Yesterday, I met with fellow blogger Jimmy Kinnaird here in Atlanta to discuss personal evangelism. We had a great meeting at Starbucks, and it was awesome putting a real face on a real person that I first met because of our blogging interest on personal evangelism.
An idea we kicked around is about an evangelism coaching [...]
October 2007
As an ongoing contribution to our hospitality series, here are some more tips for welcoming vistors.
Here is how First Presbyterian Church in Branson MO greets their visitors:
Because its a tourist town, they have plenty of visitors who drop in simply for the one Sunday while they are on vacation in Branson.
The pastor, during the time [...]
It’s always a privilege to do Evangelism Training Seminars in local churches over the course of a couple of days and to watch churches get excited about doing evangelism. It’s our mission to help you find your evangelism passion and provide training to help you express your faith.
It’s Sunday and I sit in the Branson airport, [...]
In a sense, we can’t cause results in evangelism.
The fruit of our work is truly God’s doing.
We can weep for the lost, or labor in prayer, but salvation is truly a gift from God.
We can share our faith, engage in conversation, listen to questions, be excited about Jesus, but the other person remains spiritually dead [...]
Evangelism, at least in my circles of influence, seems to be a dreaded word. At its mention, some people feel queasy, the hairs stand on the back of their neck, people want to secretly leave the room.
On the opening night of our Listening Evangelism Conferences, one participant in Michigan simply said “Evangelism scares us.”
Why I [...]
At a recent teaching session at YWAM Panama, the students gave the following list of answers:
Obedience to the Great Commission
If you have something so awesome, why not share it?
God gave us a compassion on the lost.
Hell.
Pastor says so
Fill the pews.
Obedience
Selfish not to share.
Some others that I’ve heard over the years:
We are losing members and need [...]
Timmy Brister has written a series on evangelism that is a good read.
A new book called Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends (Cultural Exegesis) has come out, exploring how the gospel and culture relate. Read the book review online by CT.
In my collection of gospel scripts (presentations) I found this helpful [...]
Pick any blog on evangelism, and one will encounter an attempt to summarize the gospel. What points must one share? What happens if I forget a point? Can I mess it up?
On one hand, its great to be concerned about messing up. We always want to be prepared to explain our faith, and get better [...]
I’m going to try an experiment. I don’t know if it will work, but its worth a shot.
It’s a discussion email group that is meant to discuss your evangelism conversations.
The basic idea:
You have an evangelistic conversation with a person. Post it and we’ll comment on it.
It’s another source to further the conversation.
Subscribe to Evangelism [...]
How does one develop an evangelism team in the local church?
In the denominational circles I run in (Presbyterian Church USA), this has been relegated to the Evangelism Committee, or the Witness and Service Committe, or New Member Committee, or the “Make up another name just to have a name that is not Evangelism” committee.
These committees [...]
I’m not the first to point this out, but I’ve heard the expression:
“A rising tide lifts all boats.”
Perhaps you’ve heard it too. Perhaps it’s a cliche that is beyond trendy.
But, when one person is excited about evangelism, and doing it, sharing their experiences, and reflections, other people begin to get the idea that perhaps “I [...]
A few years ago, I listened to a talk given by Mark Mittelberg, at the time, on staff with Willow Creek. It was titled “Sharpening Your Evangelistic Edge.” Below are 8 barriers to effective communication that Mr. Mittleberg shared. If you have others to add, I’d love to hear them.
Barriers:
Lack of freshness in our relationship [...]
I’ve been out all this week teaching at the Youth With A Mission Base in Panama, but here are some finds for this Friday.
Theological links for emerging theologians. Check it out here.
List of helpful Evangelism books.
Questions for assessing the hospitality factor of your worship service;
What about youth pastors using Halo 3 to reach young men?
What [...]
In some of our weekend Evangelism Training Seminars, we often can build in a practical exercise in personal evangelism, a “lab time,” where people can leave the retreat setting and venture out to do evangelism in the style that we teach. It is modeled after Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.
The basic premise is that we ask God [...]
Mark Driscoll on video explaining the various themes on the Emerging Church. I find this a helpful summary of the ongoing conversation and a fair critique of it.
The Jolly blogger asks: “Why are church plants the most successful at reaching people and does my established church stand any chance of being renewed?”
Five ways to sharpen [...]
How can you pray for the work of evangelism?
Praying for yourself:
Jimmy Kinnaird has developed a useful prayer acrostic called “BOLDNESS” to help you prayerfully prepare yourself. This is an awesome acronym and a helpful structure.
Here are some things I pray for:
To live a consistent and holy attractive life.
To be authentic and honest as I [...]
I attended a conference nearly 10 years ago by Mark Miller that gave away these secrets to Evangelism Training.
Challenge the conventional wisdom — Evangelism is a process not an event (see: Evangelism: Process or Event?), so one size doesn’t fit every context.
Make Evangelism Personal — Who do you know that does not know Jesus Christ? [...]
Evangelism training is simply training that
Prepares Christian believers to assist pre-Christians (aka lost people, seekers, insert label here) on their spiritual journey towards Christ, AND
Gives them the confidence that they can do this.
I attended an evangelism training seminar several years ago that used this definition. There is both content (#1) and practice [...]





