MAKING DISCIPLES, NOT CONVERTS

 

"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.

Hello Friends:

Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. I entitled my post today, "Making Disciples, Not Converts". The post is based on the Dallas Theological Seminary “Evangelism” Session #7, the last session in the series.

Dr. Barry Jones said, “After we bring people to the gospel, which is in 10 simple words: ‘Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead’—now what?”

Dr. Jones said that Jesus in The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 has two great assurances: One is the great authority He is passing down to believers to share the gospel, the other is that He’s got our back all the way “to the very end of the age” in sharing the gospel.

Dr. Jones said that The Message Bible says it even more plainly: “Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life . . .” Christianity is not just about gaining converts . . . but it’s about discipleship toward a “way of life”.

He said there is a difference between belief and trust. He gave an example Billy Graham occasionally used of a tightrope walker who asked the crowd, “Do you believe I can walk this tightrope with someone on my back?” Everyone in the crowd enthusiastically agreed that he could do it. Then the tightrope walker asked, “Which one of you then will be first?” He didn’t get one taker. Dr. Jones said it’s one thing for a person to believe someone, but another to trust enough to get on the back of the other person, and in the case of the Great Commission, on the back of Jesus.

Dr. Jones talked about the importance of immediate follow-up discipleship, and long-term follow-up discipleship: He said that follow-up discipleship sets people on trajectory toward growth and maturity.

At this stage new believers are vulnerable. Immediate follow-up discipleship helps them to understand the assurance of salvation talked about in John 5:24, where Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

It also helps new believers to stay away from false teaching such as Jehovah Witness, Mormon, and other beliefs.

When I worked in mental health, I had one vulnerable elderly client in a wheelchair. I tried to link him to nearby church, but they didn’t go out of their way to reach out to him. On the other hand, two young Mormon missionaries were johnny-on-the-spot to visit him regularly and offer a form of emotional support he needed. They in essence were there for him when the Christian church was not.

New believers may continue to struggle with sin, with non-answers to prayer, about how to have and maintain healthy relationships, how to deal with a waning of enthusiasm for living the Christian life in the face of difficult circumstances. Follow-up discipleship can help them to navigate these things and can increase the probability and speed of positive spiritual development.

Dr. Jones said that follow-up discipleship should involve linking new believers to a local church, which he said is vital. Dr. Jones, however, did an exercise with the students in the class that showed that many of the students didn’t come from totally healthy churches, in that most of their churches were not good at “introduction” to the gospel, or evangelism. And most were not good at “integration”, or discipleship. He encouraged his students, however, as future church leaders to accept the responsibility of changing churches into being healthy options for new believers.

Dr. Jones said that a focus on new believers reading and understanding scripture should be a prime concern of follow-up discipleship. He said, “The Gospel of John is a great place to start.” He said “John is so deep and rich! It’s a really accessible and a beautiful telling of Jesus’ story.”

He secondly recommended the reading of the Gospel of Mark, which he said is a “basic Jesus-story”, which is the shortest gospel, and is very “action-oriented”.

Dr. Jones recommended Mac Anders’ “30 Days to Understanding Your Bible”, or some other similar book that tells how the Bible fits together.

Dr. Jones encouraged emphasizing the importance of prayer in the formation and development of new believers. He said there isn’t a right way or a wrong way to pray. It’s just talking to God and trying to listen to what He has to say in return.

Lastly Dr. Jones talked about long-term follow-up discipleship. He talked about the importance of catechesis, which in simple terms means instruction before baptism.

He shared the fact that the early church had examples of immediate baptism of new believers, of which Cornelius and the Ethiopian eunuch were prime examples. He said, however, that what set them both apart is the fact that they were what was termed “God-fearers”, in that they were Gentiles that believed in the God of Israel, the moral codes, and thought processes of the scripture.

Dr. Jones said that longer term training was adopted, and is needed today for new believers to unform negative Greco-Roman and unwanted cultural norms, and reform into Christian biblical norms before baptism. He said they also need training to understand the implications of becoming and living as a Christian so that they can in essence “know what they’re signing up for”

That’s it. In conclusion, I think this series of evangelism lessons from the Dallas Theological Seminary were a very informative and thought-provoking way to approach evangelism. I plan to refer to the teachings often to refine my approach in introducing Christ to people.

See you next time,
Arlen

BOLDNESS OVERTAKING FEAR

 

"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.

