Tell The Truth, 3rd Ed. – My Notes

I highly recommend Will Metzger’s Tell The Truth, 3rd Ed. to understand the gospel and how we can communicate it effectively. My only critique is that he doesn’t show all the biblical examples of leaning on the Spirit’s power to communicate the gospel. But this is good instruction for words that are helpful to share, and general wisdom on this.

Here are my notes of the book:

TELL THE TRUTH, 4th Ed. – notes

1. Preface: What is the Biblical Model for Evangelism?
   • Grace is magnified when you see yourself as undeserving
     1. sin must be emphasized more for grace to be marvelled at
     2. grace teaching leads to deeper worship and evangelism initiation/zeal
   • though God can use minimal amounts of truth to quicken a soul, it is our privilege to enter into the depths of the whole gospel
2. Introduction: The Doctrine Is the Drama
   • “doctrine” seen negatively today (especially in context of postmodernism)
   • loving service isn’t equivalent to “gospel” (though they should go hand-in-hand)
   • “Christians will care about all suffering now, especially eternally suffering.”
   • the gospel is a word message announcing good news (Acts 16:9-10, 14, 31; Ro. 1:16-17; 10:17; 1 Cor. 1:21, 23; 2:4; 15:14; 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11)
   • 1 Tim; 2 Tim; Tit. – show right doctrine and godly life are married
   • evangelicals should be united in truth over evangelistic efforts — if united only in evangelistic efforts, it will produce a weaker Christianity
     1. John 17:23 – the church’s unity brings evangelism
   • one-on-one evangelism is best way to evangelize
     1. Jesus constantly converses with people He is providentially led to
     2. early church “gossipped the gospel” (Acts 8:1, 4)
     3. open your mouth, God will fill it with words
   • Key: focus on God as creator-redeemer

PART 1 – CONTENT OF OUR MESSAGE (THE WHOLE GOSPEL: LOST AND FOUND)

3. Chap. 1: Evangelism as Planting and Watering
   • well-meaning Christians dilute the gospel into bandage/medicine for surface wounds/selfish wishes.  Deeper need of reconciliation with their Maker on His terms of unconditional surrender is omitted.
   • airplane of witness = lives (wing) + lips (wing)
     1. when God has revealed Himself, it’s been through His word
     2. Jesus also asked Samaritan if thirsty, and gave her water
     3. our job: be faithful in lives and lips; God’s job: regeneration (1 Cor. 3:5-9)
   • witnessing can include personal testimonies, but must include message of reconciliation (2 Co. 5:19)
     1. ask yourself, “did they learn more about Christ or me?”
     2. N.T. doesn’t show apostles establishing truth claims based on inner change
   • counting converts is not proof that true evangelism happened, but we should strive for converts
   • Evaluate your evangelism: “What truth was taught?”
   • true evangelism = bold, conscience-directed speech
   • Ex. Acts 26:16-19
     1. sees himself as servant and witness
     2. goal: conversion…how? through repentance and its fruit
     3. used Scripture to reveal cross
     4. speaks to Agrippa’s conscience
   • Evangelism principles:
     1. object: glorify God…by Holy Spirit, not us
     2. Holy Spirit works through Scriptures
     3. motivation: zeal for God, love of others
     4. constant heresy danger: false zeal, unbiblical methods
   • “we don’t force open any doors, just walk through the ones He opens!”
