A SAMPLE OF ENDORESMENTS The following are some of the endorsements for Julian’s 900+ page book called Evangelism: Strategies from Heaven In the War for Souls. Some people are daunted by such a big book so Julian made a small book out of each chapter of the 900+ page book. What you are about to read is just one of the chapters of the larger work.
David Cole, YWAM Campaigns Asia/Pacific Board of Regents Chairman University of the Nations.
“This book is one of the most in depth looks at what Evangelism really is (and what it isn’t) that I believe has been written in the last century. I have been so inspired in my own calling through its content and often use it as a text book for teaching and imparting to young leaders in YWAM training courses as well as throughout other parts of the Body of Christ. Thank you Julian not only for such a valuable resource as well as for modeling the outworking of its content in your own life over the past few decades.”
Pastor Mike Smith, Melbourne, Australia
“An incredible book that all pastors should read. I have been a Christian for 28 years and a pastor for many years, and when I picked up this book, I thought, I doubt this will teach me anything new about evangelism. I was so wrong. It has revolutionised my thinking. This is an incredible book that all pastors should read.”
Grant Buchanan LLB, B.Com, Auckland
“The best book I have ever read. I am a solicitor (54) and a partner in a law practice. I unhesitatingly give my endorsement for Julian s book. Indeed, I would rate it as the best book that I have ever read!” Grant Buchanan LLB, B.Com, Auckland
Michael Angulo, Pastor and Church Leader
“Truly a work of Ministerial art. I really like this book and every true evangelist will love it also. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO PUT IT DOWN, BUT WILL BE THINKING WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO READ IT AGAIN! A truly very well written book with good retrospective learning ideas. No true evangelist should be without this book. It is worth what it is worth and it will catapult you into great, deliberate PROVEN, ministry approach. Great book and I highly recommend it. Get this one, you won’t be disappointed!”
Julian Batchelor, M.ed (Hons), B.Th, Dip.T’Ching
12 KEYS TO FEARLESS EVANGELISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY!
Copyright Julian Batchelor Evangelism Strategies International Press Auckland New Zealand
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Acknowledgements I owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people for the production of this Mini Series: Sheryl Kampenhout, who transferred a mountain of material from Power Point shows into Word documents and who served and encouraged me in such a loving and kind way; to Matthew Old, a faithful friend and fellow evangelist, who has been a Barnabas. He reached out his hands when the hills seemed steepest, loved me in spite of my failures, stimulated me with his sharp mind, and made me laugh when I wanted to cry; to Janice Teo, and her intercessory prayer team who are as vital to the ministry I direct as the heart is to the body; to the team of editors, including Ken Francis and Julie Belding; to all the financial supporters who have given so generously to me over the years. I especially want to thank Paul and Tina Richards, of Club Physical, owners of a gymnasium chain in Auckland, New Zealand, and Derek van Beynen, who have faithfully sponsored my ministry for over a decade. Few people have the privilege of being able to leave secular work to write and produce resources to further the cause of the evangelisation of the world, and to motivate and equip the Church to do the same. You, and all my other financial supporters, have made this possible; to those I live with who have not seen me for years because I have been locked away in my office writing, I give my sincere thanks. Special thanks to Neil Pollock. To Jenny Windeyer, the graphic artist, who designed the cover of the original 800 page book (which we’ve turned into this Mini Series), and to Jenny’s husband Drew for going beyond the call of duty so that Jenny could focus on this project; to faithful Bernie Anderson who has sacrificed and given way beyond what a leader would expect of a dedicated co-worker; to Eleanor Goodall and Sue and George Jeffrey who epitomise love and true friendship; to the team at ESI for keeping all the various aspects of the evangelism ministry moving forwards whilst I directed most of my time to write this Mini Book Series; for Dr Martyn Bowis who did all the programming for the electronic version of the gospel called “Proclaim it!”; for Henoch Kloosterboeror for producing all the brilliant
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drawings; Dr David Stewart, retired Principal of the Bible College of New Zealand for nearly two decades of encouragement and mentoring; Denise James and Anne Bartley, staff at the Bible College of New Zealand for helping with research; all those who have helped proof read the manuscript and given comment, particularly Dr Marie Sewell, Gill Donald, Gill Lukey, Donna Hansen, Ainslie Vines, Ann Hunter, and Miriam and Ted Martin; to the academic staff of the Bible College of New Zealand for giving me a grounding in theology; for all those who have given financially and sacrificially to pay for specific aspects of the publishing of this Mini Book Series; for my friend Ray Comfort, for his inspiration and encouragement. There are few evangelists today who have journeyed on the road of trial and tribulation to achieve breakthrough as Ray Comfort. For John Stott, the academic evangelist for his coaching and input via his many books. For all the people who we have trained in evangelism around the world who are out there doing it – you are the heroes in the battle for souls; for the many hundreds of pastors, leaders, and lay Christians around the globe who have contributed to my life as a Christian, and to this Mini Book Series; and finally, I thank Jesus Christ, whose amazing grace and love has inspired and kept me. All the revelations in this Mini Book Library about evangelism and the gospel were given by Him – to Him be all the glory.
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How To Read The Mini Books In This Library This Mini Book is one of a Library of 27 Mini Books. The Library is a detailed critique of the battle between light and darkness which is relentlessly raging all over the earth for the souls of men and women. The insights and revelations in each Mini Book are hierarchical i.e. Mini Book Two builds upon Mini Book One, Mini Book Three upon Mini Books One and Two, and so on. Hence, the ideal is to try and read all the Mini Books in the library in sequence. If you skip Mini Books, or even parts of Mini Books, you might miss something vital, and open yourself to misunderstanding or even defeat. Having said this, after you have read Mini Books One to Seven, which are the foundational books in the Library, each Mini Book is designed to stand alone. So, read Books One to Seven first. This is essential. With respect to evangelism, if you follow the advice I am giving here in the pages of each Mini Book, you’ll position yourself perfectly to be used by the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus in ways you’d not imagined possible. How so? Read the 27 Mini Books in the library and find out. Along with Mini Books 1-7, I suggest you also purchase Mini Book 27, which is the “Evangelism Fitness Test.” This is a diagnostic survey which will tell you the extent to which you have been unwittingly influenced by the devil with respect to evangelism. Sit this test before you read anything. Then do the same test again after you have read all the Mini Books to check to see if all his devices have been thoroughly purged from your mind!
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12 Keys To Fearless Evangelism In The 21st Century!
