Evangelism articles

One of our big areas of focus in 2011 at First Southern Baptist will be evangelism. God has been giving me a greater burden for the lost, and I pray this coming year will find our people better equipped and excited to share their faith.

We will not be doing much by way of events or programs, other than our annual Vacation Bible School and Grubstake Days booth. Instead, we'll be focusing on training and equipping our people to share the gospel in their own circle of influence.

At this point, I'm leaning toward using the book Share Jesus Without Fear as our main training manual. It gives confidence and a sound theology of evangelism, good transition questions, a concise gospel outline with key Scriptures, and answers to common objections. There's also a video series that goes with it, but I haven't had a chance to review that yet. I have a few qualms with some of the finer details in the book, but believe its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses, and that any problems can be addressed while teaching through the material.

I spent some time this morning looking back through my old blog posts on evangelism, and thought perhaps some of them would interest you as well...

• We are called to "Go" - Jesus did not call us to draw people into our settings, but to go where people already are. 
• Why we don't obey Christ's call to "Go" - Fear and overcommitment are among the top reasons we fail to tell others the good news
• Is door-to-door evangelism still effective? How your neighbor perceives a stranger knocking on their door.
• Praying for the lost - A heartfelt prayer for our unsaved friends.
• Do you love lost people? You won't evangelize those you don't love. But be warned: it can be messy business.
• The American mission field - A reminder that America is more religiously diverse than ever before.
• How to witness to your waitress - Seizing those little opportunities God gives us everyday to tell others the good news.
• Talking practically about evangelism - A candid interview with several of our church members to hear about their struggles and victories in evangelism.
• Steering a conversation toward the gospel - There are many casual, non-threatening ways to take an interest in others and move a conversation toward spiritual things.
• How to live in the world - Eight great ideas for living "salty" lives and engaging our culture with the gospel.

20 hour blizzard

Here's a video of a 20-hour blizzard condensed down into just 40 seconds. Photos were taken 5 minutes apart by a photographer in New Jersey. Amazing. I miss the white stuff, but not that much.

Resolved 2011 registration opens this weekend

I received this message last week for the Resolved team. I believe this is one of the best conferences on the West Coast. It's geared toward young adults hungry for dynamic worship and expository preaching, and is a real bargain at $150.

Christmas Greetings! I pray this finds you celebrating the birth of our Savior, Emmanuel: God with us!

As the year comes to an end the Resolved team is busy preparing for our 2011 conference. Registration will open in just a few days on January 1.

We will be returning to the Palm Springs Convention Center, June 24-27, to worship together and study God's Word with John MacArthur, C.J. Mahaney, Al Mohler, Steve Lawson, and Rick Holland. I am anticipating a rich time as each speaker leads us to consider what God has to teach us through the lives of Biblical HEROES. More details to follow in the next few days.

Early bird registration starts at just $150. For more information about the conference, visit resolved.org.

I hope you will join us!

John Martin
Producer, Resolved Conference

Here are details for the conference:

When: June 24-27, 2011
Where: Palm Springs, CA

Speakers confirmed:
John MacArthur
C.J. Mahaney
Al Mohler
Steve Lawson
Rick Holland

Registration opens January 1, 2011.

Conference Schedule:
The conference will begin Friday evening, 6/24, and end on Monday night, 6/27.

Terms and Conditions:
Refunds, less a $25 (U.S.) processing fee per registrant, will be granted for cancellations received in writing by May 31, 2011. If you have extenuating circumstances, please contact our office.

Transfers may be made by logging in and changing the name of the conference attendee. Last day to make changes is June 15, 2011.

Registration can not be processed without payment.

