Christmas is extra special for our family this year. We have seen and felt the touch of God on our lives in so many miraculous ways. He protected our youngest son and brought about a blessed homecoming with his wife. He brought a blessing in a new relationship for our youngest daughter. He is bringing the blessing of new life for our oldest son and his wife. He protected our grandchildren and oldest daughter and son in law through numerous bouts of sickness. Those are just the highlights of personal blessings for Joyce and I that are too numerous to mention. Then there are the blessing through this church of missions and ministries we have both been a part of when God has blessed us through you. It all adds up to a miraculous year in so many ways.
There is much discussion these days about miraculous spiritual gifts. I submit that if there is nothing miraculous then there is no need for religion, especially Christianity.
Everything about Christianity is founded upon miraculous happenings. Prophecies were made over a span of thousands of years that described the details of Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and future return. Just the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning His Birth involve astronomical odds so high that even the greatest skeptics would have to pronounce it miraculous.
What makes something a Miracle? A dictionary defines a miracle as, “An event or action that apparently contradicts known scientific laws and is hence thought to be due to supernatural causes, especially to an act of God.” (Webster’s New World Dictionary) So, events must either be classified as natural, or supernatural, with a supernatural event being a miracle.
There are those people who believe that everything is natural and things that appear supernatural just have yet to be explained. They mostly fit into a philosophy that is prevalent today called secular humanism. I believe the gradual exclusion of the supernatural from Christianity directly corresponds to the gradual growth of secular humanism that at first affected secular society and is now, more and more, affecting the Church.
Without miracles there is no Jesus, no redemption, no being born again or “saved.” Without miracles there is no need for prayer or worship. Without miracles there is no Christmas.
Christmas signals the defining moment in history. The supernatural birth of the Son of God is the focus of all our hope and desire. Yes, there is supernatural power at work on earth and in our lives. There is power in prayer, we see it everyday, there is worth in worship, and all eternity will prove that we are right to follow Jesus.
This Christmas we celebrate answered prayers in our family. God is with us. God be with you and your family in miraculous ways as we celebrate the miracles of Christmas.
Bro. Robin
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Friday, October 27, 2006
Fall's Variety of Blessings
Driving north to see our grandkids we passed through some of the most beautiful country. We have passed that way many times before and hardly noticed the scenery. But this time was different. This time the trees had changed their colors from green to an endless variety of bright fall colors. God must certainly delight in color and in variety.
November is the month for Thanksgiving. I am thankful for God’s endless variety of blessings. He wants us all to be one with Him but after that He wants to change us into many different shades. He sees us all as unique individuals and He has a unique purpose for us all.
We may not see all His blessing the same. In fact, some of them we may not see as blessings at all, in the beginning. God is our redeemer. He takes us as we are and makes us what He wants us to become. We are always somewhere in the middle of the process, not what we were, but not what we will be. He can take any circumstance in our lives an turn them into blessings. So, we should be thankful for it all. Be thankful for the blessing we know are blessings. And, be thankful for the situations God is molding into blessings.
Paul said, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (NKJV Php 4:11-13).
Bro. Robin
November is the month for Thanksgiving. I am thankful for God’s endless variety of blessings. He wants us all to be one with Him but after that He wants to change us into many different shades. He sees us all as unique individuals and He has a unique purpose for us all.
We may not see all His blessing the same. In fact, some of them we may not see as blessings at all, in the beginning. God is our redeemer. He takes us as we are and makes us what He wants us to become. We are always somewhere in the middle of the process, not what we were, but not what we will be. He can take any circumstance in our lives an turn them into blessings. So, we should be thankful for it all. Be thankful for the blessing we know are blessings. And, be thankful for the situations God is molding into blessings.
Paul said, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (NKJV Php 4:11-13).