   • ask new believers, “What’s it like?”…compare to 1 John 
4. Chap 2: Genuine Conversion
   • no such thing as a “half Christian”
   • all Christians have the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9, 11, 13-15; Eph. 1:13), acknowledge Jesus’ lordship (Acts 22:10; Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Jn. 5:1-5), and turn away from sin (Rom. 6:1-14; 1 jn 3:3-10)
   • Jesus was cautious at times, even in how He dealt with “seekers” – Nicodemus, Rich young ruler
   • If H.S. is convicting someone’s heart so that they are genuinely seeking…
     1. counsel them to action (don’t just talk to them)
     2. urge them to cast themselves on God’s mercy
     3. use Bible to impress them with God’s counsel (not your wisdom)
     4. Be genuine – represent Lord and help seeker:
        1. encourage them
        2. warn the hesitant and stubborn…have them ask God for faith
        3. emphasize the sin for relapse
        4. encourage not to neglect Christian meetings (Rom. 10:17)
        5. point them to personal savior for personal sin (Jer. 29:13)
        6. stress urgent, earnest seeking (deut. 4:29)
        7. challenge them to admit the sin they cling to
        8. show them how to pray (see Ps. 51)
   • true salvation secures forgiveness of rebels AND their obedience (Heb. 5:9)
   • Mt. 13:1-23 – two of the four soils begin to grow, but do not mature
   • Acts 8:9-24 – Simon the sorcerer
   • Mt. 2:1-18 – Herod (he said he “wanted to worship” Christ)
   • Jn. 2:23-25; 8:31-59 – they believed but were not followers
   • Heb. 6:4-9 – turned away from faith
   • Mt. 7:21-23 – “Lord, Lord…didn’t we…?”
   • confront in love – show beatitudes, 1 John, Ps. 51, and have them ask God to show them where they stand with Him
     1. 1 jn. 2:3-5 – sign of saving faith is keeping Jesus’ teaching
   • faith has in it this element of valuing, embracing, prizing, relishing of Christ (Matt. 13:44)
   • Ask: Who has God brought into your life?
   • warning: if you have forceful personality and can talk people into most anything, beware of manipulation
   • enthusiasm is good, but is easier to generate than continued obedience (look for the latter)
   • true reason for becoming a Christian: being in right relationship with God
   • Scripture does appeal to the will – Josh. 24:15; Is. 55:1; Mt. 11:28; acts 16:31 – we should plead, command, invite, beg
   • true conversion has H.S. changing whole person: mind, will, emotions/heart – we want rom 6:17
   • we should ask 2 questions of people who make profession of faith:
     1. What has Christ done for you? (do they understand the gospel?)
     2. What has Christ done in you? (is there a changed life?)
5. Chapter 3: The Gospel Reduced
   • today: people preach minimum truth to maximum people
     1. told to trust gospel as a simple plan
   • in Bible and church history: preach MAXIMUM truth to max. people
     1. 1 Cor. 2:2 is only tip of the iceberg – shows emphasis, not extent
     2. Acts – they were persuading and laboring in evangelism
     3. Paul’s evangelism = teaching
   • Biblical evangelism: 1) whole gospel, 2) message-centered, 3) God-centered
   • modern evangelism: 1) truncated gospel, 2) method-centered, 3) me-centered 
   • see Man-Centered or God-Centered charts
   • distorted prevalent view: God is obligated to save
   • Evaluation questions:
     1. what did hearer hear concerning nature of God in gospel presentation?
     2. were gospel truths elaborated so that meaningful response is possible?
     3. did Scriptures pierce conscience or reinforce sinful desires?
     4. do they think they can decide for Christ w/own abilities when convenient?
     5. would a person realize God is just to deliver them to hell? (desire to avoid hell can be symptom of me-centered evangelism)
     6. what truth was taught?
