Friday, October 26, 2012

Coffee is for closers.

What makes for success in evangelism? Is success dependent upon the response of the individual(s) you address?

Let me suggest to you that success in evangelism is clearly communicating the Gospel of Jesus (who He was/is, what He did, and why it's "good news") with a reliance upon the Holy Spirit.  In other words, success in evagelism is faithfulness to the task as His obedient servants.  Whether or not the person responds with faith in the risen Lord is beyond OUR control ... but not His. (John 6:37)

We may plant seeds and/or water them, but only God makes it grow. (1 Cor 3:6-7)  We do not "close the deal." God does.

We do our part and prayerfully ask God to do that which only He can do, which is change a heart (e.g., Acts 16:14).  In other words, the burden for "results" lies with God, not us.

Or, as Hudson Taylor put it in 1865 when contemplating a life as a missionary in China ...
“If we are obeying the Lord, the responsibility rests with Him, not with us! You, Lord, you shall have all the burden. At Thy bidding, as Thy servant I go forward, leaving results with Thee.”

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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Do you understand the words that are coming out of my my mouth?

“Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den… Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for: Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission.” ~John Piper

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