- Preach the gospel!

[Neighbor]

Hi all, 

 Had a wondrous testimony shared with a small group this past week. it has stayed with me all week. I'll share in a moment, But first the subject at hand. Declare the gospel (of Jesus). 

How about a little practice right there, right now? Have time for it? A person has  turned and said; "what is this gospel of Jesus?" What  is the response?  Opportunity has knocked- is the answer, well I'll get my pastor to talk to you, my elder, my deacon, my wife, or here here is a four spiritual truths tract, read that? Or ?

A situation from real life this last week as related by a fellow saint in Christ Jesus: The set up is; It is you and three individuals make it four present in a small care facility room, one is your brother the patient. He tends to get very  angry when the gospel is presented to him, three are deacons of his church a church heavy on tradition and icons  and festivals, are talking with him. You have entered the little care facility room. One of the deacons turns and states they are talking about how they are celebrating his very day celebrating this highest of holy days in the church a day higher than even God and the manner in which  they celebrate mother of God on this highest day. One that knows you asks of you; "how do you celebrate this highest day ?"

if you are that person what do you now do what do you state?

Please envision it and share here what your gospel presentation then is. You have just received a direct invitation, what do you do with it? I ask because it happens I wonder just how prepared I am, and you might be too. 

 

( wow an absolutely clear invitation,- what is the gospel? Do you say let me get my pastor to talk to you ? Do you hand a tract? Do you declare the gossple? What, if it were you, would you be able to say right then and there?  Please if you respond here to this inquiry just share. It is not a contest, not a trick set up to a question, just an inquiry, what would you be doing at that moment of opportunity?)

Thanks for reading. Please consider just how prepared am I and give it a try? It doesn't much matter what you write just give it a try, if you  feel hey that is adequate okay, if not then what, is it time to  work a bit on getting  up to date preparing for such an opportunity?

As for myself I already did and found myself a bit windy, in my own opinion. I need an updating a bit of work, prayer, study, and thinking,  yet again as  I have gotten sloppy wordy I think.

Edited August 31, 2018 by Neighbor

[Neighbor]

7 minutes ago, Yowm said:

I don’t like sharing in a group the Gospel, I prefer one-on-one, (I’m not a multi-task person) and in this case it sounds like the whole lot of them need Jesus, not religion.

Hi Yowm.

Too bad, I would have benefited I think, from a sharing of the gospel from you.. 

[Neighbor]

BTW- The result to date is the" brother" heard without rancor the gospel of Jesus, one deacon asked for a Bible, as he had heard about this man  having Bibles in their language. The other two also are willing to receive Bibles and ask about this gospel. They want to bring it back to the church.

God has been moving upon this,  I will call it, sect for some time. A humble man has been given the task of going church by church by church to share the gospel and to bring it to the leaders of the churches as well as in small groups in the community, so that they may then share the gospel with their  church members. It is happening. It is real.  Some  are hearing, some are turning about to their own repentance, but it takes witnessing the giving of testimony the sharing of the gospel of Jesus at the call from the Holy Spirit to do so.

 I am questioning; how prepared am I personally. I have thought I am prepared, but am I well prepared? Am I active enough? How active is enough anyway? I conclude I need at least a strong review, that I have become sedate, that I need much time in prayer for the leading  onto a new service as a soldier in Christ Jesus, and a new post to stand.

As I do that, I ask of others too, how do you share the gospel? Can you do it or do you have to say; gee I'll get so and so, or my pastor, I'll get you a tract-  or as someone wrote, read Jude, instead of sharing right then and there at the moment.

Who knows the moment the Holy Spirit will have for each of us to add our testimony? If God the Holy  Spirit had wanted me to go get a tract or find a pastor would the Spirit not have just bypassed me instead, not  to be used  by Him to share of Jesus at all?

 I do think  I am not nearly as prepared as I need to be, that like other skills testifying is a skill that wanes without practice, without real hard practice.

I wonder as I read the many  diatribes on boards against one sect or another, yet seldom reading within them any declaration of the gospel of Iesus within their rants, what good is there is this presentation?

So I figure why not just ask, please share of the gospel to me? So far no takers. But it is early on, maybe some will get passed worry about it being yet another entrapment thread  on a message board, and share with me.

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2018 by Neighbor

[GandalfTheWise]

@Neighbor  Good question.

