Many people encounter obstacles in their personal evangelism.
I know I have.
Here are some insights from my own personal journals of the obstacles in personal evangelism I have to overcome.
You can learn to recognize divine appointments when you learn to obey the nudge of the Holy Spirit and listen for spiritual thirst
Spiritual thirst is evidence that God the Father is drawing a person to Jesus. Finding spiritual thirst is the core habit of personal evangelism I teach. What does it look like? See it in the story of the Ethiopian
"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 (updated post).
What does spiritual thirst look like in a conversation? How might you recognize it? Here is an example of spiritual thirst from one of my trips to Panama.
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 …
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 …
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.
How do I incorporate evangelism in the ordinary course of life? You have your own routines of daily life and if you are like me, you do not want evangelism to be an appointment at 4pm on Friday in the local park. So how do I incorporate personal evangelism at this season in my own …
I was not hostile to Jesus, just indifferent. Before I met Jesus personally, I didn't know much about Him. I was not hostile to Him. I was not opposed to him. I was pretty indifferent. My spiritual thrist was indifference
That's because our family only attended church on Christmas Eve and Easter.
I tried to put the facts together every now and then, but the reality is, I had no clue.
I was not hostile to faith. I was just indifferent.
That was my level of spiritual thirst.
What is your evangelism style? Do you prefer to warn the stranger of their sin by open air evangelism? Do you prefer to wait until some one asks you for the reason you believe? Or maybe you prefer to invite people to your church where they can find a community of believers to help them …
I volunteered the other day and I had lunch with another volunteer. As we talked about my mother’s recent death, she startled me with the following question. I’ve always wondered, how do religious people deal with death? She wasn’t opposed to religion. She didn’t have a defined set of beliefs of her own. Spiritual Conversations occur …
Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10, NIV) Jesus has a remarkable insight. He knew the true spiritual thirst of this …
In today’s devotional prayer, take your bible and read Ecclesiastes 2. The teacher is a man who experienced tremendous spiritual thirst and chapter two gives us the various ways he tried to fill that emptiness in his heart.
Every person comes to Jesus for a different reason. I started my search for Jesus because of a search for unconditional love a purpose greater than my own self. I had no clue that I was a sinner, or that I needed a Savior. Sin is not always the starting point While it is true …
Jesus also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in …
You’ve probably seen it: An opening in a conversation when a non Christian expresses their spiritual insight, or opens up about some restlessness in their heart. Then well-meaning Christians become a one-way torrent of gospel information about what a person needs to believe and why other religions are wrong. Or maybe you’ve seen this: Your …
This week, we launched a new small group aimed for people who don’t go to church. For our small group, 13 people showed up for the first meeting, 7 of whom I had never met before. This was the 1st of 6 meetings, and I was not leading the group. From the conversations prior to …
Over the years, I’ve developed an ability to hear spiritual thirst in a conversation. Spiritual thirst is what allows me to have normal conversations about my faith and the spiritual journey of the other person. It’s their thirst that propels them to find solutions in Christ. The concept of spiritual thirst has become a foundational …
Jesus tells us another parable about the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 13. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Matthew 13:44 In contrast to the parable …
Jesus give us a parable, found in Matthew 13, about the kingdom of God. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:45-46) Looking for the fine pearl The merchant was …
A young man came to me one evening during the camp meal and he asks, “Do the non-elect go to hell?” I was startled. This question was out of context, out of the blue, seeming to come from left field.
When I was in college, I led a small group Bible study. A freshman group member had a degenerative spinal condition that caused her severe pain after excessive walking. Since she was a resident on campus without a car, walking was the only means to get to and from classes in the various buildings scattered …
Do you want to grow in your skill in talking about your faith? One discipline that I use that helps me grow comfortable in talking about my faith is through writing about that conversation in a journal. I have done a mental review of nearly every evangelistic conversation that I have. I write about it …
