Evangelism and God’s sovereignty, part 1

Last Sunday’s message was about what we do and what God does in evangelism. The best work on this subject is J. I. Packer’s book, Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God. The last chapter of the book ties together the two themes of our work and God’s work in the process of evangelism. The entire […]

Sunday Leftovers: the Gospel and Evangelism

Few topics produce guilt in the mind of the believer like evangelism. We know we should be more attentive to evangelism, but too often we see it as a dutiful obligation and task instead of a joyous privilege and honor. Over the past three weeks, we have spent time considering principles relating to evangelism in […]

Two helpful definitions of evangelism

The Lausanne Conference on Evangelism (1974) defined evangelism this way: “To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gift of the Spirit […]

A motive for evangelism

In Acts 17:16, Luke notes that while Paul was in Athens, “his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.” Contemplating this verse, John Stott offers a motive for missions that is not often considered. He’s right. “…the pain or ‘paroxysm’ which Paul felt in Athens was due […]

Sunday Leftovers: gospel basics

One of the reasons we are reticent to communicate the gospel to unbelievers is that we are uncertain of what we should say. What is the essence of the gospel? What is its most basic elements? Many years ago, I learned a half-dozen words and some Scriptures that align with each truth that comprise the […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles I’ve seen recently: There’s an elephant in the room, except everyone is talking about this one. James MacDonald recently hosted his “Elephant Room 2” dialog, and invited T. D. Jakes (who has been understood to hold to the heretical view of modalism, regarding the Trinity, not to mention being in the camp […]

The miracles are not about the miracles

In Matthew 9, the writer records five healings or miracles of Jesus: the healing of the paralytic man the healing of the hemorrhaging woman the raising of the official’s daughter from the dead the healing of the two blind men the casting out of the demon from the mute man Additionally, Matthew notes that “Jesus […]

Book blurbs

In the interest of “something is better than nothing,” here are a few blurbs and comments on some books I’ve recently completed reading: Title: Bringing the Gospel Home: Witnessing to Family Members, Close Friends, and Others Who Know You Well Author: Randy Newman Publisher: Crossway, 2011, 216 pp., $14.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): Summary: Newman not […]

Sunday Leftovers: Gracious and salty speech

Words matter. And the way words are spoken matters, too. This is true of all words, including words that are spoken to communicate the gospel. A believer cannot be content to merely speak the truth. He must speak the truth of the gospel with grace (Col. 4:6; cf. also Eph. 4:15 for the general principle). […]

You have a ministry; don’t miss ministry

A friend has told me of an opportunity he had several years ago to invest some money in the stock market. His financial adviser was encouraging him to invest in a small but stable computer company. He wasn’t sure. While the company had a decent reputation, they were small and had never shown overwhelming growth […]

They said what they’d seen

When you read the stories of Christ’s birth in Luke 2, it is possible to come up with sermons that are pleas to be more evangelistic: the shepherds investigated the revelation of the angels by going to find the new-born Christ and then declared what they discovered to others. This provides potential opportunity for another […]

Starting gospel conversations at Christmas

During the holiday season, many of us have more opportunities to be with non-believers than at other times of the year. Office parties, family get-togethers and neighborhood socials all provide times for us to see more unbelievers than we usually might. And very often, we desire to turn those visits into gospel opportunities — chances […]

Evangelism tips

Say the word “evangelism” and you are sure to instantly stir up guilt and apprehension in the lives of many Christians. We are convinced that we are to do it, but most of us struggle with how to do it. Someone who is writing and speaking well on this topic is Jesse Johnson, who posted […]

The missionary question

Take five minutes to think about “the missionary question” — where are there people groups who don’t have any Christians among them or a functioning church to do the work of evangelism? How many are there? [HT: Take Your Vitamin Z; Challies]

My new favorite tract

A few years ago, I was introduced to Matthias Media and their various resources. I quickly grew to appreciate their tract Two Ways to Live. It is particularly effective in emphasizing that the gospel is not a decision but a way of life — a lifestyle. Now, they have introduced another, even better tract: Two […]