Evangelism and sharing the love of Jesus with your family and neighbors need not be

a scary or intimidating thing to do. I recently became a proud Granny of my first Granddaughter. If you need a refresher course on the powerful love of our Lord, Jesus Christ, become a Grandparent! The miracle of birth visits you in a powerful way for a second time, the first being the birth of your own children. When my daughter arrived home with my granddaughter, I stayed overnight to help with the newborn. That evening, a neighbor came over with a pan of lasagna for dinner, knowing that my daughter would not have the energy take care of both a newborn and dinner at the same time. That was the love of Jesus in action.

Step One: Pay Attention

Pay attention to what is going on in your community. Make a note of someone who could use a little help. Then bake them that dinner, or baby-sit for that hour. Maybe you have a proud senior Grandma next door, who lives alone. She might need gutters cleaned, or a quick errand to run.

Step Two: Take Action

Be a neighbor! Drop by for a cup of coffee and a bit of quick conversation. That elderly gentleman needs it. Then, when you drop off that apple pie, tuck in a little tract with that pie. You put a smile on his face, and bless yourself with a new friend.

Here is a great site to order some tracts: http://www.pocketpower.org/

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”- Galatians 5:22-23.

Pray for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria 

I found the website for the Pocket Testament League about two and a half weeks ago. They have a very slick, well done website. I know my website stinks. I am workign on it LOL They offer training classes and a very simple method of evangelism. Much like handing out a tract, they ask you to carry small book of the Gospel of John. They have many different covers. While you commit to carry and read the book of John, you are tasked with offering it to people you meet during the day.

I enjoy giving out Bibles, but the small testaments are good for carrying around. with you They do not sell the books, but ask for a donation instead. I wanted to see if I didn't pay for the books if I would still get them within a reasonable amount of time, So I ordered them and about two weeks later I received them. They were shipped Library Mial. The design layout is very fresh and modern. So it does make them a little easier to read. They also have an achievement like system. So they track how many you order. They also give you identifying stickers to place in the Testaments. That allows you to see if the people you give them to make an online declaration of faith. I also signed up for their new Christian home study course. The overall design was not as professional as their website for their new believer correspondence course. The content was good, but it coudl have had a little more umph to it.

I was impressed with my experience overall with the ministry. I am also pleased that it appears the primary driver is getting the Word of God in peoples hands, not adding to the bottom line of their ministry. I also tracked spam going to the email account I gave them, and I did not see a spike in Spam activity. That means allot to me and I am sure it does to you too. I do believe we should support ministries that are doing a good work, so I plan to send them check. Their suggested donation for 30 copies was $20. Their website also let you support individuals giving out the books, and you can create your own cover and sponsor a print run of Testaments.

You can check them out at http://www.pocketpower.org/

I am working on a new Christchievement image. I will post the image here when it is done. It will be called, He's got the whole book in His hands. Giving out 25 Bibles, New Testaments or Book of Johns will unlock it.

I am currently working on one of many projects at the First Cyber Church. I have purchased hundreds of Bibles for witnessing purposes over the year. Whole Bibles, New testaments, Gospels of John. You always have to balance cost with getting the Bibles into peoples hands.  I have always preferred giving complete Bibles. The one drawback, is that is pretty heady for a new Christian. I like to guide them first into John, Then into Romans, then Acts. You give someone a Bible, they want to turn straight to Genesis. Nothing wrong with Genesis, but I like a new believer to read John first. I think that book, really shows you who Christ is.

Many of the inexpensive paper back Bibles do not have allot of resources geared toward a new believer. So I started working on a new believer "Study" Bible. It will have John and Acts in it. It will be broken into a first 90 days of your new life. I will have back ground info, helping new believers get to a state where they will be more comfortable in the church. It will have a Bible reading plan for after the 90 days. The study will be geared toward teaching them to read their Bible everyday, praying before and after reading, asking questions, applying scriptures.

