The Heart and Motive of Evangelism

     Maybe if I went through a little bit of my background you will understand the title of my blog better. When I first came to Christ and was Spirit filled, I wanted to share the Gospel with everyone I met. I had very little discipleship and I was just starting to grow in my knowledge of the Scriptures. My heart seemed to want to see people get saved. At least, that's what it seemed like to me.
   As time went on, I listened to many sermons, read a lot of books, learned much of the Bible, and became acquainted with other believers. Looking back, I have some observations on things I did, or others did, especially in evangelism circles.
   There used to be an emphasis on having people respond to the Gospel. In watching others present the Gospel, there was always that pressure to get the person to respond. It seemed like if you really were successful at evangelism, you would have had many people make a decision for Christ after you shared the Gospel with them.
  There are some reasons people do evangelism, that aren't exactly right on. I have had people who I was sharing the Gospel with, think that I was doing evangelism in order to earn Brownie points with God. I think some people actually do that. Some go out and share the Gospel because they feel guilty about having not shared the Gospel with people. Others tell the Gospel because they don't want their family or friends to go to hell. This is not totally wrong though. We are to warn people about hell. But there is a bigger reason for doing evangelism.
   Some wrong motives for doing evangelism are: guilt, pride, striving to please God, fear of failing God.
   Some right reasons for doing evangelism: love for God, love for people, making God's name known in truth, warning people about the Judgment to come.
   I think evangelism has gotten such a bad rap, not because people are offended by the Gospel, but because 'evangelists' are pretty hateful sometimes. We are commanded to love God. We are commanded to love people. But even more, if we are truly in Christ, the Bible says that we are constrained by the love of God.
   I think many people have no idea of the love of God. Christians don't seem to know either. That's probably one reason why there is such a battle over how evangelism should be done. Some people think that you should always serve people food if you are sharing the Gospel with them. They are afraid that if you just preach the Gospel, let's say, on the streets, then you really don't love them. It's like evangelism is something you have to tack onto your schedule, rather than it being an outworking of the overflow of the heart.
   Love starts before we go out and evangelize. If love isn't the motivation of our hearts, then we need to ask God to fill us with His love and give us new hearts. Evangelism without love doesn't work. And if we truly, really do love, we will want to share the Gospel with people. We will want to let others know of God's greatness and what He has done for us. We will die to ourselves and to our selfish desires that would interfere with evangelism.
  One example of this in my life was, when I was younger, I didn't know how to talk well. It was very hard for me to talk and communicate. As I got older, it never got better. I always wanted to do evangelism, but since I couldn't talk, the best I would ever be able to do is to give out tracts, so I thought. But then the desire to proclaim the Gospel became stronger. I had to pray for many years that God would help me learn how to communicate. After wrestling in prayer for a long time, I was now able to talk. God has helped me learn how to communicate the Gospel with people and to have good conversations about the things of God. I didn't just think to myself that I wouldn't be able to talk, so, I'll just pass out tracts the rest of my life. Thank God all that changed. I had to desire that kind of change. I had to be desperate for it. May God help us all to love one another, and to love the lost people who need to come to know Him.
  One question to ask ourselves: Are we evangelizing to be seen by men, or are we evangelizing to be seen by God?

Ways To Show Appreciation Open Doors To Communicate the Gospel

  A couple of years ago, a UPS man delivered a package. I thanked him and gave him a tract. My husband thought that was tacky. So, I redid the idea and came up with something that worked. It wasn't the best idea, but it was better than not doing anything at all.
  One thing I have learned in the past couple of years, is the importance of showing respect to people. People in America have lost their dignity and they feel like, well, you get the picture. The devil would like people to think that they are worthless. The other extreme, of course, is that people overrate themselves. Many believe they are God's gift to this earth!
  Another thing that is important is to be grateful. People appreciate being appreciated. It took me a long time to learn this lesson. I used to think that if I hired a person for something, he or she should be grateful that I hired them. That was it. I am at the point now, when we have someone working on the house or doing something we hired them for, that I make sure I offer them a bottle (or more) of water. This might seem like a small thing, but some of our workers really appreciate the water.
   The idea I came up with was this: When I knew someone was going to come over and provide a service for us, I would have ready a batch of cookies. It was good for a while, but some people can't eat cookies. Also, the chocolate melts in their trucks and probably became messy to eat. I would also give them a tract and hope for opportunities to talk with them about the Gospel. But, now I even have a better idea! Instead of making something to eat (which they might not be able to do) I will make soap for them. I will give them a bar of homemade soap, and, a tract. But maybe I could even give them a Bible. Or, I could give them a DVD with a Bible scene (I ordered some from VOM called, 'He Lived Among Us'). Wow, as I sit here and write, I am coming up with more ideas. But keep in mind, we want to serve them and show our appreciation for them. Otherwise, it could look like we are trying to butter them up for something. It could appear manipulative to them.
   Maybe I could come up with an illustration about soap and how it cleanses us. Maybe I could relate it to the Gospel message of how the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from sins. Whatever I end up doing, I need to be intentional. I can't think about it an hour before the worker arrives. I have to have it ready to go so that I can give it to him or her (or them). I also need to take time to talk with them if possible. I want to be an approachable person, so that, if they did ever have questions about the Gospel, or wanted to talk about the things of God, they would feel comfortable coming to me, even though they really don't know me. I want them to sense that I truly care for them, and that they are not just another number.
   Hmmm. Who is the next person we are going to hire?