6. Chapter 4: The Gospel Recovered
   • 5 pillars of gospel truth:
     1. Who is God? A: Owner, Father, Judge – GOD
        1. Acts 13:16-42 – in synagogue, could assume biblical worldview
        2. Acts 17:22-34 (cf. 14:11-18) – this is model we should follow today
        3. appeal to Matt. 5:48; Rom. 2:15; Rev. 4:11; etc. regarding God
        4. God is loving and just – both
     2. God-centered living – GOD’S LAW
        1. Need to use law and love to pierce conscience
           1. many don’t think they need a savior
        2. Exod. 20 (w/ Jas 2:10); Mark 10:17-27; 12:30-31; Luke 18:18-30; Phil. 3:4-11; Ro. 7:7-13; Jas. 2:8-13; etc. regarding God-centered living
     3. self-centered living – OUR SIN
        1. if you redefine God you cut away the seriousness of sins
        2. man = noble and ignoble simultaneously
        3. people need to realize sin is in their nature…need radical solution
        4. picture: sin is like cut flower…quickly dies
        5. Rom. 1:25 – people replace God
           1. if person is “do gooder” – Phil. 3; Luke 15 (older son)
        6. John 4 – needed new heart
        7. Rom. 3:20
        8. misdiagnosis = medical (and spiritual) malpractice – people need to accurately understand who they are (A: sinner)
        9. must treat them as person, don’t use this as formula
        10. Gen. 2-3; Rom. 1:18-23 – man = sin
            1. expose sins; admire strengths (cf. Rom. 2:4 – not to make us self-sufficient)
        11. true conviction of sin will produce:
            1. awareness of wrong relationship with God
            2. guilt for particular wrongs
            3. sense of helplessness to do right
        12. illustration 1: diseased tree – bad fruit
        13. illustration 2: someone loses journal of all action/thought in last 24 hours – how do they feel?
        14. Ps. 51; 2 Cor. 7:10 – true conviction of sin looks this way
     4. Jesus – The Way back – CHRIST’S SALVATION
        1. law convicts, but doesn’t convert
        2. 1 Thes. 1:4-10 – gives conversion evidence
        3. Facing God, outside of Christ, is terrifying
           1. must show Christ’s love/life here
        4. Lk. 24:47 – repentance and grace always together
           1. Acts 26:20, 23 – repent/turn…life
        5. Jn. 3:14-16 – God’s love shown in Cross
        6. Gal. 3:1
        7. Focus on Jesus seen in gospels/Bible (Jn. 4 cf. Hosea; Jn. 9; Lk. 7:36-50; 15)
        8. F. Schaefer – “if I had 1 hour to talk to a ‘modern man’ I’d spend 45-50 min. on negative, showing problem…spend 10-15 min. on gospel.”
        9. Illustration: Christ as pencil – erases sin, writes righteous marks
        10. must know Christ as Lord and Savior
        11. there is an instinctive attitude of wanting to embrace Christ’s lordship in every truly converted person
        12. Jesus brings salvation by: (1) law-keeper, (2) sin-bearer
     5. Coming Home – OUR RESPONSE
        1. don’t give them false assurance of a “salvation”–show Is. 53:1-11; Ps. 51:1-17; Gal. 2:20, and leave them with God
           1. Rom. 8:14-16; 1 Jn. – inner witness and outer actions will testify
              1. ground them in word, fellowship, prayer
        2. Acts 20:21 – repentance and faith summarizes gospel invitation
           1. repentance w/o faith is sorrow
           2. faith w/o repentance is unfounded optimism
              1. faith = trust
        3. whole person responds to whole Christ (savior and Lord)
           1. submission continues after conversion (rom. 6; 12:1-2)
        4. Luke 15; Acts 17:32-34 – 3 choices for relationship: 1. enter, 2. reject, 3. indifferent (which amounts to rejection)
        5. faith receives salvation (but doesn’t save in itself); Christ alone saves – obedience to Christ should not be out of obligation or desire to get something, but merely because we want to (1 jn 4:19)
        6. worse form of badness = human goodness; substituting itself for Christ’s righteousness