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I have to be honest Julian, I am so fearful of evangelising!” confided my friend. “Don’t worry,” I reassured him, “you are not alone. Fear can paralyse even the most powerful people.” The following is a graphic illustration. During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience. “You were one of Stalin’s colleagues. Why didn’t you stop him?” “Who said that?” roared Khrushchev. An agonising silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, “Now you know why.”1 We can all identify with Khrushchev and the heckler. The Bible clearly acknowledges that Christians, too, will feel fear, but it exhorts us not to give in to it. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope 1
Today in the Word. July 13, 1993
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that you have” (1 Peter 3:13-15). When I minister in churches I often ask people, “What stops you from doing evangelism?” Fear is always near the top of the list. And when I ask them just what they fear, they say things such as: • “I feel inadequate. I would be so embarrassed if someone asked a question I couldn’t answer.” • “I could lose my reputation. What if someone saw me? I would look like some kind of social misfit or religious nut.” • “ People might reject me. It’s not worth the risk.” • “ I would probably do a poor job of communicating the gospel, and I don’t want to feel like a failure.” • “I fear the unknown.” KEY NUMBER 1: PUT YOUR PRIDE TO DEATH
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ride is the root… I have come to the conclusion that pride is at the root of all fear when it comes to evangelism.. Pride wants to preserve reputation. It is normal to want to be respected and admired. Who wants to be rejected. It’s an awful feeling. Who wants to to look silly in public? None of us. But something greater has got to grip our hearts. It’s the glory of God. Jesus showed that His desire to glorify His Father was greater than His pride. Philippians 2:7 tells us Jesus made Himself “of no reputation” (KJV). So a key to overcoming our fear of evangelism is to follow Jesus’ example and make ourselves a person of no reputation by getting a right view of God. The bigger He is in our hearts, the more we’ll risk all to serve Him. John 3:30 says “He must become greater; I must become less.” So how are we going to get a breakthough here, and throw our pride and reputations to the wind? Actually, it’s easier than you think. So what’s the key? The key is to actually start doing evangelism. Ironically, the more 8
we do evangelism, and become skilful, the more Jesus will become greater in our hearts and the more we will become less. Increasingly, we’ll find ourselves giving Jesus His rightful place as Lord of our lives. These are some of the fruits of doing evangelism. So, the shortcut to breaking through in evangelism is simply to launch out, start doing it, and learn as you go. This is what I did. But for those who need some more coaching, and unpacking, read on! The following incredible story, which I first came across in a Bible study written by William Barclay, illustrates how becoming someone “of no reputation” can lead to tremendous advances for you and God’s Kingdom.2 “Late in the fourth century, a monk called Telemachus determined to abandon the world and devote his life to prayer, meditation and fasting in order to save his soul. But in this lonely life, in which he sought contact only with God, he felt something was wrong. One day as he rose from his knees, he realised his life was based not on a selfless but a selfish love of God. He saw that if he was to serve God he needed to serve people, and that the cities were full of sin and therefore of need. So Telemachus decided to leave the desert and set out for the great city of Rome, which was officially Christian by this time. He begged his way across land and sea, arriving at a time when Stilicho, the Roman general, had just gained a mighty victory over the Goths. Stilicho was to be honoured, but now things were different from the old days – crowds were pouring into Christian churches rather than heathen temples. There were processions and celebrations, and Stilicho rode in triumph through the streets, with the young Emperor Honorius by his side. 2 William Barclay. The Daily Bible Study. The Gospel Of Mark. Edinburgh, Saint Andrew Press, 1982, pp.203-205
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One pagan activity had lingered on in Christian Rome. Now Christians were no longer thrown to the lions, but those captured in war still had to fight and kill each other to make a Roman holiday for the populace. And the people roared with blood lust as the gladiators fought. Telemachus found his way to the arena, where 80,000 people were watching. The chariot races were ending, and there was tension in the crowd as the gladiators prepared to fight. Into the arena they came with their greeting. ‘Hail, Caesar! We who are about to die salute you!’ The fight was on, and Telemachus was appalled. Men for whom Christ had died were killing each other to amuse an allegedly Christian populace! He leapt the barrier and stood between the gladiators. For a moment they stopped. ‘Let the games go on!’ roared the crowd. They pushed aside the old man who was still in his hermit’s robes. Again he came between them. The crowd began to hurl stones at him, urging the gladiators to get rid of him. The commander of the games gave an order; a gladiator’s sword rose and flashed, and Telemachus lay dead. Suddenly the crowd was silent – shocked that a holy man should have been killed in such a way. And they realised what this killing really was. The games ended abruptly that day – and were never resumed. The renowned historian Edward Gibbon said of Telemachus, ‘His death was more useful to mankind than his life.’” e have to forget what people might think of us… There are lessons here on the power of forgetting what people might think of us. Imagine the embarrassment of jumping into an arena before 80,000 people. Yet Telemachus wasn’t fazed. When you or I do evangelism, we will generally engage only one non-Christian at a time and no one will be watching us. The embarrassment factor for Telemachus was 80,000
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times greater than most of us will ever experience! When I am doing evangelism, 98 per cent of the time I am not in any way embarrassed.3 In fact, most non-Christians who hear the message now actually thank me for taking the time to go to them. Sometimes people will politely say “No thanks” when I approach them – no big deal. When, rarely, someone is rude or abrupt, I get over it. The 98 gracious people make up for the two who react negatively. So the first thing to realise is that nonChristians are generally lovely people who are hungry for God. How we go about explaining the gospel and the tools we use is critical. ecide in your mind to come out of the closet… Telemachus, in his hermit robes, didn’t hide his Christian identity, but many believers have never come out of the closet with their faith. While few modern Christians aspire to solitude, many might as well be hermits! Busy with worship services, Bible studies, prayer meetings, camps, conferences and other church-related activities, they insulate themselves from the world. The first step is to decide to come out of the closet.
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KEY NUMBER 2: REALISE HOW EASY EVANGELISM CAN BE
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ealise how easy it is to evangelise… When I talk about doing evangelism, I do not mean standing on a street corner, or taking whole evenings or chunks of a day to do it. No. I am wanting you to weave evangelism naturally into the course of each 24 hour day. God has given us some absolutely 3 I was very embarrassed and self conscious when I first started. I found that the more I went public with my faith, the more I discovered that my fear of what others thought of me was not an issue at all. A lot of what I thought people were thinking about me was in my imagination. Most non-Christians are so busy with their own lives and issues, they are not sitting around discussing me, thinking I am a religious nut case. On the contrary, many have said, in a positive way, “I wish I could believe in Jesus as passionately as you do.”
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stunning strategies which will enable you to do this. With one of our strategies, you don’t even have to articulate the gospel yourself. Someone else will do it for you on the internet. You can evangelise in a very low key way.4 But if you want to go public and engage strangers one-on-one, and speak the gospel out yourself, then we can help you with that as well. We have strategies for everything inbetween these two extremes. elp to get started... To help us get started, first we must analyse the five types of fear which can come upon Christians who want to do evangelism: fear without foundation, a spirit of fear, experiential fear, natural fear, and the fear of God. Fear can influence our evangelism for good or bad. Understanding our fears can help us overcome them.
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Type of Fear
Who or what creates it?
Type of Christian who experiences it
How to deal with this fear?
I. Fear without foundation.
Our imagination, but this fear is often exaggerated by the devil.
A Christian who has never actually done evangelism.
Do evangelism after receiving training. Do regular, meaningful Bible reading, prayer, and Scripture memory; mix with people doing evangelism regularly; read books on evangelism; listen to tapes, CDs, videos and DVDs on evangelism.
II. A spirit of fear.
The devil.
All Christians can experience this.
Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to deliver us from this fear.
III. Experiential Our past experiences All Christians. fear. in evangelism. The devil, through our imagination and through a spirit of fear, can exaggerate this kind of fear.
We can beat this fear by learning how to evangelise and breaking through to a place of success. As confidence builds this fear will gradually disappear.
IV. Natural fear. God created us with All Christians. a capacity to feel this fear.
We are not supposed to overcome this fear. It can save us from harm and danger.
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To find out about these strategies, please email me at julian@esisite.com
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V. Fear of God. The Holy Spirit.
All Christians ought to feel this.
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We are not supposed to overcome this fear but respond to its prompting. We are to feed, nurture and encourage this fear.
EAR WITHOUT FOUNDATION.
One evening I was walking through a forest alone, in the twilight. As I rounded a bend on the path, I noticed the silhouette of a person crouching behind a bush. Suddenly I was filled with fear. “Hi, how are you” I said nervously. There was no response, and so I picked up a rock from the path and threw it near where I thought the person was. There was still no movement. Again I cried out. Still fearful, I slowly moved towards him, my body pumped with adrenalin and poised for a fight. To my relief, I soon realised that what I thought was a crouching person with his arms outstretched was actually a tree stump with two low branches attached. The feelings of fear had been real - but their foundation was imaginary. This type of fear is felt by Christians who have never, or rarely, done evangelism. And, given that most Christians don’t do evangelism, it is a common problem. en of the twelve spies suffered with this fear, and it robbed them of their destiny… In Numbers 13, we read how twelve spies went up into Canaan to check out the Promised Land. They returned to base camp and reported that there were “giants in the land.” In fact, one of the spies said “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes…” and they “spread a bad report” (Numbers 13:26-33). When the Israelites back at base camp heard this, they were afraid to go and take possession of the land God had promised them. The phrase “in our own eyes” is significant as we think about evangelism. Many Christians imagine themselves doing evangleism and their thoughts make them feel like grasshoppers! They imagine
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each encounter to be much worse than it actually is. Our feelings of fear are real to us, but they have no foundation in reality. How does fear without foundation stop us proclaiming the gospel? First we tell ourselves how bad we imagine the experience will be: “No one will listen to me.” “I’ll be rejected.” “What happens if someone I know sees me?” “What if I put the person off Christianity?” “What if I freeze up and look silly?” “I feel bad enough about myself as it is. Doing evangelism might make me feel worse!” “I might mess it up and let God down.” These fears are largely without foundation, for most of the time they never eventuate. ear spreads… Secondly, we talk to other believers about our imaginary fears, thus spreading bad vibes about evangelism within the Christian community. Those of us who suffer from fear without foundation succumb to a condition known as “Non-Active Paralysis” (in other words, they cause us to take a NAP from evangelising). While there were real people for the Israelites to fight in Canaan, and while the spies really felt afraid, they’d forgotten about God and His role in their situation. In their imagination they focused on failure and left ‘the God factor’ out. They were thinking too much about themselves (pride) and not enough about God. In the same way, fear without foundation causes us to focus on failure in evangelism and not on how God can help us in the situation. Caleb focused on God, and victory through faith (Numbers 13:30) “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for
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we can certainly do it.” od knows all about our fears, and He promises to help… God knows we will feel fearful in many situations, and so He reassures us in His Word. Just look at the incredible promise of victory God gave to the Israelites when they were about to enter the Promised Land. Please notice all the references to victory and success: “After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates – all the Hittite country – to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ‘Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go’” (Joshua 1:1-9). Aside from Joshua and Caleb who didn’t give in to fear without foundation, a certain number of the Israelites missed out on all the promises because they let their fear run rampant. In the same way, we will miss out on the promises and blessings of God which are connected to evangelism if we don’t believe what Jesus has
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promised us today. Believe that: • A loving, all-powerful God is with you when you evangelise. • Most non-Christians actually want to hear what you have to say. • Many people will actually thank you for sharing with them. • God will make the message live. He will “grow” the seed of the gospel you plant. • What you are doing is the priority of Jesus. • And so on. Then act on these beliefs by faith. ow to overcome fear without foundation… When fear is without foundation, the source is our imagination on which Satan plays to stop us proclaiming the gospel. There are six practical things we can do to overcome this fear. Each one is a divine strategy from heaven to help us in our battle for souls.
