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Why Our Evangelism Efforts are Failing....


Gideon

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5 minutes ago, Cletus said:

if they do not see fruit in our actions they will not listen to our words. 

That's right , they need to HEAR the gospel and truth and they need to see it at work too .

Todays wacked out version is doing nothing but causing a falling away to get worse .

For they focus on good works ,  BUT THEY DONT PREACH NO JESUS , nor Preach repent and believe .   now that is a dead end with no hope .

THE GOSPLE SHOULD be first and foremost and leave not the other undone .   

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11 hours ago, Gideon said:
 
 
You see,  until it bothers us that our churches are satisfied with things just the way they are and put no effort on teaching holiness or even seeking God as to how to walk pleasing to Him (or in truth even believing it possible in this life), we will simply march on in our powerless take on what real Christianity is. Far too many of us are content to be half-hearted, lukewarm,  forgiven children, following Him, but at a comfortable distance, of course, and living compromised lives with the world.....and thinking nothing is wrong with it. 
 
Whether we care to admit it or not, we are fulfilling the characteristics of the Laodecian church almost line for line, content with being forgiven for our Achilles heel sins, yet often knowing we will do the same sins again with no guilt and worse yet, possessing no desire to really be changed. And all the while we reason as we have been falsely taught... "Thank God for grace that allows me to live like this!"
 

Hi Gideon,

I do agree with your picture, however I would say it is not of the real church, but of the Laodicean false church. And this `OUR CHURCH` that you spoke of is of OUR making and fashioned after a business model with a corporate head in charge. That is not, as we know from God`s word how we as believers should gather together.

Then I believe that the real church that the Lord gave His life for and that He has been building and maturing over the centuries and over the world is alive and well and doing what the Lord would have us do. We will not see the numbers on seats in `OUR `church, but by faith believe that the Lord is well able to build His church and the gates of hell.......

So let`s be encouraged and keep listening to the Holy Spirit obeying what He tells us to be and do, & let`s believe He who begun a good work will complete it...

Marilyn. 

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14 hours ago, Gideon said:
 
 
I am sure that some here reading this will rise up with indignation. They will share all sorts of figures as to how many labor on the mission field, how many dollars have been shared to send those laborers into the field. They will recite how many have been reached and professed faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And all they share will be accurate and true. And yet I still stand by my statement. We as His church are failing in the one mission we have been entrusted with on this earth…. to spread the gospel of Jesus to the uttermost parts of the earth. 
 
Bear with me here. I do not dispute that through missions work, flyers, radio and tv ministries, multitudes have now heard about Christianity. But sadly, the truth is that how we as everyday beliefs are living out our faith is not matching up with what we say we believe. 
 
In other words, people are not being drawn to have what we have, because frankly, what we have is not doing what it promises to do, to set us free indeed, to make us overcomers, victorious over the world, the flesh and the devil. They see no joy, no passion for the one we say we love with all of our hearts. They do not see us walking as strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 
 
So what do they see? They see a people healed only slightly, a people who draw near Him with our lips, but our hearts, where our time and money hand hopes and dreams are invested, they are still ours. Self still rules. They see a people who try to gloss over their worldliness and lack of the fruits of the Spirit with excuses, like “No one is perfect” and “God is not finished with me yet.”
 
To us, they make perfect sense, because they ARE true. But if we are truly honest, we will admit, especially for those who have served God a long time, that we are not much closer to acting as godly, set-apart children than when we first were saved. In truth, many of us actually less on fire, less excited about Jesus. And that brothers and sisters should raise huge red flags. And the fact that it doesn’t reveals to us that something is wrong with our understanding of what the gospel promises.
 
The world looks on. Granted, some in the world have no love for the light, and love the darkness their lives center on. But make no mistake, there are multitudes out there who are searching for real answers in these troubled times, real peace, real joy. They have innately understood that things do not make one joyful. The best this world can offer is a happiness that is fleeting, leading one to seek for the next ‘high’, whether it be things, money, power, sex, self worth, whatever.  
 
They hear us. They understand what Jesus supposedly did with their heads. They are moved by His compassion and love even when He offered up Himself for a world that did not deserve it. 
 
But then they hit “the wall”.  Us. His followers. Those who say they love Him and believe in Him and have accepted His sacrifice. Ouch. They see us go to church on Sunday mornings. They hear the ministers on tv. They listen to us politely if we get bold enough to witness to them. But they do one more thing. They observe us. And what do they see? 
 
They see  a people whose actions contradict their words. They see our lack of real joy. They see us more passionate about our team or our favorite tv show than about Jesus. They see us love the things of the world, just like they do. In short, they see our hypocrisy, and that to our shame.
 
So what will it take for us to truly fulfill the great commission? How can we actually draw them to Christ?  In Ezekiel chapter 36, God shows us clearly in these last day what will move the seekers in the world to come to Jesus.
 
"....and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord when I shall be sanctified  in you before their very eyes."
 