Hello Friends:

Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. I entitled my post today, "Boldness Overtaking Fear". The post is based on the Dallas Theological Seminary “Evangelism” Session #6. Dr. Barry Jones, the regular instructor, again turned the time over to Dr. Larry Moyer, another seminary instructor whose focus is on evangelism.

One of Dr. Moyer’s main points this session was the fact that we all will have some fear while sharing the gospel message. But the key is to allow boldness overtaking the fear we feel, instead of fear overtaking boldness.

Dr. Moyer said that even he, who is an experienced evangelist, feels fear sometimes when sharing the gospel. He said feeling fear is inevitable, and that if someone claims he or she never has any fear when they are sharing the gospel, they are one of two things:

1. “Not being very honest,” or
2. “Crude in the way they go about sharing the gospel”, that they don’t care what people think.

He emphasized repeatedly that he doesn’t know how to get away from having any fear. He said several times, “I don’t know . . . I don’t know . . . I don’t know . . . how to get away from having any fear of evangelizing. He said that even the Apostles prayed for boldness to declare the gospel, and that if the apostles had no fear they wouldn’t have felt the need to pray for boldness.

There are four Greek words that are used many times in the Bible that pertain to sharing the gospel boldly. I’m not well versed in Greek, so I won’t list the Greek words. But the definitions of these Greek terms mean for us to do the following when evangelizing:

1. Speak boldly.
2. Speak openly.
3. Speak plainly.
4. Speak freely.
5. Speak confidently.

Dr. Moyer reemphasized the advice he has to overcome the fear of evangelizing is to allow boldness overtaking fear rather than vice versa. He said there are three fears that are hindrances to sharing the gospel:

1. Fear of man (or rejection).
2. Shame of the gospel. (Note: Dr. Moyer talked about about Paul’s statement in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel”.)
3. Fear of personal risk or injury. Examples might be the following:
• Fear of getting fired.
• Fear of family members taking you out of their will.
• An actual physical attack, like in some countries that are openly anti-Christian.

Dr. Moyer stated also that sometimes we don’t share the gospel because we feel we aren’t good or holy enough because we have occasional sin creep up in our lives. He said, however, that unbelievers aren’t turned off by people that have problems, but they ARE more turned off by people that pretend that they have no problems.

Dr. Moyer emphasized that it’s biblical to pray for the lost, but there's more emphasis in the New Testament to pray for believers having boldness in evangelism. He said emphatically, “GOD IS JUST WAITING FOR HIS CHILDREN TO ASK HIM FOR BOLDNESS!”

Dr. Moyer said that using Paul as an example, we can do the following:

1. Develop confidence in our message.
2. Develop conviction that we are God’s messengers.
3. Develop devout concern for people.
4. Develop consistency in our lives.

He said that if we develop these four things we will still experience fear in evangelizing, but the boldness we feel can overtake the fear. He said that we can evangelize “in spite of the fear” we feel.

Dr. Moyer talked about “preconditioning” to think about what might happen while evangelizing. He said, however, that studies show that 92% of what we worry about never happens. He said that it if it takes no more time to think about possible positive outcomes than it does thinking about possible negative ones, we should definitely stick to the positive ones.

Dr. Moyer said the successful outcome of our evangelization efforts are totally up to God, not up to us. This lessens the pressure for us to strive for success in evangelizing. God calls us to just be faithful to share Jesus with people, and let God take care of the outcome.

Dr. Moyer said God doesn’t call us to bring people to Jesus, but to bring Jesus to people! He said that most often it takes a person a number of times hearing the gospel before they turn to trusting and believing in Jesus . . . and that we can feel blessed in the fact that we can take part in that continuum of moving that person “one step closer to the cross”.

In conclusion Dr. Moyer quoted John 6:44 that says, “No man comes to me unless the Father draws him.” He said that verse helps show us it isn’t our responsibility to bring people to Jesus . . . But it is our responsibility to allow boldness overtaking fear to bring Jesus to people.

See you next time,

Arlen

THE SIMPLE, CLEAR GOSPEL

“He who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30

Hello Friends:

Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. I entitled my post today, "The Simple, Clear Gospel". The post is based on the Dallas Theological Seminary “Evangelism” Session #5, which had a little bit of a twist. Dr. Barry Jones, the regular instructor, turned the time over to Dr. Larry Moyer, another seminary instructor whose focus is on evangelism.

