Evangelism Training BLOG

Sexy Abs, Best Chainsaw, 10 Minute Trainer, and Evangelism

May 4, 2013 by Mike Clark in Witnessing | Leave a comment

juicing for life

  •  Sexy Abs
  • NEW Shark Carpet AND Floor Cleaner
  • World’s BEST Blender
  • No Defrosting or Preheating
  • BEST Chainsaw
  • 10 Minute Trainer
  • Secrets To A Dancer’s Body
  • Total Gym for $14.95
  • Insanity Workout!

Scan through the TV channels anytime between 1am – 6am and you will be bombarded with Ads like those listed above.  Companies spend about 10% of their annual prior year revenue on advertising.  They spend countless hours trying to figure out how best to sell to YOU and ME, the consumer.  So what do these Ad Titles tell us about ourselves?

  1. We Want It Now
  2. We Want The Best
  3. We Want To Look Sexy After We Buy It
  4. And We Don’t Want To Pay A Ton of $ For It

This is what advertisers have figured out about the average American and they’ve also discovered we watch a sickening amount of television.  The average American child watches an estimated 25,000 to 40,000 television commercials per year.  $15-17 billion is spent by companies advertising to children in the U.S. and more than $4 billion was spent in 2009 by the fast food industry alone.

We can gather from this that we’re an impatient people.  Although we desire the top quality, we’re impatient for results that won’t come without hard work, we’re too busy to commit a substantial amount of time in order to achieve the desired results, and if it costs much more than 6% of our regular paycheck, we’re not going to spend the money on it.  It’s not just the financial factor though, but the truth is, we’re afraid we’ll drop the bones on a Ten Minute Trainer, but we won’t follow through.  Or we’ll hit that 800 number on the screen and purchase the ULTIMATE Juicer, use it twice, and then toss it on that top shelf in the cabinet where “As Seen On TV” items go to die.

These same quandaries occur in evangelism.  Think about it…

  • We’d love to share the gospel, but only if it doesn’t take too long
  • I’ll do it, but only if it doesn’t cause an argument
  • I don’t want to look stupid because I’m unsure of what I believe, so I just won’t share
  • I certainly can’t afford to drop any cash on taking someone to lunch to talk about Jesus…I simply have too many bills.

“I would But __ (insert excuse here)___.”

 

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”
―     Benjamin Franklin

1 Corinthians 9:16 - For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion ; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

The word there for “compulsion,” in the original language is a word that means: imposed either by the circumstances, or by law of duty regarding to one’s advantage.  That’s why the Apostle Paul called himself a Debtor.  We are equally as much debtors, as Paul was, to share the GOSPEL with anyone and everyone.  Our circumstances have changed from Hell-bound to Heaven-bound; we have hope; we’re beggars who were told where the bread is and now it’s our duty to tell other beggars where the bread is.  Yet 61% of Christians don’t share their faith on a regular basis.

Beat the statistics.  Be Explicit.  Leave No Doubt.  We’re not by any means encouraging “Easy Believism,” or saying that you can share the Gospel effectively in 30 seconds flat.  We are saying that our lives our worthless if we don’t share the Gospel.  Souls are at stake.

If you’re in the Denver, CO area, we’d love for you to come to one of our Training Day events so we can equip and encourage you to share the Gospel effectively.

Jesus is serious about you…it’s time we take His call seriously.

“And he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

-Jesus

Dinner With Mormons

May 3, 2013 by Mike Clark in Mormonism, Witnessing | Leave a comment

Mormon Missionaries on bikes

It’s the question that many Christians want an answer to and that many have just simply given up on because they think it’s too hard or perhaps the whole group is just a lost cause…literally.

How do I witness to Mormons?

Not only do I live next door to some very kind people who are leaders in their Mormon church, but they are also members of “The Ward.”  While I’m not sure what all exactly that entails, I do know that part of the responsibilities of being a member of the ward is you are to have space available within your house for missionaries while they are here fulfilling their 2 year “calling.”  Missionaries live with you, spend time with you and your family, join in at meal time, and help out with household duties, on top of hitting their 10 speeds and filling their schedules up with “appointments.”

The opportunity that we have had recently is pretty exciting.  I was approached by the two missionaries living next door – We’ll call them Andy and Nate.  Both guys are in their early 20′s and have both been “on mission” for less than 6 months.  I invited them over to my house for dinner, called Brian Bognar for backup, and called several people for “air support,” (aka prayer.)

If you’ve ever had the chance to really have an in depth conversation with a couple of Mormon missionaries, you know the conversation can go one of two ways:

1. You argue your points, they argue theirs, leave you with a book of Mormon, and you hit them on the head with a bible while shouting, “COME OUT OF HIM DEMON OF BLINDNESS!” (i’m kidding…please don’t ever do that.)

2. An honest conversation ensues where tough questions are asked and although many excuses and justifications may be offered up by the missionaries, they no doubt leave with some new questions of their own concerning their system and history of beliefs.

This is the best way to witness to Mormons.  Ask questions that they cannot honestly answer.  To be able to do that though, you need to know some good contrasting passages of scripture in the Word of God as well as in their book written by Joseph Smith.  It also helps to know a little history about the Mormons.  It’s very sad and amazing to me to see just how deceived these people truly are.  Not only are there holes in their doctrine just in regards to their own book of Mormon, but given the fact the Mormonism has only been around since the 1800′s, there is a pretty good record of how it all came about and it’s pretty obvious that the whole thing is a counterfeit gospel.

“Mormonism is much closer to paganism than to Christianity.  There are so many gods in their religion, they don’t know how many gods there are.  Mormons are on their way to hell.” – Dr. John MacArthur

John MacArthur goes a step further in a Q&A session on the topic of evangelizing Mormons and states, “If you are going to witness to Mormons, you have to realize you’re pulling a branch from the burning.”

