Teaching Evangelism

You're welcome, pocadots. Glad you are enjoying the free book. I've mailed out about 30 of them so far.

You may know this already, but you can print off some free study sheets that go with the "Hell's Best Kept Secret" message at http://www.livingwaters.com/learn/hellsbestkeptsecret.htm

 

I have just returned from a 2100 mile round-trip to establish a soulwinner. I first met this individual in prison while holding a prison ministry meeting. At that time I told him I bought he had the spirit of evangelism on him, at which time he broke down and begin to wept saying that I had just confirmed what other people had said about him.
He got out of prison, he was a illegal immigrant, and was deported to his home country of Mexico two months ago. In the prison I had given him my address and he consequently wrote me a letter telling me where he was in Chihuahua Mexico. At this point I determined to go see him and show him what I do, how I practice evangelism, and see if he would be interested in using that method. I accomplished showing him the method I use by having him stand right alongside of me as I witnessed to the people on the street. He very shortly begin to understand and then began to do this on his own. He saw me witness to about 80 people in two days. Approximately 60 who accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior and in fact prayed with us to receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
On seeing that he could do this on his own I said goodbye to him and returned home. Over the years I have found that teaching evangelism is most effective when I try to teach one person at a time.

 

mima,

have you heard anything more from this man since your last post above? I hope he has been able to become established in a church somewhere there which can give him further training. I believe I know of a missionary in Chihuahua, Mexico. Perhaps I could point him there?

 

bapmom:
I thank you so much for your interest in this man. And low and behold I have just gotten off the telephone with him. He's been very successful he has led over 27 people to the Lord in the last two weeks. He has a most unusual evangelistic witnessing ministry. Here's what he does. He is selling vegetables in a vegetable market, and witnessing to almost all of the customers that he has. So he is making a living selling vegetables and at the same time being the witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Unique and different, here is a self-sustaining ministry. This man is 41 years old and between now and the return of the Lord he should see many people accept the Lord Jesus Christ.
He did mention one thing to me(and I had warned him about this before I left him) a small group of people have come to him and ask him to start a Bible study in his home. Also there is a minister that knows about him who would love to have him recommend his church to those that accept the Lord Jesus Christ. I have seen several on fire evangelist make the mistake of working with a church. And before long the evangelist has been given the title of assistant pastor are something like it and hands lost his fervor for soul- winning. But hopefully he will not fall into this trap.

 

mima,

I hope I misunderstood you, but I fear that Im too clear on what you said.......

It is vital that this man work WITH a local, independent, Biblically-sound church!! How else can his converts grow in the Lord? Im not saying he ought to become an assistant pastor, but your assumption that fervor for lost souls is diminished somehow simply by becoming involved with a local church is truly disturbing.

You know, there are three parts to the Great Commission. If you see the person saved and do nothing more, than you have not fulfilled the Great Commission as Jesus commanded. Baptism in front of a local body of believers as well as training for further service are also part of the Great Commission.

Not to mention the fact that by encouraging him to steer clear of a local church body you are encouraging him to directly disobey God's command for us to not forsake the assembling with other believers.

By seeing souls saved, and then not having a place where you can take that new little baby Christian to grow, you and he both are setting these new converts up for a failed Christian life, and frankly, you are furthering the death of the Christian witness beyond their generation.


and furthermore.......(you knew there had to be more )........a Baptist church in Chihuahua, Mexico is most likely started and/or run by a missionary.....obviously their fervor for souls matches yours. Please do not set yourself up in your own mind as being obviously more caring for souls simply because you do nothing but witness all day every day (if thats what you do). Our duty includes more than just witnessing to people about the gospel. Our duty also includes teaching and training the next generation to grow in the fruits of the Spirit, and to further the gospel. How can they go and teach others if they have not been taught themselves?

 

What God has taught me about soul-winning

http://www.momof9splace.com/childsalvation.html

Look at the website first, and then read the commentary - God Bless!

Friends and Family,

Believe it or not, what is said about children, is also the process for adults.

HOW God brings people to conviction (convinced by THE EVIDENCE) of sin and "sinnerdom" or being a sinner, and puts the Gospel in their life, to cause repentance (change of mind) and faith (trust/belief) is as varied as there are created individuals.

BUT, there are GENERAL PRINCIPLES to be kept in mind on how a genuine salvation actually occurs.