 

In such situations, to use a military analogy, I take the approach of a sniper rather than a machine gunner.  I look for that point where God wants me to comment, share something from my life, or ask a question.   In years of meeting with JW and LDS evangelists (my wife and I open our door to anyone wanting to talk about God), I found the most effective things were being patient and kind and not slamming the door in their face, sharing what God had done in our lives, praying for them, and asking questions that forced them to think.  They'd heard all the standard lines from Christians before and knew all their answers and responses.  What they didn't know were the answers to God anointed questions that highlighted things they'd never thought of before or highlighted doubts and questions in their own mind and allowing them to see what God was really doing in our lives as an example of what that was really like.

One older JW lady had a daughter who she'd bring along on visits.  I recall one time the conversation had gone into a direction where the daughter was starting to have questions for us.  The JW lady wasn't feeling well with some sort of stomach flu, asked to use our bathroom, and we had several minutes with her daughter to speak privately and answer some of her questions.   A few months later, it came out that her daughter had left the JWs and that she was not allowed to pray for her.  My wife said that we could even if she couldn't.  I think that meant something to her.  After she pulled in the heavy guns and brought out their ace evangelist to deal with us, the visits dried up.

I think one of the most powerful things we ever did was make a birthday cake for a Mormon elder (that my little kids decorated) that (as I recall) said Happy Birthday Elder "Smith" along with a card.   It was the first time in my life I'd ever literally seen someone go speechless.  I thought he was going to cry for a moment.  That was one of the last times we saw him.  He got unexpectedly transferred out to a new location shortly after that.  We got a Christmas card from him later.  

Either LDS missionary efforts have considerably dwindled in the past decade or so, or my wife and I got ourselves onto a "do not visit" list of some sort. 

In this situation, when asked how I celebrate a particular day... here is what my thought process would probably look like....  Ask questions on a doctrinal note, or just share what God's done in my life?  I rarely consider directly confronting a single error.  I try to choose my battles carefully and go for strategic targets.  In this case, it is the bigger issue that God is not approached by doing the right ritual but rather on an individual and personal level.

Do I ask a question pursuing why this day is so special? with the goal in mind of trying to lead them to a "which is greater, the gold of the Temple or the Temple that sanctifies the gold" type of realization that it is God who is worthy of worship above any tradition....   

Or do I share what God's done in my life that I don't celebrate particular days?   When I'm not sure, I default to sharing unless I feel that God is really leading me to a debate or lecture of some type...

You know, I really don't celebrate particular days much any more.   At one point in my life, I did.  But years ago, God came into my life in a very real way.  I found that each day was a special gift from God.  Being able to feel God's presence in my life each day makes different celebrations not as meaningful any more.  I think it was Paul in Romans  <<Side note: I know where it is at, I just think that quoting it verbatim with address is more likely to make me sound spiritually snobbish rather than authoritative in this situation.>>  talked something about how some Christians view some days as special and others do not.   For me, I just find it hard to treat any day differently from another day.  It makes me feel like I'm trying to act differently around God on different days instead of just being the same every day.  I do know some people who view some days as special times to remember and celebrate and it does seem very meaningful for them, but it just doesn't work for me.  Though as I think about it,  the one time of year that is always special to me is Lent.  I remember when I was 12, our church was having some Wednesday night Lent services and we had a missionary as a guest speaker.  I remember being impressed he played guitar, probably because it was a big change from hymns on organ and piano.  I still remember part of the song he taught us from I Cor 13.  Anyway, it was that night God did something very special in my life.  I gave my heart to Christ and I just simply felt Him come into my life.  It was like this warm feeling inside (that I cannot put into words) that I just knew and felt God had taken up residence inside me.  I wasn't expecting anything and nothing emotional was going on.  I just said a simple prayer asking for forgiveness, probably like I'd prayed a hundred times before in various liturgies and congregational prayers, and suddenly I just felt different. It was like, wow, what was that?  God did something and I was not expecting it at all.   So anyway.... long round about story why I don't really celebrate particular days much myself.

 

Off the top of my head... probably fairly representative of what I'd say or at least try to say.  I tend not to give directives to people about what is right and wrong about every little detail of things, but rather let God lead them to that point themselves.  If I can convince a person of something through my perceived authority and how well I can argue a point and quote a few Bible verses that support it, that person will be susceptible to listening to the next person with perceived authority and how well they argue their point and how many Bible verses they can quote.  However, when I steer people toward finding the answers for themselves and toward God Himself rather than getting them to agree with me, they'll be in a better position not to be tossed around by every different opinion they hear.   In this case, my main goal is to confront them with the reality that God changes lives in tangible ways without putting them into a defensive mode arguing about details of church traditions and festivals and holidays.  When people go defensive, their stress levels usually go up, and this physiologically causes changes that reduce their ability to think and reason.  In my opinion, it's not much different dealing with an angry defensive person than a drunk person.  Chemical changes in their body are causing them to lose rationality.  It's also why I step back or walk completely away for a time when my own stress levels rise, my judgement is impaired just as if I were drunk or impaired in some way.

