It is with this hope that I provide an excerpt from J. I. Packer’s classic, Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God (InterVarsity Press, 1961). 

Dr. Packer writes about what the belief that God is sovereign in grace does not affect.  I hope, even if you don’t embrace the doctrines of grace, that you will read with open eyes and an open heart.  Dr. Packer, himself a “Calvinist”, asserts on behalf of historic Reformed theology:

The belief that God is sovereign in grace does not affect the necessity of evangelism. Whatever we may believe about election, the fact remains that evangelism is necessary, because no man can be saved without the gospel. . . . They must be told of Christ before they can trust Him, and they must trust Him before they can be saved by Him. Salvation depends on faith, and faith on knowing the gospel. God’s way of saving sinners is to bring them to faith through bringing them into contact with the gospel. In God’s ordering of things, therefore, evangelism is a necessity if anyone is to be saved at all. . . .

The belief that God is sovereign in grace does not affect the urgency of evangelism. . . . The world is full of people who are unaware that they stand under the wrath of God: is it not similarly a matter of urgency that we should go to them, and try to arouse them, and show them the way of escape? . . . The non-elect in this world are faceless men as far as we are concerned. We know that they exist, but we do not and cannot know who they are, and it is as futile as it is impious for us to try and guess. . . . Our calling as Christians is not to love God’s elect, and them only, but to love our neighbour, irrespective of whether he is elect or not.

The belief that God is sovereign in grace does not affect the genuineness of the gospel invitations, or the truth of the gospel promises. . . . The fact remains that God in the gospel really does offer Christ and promise justification and life to ‘whosoever will’. ‘Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ As God commands all men everywhere to repent, so God invites all men everywhere to come to Christ and find mercy. . . .

The fact that the gospel invitation is free and unlimited—‘sinners Jesus will receive’—‘come and welcome to Jesus Christ’—is the glory of the gospel as a revelation of divine grace. . . . Some fear that a doctrine of eternal election and reprobation involves the possibility that Christ will not receive some of those who desire to receive Him, because they are not elect. The ‘comfortable words’ of the gospel promises, however, absolutely exclude this possibility. As our Lord elsewhere affirmed, in emphatic and categorical terms: ‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.’ . . .

The belief that God is sovereign in grace does not affect the responsibility of the sinner for his reaction to the gospel. . . . A man who rejects Christ thereby becomes the cause of his own condemnation. . . . The unbeliever was really offered life in the gospel, and could have had it if he would; he, and no-one but he, is responsible for the fact that he rejected it, and must now endure the consequences of rejecting it. . . . The Bible never says that sinners miss heaven because they are not elect, but because they “neglect the great salvation”, and because they will not repent and believe.

There is a pretty active comment thread at the original post if you wish to read it.

I was doing research trying to find the source of oft quoted “God shaped vacuum” line by Blaise Pascal.  I’ve used it for years, because I was always told he wrote it.

Here is the closest thing I have found to it.

What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace?

This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself. [Pascal, Pensees #425]

Doug Groothuis looked into the matter and that was the closest Pascal quote he could find.

What Pascal really said is much more eloquent than what the urban legend says he said.

In other words, “God shaped vacuum” doesn’t exist, but seems to be an interpretation of what Pascal actually wrote.

It’s a great image, just not one he actually used.

Has anyone translated this into Spanish?

Joshua Cody at Church Marketing Sucks has two great articles that speak to marketing and church.

• Nitpicking our Marketing (Is the breakfast served out of love or a marketing strategy?)
• Semi Automatic Assault Rifle offered as an incentive to visit church (What was that guy thinking?)

Mark Driscoll has been writing about Charles Spurgeon:

Evangelism

The hyper-Calvinists in his day disdained Spurgeon for his passion for lost people to meet Jesus and his continual offering of the gospel of grace to the masses, which led to the baptism of 14,692 converts during his ministry. Despite much mean-spirited opposition, Spurgeon never shied away from calling all people to repentance and used unconventional means, such as meeting in a public theater (not a church) and preaching from a stage (not a raised pulpit), in an effort to be more culturally relevant with his ministry style. Curiously, however, he forbade the use of choirs, organs, and other musical instruments in his church services.

