Whatcha been doin’ in the way of fishin’ lately.. yeah, I mean the best kind of fishin’?
“So what are you doing to share the most important message ever?” ~ Charles Spurgeon
Choose to be a growing soul winner, an effective reproducing disciple-maker. Red-hot spiritually, not lukewarm or cold blooded religious like the Pharisees were/are. Refusing to change, most of them.. Pharisees are the same yesterday, today and forever. Pray for em, but don’t be like them -- avoid those closed-minded puffed up folk.
Every believer is called to pray and go do tactful evangelism? I mean respectfully.
The New Testament gives us three forms of friendly evangelism:
- Mass evangelism, where a preacher or evangelist addresses a crowd
- Personal evangelism, where a believer shares one-on-one with another person
- Local church evangelism, which is the combination of every member of the church evangelizing through any means possible
Ultimately, evangelism is a daily cooperation between Jesus who is Lord of all (God) and the people He created. It’s the loving intersection between divine predestination and human volition.
Read through the book of Acts cuz it tells us what the church needs to look like even in our day. The early church was a witnessing community and won souls in the temple, in the world and from house to house. They were involved with the Holy Spirit and the word of God in friendly evangelism. They were out Frangelizing if you will. You can do this too. God alone is the One who can forgive any sin and save a sinner, but we can be prevailed to enjoy a loving part in this with Him. We can also have a part in discipleship as well a.k.a. Frencipleship. How’s that for a new word? I am here to gently challenge you toward love and truth, closer to Christ! Yes, to be nice and friendly without any spiritual compromise.. for decisions. For the purpose of winning people to Him.
"And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." See Mark 16:15, Luke 14:23, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:7-8, Mark 16:15-16
Also see Acts 2:47 where it says that they were "praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."
Here are three characteristics of evangelism:
1. It's a divine work. God can turn your fickle into faithful.. and then into fruitful! Remember how Peter denied His Lord under pressure, but after he received the Holy Spirit he was an effective bold witness for Jesus. In Acts 2, we read that "those who gladly received [Peter's] word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them" (v. 41). Who did the adding? Verse 47 tells us: the Lord. He's the active agent in evangelism. Yes, He uses people's words, lifestyles, and bold proclamation, but He's really the one who does the work (see Romans 8:30).
2. It's a double work. Meditate upon this. "The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved" (v. 47). He didn't add them to the church without saving them, and He didn't save them without adding them to the church. In other words, salvation and church membership go together. Another way of looking at this is though not everybody in a congregation at one time is saved, all members of the true church are saved people.
3. It's a daily work. Look real close. Notice the Lord added to the church "daily" (v. 47), or day by day. This tells me that the church in Jerusalem didn't look at evangelism as some sporadic event. Every day was evangelism day, and every week was missions week. It was part of the normal, natural outflow of their lives together. When Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15), they internalized that and did it daily, whether on a mass scale or personally.
When it really comes down to it, talking about evangelism won't motivate us until we start seeing unbelievers as lost souls on their way to a real place called hell..... foreeeevver. Many people sadly choose to go there by rejecting God's only Provision for their sin -- Jesus. But we want people in heaven with us instead.. so we persuade men, women and children with the truth of the Bible.
Frangelism, that’s a strange term, but it’s an acrostic! Reminds me of...
"Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe." —1 Corinthians 1:21
“We tend to think of preaching in a negative way, as something that is bad. For example, if someone says something that we don’t like, we might say, “Hey, don’t preach at me.”
Actually, the Bible says that preaching is a good thing, but we don’t necessarily have to do it loudly. The word preach doesn’t mean that we have to project. We can preach quietly. We can whisper the gospel, share it conversationally, or even tweet it.
There are so many ways we can share our faith. The point is to just communicate it.
Romans 10:14 asks, “How can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” (NLT).
The primary way people come to Jesus is through hearing the gospel. The Bible tells us, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21 NKJV).
God called Jonah to take the gospel to the city of Nineveh, which was filled with Israel’s enemies. Jonah was reluctant and didn’t go at first. But when he did go and preach the message that God gave him, a great spiritual awakening broke out.
President Abraham Lincoln said, “The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” So share the gospel with your enemies and frenemies as well as your friends, your neighbors, and your family. Go to everyone you can and share the gospel.
Another term I like to use for evangelism is “frangelism.” F is for friends. R is for relatives. A is for associates. And N is for neighbors. Go into all of your world and preach the gospel.” ~ Greg Laurie (I think he made up that acrostic, pretty cool huh)
If you have wandered away, or never wandered towards the Lord.. then you can do that right now. Come to Him just as you are willing to cooperate with your best Friend and Lord. That’s the most important choice you’ll ever make, and the second most important choice is who you’ll marry. And He can help ya with that later on if you like.
If your friend has been won to faith in Jesus Christ, then it's time to help them get grounded in God' word. Of course not in some pushy, or pressurized or forced kind of way. You are friends and now have relationship with God in common through Jesus. So be and stay better friends and pray for each other now.. until you both reach full spiritual maturity.
Frencipleship also needs an acrostic too I guess. Here you go...
Faith - build it up in each otherRelationship - grow closer to God and then as sound friendsEvangelize - as an outgrowth of sowing to your faith via prayer, worship, Bible study, Church and small group fellowship.. there will be an outflow of joy and ministry. I'm talking about sharing your faith and personal story (your testimony) of how you came to repent and believe in Jesus.No - say No to sowing to your flesh, or to this world system. Deny yourself and seek the Lord earnestly.Christ - let Him rule without rival. Let Him lead you as Lord not just in theory, but day by day. Don't just read His word, obey Him. Most do not.Intentional - choose to get strong intentionally by meditating and memorizing parts in the word. For use in the battle.Purpose - to give what God wants you to give, and not give what He doesn't want you to. Give of yourself to Him and then to others daily. Yes, be involved in fulfilling the Great Commission, you have a part to play.Live - the live in connection like a branch to the vine and produce fruit. Doing your best, commit the rest.Endure - hardships by the grace of God going the distance with Jesus.