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KEY NUMBER 3: RELY ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
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Rely on the Holy Spirit Ask the Holy Spirit to help you overcome your fear. And if you don’t feel anything when you pray, evangelise anyway. Many Christians want to wait for a special feeling from the Holy Spirit before they will go and evangelise. What a perfect result for the devil when they don’t evangelise because the feeling didn’t come. What’s the truth about the work of the Holy Spirit in evangelism? This is how I see it. When we evangelise, and along with prayer, we have the help of:
a. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When we were genuinely saved, we were given the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9; Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16; John 14:17; 2 Timothy 1:14). b. The empowering of the Holy Spirit. There is a subsequent experience 16
after conversion where the believer receives the empowering of the Spirit. This empowering enables the believer to be a more powerful, effective witness (Acts 2:4; 4:31; 6:3 & 5; 7:55; 9:17; 11:24; 13:9). Having stated this, I know countless Christians who say they have had this experience, but never engage in Biblical evangelism. This is a tragedy beyond words. c. The authority of Jesus. Jesus said to the disciples “All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to Me. Therefore [you] go, and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:18-19). d. The convicting work of the Holy Spirit. As we are giving the gospel, Jesus said the Holy Spirit will convict the person who is listening of its truths. John 16:8 “I will send the Holy Spirit into the world to convict the world in regard to truth, righteousness and judgment…” This convicting work of the Holy Spirit goes on well after the gospel encounter has finished (e.g. Isaiah 55:10-11). Jesus also assured us specifically in Matthew 28:20, “I will be with you, even to the end of the age.” Understanding these truths means we do not have to wait for the empowering of the Holy Spirit before we can evangelise.5 Through the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit and the authority of Jesus, we already have what we need. But, as a turbo-charger is to a car, so the empowering of the Holy Spirit helps a Christian to evangelise with a greater dimension of power. Why not ask God, and keep on asking Him, for this empowering work of the Spirit? It is also my own experience that when I proclaim the gospel, quite often the pleasure of God, through the Holy Spirit, comes upon me 5 I beg you not to misunderstand me. I am aware that we Christians can use the terms empowering, filling and indwelling of the Holy Spirit interchangeably. If you have a different understanding of the work and experience of the Holy Spirit than what I have described here, I respect this. But please, can you agree not to stop evangelising, or reading this book, because you have a different understanding of the theology of the Holy Spirit? What we can agree on, and what I would like us to agree upon, is that the Holy Spirit is vital to every aspect of evangelism, and that we need to evangelise the world – and we must not let anything stop us achieving this, including differences in theological understanding as to the work and function of the Holy Spirit.
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while I am in the act of evangelising. The Holy Spirit gives me a supernatural love for the person I am reaching. Sometimes I sense this powerfully right in the midst of evangelising someone. Sometimes it comes at the beginning. Sometimes I don’t feel it, but I keep going anyway knowing that God blesses the gospel because it is “…the power of God for salvation…” (Romans 1:16). Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, said: “Many Christians estimate difficulty in the light of their own resources, and thus they attempt very little and they always fail. All giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His power and presence to be with them.”6 More than once I’ve heard Christians use the following scriptures to justify exhorting Christians in their churches not to do evangelism: John 15:5 “…Apart from me, you can do nothing.” Acts 1:4 “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about…” KEY NUMBER 4: DON’T WAIT FOR A SPECIAL FEELING Don’t wait for the special feeling… I can think of only one or two times, out of thousands of evangelism encounters, when I have had a “special feeling” prompting me to share the gospel with a particular person. Mostly, in choosing someone to reach with the gospel, I had just sought someone who looked as if they had time for a conversation and they were on their own. There was no special feeling which made me choose them. As part of the courses we run, we teach how to choose the right person. 6 Cited: Hudson Taylor’s Choice Sayings: A Compilation from his Writings and Addresses. London: China Inland Mission, n.d, p.29
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KEY NUMBER 5: GET GOOD TRAINING
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Get good training in evangelism No soldier without training will last long in a raging war. Training will give you competence, which will result in confidence. When confidence grows, fear shrinks. For example, most of us don’t feel fearful about getting out of bed in the morning, because we know we can do it. We’ve done it so often that we hardly think about the skills involved. Getting out of bed is a pushover. Because of the sheer time and practise I have put into evangelism, it is now, relatively easy for me. I have become increasingly skilled at it, and so my confidence has been raised. But certainly, when I first started out fear without foundation was my major battle. Good training means choosing an evangelism organisation which has certain features. a. Absence of hypocrisy. People training others in personal evangelism should be doing it regularly and consistently themselves. Only then will they have the experience and authority to be the best teachers. b. Proven tools and methods. Those training others in evangelism should use methods which have been tested with a wide range of people and which have been shown to communicate the gospel clearly, powerfully, succinctly, graciously, Biblically and appropriately for the culture. These tools will nearly always use the Law early in the presentation.7 Good tools will help you learn how to keep the presentation on track in such a way that the listener’s interest will be engaged and maintained. You will learn 7 By the Law I mean the Ten Commandments. In presenting the gospel, we often make a point of presenting some of the Ten Commandments to the non-Christians, asking if they have kept them. When non-Christians discover they have broken God’s laws, and that, for the sake of justice, law-breaking must be punished, their need for Christ is awakened. Galatians 3:24 says, “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (NKJV). If non-Christians don’t know that they are in trouble with God, that they have broken His laws, and that God is just and must punish injustice, they will most often see no need for Jesus. To view a demonstration of how to use the Law as part of the gospel, go to www.Biblein11.com
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to communicate the whole gospel, covering the four essential areas of content that we discussed in Mini Book Five. c. Teaching which includes: • Who to choose to evangelise and how to approach that person. • How to start the conversation. • What to say once the conversation is under way. • How to answer the questions non-Christians ask. • The theology of evangelism, so we know why and what we are doing and saying. • How to duplicate ourselves. Ultimately, we don’t want to learn only how to reach people ourselves. We want to teach others how to do it. So the tools and methods for proclaiming the gospel need to be transferable. • How to mentor someone. A mentor will coach and personally demonstrate how to reach people with the gospel. In turn, we can expect to coach. When we see evangelism executed well by an experienced evangelist, we’ll find most often our fears really had no foundation at all. • How to develop a strong devotional life. This will cultivate in us God’s view of the world and of us. In turn, our desire to reach the lost will increase. • The importance of mixing with other people who are evangelising. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” If we mix with doubters, sceptics, fear-mongers, liberal Christians, and believers ripe with excuses about why they don’t evangelise, we will become like them. Choose your close friends carefully. KEY NUMBER 6: DO EVANGELISM REGULARY
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Evangelise Nothing will help us overcome fear without foundation more powerfully than actually evangelising. If you can handle a learning curve when you start out, learning a few new skills, you 20
will quickly break through and experience first hand the openness of non-Christians to the gospel. If by chance you experience one of the 2% and are rejected, wear it like a badge of honour. We never court rejection, and we don’t want to do anything that invites it, but when it happens it helps us to identify with Jesus. And in doing so we will be drawn closer to Him (Romans 8:17). The apostles actually rejoiced when they suffered for the sake of proclaiming the gospel (Acts 5:41). I know this is hard to do, but it’s what the Bible exhorts us to do.