In the general principle mindset I make the following statements:

No one is ever truly born again without trusting Christ as their Saviour that trust being based upon the FACT that He shed His Blood and died for their sin.

However, no one ever truly trusts Christ in this manner, until they are shown BY GOD (however He brings it about) that they are in fact, LOST, SINNERS, and ON THE WAY TO HELL due to their condition.

This (Conviction and Repentance) is called an "awakening" by the "old-schoolers", and whether it is for 30 seconds, or 30 years, it always precedes salvation.

We adults also, must be "awakened" convicted/convinced (cause to see - convinced by the evidence) our sins and sinfulness by the Holy Ghost. This will cause us to acknowledge that God is JUST to send us to Hell, for our rebellion.

Only strong preaching against sin, OR using the 10 Commandments to show sinners their sins, OR/AND the Holy Ghost of God can cause conviction.

The Holy Ghost is the Author of Biblical Conviction, and He uses the Conscience OR the Law, or His Own Power to convict.

Only these can "convince one as to the evidence against their hopes of Heaven" Any singular one or ALL of these can do it.

Holy Ghost Conviction (sin, righteousness and judgment in a real salvation experience) causes us to REPENT (change our mind), about our sins as ok, and our sinfulness as excusable. This will generate a TRUE desire to be free from sin (aka lifestyle) and receive Christ.

I AM NOT SAYING WE ARE SAVED OR PROVE OUR SALVATION BY WORKS. What this is all (Conviction of the Holy Ghost and Repentance) is referring to is the HEART-ATTITUDE, of the individual towards God, Sin, and Self.

Implied in this however is that we would also stop TRUSTING anything else (including a past profession of "faith" or false supernatural "experience" from Satan AND THOSE ABOUND IN THE LAST DAYS) and turn from our own way.

Salvation is not received by "asking Jesus into your heart", or merely "praying a sinners prayer" when one is not convicted of being a sinner. When you are convicted, you desire to repent.

There is nothing in Scripture about "asking Jesus in your heart", or any of those other pithy sayings that come to mind, when dealing with cruddy and wicked "mass evangelism" tactics. That is not to say the Holy Spirit does not indwell the heart of the believer (REGENERATION), and bring assurance, but He is not allowed to come in this way. The way of the cross leads home!

Once one is convicted and desires to repent, then they must TRUST the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, based on The Gospel that He has DONE for all sinners.

The Gospel: Christ shed His Blood for all sinners, to wash their sins away/blot them out, Died for all sinners-taking their Hell and punishment upon Himself, was buried, and Rose again (as the Perfect God-Man who never sinned) for all sinners, to give out eternal life, to those who repent from their sin (as convicted by the Holy Ghost) and trust Christ as their Saviour. They then receive eternal life, justification, righteousness, and assurance, by this simple act of faith. (YOU NEED TO LOOK UP THESE BIG WORDS!)

That, in turn leads us to truly trust Christ as Our LORD and SAVIOUR. This does not mean the Christian in now sinless, but He/She does "sin-less" than before CONVICTION AND REPENTANCE, and desires (though is not perfect in completing) to do God's Will, not the self's. Desires (heart-attitudes) change!

This ACTUAL AND ORIGINAL LEGITIMATE SALVATION EXPERIENCE is evidenced to the heart of an individual by I John...Read the Book of 1st John to see the portrait of a believer.

Some of the subjective experiences, mixed in with Biblical truth could be experienced as follows:

The indwelling Holy Ghost in the heart, the "lifted load" of sins, heart-belief that Jesus Christ is God, the awareness of the nearness of God, the desire to know God from His Word, the desire to pray, the Scripture opened and understandable, the desire to hear preaching, the desire to be around other saved people, the desire to see others saved, the hunger and thirst for righteousness, sin becomes painful and "icky" and once done, causes unalleviable grief until dealt with biblically, God using the person to reach others as he/she was reached, and he/she slowly changed (or changing) personality traits, where as things that were once acceptable, are no longer are.

