Where evangelism starts
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Bendito
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On the other hand....The church is made up of individuals. The world watches YOU. You must evangelize in your every day actions behavior speech. You must live so that people see Jesus in you. You must live so that people come to you, drop down on their knees and say "Sir/Ma'am What must I do to be saved?" That's the core of evangelism. Your witness. The church though is just a gathering of you and others like you
Dovegiven
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It would be awkward for the congregation to go about evangelizing, better done by individuals who are members of the Church, like Phillip the evangelist where Paul stopped in to stay a while (Acts 21:8. Phillip was one of the seven men chosen in Acts 6 to do the nitty gritty works allowing apostles to preach to the congregations. Phillip raised up 4 daughters who were led to prophesy, proclaiming the Good News. I've noticed evangelists run in this or that family, children more likely to gain a special boldness from parents who evangelize, taking on their elder's anointing. I've tried and largely failed to get members of my own congregations to go about doing that, finding it much better to find a few from other churches. There seems to be tendency in every church for members not wanting to appear overzealous among fellows they mix with in worship then at work. This way the few zealous ones that can evangelize can mix with the few from elsewhere without drawing criticism from friends. Iron sharpens iron, so perhaps it's best for the iron evangelist not go with the marshmallow person.
There's another practical reason for one or two by two teams evangelizing door to door, as if you assemble a crowd at a door your troop might convince people inside a posse has come for them. Hardly anyone will open a door to three or more strangers, that being a crowd. The Church congregation ought to split up and go out in biblical manners like Jesus taught in
Mark 6:7 (KJV) 7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
I don't knock on doors when alone, but go to ministries like homeless shelters, jails, veteran homes, disaster areas, court appointed counseling centers, anywhere there's a bit of a crowd, enjoying evangelism by myself while often performing some volunteer job. That certainly isn't "the Church" doing evangelism., but is done under the "umbrella" of the Church, which is often a blending of .denominations.
Bendito
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Not so Dovegiven....One evangelizes by living their normal lives. They evangelize by letting people see Jesus in all their walk, day to day. Take an example...You get up in the morning and choose to be cheerful and to bless others around you, parents, siblings, whoever is near. You do for others and you do your very best at it. Your brother gets angry because you burned the toast you made for him. What do you do? You choose not to get angry but instead you apologize and make him another piece and take 'burned' piece for yourself. On your way to school or work, someone cuts you off and almost causes an accident. Bless that person instead of cussing him out (notice how I said it was a guy that cut you off? LOL) Then you get to work a little late because the coffee guy at Starbucks was new and slow. You had a chance to bless him too, didn't you? And so your day goes. Chance after chance to bless others and show Jesus in you.
Now look into the bible....Jesus taught and preached and evangelized for three years but have you noticed how little space is taken up by what He said? Wow!! Three years of evangelizing and all He said would fill a small notebook. So then, How did Jesus evangelize? He evangelized by being a billboard for the Father.
Oh sure there are those mouthpieces that stand up in front of huge crowds and preach and exhort and coax and persuade, (I don't think I could do that) but there are far more regular people like you and I that can and do be billboards for Jesus. People watch us every day, all the time, at every single thing we do. EVERY SINGLE THING WE DO. And that's what they see or hear about Jesus. My friend,,,,YOU ARE AN EVANGELIST whether you like it or not. So put the Word into you daily, put on the full armor of God and walk. They are waiting for you. They are hungry for what YOU have to share. Entiendes?
Dovegiven
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I would prefer to see lots of scripture backing that up without contradicting many clearly stated gospel passages.
I am convinced that is all tradition, what I've heard preached from most pulpits all too often, to Christians who absolutely could not go to the streets without a lot of advance notice to evangelize lost homeless people or engage some college students concerning Christ in them. Most wouldn't know what to say, but would be stunned with fear. Yet tradition says you can apparently just let people see you, maybe just walking past the lost just smiling, maybe humming a tune, behaving. Lots of lost grandmothers can do that. The local order of Buddhists can do that, living and acting far more holy than typical Christians. I know them through working alongside them at a local homeless men's ministry. The men love those Buddhists because they never utter condemnation, or any negative words, nor instill fear in them by mentioning hell or judgment of the wicked, etc.. When they compare them to Christians, they judge the word of God to be too harsh, too black & white. The Buddhists have won their carnal hearts without converting them to Christ. But, that ministry isn't primarily a Christian one, but a community program that allows Christians, Jews, even Muslims to volunteer as long as they work as a team to lift hurting men up, aim them towards productivity and self-subsistence, and deliverance from life controlling problems. The religion rule is you can say whatever about your faith, but not condemn another.