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KEY NUMBER 7: LEARN TO PRAY
Pray Prayer is to evangelism as food and water are to soldiers. You just won’t succeed without it. We ought to pray for one another about our fears, asking God to deliver us from any fear associated with evangelism, and to fill us afresh with His Holy Spirit. KEY NUMBER 8: BECOME A STUDENT OF EVANGELISM
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Study We will be encouraged and inspired to do evangelism as we read books by people who are doing it. Their confidence and experience help us to see that most of our fears about evangelism are imaginary. Reading about the lives of great evangelists will do the same, as will listening to CDs, MP 3’s or DVDs on the topic. KEY NUMBER 9: DEVELOP TH EHABIT OF READING YOUR BIBLE
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Read the Bible Regular Bible reading is essential to maintaining momentum. I 21
like to think of it as receiving fresh motivation and inspiration from our Commander in Chief. Reading the Bible keeps us connected to the heart of Jesus for the lost, and fills us with faith in God, His gospel, and His promise to be with us when we evangelise. As Paul reminds us, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17 NKJV). We often think of this verse in relation to non-Christians i.e. when they hear the scriptures believing faith will come to them. Well, it certainly means this, but it also means that faith comes to the Christian as well. By regularly feeding on the word of God, our faith in God and all His promises about evangelism will grow. KEY NUMBER 10: MEMORISE SCRIPTURE
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sing scripture to overcome negative thoughts… Memorising scripture has also been a great help. One day I went into a shopping centre to proclaim the gospel and suddenly felt fearful. Into my mind came the scripture: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). ow to overcome negative thoughts… Another time I was contemplating going out to proclaim the gospel when a stream of negative thoughts invaded my mind. The truth is, I just didn’t want to do it. I asked God to help me, and a number of scriptures popped into my mind: “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). “How, then, can they call on the one in whom they have believed? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (Romans 10:14-15).
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“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation’” (Mark 16:15). ow to overcome rejection and abuse… Then there was the time I went to present the gospel to someone and received abuse. This made me feel strongly that I didn’t want to go out again. Why am I doing this? I reasoned. God loves me without having to do evangelism! If God wants to save the world, He can do it! Certain scriptures brought me up short: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:11). “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!” (Matthew 10:24-27). These words helped me to control my unwanted fears, and act in faith to overcome them. So I went out and “loved” another person with the gospel. The Holy Spirit so ministered to me in this second encounter that my confidence and joy returned. ry this practical exercise… The following exercise was developed by British Evangelist J. John to help people overcome fear without foundation:8 “Question: What are your fears as you consider speaking to your friends? Imagine I have just asked you to go to your neighbour with the express intention of telling them about Jesus. Use a notebook to write down all your thoughts. First, write down the demand. Secondly, listen for the fear. ‘My mind tells me…’ and shut your eyes briefly, listening to
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8 J. John. Natural Evangelism With No Artificial Ingredients. How To Share The Good News With Friends. Anglican Renewal Ministries, 1996, pp.27-29
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everything you can hear your mind saying. Thirdly, name those fears. Write them down – go on, every one, however silly they might look on paper. Verify them as follows: when you have finished your list of statements, write down against each one T (true), F (false) or DK (don’t know). Remember that any statement you hold not to be true about the future is actually a “don’t know.” No one knows what will happen in the future until he or she tries it out. (When you don’t know, it’s not a truth, it’s just a “don’t know.” In fact, it is false!) For example: 1. Demand: Go to my neighbour and tell them about Jesus. 2. My mind tells me: • They’ll think I am off my head… • If I fail, I will be a useless Christian… • I’ll be unlovable… • My friend has told me to go and evangelise and I respect her opinion… • They’ll shut the door in my face… • There won’t be anyone in… • They like me and so I’m sure they’ll want to hear all about it… 3. Verify. • They’ll think I am off my head…DK (Have you asked them? You don’t know what they will think until you do it.) • If I fail, I am a useless Christian…F (Useless in whose eyes?) • I’ll be unlovable…F (Really?) • My friend has told me to go and evangelise and I respect her opinion…T • They’ll shut the door in my face…DK (Like the first one, how do you know this will happen?) • There won’t be anyone in…DK (Ditto!) • They like me and so I am sure they’ll want to hear about it…DK (Ditto again!) 24
4. Spend time confessing these fears and assumptions to the Lord. 5. Say out loud each statement, and whether it is true, false, or you don’t know. Don’t be shy. Only God is listening, and He knows the truth anyway. You really need to get past these fears! 6. Write out again and say aloud only the statements against which you have written TRUE; in this case, “My friend has told me to go and evangelise and I respect her opinion.” There are usually few true statements; often there are none! In other words, we are actually freer to take action than our minds would have us believe. For some of us these fears may be deep-rooted, and we may find it helpful to seek a friend who can pray with us for inner healing. But it can also be quite liberating to do this exercise just as it stands, with no extra help. To distinguish out loud what is really true and what is not, helps us to see and feel clearly. The truth will set us free. Finally, we need to pray for the Holy Spirit to heal us and give us boldness. We should not hurry this bit, as God may want to move deeply and powerfully within us.” Now that we have discussed “fear without foundation,” let’s look at the next type of fear.
A SPIRIT OF FEAR.
All Christians can be visited by a spirit of fear, particularly those who practise evangelism. This spirit will visit us either to knock us out of proclaiming the gospel or to prevent us from starting. In 2 Timothy 1:7 Paul talks about “a spirit of fear...” The Greek word for “spirit” here is pneuma, a word that appears 385 times in the New Testament, 47 times in reference to an evil spirit. The way to defeat a spirit of fear is first to pray against it. Pray against it… On deliverance from the spirit of fear, J. O. Sanders wrote: “It is essential that the soul winner should lose the fear of man. 25
A former employer of the writer, a Christian lawyer, was a fearless personal worker. One day, feeling my bondage to the fear of man, I ventured to ask him if he had always been bold in this work. He replied that he had been as timid as anyone, until one day he could stand it no longer. He fell on his knees and his Bible opened at Psalm 34:4: ‘I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.’ ‘Lord, you did this for David,’ he prayed. ‘Do it for me now.’ From that moment his timidity was replaced by holy boldness. So long as we are in bondage to the opinions of this world, our work will be circumscribed. There are many who fail to engage in aggressive soul winning for fear of being thought to be peculiar. Do claim deliverance from this satanic fear. God will give a full deliverance to the most timid and fearful soul who dares to claim it.”9 Then move out by faith… But don’t stop there. After praying against it, and no matter how we feel, we ought to go, by faith, and do the very thing we fear. The spirit of fear will then say “Oh my goodness. We can’t stop him/ her. Let’s try someone else.” In Joshua chapter one, God knew the Israelites were filled with fear. A spirit of fear might well have been exaggerating their natural fear. Who knows? Scripture doesn’t say either way. God could have said to them, “Thus saith the Lord! Wait for your fear to subside, and then go in and take the land!” Or, “Thus says the Lord! Stay in the desert and pray about this situation until that awful feeling of fear leaves you. When it does, this will be a sign to go into the land!” Instead He told them, “Be strong and of good courage.” In other words, “I know you are feeling fearful, but just go and do it anyway.” This is the best way to defeat fear: “Go on, I 9
J.O. Sanders. The Divine Art Of Soul Winning. Pickering and Inglis, 1947, pp.36-37
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am with you!” ow I overcame two types of fear in one encounter… Another antidote for a spirit of fear is courage, which comes from confidence in God. When David killed Goliath, he did not so much focus on the size of Goliath as he did on the size of his God behind the giant. The following story shows how fear without foundation and a spirit of fear can combine in a deadly cocktail. One night I was in a café, enjoying coffee with a friend. Across from where we were sitting was a man in his forties. He was dressed in a black sleeveless shirt, ragged pants and large black work boots. When I first noticed him my gut response was to share the gospel with him. I was the giant, he the grasshopper. But as I imagined approaching him, his tattoos seemed suddenly more pronounced, his clothing rougher, his earring larger, his facial stubble pricklier, his black boots bigger and his legs hairier. As I meditated on his muscles they seemed to grow before my very eyes. Continuing my scan, I also noticed his unhappy expression. Soon I began to imagine his negative, hostile response if I approached him and talked about the gospel. Then I began to meditate on my own life. I liked my teeth and didn’t want to lose them. I liked the shape of my nose and didn’t want it rearranged. It wasn’t long before my imagination had taken over and I became paralysed with fear. Then I remembered the story of David and Goliath, and the bad report mushrooming in my imagination halted dramatically. I drew from my back pocket my iphone which I use to present the gospel, and before I knew it I had made contact. To my surprise and delight, he was gentle and kind. The conversation went something like this: Me: “Excuse me, can I ask you a question?” (I squat beside his chair) Bill: (smiling but avoiding eye contact) “Sure.”