Also, the heart of the person will no longer be "empty", and there won't be a "void" in the heart/life like "something’s missing", because the Holy Spirit will have taken up residence in that persons body, soul, and spirit. Sin will no longer satisfy, ONLY JESUS CHRIST!
There is such a "thing" as a carnal Christian. Conviction and Repentance, Faith and Salvation, continue in the life from point of origin (salvation), until death. Also the Christian will be absolutely miserable in acts of sin, and will have "stuff happen" in their life, even maybe death, to cause them to "get right". A real Christian, when walking in the flesh, for days or weeks or any indeterminate period of time will be the most miserable person on Earth.

Regardless of how deep (not as in a period of time, but actions/attitudes) into sin a real believer may go, they have always been convicted and repented in the beginning, and will always come back to the Lord Jesus Christ in humility and contrition, desiring to make it right, and have His pardon. They don't "leave and never come back". In the South they say "Well, if he is really saved, he'll be back." In the South too, it's said a lot, "You gotta get lost before you can get saved!"

HOWEVER, 75%-90% of people who think they fall into this category, or define themselves as that (and are for months and years), have never gone through these general salvation principles and Holy Ghost led experiences in their own life, and have merely a false "faith" or a simple head-knowledge about salvation. THEY NEVER FORWARD-SLID TO BACKSLIDE! They have never been convicted, repented, and trusted Christ. John 3:17-21 states that. Read it!

Only God knows (and that individual) if a "carnal" Christian is really saved or not.

Search the scripture about the purpose-work of the Law and Conscience in Paul's Epistles (Romans 2:14 - 8:30; The Book of Galatians) and read the Law (10 Commandments) in Exodus 20

Read up about the Holy Spirit and his work in John (14-17) regarding the lost and sinners, and read up on repentance and faith in Luke and Acts (Various verses).

Also, when reading about people being saved by faith in Christ, in the Scripture (The Gospels and Acts), notice their attitude (not work - I am not a hyper-Calvinist, faith and repentance are heart attitudes, not works) of Repentance when they come to Christ.

Remember, once a person is genuinely saved, they are no longer slaves to sin, or the Law. That's why we don't use the 10 commandments on true Christians, or anything else out of the Decalogue.

Try out what has been said here in dealing with yourself, your adult friends and family, and your children. Salvation is too serious to play games with, or get wrong. Eternity depends on it. Salvation is not complicated, but it does require some understanding of these things, IN THE HEART!

Too many people have grown up in Bible-Preaching churches, or been "evangelized" and are worse for it, because of the various reasons listed here and in the article submitted.

God Bless you all, and Jesus Saves sinners (like me/us!)

The Tomlin Family

 

In all honesty, I didn't read all the posts before mine.

But I can't emphasize enough how excellent the Way of the Master lessons are. So yeah. +1 recommendations for that!

 

I believe this statement,"Salvation is not received by "asking Jesus into your heart", or merely "praying a sinners prayer" when one is not convicted of being a sinner. When you are convicted, you desire to repent."
To be in direct conflict with the Scriptures in John 6:37, Romans 10"13, Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, Can anyone help on this matter?

 

mima,

salvation is not a magical prayer - which is what those who say your quoted statement object to. Salvation is not just words, salvation is a belief of the heart. A belief in what? The Bible says the devils "believe" too, but in that passage it is talking about a specific thing which they believe - just that God exists. We are to place our trust ON Jesus Christ as the only One who can save us from.....from what? our SINFULNESS. If a person does not believe that they really are all that bad, then what are they trusting in Christ for? If a person thinks that they can work their way to heaven, then what are they trusting Christ for?

The problem is that when you say "ask Jesus into your heart" does the person you're talking to really understand what you mean? That particular statement is found nowhere in the Bible that I can think of, which does not automatically rule it invalid I know, but it does mean we need to examine it and see if it is Biblical. In today's culture these "pat" phrases have been overused and misused and redefined so many times by so many different groups that their meaning has become obscured for many people....especially those who are not familiar with real Biblical doctrines. You and I know what we mean by that phrase, but most likely the person we're talking to does not. I do my best to avoid it. Many people take it to mean that they just need to believe Jesus was around once upon a time.........

Also, there are so many different groups who are inches close to salvation and yet never get there, that we have to be crystal clear in what we say to people. There are so many who add Jesus to their list of beliefs. We must be clear that the saving belief in Jesus is exclusionary.

The Holy Spirit definitely has an important role in our witnessing. He it is who draws and convicts. I can't believe that you'd really mean there doesn't need to be any conviction of sin in the person's heart?