Bro. Robin
Wal-Mart and the AFA
Recently I have received several copies of a report from the American Family Association (AFA) concerning Wal-Mart’s supposed connection to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. I went to the web-site for the AFA and read all the dirty details. However, I did not find any mention of the fact that the woman who served as Wal-mart’s liaison with the NGLCC was fired last week for another reason, but with mention of the mounting pressure by conservatives on this issue in the press release. I also found no mention of their many donations to Christian causes or their relief work in the wake of recent hurricanes, and other disasters.
I am against homosexuality. I believe the AFA does Christians a great service balancing extreme secular humanism of today’s society with extreme Christian values. But we need to be honest by being complete in our reporting. A gap in our honesty will only lead to a gap in our credibility. I believe it already has.
Wal-Mart is a business like, shall I say it, Disney. They are not Christian, although they hire many Christians and many of their values are family focused as are Christian values. They also hire homosexuals, Moslems, Hindus, etc, etc, etc. So?
The issue at hand is no different than Paul had to deal with in Romans 14. Do we eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols? In Paul’s day it was an important issue. Poor Christians had to buy their meat from vendors below the pagan temples. The meat sold there had just come from a pagan altar. Some new Christians still had the fresh memory of offering an animal on one of those altars and then buying the meat of their sacrifice in honor of the (false) god. It was a cause of stumbling for some but for others meat was meat.
There were also some who had trouble giving up Saturday Sabbath in favor of Sunday Worship, which is still an issue for many of our neighbors. But to Paul, and more mature Christians, every day belongs to God and we should be thankful to God for every meal that is given by Him. He said, “For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17, nkjv)
I preach against homosexuality, among other sins. I also hope some will come to our church, hear the message, turn from that lifestyle and embrace the hope only Jesus can give. We are all sinners saved by grace, no more, no less.
We could boycott and separate ourselves from everything we disagree with. If we did, we might as well join the Amish and shun all of modern society. After witnessing the true Christian heart of the Amish in the wake of recent events, maybe that is not such a bad idea.
Bro. Robin
Aa a postscript, I noticed at the bottom of the email an invitation to accompany AFA on an 11 day tour of Switzerland and Italy. I checked it out on the website and found that the tour was only $3232.00. That is just a few dollars more than our last 14 day mission to Malawi, where we led hundreds of people to Jesus. Just a thought.
I am against homosexuality. I believe the AFA does Christians a great service balancing extreme secular humanism of today’s society with extreme Christian values. But we need to be honest by being complete in our reporting. A gap in our honesty will only lead to a gap in our credibility. I believe it already has.
Wal-Mart is a business like, shall I say it, Disney. They are not Christian, although they hire many Christians and many of their values are family focused as are Christian values. They also hire homosexuals, Moslems, Hindus, etc, etc, etc. So?
The issue at hand is no different than Paul had to deal with in Romans 14. Do we eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols? In Paul’s day it was an important issue. Poor Christians had to buy their meat from vendors below the pagan temples. The meat sold there had just come from a pagan altar. Some new Christians still had the fresh memory of offering an animal on one of those altars and then buying the meat of their sacrifice in honor of the (false) god. It was a cause of stumbling for some but for others meat was meat.
There were also some who had trouble giving up Saturday Sabbath in favor of Sunday Worship, which is still an issue for many of our neighbors. But to Paul, and more mature Christians, every day belongs to God and we should be thankful to God for every meal that is given by Him. He said, “For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17, nkjv)
I preach against homosexuality, among other sins. I also hope some will come to our church, hear the message, turn from that lifestyle and embrace the hope only Jesus can give. We are all sinners saved by grace, no more, no less.
We could boycott and separate ourselves from everything we disagree with. If we did, we might as well join the Amish and shun all of modern society. After witnessing the true Christian heart of the Amish in the wake of recent events, maybe that is not such a bad idea.