 If the lives of those claiming to follow the Lord do not line up with how God says His followers who believe shall walk, let's not deceive ourselves. Danger lurks.
 
Do we not realize that holy hearts, lives that burn solely for Jesus, actions that are pure and full of love.....these are the real testimony that confirms to the lost that we are walking in the truth. Our lives are the Bibles they read. Are we truly giving our all, running our race as if there is only one prize? The answer is pretty self evident for the vast majority of the church.No, we are not..... at least not yet.  ☺️ Ah, but changes..... HUGE changes… are on the horizon. God is not finished with us yet. 
 
People think if we begin having miraculous signs and wonders, then they will come. But let us realize this. If we still are found living out our lives as compromised, worldly, one foot in-one foot out Christians, we will end up making our converts just like us. 
 
Listen, true revivals in the past have been spurred by holy leaders leading people onto the highway of holiness, where the joy wells up so easily, so powerfully, that men and women bound by sin want what we possess....or in truth want the one who possesses us.
 
Let us remember, in these last days, Satan will come with all sorts of lying wonders and deceive many. Those seeking signs rather than the giver of the signs will bite.... hook, line and sinker. The ultimate draw must be the goodness and love of Christ, and if our lives do not display it, our attempts at evangelism will fail miserably. 
 
So how can the lost know who they should believe? It is simple.
 
Good trees bear good fruit.
 
If selfless love is not present in those with signs following, God says "Stop! Run!" If patience, kindness and gentleness are not accompanying those who seem so doctrinally astute, close your ears. 
 
Was this not the case in the ministry of Jesus. He said as much. 'You seek me for the miracles” or  “You come because of the free loaves and fishes" Those followers  did not last. They were those who had the good seed cast on the hard ground of their self-centered and did not put down deep roots. 
 
Do we not think it is wise we checked the depth of the soil we are attempting to grow in? 
 
It was Christ's holy life and loving heart that drew the true believers. In the book of Acts, those outside the church said "Behold how they love one another!" Talk about the real tool for evangelizing the lost. Sadly, today we are content with a new mantra. "I am not perfect, just forgiven", and using it to somehow give validity to our secret sins and compromised walks, and you know what? Jesus weeps.
 
Holiness. Real spiritual fruits overflowing our of us.  That, guys, is what we need. But first we need to believe such a walk is even humanly possible. 
 
You see,  until it bothers us that our churches are satisfied with things just the way they are and put no effort on teaching holiness or even seeking God as to how to walk pleasing to Him (or in truth even believing it possible in this life), we will simply march on in our powerless take on what real Christianity is. Far too many of us are content to be half-hearted, lukewarm,  forgiven children, following Him, but at a comfortable distance, of course, and living compromised lives with the world.....and thinking nothing is wrong with it. 
 
Whether we care to admit it or not, we are fulfilling the characteristics of the Laodecian church almost line for line, content with being forgiven for our Achilles heel sins, yet often knowing we will do the same sins again with no guilt and worse yet, possessing no desire to really be changed. And all the while we reason as we have been falsely taught... "Thank God for grace that allows me to live like this!"
 
We have come to believe that living a life of holiness is hard......no, impossible. We are wrong. And why do we believe this? Because somehow, in our minds, we feel that our salvation was all the Lord, but holiness? That burden falls back on our shoulders. And who is sufficient for that? You and I agree here. No one........ unless.......unless we have missed the real key to living as overcomers.  God is even now awakening us and restoring to us the HOW of holiness and guess what, glory to God?  it is not hard. It is an easy yoke!
 
Is your appetite wet? Or are you chaffing inside at the audacity of saying sins that have bound you for years, even decades can be overcome? Here is the key question. Do you want to be free? REALLY free. If you were told how to change from struggling child of God to an overcomer, would you really want it? How many there are that picture living a holy life to be hard and restrictive and totally unpleasurable. Will it cause change? You bet. But know this. It may upend your life, but in a wonderful way, and the thought of going back to what you were content with before? Not a chance.
 
More to come. I pray you stay tuned.. I can promise you this. If your hunger or even your curiosity is pushing you to follow along, if you will take to heart what will be shared here in the coming posts, you will discover the Christian life you had hopes of when you first got saved...... before you got religious and lowered your expectations. Guaranteed. Bold words? No doubt. True words? You bet. Prepare to be amazed.
 
Many blessings and thank you for reading,
 
Gideon

that is because they are like little children going astray who have not learnt properly or understand the meaning of things

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17 hours ago, Gideon said:
But sadly, the truth is that how we as everyday beliefs are living out our faith is not matching up with what we say we believe. 
 

Sorry but that is just not true at all.

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38 minutes ago, Vince said:

How do you know this is true?  I don't recall Jesus or Paul telling us this is the way to evangelize.  Yes, they will know us by our fruits but people are saved by gods word, hearing his gospel.  