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Me: (pointing to my iphone) “What’s the world’s best selling book?” Bill: (still smiling) “Would it be the Bible?” Me: “Yes, it is. We just spent 10 years making a video which summarises the whole thing in 11 minutes. Here, have a look...” Bill proceeds to watch the gospel. About two-thirds of the way through, a tear started rolling down his cheek. I stopped the presentation and asked him if he was all right. Bill: (gently though watery eyes): “Do you know why I came up here tonight?” Me: “ No ... do you want to tell me?” Bill: (looking wistfully out of the window of the café): “Five years ago I was dating a lovely Christian girl. We were engaged to be married. It’s a long story, but we broke up. I was so heartbroken, I left church and Jesus and went back into the world. Well, I have been in the wilderness for the last five years. It’s been hell and I have been into all kinds of things that I am ashamed of. I came up here tonight to this café to pray and ask God if He would forgive me and have me back…(smiling and looking into my eyes) so I guess He has answered my prayer.” After finishing the presentation with Bill, I went through a prayer of rededication and suggested a good church he could go to in the area where he was now living. This story is not an isolated event. I have experienced this kind of unfounded fear before – and since. I am certain a spirit of fear latched on to the fear created by my imagination and exaggerated the feelings. Fear without foundation and fear brought on by a spirit of fear are the first two types of fear. But there is a third. 28
EXPERIENTIAL FEAR
This kind originates from a bad experience in the past. Let me recount my worst experience in evangelism for you. he worst encounter I ever had… I had been leading some training in a Presbyterian church in New Zealand, and most of the twelve people in my seminar were elderly. Near the end of the course, the time came to take each of these members out on the street and show them “live” how to reach a non-Christian person with the gospel. I was to do the evangelism while the trainee evangelists watched. I had told them many times that non-Christians were incredibly open and that they would see this when we came to the practical part of the course. Late on a summer afternoon, we piled into the church van and headed downtown to where the people were. It was quite an effort getting all the old people into the van with their walking sticks and walkers, and I sensed this was going to be a challenging afternoon! In the front seat was the only young couple on the course. They were deeply in love, smiling into each other’s eyes and holding hands as we headed for town. When we arrived I parked the van as close to the centre of town as possible. There were many people around, the air was warm and still, and the sun shone brightly. From the driver’s seat, I turned and spoke to the whole group. Me: “Okay, everyone, this is it. What I am going to do is take each of you, one at a time, and show you how to reach a non-churched person with the gospel. You will see with your own eyes just how open and friendly people are to it. All I want you to do when you come with me is watch and look interested in what I am doing. Stay focused on the conversation as if I were presenting the gospel to you personally. Okay, who would like to be first?” Mary and Ian, the young couple on the front seat, eagerly offered. I don’t usually take two people at one time because three is a bit of
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a crowd. However, I reluctantly agreed. I asked those in the back of the van to open all the windows to keep the air circulating. I climbed out of the van and headed for the parking meter. The old people in the back of the van were watching eagerly and Ian and Mary were at my side. As soon as the coins had dropped through the slot I looked up and saw a couple of young women dressed in sports attire walking towards us. They were about eighteen, and each was eating an ice cream. They looked friendly and happy and in no hurry, so I quickly whipped out from my back pocket my iphone. Me: (smiling and holding the iphone) “Excuse me ladies, I wonder if you can help me?” The two women: (smiling) “Sure.” Me: (pointing to the iphone screen) “Can I ask you a question” The two women: “Sure.” Me: “ What’s the world’s best selling book?” The tw o women: (still smiling): “Umm...dunno...” Me:“It’s the Bible. It’s covers over 4000 years of history and we just made a video which summarises the main message of the whole thing in 11 minutes. Here, have a look…” hing were going well… They were immediately interested and we proceeded to work through the presentation of the gospel. We were standing about five metres from the van and pedestrians were passing constantly. There we were, Ian, Mary and the two young women in sports attire (let’s call them Bev and Sharon) standing on the footpath in a busy downtown area, huddling over the iphone as I spoke to them. All the way through the talk, the two young women munched on their ice creams and listened intently. They said nothing apart from agreeing with the points which are made during the presentation. Near the end of the video there is a part which asks the person listening to the gospel to project themselves forward in time to
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judgment day. hen it all went wrong… “Say you never asked Jesus to forgive you, this is what it would be like for you at death. You would come up before God at judgment. He would look at you and say, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t let you into heaven. I loved you so much that I tried six ways to get through to you while you were on earth. • First I died on the cross for you. • Secondly, I sent someone to you to tell you in a simple way how you could be forgiven. • Th irdly, I gave you a conscience so you could tell right from wrong. • Fourthly, there were churches all over the town where you lived. Some were good, and some I was ashamed of, but you could have found the good ones. • Fifthly, I created a world so beautiful that it was impossible not to acknowledge that I existed. • And finally, I rose from the dead to prove that I was God and that everything I did and said was true, yet you just did nothing. I am sorry, I can’t let you into heaven. I have to send you to hell.”’ At this point the video closes and they are asked, “If you died tonight, where would you go?” But on this occasion we didn’t get that far! About halfway through the list of ways God tries to get through to a person while they are on earth, Sharon stopped the video and interrupted angrily. With her head thrust forward, one foot in front of the other, her brow furrowed and her hands now on her hips she shouted: “Wait a minute….are you saying that if I don’t become a Christian I am going to go to hell?” Suddenly I had to make a quick decision. I had two options: ou have to think on your feet… I could delay answering by saying, “That’s a good question. Can we finish watching the video and then I’ll answer your question
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at the end?” Or I could answer the question immediately. I could say as gently as possible, “Well, that is what Jesus did say…” and then carry on with the video. I chose to answer immediately. I was not ready for her reaction ot the reaction I was expecting… Right where she was standing, and only a few metres from the van, Sharon raised her hand to the sky and with forefinger extended exclaimed towards heaven: “Weeeeeeeell! F#%&* you, God!” Then she repeated it, this time louder, as Ian, Mary, Bev and I stood paralysed. Then she turned on me. “And F#%&*, you too!” She was so loud and angry that passers-by stopped and looked. Quite suddenly Bev scowled, joined in the chorus and repeated exactly what the first girl had screamed. “Yeah. F#%&* you, too!” Then both girls turned and walked past the van, letting off a tirade of abuse, shaking their fists skyward and repeating the previous one-liners. They walked round the corner, all the time furiously screaming their invectives. Their voices gradually faded in the distance. Mary, Ian and I were speechless. Exhaling for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, I said to them, “I am soooooooooooo sorry! I have never had that happen before!” To my utter surprise, Ian beamed. “Wow!” he said. “They were really convicted, weren’t they!” I couldn’t believe it. Ian had just seen a Christian thrown to the lions and he enjoyed it! Feeling a combination of confusion, encouragement, shock and hurt, I suggested we go and find another person to “love with the gospel.” I didn’t want Mary and Ian to think I had lied to them when I said non-Christians were generally