Bro. Robin
Aa a postscript, I noticed at the bottom of the email an invitation to accompany AFA on an 11 day tour of Switzerland and Italy. I checked it out on the website and found that the tour was only $3232.00. That is just a few dollars more than our last 14 day mission to Malawi, where we led hundreds of people to Jesus. Just a thought.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Children of the Con-vention
I am not in the habit of disciplining other people’s children. I am tempted, often. When I do my children’s message during the early part of the service kids often act up. Usually they can be dealt with in a kind manner. If fact, I have been known to use humor and work interruptions into the message. But occasionally I am confronted by the repeat offender, on a bad day, and the temptation to reach out and touch someone rises close to the surface, but not quite.
Christians are not immune from the human desire to sit in judgment of each other. Politics are politics, whether they are secular are religious. Our differences make us interesting. During times of controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention I never missed a convention. Then I got involved in short term missions and decided my money was better spent going overseas to win people to Jesus and help local pastors develop new churches.
This year a controversy has risen over some new rules at the International Mission Board. Both of the new rules involve issues I thought were decided and dismissed a long time ago. The SBC is interesting again but I am still not convinced that it is worth spending the money to attend. Last year I really wanted to go to the SBC. The controversy included someone at the board whom I knew personally to be a man of integrity, and whose integrity was being questioned simply because he thought we already had enough rules for new missionaries. I agreed with him and wanted to go and support him.
I already had a commitment to lead a group to Malawi, Africa. So, instead of attending the debates, where nothing more was actually decided, our group of fifteen led over 600 to faith in Christ, baptized 20, started a new preaching point, and trained around 200 to be soul winners and leaders in local churches. I think I made the right decision.
I think God is big enough to discipline His own children. We just need to reach more of them. John 1:12
Dr. Robin
Christians are not immune from the human desire to sit in judgment of each other. Politics are politics, whether they are secular are religious. Our differences make us interesting. During times of controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention I never missed a convention. Then I got involved in short term missions and decided my money was better spent going overseas to win people to Jesus and help local pastors develop new churches.
This year a controversy has risen over some new rules at the International Mission Board. Both of the new rules involve issues I thought were decided and dismissed a long time ago. The SBC is interesting again but I am still not convinced that it is worth spending the money to attend. Last year I really wanted to go to the SBC. The controversy included someone at the board whom I knew personally to be a man of integrity, and whose integrity was being questioned simply because he thought we already had enough rules for new missionaries. I agreed with him and wanted to go and support him.
I already had a commitment to lead a group to Malawi, Africa. So, instead of attending the debates, where nothing more was actually decided, our group of fifteen led over 600 to faith in Christ, baptized 20, started a new preaching point, and trained around 200 to be soul winners and leaders in local churches. I think I made the right decision.
I think God is big enough to discipline His own children. We just need to reach more of them. John 1:12
Dr. Robin
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Deleted
I bought a new cell phone recently. I wanted to be able to keep everything in one place. So, I found one that had all the functions of my PDA, calendar and contacts, plus email. It also works as a phone.
I had a little trouble, at first, getting the email to work. It came with a program that linked to my computer at home. I thought that was great. I could keep up with all my information and it would give me the last 25 emails that I received at home. I have my home computer set to pick up email on several accounts, including my Church account. I also get some spam and junk mail.
I was out of town and had some time on my hands so I thought I would trouble shoot my phone to see if I could get everything working. Soon I had it figured out and was excited to see my emails coming into my phone. I looked them over and decided that I did not want to carry them all around with me so I started deleting them. Shortly after I deleted most of them I noticed that other, older emails, had taken the place of the delted ones always leaving me with 25 emails. I deleted another bunch and soon they to were replaced by older emails. I tried it again and it happened again. Then I got tired of that and went to bed.
When I got home the next day one of the first things my wife told me was that the email program had gone crazy while I was gone. Almost all of our recent emails had mysteriously disappeared. I thought to myself, "oops." Some of the emails were important and I had apparently deleted them at home when I deleted them on my phone.
I went to the computer and checked the trash can. My daughter then told me that she had closed the email program while I was gone and it had asked her if she was sure about emptying the trash can on exit and she had clicked, "yes." Double "oops."
