Topic(s): Evangelism

Church growth groups have done extensive surveys to find out what most of us knew by commonsense and experience. The results of these surveys reveal the following about how people have come to be a part of a church:

• 2 % through non-personal advertising (TV, radio, literature, etc.),
• 6 % because of the personal influence of a preacher,
• 6 % came to Christ through the intentional evangelistic efforts of a church,
• 86 % as a result of a friend or relative.

Unfortunately, we have not done a great job of following through with what we know. A recent Gallup poll showed that 63 % of “unchurched” Americans have not been invited to church by their friends. Slick marketing will never replace a personal relationship. Who could you bring if you just asked?

“...Go and tell…” - Jeremiah 35:13

“Thinkers”

Topic(s): Wisdom

• Hell is paved with good intentions. —St. Bernard
• There are really only three types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, What happened? - Ann Landers
• Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. - Henry Ford
• A good horse never lacks a saddle.
• It is the little bits of things that fret and worry us; we can dodge an elephant, but we can't a fly.
• Pray to God, but keep rowing to the shore.
• Undertake something that is difficult; it will do you good. Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. —Ronald E. Osborn
• Any time the going seems easier, better check and see if you're not going downhill.
• The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going.
• If you don’t scale the mountain, you can't see the view.
• Both enthusiasm and pessimism are contagious. Which one do you spread?

“But what think ye?…” - Matthew 21:28

Pray for God to Kill Him?

Topic(s): Evangelism

Threat Mordecai Ham emerged as an evangelist from Kentucky at the turn of the century. He had a background in business and the study of law. From the very beginning his approach was zealous and blunt. Rather than sit and talk with Christians at revival sites, Ham insisted on being taken to the worst sinners in the community. On one occasion a non-believer hid in a corn field, but Ham tracked him down. The man asked what his intentions were, and the evangelist said he was going to pray for God to kill him. When the man protested, Ham told him he shouldn’t be bothered, since he didn’t believe in God, anyway. But if there was a God, then death would be appropriate for a man who had poisoned his family’s spiritual prospects. The lost man begged him not to pray for his death, so Ham relented and prayed for his salvation. At the final meeting Ham baptized the man and his family. The key to effective evangelism is not methodology (e.g., confrontation vs. friendship) but passion. Mordecai Ham had what many of us lack today, passion for the lost.

“...of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear…” - Jude 22-23