John 21:25 (KJV) 25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
The Holy Spirit allowed an obviously limited amount of Jesus' words and acts, but enough to save us.
Jesus left clear marching orders, which are much above merely living a clean life as standing for what we are commanded to do.
Mark 16:15-20 (KJV)
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
If the life-living you claim is a substitute for preaching the gospel, then at least the signs ought to be very obvious.
My Bible teaches that it is God who is reading the hearts, expecting fruit of the spirit. It is other brethren who can know who is a brother in Christ by inspecting the fruit of our words and actions.
The lost can't be saved just observing a righteous-acting Christian or Muslim or Buddhist, else there be no need of preaching truth. If so, Jesus could have avoided the cross, teaching men to simply behave, thereby gaining eternal life, and by their actions save others. That would be a damnable heresy, promoting self righteousness through works of the flesh body. The typical impact of a person being scrutinized concerning their living up to what they believe is that when some little dot against them from the past is discovered, they are no longer a witness for Christ. The lost tend to find fault, making the Christian no better than them. Preaching the word of God to the lost sets our flesh person aside, subjecting hearers to the mighty power of the word of God, letting the Spirit deal with their own body, soul, and spirit condition.
Avoid false fables and unfounded myths. Learn the scriptures, be empowered to proclaim the scriptures everywhere opportunity strikes. Obey the word, protecting your witness. But if all you do is let your physical self be like a billboard without preaching the gospel, you become like an old highway billboard that has bored drivers to the point they no longer like it, or even notice it. It is those words that God has made clear that open people up to consider Jesus.
Bendito
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Dovegiven, you're putting all your emphasis on the spoken word. While it's important to speak in evangelism, actions are a much louder form of speech. If I see you acting drunk and I know that you are a Christian I can rightfully assume that Christians like to drink and get drunk. Who is to say otherwise? You want scripture to prove my point? Ok. Start here. There are many more verses that speak to our actions being a witness. I'll let you do your own research so you can learn it better. If I hand it all to you, then you'll miss out on some good stuff.
Matthew 5:16 Col 4:5-6 [URL='http://www.godvine.com/bible/romans/12-1']Romans 12:1 [URL='http://www.godvine.com/bible/james/1-22']James 1:22 I Peter 3:1-4[/URL][/URL]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5:16&version=ESV
1 Peter 2:12
Hekuran
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On the question of the balance of words and actions in our witness, both are vital, and the different people may legitimately put the emphasis one way or the other depending on the gifts God has given them, personality, situation and so on. I know more people that have been brought to Christ through the witness of practical love and compassion than from being persuaded, so you can guess where I personally put the emphasis.
I found the OP line from Newbigin thought-provoking because it corrects a tendency to think of evangelism as a individual's activity. Acts 2:
These are all fairly new thoughts for me, so feel free to kick them around...
I found the OP line from Newbigin thought-provoking because it corrects a tendency to think of evangelism as a individual's activity. Acts 2:
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Isn't Luke pointing out here that it's the life and witness of the church as a whole that brought so many to faith, not just the teaching of the apostles? Royal priesthood, people of God, family of God, God's Kingdom are all community ideas and ought to be part of our evangelistic ideas.
These are all fairly new thoughts for me, so feel free to kick them around...
Bendito
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This is exactly right....The people did more than they talked...Or better, they talked the talk and walked the walk..And that was one powerful witness.
Dovegiven
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Matthew 5:16 (KJV)
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
That is not about evangelism. Good works have great value towards engendering good will among other people, but in themselves can't possibly preach the gospel to cause belief.
Thee is no substitute for preaching the gospel with the word of God. Only then do people connect your good works to Jesus.
