pastor?” This person is not only unchurched, but familar terms like pastor and evangelist are foreign.

I like to use questions in my conversations with people to help them think about matters of faith.

Questions help draw people into conversations, and likewise can help further a conversation along rather than me making declarations all the time.

I was looking at an article by Paul Hazelden about The Modified Engel Scale (Complete). The Engel Scale (use your favorite search engine to find more information) was developed several years ago to help map out evangelism as a process.

It presupposes that conversion is a linear event, that happens after a rational conclusion of examining the evidence that one needs a solution for sin and that Jesus is that solution.

We are a generation that often thinks with its feelings, so I no longer think that the scale is helpful. My own conversion was without any understanding of my sin — I just knew I needed to follow Jesus. I understood what that meant as I began reading the Bible later.

But, I digress. At the end of the article, there is a list of questions that can be helpful to the evangelist. I refer you to the article for the larger contex. The Modified Engel Scale (Complete).

These are some possible questions to help determine where a person is on the revised scale.

Is it possible there is a God?
Do you believe God may exist?
Are you certain there is no God?
Is there a purpose to the universe?
Does the human race have a destiny to fulfil?
Do you think you may be mistaken about whether God exists?
Is it possible you may be mistaken in your ideas about God?
Do you think there probably is a God?
Do you think God is a person?
Do you think God gets angry about some things?
Do you think God created the universe?
Do you think a person can know God?
Do you hope it may be possible to get to know God?
Do you believe anyone in the past has known God?

Let me ask you this?
What questions do you like to use in your conversations?

In the comments on the post entitled “From the Bookshelf: Unbinding the gospel,” commenter and blogging friend Jimmy Kinnard asked “Why aren’t people who love the Lord talking about it?”

He asks a great question.

We easily talk about the things and people we love, but when it comes to our love for God, we are as quiet as a parking post.

Below is a modified reposting of a prior article Evangelism and Staff Meetings that helps the evangelism avoiders in midst.

In the denominational cirlces I run in, there is a clumsiness, awkwardness, or hesitancy to share about one’s own private faith journey. This could be for a variety of reasons:1. It’s not a part of their local church culture.
2. Faith is a private / personal matter.
3. It’s not a common routine or encouraged.

I’ve put a questionaire together that you can use to help your church members talk about their faith.I like to use this question and to solicit stories:

What is God doing in your today that makes the gospel good news?

Our presbytery
We did a little exercise at our last Presbytery meeting, using that question.After I told a story of what God was doing in my life, I asked the members of the Presbytery to turn to one another and share. The buzz in the room indicated that a lot of sharing was going on.

After about 10 minutes of chatting, I brought the meeting back to order and asked “How many of you felt encouraged hearing about God’s work?” Hands went up.

“How many of you felt a little clumsy talking about your faith?” Several more hands went up.We provided a safe place for people to try talking about their faith.

Feedback we received from many of the presbyters that day indicated that this little exercise was a highlight of the meeting.

Tell your current story.
Sharing stories of God’s current activity in our life is one portion of evangelism as we define it here, “joyfully proclaiming the good news of the sovereign love of God.”

Let me ask you this?
What is God doing in your life today that makes the gospel good news?