It will have a list of national numbers where people can get help. It will have articles geared toward starting their walks. I have attached the first day draft. I am about a quarter of the way through the text. I am removing chapters and verses. I am breaking it into specific blocks, so each day starts and ends at a logical break. Give it a review and please give me feedback. If you have some items you think may be helpful, let me know. Once it is completed and the graphics are completed, I will post it in PDF for free. I will add it to Lulu.com with a price just over fifty cents over their publishing costs. This money will be used to do a larger print run to bring the costs down.

ReachOuDraft2t.pdf (84.36 kb)

This post is for all you Pastors out there. I have allot of friends who are Pastors of churches and a common complaint is, why doesn't my Church evangelize?

You have probably devoted numerous sermons to witnessing, the need for witnessing, maybe practical methods of witnessing.

What was that you just said? You Haven't, well shame on you!

That is the first step. They have to know you are passionate on the subject, and many need to see you step out of your own comfort zone and share your faith with others. For those of you who are already doing this step, let me move on and share something that may be perfect for a church that needs a little prompting.

First, make it fun. Take the idea of Christchievements. Start using them in your your youth group. Promote them, and give them out on the Fifth Sundays of the month. You will be surprised how these little steps of faith, will break down the barrios that many people have with approaching strangers and friends with their faith.

Once you have that down, start a 60-90 promotion using this awesome program for Churches.

It is called Invite One.

Here is a blog devoted to it.

http://inviteone.wordpress.com/

It has info for the Pastor on communicating the message to their congregation. It has a sign up sheet. It is just a framework, but the creative Pastor could really use this as a way to reach the lost and grow their local church at the same time.

If you desire a program that is slick and complete. Then the next one is a must use.

http://www.act111.org/

It is free and a similar model. This one has your congregation make a commitment to share their faith with ONE other person. It has some decent video training, a certificate. As a Pastor I would add one thing. I would have my congregation sign up to share with the church just 5 minutes on their experience. This will do a couple of things, It will make them accountable. If you give them a day they have to share their faith, they will not keep postponing witnessing. It will also be a way to keep the program going without you always preaching about it. It will also inspire others, They will see it is not as scary as they think.

What other programs have you found that are similar?

What would stop you from creating a similar program in your church

I found this article and decided to reprint it. This illustrates one of the ideas I am trying to pass along. If we want to reach out, and really reach out we have to think out of the box sometimes. You need to look at your life, look at the things you enjoy to do. Then turn them over to God and determine to use them for God's Goodness. Get off the couch, get out of the church. Review a few blog postings, read a book or take an online evangelism class and "Git Ur Dun"! I love it!

Have You Ever Considered Campground Evangelism?   by Aleena Denison

The idea of campground evangelism is little thought of by many Christians. I certainly didn't think about it much until I started researching it. Of course, God has specifically laid it on the hearts of some believers to minister to those who travel around and spend much of their time at campgrounds, but maybe most of us don't realize the potential for ministry in this area, and it could be practically in our own backyards.

When we think of campers, we might think about all the adventures they have planned, with little time for "religion." This is true with some, but many people, even those wanting to escape thoughts of religion, are open to meeting new people and talking about various experiences in life, and conversation can eventually be swayed to spiritual things.

Here are a few things that are more common than not among those who frequent campgrounds:

* They're looking to have a good time, so for the most part their attitudes are cheerful and expectant.

* They're looking for a relaxing time away from stress and hassle, and some may be looking to escape serious emotional, physical, or spiritual difficulties in their lives.

* They're looking to meet new people and experience new things.

Aside from those who vacation at the campgrounds, the workers at campgrounds may be open to learning more about spiritual things. One thing about it, when one is surrounded by God's creation, it's hard to deny His existence. It's also possible that you could meet other believers who would love to participate in evangelism while on vacation, and there may be some believers in need of encouragement in their spiritual lives.

Although the door for campground evangelism is wide open, it would be very unwise to rush out right now and burst into camp with preaching and teaching. Prepare first and have a plan! Think about:

* Getting permission from the campground management. Beginning such a ministry without the proper permission from management could cause problems and hurt your testimony when word gets around about what you're doing.

* Building relationships with people; easing into spiritual conversation. Not everyone likes to be confronted by strangers about personal matters, and a person's soul is a personal matter--between him or her and God. Many people like to find an area of common ground on which to build, and even if there isn't anything obvious, those to whom you are speaking are apt to feel more comfortable if you show genuine interest in them.