The Winter Park Christmas Parade - From Disaster to Success

I don't want to spend a whole lot of time writing about this, but today was the annual Christmas parade in downtown Winter Park and I was in charge of the evangelism part of it for those in this group who like to go to parades and evangelize. In a parade though, it is a little different. It is fast paced and there are tons of people and tons of printed up tracts to give out, with the hope that some will read them and God will make His word alive and convict them of sin and they will repent and come to Christ. It is harder to talk to someone individually about the Gospel because the goal is to pass out as many tracts as possible. I have been doing this for about the past 6 years or so, and, to be honest, I am not as envisioned to do this as before. I would rather take my time and talk to people about the Gospel as well as give out tracts. But, I am the person to head this event up right now. For starters, only a handful were going to come. I received a call from one person saying they weren't going to be able to come, but we would still have about 5 or 6 if everyone who said they would be there came. Well, only 1 person besides me and my son were there. It was the three of us, but finding a parking place was impossible. I don't know if it was because they closed down some of the parking or if more people are coming to the parade. We finally, after sitting in stopped traffic for a long time, found a place, several blocks away, to park. Since the only guy that was there was my son, it limited the amount of tracts we could actually carry with us, and we wouldn't be able to go back to the car because it was too far away, so we bagged up as many tracts as we could take. My bag was extremely heavy. I also had beach balls in it and as I got out of the car, they kept falling out. One fell under the car and I couldn't get it out. After our long haul to the bench by the bandstand, I needed to use the restroom which was a few blocks away. When I got there, it was locked and you had to go into one of the stores to get the key. I said, 'forget it' and as I was leaving the area, the parade was starting. I saw one of our friends who also was looking for a parking space, and when I got back to the bench, I called her. She showed up immediately and found us. I could tell already by the amount of difficulty that either I was going to never do this again, or, that I would remember and take into consideration the fact that we are in a spiritual battle and that anything that is of value will be attacked. Could this be an attack from the Enemy or was it just God's way of saying, 'Why are you doing this? Did I tell you to do this?'. I believe in faith that God does want us to promote His word and share it with others, and that this difficulty was an attack from the Devil himself. I never found a restroom. I never saw the others who were with me on this event. There were the usual mockers of course. We even had one woman who sounded like she was from Westboro. I gave her a tract and as I was talking with another group, she came up and told me that we were all going to hell. She was mocking so I thought it was interesting. But then I heard some of her other conversation in which she talked about God's hatred for people. As the parade went on, and I gave out a lot of tracts, most people were friendly. I also gave out all the beach balls and coloring books, as well as a couple of decks of cards and mood cups. All have Scripture on them and most have web sites people can go to if they are interested or have questions. I would have also given out balloons, but I couldn't find them in the garage as I was leaving the house in the morning. It got really hot and I needed to sit in the shade for a while. Then I got up and gave out more tracts and then the parade ended. I was on another street when I gave a tract to a young man. I started talking to him and before long we were in a conversation, that led to the Gospel. He seemed unfamiliar with it, to a point, but I think he had some correct information but didn't know how to put it together. Please pray for this young man if you think of it. I will be in touch with him and continue to help him understand the Gospel more. If all the trouble we went through in this parade led up to this conversation with this young man, and if he comes to know Christ, then all that trouble will have been worth it. Also, God is helping me to look at my own heart. I was angry because things were going opposite my way. Everything about this parade was hard, but if God is in it, it will be worth it, and the results are His. One day in eternity, we will see the fruit of our labors. Someone might be there because they found a beach ball in the road with a Gospel message on it. Another one could be there because they received a cute tract that serves as a post card, that has the Gospel message on it. Still, some could be there because someone actually explained the Gospel to them. We will only know what really happens in the spiritual realm when we are there. But for now, we live in faith, and we trust in the True and Living God to do whatever He wants to do in our lives. Merry Christmas!