Related posts:

• Resolved 2009
• Monday night at Resolved

Top Bible reading plans

The new year is a great time to jump-start your daily Bible reading. Here are some of the top Bible reading plans I recommend:

• New Testament. In just five minutes a day, you can read the whole NT in a year. This is a great plan for newer believers just starting the discipline of Bible reading.
• Book-at-a-Time. Alternate between Old Testament and New Testament books with this plan, with a few catch-up days at the end of each month. This has been one of my favorite plans over the last several years.
• Chronological. Read the stories of the Bible in the order they occurred.
• M'Cheyne reading plan. For the more ambitious, read through the OT once and the NT twice in one year using this classic plan by Robert Murray M'Cheyne.
• Horner reading plan. To mix things up a bit, try reading ten chapters a day at a quick pace using this plan by Grant Horner, English professor at The Master's College. Tim Challies has written about this plan here and here.
• Straight through. There's nothing wrong with still reading straight through, about three chapters a day, from Genesis to Revelation. But be warned, you will be tempted to get bogged down, not arriving into the New Testament until September.
• Daily Bible. Try the The MacArthur Daily Bible to read an OT, NT, Psalm, and Proverb passage each day with helpful study notes.
• Bible Study. Check out one of our Bible Studies in the church library by John MacArthur, Chuck Swindoll, or David Jeremiah. Use it to guide in your daily Bible reading.
• Customize. Want a smaller goal or a different way to read in 2011? Just contact me, and I'll use Logos Bible Software to create a reading list for you with customized reading, dates, etc. to meet your needs!

Related posts:

• A Bible for every age and reading level
• A review of the HCSB

What is the purpose of life?

This video was shown at our Christmas Missions Banquet last night. Our guest missionaries this year came from Scandinavia, and are spreading this video for people to see. It's an outstanding presentation. I only wish more Americans would have the opportunity to hear such a clear and concise summary of the gospel too.

The video is in Finnish (which you'll notice sounds a lot like the Elvish language from Lord of the Rings), but it has English subtitles. Take a few minutes to watch it. It really is a great reminder of the power and simplicity of the gospel, and that Jesus is the only name under heaven by which we can be saved.


Miksi minä olen täällä? - In English from Jere Valkonen on Vimeo.

Shop at Amazon and support a pastor

Need to do some last-minute Christmas shopping? If you like to shop online at Amazon, you can support my ministry by clicking through this linkwhen you shop.

Just by using the link, I receive a percentage of your purchase. There's no extra cost to you! So for example, if you spend $100 at Amazon this year on Christmas gifts, I'll automatically get a $4 credit. This program is available all year long, not just at Christmas time. Any time you shop at Amazon, use the link, and you'll be supporting my book fund. (An easy way to do this is to bookmark my blog home page, then use the Amazon link in the bottom right corner.)

This past year, I was able to buy two books with my affiliate credits:
The Great Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God's Mandate in Our Time, edited by Adam Greenway and Chuck Lawless
The Financial Peace Planner: A Step-by-Step Guide to Restoring Your Family's Financial Health by Dave Ramsey

Remember, Amazon sells a lot more than books. They also have movies, music, their bestselling Kindle, computer and office equipment, toys and games, clothing, and much more. I find they consistently have the some of the best prices, especially when you use their free Super Saver Shipping.

Happy shopping, and thanks for reading my annual "shameless plug" to support my book fund!

Jesus the Prophet

When appearing to the shepherds that first Christmas night, the angel announced, "today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David" (Lk. 2:11). But who was this Messiah? Why did He come? And what should be our response?

"Messiah" is Hebrew for "anointed one." It comes from the word mashach, which means "to anoint." There were three kinds of people anointed by God in the Old Testament: the prophet, priest, and king. These were the three branches of government in ancient Israel, and each had a special duty to perform. The prophets were to be God's spokesmen. The priests taught the law and oversaw the sacrifices. The king protected and ruled over the people.

At the outset of their ministry, these three offices would often be anointed with perfumed olive oil to publicly show they were appointed by God (sort of an inauguration ceremony). But more importantly, this oil symbolized God's Spirit dwelling in them and empowering them for His special task. Jesus perfectly fulfilled all these roles as the true Messiah.

It is simply impossible to grasp the meaning of Christmas without some idea of these three messianic roles. John Walvoord explains:

Taken together, the three offices of Christ as Prophet, Priest and King are the key to the purpose of the incarnation. His prophetic office was concerned with the revelation of the truth of God; the priestly office was related to His work as Saviour and Mediator; His kingly office had in view His right to reign over Israel and over the entire earth. In Christ the supreme dignity of these offices is reached.