        7. justification truths are foundation of Christian witness
        8. there should be assurance of salvation (2 cor 13:5):
           1. trust that God’s promises apply to you (rom. 4:20-24)
           2. fruit of spirit (Gal. 5; 1 jn 1)
              1. 1 Jn. – conscious of sin, obedient, freedom from habitual sin, love for other Christians, belief, overcoming world and Satan
           3. inner witness that you are God’s child (Rom. 8)
        9. Christians may have areas of carnality (1 cor. 3:1-4), but never the whole person being carnal over long periods of time
        10. false security should be destroyed out of love (mt 7:21-23)
        11. salvation: past (eph 2:8), present (1 cor 1:18), future (rom. 5:9)
   • In Acts: approach never stereotyped: theological and personal (w/core truths)
   • Unless God is speaking to people’s hearts, they won’t be interested in true gospel

PART TWO: THE FOUNDATION FOR EVANGELISM (WHOLLY BY GRACE)

7. Chap. 5: Grace Is Only for the Powerless
   • humans are:
     1. worthy (see Adam and Eve made in God’s image)
     2. unworthy – Rom. 3:10-12, 20; 8:7; Eph. 2:1; Jn. 3 (must be born from above, not below); Lk. 15; Mk. 10:17-27; Lk. 18:13
     3. owned
   • myths that obscure grace:
     1. inalienable rights
     2. human goodness
        1. truth: God kind to all (mt. 5:45)
        2. truth: God gives restraining grace (Ge 20:1-7)
        3. truth: all sin is rebellion (Jas. 2:10)
        4. truth: God has ownership rights, though we still grieve those not saved and going to hell (Rom. 9:2)
        5. true goodness = right motive (love for God), according to right standard (God’s revealed Word), for right goal (God’s glory)
     3. free will
     4. we are like Ezekiel – preaching to dead bones and expecting them to live (only by God’s Spirit)
   • Scriptures emphasize divine sovereignty and human responsibiility with right view of the will
   • witnessing trusts the Word and Spirit to bring life
   • speak truth to and pray for sinners
   • mind, heart, will
     1. the will – God moves sinner through persuasion
     2. approach will through the mind and heart
     3. don’t appeal to natural desires – invite, persuade, and command allegiance to new leader
8. Chap. 6: God is Grace-Full
   • Lk 15 – true repentance seen in prodigal son (Ps. 51 – we sinned against God first)
   • Phil. 3:4-6; Ro. 7:7-10; Acts 9:1-19 – Saul
     1. humbled by law (Ro. 7)
     2. Phil. 3:9 – needed alien righteousness
        1. Eph. 2:4-5, 8-9; Jn. 6:29; Ro. 8:3-4; Eze 36:25-28
   • grace is a power (1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Co. 12:9)
     1. acts 16:13-14
        1. natural birth begins with unknown initiator (Jn. 1:12-13; 3:8)
        2. 1 Pet. 1:23 – Christ (Word) tied with written Word
   • 1 Cor 6:19-20 – we’re not our own
9. Chap. 7: Sovereign, Saving Grace
   • grace: God-honoring and humanity-humbling
   • don’t ask: Why does God not save all?”, instead, “Why does God save any?”
   • sovereignty and human responsibility — trust God, don’t try to figure out (Rom. 9-11)…1 jn 4:19 – God chose me, so I chose Him
   • Rev 22:17; ro. 10:12-13 – all are charged to submit wills to God
   • Ro. 1:18-21, 24 – we know enough of God to be culpable
   • freed will, not free will – Holy Spirit to the will is like a fire inside a hermits house…it forces him to respond to voice of God knocking at his door
   • hell is deserved…God’s honor and justice is glorified there
   • God loves because He wants to
     1. He does whatever pleases Him (Is. 46:9-10; Ps. 115:3; Rev. 4:11; Eph. 1:5, 9; Gal. 1:15 (regeneration in view here); Lk. 12:32; 2 Tim. 1:9)
   • Jesus’ crucifixion pleased God; planned by Him (Is. 53:4, 10; Acts 2:23)
   • for those ‘convinced’ of election, see 2 Pet. 3:9 — accept both truths!
     1. other mysteries: Bible as God’s word and man’s word, Jesus as God and man; etc.
