NigelLane

Some time ago I heard that our evangelistic efforts should contain all of the following 4 elements. I don't think every one of us should necessarily include all four in every interaction - but for effective evangelism to take place the person must experience: Demonstration of God's love Declaration of the message of the gospel Decision - the point where they make their choice Discipleship - ongoing nurture and care

Some time ago our church decided to do a series of preaches on the Apostles Creed [i thinki I have got the right one!]. I got 2 slots - "I believe" and "He descended into Hell" There was a lot more biblical evidence for the first one [better songs too!]

You know.....in a round about way....you just quoted St Francis of Assisi. Really? I thought I was saying that it is always necessary to use words. Maybe I missed the roundabout?

The difficulty with the Francis of Assisi concept is that he lived in a different era. Possibly back then if you offered a kindness then the person receiving it might attribute that to God and your relationship with Him - today such attribution is unlikely. I find it is the combination of works and words that work the best. The balance between the two may well vary from person to person [both the witness and the person being witnessed to]

Excellent news Thunderbird - glad things are looking up for you both. The only pointer I have to offer is that the key is in the relationship. Whatever you do or say protect your relationship at all costs. It is out of relationship that influence occurs and change is accelerated by influence.

Hi there Hearing God's voice is a fascinating subject and one that can be achieved / answered. Take Samuel as an example. When he was younger [1 Samuel 3] he got God's voice mixed up with Eli's voice [the priest] - which is both good and bad news! Good in that God's voice sounds normal and bad in that God's voice sounds normal! In Samuels case it was obvious thatGod and Eli sounded similar. But keep reading - when you get to 1 Samual 16 [i think] when he was about to anoint one of Jesse's sons we get a glimpse of an 'in the head' conversation between Samuel and God where Samuel guesses the 'wrong' son and God said [my memory not specific quote] - Man looks on the outside but I look on the heart - so Samuel asked if there were any more sons - and they sent for David. So it can be learnt. Happy to explain some more [i do a preach on this topic based on Jonah] Nigel down under