Archive for the ‘personal evangelism’ Category
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During our summer road trip, we have been offered free use of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Richmond to provide a live version of our webinar on Fear Free Evangelism.
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Popularity: 21% [?]
Comments (1) Posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
Some time ago, I was asked in an email what I think are key training ideas in personal evangelism, or key steps to keeping the evangelistic temperature high in a congregation. These below focus on personal evangelism, not church growth.
Evangelism values for pastors:
- Share personal examples of conversations that you’ve had with non-church goers.
- Share personal examples of good conversations that help a person make another step towards Jesus.
- Share personal examples of conversations that failed and what you would have done differently.
- Of course, to give personal examples, you have to be ‘out there’ having conversations. Be intentional in getting out of the office.
- Model for people how to talk about your faith as a current experience, not ancient history.
- Find those who are passionate about evangelism and train them further.
Evangelism values for all:
- A deep and vibrant relationship with Christ.
- A deep prayer life .
- Out of the overflow of grace, there is a passion to share.
- Learn how to share recent stories of God’s activity in your life.
- Learn at least one script to explain the simple gospel when it’s time. See our Gospel Script Series
- Learn how to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to “Go stand next to that chariot” (from Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch)
- Launch an evangelism training group where you don’t study a book, but report your spiritual conversations.
See also:
Popularity: 19% [?]
Comments (0) Posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
Many churches (particularly in mainline contexts) ask me about evangelism training
- Are there good programs available?
- What program do you recommend?
- How do I as a pastor train my church to do evangelism?
- What resources are good for us?
The best form of personal evangelism training is simply to do it and have debriefing sessions afterwards to help one reflect on the spiritual conversations that have occurred.
It might feel clumsy at the beginning, and a little awkward, but with the progress of the training, conversations will get easier to have and become more comfortable.
One Example of Evangelism Training
One idea is to consider a small group that focuses on accountability to have a spiritual conversation each week. The conversation can be between friends, or with a stranger that God underlines for you.
The group could meet weekly with the sole purpose of
- Praying for each other to have the eyes to see whom God is underlining.
- Discuss your evangelistic conversations since the prior meeting.
- Debrief the conversations to discern what worked and what didn’t.
- Dismiss again till next time.
The group doesn’t study an evangelism book, think about welcoming visitors, or read academic treaties between incarnational evangelism vs. proclamational evangelism, missional vs. attractional church growth, or emergent postmodernism.
The group simply focuses on the spiritual practice of evangelism — having evangelistic conversations and holding each other accountable to it.
Debriefing the conversations
Some questions I like to ask are:
- “How did God point out that person to you?”
- “Where did you notice God was already at work?”
- “What was their spiritual thirst?”
- “What would you do differently?”
- “What did you share about Christ?”
Let me ask you this?
- Do you have a similar evangelism group?
- What does your church do for personal evangelism training?
Let me suggest:
Send me via email what your church does for evangelism training and I will send you a list of 99 questions to launch an evangeslistic conversation. Send email to
See also: Effective Evangelism Training Lab Time, Evangelism Training.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Comments (0) Posted on Sunday, June 15th, 2008
I keep adding to the list. If you have found some tips helpful for pastors to keep their personal evangelism passion high, please send them to me via email, contact us form, or simply give me a call at 804-335-1445.
See these prior posts:
1. Obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit
God opens the doors to evangelistic conversations.
The Lord might point out someone to you, as he did in the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch. “Go and stand next to THAT chariot.”
As you go through the day, can you recognize the promptings of the Lord? We need to respond to those promptings and seize the moments that He gives us. He’ll use us to touch the hearts of others, and it is my experience that our own life will be changed as well.
Sitting on an airplane (what evangelist doesn’t have an airplane story?) I notice those that start a conversation with me.
On one of my last trips, my seat mate and I had a long spiritual discussion over why he is not a Christian. I had the chance to discuss my faith, help him to explore his own lack of faith, in the process explaining why following Jesus is the greatest thing on earth. For 150 minutes, we talked about faith, about life, and about Jesus.