   • God doesn’t want to afflict pain – Ez. 33:11; Lam 3:33; Luke 13:34
10. Chap. 8: Worship: The Whole-Souled Response to Grace
    • greatest obstacle in evangelism = fear
      1. Prov. – “fear of man is a snare”
      2. need to fear God and seek His approval over others.  how?  true worship
      3. David was only Israelite who didn’t fear Goliath.  why?  he experienced God earlier with bears and lions attacking his sheep
      4. Jn. 4 – sam. woman didn’t fear sharing about Jesus, because of her initial experience with Him
      5. worshiping God energizes us to witness
         1. seeing that conversion is purely God’s grace makes it energizing and exciting
            1. Lk. 15 – three searches; all initiated by God…then, there is celebration!! (worship)
            2. Jn. 4:23 – God is seeking true worshipers 
    • mind, will, emotions all need to worship
      1. worship = respond to God’s presence; adore Him
         1. ex. Luke 7 – woman who was sinner is freed from sin, must pour perfumed oil on Jesus
    • we worship 1st, evangelize 2nd
    • if God rules, we must view non-believers as divine appointments
    • Acts 2:46-47 – God increased the numbers of worshippers while they worshipped (cf. Acts 16: 25-31; 13:1-3; 1 Cor. 14:24-25; Lk. 17:9-11)
    • worship makes you want to see God glorified – evangelize (Acts 17:16)
    • In book of Revelation, word describing God the most is “holy” (meaning, separate)
      1. worship focused on this
      2. pray for such worship and worshippers
      3. Ro. 11:22; Deut. 29:29 – holding firm to these is part of worship

PART THREE: CHARACTER AND COMMUNICATION IN WITNESSING (COMMUNICATING TRUTHFULLY AND LOVINGLY)

11. Chap. 9: Ordinary Christians Can Witness
    • “tolerance” has attacked evangelism in our culture
    • Christian response to pluralism: “We love you, but we think you are doing (or believing) what is wrong.  We say this not because we are beter, but because we think we have all been made by God for his purposes.  He has revealed how to live in a way that brings honor to him and true freedom and love to us.”
      1. exclusivity of God/Christ (Is. 45:22; Jn. 14:6) – yet inclusivity (offered to all) vs all other religions requiring works that can’t necessarily be done by some people (thus they are wrongfully exclusive)
      2. if God exsists, doesn’t he have right to say how we come to Him?
      3. if God created us, is it reasonable that he’d leave us on our own to guess what he wants?
    • Mk. 14:32-42 – the cup was Jesus’ death; what was the Father’s answer?  (1) He didn’t answer (ignoring the fervent need of the son), (2) He answered, “Yes, there are other ways to be saved, so your death is unnecessary”, (3) He says, “No, there’s no other way.”
    • being sincere does not mean you are correct (you could be sincerely wrong)
    • it is naive to say all religions are the same (many huge contradictions), though there can be many elements of truth in all religions (Rom. 1-2; Acts 17:28)
      1. ruin (depraved and lost), redemption (Christ alone is risen), regeneration – radically different than other religions
      2. studying religions is not the same as doing them
    • apologetics can be effective (Ps. 19; Rom. 1:20 – creation testifies to God)…but can’t use these as proofs
      1. most effective apologetic = admit our presuppositions and show how they make sense of both the real world and the creatures who live in it…if we love people we will desire to understand what they are thinking/ sharpness of reasoning can be ornament to witnessing if done right, but…
      2. God’s chosen instrument in conversion is His Word and Spirit, not our reasoning ability
      3. we must speak to the conscience of unbelievers (Rom. 2:14-15) – conscience is built in receptor for God’s message – acceptance of gospel is moral, not intellectural problem
         1. atheists are telling you the way they live (Jn. 3:19-20)–they love sin and don’t want to change
         2. Jesus and Peter spoke to conscience (Acts 2:37), and Paul (Acts 26; 23:1 cf. 24:16, 25; 2 cor 4:2; 5:11)
         3. only Holy Spirit can sensitize the conscience and bring conviction, but the Spirit has given us tools in the 10 commandments, Sermon on the Mount and other places that explain true righteousness…ask things like:
            1. if I were to answer all your questions about Christ well, would you be wiling to come to Him?  why not?
