EvangelismCoach

Personal Testimony

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30 Days of Prayer – Day 21: Tell of All His Works

This entry is part 21 of 23 in the series 30 Days of Prayer

God's been good to meHow has the Lord been good to you?

If one of your friends were to ask you today:

What has God done in your life recently?

Would you be ready with an answer that is not generic?

  • God blesses me.
  • God forgives me.

Those are generic statements, versus awesome stories that demonstrate the work of God in your life.

Generic stories are boring.

Tell of the current deeds of the Lord

Look at these two citations from Scripture

Psalm 73:28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.

Isaiah 63:7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us— yes, the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

Can we tell of ALL the deeds of the Lord?

Can we share “the many good things He has done?”

Think back over the last 30 days.

How have you seen God’s kindness at work in your life?

You might see evidence of God’s work in:

  • Guidance
  • Healing
  • Love
  • Forgiveness
  • Speaking to you
  • Growing a particular fruit of the Spirit
  • A season of testing
  • To be a blessing in the life of another

God is at work in your life.

When you have the eyes to see it, and take the time to meditate on His work, you will always have a fresh story to share of God’s work.

Today’s prayer

Lord Jesus, you are actively showing me the Father’s love (John 14:7).  You are leading me to the Father’s love (John 14:6).  You are at work in my life each day, though I confess that I do not always see your works or working.

You have revealed many kindessess to me over the years, but I have not always seen them or shared them.

Allow me to see today all the new mercies and kindnesses that you show me.

Today’s Action

Spend some time reflecting on a particular story of God’s working in your life.

If you journal, write out such a story.  Be sure to tell about God’s actions, your response, and if there was specific actions you were to follow, record the results of stepping out in obedience.

Ask the Lord to give you the opportunity to share this story with someone, so that you may “tell of all of his kindnesses.”

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Video: Rapper DJ DMD Shares his conversion

I came across this video in my Twitter Feed:

Southern rap vet, DJ DMD, gives an intimate, in depth account of his journey from secular rap star to committed follower of Jesus Christ.

His testimony reflects:

  • His spiritual thirst and search
  • The emptiness he tried to fulfill
  • The brokenness that drove him to find God.
  • His journey through divorce and reconciliation

He has now released a new single: 25 Bibles.

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5 ways to tell your stories of God’s activity

Stories capture the heart and mind like nothing else can.

People listen to operas, watch movies, read novels, and attend plays to get lost in the story.

My son played Pinocchio in the school play (he’s in the red hat). [Read more…] about 5 ways to tell your stories of God’s activity

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Purpose of Evangelism Training

Have you ever felt like you’ve been caught off guard?

Imagine sitting in a coffee shop talking about life with a friend.

The conversation begins to go deep about some personal issue: your friend is confessing a deep sense of remorse over some sin in their life and how they seek forgiveness.

Your friend looks at you and says:

How do I find forgiveness to bring peace to my soul?

The Best Gospel Conversations Are Never Planned

Now this doesn’t happen to me all the time.

But perfect opportunities like this  to share the gospel and point people to Jesus  happen.

It’s never planned ahead.

It’s never organized on my calender.

It is never at a scripted moment (unless one manipulates the conversation).

Rather, opportunities to point people to Jesus are surprise impromptu events in life that catch us off guard.

Are you ready to seize the moment?

Several years ago, this happened to me.   A new acquaintance asked me “What is the gospel?”

I fumbled the opportunity and made a verbal mess in my answer.

I was not prepared to answer the question, even though I had been to seminary and was a pastor.

Many factors got in the way of a clear and simple answer to the question.

How do we prepare ourselves?

I came across an interesting article, quoting Captain Sullenberger, the pilot who landed the plane in the Hudson River after hitting a flock of geese.

At a Hero’s Homecoming in Danville, CA, where he lives with his wife and daughters, Captain Sullenberger finally spoke:

“Circumstance determined that it was this experienced crew that was scheduled to fly that particular flight on that particular day,” he told the crowd.