Dr. Moyer is the founder and CEO of EvanTell Inc., an evangelism training company. EvanTell's main goal about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ is the following: "Keep it simple, stupid." No, not really. He actually said, “Don’t make confusing what God makes so simple.” I think that emphasis, which I so much agree with, is that the main reason people, including myself, don’t evangelize is that we think it’s way more complicated than it really is.

I think one of the most important principles Dr. Moyer taught is, “The Gospel in 10 Words”. I know that for many years I got stumped on the word “gospel”. I knew that it had the definition of “good news”, but after that I was almost paralyzed to understand and tell what the word “gospel” really meant.

Dr. Moyer said that less than 10% of Christians, even seminary students, know what the word gospel really means. He said Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, helped us sum up the gospel in 10 words: “Christ died for our sins, and rose from the dead.”

Dr. Moyer also emphasized that having a method of sharing the gospel doesn’t make us a “cold”, or “canned”, or “mechanical” person—but it helps make us feel more relaxed so that we can “lock” into people better. Dr. Moyer said that sometimes he gets so “locked into” communicating with people that he doesn’t even know anything else going on around him.

He summed up the presentation of the gospel to others as a clear sharing of the following: “Bad News”, and then “Good News”. He said there’s a pattern we can follow that can lead us.

The “Bad News” has two statements, two verses, and two illustrations:

1. Bad news statement #1: We are all sinners. 
• Verse: Romans 3:23. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 
• Illustration: “Rock”. “Two of us might throw a rock at the moon. You might throw it further than me, but we will both miss the mark.”
2. Bad news statement #2: The penalty for sin is death. 
• Verse: Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death.”
• Illustration: “Wages”. “If I work a certain amount of time I'm paid a wage, of perhaps $50. It's what is owed to me. A wage is something we earn for our deeds. The Bible declares we all have earned the wages of death because of our sin, and not just a physical death, but a spiritual death separated from God.”

Dr. Moyer said that since we're unable to come to God because of our sins, the Bible says that God came to us. This is the good news! It also has two statements, two verses, and two illustrations.

1. Good news statement #1: Christ died for you.
• Verse: Romans 5:8. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
• Illustration: “Cancer”. If someone said they will take on your cancer cells to save your life, what will happen? They will die and you will live. They die in your place. That’s what Jesus did for us.
2. Good news statement #2: You can be saved through faith in Christ.
• Verse: Ephesians 2:8-9. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
• Illustration: “Chair”. Just as you trust a chair to hold you up while providing no effort of your own, so you must trust Christ alone to get to heaven through no effort of your own. Any good thing you might do can't get you to heaven. It's through Christ alone.

Finally, Dr. Moyer gave info on how to start and close a conversation about the gospel. The first step to start the conversation is the following:

1. “Plow and pursue”. (Note: At first, I thought that statement seemed a little aggressive, but the more I thought about it, I would rather be a little aggressive, and have a person trust Jesus as his or her Savior, than be passive, and the person end up in hell.)
• To plow and pursue we can talk about 3 things that people have in common:
• #1: Our families.
• #2: Our jobs
• #3: Our Backgrounds
2. The second step: “Free up” don’t “freeze up”. (Note: I think his point of having a method of sharing the gospel is that we don't have to think so hard, and it frees us up to have a deep and caring focus on the other person.)
3. The third step: Proceed in the conversation from a secular focus, to a spiritual one.
• Ask the following: "Has anyone ever told you from the Bible how to get to heaven?" 
• If they say, "No", say, "May I?"
• If they agree, proceed to the “Bad News, Good News” gospel presentation.

Next is "Closing the Conversation." You ask the following:

1. “Is there anything that would keep you from believing in and trusting Christ right now for salvation?”
2. If the person agrees, remember to tell the person it isn’t the prayer itself that saves him or her; rather it’s believing in and trusting Christ that saves. Prayer is simply how we tell God what we’re doing.
3. Dr. Moyer said that the believing in and trusting Christ actually comes about 30 seconds before the prayer itself.

The presentation by Dr. Moyer was very good. I liked the fact that he emphasized that we make the gospel way too complicated, when it's really very simple. And at the end of the session he again stated the simplicity of “The Gospel in 10 Words”, “Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead.”

Dr. Moyer gave the freedom for people to use his tips. But said that presenting the gospel can be done different ways. I’ll likely stick mostly to the Roman Road presentation I’m familiar with, but I most definitely plan to use a lot of Dr. Moyer's tips to share . . . "The Simple, Clear Gospel".