            2. assuming that God exists and created you, don’t you have a responsibility to Him?  have you ever thanked Him?
            3. if recorded in a notebook all your thoughts and judgments of others for the last day, and then lost it, how would you feel?
            4. how do you know what love is, and that you’re not actually running away from it?
            5. (we use these questions not to manipulate people, but show their guilt that can be repented of and forgivven in Christ)
    • evangelism is for all Christians (not just super ones) – Acts 8:1, 4; 2 Cor. 5:18-20; etc.  we all have this privilege
      1. the problem is that many people lack the desire to evangelize…they need to be shown the unmerited mercy of Christ, which softens their heart
      2. Ex. 4:11; 2 Tim. 1:8 – God’s servants had their own issues and needed to be reminded by God of what He equipped them to do (just like us)
      3. we need to realize that our gospel is unavoidably offensive to the perishing, so get over the response we get/don’t get…also, we need to look at Christ’s face not others when evangelizing
      4. our weaknesses can become the means through which God works in evangelism – Jeremiah was young and fearful (Jer 1:4-9), see 2 Cor 12:9-10 – own your weakness in a way that produces humility
         1. be ourselves in evangelism – honesty in weakness is best way to break down defenses
    • God goes before us when we evangelize, and brings boldness (Acts 4:13, 29; etc.) – boldness in prayer preceded boldness in witnessing
    • discipling is only effective if we have known Jesus as our discipler (Acts 4:20)
    • we should not wait for a feeling to evangelize (not biblical)
    • ask friends to share witnessing experiences…desire to witness is often caught from another
    • we must love others; be moved with compassion and cry out to God for htem (Mk 6:34; Rom 9:1-3)
      1. society is very mobile and fractured, which makes people more self-centered and lonely; opposed to this is God’s love (see 1 cor 13)
    • supreme motive to witness: glorify God (Rom 11:36; eph 1:12) – if we don’t have this motive we are working against (not with) God
    • 1 thes 2:1-12 – great example of evangelism
    • prayer is the supreme God-ordained method in evangelism…God alone can change a heart (gen 19:29) – sense of longing while we pray (Rom. 9:1-4)
      1. Paul says, “pray for us that the word may go forth” (2 thes 3:1, and elsewhere)
      2. Mt. 11:27 – no one can know God outside of Christ’s revelation
      3. Acts 5:32 – Christ works according to prayerful obedience; He gives his Spirit ‘to those who obey him’, so that they may procalim the gospel with boldness (Acts 4:29; eph 6:19-20)
      4. conviction of God’s sovereignty motivates great prayer
    • “winsome life joined with winsome words will win some”
12. Chapter 10: How to Communicate Personally
    • problem of ‘dropout’ from evangelism cannot be eliminated, but shouldn’t stop trying to eliminate it
    • relationships with others are:
      1. long-term intimate (family, close friends)
      2. long-term acquaintance (co-workers, neighbors)
      3. short-term intimate (friends)
      4. short-term acquaintance (people on the bus)
    • we need to see responisibility with short-term people…all of us are responsible to step out in faith in all relationships…why did God bring them into your path?