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friendly and accepting of our message. We presented the gospel to another couple of people, and this second encounter was (thankfully) wonderful. When we returned to the van to invite the next person for “practicals,” the response was hardly enthusiastic. As I slid open the side-door, there was a sudden rush towards the corner of the van furthest from the door and the sound of clattering walkers and sticks. I had the impression of cockroaches scuttling away from a room suddenly lit. “No, no, not me!” they seemed to be saying, their eyes filled with terror. But one by one, all those elderly people were taken out and shown how to proclaim the gospel; and all their experiences were positive. Some Christians have attempted evangelism (or seen others do it) and their experience has been negative. This becomes a stronghold in their minds, stopping them from continuing. They will say such things as: “I’m never doing that again. I was laughed at. No thanks... Evangelism is just not my thing.” “Evangelism is just not for me after what I’ve just seen.” “I have tried it. I just can’t do evangelism.” “This is really hard. I don’t think God wants me to do this.” “The guy really abused me when I attempted to explain the gospel. This is not for me.” “I approached a total stranger once and he said, ‘No thanks!’ So I don’t think people are very open.” ow to overcome experiential fear… First we must understand that evangelism is like any other endeavour. As with golf, embroidery, cooking, gardening or fishing, proficiency requires practise, and evangelism is no different. Those who pull out after a few little challenges simply do not understand that to become competent at it requires minor discomfort in the
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early stages. When I first started playing golf, I spent more time in the trees, bushes and water than on the fairway; and my score card looked more like a lottery result. My golfing colleagues were constantly telling me to hurry up and I was too embarrassed to really enjoy it. They were always waiting for me on the next tee, while I was trudging along in the rear. But gradually, and with practise, my game has improved, and I enjoy it much more now than when I started. I’m no world number one, but if I had quit in the early stages I would never have come to the point of appreciating it. KEY NUMBER 11: BE COMMITTED TO IMPROVEMENT
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e committed to constant improvement… Another way to overcome experiential fear is to evaluate ourselves when we have finished an evangelism encounter. Soon after I have given the gospel to someone I ask myself, “How could I have done that better?” This is because most “bad experiences” in evangelism can really be put down to our lack of skill and experience. If we constantly self evaluate and act on what we learn, asking the Holy Spirit to teach us, we’ll gradually become better and better, and our memories of bad experiences will fade and lose their power over us i.e. our skill and confidence will increase. The late President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr Lewis Drummond, said: “Those who would evangelise effectively must not only know something of the theology of evangelism, but they must be able to do something with skill.”10 etting go, and finding life… So far we have discussed three types of fear which can stop
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10 Dr Lewis A. Drummond. The Word Of The Cross. Broadman Press, 1992, p.288
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us from proclaiming the gospel: fear without foundation, a spirit of fear, and experiential fear. When we analyse them, we realise they have power over us only because we’re concerned about our feelings, our image and whether or not we will be rejected. I touched on this at the beginning of this Mini Book and I want to develop the thought here. Jesus exhorts us to be selfless – to put Him first, along with His Kingdom, His commands, His agenda, His will and His mandate. Then we discover that in dying to self, letting go of our reputation, we actually find the fulfilment we thought a life of “self preservation” would bring us. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus teaches the principle of death to self as the door to life: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it.” Similarly Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Among other things this means he is dead to what others might think of him, his reputation, his image, his self preservation and his ego. No one can die to self for us; we have to do it ourselves. But in doing this we will discover a great liberty and freedom and we will never look back. I have never known a person to break through in evangelism without first taking a baby step in the direction of death to self. Every time we persevere, we die a little more to self. Every time we succeed, and it’s important that we experience success, we are encouraged and we gain confidence. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2). 35
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ear is relative… In The Way of The Master, evangelist Ray Comfort puts the issue of experiencing fear in evangelism into perspective: “These fears we have [of evangelism] are very real. However, certain principles can at least help us to bring our fears into perspective. Think of what you fear, then think of the terrible fate of those who die in their sins. Which is worse? Remember, when it comes to evangelism you have a similar responsibility to that of a fire-fighter. Think of his moral obligation as he looks at the mother screaming for help from a six-storey building. You must deal with your fears in light of the sinner’s terrible fate.”11 But not all fear is bad, as we are about to see. There is “natural fear” and this is good.
NATURAL FEAR
Natural fear is God-given. It stops us falling over cliffs, putting our fingers in power sockets, jumping out of planes without parachutes, diving with white pointer sharks, and so on. Natural fear keeps us from harming ourselves. In evangelism, when I approach a total stranger I am likely to feel a trickle of natural fear because I am unsure of the response. We anticipate danger because we are not sure what lies ahead. However, a spirit of fear can latch on to this natural fear and exaggerate the feeling. If we worry too much about what kind of a response we will get when we approach a stranger with the gospel, our tendency to fear without foundation will kick in, we will invite a spirit of fear upon us, and before we know it the trickle will turn into a tsunami. 11 Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort. The Way Of The Master: How To Share Your Faith Simply, Effectively, Biblically, The Way Jesus Did. Tyndale Books, 2003, p.127
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KEY NUMBER 12: LEARN WHO TO CHOOSE WHEN GIVING THE GOSPEL
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ow to overcome natural fear… One key to minimising natural fear in evangelism is to learn who to approach. I advise people to choose someone who: •A ppears to be available. You shouldn’t choose people walking quickly, talking on the phone, deep in conversation, or hard at work. There are many people in everyday situations that are available. If we really want to see them, we will. •L ooks to be alone. This way no one else will be able to listen in when you present the gospel. Such privacy will eliminate any possible “cringe factor” for the non-Christian person. Also, people who are alone are sometimes lonely and would appreciate a conversation. •L ooks in the mood for a conversation. The body language of some people screams, “Hey, I would love to talk to someone!” Take your time looking for these people. Don’t rush into choosing someone. Slow down. Pray to Jesus. Ask Him to prompt you. If you don’t feel anything, take it that He is saying “Hey, just use the brain I gave you, and pick someone suitable!” If we don’t exercise faith in choosing people, how do we expect to grow in faith? Having made your decision, do not think too long about the kind of response you might get. Choose your person, smile, and then just do it. After you have said “Hi” and said a few words, the fear dissipates rapidly - like a cockroach when the light goes on. If you are still nervous after you have started a conversation just say to the person (gently) “I am so nervous about talking to someone I don’t know. Thank you for being patient and gracious.” If you are open, honest and gentle like this, everyone will help you. The fifth and final type of fear is “Fear of the Lord.”
FEAR OF THE LORD
While fear without foundation, a spirit of fear, experiential fear and natural fear can stop us from doing evangelism, the fear of the 37
Lord will motivate us for evangelism. Psalm 111:10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” What does this mean? It means that when we tremble at the thought of disobeying Him, and let our reverential fear of Him guide our decision making, we are being wise. In the KJV Hebrews 10:31 says “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Why do we fear God? Because on Judgment Day our lives are going to be evaluated and the outcome of this evaluation will determine how we spend eternity. We also fear God because the decisions we make on earth determine how our life turns out. Having a healthy, reverential fear of God will help us walk wisely through life. It does so in two ways: 1. It stops us doing things we know would displease the Lord. Disobedience causes heartache and grief. 2. It motivates us towards doing the things that would please the Lord. Obedience brings blessings and honour. Proverbs 19:23 says “The fear of the Lord leads to life, And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.” Having a healthy fear of the Lord will motivate us to serve Him with all our heart, mind and strength so that we can be filled with joy both now and on the Day of Judgment. Really, fearing the Lord is walking in the Lordship of Jesus. esus fuelled the disciples’ natural fear… In Matthew 10, when Jesus sent His disciples out to evangelise the world, He gave them a truckload of fuel to spark their natural fear. Here are the challenges and warnings He said would be ahead for them: • They would encounter demons and evil spirits. • They would find some people unwelcoming. • They would feel like sheep among wolves.
