Category Archives: Evangelism

Dec 21

Opportunities For Generous Living

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Photo by Elaine Casap on Unsplash

 

The lights are hung, the trees are decorated, the parties are planned and mostly completed and the last few gifts are being wrapped. This is truly one of the most wonderful times of the year. This season is a special time for all of us for many different reasons, but perhaps one of my favorite reasons is because of people’s generosity. We don’t have to look very far to see generous hearts all around. Turn on the news and see how a “Secret Santa” is paying off thousands of dollars of people’s layaways. Look closely at you and your friend’s behavior. During this holiday season we don’t just give gifts to our family, we give gifts to our friends and even our coworkers. Generosity is all around during Christmas.

However, what about the other eleven months of the year? Are we just as generous in June or July as we are during the month of December? Sadly, I’m afraid we do not live with this same generosity throughout the entire year. Maybe there are many reasons for why this tends to be the case, and perhaps some of these reasons we may even consider to be very good reasons. However, as Christians, we are called to not neglect doing good and sharing what we have (Heb. 13:16).

Paul, speaking to the churches in Galatia, said, “So then, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10). Notice the phrase, “As we have the opportunity.” Every day you and I have several opportunities to be generous and bless the lives of other people by doing good. Sometimes those blessings come in the form of something big, while most of the time they come in the form of something on a much smaller scale. Whether big or small though, we must make the most of these opportunities for generosity.

The holiday season will soon be over, but I pray our generosity toward others will not be over. Let’s be as generous in the next few months as we are during the current holiday season. May you and I model generous lives before others so that our heavenly Father receives all the glory and honor (Matt. 5:13-16).

Now that’s Something to Think About!

Jan 21

Stop Talking About It!

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This past weekend over 1,600 people from across the southeast attended an annual event in Savannah, TN known as Evangelism University, including 21 of us from Karns. This is always one of our group’s favorite events of the year. EU is a weekend devoted to training high school students to be more evangelistic among their peers.

Students are typically given a booklet to take home and study with a friend. Over the course of the weekend, the students are led through the course themselves so they will better understand how to teach the material to their friends who have never obeyed the Gospel plan of Salvation.

On Saturday night I got to thinking about what it would look like if everyone in attendance made just one disciple for Jesus this year. What an incredible impact such an action would have on the Lord’s Kingdom. Unfortunately, some of us who attended will choose to let multiple opportunities pass us by this year for one reason or another.

Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20a).

Jesus has commissioned us to go into the world and make disciples. Notice this is not a suggestion for us to follow but rather a command for us to obey. What if all 1,600 who attended EU this year went back home and made one disciple for Christ? Just imagine the impact. Now, let’s not stop there. Imagine if each of you reading this made at least one disciple for Christ this year. How incredible would this be?

When are we, who claim to be disciples of Jesus, going to stop talking about being disciples and start acting like disciples? Jesus commanded us to GO, MAKE DISCIPLES and TEACH. What are we waiting for? There’s no better time than now. Jesus promised, “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b).

Let’s stop talking about making disciples for Christ and actually start making disciples. Why not make this the year we lead at least one lost soul to Jesus. Just imagine the impact!

Now that’s Something to Think About!

Jan 23

Fulfilling One of the Hardest Commands Ever Given

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Group Pic 1This past weekend several of our high school students, along with myself and a couple other adults, traveled to Savannah, Tennessee for a youth conference totally devoted to evangelism. This was the 14th year of this conference and it continues to get better each year. It is the one event I always look forward to attending.

Over the course of this weekend, I watched as over 1,400 students spent time learning and discussing ways they can be more evangelistic in their schools, communities and youth groups. It never fails, everyone always leaves Evangelism University (EU) excited to implement the things they have learned over the weekend. This year was no different. I am excited to see what happens as the students and adults begin to put into practice the ideas that were discussed.

However, as I walked away from EU this year, perhaps for the first time in all my years of attending and teaching at this conference, my heart and mind were truly opened to how many people in the world around me are lost and dying in sin because they have never come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and acted upon their faith in Him.

Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Did you catch what Jesus said? There are many people in life who are walking down an easy path but the problem is this path leads to destruction. Only a few people have chosen to walk down the hard, narrow path that leads to life.

I don’t know about you, but this verse disturbs me and it should. It should disturb me to know that more people will spend eternity in hell than in heaven. It should disturb me to know that some of the people I love most, may be some of the very people who are walking down a path to destruction. Friends, it should disturb us to the point we are willing to do something about those who are lost and dying in sin. It’s time we acted upon the command left behind by Jesus before He returned back home to the Father. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). It’s time we did our part in making disciples of Christ.

If those of us who claimed to be Christians were half as passionate about evangelism as we are our favorite sports team, band or movie star, perhaps we would make more of an effort to bring people to Jesus. It’s time we developed a passion for something that truly matters in life! It’s time we took Jesus’ command seriously.

Take a good look at the people around you today. How many of those people are you willing to ignore and allow to continue down a path that leads to destruction? My hope and prayer is that it’s not many!

QUESTION: What can YOU and the congregation you attend do to make 2013 the year you reach out and evangelize those who are lost in sin? I’d love to hear your ideas. Please leave your comments below.

Dec 10

Reaching Non-Believers

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We live in a world where the majority of the people around us are lost and dying in sin. They are lost because they have never obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As people who probably have friends and family who are lost, what can we do to reach these people?

  1. Befriend them. Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors, groups of individuals most people chose to avoid (Matt. 9:9-13). Why would Jesus go against the common practice of society? Jesus knew you couldn’t lead someone without first befriending them.
  2. Love them. The second greatest command is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:39). Jesus lived this commandment out daily. When He saw the crowds of people, Jesus felt compassion for them (Matt. 9:35-36).
  3. Serve them. Jesus came to earth to be a servant (Mk. 10:44-45; Phil. 2:5-8). If we want to make a difference in the lives of others and help lead them to Christ, we have to be willing to get our hands dirty (Jn. 13:12-14).
  4. Pray for them. Jesus spent a lot of alone time praying. Don’t you suppose at least some of His prayers were devoted to praying for the lost? In the Lord’s prayer of John 17, Jesus prayed for 1) Himself, 2) His disciples, 3) Future believers. What better way to reach non-believers than by praying for them on a continual basis and asking God to help you teach them.
  5. Teach them. I know this may seem like one of those “duh” moments, but I think many times we fail to act in this area. Jesus was about the business of teaching (Matt. 4:23; Mk. 6:6). How often do we teach those who are lost? As Christians, it’s our responsibility to reach out to non-believers and teach them (Matt. 28:19-20; Mk. 16:15; Acts 1:8).

Sin is a BIG deal and it’s time Christians started treating it that way! Let’s open our eyes and ask God to give us opportunities to reach the lost around us (Matt. 9:37-38).

Now that’s Something to Think About!