* Specific activities you could plan according to the ages and capabilities of the people at the campground-- the ages will span from very young children to those who are retired.

* Speaking to people in a language that they understand, which will mean defining "Christianese" so that those who've never been in contact with spiritual things can understand. It would be beneficial to look for tools that help simplify the Gospel so that it's easily understood.

I'd encourage anyone who lives in an area where there are several campgrounds to consider the possibility of this ministry!

About the Author

Aleena Denison has a heart for seeing the message of the Bible presented in a clear way,and is dedicated to sharing Jesus with the lost and helping believers see their responsibilities in evangelism, discipleship, and Bible study. For more information and free downloads, see http://www.goodseed.com

I found this article on another blog. It is a great article on avoiding Christian lingo when you are witnessing and evangelizing. I watched a youtube video of an open air preacher, who really should maybe look for another gig. He was using many words, that only Christians know. He also was yelling harsh words about women in general asking them to leave! LOL As someone who is in the Information technology industry, I know every social group has it's own terms and language. What you have to realize is this is actually a wall communities use to keep others out. Paul said he was all things to all men. So we need to be cogniscent about how we are communicating God's message. I am in the process of writing special book for new converts. One of the things I have been convicted on, was to make sure it is free of Christianese.

Speaking your audience’s language
How to avoid ‘Christians’, by Rusty Wright
When you seek to communicate the message of Jesus to those outside the faith, do you ever feel like you’re not getting through? There can be many reasons for this, including their own resistance, spiritual blindness, spiritual warfare, ego, personal pain, anger with God, disappointment with God or Christians, etc. But a major reason might be that you just are not speaking their language.
Read the full article here;

http://www.internetevangelismday.com/preaching-effective-sermons.php

While reviewing the content of the Online School of Evangelism, I saw this parable. It is on numerous websites and I thought it woudl be great to reporduce here. Share it with your congregations or in your newsletters or bulletins.

The Parable of the Fishless Fishermen
Anonymous

It was good to be a member of the Fishermen's Fellowship.

They were surrounded by streams and lakes full of hungry fish. They met regularly to discuss the "call to fish," the abundance of fish, and the thrill of catching fish. They got excited about fishing!

Someone suggested that they needed a philosophy of fishing, so they carefully defined and redefined fishing, and the purpose of fishing. They developed fishing strategies and tactics. Then they realized that they had been going at it backwards. They had approached fishing from the point of view of the fisherman, and not from the point of view of the fish. How do fish view the world? How does the fisherman appear to the fish? What do fish eat, and when? These are all good things to know. So hey began research studies, and attended conferences on fishing. Some traveled to faraway places to study different kinds of fish with different habits. Some got doctorates in fishology. But no one had yet gone fishing.

So a committee was formed to send out fishermen. As prospective fishing places outnumbered fishermen, the committee needed to determine priorities. A priority list of fishing places was posted on bulletin boards in all of the fellowship halls. But still, no one was fishing. A survey was launched to find out why. Most did not answer the survey, but from those who did, it was discovered that some felt called to study fish, several had even earned doctorates in Fishingology, a few went into furnishing fishing equipment, and several went around encouraging the potential fishermen. One fellow developed a program called Purpose Driven Fishing, and he became world famous and wrote a book on fishing with a leader's guide and DVD of fishing principles. What with meetings, conferences, and seminars, most recipients of the survey just simply didn't have time to fish.

Now, Jake was a newcomer to the Fisherman's Fellowship. After one stirring meeting of the Fellowship, he went fishing and caught a large fish. At the next meeting, he told his story and was honored for his catch. He was told that he had a special "gift of fishing." He was then scheduled to speak at all the Fellowship chapters and tell how he did it.

With all the speaking invitations and his election to the board of directors of the Fisherman's Fellowship, Jake no longer had time to go fishing. But soon he began to feel restless and empty. He longed to feel the tug on the line once again. So he cut the speaking, he resigned from the board, and he said to a friend, "Let's go fishing." They did, just the two of them, and they caught fish. The members of the Fisherman's Fellowship were many, the fish were plentiful, but the fishermen were few!

