EvangelismCoach

Martha Reese

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Most Popular Posts for 2007

Top 10 Posts on Evangelism 2007I’ll join the bandwagon of many of the blogs I read and reveal to you the Ten most popular posts based on pageviews during 2007.

  1. Conversion Stories in the NT: Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Part of the Conversion in the NT Series)
  2. Evangelism Oozing from our Pores (on motivations)
  3. Define Evangelism Series
  4. Take the Risk, Offer to pray (most commented)
  5. Hospitality Series
  6. How to welcome Visitors during Christmas
  7. I’d rather invite someone to a manure shoveling party.
  8. 10 Reasons to Use a Local Coffeeshop
  9. Beginning to share your faith.
  10. Evangelism Bookshelf: Unbinding the Gospel

From looking at my counters, it seems the two most popular search terms to find Evangelism Coach was “motivation for evangelism” and “define evangelism.”

But this data may be skewered since I didn’t know how to start search term counts in until much later.

Search terms do offer wonderful clues to what people are looking for at this site and provide suggestions for articles to write.

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20 Fears about Personal Evangelism

Fear of EvangelismEvangelism, 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 hate Evangelism

From an expired link included in this earlier EvangelismCoach.org article, I found “Five Reasons Why I Hate Evangelism.”

  1. It violates the golden rule – most Christians would not want to be approached by a member of another religion the way Christians approach others in evangelistic attempts
  2. It calls the authenticity of relationships into question – are you my friend because you’re really my friend, or so you can convert me?
  3. The moment of truth – we think we must identify a “no turning back” point where you pressure someone to make a decision, and if they don’t respond well, that jeopardizes the relationship.
  4. Asking someone about the Gospel feels like making a pass at them.
  5. If I like my friends, and want them to continue to be my friends, I have a major incentive NOT to try to evangelize them.

20 Evangelism Fears

These are mostly based on Emotions!

Our emotional baggage associated with “Evangelism” is probably the biggest baggage.

Try answering this question:

“What do you think about when you hear the word Evangelism?” (Reese, 11)

  • Door to Door
  • Pushy televangelists with funky hairdos asking for money and pushing people down.
  • What does “one beggar telling another where to find bread” mean?
  • My friend was obnoxious year after year always telling me I needed Jesus.
  • It implies other religions are wrong, that Christians are better

Other lists that I have gathered over the years include:

  • Fear of Rejection
  • To mess up and somebody’s eternity destiny is your fault
  • Interrupting somebody’s life
  • Losing a friendship
  • Fear of offending
  • Fear of what others will think about you.
  • Stuck with unanswerable questions
  • Feeling inadequate
  • Being seen as arrogant
  • Fear of being kicked out of your family or breaking a family relationship
  • Fear of your own weakness, hypocrisies, and inadequacies
  • Doubt and not being certain about your own beliefs.
  • Guilt
  • Fear of being a hypocrite.
  • Drive-by Evangelism

Overcome Your Evangelism Fears

Fear Free Evangelism Seminar front coverWhat if evangelism

  • wasn’t awkward?
  • didn’t take a whole lot of guts?
  • was as normal as breathing?

What if sharing your faith didn’t make you feel like a Martian?

How would your church grow if you could conquer these fears and confidently talk about your faith?

Read more about how to get my audio CD set to help you over come your evangelism fears.

Fear Chalkboard Image credit: raywoo / 123RF Stock Photo

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Evangelism Workshop on Martha Reese’s Unbinding the Gospel

Martha Grace ReeseI attended Martha Reese’s workshop (author of Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism (Real Life Evangelism Series) at the Evangelism Conference in Nashville.

I was going to do my own write up, but the Presbyterian News Service beat me to it.

You can read it here:

PC(USA) – Presbyterian News Service – The ‘E-word,’ God and the unchurched

Quote:

Reese, who interviewed 600-700 pastors, said key leaders in churches doing good evangelism are holding their members to a sharp focus on their growing relationships with Christ and sharing their faith with others.

“What the great churches are doing, that are really doing all different kinds of evangelism, they’re sharing their own faith stories,” Reese said.

“They’re saying to people ‘Let me pray for you.’”

What I appreciated about the workshop was that we had the chance to pray with other folks around the table.

We didn’t just stay strangers during the workshop, but instead got to pray with two or three others about God’s activity in their life and to pray together about some personal needs.

Reese constantly stressed that folks need to be comfortable talking about the activity of God in their life and then gave us the space to share with the person sitting next to us.

Let me ask you this:

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From the bookshelf: Unbinding the Gospel

Martha Grace ReeseI’ve soaked up reading Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism (Real Life Evangelism Series) by Martha Reese.

I met her in Nashville and spent some time interacting with her on the research. The full research can be seen here at GraceNet.info

She did a survey study of over 1000 mainline churches to observe what churches were doing in evangelism.

It covered the full range of theological perspectives from conservative to progressive to outright liberal (self definitions, I guess).

She used evangelism quite broadly defined: “Anything you do to help another person move close to a relationship with God, or into a Christian community.”

That can be interpreted in several different ways from just adding members, or generating conversions.

I’m sure that there are some churches that simply help people join — irrespective of a relationship with Christ. I’ve not had the opportunity to drive down into the definition.

However, what I found most compelling in her story is this: “Our most important discovery is that a vivid relationships with God lies at the heart of real evangelism.”

To me, that’s a no brainer, and perhaps to Ms. Reese it was to0. The research she did supported that.

“People in evangelistic churches can tell you what difference being a Christan makes in their own lives” (p.5)

“People who share their faith love God and believe that other people’s lives would be better if they were in a relationship with God too.” (p.4)

Let me ask you this:
Using a question direct from the book (p. 15): “If your faith is already vibrant and alive, can you talk about it?”

(According to Reese, many mainliners do not know how to talk about their faith, and the research shows it. They love God and love the church, but are fearful when it comes to talking about faith).

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