I make it a habit of praying for those that I will sit next to, that God may use me in their journey to faith.
2. Review God’s work in your life
I have found that the more I explore my testimony, and the more I recall God’s current activity in my life, I find a wellspring of gratefulness bubbling out of my heart.
I see God’s active grace in my life. I see God’s care, I see His concern. The more I look over it, my motivation to share my faith rises. The more grateful I become, the more passionate I am to help others find this faith.
This is the inebriation of grace. The mystery of being part of God’s kingdom. I am overwhelmed with gratitude, perhaps melting in gratitude, and that inspires me to share with others.
Take the time to reflect on God’s activity in your life. What is God doing in your life now that makes the gospel good news?
3. Keep your evangelistic edge
How often do you
These kinds of things can help you keep your evangelistic passion high. Making the intentional effort to keep your passion high.
I find that when I attend a conference, I get excited once again about seeing lives changed.
I find that when I teach a conference I get excited when I see some newly trained evangelists jazzed up to change the world.
Right now, as I’m doing evangelism coaching for a few people, I get excited as they share with me their evangelistic conversations that have occurred between our conversations over the phone. They are excited that they can do this, and I am excited knowing that perhaps destinies are being changed.
Let me ask you this?
What tips have you found helpful in your own life to keep the evangelism passion high? Share them with us.
Popularity: 13% [?]
Comments (0) Posted on Thursday, June 12th, 2008
Win Arn did a study sometime ago (the actual reference is in my notes somewhere)
- Approx 90% of pastors thought the main purpose of the church was evangelism.
- Approx 10% of lay people thought the main purpose of the church was evangelism.
Is it any wonder why there is a conflict of desire in a congregation about evangelism?
Expectations placed on pastors, particularly in smaller churches, often cause a pastor to set aside intentional evangelism. The focus is on member care, sermon preparation, worship leadership, and repairing the broken water line. Evangelism: who has time for that?
As I continued to think about tips for pastors who are overwhelmed with other responsibilities, I’ve encountered a few more to share with you.
These are certainly true for everyone, but certainly geared towards pastors
1. Confess your lack of concern
For some pastors, there may be a realization that with all the other responsibilities, your own passion for evangelism has slipped, melted away, or has been simply drained out of you. You don’t care any more. Your passion for evangelism no longer burns as brightly as it did.
Start with a confession before God. Let God put his finger on the cause and allow His Spirit to help you fan the flame back to a intensity that is appropriate. If you feel guilty, allow that guilt to move you towards repentance and a godly response. Do not allow it to beat you down.
2. Live a life worthy of your calling.
Is following Jesus truly the best way to live?
As you live your life day in and day out, does your life reflect this conviction?
To have a love for people who don’t know Christ, you yourself need to know that following Jesus is the best way to live. You see God’s activity in your life, and you can talk about what God is doing in your life today that makes the gospel “Good news?”
Spend time in God’s presence regularly. Developing a sensitivity to God’s voice so you can follow the promptings of His Spirit.
3. Spend time in Worship.
The fuel for missions is worship, according to John Piper. At first, I didn’t believe him. However, the more time I spend in the worship of God in my devotions, in my church, or even as I walk the streets of my city, I find that my heart connects with God’s heart for those outside the kingdom.
The more I worship, the more I want to share. The deeper I worship, the more propelled I am to share God’s love and grace.
Robert Coleman, author of The Master Plan of Evangelism, wrote “I believe that the real incentive for witnessing comes from the worship of God.
4. Stay in God’s word
There are many passages in Scripture that reflect God’s concern for those who don’t yet know him. What passages fire up your heart?
For me, it is the lost parables of Jesus in Luke 15, about the lost son, the lost sheep, and the lost coin. For others, it might be about
- the prostitute who anointed the feet of Jesus
- Nick at Night (John 3).
- Zaccheus in the tress (Luke 19).
- Lydia on the beach
- The Phillipan Jailer
- The blind beggar who was healed.
- King David’s experience of forgiveness (
During our summer road trip, we have been offered free use of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Richmond to provide a live version of our webinar on Fear Free Evangelism.
