what is your style of sharing the Gospel?

[JohnD]

Actually, I conform to the situation.

You can't tell people at a funeral that their unbelieving 

dearly departed is snapping and popping in hell.

You can say they are now in a position to know for certain

if there is a heaven or hell (though even that might come

across as callous). Just something to think about, now that

we are facing our own mortality.  Mourn for our loved ones.

Honor them if there be a last request in the great beyond... 

hear the plea of a brother (Luke 16:19-31) "please warn my brothers

of this place" meaning the after life.

 

[gratefulwoman]

John, I hear you, Brother. My extended families (mine and my husband's) are Jewish and refuse to believe in Jesus. It is so hard for me to hear that "snapping and popping" (wow, those words!!) of my own loved ones. It is devastating. Have a great day, God bless you.

[JohnD]

17 minutes ago, gratefulwoman said:

John, I hear you, Brother. My extended families (mine and my husband's) are Jewish and refuse to believe in Jesus. It is so hard for me to hear that "snapping and popping" (wow, those words!!) of my own loved ones. It is devastating. Have a great day, God bless you.

Thank you for your kind words.

Praying for you and your family.

Sha'alu shalom Yerushalayim

Ephesians 2:14 (Yeshua IS that shalom).

[JohnD]

1 hour ago, gratefulwoman said:

John, I hear you, Brother. My extended families (mine and my husband's) are Jewish and refuse to believe in Jesus...

I wish most believers realized what a heart God has for the Jewish people.

Most struggle with more antisemitism than they may realize. Human nature

afflicts us all. And human nature is Satan's gateway into every life (including believers who are

unaware of this). And on the list of his hates are:

God

the Jewish people

Christians

Stop and think, the Jewish people suffered throughout history for bringing the Word of God into the world

(the written: the Bible and the Living: the Messiah Jesus).

This is what the Apostle Paul was driving at saying "we owe it to the Jewish people."

Never forget that!

Believing / unbelieving God loves the Jewish people. But he will allow individuals to decide for themselves

on the matter of Jesus.

Most Jews are misled by the leaven of the Pharisees Jesus spoke of (the antichrist teaching that infiltrated the

teaching of the Jewish leadership) which deprives Jews of their Promised Messiah to this very moment. 

My heart breaks. God's heart breaks. 

Jesus wept over Jerusalem he was not indignant (as too many Christians are) towards the Jews. "well you made your

bed, now lie in it."

No!

It broke his heart when he listed some of the terrible things that would happen to HIS people because they opened themselves

up to attacks from the enemy of God by refusing to believe in his Messiah. 

It broke his heart. It breaks mine.

One of the greatest studies into the Bible I embarked on was how to witness Jesus Christ to a Jewish person using only the Old Testament

(their Bible). Messianic Rabbi Larry Feldman opened my eyes to this. He said to a Jew, the New Testament is no different that the Book of Mormon.

So with this purpose in mind, I learned more about God, Jesus, the Bible, Jewish people, our role as Christians than I ever learned anywhere else

(sadly, especially in Church).

BTW, the Old Testament contains the New Testament concealed. The New Testament contains the Old Testament revealed.  So there's no inconsistency

here. In fact, the scriptures mentioned in the New Testament WERE the Old Testament scriptures (the New hadn't been written yet or were not canonized

yet by two centuries).

Isaiah 28:9–13 (AV)
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Deuteronomy 29:29 (AV)
29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Proverbs 25:2 (AV)
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

Acts 17:11 (AV)
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures {Tanakh / Old Testament} daily, whether those things were so.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (AV)
16 All scripture {Old Testament} is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Now this includes the New Testament eventually. But at the time, the Old Testament was All He Wrote... 

Jeremiah 31:31–37 (AV)
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.

Isaiah 49:13–17 (AV)
13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

Behold the will of the LORD.

[JohnD]

Dr. James Dobson (creator of Focus on the Family) once commented about a fellow he knew who was

a born again witness, he witnessed to people he passed by on the street, he witnessed to the driver of the cab 

they shared going to a Christian seminar. Some people HAVE that gift / ability.

Dr. Chuck Swindoll (Insight for Living Ministries) said it best, I believe, "Instead of backing up a dump truck of theology on people, I come to 

them as a beggar who wants to show them where I found BREAD."

Witnessing techniques are as varied as there are people on planet Earth. 

We have our own gifts, techniques, and also the hearer has individual needs or perspectives on things eternal and the after life.

All these things must come into consideration.

A blanket (and may I say cultic) approach to witnessing is ineffective.

I find most cultists, for example, have more emotional ties to cults than 

empirical reasoning. They do have apologetic arguments (and an ignorant Christian is typically no match for them)... doesn't mean they are

true... just methodical subterfuge (like most human beliefs in anything are) which is what keeps lawyers in permanent job security.

But a cancer victim is best witnessed to by a cancer victim and so on...

this is why it is  crucial that we all learn to witness from our own perspective, circumstance, livelihood, trade, etc. 

Most palm it off onto the "professional" Christians (clergy) or evangelists Greg Lorrie Billy Graham etc.

Nope.

Not God's will.

1 Peter 3:15 (AV)
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Be ready. Be prepared.

But, how???

2 Timothy 2:15 (AV)
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

We live in a day / age when the complete Word of God is in our language in several versions and most people are generally literate.

That means we have no excuse for our ignorance.