“But I know I can speak for the entire crew when I tell you we were simply doing the job we were trained to do.”

Source: http://blogs.jobdig.com/wwds/01/16/i-knew-chesley-sully-sullenberger-us-air-hero/

Here is the phrase that struck me:  “We were simply doing the job we were trained to do.”

Training gives us a chance to learn what we need to do when we are put on the spot.

Training gives us an internal calm when surprises catch us.

You might think you know the gospel already since you’ve likely heard it hundreds of times.

But when you have to put words to what you think you know at a moment you are not expecting– you suddenly discover you don’t know.

  • You don’t know where to start.
  • You don’t know what content to include.
  • You don’t know what order to present the claims of the gospel.

You might know all the theology of the gospel, but when given a chance like what happened to me, the reaction is one of disorientation, not one of content.

Personal Evangelism training gives you the place to learn

  • A functional outline to conversationally walk through
  • A big picture framework

There are plenty of gospel summaries out there.  Each one of these can provide a script that we can use as a “default setting.”  We need to master one so that we can answer questions in a calm, clear, and concise manner.

Even though the disciples didn’t have any formal personal evangelism training, we can increase our confidence for those unexpected moments by taking regular ongoing personal evangelism training.

Personal evangelism training removes alot of the “I don’t know what to say” fear.

Next Steps in your  Personal Evangelism Training:

If you haven’t mastered a gospel outline, choose one from the List of Gospel Presentations and master it.

If you want more personal evangelism training, consider my personal evangelism audio course, a 5 CD set that can be shipped to your house.  It covers topic such as motivation, cooperating with the Holy Spirit in conversations, and testimony development, along with a basic gospel sharing plan.

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Book: Organic Outreach For Ordinary People

Organic Outreach for Ordinary PeopleIn Organic Outreach for Ordinary People: Sharing Good News Naturally, author Kevin Harney sets out to show us a way that ordinary people can do evangelism.

The book offers

  • solid theology of appropriate Bible passages
  • specific actions steps one can take after each chapter,
  • Questions for personal and group reflection.

Kevin looks at relational evangelism through the lens of a journey process, using the agricultural analogies of

  • preparing the soil,
  • planting the seed,
  • nurturing the seed, and
  • harvesting the seed.

What is “organic outreach?”

Here is how he answers that by defining his terms.

It’s organic – “living the kind of life that naturally draws people to Jesus.”  This involves speaking and revealing the presence of a loving God and loving people in a genuine way.

It is outreach – where people live and communicate their faith in a way that lets people know there is a God who loves them and sent his only Son to open the door to a restored and wonderful relationship with them.

It is for ordinary people – everyone, including those who find personal evangelism intimidating or scary.

He writes:

“My desire is that you will find this book to be hope-filled, optimistic, and practical.  I don’t spend much of my time critiquing outreach methods and programs.  . . It’s not a system or a program.  It is a collection of simple and biblical practices that Christians can incorporate into their lives.”

If you’ve been doing a lot of reading in the field of relationship evangelism, you’ll

  • recognize most of the favorite passages used in the book,
  • enjoy the personal illustrations of those passages
  • appreciate the easy read and renewed passion you’ll feel for sharing your faith.

The book has study questions and accountability questions for use in small groups and I think this is where it’s strength is – small group material for beginners.

The One Degree Rule

I think the most important contribution he makes to the discussion on evangelism is in Chapter 4, entitled the 1 degree rule.  What is the level of passion that burns in your heart for those who don’t know Christ?

Here is a video to explain it.

He refers to a the Christian’s personal evangelistic temperature – can be hot, colde, or somewhere in between, but the Christian witness has the responsibility to keep it hot.

The purpose of the scale is to provide for self-examination:  To honestly evaluate yourself and ask “how can I raise my evangelistic temperature by one degree today?”