Colossians 4:5-6 (KJV)
5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
This passage helps my case, it being about the words we say that lead people to Christ.
Romans 12 isn't about evangelizing, but how to think of yourself sanely, not puffed up to think people ought to watch your every move. Consider humility.
James 1:22 (KJV)
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
That is about doing God's word so as not to deceive yourself by merely hearing it or putting faith in how someone else lives before God.. Get your eyes on the word of God,
thereby following Jesus, not man.
1 Peter 3:1-4 is instruction for how a wife ought to live with her husband, the unbelieving of which might be led to hear the gospel if the wife meets the conditions all her days.
That isn't evangelizing in the sense of the great commission to preach the gospel. It's a commandment for wives not to give up on their husbands. Not many women are
willing to do all that these days, but telling the gospel to anyone listening has saved many.
Evangelism in the Bible is very well explained in Acts 3 & 4. In that event Peter and John preached words they had heard, testifying of things they saw of Jesus. Jesus.
Jesus. The Church was begun and grown to 3,000 before then at the first day of Pentecost. Peter wasn't preaching to those 3,000 already saved, but to an additional 5,000
males required to be there at the temple. By Peter's sermon those new 5,000 believed, the Church growing to at least 8,000 men.
The people in the temple area saw the results of those words and the power of God. Those are the two elements of evangelism. Evangelism is about the word of God and the power of God by
the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Evangelism is about proclaiming the gospel so people can hear and believe. Then as believers they can learn and do the word of God
to live holy lives, pleasing God first, and being examples to fellow believers. The lost world can't appreciate a holy life until they too have the Spirit in them. They are enemies of Christ,
hating him and his way, considering our good works to be foolishness; but the brethren will glorify God as each member of the Church manifests Christ in them.
If we let our person stand in for actual proclamation of the gospel, relying on good works to reach the lost, we will see results like Peter rejected.
Acts 3:12 (KJV) 12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us,
as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
What converted them was not what they witnessed there of the lame man healed, but what Peter preached to them subsequently.
That's evangelism, backed up by signs and wonders.
Dovegiven
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I was just studying that. Let me point out that none of those is said to have evangelized anyone yet, but their very earliest walk in Christ was seeing to the needs of each other. That much they understood. Peter did the evangelizing to people that were not paying attention to what the new Church was about. Peter chewed them out for forsaking Jesus in Acts 3, also besides in Acts 2. Those believers were all Jews, learning what Christianity was about, in those days awe struck over what the apostles were doing, which was preaching, teaching, doing miracles. The great majority were learning to be disciples. Those men had left homes to bring the required offerings, usually leaving with little in their possession, needing to return home to tend the crops and flocks until returning in the Fall for the feast of tabernacles. The new Church would soon scatter throughout the land.
Bendito
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Matthew 5:16 (KJV) Of course it's about evangelism. Everything you do as a Christian is about evangelism. Do you think Jesus acted one way with his disciples and another way when He was teaching? Every move you make is watched by the people around you. It's the Word in your life that attracts people to Jesus. If you preach one way and act another, they'll just laugh at you and skip merrily right into hell. Jesus in you, the Word working in you is VERY attractive to the lost. Before you even open your mouth. I've seen it ..I don't know how many times. For example there was a time that I was feeling very lonely, confused and in the dark in my life. One morning after working a long and frustrating graveyard shift, a coworker came to me and said "I want what you've got. What is it?" Wow! My reaction inside was like a bomb blast. "What do I have? Chaos, loneliness?" I had a chance to tell this man what God has done in my life. How He saved me when all I was doing was failing and on my way to hell. The man, didn't accept Jesus that day but...he heard the Word. I still wonder today if he wasn't sent to me to pick me up, because I was flying. The point is...he saw something in my life, my behavior that attracted him. Believe it or not, in spite of how I felt, he saw peace. I felt all gunky inside but he saw peace. I can only say that he saw Jesus in me and that attracted him. Jesus is my peace.
Try this on....Billy Graham was a great evangelist. He led thousands to the Lord....What would have happened if he had been a drunk? If he was seen regularly on the party circuit? How many would have been saved by his words? Or try it yourself. Go into a bar, get yourself a beer and start talking to your friends about getting saved. Of course your actions are vital to evangelism in your life.