It's Exciting To See God At Work

    I think so many times, we take God working in our situations for granted. But when we see things happen that we know could only be from Him, it is exciting to see.
   I loved listening to 'The Cross and the Switchblade' because it involves a man who heard from God and acted upon what God spoke to his heart about (yes, I am aware that some Christians do not believe that God speaks to our hearts today, but, He obviously does and this is very evident).
   God is a supernatural being who does things human beings cannot do. He also knows the future and enables people to carry out His works of service, whatever He has called people to do.
   In 'The Cross and the Switchblade', God directed David Wilkerson to talk to certain people in New York City. God arranged for David to meet these people and work with them, and eventually a ministry was born out of his obedience to God. God also put a love in David Wilkerson's heart for the lost boys in New York City. God is not limited though to David Wilkerson's ministry. God wants to work in all of our ministries, if we are serving Him.
   Tonight, on my way to The Conversation ( a 7 week class exploring the Gospel with interested people), I went to Lowe's to pick up some Jiffy Pots. I planned to go to Lowe's this afternoon when I was in another section of town, but ran out of time, so, I went to the Lowe's I go to on the way to the church building instead.
  A few years ago, I was in this particular Lowe's, and I was able to talk about the Gospel with a young man who was a cashier. He seemed to have some understanding of the Gospel, but was off in some of the key areas, and had his own opinions which he seemed to want to stick with. Tonight I went into Lowe's with my tracts, and a couple of the cashiers, who were also young men, saw the tracts and wanted them. I gave them the tracts and explained what they were. I went to get the Jiffy Pots and came back to pay, when I got the same cashier I had a couple of years ago, only this time, he was asking me questions about repentance, eternal security, and related questions. So, I talked with him for a couple of minutes (good thing no customers were waiting behind me). He seemed to want answers to his questions. At the end of the conversation, he actually told me something that he said was just his opinion, but what he didn't know was that it was right out of the Bible. He said that if a person was really saved, that person would be willing to give up everything because of the value of salvation. Those were not his exact words, but that was the point he was trying to make. So I thought that was pretty cool that he still remembered about the conversation we had a couple of years ago, and now was asking some pretty good questions.
   Then at the Conversation, we have one young man who has attended the church for a couple of years, and even went to the Conversation before, but has admitted that he doesn't get it yet. He keeps trying to understand, but nothing happens. Each week we try to explain it again to him. He is honest and really wants to learn the Gospel, but we felt stuck for a while. He feels like he is in the dark, and yet, we feel like God has placed him in the exact place that he is now in, in order for him to see his own need for a Savior. But I am happy to report that he is showing some signs of understanding God now. He is asking good questions and we are there to try to answer them in such a way that will help him understand the Gospel. We are grateful for all of the guests that attended The Conversation this time. Like I already mentioned in one of my blogs, three of the people who formerly attended The Conversation, are no longer with us. Two of them went to be with the Lord, and the other lady was an Atheist. I pray that she had considered what she had heard while in the classes. Perhaps this was the only way she would have been reached. We never heard though, that she came to know the Lord. But we hope that in her final days she would have repented and turned to God.
   I have been trying to come up with a place or find some places where we can effectively share the Gospel with people, and haven't been real successful at this idea. We used to go to Park Avenue, but the people there were very resistant to the Gospel. It got to the point where very few people would take tracts when I went out there. That doesn't mean that it was a total loss though. One woman thanked me for doing that, and I have had some really good conversations with people there. But, I have a real burden for the down and outers, which could be homeless people, foreign people, or just people who don't have a college degree or high paying, high status job. I realized that these people walk up and down the sidewalks not too far away from my house. So, I might try to walk the sidewalks and give out tracts and talk with people there, as I meet them. I can see some good conversations coming up if I do that.

The Gospel is Offensive, But Are We?

