“But I am so afraid to start a conversation,” confessed a pastor.
“I have non-Christian friends, and spend time with them, but I’m so afraid of ruining my friendship.”
Does that describe you, even if you are not a pastor?
From the seminars I give around the US and in Latin America, this is a common fear.
So to address this fear, let me throw out my list of 7 Habits for Highly Effective Personal Evangelism.
[Read more…] about 7 Habits for Highly Effective Personal Evangelism
What are some tangible signs of spiritual thirst?
Spiritual thirst is the evidence of God the Father drawing a person to Jesus.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit and the core habit of personal evangelism I teach about in the “Effective Conversations DVD.”
But what does spiritual thirst look like? What are those signs of spiritual thirst that will help you to see how the Father draws a person to Jesus?
I see tangible signs of spiritual thirst from the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.
I was in Panama last month on a business trip.
I had lunch with one of the people that I met.
He was a German business man living in Panama.
He left Germany behind and trying to start his life over in Panama on the crest of a real estate building boom.
This is when an example of spiritual thirst appeared. [Read more…] about Example of Spiritual Thirst: A Wild Conversation
His prayer 25 years ago failed.
My friend had obediently prayed with the well meaning evangelist. My friend repeated the phrases the evangelist said, one after the next, confessing his sin, inviting Jesus into his heart.
But nothing happened.
There was no spiritual transaction, no renewal in his heart, no conviction of sin, and no awareness of the power of God’s grace.
My friend’s life didn’t change. Twenty five years later, he simply reflects:
[Read more…] about A Sinner’s Prayer is not The Goal of Evangelism
Christianity Today recently released an article you may have seen, Fox News’ Highly Reluctant Jesus Follower. It’s a worthy article to read Kirsten Powers’ first hand personal testimony of how she became a follower of Jesus.
It is getting a lot of airplay at the moment (I must have seen it 30 times already in personal Facebook feed, and uncountable times in my Twitter feed). If you haven’t read it yet, click on the link to read it.
Her testimony shows me 7 important principles of personal evangelism that we can all remember as we share our faith in Christ with people who mean a lot to us.
[Read more…] about 7 Observations from Fox News’ Kirsten Powers’ Testimony
Does your devotional life seem a little dull and routine?
Want to spark a fire for a new round of momentum to keep up your spiritual disciplines?
Then make sure you get involved in sharing your faith with people on a regular basis.
As you talk about your own relationship with Christ with spiritually thirsty people, you will re-discover an element of joy that may have been lost because your devotional life has gone stale.
When you answer sincere questions from a seeker who is talking about his or her faith journey, you’ll re-discover a refreshed desire to pray for those around you who don’t know Christ.
When your friend gets clarity on misconceptions about Jesus and you continued to see their renewed interest, you’ll recall the joy of your own discoveries of faith as you came to know the grace of Christ.
But sometimes your friends won’t listen.
When they shut down those conversational doors, you’ll get frustrated at their spiritual blindness (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Since you were once spiritually blind too, then start praying for their spiritual eyes.
When they argue with your presentation of Jesus, you might experience the grief of their current rejection of the savior. Take that to prayer.
When they ask a question you can’t answer or explain, you might experience a desire to find out the answers and grow in your own understanding of your relationship with Christ.
Recently, I walked with my friend. That is one way I practice evangelism in the course of my life.
One of the discussion items that came up was the current topic of my small group – how do we live out our faith in the “fear of the Lord?” After all, Proverbs 1:7 says
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
That opened up nearly an hour long two way conversation that dwelt in themes like:
His spiritual curiosity was fascinating. I enjoyed the “a-ha” moments he found as we talked about the biblical truths and clarified some of his misconceptions.
As he started visiting my church after several personal invitations, I’m seeing forward progress in his journey to faith.
I found myself renewed in a desire to pray for his discovery of Jesus.
I wanted to refresh some reading of books on answering objections or evangelistic conversations, such as God Behaving Badly, or Tactics.
My devotional life has perked up once again.
Today, have a conversation with a friend about your faith and put a fresh wave of joy in your devotional life.
Here are some evangelistic conversation starters if you need a little help. Click on the image:
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