Spurgeon has deeply impressed upon me the importance of always inviting people to repent of sin and trust in Jesus. He rightly shared God’s heart for lost people and his example reveals that one can believe in both election and evangelism, as the Apostle Paul did also. Too often those of us who are theologically reformed spend more time criticizing evangelistic methods than doing evangelism ourselves. I too consider myself something of a reformed evangelist and appreciate that Spurgeon shared a deep love for lost people that God used to save many lives.

Source: Spurgeon Prayed, Laughed, Cared, and Evangelized – Part 3

David Fitch writes 10 Ways to Engage the Poor in the Suburbs.  He took the time to prayer-walk his neighborhood and it didn’t take him long to find ideas.  The poor are not just in the inner city slums, or the rural outskirts of the countryside.  They are indeed right around you. . . .

As we have been looking at houses, praying over the neighborhoods, seeking where we might buy a house, I have walked the neighborhoods trying to open my eyes to where mission could be engaged. I find the suburbs difficult for mission. The poor are so hard to find. Yet as I walked and prayed, I found my imagination stoked by the Spirit. Mission was all around the rhythms of this place. The poor could be found. Here are ten missional places I noticed . .. . . .

Gary Rohyrmayer finds Seven Surprising Facts of the American Church.  Here is one.

The increase in churches is only ¼ of what’s needed to keep up with population growth.

• 3,000 churches close every year
• 3,800 new church starts survived
• Net annual gain: 800 new churches
• Net annual gain needed to keep up with population growth:10,000 new churches

California church reached out via Garbage:

First Christian Reformed Church in Bellflower CA reached out to its community in an unusual way in July (2007), arranging for six huge dumpsters along the road beside its building.  Church members manned the dumpsters to help community members dispose of unwanted items.  They also handed out information about the church.  This marked the third time the church has partnered with the city to help clean up the community
Source: The Banner Magazine (www.thebanner.org), October 2007

On Friday’s, I usually share some of what I’ve been reading on other blogs that is of interest to me.  Some of the material is integrated into our workshops, or into my mind, as this collection is like a journal for Evangelismcoach.org 

There is no real theme other than evangelism, church growth, and things related to them.  You’ll not find links to Obama and McCain insights, or gossip about Paris Hilton, or even a summary of Twitter and Facebook and their value of wasting time or connecting.

Doesn’t happen every Friday, but as there is enough to share.

• There is no kindness more cruel than the kindness which consigns another person to their sin. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
• Evangelism without listening is like playing golf blindfolded. (Larry Chrouch)
• We have to find the back door to peoples’ hearts because the front door is heavily guarded. (Ravi Zacharias)
• “We can only know God well by knowing our iniquities… Those who have known God without knowing their wretchedness have not glorified him, but have glorified themselves.” – Blase Pascal.
• Experience taught me that evangelism is work, and there’s no substitute for, well, experience. – David Goetz
• Our Presbyterian forefathers are good caretakers of our ancient fireplaces, but many of them haven’t started a fire in quite some time. –Rice Brooks

Charles Spurgeon wrote in his Evening Devotionals:

• Paul’s great object was not merely to instruct and to improve, but to save. Anything short of this would have disappointed him; he would have men renewed in heart, forgiven, sanctified, in fact, saved. His prayers were importunate and his labours incessant.

  To save souls was his consuming passion, his ambition, his calling.

  Dear reader, have you and I lived to win souls at this noble rate? Are we possessed with the same all-absorbing desire? If not, why not?

  Jesus died for sinners, cannot we live for them?
  Where is our tenderness?
  Where our love to Christ, if we seek not His honour in the salvation of men?

• O that the Lord would saturate us through and through with an undying zeal for the souls of men.