  I have been pondering some things since I have been on Facebook and studying evangelism. One thing I consistently notice is a hostility of people, even Christians, to Christianity, evangelism in particular. Many would rather just serve people in love in order to accomplish evangelism, but as I meditate on what people have said concerning the need to preach the Gospel, I see another angle.
   A couple of years ago, I was sharing the Gospel (or rather, trying to) with a group of college age kids. They informed me that Jesus wouldn't like what I was doing. They didn't believe in tracts. They said what I was doing was offensive. One even said that she wouldn't want me to talk to her unsaved parents. At the end of the conversation, she recommended that I read Rob Bell's book called, Velvet Elvis.
   I looked up Velvet Elvis and found an indepth critique on the book. My conclusion of the book was that Rob Bell abhors evangelism, and more specifically, Open Air preaching.
  I found a video called, 'The Bullhorn Guy' or something like that, where Rob Bell tears apart a street preacher who has a bull-horn. It was very interesting to note his observations.
   Although not many have come right out and said the Open Air preaching is really offensive, I have a clue that many Christians lump evangelism in with Open Air preaching, but not the kind of Open Air preaching that is Biblical. It is based upon the type of activities carried out by Westboro, and Micah Armstrong. There are others as well. If you were to study the video clips or see these people in action, you would be turned off as well to evangelism. (Westboro is the group that holds up signs saying 'God Hates Fags' or 'God Hates Islam'.)
   What does the Bible say about evangelism? Jesus told us to go into all the world and make disciples. He also told us that we would be His witnesses when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. We are to tell everyone we can the Gospel. Where then is this disconnect between those preaching the Gospel today that is so offensive and what the Bible tells us to do?
   Two things to keep in mind; 1. The Gospel message is offensive. It is hard for people to come to grips with the fact that they cannot save themselves, or that they really are not good people. 2. Because the Gospel itself is offensive, that does not give us the right to be offensive. This is where the disconnect is. I will explain why.
   This actually is a very simple problem, but solving it will not be, but it will help us in understanding why people think the way they do, if we can understand ourselves what this problem is. There is another Gospel out there. It looks much like the Gospel of Jesus Christ but it isn't. It is the Gospel of Pelagianism.
    Pelagians believe the salvation is two-fold. They believe that we must believe in Jesus Christ as our atonement for sin. We believe that as well. But they also believe that a person must follow God in obedience. But the part that is causing the problems, especially in evangelism and teaching others in evangelism is this; Pelagians do not believe that people are born with sinful hearts. They believe that a person chooses to sin, if he or she does sin. They talk strongly of God's judgment, but never talk of His love. Nor do they talk about God's grace in helping a person overcome sin. In a sense, they seem to think they are God, or some kind of prophet for God. They are very condemning in their interactions with people. For example, one of them who I mentioned above, was doing his open air work, when a woman came by wearing a short skirt. He called out to her, 'Hey slut...'.
   This is the reason I believe Open Air work has gotten such a bad name. There is no evidence of God's mercy to the hearers. This indicates that the open air worker probably doesn't think much of his or her own sin. He or she doesn't realize the seriousness of his own sinful heart, because he doesn't believe his has one. Remember, people choose to sin, and these people believe that they are able to keep God's Commandments.
   For those of you not familiar with Westboro or Micah Armstrong, they do Open Air work, but not by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but rather preaching on God's judgment on America or individual people. They use humiliation in their preaching. (Open Air work is simply a person preaching outside to a group of people).
   Friends, we need to be preaching the Gospel, but we need to have the love of God overflowing our hearts while we do. We give away what God has given us. God showed us His mercy and we are recipients of His mercy, so we mercifully share the Gospel. Those of us who have sinned greatly know the grace and power of God to forgive sins, and we share that with others.
    "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.  But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:1-7 ESV
     Do not let this false image of evangelism to shape the way you believe about the work of evangelism. God doesn't call us to hate or manipulate people. He calls us to love and serve one another, even unbelievers. Those who do Open Air evangelism in a harsh way are arrogant. Pride is an abomination before God. Not all who do Open Air evangelism do so in this way. Many are compassionate and full of mercy. That is how God wants us to operate. We speak the truth in love. We don't take the truth and kill people with it. Grace and truth go together and produce liberty for the captives. They will listen to us, even with a hard message like the Gospel, if we show love and mercy. That is how God is, and we are His representatives. Let's represent the God of love to others.

I Have A Dream

  I have a dream. Some of you are in my dream. Don't be afraid, because it is a good dream. I think we can do this if we have enough other people who dream like I do.
  Want to know what my dream is? It's simple. I have a dream that a group of us could be in a parade one day. A Christmas parade would be ideal. We would be wearing either  T-Shirts or long sleeved shirts, depending upon the weather, that would be in the colors to match the wordless book. You can see a description of what the colors mean by going to my blog at: The Colorful Story
  Basically, gold stands for God, and the gold streets of heaven. Black reminds us of sin, a dirty heart because of our selfishness. Red stands for the blood of Jesus Christ, who died to take away our sin and to cleanse our hearts. White stands for a cleanse heart, and green stands for growing things. We want to be spiritually healthy after we come to Christ and are born again into the family of God.
   We could have some type of music. A good song would be 'Mary Did You Know?'. Perhaps it could be on an I-Pad carried by someone, or maybe a child could be pulling a wagon with the radio or cd player on it.
  Another idea would be to be carrying helium balloons that will be in the matching colors as well. But the most fun thing we can do is to toss beach balls to the bystanders. The beach balls will have the Gospel message on them. There are many other things we can add to this parade idea that is my dream.
   Getting into a parade is not hard, but you have to register early in the year.
  This is my dream. Children can be involved also. We can glorify God in the parade and make His name known to a lost and dying world as we go down the street with the rest of the floats. Something to think about.