I like what you said at the end of your post. This happens all the time in the life of a believer. A friend joins you for coffee...in the conversation your friend tells you how they have been fighting an illness for months now. You can simply put your hand on theirs and tell the illness to leave. You can tell the illness to leave without even touching them. You Do have that authority. Do it and watch the signs and wonders
Notice in the verses below. They believed and trusted God, they went out, and they preached. God went with them and HE backed up HIS word with signs and wonders. All the disciples had to do was to be obedient
Mark 16:17-20 (CJB)
17 And these signs will accompany those who do trust: in my name they will drive out demons, speak with new tongues, 18 not be injured if they handle snakes or drink poison, and heal the sick by laying hands on them.”
19 So then, after he had spoken to them, the Lord Yeshua was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God.a]">[a] 20 And they went out and proclaimed everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the message by the accompanying signs.
Brother-Paul
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Greetings in the Name above all Names.
Reading the above comments may I add to this discussion another word?
Evangelism is: Evangelism is the 'preaching of the gospel'
Witnessing is: What others see in us (Jesus), as well as preaching
Matthew 10:32 (BBE)
32 To everyone, then, who gives witness to me before men, I will give witness before my Father in heaven.
Matthew 19:18 (NKJV)
18 He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,'
Matthew 24:14 (NKJV)
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
To Evangelise is to preach. The word "evangelism" comes from the Greek word "euangelizomai," which literally means "to bring Good News."
To Witness can be either to let others see Jesus in us by what we do or to preach which is by what we say or it can be both.
The Church is definitely the people, that is Born Again believers of every race and colour, Jew or Gentile.
To Evangelise in two's is probably one of the few things Jehover's Witness get right, but is what we are instructed to do.
Mark 6:7 (NKJV)
7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.
The Evangelism we are talking about here, is to go out to the unconverted, lost souls in the world. (Not preaching in a place of worship to the converted and search souls)
Peace be with you
Reading the above comments may I add to this discussion another word?
Evangelism is: Evangelism is the 'preaching of the gospel'
Witnessing is: What others see in us (Jesus), as well as preaching
Matthew 10:32 (BBE)
32 To everyone, then, who gives witness to me before men, I will give witness before my Father in heaven.
Matthew 19:18 (NKJV)
18 He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,'
Matthew 24:14 (NKJV)
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
To Evangelise is to preach. The word "evangelism" comes from the Greek word "euangelizomai," which literally means "to bring Good News."
To Witness can be either to let others see Jesus in us by what we do or to preach which is by what we say or it can be both.
The Church is definitely the people, that is Born Again believers of every race and colour, Jew or Gentile.
To Evangelise in two's is probably one of the few things Jehover's Witness get right, but is what we are instructed to do.
Mark 6:7 (NKJV)
7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.
The Evangelism we are talking about here, is to go out to the unconverted, lost souls in the world. (Not preaching in a place of worship to the converted and search souls)
Peace be with you
Bendito
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We are talking about evangelism. There is only one kind. That's the kind where we show JESUS to the world. Words are useless without corresponding actions. We must show the world how Jesus changes and puts His life into lives.
Dovegiven
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Probably most people are not drunks, nor do most people live a life of desperate wickedness. Living a "clean" life is often their greatest threat, causing a belief of self righteousness as reason to believe God wouldn't condemn a person..
Living a life as pure as the purest nun doesn't automatically point to Jesus, but does point to the best of values held by humans with or without Jesus.
Many people that believed on Jesus did so from listening to radio preachers they never met, couldn't see, or find out anything about them other than their messages. Many people knowing nothing about the gospel picked up a Gideon Bible in a hotel room, read a while for lack of any other entertainment, then found Jesus. Words. Words evangelize. The the word of God mixed with the power of God in the name of Jesus is what convinced people regardless of the messenger's personal life record. Nowadays we can research them on the internet, find out where they lived when in diapers. Not long ago no knowledge of the preachers could be had without them telling their history.