In this situation, I'd probably view the main objective as being to confront them that God does not need to be approached through rituals and tradition but rather individually and personally, and that the best way to do that is to share what God's done in my life rather than start a debate over particular traditions.  I'd then adapt further discussion or comments to whatever questions or comments might arise. 

[john1]

8 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Too bad, I would have benefited I think, from a sharing of the gospel from you.. 

1 John chapter 1 verse 8

If anyone claims to be without sin they deceive themselves and the truth is not in them.

James chapter 2 verse 10

If anyone keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point their guilty of breaking all of it.

1 Peter chapter 4 verse 8

Love covers a great many sins.

 

[frienduff thaylorde]

11 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Hi all, 

 Had a wondrous testimony shared with a small group this past week. it has stayed with me all week. I'll share in a moment, But first the subject at hand. Declare the gospel (of Jesus). 

How about a little practice right there, right now? Have time for it? A person has  turned and said; "what is this gospel of Jesus?" What  is the response?  Opportunity has knocked- is the answer, well I'll get my pastor to talk to you, my elder, my deacon, my wife, or here here is a four spiritual truths tract, read that? Or ?

A situation from real life this last week as related by a fellow saint in Christ Jesus: The set up is; It is you and three individuals make it four present in a small care facility room, one is your brother the patient. He tends to get very  angry when the gospel is presented to him, three are deacons of his church a church heavy on tradition and icons  and festivals, are talking with him. You have entered the little care facility room. One of the deacons turns and states they are talking about how they are celebrating his very day celebrating this highest of holy days in the church a day higher than even God and the manner in which  they celebrate mother of God on this highest day. One that knows you asks of you; "how do you celebrate this highest day ?"

if you are that person what do you now do what do you state?

Please envision it and share here what your gospel presentation then is. You have just received a direct invitation, what do you do with it? I ask because it happens I wonder just how prepared I am, and you might be too. 

 

( wow an absolutely clear invitation,- what is the gospel? Do you say let me get my pastor to talk to you ? Do you hand a tract? Do you declare the gossple? What, if it were you, would you be able to say right then and there?  Please if you respond here to this inquiry just share. It is not a contest, not a trick set up to a question, just an inquiry, what would you be doing at that moment of opportunity?)

Thanks for reading. Please consider just how prepared am I and give it a try? It doesn't much matter what you write just give it a try, if you  feel hey that is adequate okay, if not then what, is it time to  work a bit on getting  up to date preparing for such an opportunity?

As for myself I already did and found myself a bit windy, in my own opinion. I need an updating a bit of work, prayer, study, and thinking,  yet again as  I have gotten sloppy wordy I think.

As for myself I already did and found myself a bit windy, in my own opinion. I need an updating a bit of work, prayer, study, and thinking,  yet again as  I have gotten sloppy wordy I think

 

THAT is why we don't rehearse what we will say ,  BUT WE SIMPLY WAIT ON THE HOLY SPIRIT .    HE ALWAYS GIVES THE WORDS to say to any and all who need to hear the gospel .

What would we do , what would we say .    I tell you what I will do ,   WAIT ON THE SPIRIT ,  IT ALWAYS GIVES THE PERFECT WORDS , no less , no  more .

HOPE that encourages you neighbor .    

[Blood Bought 1953]

 

Preach the “ Good News” that saves if believed . That would be that you are a sinner who needs a Savior.If you believe in the death, burial and resurrection of that Savior whose name is Jesus, you will be saved.Add to this promise from Jesus and you are in jeopardy of finding yourself “ accursed”.Be very careful of how you handle Paul’s Gospel....God’s Word says you will be judged by your response to it —-Faith in the Gospel plus nothing for your salvation.

Edited September 1, 2018 by Blood Bought 1953

[Alan Hales]

19 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Hi all, 

 Had a wondrous testimony shared with a small group this past week. it has stayed with me all week. I'll share in a moment, But first the subject at hand. Declare the gospel (of Jesus). 

How about a little practice right there, right now? Have time for it? A person has  turned and said; "what is this gospel of Jesus?" What  is the response?  Opportunity has knocked- is the answer, well I'll get my pastor to talk to you, my elder, my deacon, my wife, or here here is a four spiritual truths tract, read that? Or ?