True as that may be, the GOSPEL is still the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. (romans 1:16)

So before you tell a Mormon that their religion is false and demonic religion, full of lies, and they’re currently on their way to hell, you NEED to share the unadulterated GOSPEL with them.  You can click HERE to see part of the training we go through at our Training Days.  As the weeks go on, and we continue to meet with Andy and Nate, we will document our meetings, topics/scriptures discussed, and share with you our outcome, good or bad.

The GOSPEL is effective 100% of the time; either in hardening the heart of the hearer, or softening it.  At the end of this, whether Andy and Nate place their faith in Christ alone, believing He is the Son of God who paid the penalty for our sins, and by grace alone redeems us, or if they leave just as blind as when they said, “Chicken tacos for dinner?  We’re there,” you will see the outcome.

We’re praying 2 Timothy 2:24-26…

24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

We ask you to pray with us and follow this series.

 

HALF GOSPEL IS NO GOSPEL

March 20, 2013 by Mike Clark in Witnessing | 1 Comment

Picture of Deflated Life RaftImagine this:

You’re on a boat in cold icy waters and the boat has struck a rock and his going down.  The hull is filling with water, the boat begins to sink more rapidly, and as the boat is completely consumed with bone chilling water, you’re left floating; treading water, looking for something – ANYTHING- to grab onto.  Luckily, the Coast guard shows up!  He calls to you, “I’M GOING TO THROW YOU A LIFE RAFT!”  A sudden urge of relief comes over you, “I’m saved,” you think to yourself.  As you keep your gaze fixated on the man about to toss you the hope you can grab onto, he pulls out the familiar yellow raft.  The man, with all of his might, tosses the raft into the air and it falls right in front of you.  As you desperately take hold of the raft you realize, it’s only inflated half way and you cannot even get inside of it enough to get out of the hypothermic waters.
A half inflated life raft will not save someone half way.  It simply doesn’t work.  In a word, ineffective.

 

The GOSPEL

It’s amazing how many believers sit in church, year after year, and absolutely do not know what the Gospel message is and most definitely could not articulate the Gospel if someone were to ask for a reason for the hope they have.  Some of the things that have been said and written in recent years about the gospel are actually quite frightening.  I’m not even talking about other religions that have come up with and proliferated false gospels, or even liberalists who are attacking true doctrine.  I am talking about skewed theology coming right out of conservative evangelicalism.

A popular method of evangelism that has been proliferated by churches, pastors, and well meaning believers, is one that simply preaches love, forgiveness, and trusting Jesus as your Savior.  All sounds pretty good, right?  That is a good HALF gospel.  Unfortunately, half gospels do not save anyone.  A half gospel cannot save someone anymore than a deflated life raft can save a drowning shipwreck victim.

 

THE WHOLE GOSPEL

We NEED the WHOLE Gospel.  The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.  The gospel is effective 100% of the time when it is presented explicitly.  Therefore, biblical words like repentance, obedience, and submission are mandatory words that must exist within our vocabulary when it comes to our evangelistic efforts.

If we only tell a half gospel, then faith becomes merely an intellectual exercise.  If when witnessing to others we only ask them to ACCEPT some basic facts about Him, they may become intellectually enlightened, but there’s no surrendering to Christ.  An individual can definitely believe without obeying.  This half gospel robs faith of any moral significance and thus righteousness becomes optional.

There is a revealing statement made in church on Sundays:

“Make a decision for Christ.”

When was the last time you heard a message from the pulpit that challenged unregenerate sinners to repent and follow Christ?  Yet that is exactly the language Jesus Himself used…

Matthew 4:17 - “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Mark 8:34 – “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

When people are confronted with the gospel; explicitly – leaving no room for confusion or doubt – they MUST respond.  Jesus is saying, “Are you with me?  Or against me?”  There’s no middle ground or, “I’ll think about it.”

  • God is perfect and holy and cannot be around sin.

  • Sin separates us from God and eventually, it kills us…a death that ends in hell.

  • Jesus Died; paid our debt of death for our sins, and in HIM alone we find hope.

We cannot afford to throw people half inflated Gospels, for the whole gospel is the power of God unto salvation. (romans 1:16)

 ”Jesus lays his body across the path; there is no ignoring him.   If it’s headlong into hell we want to go, we have to step over Jesus to get there.”

-Matt Chandler

Spiritual Obesity In The Church

February 11, 2013 by Mike Clark in Witnessing | Leave a comment
wpid-Fat-Baptist.jpeg

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The annual America’s Health Rankings list is out and it’s scary.

Some states faired better than others, but regardless, obesity stands as a killer. Obesity alone is the leading cause of preventable death and costs our nation about $200 billion each year. More than 66 million adults are obese – that’s more than one in four Americans.

Imagine This headline…

Spiritual Obesity of the church alone is the leading cause of preventable deaths outside the church.

If we’re honest with ourselves, it’s been a while since we last had a meaningful conversation with someone about Christ, The Cross, and the Gospel. Time for many of us to turn off the reality/drama TV, get off the couch of apathy, and get on the treadmill; start running the race as to win.

1 Corinthians 9:24

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

Jane Pennington, spokesperson from the United Health Foundation, had this to say about the lifestyles and health of Americans:

“It is important to note that we are living longer, but not necessarily better.”

The same goes for believers. You may be a member of an awesome church, sitting under a great man of God that brings the heat every Sunday. But if all we do is come to church on Sunday, sit, attend, and go home, all we’ve accomplished is taking in another spiritual helping that will go right to our thighs.

Get up. Run the race. Share the Gospel.