See you next time,

Arlen

SHARING THE GOSPEL: SYNCHRONIC LEFT-BRAIN APPROACH VERSUS DIACHRONIC RIGHT-BRAIN APPROACH

 

Hello Friends:

Welcome to the soulwinnersr.us website. Remember again Proverbs 11:30 that says, “He who wins souls is wise.”

Last week we discussed Evangelism Session #3 by Dr. Barry Jones, a Dallas Theological Seminary professor. I entitled the post “God’s Unfolding Cosmic Story!” Dr. Jones talked about the term “evangelism”, and how it plays a major part in God’s cosmic story.

Session #4 this week is entitled by Dr. Jones “What is the Gospel?” I especially want to focus on what Dr. Jones talked about toward the end of his session, so I entitled my post, “Sharing the Gospel: Synchronic, Left-Brain Approach Versus Diachronic Right-Brain Approach”. We'll talk about what these mean a little later.

Dr. Jones first explained what the gospel “is not”.

1. It’s not merely that “life gets better with Jesus”. This he termed as a “consumer product” gospel, and that we can’t just buy what Jesus sells, and things will get better for us.
2. It’s not merely “the minimum entrance requirement to get into heaven”. He said this is a “reductionist version of the gospel”, only taking into account what will happen when we die, and ignoring the broader aspect of what will happen while we live.

Dr. Jones then explained that the gospel is the “good news” of what God has done in Jesus Christ to accomplish his mission to “rescue and renew His broken creation”, and “to create and sanctify a people for His own glory who will one day dwell in His uninhibited reign characterized by justice and peace”. Dr. Jones uses this definition repeatedly throughout the series.

He discussed four of God’s original intentions for humanity:

1. God wanted humankind to have a loving relationship, or shalom, with Himself.
2. God wanted humankind to have a loving relationship, or shalom, with each other.
3. God wanted humankind to have a sense of harmony, or shalom, with God’s creation, or created order.
4. God wanted people to have a personal sense of shalom in themselves, and he wanted them to flourish on the earth.

Instead man went his own way into what one French theologian called a “cosmic rebellion”, or “treason” to the point where it “corrupted” and “ruptured” God’s plan for shalom. After this corruption nothing could ever make us good enough to restore that shalom. Only what Jesus Christ did for us as a sacrifice for our sins, and his death and resurrection could atone for the corruption.

Dr. Jones said there are three fundamental considerations of the gospel that we always want to communicate in any gospel presentation:

1. “The reality of the human predicament."
2. “God’s provision to address the predicament.”
3. “Our response to God’s provision.”

Also, there are three fundamental points, or “nutshell” of the gospel, which is God’s provision to address the human predicament, are the following:

1. “Jesus died for our sins.”
2. “Jesus was buried.” (Proof that he really did die.)
3. “Jesus rose again.” (Resurrection.)

Dr. Jones emphasized the importance of the title Jesus had of “Christ”. He said that Jesus was like a first name, but Christ was His title which means “Anointed One” who came into the world as a “liberating king”. Jesus didn’t, however, come to liberate people from government oppression, but He came instead to liberate the hearts of people from the bondage and corruption of sin.

Dr. Jones talked about Dr. Timothy Keller’s “Synchronic” versus “Diachronic” sharing of the gospel message:

• Synchronic: is like the gospel in bullet point form. It includes more of the nuts and bolts elements of the gospel like what Paul wrote, such as “justification by faith”, “salvation by grace”, and other “personal” components.
• Diachronic: is like the gospel in story form. It includes the “Kingdom of God”, and the “cosmic” trajectory of the Gospel. (Note: Stephen in Acts 7 used what I would call a diachronic storyline presentation of the gospel.)

Dr. Jones said that both synchronic and diachronic presentations of the gospel are very critical components of the gospel message. But he believes that the diachronic, gospel in story form might be a more effective way to initially share the gospel with an unbeliever, especially in a world where storylines and imagery are very prominent.

Dr. Jones said that the synchronic, gospel in bullet point form is very good in unpacking the gospel elements AFTER the conversion of a person. He compared it to unpacking a suitcase at the end of a journey when one reaches his or her destination.

Lastly, Dr. Jones said that we sometimes look at understanding scripture like a lab worker cutting up a dead frog, trying to understand its pieces and parts. This is what he called left-brain thinking.

Instead, he said that scripture is alive, and we can be inspired to encounter its beauty, emotion, transformational power, and the cosmic implications that come with it. This is what he called right-brain thinking.