The issue is not the current number, but the effort you make to raise it by one degree.

Ways to Raise Your Evangelistic Temperature:

Kevin gives us three ways, which many of us will be familiar with:

  1. Regular Prayer for non-believers.
  2. Regular Proximity unbelievers
  3. Regular Personal Testimony – stories of Changed lives.

“How much time do you spend in a normal week with people who are not yet followers of Jesus?  What can you do to increase this amount of time?”

I’ve taught a similar principle in my workshops, and have written about this area before.  It’s refreshing to see it spelled out in a book in a simple manner like what he’s done here.

Order from Amazon: Organic Outreach for Ordinary People: Sharing Good News Naturally

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30 Days of Prayer: Day 12 – The mystery of conversion

This entry is part 12 of 23 in the series 30 Days of Prayer

Mystery of Christian Conversion“Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.” – Mark 4:27

How does the seed grow?

I remember science projects I did in elementary school to make seeds sprout.

We played with the variables of soil, light, water, and even gravity (by using a record player) to see what might happen.

I recall the wonder and marvel that the seeds sprouted.

My children have repeated similar experiments with guandu and papaya seeds, and I got joy at watching their excitement over the shoots peaking out from the soil.

Watching a seed actually sprout and turn into something else provokes awe in my spirit at the great marvel of God’s design.

Scientists can probably describe

  • the mechanics of how a seed grows,
  • the right elements that contribute to helping a seed spout
  • how a seed shoots forth it’s roots
  • how genetics help it turn into the right plant,
  • how the chemical interactions with water, soil, and light make the seed sprout.

But the inner workings remain a mystery of wonder to me that seeds sprout and change into something beautiful.

Even without my attention, my care, seeds grow once they are activated.

Silently.

Mysteriously.

Over time.

Transforming into what they were designed to become.

The mystery of Christian conversion

As evangelists, we sow the seed of the word, but God makes it grow.

How the individual seed grows in the life of the person who receives it remains the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit.

How did you come to surrender your life to Christ?

Can you remember a day or even a particular moment?  You had come to place in your life where the invitation to follow Christ became irresistible and you surrendered your life.

Or maybe it was more of a gradual awareness and personal ownership.  You grew up surrounded by Christians, in a Christian environment, and somewhere along the way, you owned your own faith.

Either way, your conversion and surrender to Christ was at the end of a quest, a journey, a path of spiritual restlessness and need that led you to see your need for Christ.

A seed had been planted.

The journey began.

Eventually, it led to your conversion.

That mysterious inward journey is the Holy Spirit drawing you faith: “Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.”

That journey is unique

That seed cast by the evangelist or sower fell on the unique soil of your life:

  • the circumstances of your life at the time,
  • the people of spiritual influence around you,
  • your own background, upbringing, and personality.

These elements all make for a totally unique and mysterious process of conversion under the sovereign guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The genuine conversion experience is a work of the Holy Spirit unique to each individual.

We can’t restrict conversion to following a formula.  There is no on/off conversion switch.

There is a mystery of the journey that we must acknowledge.

Today’s Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for helping me place my faith in You as my Lord and Savior.

I eventually saw my need for You.  Thank You for that drawing work of the Holy Spirit, bringing me to the place where I have found forgiveness, longing, and a peace that passes understanding.

I thank You for the circumstances that led me to surrender my life into the joy of following You, those trials and inner questions that helped me see my need for you.

Thank You for the people who influenced me to follow You: for their conversations with me, their patient answering of my questions, their trustworthy representation of a Christ follower.

I pray for my friends today that you would help the seeds that have been planted in their life to sprout.

Amen.

Today’s Action

Take some time to day to journal about your journey to faith in Christ.

  1. What circumstances in your life helped you see your need for Christ?
  2. Who were people of significant influence in your journey and what did they do to have that significance?
  3. What was in your upbringing and background that helped you see your need for Christ?

Spend some time writing out your answers.

Image Source: Morguefile.

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