I had a backup on another computer so all was not lost. The experience got me to thinking, though. Sin is a lot like those emails. When I pray down here on earth and ask God to forgive me He not only forgives me here but He also deletes them from my record in Heaven. He takes my sins as far away as the east is from the west, (Psalm 103:12). His forgiveness, through Jesus Christ, is complete. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Dr. Robin
I had a little trouble, at first, getting the email to work. It came with a program that linked to my computer at home. I thought that was great. I could keep up with all my information and it would give me the last 25 emails that I received at home. I have my home computer set to pick up email on several accounts, including my Church account. I also get some spam and junk mail.
I was out of town and had some time on my hands so I thought I would trouble shoot my phone to see if I could get everything working. Soon I had it figured out and was excited to see my emails coming into my phone. I looked them over and decided that I did not want to carry them all around with me so I started deleting them. Shortly after I deleted most of them I noticed that other, older emails, had taken the place of the delted ones always leaving me with 25 emails. I deleted another bunch and soon they to were replaced by older emails. I tried it again and it happened again. Then I got tired of that and went to bed.
When I got home the next day one of the first things my wife told me was that the email program had gone crazy while I was gone. Almost all of our recent emails had mysteriously disappeared. I thought to myself, "oops." Some of the emails were important and I had apparently deleted them at home when I deleted them on my phone.
I went to the computer and checked the trash can. My daughter then told me that she had closed the email program while I was gone and it had asked her if she was sure about emptying the trash can on exit and she had clicked, "yes." Double "oops."
I had a backup on another computer so all was not lost. The experience got me to thinking, though. Sin is a lot like those emails. When I pray down here on earth and ask God to forgive me He not only forgives me here but He also deletes them from my record in Heaven. He takes my sins as far away as the east is from the west, (Psalm 103:12). His forgiveness, through Jesus Christ, is complete. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Dr. Robin
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Learning to FISH
Learning to FISH
Leading People to Christ
Robin H. Cowin DMin.
There are already many good plans available for leading a person to Christ. But, while many of them do a good job training a person how to initiate a soul-winning conversation most of them fall short in leading a person in the Salvation Prayer.
Training groups to go on mission trips where the primary focus is leading new believers to Christ has opened my eyes to this critical need in our training. Many times we are faced with leading a person to Christ who has never prayed before and knows little or nothing about prayer.
Most of us in American churches have grown up with Church concepts, such as prayer, and assume everyone knows what we are talking about. We have worked hard to remove church language from our witnessing vocabulary, realizing that many of the people we witness to are not familiar with that terminology. But when we get to the most important part of a witnessing encounter, the part where we ask the person to pray and receive Christ, we fail to explain what that is, why that is important, or how to do it. This is something we can fix if we just cover it in our training in an affective way.
“Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’” (Matthew 4:19 NKJV) Jesus calls us to be Fishers of Men. We just need to learn how to fish.
FISH training divides a witnessing encounter into four main components: Friendly conversation, Introduce Jesus, Salvation prayer, and Heart questions. Each part includes options that can be modified to fit your style. It is designed to work with almost any plan of salvation you may already be using. The purpose of FISH is to equip you with one more tool that will make you more confident as a witness. I have included parts of several plans that I like to use in order to make this a complete training process.
Friendly Conversation: Here is a simple outline you can use as you deem appropriate. “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24 NKJV)
Break the ICE: Introductions, Conversation, Exploring questions.
1. Introductions. Say hello, exchange greetings. If you are using a translator try to learn basic introductions in the native language. Give your name, where you are from, and the purpose of your visit. Allow the translator to introduce himself/herself and the church you are working with.
2. Conversation. Make a little small talk, just to be friendly. People always enjoy talking about themselves, so ask about family, interests, job, etc., and identify, if possible, by talking about your own family, etc., where appropriate. Do not talk more than them. Make them feel at ease with your presence. Also do not spend too much time here, especially if you are working through a translator.
