First Time (warning - Christian thread)

[honeychile]

I've also taken courses in evangelism, and have been commissioned as a missionary. Both of my parents have taken EE, and my brother & sister-in-law have been short-term missionaries in Guatamala, England, and Scotland. My mission field is here, among a specialized field of people.

[preciousjeni]

Originally posted by James
Its like public speaking right? Another word for making public presentations?

Very little different than running for student government or some other office . . . or speaking in front of hundreds in a business presentation.

That's more Billy Graham style evangelism. I would happily do that, but I don't (yet) feel led to do that. The rest of us evangelize on a smaller scale. Like Honeykiss, my roommate (whom I would join, but I have class on the day they do it!) goes into NYC and helps provide meals for people. In doing so, she comes in contact with very downtrodden individuals who, knowing that the group is Christian, ask for prayer. So members of the group pray with and for these people. Sometimes, the people are led to Christ in the process.

Like I said, there's a great book called Lost in America that provides a lot of different ways to evangelize.

Also, James, I would never be one of those people who stand up in front of crowds telling people how horrible they are and that they're going to hell. That is not the way Jesus worked and not the way I work.

[cashmoney]

Praise the Lord.

[absoluteZChi]

Now I see what you're saying!!

Thank you everyone for filling me in. I sort of hand an idea, but didn't want to be wrong.

I think its wonderful that each of you have found God and want to share that with others. There are so many people that I have been very close to in the past that now, seem to have found God and the right religion for them...and they all seem to want to share it with me.....

Right now I'm still wondering looking for God. I was born Catholic, sent to Catholic schools, and know every Catholic tradtion...however...like allot of people, I'm starting to wonder if I'm "Catholic" because I TRULY believe in the faith or simply because it is what's been taught to me since birth??

I've sat down to talk to people who have found there place with God to see if maybe there religion is one I should look more into, but allot of it makes me leave with more questions than answers.

Being on GC, you know I'm in a GLO...I've spoken to other people who I know are also members of a GLO and know they have found God, but don't acknowldge the fact that they are members anymore. They say that membership was from their "pervious life". I've also had someone tell me that I'm going to hell because I'm in a MCGLO... Because there is only one religion and since I'm trying to promote all cultures, that's saying false relgions are the right ones....

[Honeykiss1974]

absoluteZChi, I'll be praying that God leads you to the right church/denomination (or non-denomination) that is for you.

I don't see anything wrong with people who do this because we (as believers) are not to put anything before God - not our career, money, friends, GLO - whatever. If there is something in your life that is hindering your walk with Him, you need to remove it.

We all have our "areas of weakness" and for some it may be their association with their GLO.

Once a person accepts Christ as their Savior and choses to ACTIVELY follow Him and to live their life according to His word, sometimes their priorities in life change. This is dependant upon where their where in their life when they accepted Him.

Things that were once sooooo important before no longer seem so. Behaviors that were once done regularly (i.e. being drunk, high on drugs, etc.) are not desired anymore. There is no longer the desire to associate with people who do things that you no longer participate in.

[Wine&SilverBlue]

please please dont take this the wrong way. In the past I've always been really turned off by people evangilising (sp?) because I viewed it as trying to convert others to their religion.

However, after reading this thread I now think that if you are doing so in a non-pushy way (ex: casually mentioning your religion during some sort of activity and going further into detail if you feel your companion is interested) then it's great! However, I am not really in favor of going door to door trying to convert people you do not know with phrases such as "Well, you're going to go to hell because you're Jewish. You must accept Jesus into your heart as your savior otherwise you are going to burn in hell forever." (and yes, I've had someone say this to me with a straight face).

[trojangal]

Absolute,

I just sent you a PM.

[trojangal]

So many people have had negative reactions to evangelism. I think that is why NOW there are so many different programs now to spread the Word in "non-threatening" formats and people realize that a person can teach about Christ in a way that is comfortable to them.