None!

None.

And we are all priests of God (Revelation 1:6 Revelation 5:10 1 Peter 2:3-9) and there is in fact no "professional" (clergy) distinction

between believers.

No excuses.

We are not all called to preach / teach / lead churches...

but we are all called to ministry according to our gifts playing individual roles in the over all commission of the Church:

Matthew 28:18–19 (AV)
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

[Picky Pilot]

7 hours ago, Debp said:

So would you share Christ with others or would you share your Church?

Interesting what you said.  I share the three churches we attend (depending on where we are at the time).  I don't do street evangelism or knocking on doors, which some people call Ambush Evangelism.   I tried it once with a group and It's not my style.   

 I (we) just invite them to church, even to the point of offering to pick them up and having lunch afterwords.   

I let the church do the heavy lifting.  In our case, the church is "the vine" which we stay connected to because it's a great tool for sharing.  

[Blood Bought 1953]

3 hours ago, JohnD said:

I wish most believers realized what a heart God has for the Jewish people.

Most struggle with more antisemitism than they may realize. Human nature

afflicts us all. And human nature is Satan's gateway into every life (including believers who are

unaware of this). And on the list of his hates are:

God

the Jewish people

Christians

Stop and think, the Jewish people suffered throughout history for bringing the Word of God into the world

(the written: the Bible and the Living: the Messiah Jesus).

This is what the Apostle Paul was driving at saying "we owe it to the Jewish people."

Never forget that!

Believing / unbelieving God loves the Jewish people. But he will allow individuals to decide for themselves

on the matter of Jesus.

Most Jews are misled by the leaven of the Pharisees Jesus spoke of (the antichrist teaching that infiltrated the

teaching of the Jewish leadership) which deprives Jews of their Promised Messiah to this very moment. 

My heart breaks. God's heart breaks. 

Jesus wept over Jerusalem he was not indignant (as too many Christians are) towards the Jews. "well you made your

bed, now lie in it."

No!

It broke his heart when he listed some of the terrible things that would happen to HIS people because they opened themselves

up to attacks from the enemy of God by refusing to believe in his Messiah. 

It broke his heart. It breaks mine.

One of the greatest studies into the Bible I embarked on was how to witness Jesus Christ to a Jewish person using only the Old Testament

(their Bible). Messianic Rabbi Larry Feldman opened my eyes to this. He said to a Jew, the New Testament is no different that the Book of Mormon.

So with this purpose in mind, I learned more about God, Jesus, the Bible, Jewish people, our role as Christians than I ever learned anywhere else

(sadly, especially in Church).

BTW, the Old Testament contains the New Testament concealed. The New Testament contains the Old Testament revealed.  So there's no inconsistency

here. In fact, the scriptures mentioned in the New Testament WERE the Old Testament scriptures (the New hadn't been written yet or were not canonized

yet by two centuries).

Isaiah 28:9–13 (AV)
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Deuteronomy 29:29 (AV)
29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Proverbs 25:2 (AV)
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

Acts 17:11 (AV)
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures {Tanakh / Old Testament} daily, whether those things were so.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (AV)
16 All scripture {Old Testament} is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Now this includes the New Testament eventually. But at the time, the Old Testament was All He Wrote... 

Jeremiah 31:31–37 (AV)
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.

Isaiah 49:13–17 (AV)
13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

Behold the will of the LORD.

 

Since receiving my New Heart, I have a love for the Jewish people and all things Jewish that just ain’t natural. Those that hate the Jews? Their hatred ain’t natural either.My love is a Holy Spirit thing.Their hatred is a Satanic thing.Seems like God has a counter- balance thing going on.I am happy to be a part of that!

[listener24]

8 hours ago, Picky Pilot said:

I let the church do the heavy lifting.  In our case, the church is "the vine" which we stay connected to because it's a great tool for sharing.  

I didn't believe that this was possible until I found some amazing communities, obedient to the Lord and His Word and as a result incredibly loving as well.

Godly local Churches can indeed be a mighty way in which the Lord touches people's heart, and I've heard and seen people being powerfully saved this way.

[simplejeff]

19 hours ago, listener24 said:

I didn't believe that this was possible until I found some amazing communities, obedient to the Lord and His Word and as a result incredibly loving as well.

Godly local Churches can indeed be a mighty way in which the Lord touches people's heart, and I've heard and seen people being powerfully saved this way.

Just like the thumb and fingers and hand,  do not pick up even a coffee cup or a glass of water,  without the wrist, forearm, elbow and shoulder  ...  so also the body of Christ with each member,  living stones joined together by the Master Himself....  not in brik and mortar strctures,  but Ekklesia (not 'church members') living alive in union daily with and in Christ Jesus ....

[listener24]

6 hours ago, simplejeff said:

Just like the thumb and fingers and hand,  do not pick up even a coffee cup or a glass of water,  without the wrist, forearm, elbow and shoulder  ...  so also the body of Christ with each member,  living stones joined together by the Master Himself....  not in brik and mortar strctures,  but Ekklesia (not 'church members') living alive in union daily with and in Christ Jesus ....

Amen!
That's why building the local Church is crucial part of the Great Commission . (or other forms of edifying the Church such as this forum).

Because then people can see the love of Christ in His Church, not in special buildings or hierarchies, but in the living stones, the Royal Priesthood of all believers

Edited September 10, 2019 by listener24