3. Exploring questions. Several plans have good questions that transition to the gospel presentation. I like them all, and they have all been used in so many different presentations that we have forgotten who said it first. My personal favorites are the series of questions given in “How Can I Share My Faith Without an Argument?” by Bill Fay. (Booklet available from RBC Ministries, www.rbc.net)
1. Do you have any kind of spiritual belief?
2. To you, who is Jesus?
3. Do you think there is a heaven and a hell?
4. If you died right now where would you go?
5. If what you believe were not true, would you want to know?
Introduce Jesus: Using your Testimony: “May I tell you about my life-changing experience?”
Your personal testimony can be your most effective witnessing tool. If you can effectively tell someone how you became a Christian you are giving them all the information they need to make the same decision. Your testimony needs to be well organized, scriptural, and concise. You can weave scripture into the components of your testimony and use it as your plan for leading a person to Christ. Your testimony can also be an introduction into the scripture plan you use.
There are four basic components to a witnessing testimony. If you are using this as an introduction to your plan, what you are going to say should fit in the spaces provided below.
A common mistake for experienced Christians is to say too little about parts 1-3 and too much about part four. The purpose is to tell how, not why, to become a Christian. We mistakenly assume that “lost” people would want to get “saved” if they just knew how much better life could be. We know that is true, but not from a “lost” perspective. Many “lost” people do not realize their “lost-ness” because they are having too much fun.
According to Jude 21-23 there are only two motivations for coming to Christ for salvation. One is the love of God. The other is the fear of Hell. They will come to Jesus not because your life is better than theirs, but because Heaven is better than Hell.
If you are using your testimony as your primary witness tool tie the four parts to scripture. Here are some suggestions. From the Roman Road you can use Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, and 10:9-10. From the Gospel of John, I like John 3:16, 6:44, 14:6, and 1:12. I also suggest 1 John 1:8-9, 3:16, 4:15, and 5:13. There are many to choose from, choose wisely, and plan ahead what you will say.
Here are the four basic components:
1. Before I became a Christian…
2. Then, one day, I realized I could not do it myself…
3. I prayed and said…
4. Since that day my life has changed.
Introducing Jesus from the Bible:
1. We are separated from God by the darkness of sin. John 3:16, Romans 3:23.
2. God loves us so he sent His Son to take the punishment for our sins. Romans 6:23
3. He died in our place, and was buried. Romans 5:8
4. He was raised from the dead by the power of God. Romans 10:9-10 (Lord=Owner)
5. Jesus is the only way to Heaven and the only one who has the power to forgive sins. John 14:6 (It is not by any work we do or that anyone does for us.)
6. You must choose Heaven or Hell, Jesus or yourself, and make Jesus the Lord and owner of your life. John 1:12.
7. Being a Christian is a lifelong commitment to follow Jesus with His help, 1 John 1:9. Everyday you need to continue to pray, read the Bible, spend time with other Christians in a Church, and tell others about Him.
Salvation Prayer: You can modify this to make it your own, just remember ABC: Admit, Believe, and Confess.
I have used all or parts of this basic prayer for many years in witnessing situations. I have divided it into phrases to use with a translator. I have also high-lighted the most important phrases so you can make this shorter.
You may feel it is necessary to add to this prayer, depending on the circumstances. For example, sometimes a person may need to renounce a specific sin.
You may encounter someone who has never prayed before and does not know how or what to pray. Do not assume that a person knows how to pray. Also, do not assume that a person knows how to read, if you are accustomed to handing the written prayer to the person to read and then pray for himself. Invite them to pray aloud, admit their sin, and ask Jesus to come into their heart. If they hesitate or admit they do not know how, offer to help by saying a prayer that you can repeat together.
If you are inviting someone to repeat this prayer after you, you could say, “If you do not know how to pray I can help you. Repeat this prayer after me and mean it in your heart as we pray together.” You could at this point remind them of Romans 10:9-10, 13, 1 John 1:9, or Revelation 3:20.
