The Four Pillars of Evangelism: Simple Steps to Help Any Child of God Evangelize Just Like Jesus

by Thomas, C. L.

• ISBN13: 9781463439354
• ISBN10: 1463439350
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-08-08
• Publisher: Textstream

Summary

What is evangelism? Have you ever asked that question? For most people the word conjures up a great deal of pictures or thoughts that run the ambit of fanatics running the streets with tracts in their hands to the nice little Christian who models their faith through a quiet lifestyle. Is either of these correct? Is the answer somewhere in the middle? Is there a correct answer at all? I believe that there is. This book is designed to walk one through the ministry principles and actions of the greatest evangelist of all times, Jesus Christ. He remains the best example of communicating the good news in a purposeful, personal, progressive, practical, and pervasive manner. The steps to an effective witness are in following pillar principles demonstrated by Jesus. The confidence to be involved in evangelism is tied to following the pillar principles of evangelism. The understanding of what to say, how to say it and when to say it are found in the pillar principles of evangelism demonstrated by Jesus and are explained in this book. If you desire a practical tool to learn more about evangelism and teach others the same then this book is for you.

Excerpts

In anything you study it's always beneficial to establish the meaning of the terms you are using. The same is true in the case of our study of evangelism. We want to begin in the study with the "why" of evangelism. Often times we become accustomed to words and ecclesiastical jargon in the church but have no sensitivity to the meaning of significance. This is dangerous as we could be guilty of believing something about a thing that has absolutely nothing at all to do with it. Or the other extreme is that we minimize how amazingly important a particular subject is due to ignorance about that thing. It happens all the time. It took me years before I understood what the prayer of invocation, and the prayer benediction was all about. How long did it take you? Some of you may not know even now and that is the point of this book. When we talk about evangelism what are we really saying? What does the word mean and why does the Minister and ministry team leaders talk about it? You have asked, "Does God really say anything concerning my involvement in evangelism? What can't the trained people handle this? Shouldn't this be a job for the more mature Christians anyway? Have I been in the church long enough to do evangelism? I have been doing evangelism long enough so I can let someone else handle this can't I? What's the big deal anyway?" These questions as well as many more crowd the minds of the Christian and generally immobilize our efforts. Faulty paradigms about the subject lead to extreme responses of fear or legalism. We even suffer from the dilemma of new age or modernism in the efforts of evangelism that redefine the goal and thereby the activity of evangelism. This is seen when Christians attempt to overlook the spiritual state or condition of another for the sake of getting along or being tolerant with someone else's immediate 'context of conviction'. The problem with this thought is that it is inconsistent with the nature of truth and the premise of the Word of God. Truth is confrontational. The word of God is truth; therefore the word of God is confrontational. We are called to move beyond borders of what is comfortable to the arena and war of growth. We are called to push the envelope of our social norms by talking to people about their beliefs, even ask them why they believe what they believe. We are called to challenge ourselves and the thoughts of others through the confidence we have in our very own calling. Will we accept the call to call others? Will we stand and address the temptation to be comfortable where we are by speaking to our friends, family and neighbors. Will you push the envelope and allow God to change people one soul at a time? These thoughts are the hue within the polychromatic nature of evangelism.