Blog
The "Hitch" in Evangelism
The death of outspoken atheist Christopher Hitchens last week was mourned by both believer and non-believer alike. There was something about this man that people loved – even those whose faith he tried to destroy. He wrote how “religion ruins everything” – pointing out excesses in various religious practices that were wrong. His attacks, for the most part, were drastically biased and philosophically flawed - yet at times were justified, especially when pointing out extremists blindly following ideologies that produced terror and death. Yet, he met very competent and strong opposition when it came to the Christian faith. Debates with men like...
Evangelists of Unbelief
I’ve been deeply challenged by the tireless efforts of the men and women that advance the cause of the “new atheism” into the empty hearts of postmodern westerners. Nature abhors a vacuum so in the absence of faith, unbelief or atheism becomes the anti-cause. The mission of these atheist crusaders is to rid the world (especially the young) of religious faith and “superstition.” They carry their message with zeal and with the confrontational style that rivals any fundamentalist preacher. In short, they seek converts – people who will “repent” of religion and follow the secular path to freedom. Caricatures of the worst...
Evangelism Is Not Just Relationship
“You don’t have to know a drowning person to save their life.” There has been enormous emphasis placed on the need for relationship with people as the prerequisite for evangelism. So much so that some go as far as saying that relationship with others should be the only motive and not the hidden agenda of evangelism. Relationship-Relationship-Relationship… This seems to be the word of the hour. I spoke to church planters who had not succeeded in their efforts to launch a ministry. As I dug deeper it became apparent that they made a lot of friends and very few disciples....
Witness or Witless?
2000 years ago the preoccupation of the disciples seemed to be the establishment of the physical, visible Kingdom of God. Christ’s crucifixion temporarily dashed the hopes that He was indeed the triumphant Messiah they thought the prophets had spoken about (rather than the suffering servant). After His resurrection, the disciples still hoped these expectations would be fulfilled. Jesus explicitly admonished them to not worry about times or dates of God’s plans. Instead they (we) will be given power to be His witnesses to the “ends of the Earth.” Their focus is to be our focus: Preaching the Gospel and being His...
The Evangelist and the Missional Church
Following is a blog Ps. Rice Broocks wrote for Ed Stetzer's Blog about the relationship between the Evangelist and the Missional Church. The ministry gift of the Evangelist is given by the Holy Spirit to women and men to preach the gospel to unbelievers and to equip other believers to do the same, while leading the entire community of faith (to which they are connected) to expand their borders as well as plant new churches." Ephesians 4:11 says He gave "some as evangelists." In my research, that number is around 1% of those in a congregation. Identifying, training, and empowering those with that gift...