Up to this point I realize I’ve been using a synchronic, bullet-pointed, left-brain presentation of the gospel. My Roman Road tract and systematic approach to sharing the gospel are prime examples.

I really don’t want to bog myself down with changing approaches midstream. But, I very well may want to give a diachronic, storyline, right-brain gospel presentation a try.

What do you think? I’d like to get your perspective on what you think is the best way to share the gospel.

See you next time,

Arlen

GOD'S UNFOLDING COSMIC STORY!

 

(“He who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30 NKJV)

Dear Readers:

Last week we discussed Evangelism Session #2 by Dr. Barry Jones, a Dallas Theological Seminary professor. I entitled the post “Can I Get A Witness?” In the session Dr. Jones talked about our “divine mission” to witness to the non-believing world, and what the word “witness” means. He said as a qualifier, “It’s always necessary to use words.” But the first step in using words is to earn the right to use those words by “living out the truth of the gospel” so that people can see our changed and different lives of “justice and peace.

The focus this week in Session #3 is the term “evangelism”, which is under the category “witness” of the last session, which in turn was under the category “mission” of the first session. Dr. Jones said our role of evangelism plays a major part in “God’s Unfolding Cosmic Story!”

Dr. Jones quoted D.T. Niles, that evangelism is just “one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread”. I used that quote in a previous Soulwinnersr.us post. He then said that Martin Luther’s last quoted words before he died were, “We are all beggars, that is true.”

Dr. Jones pointed out that our persuasiveness and charisma are not what produces results, and we in fact should not concern ourselves with results, because it’s God’s Holy Spirit that ultimately wins souls for Jesus. Our role is to just use words to tell Jesus’ story of His death and resurrection.

Dr. Jones told of his own experience one weekend where he spoke to a group of teens. He said the first night he was really “really feeling it” as he spoke with power and conviction the message of Christ, but when he gave the altar call not one teen came forward to accept Christ. He said the funny thing was that the next night he felt his message was weak and disjointed, but many, many teens came forward to accept Christ!

To further get his point across of the fact that only God and His Spirit has the power to change hearts is the story of Jonah, and that Jonah did everything wrong and was even “racist” in his lamentations about the people of Nineveh turning away from sin and toward God. In the end, however, Dr. Jones said one redeeming fact was that Jonah likely was the only one who could have truthfully told the story about being swallowed and spit out by the fish, being reluctant to evangelize Nineveh, and showing racism against the people. And in the story in the Bible Jonah didn’t make himself out to be a hero.

An interesting statistic Dr. Jones used is the fact that the average Christian has been witnessed to approximately 32 times before he or she gives their hearts to Christ. He asked his students about their experience in that 32 time “continuum”.

In conclusion Dr. Jones said that modern individualism has hindered evangelism. He and his students talked about the fact that while salvation is a wonderful individualistic experience; it can, however, cause us to "lose or ignore the cosmic dimension of what God is up to in the world”.

I don't want to lose or ignore that cosmic dimension of what God is up to in the world. Instead, I very much want to embrace and play a role in "God's Unfolding Cosmic Story” . . . How about you?

See you next time,
Arlen

CAN I GET A WITNESS?

 

(“He who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30 NKJV)

Dear Readers:

Last week we discussed Evangelism Session #1 by Dr. Barry Jones, a Dallas Theological Seminary professor. I entitled the post “God’s Great Rescue Mission”. It focused on the “Missio Dei”, which means God’s purpose, in which God chooses, calls, and sends us on His rescue mission to save lost souls.

This week in lesson #2 Dr. Jones talked about our “divine mission” to witness to the non-believing world, and what the word “witness” means. He said as a qualifier, “It’s always necessary to use words.” But the first step in using words is to earn the right to use those words by “living out the truth of the gospel” so that people can see our changed and different lives of “justice and peace”.

Dr. Jones also said the essence of the Bible is God’s unfolding drama in which in the end we play an integral role as witnesses. He said the term “witness” is a narrower category under the term “mission”. And “evangelism” is a narrower category under the term “witness”.

Dr. Jones referenced a book entitled “The Rise of Christianity” by Rodney Stark. The book subtitle reads, “How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World In A Few Centuries”. At first I thought he was talking about the Jesus Movement that was related to the hippie movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Instead he was talking about the early church discussed in the book of Acts.