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They would be handed over and flogged. They would be arrested. They would be an instrument which divided families. People would hate them. They would be persecuted. They would sometimes have to flee. They would need to have a greater love for Jesus and His work than for any of their family members. • They would be called names like “the devil.” • Some of them would be killed. • If they were ashamed of Jesus, He would be ashamed of them on Judgment Day. • They had seen how Jesus was treated and were not to expect anything better. • They should take no money. Just their clothing would do. After giving this list, Jesus said to His disciples, “Okay, go to it! Go and build a worldwide Church!” Do you think these disciples felt fearful? Of course they did. Even the bravest might have felt terrified. Have you ever seen a lamb surrounded by wolves? Yet they were told by the Master to override their natural fears with the fear of God. He said to them: “Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Ultimately, this is how God wants us to deal with our fear of evangelising. To overcome the first three types of fear which I have mentioned in this Mini Book with the fear of the Lord ought to be normal for us. Yet so often I hear Christians say about evangelising, “I could never do that – it’s too scary!” This comment betrays a deficiency in this person’s “fear of the Lord” factor. I am certain that if Jesus was standing physically next to the person who said this and commanded them to “Go, present the gospel to that person over there” their reverential fear of Him would spark them into explosive action, no matter how scared they 39
felt. Where does the Bible talk about how fearing the Lord will spark us into action and help us overcome fears we don’t want? Proverbs 14:26 is one place. Dr Derek Prince comments on Proverbs 14:26 “In the fear of the Lord there is confidence.” Says Dr Prince, “Proverbs 14:26 is one of the most amazing verses in the Bible. It’s a very short verse, but it says so much about the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord doesn’t make you timid. It doesn’t make you weak. The fear of the Lord gives you strength. When you fear the Lord you don’t have to fear anything else.”12 Given that most people fear doing evangelism, it would seem from this verse at least that fearing the Lord is a key to breakthrough. Another verse which connects fearing the Lord with success in evangelism is Acts 9:31. “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.” Wow! The Early Church Christians possessed a fear of the Lord and because of this were thrust out into evangelising the world. And what was the result? The Church experienced explosive growth. In Matthew 10:26-27 Jesus Himself taught the disciples to let the fear of God overrule all other fears. Listen carefully to His teaching here: “Do not fear them. For there is nothing hidden that will not be known. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in your ear, preach on the housetops.” Commenting on these verses Dr William Barclay says, “[Jesus is teaching here that a Christian is commanded] to speak what he or she has heard from Christ and they must speak even if their speaking is to gain them the hatred of men, and even if, by speaking, they take their life in their hands. 12 Dr Derek Prince. The Teaching Heritage of Derek Prince. Understanding The Fear of the Lord. December 2004, p.4
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Men do not like truth, for, as Diogenes said, “truth is like the light to sore eyes.” Once, Latimer was preaching when Henry the king was present. He knew that he was about to say something which the king would not relish. So in the pulpit he soliloquised aloud with himself. ‘Latimer! Latimer! Latimer!’ he said, ‘be careful what you say. Henry the king is here.’ Then he paused, and said, ‘Latimer! Latimer! Latimer! be careful what you say. The King of kings is here.’” The Christian with a message speaks to men, but they speak in the presence of God. It was said of John Knox, as they buried him, ‘Here lies one who feared God so much that he never feared the face of any man.’ The Christian witness is the person who knows no fear, because they know that the judgments of eternity will correct the judgments of time.”13 Now here’s the thing - if only 2% of the Church today are engaging in evangelism, then from what Proverbs 14:26, Acts 9:31 and Matthew 10:26-27 teach, it would seem that 98% of us today don’t truly fear the Lord. For when the fear of the Lord is present so there will be unfettered evangelistic activity. The early disciples feared God so much that they gave their lives to evangelise the world, which makes our modern excuses look pitiful. Ray Comfort lists how some of the disciples died:14 Philip: Crucified, Phrygia, AD 54 Matthew: Beheaded, Ethiopia, AD 60 Barnabas: Burned to death, Cyprus, AD 64 Mark: Dragged to death, Alexandria, AD 64 James (the less): clubbed to death, Jerusalem, AD 66 Paul: Beheaded, Rome, AD 66 13 Dr William Barclay. The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1. Saint Andrew Press. Edinburgh. 1965. p 397-8 14 K irk Cameron and Ray Comfort. The Way Of The Master: How To Share Your Faith Simply, Effectively, Biblically, The Way Jesus Did. Tyndale Books, 2003, p.127
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Peter: Crucified, Rome, AD 69 Andrew: Crucified, Achaia, AD 70 Thomas: Speared to death, Calamina, AD 70 Luke: Hanged, Athens, AD 93 Author and theologian Mike Yaconelli believes the fear of the Lord has gone from our churches and we ought to bring it back: “We have defanged the tiger of truth. We have tamed the lion. The tragedy of modern faith is that we no longer are capable of being terrified. I would like to suggest that the Church become a place of terror again; a place where God continually has to tell us, “Fear not”; a place where our relationship with God is not a simple belief or a doctrine or theology, it is God’s burning presence in our lives. I am suggesting that the tame God of relevance be replaced by the God whose very presence shatters our egos into dust, burns our sin into ashes, and strips us naked to reveal the real person within. The Church needs to become a gloriously dangerous place where nothing is safe in God’s presence except us. Nothing - including our plans, our agendas, our priorities, our politics, our money, our security, our comfort, our possessions, our needs.”15 You see, it would be fair to say that those of us who don’t evangelise advertise that we don’t really fear the Lord. For when we genuinely fear the Lord we won’t care what other people think of us, or what we think of ourselves. Our only concern will be what God thinks of us and of obeying Him. His priority will naturally become our priority. His agenda for this world will preoccupy our thoughts and direct our actions. As we finish this Mini Book, let’s get practical. How do we develop and nurture “the fear of the Lord?” Here are six suggestions: 1. Constantly feed your spirit with the teaching of Spirit filled, 15 http://www.acts17-11.com/fear.html
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deep, godly, Biblical, proven, loving teachers. Get MP3 files of their messages. Turn your car into a Bible college by listening to them as you drive around. Those that come to mind are people like Derek Prince, John Stott, Don Carson, John Piper and T.D. Jakes. Don’t listen to only one person all the time. As a good dietician would advise, make sure you get lots of variety. Good teachers move way beyond funny stories and tips for successful living. They expound the Word deeply. As you listen you’ll literally feel your soul being richly fed and your fear of God growing. 2. Practise being obedient, especially in the small things. Obedience produces a desire to be more obedient. As our obedience in every area of our lives grows, so will our fear of God grow. 3. Disobedience has the opposite effect. It will cause the fear of the Lord to diminish. So what’s the solution? For King David it was memorising scripture. He said in (Psalm 119: 11) “I have hidden your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” 4. Don’t just read the Bible, study it systematically book by book, one book at a time. The Bible is spiritual food which will nourish our fear of God. 5. Mix with “hot” Christians, especially those who are actually doing evangelism. They will spur you on to deepen your relationship with God. As this happens, so will your fear of the Lord deepen. 6. Engage in other spiritual disciplines like prayer, fasting, silence and meditation. Now here is my final thought on the matter. 1 Peter 3:15 says “But set Jesus aside in your hearts as Lord.” If Jesus is truly your Lord, the Lord of your life, you’ll evangelise whether you feel like doing it or not, because when He is Lord, it’s not about 43
you at all. It’s about Him. Ultimately, this is the truth of the matter.
S
ummary
• Fear is near the top of the list when it comes to things which stop people from doing evangelism. • Fear can be overcome. • Understanding the five different types of fear helps us become more self aware. This in turn helps us overcome fear. • (1) Training also helps overcome fear as does (2) prayer and (3) support from others. • These three factors need to be on-going if people are to be retained in the habit of doing evangelism. • Providing a wide variety of strategies and resources for people so they can start where they are at is an absolute key to success when it comes to overcoming fear of evangelism. • On one hand it’s extremely important not to push people into evangelism before they are ready. • On the other hand, and paradoxically, the way to overcome fear of doing evangelism is to do evangelism. • The more one does evangelism the less fear of evangelism a person will feel. • The less one does evangelism, the more fear of evangelism one will feel. • The Bible is pregnant with promises of God’s empowering presence for anyone who steps out in evangelism. • Developing a deep fear of the Lord is a key to overcoming all other fears which might stop us from doing evangelism. • If Jesus is truly your personal Lord, you’ll do evangelism. Period. If He’s not, you won’t. This is the acid test.
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•
A
CTION POINT: Start spreading awareness of the issues raised in this Mini Book to other Christians, particularly leaders. Email this Mini Book to everyone on your address book and encourage them to do the same. Send them a PDF file of this Mini Book. You can obtain this by writing to julian@esisite.com.
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ow, what’s in the next Mini Book? Even if fear doesn’t stop us from proclaiming or spreading the gospel, the devil will try and stop us through a cluster of other devices. These devices are a subtle blend of truth and error, which make them very difficult to detect - and particularly dangerous. Chief among them is the great quote supposedly from Saint Francis of Assisi: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel and if necessary use words” The truth? Saint Francis didn’t ever say these words. This and ten other deadly devices are in the next Mini Book.. Don’t read these at night time if you are alone. They are scary....
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Real Life Story Going To The Nations – Without Leaving The Country Hamilton, New Zealand.