Reprinted from; http://blessedquietness.com/journal/fishless.htm

I am going to share with you an easy program that is a great way to connect with the local neighbors around your church building. It is as good, if not better than a VBS program. It is also a great way to add a new spiritual dimension to your current membership. When you first look at it, it may at first seem a little tough. I introduced it to a church with a weekly membership of around 100 people. Once we implemented it, everyone involved shared how much they enjoyed it. We saw significant improvement with our relationship with our neighbors. VBS attendance grew beyond members, and we had many visitors the next year. The cost was pretty small except for time. This is what we did.

1. Created nice prayer cards with a stamp attached
2. Visited every house and delivered a prayer card
3. Pray for the Lord to make the cards fruitful.
4. Pray over every card New Years Eve from 6:00 PM - 12:01 AM

1) You can make beautiful cards at VistaPrint.com for next to nothing. Make sure the front is something that stands out, or maybe a picture of the Church Building with all the members smiling outside. The back should be self addressed and stamped with full postage.

2) Grab your ministry teams together a few weeks before you canvas the neighborhood. Pray corporately or actual just schedule a prayer walk through the neighborhood. Once this is done, visit each house in your area. Make it an event, bring puppets, clowns, band. What ever it takes to make an impact and get noticed. Knock on every door, let the people who answer know that your church is planning a special prayer service for New Years. That you are going out into the neighborhood to see if any one has needs they would like to have prayers for. If they say they do, write down on the card their actual prayer need, verbatim, without judgment. There may be some requests that normally you would not want to pray over. The request may illuminate their more pressing need. During the service, you will just pray that God's Will is manifested in their life. If no one is home, leave the card with a note tealling the resident about the prayer request cards. Do not invite people to the service. In their hearts and mind, their assumption is that you are there to get new members. In YOUR heart, you should be there to PRAY and meet NEEDS. Not inviting them to visit your church will be a more powerful witness. Just make sure your heart is clean. Over time you will notice many may just show up over the next year.

 3) When the ministry teams get back, pray that the Lord of the Harvest plans the seed deep, sends someone to water the seeds, and prepares the harvest.

4) Our service would start at 8:00 PM and go until a few minutes after midnight. To get the most out of the service have light snacks, coffee, tea in the fellowship hall or church basement. Maybe have a family friendly movie going. A few weeks before New Years, prepare a sign up sheet. Make sure a leader or mature Christian is scheduled a s a leader. They will guide the prayer for their hour. Hopefully most people in your church will sign up. Let everyone know before or after their time that there will be fellowship before and after.

I found this blog today on Technorati. I have read 2 articles already and I am impressed by what I found. I plan to add this blog to my RSS reader. This article is about coaching a passion for evangelizing in your church. If you choose to exit my Blog, exit here to read this article.

One of the goals on preaching a sermon series on evangelism is to raise the temperature or passion for evangelism in the local church.

In preaching your series on evangelism, or studying evangelism, the goal should’t be just increasing a skill set, but also increasing passion within a congregation.

How do you coach passion?

About 2 years ago, a church planting coach asked me this question.Click here to finish article.

We have started a new tradition in my family. I do not know how long you have to do something for it to become a tradition. So far we have been doing it for 2 weeks. LOL. I believe it will continue for some while, and we have been having a good time with it. We call it missionary Monday. I went out and bought a world map. We placed that into the small office shared with my wife, 11 year old daughter and 4 year old Beagle. Then I set my DVR to tape Saturday night “Travel the Road” on TBN. We then watch the show Monday evening. While we watch it one of us writes every city and country the missionaries visist. After we watch the show each one of us says a prayer for the people we saw in that episode.

When my daughter gets home from school on Tuesday, she has to find the city/country on the map and place a little map pin there. Try it with your kids or even by yourself or some friends. We eat pop corn and other snacks while watching it. It is becoming a nice devotional/study during the week. It is a good family builder, and it teaches our kids significant lessons. One is that we need to reach out to the lost. They learn that our world and the challenges we face are different than a Christian in the Sudan.

Here is a link to Amazon, if you want to check out Season one.  Travel The Road, Season One