One key to this movement was the fact that it was in stark contrast to the prevailing Greek and Roman cultures. One example was that the early church movement treated women very well, unlike the Greek and Roman cultures. As a result many women were saved, and played a large role in the growth of the church. He said another key was the fact that the Greek and Roman cultures distanced themselves from anyone that had diseases like the plague, but the early church, in contrast, embraced and helped people with diseases, and many people got saved as a result.

Dr. Jones stated that there is some dissension between two camps of thought related to how we should witness. One side thinks that humanitarian efforts should be the primary means to share the gospel, and they may, or may not minimize the need for verbal sharing. The other side feels that verbal sharing should be the primary means to share the gospel, and they may, or may not minimize the need for humanitarian efforts. Dr. Jones strongly said that the church needs both.

Lastly, Dr. Jones pointed out that witnessing isn’t an optional choice for believers based on their preferences. He quoted Acts 1:8 which states, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Note the emphasis on “YOU WILL be my witnesses.” Dr. Jones said choosing to witness, or not to witness isn’t an option, and that Jesus gave an emphatic statement of fact.

Dr. Jones also asked students to give possible ways of verbally witnessing, to open the door for future evangelism. Several examples were: The question, “May I pray for you?”, or “words of encouragement”, or “remembering and commenting to people by name”, or “treating all people in the workplace or elsewhere with dignity and respect”.

I still have a long way to go to understand, and to begin the practice of being a good witness for Jesus that opens doors toward evangelism. How about you?

See you next time,

Arlen

GOD'S GREAT RESCUE MISSION

(“He who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30 NKJV)

Dear Readers:

Last week we talked about possible evangelism training resources and options, some that are free, to shed some light on effective ways to win souls for Jesus. We discussed the fact that any Christian can become a “lifelong learner” about evangelism, and we don’t have to enroll in an expensive school to do so.

The title of this week's post is "God’s Great Rescue Mission". It's based on the first training resource I discussed, which was the Dallas Theological Seminary’s Evangelism 102 free online course. This week I did the first lesson out of seven lessons in the course.

In the lesson Dr. Barry Jones laid some course groundwork for his students about the first week, and the coming weeks. Before getting into the heart of the lesson Dr. Jones made some key points that the course was more about “evangelism education” than it was about “evangelism methods”, although he said that some methods were to be discussed in the coming weeks.

He used evangelism word associations to identify the bad rap that evangelism sometimes gets. Some associations were the following: “Used car salesmen”, and “street corner or soapbox preachers”.

Dr. Jones also discussed the fallacy that extroverts have an advantage in evangelism over introverts. He said that we can all participate in evangelism with the personality God has given each of us.

Dr. Jones then stated that evangelism is in most cases a “dialogue”, as opposed to a “monologue”. This means it's usually better if there's a conversation as opposed to one person stating his or her own assertions about the need for the other person to come to God.

Dr. Jones main theme was about the words “mission”, and “missional”. He said that God’s mission is the overarching theme of the entire story of the Bible. He said that God’s mission is the following: “To rescue and renew God’s good, but broken creation.” Later he termed it “God’s Great Rescue Mission”.

Dr. Jones also defined “Theology Proper” which starts with God. God then sent Jesus to die for the sins of the people. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit then sent people in the church as missionaries to the rest of mankind.

Dr. Jones quoted Andrew Kirk, a London theologian, who said: “If the church ceases being missionary (or evangelistic), it has not just failed in one of its tasks, it has ceased being Church.” Those seem like pretty strong words!

One student questioned the stern nature of this quote. Dr. Jones said that he feels like Dr. Kirk may have been using a little hyperbole to get his point across, but feels that the point Dr. Kirk made was true. His point was if the church isn't evangelistic, it essentially ceases being the church performing God's intended mission.

Dr. Jones also said that the missional or evangelistic nature of the church is the primary goal of the church, and churches that have other focuses, even ones that seem good, have it backwards.

He said that focuses such as “worship”, “community or small groups”, and even “discipleship” can be good, but they don’t usually lead us to be missional or evangelistic. But on the other hand being missional or evangelistic usually does lead us to worship, community, and discipleship.

I'm not going to get into all the details of the entire lesson in this post, as it would take too much time. I'm planning to post each week after studying, and hopefully passing, each lesson.

Finally, the point that Dr. Jones reemphasized at the end of this first lesson, was that “God chooses, calls, and sends us”. to participate in "God's Great Rescue Mission".

I want to be part of that rescue mission. How about you?

See you next time,

Arlen