My Weblog

Movie Evangelism

Fox Faith believes that movies have a huge influence on today's culture.

Giving It All Away

In an article from the Presbyterian News Service, Robert Lithicum has some wise and powerful things to say about what helps churches to thrive (or to fail). Check it out!

Catching People AHI Style

    Jesus calls His disciples to fish for people. This applies every bit as much to contemporary Christians as it once did to the first of Jesus's followers. Yet many of us are hesitant to get into the "people catching" business.
    There are several reasons for this, but one of the main ones is that we simply don't know what to do. If we want to help catch people for the kingdom of God, what should we do?
    I'd like to offer a simple guide to catching people for Christ. It comprises three steps that all of us can take, and it comes in a form that you will never forget. All you've got to do to be a catcher of people is remember one kind of fish. It's a Hawaiian name. And, no, it's not the supposed state fish of Hawaii, the humuhumu-nukunuku-apua'a. That's a bit too long to remember. To get started in the ministry of fishing for people, all you've got to remember is AHI. That's right, Ahi, A . . . H . . . I. Ahi, as you may know, is the Hawaiian name for yellowfin tuna. But AHI is also a memorable and reliable formula for catching people for the kingdom of God. Let me explain.

Accept, Don't Judge, Visitors

            People visit our churches to “check us out”.  People check us out for a variety of reasons.  Some come for high, spiritual reasons; they want to discover where God wants to deploy them for his purposes.  Others come for more self-serving reasons.  When they visit a church, they are asking, “What might I get out of attending here?  What might this church do for me?”  Not the most Christian of questions!

            Why, however, should we expect them to ask Christian questions, since a whole lot of them are not yet Christians?

            Perhaps we should focus more on asking what we should expect of ourselves as Christians, as disciples called by Jesus to welcome and receive “publicans and sinners”,

            As those he commands to go and make new disciples, shouldn’t we be delighted that some potential new disciples come to us, even if for less than the highest reasons? Maybe they are coming to hear good music and be entertained, to establish business connections, to look for a handout, or to meet attractive people; but at least they are coming, and for that we should thank God.  For if they come (for whatever reasons), and our churches are what they should be, they will after all hear the good news of God’s love and experience his love through his people.  They are, whether they intend it or not, putting themselves in a position where the Spirit can get a good shot at them.

            When people are exposed to the love of believers, the truth of God’s word, and the power of God’s Spirit, some of them will be transformed, and they will start to love Jesus, not for what he can do for them, but for who he is.

            Let us also never forget that many of us, who now serve Christ out of loving gratitude, first “checked out” Christ because we wanted something from him: release from guilt, a sense of meaning, the promise of a new start in life, involvement with a group of caring people – or, let’s be honest, to check out some follower of Christ to whom we were attracted, to be a part of a church sports team, or to hear good jokes from a funny and entertaining preacher .  I think of one vibrant, new believer who first gave a serious look at Christ just because his people paid her electricity bill and kept her power from being shut off!

            Christ met each of us believers on our own terms.  Though he has not left a single one of us as we are, he accepted each of us as we are – with all our self-preoccupations and lack of noble interests.

            Christ calls us to love others as he loved us.  How Christian are we willing to be?  Let us refuse to indulge annoyance over visitors “using” the church for their own ulterior ends.  Let us praise God for whoever visits our church, for whatever reason, and open our hearts to them in loving acceptance.

The Wrong Gospel?!

Have we fundamentally missed the point of what Jesus and, later, Paul were saying?!

There have been recent postings (on this new website and on our previous one) which point us to articles dealing with the very definition of the Gospel: "What is the Gospel", and "The Challenges of Evangelism in the 21st Century".

Gimmic: I don't know about you, but my first inclination when I see those titles is to view them as a gimmic to grab my attention so that I will click and then read yet another article representing a traditional gospel perspective - perhaps spiced up with new illustrations or ideas about applications.

Good News / Bad News:  Pardon the pun, but the good news (about the articles) is that I was completely wrong.  These are not gimmic titles at all; rather, these are serious pieces of work. But the bad news is that some of this material - coming out of such trusted places as FTS - really are stating flat out that we may have some fundamental misreadings buried deep within our traditions about what the Gospel is really all about! 

In Fuller's "Theology News & Notes" 2004 (the second article linked above), Brian McClaren's very first recommendation to us in rethinking our evangelism strategy is to "Admit we may not actually understand the good news, and seek to rediscover it."  This is serious stuff.

Is it really Bad?  Anything that can challenge the very core of what we have believed over time can be hugely disturbing.  But if we dare to wade into the waters of this discussion we might just find that all that we believed before is still there, but that there are new and breathtaking perspectives available that we've never seen before which offer tremendous new power and inspriation to our understanding - and which provide a new and palpable sense of relevence to many around us in the postmodern mindset.

Thank You!  I personnaly want to thank Pastor Mark D. Roberts for the depth and courage of his preaching and teaching this past year at Irvine Presbyterian Church.  It was Mark's teaching, and his direction to other teachers and writers that have led me into the waters of this discussion.  And the refreshment and invigoration I have known have been like living waters.

More links which can lead your toes and feet into these wonderful waters:

Mark D. Roberts, "What Was the Message of Jesus?"

N.T. Wright, "The Challenge of Jesus" (and just about everything else that Bishop Wright has written and said which illuminate how the Gospel is really all about God rescuing his world, new creation, his kingdom on earth, a new way of being human as image bearing people, and that finally it is all about the truly wonderful news that Jesus is Lord!)

The P.A.I.N. of Evangelism

A lot of Christians identify evangelism as a stressful, discouraging process -- a really pain-full experience. Yet we are called upon by Jesus to be, not gospel gunslingers, going out to put more notches in our Bibles or scalps on our belt. Rather, as those who have experienced the love, and grace, and forgiveness that Christ gives, we have the opportunity to share good news -- the gospel ... euangelion ...That's what "evangelism" means -- telling good news.

Irvine Presbyterian Church has found it helpful to think of evangelism in terms of PAIN. Yes, P . . . A . . . I . . . N.  P.A.I.N stands for:

Prayer
Availability
Invitation
Neighborliness

"What is the Gospel?" Great Online Articles

Fuller Seminary's Theology News & Notes (June 2004) has an excellent series of articles on the question: "What is the Gospel?"

The Evangelism Toolbox

A website with tons of helpful tools for evangelism. Contains materials from a large number of respected evangelistic organizations. Something for everyone here. Well worth checking out by clicking here.

From the Field, For the Field

The  Office of Evangelism of the PCUSA has a new and very helpful website.  It's called "From the Field, For the Field." This page  is a collection of great evangelism ideas, gathered from a variety  of churches and denominations. It's well worth a visit on a regular  basis. You can also send in some of your best evangelism ideas.

First Post from the Committee Moderator

I am excited that we now have this available for our Presbytery. My hope is that many churches will participate in sharing evangelism ideas with others. The harvest is ripe, let us join together as workers in the harvest to build the kingdom of God in Christ's name.