God Works In The Details

   No one of us can see God, and we all live by faith, in this God we cannot see with our eyes. The Bible talks about not being able to see God, but we can see where He moves. God is in the details of our lives.
   We are planning an evangelism booth on November 16th, and I can go a lot of different ways in planning this. I have a lot of leftover material from when we did this three years ago, so I could pick up the same theme and keep any expenses low. God always seems to give me ideas at the last minute though, or, it seems like it isn't always on my schedule. I like to plan things way ahead of their time. I like to have everything ready months before the event, just in case I forget something. But God doesn't work that way. He has a different plan.
  I had not come up with a theme in particular for this booth on November 16th. In fact, ideas are slowly coming to my mind.
  We finally got the group of volunteers necessary to pull this activity off, and I am very grateful for that. Here's how I came up with a theme for this coming up booth; As I am trying to remember what we did in the last event, I remembered that we did helium balloons, the kind that you tie a ribbon to and tie around the child's wrist. So, I searched for helium quality balloons. I found them but the lowest quantity I could get is 1,000 balloons. Not only that, but we are talking about $230 plus postage. What would I have imprinted on them anyway. I came up with a couple of ideas and kept them in the back of my mind. One of them is this:
Basic
Instructions
Before
Leaving
Earth

I have always liked that one. Another worthwhile theme is this saying; 'God is uncreated. He never had a beginning and has always been in existence.' Probably too many words for a balloon. So, I put the balloon idea on hold. I would search the following week for balloons, and get on with the rest of the program.
   I receive 3 or 4 emails every day from a printing company offering items on sale to be imprinted. I don't really have any money for imprinted items at this time, but I opened the email on Sunday evening, and lo and behold, an offer for helium balloons was available. We were getting ready to leave, but, I went to the page immediately, for the offer is available for the first 17 people who place an order. That means I would have to hurry. Plus, I didn't know what I would have imprinted except the BIBLE acronym.
  I went to the page and made it for the order. Immediately, a thought came to mind about the Lamb of God. Within 5 minutes, I had a picture to have imprinted on the balloons, using the Lamb of God theme. The balloons came quickly and now all I need are the helium tanks.
   The next idea that came to mind was the slideshow presentation. Again, it wasn't easy, but it got done. I found a slide show, but through a complicated method, I downloaded the pictures. Then I found a matching song on I-Tunes and downloaded it. Got the slideshow to work with the pictures and sound on my computer, but couldn't get it to work on the I-Pad. I tried over and over again, but nothing. It would only play for about 15 seconds then it would stop. It was a beautiful description of the Lamb of God in the Old Testament and New Testament. We tried to use these digital picture frames we had lying around the house and at work, but they were all missing parts. After a couple of days, I went back to the I-Pad into settings and got it to work. Now we have a slide show, and balloons both with the Lamb of God theme.
   One volunteer designed a tract for the booth. As she showed it to me on Sunday, she explained that the theme was the Lamb of God. She had illustrations from the Old Testament and New Testament. I thought she would fall over when she saw the balloons with the theme of the Lamb of God. She was just as surprised as I was.
  A couple more things fell into place with the Lamb of God theme. I have a backdrop, but am not going to use it unless the theme is dealing with evolution. It has a picture of the evolutionary monkey/men on it, so it could be controversial in its appearance. The idea of a shower curtain though, came to mind. Too bad I don't know where, or even if, I can find a shower curtain with a lamb theme. I did a little research on the internet, and found a company that had several shower curtains with lambs. They were quite pricey, but there was a weekend sale that would end in a couple of hours. I did a little more searching, and did not find any other Lamb themed shower curtains available, so I ordered one from this company, one hour before the sale ended.
   My volunteers are going to be well prepared when they get out there. We have tracts available, as well as imprinted items with a Gospel message on them. Everything will be free. We will also have games and object lessons (a Lie Detector Box, and the Genius poster). Some of the prizes for the games will be lamb dolls. I think, somehow, God is in all this. And I am very grateful for the privilege of doing this evangelism booth as a way to communicate the Gospel to a lost and dying world.