1. Jesus, I believe in you.
2. I know I am a sinner.
3. I believe you died for my sins,
4. And that God raised you from the dead
5. To give me a new life.
6. I turn away from my sins.
7. Please forgive me and come into my heart.
8. I give you my life and make you my Lord.
9. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.
10. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Heart Questions: Immediately follow up the prayer with a few basic questions.
1. Ask, “Do you believe Jesus came into your heart when you asked Him?”
2. Ask, “Then will you pray in your own words thanking Jesus for His salvation?”
3. Get name and address information for the local church to conduct follow-up. Ask the person to sign his/her name to your list as a commitment to follow Christ and be part of a local Bible study. This takes the place of walking an aisle and is more affirming than simply raising a hand. Do this regardless of the size of group. Have several pieces of paper and pens ready for a larger group.
4. Invite them to a Bible Study in the afternoon and remind them that, “All living things need to Grow, including your new life in Christ. That means you must pray, read the bible, or come to a place where you can hear it read and explained, spend time with other Christians, and tell others what Jesus has done for you.”
5. Close with prayer. “May I pray for you again?”
6. You may also want to ask, “Is there anything special I can pray about for you?”
7. Leave the door open for a return contact. Always leave friendly, as you came, and pray for them silently as you walk away. Write down any additional information the pastor might need to know such as needs, etc.
Support everything with prayer. Pray for safety, harmony, and Spiritual preparation. Pray that each team member will have enough energy for each task, get enough rest, and that everyone will stay healthy on the food that is set before you. Pray for the anointing of the Spirit on God’s Word, you and your team as His messengers, and that those who hear you will hear gladly and receive Jesus into their hearts. Pray for your families at home, and for your church family, that those who sent you will also receive a blessing and that all of you will have a heart for missions that will reach across the street and around the world.
Your families at home need prayer as well. I cannot stress that enough. Mission trips often require you to be out of touch with them much of the time and it is difficult to minister when you are worried about things back home. Pray as much for them as you do for the team. Pray that no emergencies arise on either front. Everything you pray for the team pray also for your families
Telling the good news of Jesus Christ is always exciting. Add to that the excitement of a group on a mission trip and the excitement continues to build.
God bless you as you prepare to go into all the world and fish for people with the Gospel.
Leading People to Christ
Robin H. Cowin DMin.
There are already many good plans available for leading a person to Christ. But, while many of them do a good job training a person how to initiate a soul-winning conversation most of them fall short in leading a person in the Salvation Prayer.
Training groups to go on mission trips where the primary focus is leading new believers to Christ has opened my eyes to this critical need in our training. Many times we are faced with leading a person to Christ who has never prayed before and knows little or nothing about prayer.
Most of us in American churches have grown up with Church concepts, such as prayer, and assume everyone knows what we are talking about. We have worked hard to remove church language from our witnessing vocabulary, realizing that many of the people we witness to are not familiar with that terminology. But when we get to the most important part of a witnessing encounter, the part where we ask the person to pray and receive Christ, we fail to explain what that is, why that is important, or how to do it. This is something we can fix if we just cover it in our training in an affective way.
“Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’” (Matthew 4:19 NKJV) Jesus calls us to be Fishers of Men. We just need to learn how to fish.
FISH training divides a witnessing encounter into four main components: Friendly conversation, Introduce Jesus, Salvation prayer, and Heart questions. Each part includes options that can be modified to fit your style. It is designed to work with almost any plan of salvation you may already be using. The purpose of FISH is to equip you with one more tool that will make you more confident as a witness. I have included parts of several plans that I like to use in order to make this a complete training process.
Friendly Conversation: Here is a simple outline you can use as you deem appropriate. “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24 NKJV)
Break the ICE: Introductions, Conversation, Exploring questions.
1. Introductions. Say hello, exchange greetings. If you are using a translator try to learn basic introductions in the native language. Give your name, where you are from, and the purpose of your visit. Allow the translator to introduce himself/herself and the church you are working with.