Notice in that last verse you posted the believers proclaimed the good news of Jesus, and confirmed those words with signs following. Signs following are not simply being model citizens, as many unbelievers do that, never even receiving a speeding or parking citation. God expects his children to live that way, at least as properly as the lost. Clean living is a fruit of the Spirit, though not regarded as anything special among sinners who often are in less trouble with the law than some fallen local preachers.
Examples of signs following that confirm the word of God preached are in Mark 16:16-18 (KJV)
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
The apostles demonstrated all those, as have disciples in the generations after them, even today. Miraculous healing of disease is still happening among Christians, but
not characteristic of unbelievers in general, but can be faked by false Christs. Lasting blessings are of the Lord.
Does the fact that in my town 4% of residents do 92% of crimes prove that the behaving 96% are exhibiting signs that lead other admirers to Christ? I don't think so. Some of those have simply not been caught. Some are regular church attenders, but some of the criminal 4% are among those.
Signs leading people to believe the preaching must be special things that demonstrate the distinctive power of God. Staying out of trouble has no power in itself, but certainly adds to one's
abiding witness as a consistent disciple, one that can be trusted to teach gospel living a lot more than a weak brother who occasionally damages his personal witness. But the witness itself is not
evangelism, but confirmation that believer is a doer of the word, not a hearer only, and unworthy to lead others in the Way. Our witness in that manner encourages fellow believers, but can't be accounted as preaching the good news of Christ with signs following.Why? The word and signs are of the Spirit, while works are of the flesh, which is influenced by the Spirit of God, or the spirit of man, in any combination.
Our witness is our own response to the word of God and the Holy Spirit. I've known lots of really great people living model lives, who put my past to shame, who have nothing to do with Jesus. If they would just give credit to the Lord some of them could tend to a great harvest of souls. I also know lots of people who identify themselves with Jesus, but lead hard lives, sinning too much, too many making a laughing stock of Jesus. Their witness turns people away from the Lord.
What built the Church has been by far proclamation of the gospel and accompanying signs and wonders that lift up the name of Jesus. The product of that is many good witnesses that also confirm the power of God in us. Let the people come in the Bible way, then let the believers attest to the work of Christ in them. People hearing them name Jesus will expect them to live at least as "good" as they. By that they might honor God and not curse him, once convinced of the Spirit by the word of God. .
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To Evangelise is to preach. Words are used to evangelise, actions can accompany them, but if actions are on their own, letting people see we are good people by doing the right things then his is Witnessing to others not evangelising.
To Evangelise is to preach. The word "evangelism" comes from the Greek word "euangelizomai," which literally means "to bring Good News."
To Witness can be either to let others see Jesus in us by what we do or to preach which is by what we say or it can be both.
With your actions you are witnessing to your brother/others. But when you speak the Word then you are evangelizing (Preaching)
Matthew 5:16 (KJV)
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Colossians 4:5-6 (KJV)
5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
Romans 12:1 (KJV)
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
James 1:22 (KJV)
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
1 Peter 3:1-4 (KJV)
1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
If we are doing what is said above and not preaching the word it is Witnessing.
If as above Matthew, Paul, Peter or us are giving instruction in the Word it is Evangelising
Here Matthew is Evangelising, but if we let our light shine before others we are Witnessing. If we let our light shine before others and preach the Word we are both Evangelising and Witnessing.
As soon as we preach the Word we Evangelise.
I know what you say is with best intentions Bendito, but I have to disagree, Evangelism is preaching the Good News from the Word, Witnessing is where we show Jesus to the world by our actions.
Both are extremely important.
Peace be with you.
Brother-Paul
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Billy Graham was an evangelist because... he preached the Word.
If he had gone into a pub and got drunk and spoke the Word then he would have been witnessing and what a poor effort at witnessing that would be. Probably why there is no record of him doing so.
We are all sinners, but we have to be careful in the things we do and say in life. Once a person (non-believer) sees another as (a believer) they think they are righteous, religious, whiter than white, they have been seen the difference in that person, the Lord is in them. As soon as this person does the slightest thing that is not whiter than white they pounce on them like a lion after raw meat.
The devil is always waiting, prowling around ready to jump and devour a believer. It comes down to the seeds we sow and being wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
Dovegiven
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That helps me see what's going on with this topic. Think of a merchant who sends out salespeople to promote his product. Once salesman succeeds in selling, the merchant then sends a supplier and perhaps a product representative to make sure the customer knows all the workings of the product. The salesman doesn't keep coming back trying to sell the customer on the idea of ordering the product.