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:9-16 ESV

I think I can explain an answer at least in part.  At one point He "adjusted" my understanding of Acts 1:8

Quote
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[fn] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

I was born again under the influence of a Baptist ministry and baptist doctrine.  (Please don't hear any of this as bashing Baptists....it's not.  I praise God for the faithful witness He exposed me to there).  This verse was used to show me that "Now that you're born again, you must witness!  Shout it from the rooftops!" 

And frankly as an 8 yr old boy that TERRIFIED me.  I had little technical understanding of just what had happened to me and had NO clue how to speak to others about it.  I was almost immediately kicked into a position of feeling like I was failing Him and not obeying Him.  It affected my walk for many years.  My incomplete understanding left me vulnerable to feelings of inadequacy, condemnation and certainty I was no use to Him and He could not possibly be pleased with me.  And satan made plenty  of hay with it.

Later He exposed me to a much more complete understanding in which I realized that the indwelling Spirit and the Baptism in Him is NOT primarily a power to witness in words.  It is the power to engage a process of BECOMING something.  That "something" is a WITNESS.  Yes, when we have become a witness words will flow.  But first we must become the words.

It is our LIFE that is the witness, it is in BECOMING like Jesus that the world begins to see Jesus in OUR life.  THEN the words that will naturally proceed from that make evangelism effective.

Until our life is a reflection of His, our  words have no power and the world scoffs.  He is even now working among us and in us to rectify that "cart before the horse" circumstance we have mistakenly begun to accept as "normal" :)

When our lives and words agree...His power will be released

 

Edited by Jostler
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I agree brother with what you are saying, ...may I add another tidbit, ...you have alluded to it, the lack of the Holy Spirit operating in the Church, the lack of sound Biblical teaching, by the Holy Spirit as to what His place is in the Church, how He functions and What His will is for each individual child of God in the Church, ...so that He can use that local Church for the purpose He has planned for them before the foundation of the world.

It's so refreshing to hear this rather that the usual bickering and arguing we see here, ...which just proves what you have said is true!

Lord bless

 

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2 minutes ago, Jostler said:

It is our LIFE that is the witness,

A witness is some one that has actually seen what they are testifying about, first hand knowledge, and not one that is just repeating second hand knowledge as to what they believe to be true. 

A witness is always judged as to their appearance, is this person someone we can trust or believe. ...our modern day jurisprudence system proves it, ...that's why the attorneys always dress up there clients and witnesses, ...even the world knows this! 

Lord bless

 

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Just now, Vince said:

My disagreement is that this is not taught in scripture as far as I can tell.

It's in Acts 1:8.  In the Greek the grammatical emphasis is not  on "witness".  It's on "be".   A witness is what we are to become and His indwelling empowers and enables us to engage that process of transformation.   We must BE a witness.  It's a state of being from which He emanates, giving us  power filled words to speak.

I don't expect you can or should take my word for it.  Investigate the Greek or just forgo that and take it to Him and ask "What is this freak on about here?  Has what he said got a shred of Truth in it anywhere?"

:)

Then listen....and expect Him to draw you to some confirmation in the written Word.  Then believe accordingly :)

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The True Gospel, properly understood, would seldom be rejected .People usually do not reject Christianity.They reject “ religion”. The fact that Christianity has been turned into a religion by many is the tragedy that makes people reject it. They would rather take a chance on going to Hell than have to be religious.I don’t blame,them.Religion says “ do”. Christianity says “ done”.Well meaning but poorly taught Believers tell potential converts that they must “ repent of their sins” to be saved.That is nowhere to be found in the KJV.Repentance is mandantory for Salvation.It is a change of mind that takes you from unbelief in the finished work of Christ to the belief that it is only HE that can save you from your wretched, lost state.It is a one time event that changes you for life.Once a person is saved, there is another type of repentance which is regret and sorrow for our daily sins.People are told they have to change to be a Christian ,  start walking the straight and narrow, clean yourself up, etc. None of this is true, but the poor unsaved sinner is never told the Truth.We dont clean ourselves up and then invite the Holy Spirit in.We invite the Holy Spirit in and let HIM do the cleaning. He started the work and God will “ finish the work that HE started”. If we let Him.That takes faith.That is what He is looking for.That is what people need to hear.FAITH PLUS NOTHING.Simply come to Jesus with a contrite heart,thank God for His Grace and let Him save you and change you from the inside out— an act only God can perform.

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6 hours ago, JustPassingThru said:

A witness is some one that has actually seen what they are testifying about, first hand knowledge, and not one that is just repeating second hand knowledge as to what they believe to be true. 

A witness is always judged as to their appearance, is this person someone we can trust or believe. ...our modern day jurisprudence system proves it, ...that's why the attorneys always dress up there clients and witnesses, ...even the world knows this! 

Lord bless

 

Never trust what can be seen.in the flesh.  Yahweh says whoever trusts in man/ the flesh/  ,  Yahweh curses.  Even believers.

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