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Evangelism Taking Jesus to the Streets (of Denton)! — Part 1
Evangelism
Taking Jesus to the Streets (of Denton)! — Part 1
My name is Jeff Patton, and for the last four years, I have been involved in public/open-air evangelism. I have the tremendous privilege of being a part of a group of believers, who faithfully go into the public square of Denton, Texas to share the gospel of Jesus Christ every week. We have made a habit of being on the same corner, on the same day, at the same time, every week, for years now. Though the seasons change and the audience varies greatly, we strive to maintain a steady evangelistic voice on the Denton Square. We believe that Jesus gives us the mandate to go and make disciples. In doing so, preaching the gospel is the means by which people hear, believe, repent, and are brought into the kingdom of God.
This outreach that began with only a couple of men, has grown into quite a team. Men, women, and young people from my home church, The Church At Pecan Creek, and other like-minded churches, who come together every Saturday evening to do what we can to share the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.
A Typical Evening of Evangelism:
A typical evening will consist of evangelism, usually consisting of: open-air preaching, open mic dialogue, scripture reading, an occasional song, passing out gospel tracts, and striking up spiritual conversations. Opportunities often arise to pray for people and to offer comfort and encouragement to hurting souls. We have seen many people affected by our efforts. Some have come to know Christ as their Savior and some other Christian passersby’s have been greatly encouraged toward personal evangelism as well.
However, evangelism is not all roses. As we know from the Apostle Paul, the same gospel that saves some is the same gospel that caused others to want to imprison, stone, beat, and whip him. Though it usually does not get quite that hostile, we do bear the brunt of many people who hate God and those who represent Him.
“Keep your message in your church walls!”
A misguided, yet widely held belief, is that preaching is only for church and that people should keep their beliefs to themselves. Believe it or not, many of those who hold such a view profess to be Christians. It seems that many Christians and non-Christians have believed the old saying that, “Two things never to be talked about in polite company are politics and religion”. However that is not a verse in the Bible.
Questions and objections that often arise to our evangelistic efforts:
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- Is street evangelism effective?
- Have your efforts brought forth any success?
- Are there not better ways to engage the lost?
- People are offended. Instead of winning people to Christ, are you not turning them away from Him?
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These all can be legitimate concerns. However, our conclusions to such questions must not rely on human reasoning, pragmatism, the opinions of others, or our own personal feelings and preferences.
Instead, we should be asking:
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- What does the Bible say about gospel proclamation?
- Are there any examples of public evangelism taking place in Scripture?
- Did Jesus and the Apostles only evangelize in private?
- If open-air evangelism was practiced in Biblical times, then why would Christians believe that it should not be done today?
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The purpose in future articles is to provide sound answers to these questions based on God’s word.
Earlier in my Christian life, I, like many, disagreed with public evangelism. But the more I studied the Word, the more my position was challenged. We must remember that the church is the body of Christ and made up of believers. Those who attend church on Sunday, supposedly, are already saved and are there to worship Jesus together with other believers. But what about those who are lost?
How will those outside the walls of church buildings get to hear the gospel if it is only proclaimed within the walls of a church building?
As God’s people, we are ambassadors for Christ. God makes His appeal to the lost world through us as we implore people on behalf of Christ to “be reconciled to God”(2 Cor. 5:20).
Even though God has grown our evangelistic outreach by sending other believers to help, we, like Jesus, clearly see that “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Luke 10:2). Please join us in prayer for our evangelistic efforts, and pray that you would see the harvest and the need to proclaim the gospel to those who are around you as well.
God’s Immutability and You: Seven practical applications of the immutability of God.
God’s Immutability and You
Seven practical applications of the immutability of God.
1. Your assurance of salvation should increase.
Even though you are saved, do you still have doubts whether or not you will truly be saved in the end? If so, a possible cause of this could be an insufficient understanding of God’s immutability. There is great comfort in understanding that your salvation is tied directly to the immutability of God.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet. 3-5).
A Christian is forever God’s possession. It is His power that brought you to repentance of sin and belief in Jesus Christ, and it is His power that permanently secures your salvation.
2. Your purpose in life should be more greatly realized.
Most people’s purpose, time, energy, money, and efforts are focused on this world, a world that is in an unstable, unsure, and constant state of change. As a Christian, however, you should make better use of your life than living for the pursuit of only temporary gain.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15-17).
Passages like this serve as a reality check. How foolish is it for you to spend all of your efforts and days on that which is perishing, and give little thought to the eternally immutable One? Your chief purpose is to glorify God with all that you are and to enjoy Him forever.
3. Your steadfastness during suffering should increase.
It is common for people to have doubts about God’s love, goodness, or power during difficult times. However, instead of allowing your mind to think such wrong thoughts of God, times of suffering, persecution, or trials should be a time when you focus more than ever on God’s immutability. Think of all that Job went through; the loss of his family, all his possessions, his health, companionship, yet, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22)
4. Your trust in God’s Word should increase.
You have a standard of truth from God, of which to base your beliefs and behavior upon. Many people just believe and behave how the culture expects them to as if there is no standard of truth. However, God, who is changeless, has given us truth that we can depend on. So that no matter how much the culture around us changes, you should remain steadfast in our adherence to the doctrine and behavior that God has put forth in His Word. You can trust in the Word of God, because, “All scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Tim. 3:16).
5. Your rest in the love of God should increase.
Sadly, some people’s view of God’s love fluctuates so much that it could be called, “He loves me, He loves me not theology.” However, a better understanding of His love for you would be, “He loves me immutably and eternally.” God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3).
There is no perfect relationship on earth. Your relationships fluctuate significantly based on emotion, hormones, distractions, etc. However, you must realize that God’s love for all who are in Christ is absolutely perfect and unchanging.
6. Your trust in God should increase.
“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock” (Is. 26:4).
The scriptures often use the analogy of God as a rock, because of the rock’s ability to stay put and be unaltered by change. He is your everlasting Rock of stability; therefore, you can trust in the Lord forever.
Trust is a beautiful attribute for people to have, yet perhaps you have been hurt by those who have abused your trust; but God can be fully trusted, because He is forever, and immutably trustworthy.
7. Your worship of God should increase.
While immutability may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you are worshipping God, maybe it should be.
The Apostle John gives us a glimpse of the worship that God receives in heaven around the clock.
“And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev. 4:8).