An evangelist is a minister dedicated to finding people willing to listen to the good news of Christ, then promotes Christ by preaching the gospel word of God. He is the one expected to inspire the people to listen well, believe, repent, and commit to Jesus as their Savior and Lord. My wife and I assisted in two Billy Graham crusades, with her in the choir, me a parking guide and on the cleanup crew after each service.
New Christians were instructed to immediately find a proper church where they should grow in the faith. Classes were offered to teach people how to find the church that is right for them, and what it means to assemble with other Christians.
I am not aware of brother Graham making a habit of being a preacher in a church. Evangelists roam, while pastors stay put to feed the flock of God. They shoud certainly be able to preach an evangelical appeal, but Christians need to move on to growth subjects. They need the basics of Christian life, but also it's important to take heed of
Hebrews 5:12-14 , 6:1-3 (KJV)
12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3 And this will we do, if God permit.
Such a program is well beyond the role of an evangelist. An evangelist taking on that role would then be operating in the gift of pastor/teacher. The evangelist hands over new believers to local assemblies under the care of a pastor, teachers, elders each having part in introducing meat of the word to a growing disciple. Once drawn to Christ each believer needs to be perfected, fully equipped, to do one or more ministries.
The idea of advanced training beyond the ministry of evangelism is that none embark as novices, who are apt to teaching error from ignorance. We don't want a new convert coming from a Graham crusade directly to a church as Sunday School teacher or pastor. Paul was warning of that in that Hebrews passage. He also dealt with it in
1 Timothy 3:1-7 (KJV)
1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Dovegiven
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In Acts we saw there were 120 disciples waited to be empowered by the Spirit as Jesus promised, commanding them to stick around the temple those 10 days after he ascended. When Peter preached,
adding 3,000 more believers, and again to add another 5,000 men, that put only 120 trained and empowered disciples to the task of teaching new believers, as well as conducting their assigned ministry gifts, while the 12w apostles devoted themselves to preaching and prayer. From all that some men of renown were selected to step up into such ministries as evangelist, like Stephen, who was killed for his preaching.
Great persecution arose immediately, starting with Stephen's death, with Saul beginning to persecute the Christians. The Church then fled to safety, except those caught by the Jews. Keep in mind practically all those thousands of baby Christians had only weeks at most of training in the word of God, far less than the 120 that tarried up to the first day of the feast of "Pentecost", as the Greeks labelled it. They were mostly unlearned Jews that typically knew little of the scriptures, like many modern Christians who know too little to spread the gospel by any means personally, relying on their pastor and teachers to carry the load of ministering spiritual things. Over time obviously a great many of those ancient Jews grew in the word and were equipped to spread the gospel to all parts of the known world. However, through the rest of Acts we learn it was the apostles and their close students who carried the burden of evangelism.
adding 3,000 more believers, and again to add another 5,000 men, that put only 120 trained and empowered disciples to the task of teaching new believers, as well as conducting their assigned ministry gifts, while the 12w apostles devoted themselves to preaching and prayer. From all that some men of renown were selected to step up into such ministries as evangelist, like Stephen, who was killed for his preaching.
Great persecution arose immediately, starting with Stephen's death, with Saul beginning to persecute the Christians. The Church then fled to safety, except those caught by the Jews. Keep in mind practically all those thousands of baby Christians had only weeks at most of training in the word of God, far less than the 120 that tarried up to the first day of the feast of "Pentecost", as the Greeks labelled it. They were mostly unlearned Jews that typically knew little of the scriptures, like many modern Christians who know too little to spread the gospel by any means personally, relying on their pastor and teachers to carry the load of ministering spiritual things. Over time obviously a great many of those ancient Jews grew in the word and were equipped to spread the gospel to all parts of the known world. However, through the rest of Acts we learn it was the apostles and their close students who carried the burden of evangelism.
Bendito
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I am aware that most people are not drunks. Do you really think I said that? Honestly? I used an example there.
