Almost every missionary has heard the question: Why are you going THERE when there are so many lost people right HERE? The answer is that we need to go where the gospel is not and where the workers are few. I live in a city of about 18000 which is in a county with a …
Category Archives: Evangelism
It’s Sunday Again: The Local Church MUST Act
It’s Sunday again–I am scheduled to preach this evening as part of a mission focus on the upcoming summer 2011 mission trip. I will probably not be as bold in person as I am in my thoughts this morning as I review what I have prepared. The church is many places is mired in either …
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An Interesting and Unique Bible Study/Discussion
Among the guests at the “bed and breakfast” where we stayed in Antigua were two women from Quebec, Canada. One evening we four–they and Jan and I–were sitting in the living room visiting and they brought up the subject of religion, asking about our work and activities. One of the woman explained (in beginning Spanish) …
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People, People, Everywhere
It is amazing to me when I see the people. It is amazing to me when I do not. Many Christians spend much of their lives in isolation–primarily interacting with other Christians. On those limited occasions when we do venture out of our comfortable Christian worlds, we find we have developed “people blindness.” The people …
Seeing God at Work
Jan and I arrived last Friday to finalize our interim ministry commitment. We were met with excitement and anticipation—the news of the baptism of a university student on Wednesday night and the arrival of the new minister and his wife during the week. In the midst of several ministry opportunities that arose spontaneously during the …
How many times could this story be repeated?
I want to begin by saying this is not my story, it is a story that was told to me by a person who wishes to remain anonymous. I have shared thoughts, and sometimes specific wordings, in telling a story I believe every Christian needs to hear again and again. (For a similar story from …
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On the Front Line
Over the last 50 years, the ways in which wars are waged has changed considerably. War is now high-tech, impersonal, sterilized, even glorified. Nonetheless, combat is life-threatening. If being on the front lines involves less personal, face-to-face, hand-to-hand combat, the threat of IEDs and a variety of explosive devices has increased the danger. Being on …
Evangelism: by God’s Power
We have made evangelism hard, not natural. Sharing good news should be one of the easiest, most natural things in the world. We have made it artificial and difficult. We have developed programs that seek “converts” and have depended more on human wisdom and power than on God’s wisdom and power. While we accept Bible …
Mission Expanded: What about the strays?
Today’s blog is a reprint of an article written by my friend, Alan Martin. The article appeared in the Edmond church bulletin the last week of March 2009. There’s quite a sobering thought by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his chapter on “The Great Divide”.Here’s the thought: “The path of discipleship is narrow, and it is fatally …
Evangelism: Quotes/Observations
Today’s blog includes several comments which first appeared in Pastors Weekly Briefing as commentary on the church’s lost ability to evangelize effectively (from March 27, 2009). I trust you will find them insightful, helpful, compelling, and challenging! When we design seeker sensitive services, have we thought out the fact that what they are seeking is …