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Stories from the Frontlines
6/11/2009
As you may have noticed, I haven’t posted anything for the past two months. My time has been taken up with leading the Way of the Master (www.wayofthemaster.com) Basic Training Course at our church for the past 8 weeks. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it’s a course that provides a biblical pattern and methodology for personal evangelism. It was developed by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron (of Growing Pains & Left Behind fame) and uses the law to help people see their need for a Savior.
Most contemporary evangelism techniques emphasize what God can do for you while avoiding potentially offensive issues such as personal responsibility for sin, God’s righteous and impending judgment, the reality of Hell, the necessity of repentance, and the death of self. We’ve seen the result of such teaching in shallow, self-centered pseudo-Christians who have never learned the fear of the Lord and, therefore, take a lackadaisical attitude towards sin and obedience.
A few months ago, I had approached our Pastor with the idea to lead some sort of course that would encourage and enable our people to get out and spread the Word. It was an idea that the Lord placed in my heart at the Calvary Chapel Southeast Pastors Conference via a message from Chuck Smith. He taught on 1 Samuel 14 and used it to illustrate the concept of “ventures in faith” to see what the Lord may want to do. I had been unable to shake the thought since then.
Up until that time, my evangelism had consisted mostly of going to the square in Canton to talk with people, hand out tracts, and street preach. The Lord brought me into contact with some interesting people and their stories through that but I wanted to find a way to “bring more laborers to work the fields.” After my Pastor gave his authorization, I started seeking the best way to train and encourage people to go out and present the whole counsel of God. I had been familiar with the Way of the Master for years and when I found that they had this course (which included a set of DVDs, teaching manuals, and tracts), it was perfect for us!
Below are the posts I distributed to our church concerning the outings that our group went on. I pray that they inspire you to go and “preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction!”
Although there were only 4 of us in this outing, we trusted God to give us courage and went out armed with a bag full of tracts and the promises of His Word! Our plan was to go out to the square in Marietta and pass out tracts and try to use what we had learned to bring souls to repentance. At the last minute, I discovered that the city of Marietta was celebrating their 175th birthday that day in the park culminating in a concert by the Beatles tribute band “The Return.” The square was packed! After finally finding a parking space, we made our way to the square, distributed the tracts to each participant, and then went out in pairs.
The crowds and the loud music made it difficult to engage in conversation with people but we managed to distribute a good number of tracts. We had all kinds from copper pennies with the Ten Commandments, to shrinking dollar bills, to “smart” cards, just to name a few. One in particular drew either reactions of laughter or anger. It was a trillion dollar bill with President Obama’s face on it! On the back of it was the trillion dollar question, “do you think you’ll go to Heaven or Hell when you die?”
All in all, it was “hard ground” and a difficult environment in which to tell others about Christ. Most of those who were offered a tract refused it. But much good seed was sown and God promises that His Word will not return unto Him void (Is. 55:11). One sows, another waters, and yet another reaps. But it is God who provides the increase. In any case, each of us was grateful for the opportunity, if even in a small way, to suffer the offense of the cross in an attempt to make His Name known.
I encourage each of you to be obedient to Jesus’ Great Commission and make an effort to tell others about Jesus. Those of us who are going out are no different from you…we have the same fears, weaknesses, busy schedules, and inadequacies. If God can give us the courage to speak in His Name then He can do the same for you! The time is short…
One of the suggestions from last time was that we spend more time in prayer. So we started with some reading from the Word (focusing on biblical responses to those who claim to be Christians but lack evidence of it in their lives), worship (including recordings of some of my favorite worship songs), and prayer. Then everyone selected the tracts which they liked best and we headed out to the Square.
It was a beautiful night and many people were milling about the Square in front of the various shops, restaurants, and bars. A few were actually in the park and around the fountain. We split up into groups and went out to see what “eternal appointments” Jesus might have for us!
I was so proud of our group! Seeing what God had done in their lives over the past couple of months and how they had by God’s strength overcome their fears! Half the battle is just showing up! Some of our group did not feel quiet ready to talk one on one with people but they came anyway! They passed out tracts and placed them in strategic areas and prayed for the rest of us.
As I mentioned, it was a very different experience from last time and I attribute much of it to the prayers that you and others offered up for us. Although we had a few belligerent responses, for the most part everyone was very receptive!
