It seems you may have taken offense, I hope this isn't the case. What is more important - knowing the truth or being right?
The way of the Master is good, I do like it..but it can not replace what the Holy Spirit puts in someone's heart.
It's not about The Way of the Master, it's about the truth. You don't have to do it their way exactly. The point is the FULL gospel needs to be preached, not just half. You can't leave out the most vital part - the very reason why Jesus came to the earth - SIN. And you are right, the Holy Spirit does the work, but if you are not a true and faithful witness then the Holy Spirit cannot do His work.
The only confusion a non-believer would see is "us" christians debating who's right and who is wrong.
Sorry if you think this is a debate. Like I said, I'm not trying to be difficult and argue just for arguments sake. I as a Christian seek the truth and I am interested in hearing other people's opinions because it matters what God has taught my brothers and sisters. We can and should learn from each other.
The Way of the master is good, but Holy Spirit leading is needed best rather that memorized scripts.
It's not about memorizing scripts. You can say what the Holy Spirit leads you to say. Like I mentioned it's about preaching the FULL gospel not half. The Way of the Master is not our Bible, but it does point us to what the Bible says about witnessing.
I apologize to my brother if this have caused any discouragement.
I also apologize if it has caused any discouragement. That was not my intention. I assume that as a Christian, offense won't be taken so easily especially when it involves teaching and instruction. Anyone who doesn't want to learn is a fool (according to many Proverbs). Like I asked before is it about knowing the truth or being right? For me it's about knowing the truth and if someone knows something I don't or knows that I am doing something wrong then I would like to know. Obviously we seek the council of the Holy Spirit before just believing just anyone, but I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit will tell you the truth if you really desire the truth.
Like the woman at the well it was the thought of "living water'' and me not thirsting again made me curious.
The woman at the well is a perfect example of how Jesus witnesses. He first speaks about the natural, then he switches over to the spiritual (to strike a conversation with someone and to get talking about spiritual things so that He can witness), then He points our her sin - that she is an adulterer (note he doesn't give her grace first), THEN he gives her grace (that He is the Saviour).
Even Jesus didn't give grace to anyone without first preaching sin and repentence.
1 Peter 5:5b "God opposses the proud but gives grace to the humble."
Grace wasn't dished out to everyone, only those that were first humbled. Sinners are proud, they don't know that they are sinners and they don't know what sin is.
Shouldn't we be following Jesus' example?
Again I'm repsonisble for the location of this thread, I pray that out of the 29 at least one person got curious to seek after him.
If this thread leads at least one person to Christ I will be overjoyed, but if it doesn't it's purpose might be something else, like educating believers how to witness properly and in turn it will create many many more saved souls!
Sometimes its best for us To reply with the "missing parts ", to show agreement and for correction. That way the purpose of the original thread would not lose its meaning.
I'm not sure what you mean, but I am sorry if I took away from it's original purpose. Sometimes things don't work out the way we plan because God has a different plan, and I honestly believe this time the plan was to help believers not non-believers, in teaching them how to witness effectively.
Show me one person in the Bible that witnessed by saying things like this:
"You have a God-shaped hole in your heart"
"Come to Jesus and He will give you peace, love, joy, happiness..."
"If you come to Jesus he will change your life for the better, take away all your problems"
"God wants to bless you, come to Jesus"
Get my point? If it's not biblical, then why are we teaching it? It's a man-centered gospel that we are teaching. No wonder there are so many backsliders today, no wonder there are so many false Christians and so many Christians who think they are Christian. We have moved away from Biblical truth and resorted to our man-centered ways.
Love, peace, joy, happiness etc. are ligitimate fruits of salvation, but it's not right to use those fruits as drawing cards for salvation.
A sinner needs to know he is a sinner, so that he can repent, so that he will find the need for grace.
Here are some famous quotes to ponder about:
Walter Chantry "The absence of God's holy Law from modern preaching is perhaps as responsible as any other factor for the evangelistic impotence of our churches and missions. Only by the light of the Law can the vermin of sin in the heart be exposed. Satan has effectively used a very clever device to silence the Law, which is needed as an instrument to bring perishing men to Christ. It is imperative that preachers of today learn how to declare the spiritual Law of God; for, until we learn how to wound consciences, we shall have no wounds to bind with gospel bandages."
R C Sproul "Scratching people where they itch and addressing their 'felt needs' is a stratagem of the poor steward of the oracles of God. This was the recipe for success for the false prophets of the Old Testament."
Melanchthon "There are many who speak only of the forgiveness of sin, but who say little or nothing about repentance. If there is nevertheless no forgiveness of sins without repentance, so also forgiveness of sins cannot be understood without repentance. Therefore, if forgiveness of sins is preached without repentance, it follows that the people imagine they have already received the forgiveness of sins, and thereby they become cocksure and fearless, which is then greater error and sin than all the error that preceded our time."
Martin Luther "I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived' (Romans 7:9). So it is with the work-rigteous and the proud unbelievers. Because they do not know the Law of God, which is directed against them, it is impossible for them to know their sin. Therefore also they are not amenable to instruction. If they would know the Law, they would also know their sin; and sin to which they are now dead would become alive in them."
Martin Lloyd-Jones "The trouble with people who are not seeking for a Saviour, and for salvation, is that they do not understand the nature of sin. It is the peculiar function of the Law to bring such an understanding to a man's mind and conscience. That is why great evangelical preachers 300 years ago in the time of Whitefield and others, always engaged in what they called a preliminary 'Law work'.”
John MacArthur "Grace means nothing to a person who does not know he is sinful and that such sinfulness means he is separated from God and damned. It is therefore pointless to preach grace until the impossible demands of the Law and the reality of guilt before God are preached."
John Wesley "It is the ordinary method of the Spirit of God to convict sinners by the Law. It is this which, bring set home on the conscience, generally breaks the rocks in pieces. It is more especially this part of the Word of God which is quick and powerful, full of life and energy and sharper than any two-edged sword."
John MacArthur "We need to adjust our presentation of the gospel. We cannot dismiss the fact that God hates sin and punishes sinners with eternal torment. How can we begin a gospel presentation by telling people on their way to hell that God has a wonderful plan for their lives?"
George Whitefield "That is the reason we have so many 'mushroom' converts, because their stony ground is not plowed up; they have not got a conviction of the Law; they are stony-ground hearers."
Charles Spurgeon "I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law. The Law is the Needle , and you cannot draw the silken thread of the gospel through a man's heart unless you first send the needle of the Law to make way for it."
And I have more famous quotes who also have great wisdom and truth.
Are you willing to see the error of your ways? I know I am, so if I am in error I pray (with this whole forum as my witness) that if I am wrong with anything I've said that I will be convicted by the Holy Spirit, but if I am right, I pray that the Holy Spirit will convict every person who reads this and disagree's.
I will let you know if I have any convictions. May the Holy Spirit guide you into all truth. God bless.