On Sunday, we began an advent series on this subject and looked at Jesus as Prophet. There were three points to our outline:

1. Moses spoke of a coming prophet. As Moses' life drew to a close, and Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land, he warned them of dabbling in the occult and practicing witchcraft. Instead, they were to await another prophet "like him" whom God would send (Deut. 18:15-22). There were indeed many prophets in Israel's history like Samuel, Elijah, and Jeremiah, but none achieved the status of Moses or mediated a new covenant with God's people. Only Jesus could truly fulfill this prophecy.
2. Many recognized Jesus as the fulfillment of this promise. After Jesus fed over 5,000 people, the crowds exclaimed, "This really is the Prophet who was to come into the world!" (Jn. 6:14). And after offering Himself as living water, the people said in amazement, "This really is the Prophet!" (Jn. 7:40). After the Apostle Peter healed a lame man in Jerusalem, he preached Christ crucified and risen. He warned of judgment and called the people to repentance and restoration. He clearly identified Jesus as the prophet whom Moses had foretold. (Acts 3:17-24). 
3. You are responsible to listen and obey His words. If Jesus is truly the prophet like Moses, what should our response be? We must listen to Him (Dt. 18:15), because we'll be held accountable for what we do with His message (Dt. 18:19). If Jesus is the prophet, then we should thank God for revealing Himself to us in Christ (Heb. 1:1-2). If Jesus is the prophet, then we must believe every bold truth claim He has made (Jn. 14:6). If Jesus is the prophet, then we should do our best to study His word and know Him better.

Is Jesus more than a prophet? Yes. But He's certainly never been less than one. This is one important facet of His work as the anointed mediator between God and man. Jesus was the Word who became flesh (Jn. 1:14). Only He could gives us the words of life, and perfectly reveal the Father to us. No wonder God said on the Mount of Transfiguration, "This is my beloved Son. I take delight in Him. Listen to Him!"

Questions for thought and discussion:

• What does it mean that Jesus was the “Messiah,” or “Anointed One”?
• What famous prophets can you think of from the Old Testament? How does Jesus resemble them?
• What is my duty to Jesus the Prophet? (Dt. 18:15)
• What is the result if I ignore Him? (Dt. 18:19)
• Who are the “prophets” or “experts” in society today that speak with authority? Do I trust them more than I do Jesus?
• How can I better honor and obey Jesus’ words?
• Does this apply to “red letter” words only? (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
• Is it enough to believe Jesus was simply a prophet?

Sunday's sermons are usually uploaded to our weekly podcast, but we regret our CD recorder was not working this week.

A little plug for The Master's Seminary

Pastoral ministry brings new and exciting challenges every day, but I've never regretted my time at The Master's Seminary. My four years in their MDiv program laid an important foundation in theology, preaching, pastoral skills, Christian character, Bible survey, and biblical languages.

One incoming student recently wrote:

I want to attend The Master's Seminary because I know that God has called me to become a pastor and I feel the heavy responsibility to teach the word of God accurately and without compromise. I have looked at other seminaries and talked with alumni from those schools. The common theme among the other seminaries was that they had a curriculum that was broadly focused to prepare the student for many jobs in ministry, but they did not offer a theological education that focused on teaching the Word of God and preparing men to preach it. I want to attend TMS because I feel it will prepare me to know and teach the Bible and fulfill my ministry goal of becoming a pastor/teacher in a local church.

I used the TMS website to locate and contact alumni of TMS and asked them to honestly tell me how they felt the school had prepared them for the positions of ministry that God has currently placed them in. The response was very positive and each former student that I talked with said that they felt that God had used their time at TMS to prepare them theologically and spiritually for the work of the ministry and, without exception, each asked if they could pray with me about God's direction in my life. That was the type of answer I was looking for and the kind of minister I want to become.

I couldn't agree more. Master's has a high academic standard and their MDiv program specializes in one thing: producing teachers and preachers of God's Word.

But is the cost too high? It may not be easy, but when God places a call on your life, you can be assured He will provide the means to obey it. And you may be encouraged by this chart:

There are several great seminaries out there today, but if you're looking for a place to get thoroughly equipped for pastoral ministry, I cannot recommend The Master's Seminary highly enough.