2. Conversation. Make a little small talk, just to be friendly. People always enjoy talking about themselves, so ask about family, interests, job, etc., and identify, if possible, by talking about your own family, etc., where appropriate. Do not talk more than them. Make them feel at ease with your presence. Also do not spend too much time here, especially if you are working through a translator.
3. Exploring questions. Several plans have good questions that transition to the gospel presentation. I like them all, and they have all been used in so many different presentations that we have forgotten who said it first. My personal favorites are the series of questions given in “How Can I Share My Faith Without an Argument?” by Bill Fay. (Booklet available from RBC Ministries, www.rbc.net)
1. Do you have any kind of spiritual belief?
2. To you, who is Jesus?
3. Do you think there is a heaven and a hell?
4. If you died right now where would you go?
5. If what you believe were not true, would you want to know?
Introduce Jesus: Using your Testimony: “May I tell you about my life-changing experience?”
Your personal testimony can be your most effective witnessing tool. If you can effectively tell someone how you became a Christian you are giving them all the information they need to make the same decision. Your testimony needs to be well organized, scriptural, and concise. You can weave scripture into the components of your testimony and use it as your plan for leading a person to Christ. Your testimony can also be an introduction into the scripture plan you use.
There are four basic components to a witnessing testimony. If you are using this as an introduction to your plan, what you are going to say should fit in the spaces provided below.
A common mistake for experienced Christians is to say too little about parts 1-3 and too much about part four. The purpose is to tell how, not why, to become a Christian. We mistakenly assume that “lost” people would want to get “saved” if they just knew how much better life could be. We know that is true, but not from a “lost” perspective. Many “lost” people do not realize their “lost-ness” because they are having too much fun.
According to Jude 21-23 there are only two motivations for coming to Christ for salvation. One is the love of God. The other is the fear of Hell. They will come to Jesus not because your life is better than theirs, but because Heaven is better than Hell.
If you are using your testimony as your primary witness tool tie the four parts to scripture. Here are some suggestions. From the Roman Road you can use Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, and 10:9-10. From the Gospel of John, I like John 3:16, 6:44, 14:6, and 1:12. I also suggest 1 John 1:8-9, 3:16, 4:15, and 5:13. There are many to choose from, choose wisely, and plan ahead what you will say.
Here are the four basic components:
1. Before I became a Christian…
2. Then, one day, I realized I could not do it myself…
3. I prayed and said…
4. Since that day my life has changed.
Introducing Jesus from the Bible:
1. We are separated from God by the darkness of sin. John 3:16, Romans 3:23.
2. God loves us so he sent His Son to take the punishment for our sins. Romans 6:23
3. He died in our place, and was buried. Romans 5:8
4. He was raised from the dead by the power of God. Romans 10:9-10 (Lord=Owner)
5. Jesus is the only way to Heaven and the only one who has the power to forgive sins. John 14:6 (It is not by any work we do or that anyone does for us.)
6. You must choose Heaven or Hell, Jesus or yourself, and make Jesus the Lord and owner of your life. John 1:12.
7. Being a Christian is a lifelong commitment to follow Jesus with His help, 1 John 1:9. Everyday you need to continue to pray, read the Bible, spend time with other Christians in a Church, and tell others about Him.
Salvation Prayer: You can modify this to make it your own, just remember ABC: Admit, Believe, and Confess.
I have used all or parts of this basic prayer for many years in witnessing situations. I have divided it into phrases to use with a translator. I have also high-lighted the most important phrases so you can make this shorter.
You may feel it is necessary to add to this prayer, depending on the circumstances. For example, sometimes a person may need to renounce a specific sin.
You may encounter someone who has never prayed before and does not know how or what to pray. Do not assume that a person knows how to pray. Also, do not assume that a person knows how to read, if you are accustomed to handing the written prayer to the person to read and then pray for himself. Invite them to pray aloud, admit their sin, and ask Jesus to come into their heart. If they hesitate or admit they do not know how, offer to help by saying a prayer that you can repeat together.