Eleanor Goodall is a woman in her 70’s who has been faithfully proclaiming the gospel for about sixteen years. Two of the encounters which stand out for her demonstrate how we can be reaching people of all nationalities without even leaving our own country. I was out doing some shopping in Auckland one day when I came across a wonderful little shop selling Chinese clothing. It was the specials rack which lured me inside, and I ended up buying some coats for some of my thirteen grandchildren. The shop owner was a Chinese man named John, and before I left I asked him if he would like a tract which would explain clearly how he could get to heaven. He took it happily. I went back to his shop the next day to exchange one of the coats and noticed the booklet I’d given him on the counter. It looked as if it had been read. I asked John how he was finding it. He had a couple of questions for me which I answered, and then I offered to get him a Chinese/English translation of the Bible. He accepted gratefully, and I arranged for a Bible to be delivered to him. A few weeks later I called in and found he had read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts, and was halfway through Romans. It was obvious the Holy Spirit was working in his heart and he was hungry for 46
truth. So I asked him if he had thought about turning and surrendering his life to Jesus Christ. John knew what it meant to “turn and surrender” because the tract explained these terms in detail. “Well, how do I do that?” he asked. I explained how to invite Jesus in. We prayed together, with John repeating the phrases after me, and I felt a real stirring of the Holy Spirit within me. I live in Hamilton, a city south of Auckland so I arranged for a friend to drop by a few days later and give him a simple discipleship booklet called, “I’m a Christian. What now?” Several weeks later I heard from my friend that John was being baptised that Sunday and that his whole family and their boarder were going to church for the occasion. It was hugely encouraging to me. What I found amazing about the whole episode was the power of the Holy Spirit to follow up a simple tract. I encourage people who feel they are unable to actually proclaim the gospel. These people can start evangelising immediately by simply giving out tracts. Anyone can do that. The second encounter which impacted me powerfully was my meeting with Tomoko, a Japanese tourist. When I first saw her she was sitting in Garden Place, the town centre in Hamilton. I approached her and her friend in the way we had learnt through the ESI “6 Lost Truths Conferences”, and they willingly agreed to participate. Tomoko seemed especially interested and focussed. At the conclusion she pulled out a booklet and asked me what I thought of it. It was a Watchtower magazine which she had been given a couple of weeks 47
previously. I explained to her what the Watch Tower magazine represented, and also about the Christian Church. Then I asked her and her friend if they would like a Japanese/English translation of the Bible. They both seemed keen. Tomoko gave me her email address and I arranged for her to meet me at a Japanese Christian couple’s home where she was able to ask questions. We were also able to pray with her about a job, which she received a few days later, and about her fear of her mother’s reaction, should she decide to become a Christian. The presence of God was very powerful and she was really touched by the Holy Spirit. Later, when a few of us who go out regularly to share the gospel met for a pre-Christmas dinner, we invited her along. We wanted to get to know her better and for her to mix with other enthusiastic Christians. One day, quite unexpectedly, Tomoko emailed me to say she had decided to become a Christian. We met, and I led her to Jesus. I gave her a Bible study booklet and went over to her home each week to help her study it and to answer her questions. It was not long before she began regular attendance at a lively church and home group. Later she was baptised in water and in the Holy Spirit. I also trained her how to share the gospel and we went out on the streets together several times. Tomoko is now back in Japan attending an international church, and recently she went on a mission trip to Mozambique. It is now more than six years ago that I had the privilege and opportunity of learning how to share the gospel more effectively. I can say without reservation that through my new focus on evangelism and my obedience in this area, I have found a wonderful source of direction 48
and joy. Almost all of my children and grandchildren have received Jesus into their lives since I started using the tools produced by Evangelism Strategies International (ESI). Sharing the gospel has opened the door to a whole new world in my Christian life. There are ten lessons I have learned which I would like to share with you. 1. I have learned to carry on sharing the gospel regardless of the opinions of people around me. I have realised many Christians mistakenly believe that spreading the gospel through tracts/bible in 11 cards or proclamation is oldfashioned and ineffective. Nothing could be further from the truth. 2. I have learned that non-Christians want to hear the truth. At the end of the gospel presentation, many express their thanks that I have taken the time to show them their need of Jesus. 3. I have learned that the Holy Spirit does in fact sovereignly and supernaturally follow up the gospel, when it is either spread through tracts or proclaimed through what we say. 4. I have learned that it doesn’t matter how old you are, God can still use you mightily in evangelism. You might not lead people to Christ personally, but you will plant the seed that God will grow. It is never too late to start. 5. I have learned that to share the gospel effectively takes time and effort to learn, but, if we persevere, the rewards are well worth it. 6. I have learned that sharing and spreading the gospel brings a 49
richness to my Christian life – one I would never have thought possible. I have been a Christian for 56 years and in that time found “life” in church worship, Bible study, prayer, fellowship, serving, giving and building deep relationships. But nothing has given me “life” like sharing the gospel. I can only assume this activity must please God more than anything else. It has also given me more confidence and boldness. I could never have gone up to people and shared my faith previously. 7. I have learned to make tract and gospel proclamation a priority in my life. This, by God’s grace, will never leave me. 8. I have learned that proclaiming the gospel makes my Bible reading come alive even more. When I read in the New Testament about how we are to proclaim the gospel, I feel a deep sense of joy, knowing that I am obeying Jesus in this vital command. Sharing the gospel has increased my need to study the Bible, because when non-Christians ask questions, I want to have strong answers. Hence I have become a junior theologian, stretched and challenged intellectually like never before. 9. I have learned that sharing the gospel increases my compassion. The more I give the gospel, the more I want to, and the more my love for the lost goes up. To love the people of this world, we need the love of Jesus. We don’t have it naturally, therefore it has to be given to us. God does this as we proclaim the gospel. 10. I have learned not to rely on my feelings. Some days I don’t 50
feel like going to the lost with the gospel. I don’t feel like giving myself or my time. But I go anyway - and always return blessed and happier afterwards. I have grown so much in Christ since I started doing evangelism. I would love to hear from you if I can encourage and help you in any way. Please feel free to contact me - eleanorg@ihug.co.nz
Julian’s comments.
Eleanor pretty much says all there is to be said. I think there are two things we should take from her Real Life Story. First, she was committed to learning how to evangelise. Many people ‘give evangelism a go’ and if they find it hard or uncomfortable, they give up and go back to their old ways. Not Eleanor. Because she persevered, she received tremendous blessing. Second, please notice the sheer weight of evidence for Christian growth which occurs in a believer when they start doing evangelism. Really, you’d have to say that if the Christian life was a wheel, then evangelism would be the hub, and inside that hub would be the Trinity. Doing evangelism gets us feeling very close to Jesus, and doing it positively effects all other aspects of Christian life. If you are a pastor, and you are wondering how to inject ‘life’ into your own life, and the life of your church, here is your answer.
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The Full List Of Books In ‘The Truth About Evangelism’ Mini Series Book One
Evangelism Lost! Exposing The True State Of Evangelism In Today’s Church
Book Two Seven Deadly Motives Exposing How The Enemy Is Shutting Down Evangelism.
Book Three
The Sorrowful Collapse Of The Great Commission- A Dangerous Redefining Of Evangelism
Book Four Evangelism Redefined? Six Subtle Yet Devastating Redefinitions Of Evangelism
Book Five Confusion Busters 7 Things You Should Know About The Gospel Message
Book Six
Six Ways To Move From Gospel Confusion To Gospel Clarity
Book Seven
The Evangelisation Of The World Is The Ulimate Purpose Of The Church. 7 Irrefutable Reasons It Is Time To Prioritise
Book Eight
A Gift, A Call, Or A Commission. Are All Christians Commanded To Evangelise
Book Nine
12 Keys To Fearless Evangelism In The 21St Century
Book Ten Take Them Down. 12 Road Blocks And How To Get Through Them
Book Eleven
The Key To Victory. Start Viewing Evangelism As An Event, Not A Process
Book Twelve
Confidence In The Gospel, Come Back! Four Essential Steps To Reclaiming Lost Ground!
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Book Thirteen Prepare To Be Amazed! What Jesus Really Taught About Evangelism!
Book Fourteen
What Leaders Must Do To Cause A Resurgence In World Evangelism
Book Fifteen
A Plan Of Action To Cause A Resurgence In World Evangelism
Book Sixteen
Church Leaders! This Is Your Time To Step Up! (Part 1)
Book Seventeen
Church Leaders! This Is Your Time To Step Up! (Part 2)
Book Eighteen
Church Leaders! This Is Your Time To Step Up! (Part 3)
Book Nineteen
Church Leaders! This Is Your Time To Step Up! (Part 4)
Book Twenty Church Leaders! This Is Your Time To Step Up! (Part 5)
Book Twenty One
Climb On Board! 4 Reasons Why Doing Evangelism Will Help Create A Better World!
Book Twenty Two
Devastation! How Pseudo-Conversions Hinder Evangelism And What You Can Do To Stop The Rot!
Book Twenty Three
“Friendship evangelism.” What’s good about it, and what’s heretical?
Book Twenty Four
Unholy Grief! Five Ways Evangelists With The Gift Can Grieve The Holy Spirit
Book Twenty Five
The Highest Motive For Doing Evangelism? You’ll Be Amazed What The Bible Teaches! Conclusion
Book Twenty Six Appendix One : If We Fail To Evangelise, We Fail. Period. By Dr K.P. Yohannan
Appendix Two : The Pastor Evangelist. By Dr. Roger S. Greenway
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Appendix Three : True Gospel Must Be Heard, By Kevyn Harris
Appendix Four : This We Believe Signatories
Appendix Five : Device 84. “I don’t like being told to do evangelism!”
Book Twenty Seven The Evangelism Fitness Test
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