A situation from real life this last week as related by a fellow saint in Christ Jesus: The set up is; It is you and three individuals make it four present in a small care facility room, one is your brother the patient. He tends to get very  angry when the gospel is presented to him, three are deacons of his church a church heavy on tradition and icons  and festivals, are talking with him. You have entered the little care facility room. One of the deacons turns and states they are talking about how they are celebrating his very day celebrating this highest of holy days in the church a day higher than even God and the manner in which  they celebrate mother of God on this highest day. One that knows you asks of you; "how do you celebrate this highest day ?"

if you are that person what do you now do what do you state?

Please envision it and share here what your gospel presentation then is. You have just received a direct invitation, what do you do with it? I ask because it happens I wonder just how prepared I am, and you might be too. 

 

( wow an absolutely clear invitation,- what is the gospel? Do you say let me get my pastor to talk to you ? Do you hand a tract? Do you declare the gossple? What, if it were you, would you be able to say right then and there?  Please if you respond here to this inquiry just share. It is not a contest, not a trick set up to a question, just an inquiry, what would you be doing at that moment of opportunity?)

Thanks for reading. Please consider just how prepared am I and give it a try? It doesn't much matter what you write just give it a try, if you  feel hey that is adequate okay, if not then what, is it time to  work a bit on getting  up to date preparing for such an opportunity?

As for myself I already did and found myself a bit windy, in my own opinion. I need an updating a bit of work, prayer, study, and thinking,  yet again as  I have gotten sloppy wordy I think.

The gospel is, "God was in Christ reconciling the world [Everyone] to Himself". 1 Tim 4: 10. 1 Jn 2: 2. 2 Cor 5: 19. Those who accept Jesus and get born again, are new creatures in Christ 2 Cor 5: 17. Although Jesus died for everyone, people have to repent to have there sins remitted, Lk 24: 47 and get born again, Jn 3: 3--8. The Biblical gospel, [And that's what we should be preaching],  should be done with signs like healing. Lk 4: 18.     Mk 16:  Rom 15: 19. Heb 2: 4.

[Soul Reaper]

On 8/31/2018 at 3:18 PM, Neighbor said:

if you are that person what do you now do what do you state?

Give him the clear gospel of salvation  1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Basically person who is asking this from you is pretty easy to reap her/his soul . They often are softened by HS and convicted only seeking the word from your mouth so HS can start dwelling in them .

Romans 10:14 King James Version (KJV)

¹⁴ How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

 

 

There are hard souls which need to be convicted first and have thier heart softened so they need to hear everything from beginning , for example :

1 John 3:13 -> Romans 3:10 -> Romans 3:23 -> Romans 6:23 -> Revelation 21:8 -> 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 > Ephesians 2:8-9 -> 1 Peter 1:18-19 -> Galatians 2:16 -> Ephesians 1:13-14-> Romans 11:6 -> Hebrews 10:5 -> Hebrews 10: 11-12 -> John 10:28-30 -> John 3:18 -> Romans 10:13

 

You don't go to other priest , you are priest of most high YHWH so you minister to him/her .

Revelation 1:6

Edited September 1, 2018 by Soul Reaper

[Blood Bought 1953]

23 hours ago, Alan Hales said:

The gospel is, "God was in Christ reconciling the world [Everyone] to Himself". 1 Tim 4: 10. 1 Jn 2: 2. 2 Cor 5: 19. Those who accept Jesus and get born again, are new creatures in Christ 2 Cor 5: 17. Although Jesus died for everyone, people have to repent to have there sins remitted, Lk 24: 47 and get born again, Jn 3: 3--8. The Biblical gospel, [And that's what we should be preaching],  should be done with signs like healing. Lk 4: 18.     Mk 16:  Rom 15: 19. Heb 2: 4.

 

We cant just go pick out a good verse of Scripture and call it the Gospel.Paul was specific about it.For good reason.It is the only Gospel that save is this Age of Grace.It is what God will judge us by when we stand before Him.It is hidden from those that perish .Add to it and you are in grave jeopardy of being damned by God .It is very specific and very unique.It is found in 1cor15:1-4. Having a change of mind where you abandon your pride and admit you are a sinner who needs a Savior and believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is what a true repentance looks like.” Repent of your sins to be saved” is nowhere to be found in the KJV.We simply BELIEVE the true Gospel to be saved.......daily repentance comes from the Holy Spirit, given to the Believer in the Good News after he is saved.This same Holy Spirit will use Grace, chastisement and repentance to mold you into the Image of Christ—- an internal change that will transform you from the inside out.You can’t transform yourself. You can change the outside of the cup but not the inside.That is God’s task. Your job is to trust.That is faith. “ The righteous shall LIVE by FAITH”.Faith plus nothing. God bless.

Edited September 2, 2018 by Blood Bought 1953