Let me ask you this?

Do you have some favorite evangelism quotes?  Feel free to share them in the comments below.  If you have  source or a name, please share it.

I found this article from That Guy with the Nametag about 62 types of questions and why they work. 

Randy Newman wrote a great book called:  Questioning Evangelism.  Here is an free form excerpt from the section on Responding to the charge: “Christians are Hypocrites.”

This question comes in a variety of ways:

• Why is history littered with such hatred by Christians (e.g, Crusades)?
• Why do some non-Christians I know behave better than Christians?
• Why are they so full of self-righteousness, and full of hatred (e.g., homophobic)?
• I thought Christians were to be _____________ (fill in the blank).

Listen for the question behind  the question

‘If this is what Christianity is all about, why should I want any part of it?”

Jesus railed against hypocrisy (see Matt 23), so He, too, is against it. 

But we might need to remind people that profession (what people say) often doesn’t line up 100% of the time with what they do.  It’s a lack of authenticity that people are reacting against.  The Christian experience is not about perfection, but a journey towards perfection, where our character is being transformed.

Possible questions to defuse the tension of the charge:

• Do you think ALL Christians are hypocrites?  Why do you think that?
• Are you saying that the church is FULL of hypocrites, or some?
• Do you think hypocritical behavior is the NORM for all Christians?  Why or why not?
• Do you think hypocritical behavior is the kind of behavior that Christianity teaches?

Possible statements when the conversation brings up personal experiences:

• If given an example of a hypocritical Christian, we can certainly agree it was and explore it a little.
• If the example was personal, we could “see why that’s so painful for you, I don’t blame you for being upset.”
• Some agreements that can pave the way for questions
• Your right, church is full of hypocrites.
• Well, sometimes I can be a hypocrite as well.
• We’re all hypocrites if we think hard about it.

Turn the tables

• Aren’t you a hypocrite some of the time?
• Don’t you fail to live up to your own standard at times?
• Don’t you, on occasion, say one thing and do another?

Some questions to explore

• Why does hypocrisy bother us so much?
• What is it about hypocrisy that makes you want to scream?
• Why are you bothered about hypocrisy?

A possible question to lead into further discussion

• I think that hypocrisy bothers us because it points to some sense of right and wrong, you think?
• If we hate it so much, could be be a sign that there are some other way to be?  What do you think?
• The fact that we are all hypocrites points to the hardness / evil / deceptions  in our own hearts (the sinful nature).
• The fact that it bothers us points to a sense of morality and judgement.
• Following Christ can help us deal with our hypocrisy, find forgiveness for it, and find the Spirit’s help to overcome that failing.

Source:

Randy Newman wrote a great book called, Questioning Evangelism  Order your copy from Amazon.

Here are some various Evangelism Quotes and sayings

The salvation of a single soul is more important than the production or preservation of all the epics and tragedies in the world.
C. S. Lewis

EVANGELISM is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.
D. T. Niles 

Our business is to present the Christian faith clothed in modern terms, not to propagate modern thought clothed in Christian terms. Confusion here is fatal.
J. I. Packer 

The greatest hindrances to the evangelization of the world are those within the church.
John R. Mott 

The Holy Spirit can’t save saints or seats. If we don’t know any non-Christians, how can we introduce them to the Savior?
Paul Little 

Being an extrovert isn’t essential to EVANGELISM–obedience and love are.
Rebecca M. Pippert 

EVANGELISM is the spontaneous overflow of a glad and free heart in Jesus Christ.
Robert Munger 

“Evangelism is not salesmanship It is not urging people, pressing them, coercing them, overwhelming them, or subduing them. Evangelism is telling a message. Evangelism is reporting good news.” – Richard C. Halverson

“Life is too short and hell is too hot to just play church.” Pastor Larry Osborne.

I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ. — Count Nicolaus Ludwn Zinzendorf

Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell. — C.T. Studd

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. — John Piper

We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God. — John Stott

Let me ask you this?