I taught at a private Christian school for 4 years, and I remember an incident my first year. Coming back from lunch, one of my little 7th graders was in absolute tears. During lunch, some of the little girls were talking about their churches and youth groups. When she was asked, she mentioned that she belonged to local Catholic church, and a few of the girls told her that she wasn't a "real Christian". I hit the roof. during that time we were also doing our unit on world religions and I used this as a time to go over the basic belief systems of the major world religions. At this time, I also developed what I call the "Baskin Robbins" analogy. I asked the students what kind of flavors they liked in ice cream when they entered the shop. As they answered, I asked what was in the ice cream. As they answered, I said " don't they all have the same basic ingredients--milk, etc." And the kids answered 'yes," so what makes the ice cream taste different? The flavor you put in it, right?" I then explained that the different denominations of Christianity were similar to ice cream--they had the same basic ingredients( belief in Christ as Savior and acceptance), but were different flavors ( styles of worship).


Believe it or not, I as also able to use this as well recently with some adults as well! It went over really well with them also!

[preciousjeni]

Originally posted by absoluteZChi
Being on GC, you know I'm in a GLO...I've spoken to other people who I know are also members of a GLO and know they have found God, but don't acknowldge the fact that they are members anymore. They say that membership was from their "pervious life". I've also had someone tell me that I'm going to hell because I'm in a MCGLO... Because there is only one religion and since I'm trying to promote all cultures, that's saying false relgions are the right ones....

This is something I was concerned about. But, Christians are in the world not of it. Being part of a GLO gives you opportunities to reflect Christ's love to so many people. Since they are in close contact with you, they may be more interested to hear your testimony and then ask you to help them find the way to Jesus. Also, being in an MCGLO, I've found, gives me a great place to learn about the beliefs of others so I can be even more sensitive in my evangelism.

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by trojangal
Coming back from lunch, one of my little 7th graders was in absolute tears. During lunch, some of the little girls were talking about their churches and youth groups. When she was asked, she mentioned that she belonged to local Catholic church, and a few of the girls told her that she wasn't a "real Christian". I hit the roof.

That's so sad...of course, those girls were just parroting what their parents/youth group leaders/etc. were saying.

[cashmoney]

Originally posted by preciousjeni
This is something I was concerned about. But, Christians are in the world not of it. Being part of a GLO gives you opportunities to reflect Christ's love to so many people. Since they are in close contact with you, they may be more interested to hear your testimony and then ask you to help them find the way to Jesus. Also, being in an MCGLO, I've found, gives me a great place to learn about the beliefs of others so I can be even more sensitive in my evangelism.

Do you know how stupid you sound? I bet you watch Joyce Meyers, John Hagge, Creflo Dollar, Rod Parsley, TD Jakes etc etc etc....am I right?

[smiley21]

Originally posted by cashmoney
Do you know how stupid you sound? I bet you watch Joyce Meyers, John Hagge, Creflo Dollar, Rod Parsley, TD Jakes etc etc etc....am I right?

easy there Craig. I know you dont agree, but there is no reason to ridicule a belief that is important to her.

[cashmoney]

Originally posted by smiley21
easy there Craig. I know you dont agree, but there is no reason to ridicule a belief that is important to her.

Adrian, I'm just trying to get her to look outside the box. I'm trying to get her to look at it from a different point of view.

[preciousjeni]

Perhaps I never made it clear that I lived "outside the box" before I came to Jesus. But, I've had run-ins with you before on GC regarding some questionably worded statements. So, I'll take no more offense this time than I ever have.

[Honeykiss1974]

Well keep doing what you're doing preciousjenni (and anyone else). Remember, a servant is not greater than their master, so if they hated Jesus for what He had to say, please believe that people will feel the same way(if not worse) about you.

All you can do is put it out there and for those that criticize(or are rude), just pray for them, "shake the dust of their city" from your feet and keep moving.

There is room for the many styles of evangelism, contrary to what some may say.