    • spiritual classifications of people:
      1. ignorant and indifferent (largest class of unbelievers) – can present Lk 12:13-21; Jn. 4 – don’t just be gentle: surpsie and challenge them…confront and warn; they measure themselves by God’s law
      2. self-righteous – nonreligious and religious – confront with mt. 5:20; lk 18:9…show difference between external righteousness and sins of the heart (mt 23:25); their righteousness is only relative (lk. 18:9-14)
      3. synthetic christians – show nature of regeneration and evidences of saving faith (1 John; Jn. 6:60-66; lk. 14:25-33)
      4. deliberate atheists – moral problems in heart at root (jn. 3:14-20); Jesus invited Thomas to examine more closely (if they do have real questions, do this with them) – “honest answers to honest questions”
      5. the seekers – point to Christ and his promises, speak to their conscience – Isaiah 53; Ps. 51; Jn. 3
      6. also…many times we should be willing to confront and turn away those hardened by distorted teaching (like cultists) – 2 jn 7-11; 2 pet 2…if we do gain a hearing, be brief and to the point (they can take up unnecessary time otherwise)…say you are “bible-believing Christian” and emphasize grace (which is not true in any cult)…share personal experiences of free forgiveness, inner peace and joy found in Jesus’ love…don’t spend too much time alone with cult members; have mature Christian along – be ready to give them some litearture
    • don’t need more evangelistic meetings…simply need to pray and be intentional in our affinity groups
    • starting the conversation…
      1. 2 bad approaches: (1) miss and run, (2) hit and run
      2. 1 good approach: raise questions and make a point – common interestes, attitudes and values, and then personal beliefs.  questions:
         1. what is your religious background?
         2. how have your ideas about God changed since _____?
         3. are you interested in spiritual things?
         4. what do you think a real Christian is?
         5. have you ever personally trusted Christ, or are you still on the way?…how far are you?  would you like to become a real Christian?
         6. if you died and met God, what would he say?  would you go to heaven?  why?
      3. test of our evangelistic method: did we make justification clear?
      4. pp. 219-221, 223 – scenarios and ideas for conversation to gospel – see conversation chart
      5. if people aren’t interested, let them go their way (Lk. 18:18-29)
         1. God, not you, brings them into their new birth at His time
      6. don’t wait for “failures”…if people have only “good things” in life, bring up Rom. 2:4
      7. indifference is evidence of completeness of Satan’s bondage – worse scenario a person can be in…very little can be said to self-complacent
         1. pray for God to humble them…woos us in our blessings and warns us in our tragedies
         2. hope that the constancy of our care for the indifferent unbelievers will prick their consciences
      8. too long we’ve followed individualistic instead of apprenticeship model in evangelism – we should get with friends, study the gospel, pray, then evangelize where people congregate
         1. we only lose our pride (and that might be a good thing!)
      9. we share as much of the gospel as we can with as many as we can
      10. develop evangelistic way of life, not just a “program for evangelizing”
      11. we must be desperate and dependent on Holy Spirit – if Holy Spirit was taken out of your life, what would change?
    • evangelizing is completed people presenting the complete gospel to the complete person.  goal: disciples
      1. avoid premature birth and deformed children
      2. evangelism and theology desparately need each other
      3. be a friend, listener, observer, questioner, lover, proclaimer
    • “if you want to be able to present the Gospel and the truth in the only right and true way, you must be constant students of the Word of God; you must read it without ceasing…”
    • a student’s response to God-centered evangelism: “When I came, I thought you were going to teach technique and force me to witness.  All you did was open the Bible and give us a big view of the majesty of god.  Now that I see him, I want to witness.  I feel freed and confident.”
    • Ezek 37:1-10; John 11:38-44 – snapshot of evangelism
    • ask yourself:
      1. do I know the saving grace of God in my own life?  what is the evidence?
      2. am i daily drawing anew from the fountain of grace by gazing at Jesus?
      3. are there specific people for whose conversion I am praying, pleading, weeping?
      4. am I telling them the truths of the gospel? can I articulate the gospel?
      5. is my attitude, ‘Lord, I want you to use me to point others to Jesus, so I will initiate the topic with people’?
      6. how long has it been since I last explained Jesus to someone?
      7. have i ever been so entranced by the wonder of the gospel of enabling grace that my fear of rejection by others has disappeared?