I spoke to a group of 6 teenage girls who listened respectfully and intently and really seemed to think about their answers and what was being presented to them. A couple of them walked away but the rest stayed to the end and said they would think about what they had heard. While my partner was speaking to one lady outside a bar who appeared to be a little tipsy, I had a brief conversation with a young man standing next to her. He had a cigarette and a drink in his hand as he told me that he had graduated a few years back from a conservative Christian college (whose name I’ll keep to myself) with a major in Theology. He thought it was great that we were out “spreading the love.” I restrained myself since I didn’t want to distract from the conversation that was going on beside me, but it was difficult. Unfortunately, the person my partner was speaking with became indignant at the insinuation that she wasn’t a good person and stormed back into the bar. Her friend said we shouldn’t be out “harassing” people. We moved on…
A young couple was standing together and I offered the young man the million dollar bill and explained that it asked the million dollar question, “Where do you think you’re going to go when you die…heaven or hell?” He replied that he thought he was going “go into space!” However we had a great conversation and I was able to present the whole gospel to them and left them with a round “TUIT” (i.e., a tract that’s circular with “TUIT” on the front…as in, I’ll get serious with God when I get around to it). The young lady complimented me on how I had presented the gospel to them and they both promised to think about what they had heard.
As we headed back to the square I saw several members of our group sharing the gospel with others there and I’m sure that they have some wonderful stories from that night, too! The Lord had been good to us and allowed us to participate in His Work! I’m confident that the seed that was sown will grow into fruit for His Kingdom! We retired to the local IHOP to share stories and pancakes and left full both in our bellies and our souls!
Amos 8:11 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the LORD.”
Don’t let the worries of this life choke out your passion for telling others about Jesus! Don’t believe the lies and half-truths coming from most of the church today that direct presentations of the whole counsel of God are old fashioned and ineffective! The message hasn’t changed and our responsibility is to tell it and leave the results up to God! If we can break out of our ruts and our comfort zones we can find a freshness and a vibrancy to our relationship with Christ as we discover the primary reason that we were given the Holy Spirit…to empower us to tell others about Jesus!
Way of the Master’s First “Fishing Trip” (5/29/09)
Luke 10:2, 3 “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”
This past Friday night, some of those who have been taking the Way of the Master (www.wayofthemaster.com) evangelism training course participated in our first “fishing trip!” The course teaches how to share your faith in a biblical way, how to prevent false conversions, and how to address the major objections that people have to accepting Christ.
Luke 8:5-8 “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.”
We did manage to speak to a few people. One of our group spoke to three young people from a nearby church that wanted to know how to witness to people. Another had an animated and lengthy discussion with a young man who was very confused about what to believe and what not to believe concerning God, Jesus, and the Bible. Yet another endured an angry denunciation from an apparently drunk “Christian” with a beer in his hand who was offended at our giving out tracts with President Obama’s face on it and appearing to question whether he was really a Christian.
Matthew 5:11, 12 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
This is the last week of the Way of the Master course and we plan to go out again next Friday. Please pray that God would grant us courage, boldness, compassion, and discernment as go out and that He would set “eternal appointments” for us. Pray that He would prepare the hearts of those we will meet to hear the Gospel.
John 9:4 “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.”
Way of the Master’s Graduation “Fishing Trip” (6/5/09)
Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Last week we concluded our 8 week Way of the Master Basic Training Course with yet another “fishing trip” to the Square in Marietta. This time we had 9 brave souls join us in spreading the gospel! And it was a very different experience from our last trip!
Luke 10:2 And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
I can’t tell you what an honor it has been to work the fields with these men and women of God. But they are no different from you in that they share the same fears, inadequacies, and conflicting priorities as you. But they came anyway. Several of them were in physical pain from back, knee, and foot injuries. Some of them were there with only a few hours sleep from working odd hours. Some came straight from work without having eaten. They all had obstacles which could have easily kept them from going out and sharing the gospel, but God gave them all the strength to overcome those obstacles. And He can do the same for you.
Daniel 12:4b … many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.
I know how hard it is to even consider making time to go out and intentionally tell others about Jesus. It seems that the rate of change on our planet is ever accelerating and we’re constantly overwhelmed with one crisis after another both in our world at large and in our personal lives. And when we turn to Christian media (whether in print, on the radio, on television, or on the web) for a little guidance or inspiration or comfort they all seem to be spouting the same useless drivel. With few exceptions, they all tell us how God wants to give us everything our heart desires and how the most effective way to win others to Christ is by keeping our mouths shut. And, oh by the way, they all desperately need our money! Never has there been so much religion being talked about and such a famine of the Word of the Lord!
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”