If you are inviting someone to repeat this prayer after you, you could say, “If you do not know how to pray I can help you. Repeat this prayer after me and mean it in your heart as we pray together.” You could at this point remind them of Romans 10:9-10, 13, 1 John 1:9, or Revelation 3:20.
1. Jesus, I believe in you.
2. I know I am a sinner.
3. I believe you died for my sins,
4. And that God raised you from the dead
5. To give me a new life.
6. I turn away from my sins.
7. Please forgive me and come into my heart.
8. I give you my life and make you my Lord.
9. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.
10. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Heart Questions: Immediately follow up the prayer with a few basic questions.
1. Ask, “Do you believe Jesus came into your heart when you asked Him?”
2. Ask, “Then will you pray in your own words thanking Jesus for His salvation?”
3. Get name and address information for the local church to conduct follow-up. Ask the person to sign his/her name to your list as a commitment to follow Christ and be part of a local Bible study. This takes the place of walking an aisle and is more affirming than simply raising a hand. Do this regardless of the size of group. Have several pieces of paper and pens ready for a larger group.
4. Invite them to a Bible Study in the afternoon and remind them that, “All living things need to Grow, including your new life in Christ. That means you must pray, read the bible, or come to a place where you can hear it read and explained, spend time with other Christians, and tell others what Jesus has done for you.”
5. Close with prayer. “May I pray for you again?”
6. You may also want to ask, “Is there anything special I can pray about for you?”
7. Leave the door open for a return contact. Always leave friendly, as you came, and pray for them silently as you walk away. Write down any additional information the pastor might need to know such as needs, etc.
Support everything with prayer. Pray for safety, harmony, and Spiritual preparation. Pray that each team member will have enough energy for each task, get enough rest, and that everyone will stay healthy on the food that is set before you. Pray for the anointing of the Spirit on God’s Word, you and your team as His messengers, and that those who hear you will hear gladly and receive Jesus into their hearts. Pray for your families at home, and for your church family, that those who sent you will also receive a blessing and that all of you will have a heart for missions that will reach across the street and around the world.
Your families at home need prayer as well. I cannot stress that enough. Mission trips often require you to be out of touch with them much of the time and it is difficult to minister when you are worried about things back home. Pray as much for them as you do for the team. Pray that no emergencies arise on either front. Everything you pray for the team pray also for your families
Telling the good news of Jesus Christ is always exciting. Add to that the excitement of a group on a mission trip and the excitement continues to build.
God bless you as you prepare to go into all the world and fish for people with the Gospel.
First Blog
What is the purpose of a blog? I know what I want to accomplish. But why do people read them? Why do I think anyone would care enough to read what I think? A blog is a risky venture from the point of view that maybe no one will read it. It is also risky when I think perhaps someone will read it.
I have done newsletter articles for years. It seems to me that blogging is similar to a newsletter, but a notch above. Like a newsletter I can express my thoughts in a way that I hope will be of some benefit to others. The notch above is the opportunity for feedback. With feedback I can, hopefully, improve on some of the ideas I publish and make them available to help more people.
A newsletter is a soapbox. A blog is a sounding board. From a soapbox one might expect to get heckled, which could also happen here. But from a sounding board one expects to get useful feedback to improve yourself, your ideas, or your plans.
We'll see.
Dr. Robin
I have done newsletter articles for years. It seems to me that blogging is similar to a newsletter, but a notch above. Like a newsletter I can express my thoughts in a way that I hope will be of some benefit to others. The notch above is the opportunity for feedback. With feedback I can, hopefully, improve on some of the ideas I publish and make them available to help more people.
A newsletter is a soapbox. A blog is a sounding board. From a soapbox one might expect to get heckled, which could also happen here. But from a sounding board one expects to get useful feedback to improve yourself, your ideas, or your plans.
We'll see.
Dr. Robin
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