Dovegiven you said "Notice in that last verse you posted the believers proclaimed the good news of Jesus, and confirmed those words with signs following." You need to reread that. I said the disciples proclaimed the Word and God went with them confirming that Word with signs and miracles. Big difference.
Of all born again Christians, what percentage would you say are "Believers" and if you say that all are believers, what do they believe in? Many do not believe in healing, many do not believe in miracles for today, many do not believe in deliverance from demons, many do not believe in some part of the Word. Many Christians cherry pick over the Word to decide what they will believe or not.
If one does not believe in ALL of the Word how can he believe any of it? If a person thinks God is wrong or lying about part of His Word, how can this Christian believe any of it?
You quoted Mark 16:17 "and these signs shall follow those that believe...." Yes we do see these signs in churches but on what scale. Most of the time when we see it, it's an accident and people swoon around wondering what they did right, or maybe the person healed has a special touch from God. No no I've seen this too, very often. I'm not making stuff up here. I do agree too, that there are churches spread over North America where healings etc happen on a regular basis. I'm only saying North America because I've been around North America countless times in my more than ten million miles of driving over the last fifty years. (That's what I do, I'm a driver)
But here's the evangelizing, the preaching in my life; People see me obeying my God, they see the results of it, they want it.
You see many many young people dropping out of church and rebelling against all their parents have taught them. Why? They want something that WORKS. Most churches you see are merely Christian social clubs. Powerless. Yet the Word says 'These signs will follow those that believe....' Where are the signs in most churches? Where is the love in most churches? Where is the example in most churches? Evangelism is a matter of "I'm from Missouri, I gotta be showed" for most people.
Dovegiven you said "Notice in that last verse you posted the believers proclaimed the good news of Jesus, and confirmed those words with signs following." You need to reread that. I said the disciples proclaimed the Word and God went with them confirming that Word with signs and miracles. Big difference.
Of all born again Christians, what percentage would you say are "Believers" and if you say that all are believers, what do they believe in? Many do not believe in healing, many do not believe in miracles for today, many do not believe in deliverance from demons, many do not believe in some part of the Word. Many Christians cherry pick over the Word to decide what they will believe or not.
If one does not believe in ALL of the Word how can he believe any of it? If a person thinks God is wrong or lying about part of His Word, how can this Christian believe any of it?
You quoted Mark 16:17 "and these signs shall follow those that believe...." Yes we do see these signs in churches but on what scale. Most of the time when we see it, it's an accident and people swoon around wondering what they did right, or maybe the person healed has a special touch from God. No no I've seen this too, very often. I'm not making stuff up here. I do agree too, that there are churches spread over North America where healings etc happen on a regular basis. I'm only saying North America because I've been around North America countless times in my more than ten million miles of driving over the last fifty years. (That's what I do, I'm a driver)
But here's the evangelizing, the preaching in my life; People see me obeying my God, they see the results of it, they want it.
You see many many young people dropping out of church and rebelling against all their parents have taught them. Why? They want something that WORKS. Most churches you see are merely Christian social clubs. Powerless. Yet the Word says 'These signs will follow those that believe....' Where are the signs in most churches? Where is the love in most churches? Where is the example in most churches? Evangelism is a matter of "I'm from Missouri, I gotta be showed" for most people.
Bendito
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You said "If he had gone into a pub and got drunk and spoke the Word then he would have been witnessing and what a poor effort at witnessing that would be. Probably why there is no record of him doing so"
There is no record of him doing so, because He did not do that...Another example you missed?
"Billy Graham was an evangelist because... he preached the Word.
You said "Billy Graham was an evangelist because... he preached the Word."
That's because He lived the Word. He backed up the Words he preached in his life. That's what made him an evangelist.
You said "We are all sinners, but we have to be careful in the things we do and say in life. Once a person (non-believer) sees another as (a believer) they think they are righteous, religious, whiter than white, they have been seen the difference in that person, the Lord is in them. As soon as this person does the slightest thing that is not whiter than white they pounce on them like a lion after raw meat."
If you are born again you are not a sinner..The Word says you were a sinner, you died and you were born again a totally new creation. You became the righteousness of God. You cannot be both. So which are you? Are you the righteousness of God, or are you a sinner?
