THE CURRENT ANTI-EVANGELISM WAVE

 

"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.

Hello Friends:

Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. I entitled my post today, “The Current Anti-Evangelism Wave”. It’s based on my observations of the past ten years that my wife said has been going on for much longer than that.

It’s about a group of prominent church leaders, and others that are sharing what I consider heresies. A heresy is defined as the following in the Merriam Webster dictionary: “An opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to the truth or to generally accepted beliefs or standards.”

The thing about heresies is that the people spreading them think they are the correct ones, and everyone else is wrong.

A very strong problem is the fact that the beliefs they teach minimize the need for open evangelism. They are very direct and not shy in their teaching that message. I’m having a lot of difficulty understanding where they’re coming from, and why they think the way they do. I have heard it recently talked about as “progressivism”. Following are some of their beliefs:

1. Genesis, Revelation, and other prophetic books of the Bible make for good storytelling and drama, but they are just that, stories, and play no important role in our Christian faith.
2. Hell, and an eternity of torment are unthinkable. A loving God would never resort to such gruesome tactics. Everyone might go through some sort of testing, but after their death they will all be in a holding place, and after they come to their senses, they will ALL end up in heaven alongside the saints.
3. We must live good and godly lives to win people to Christ, and if all else fails, speak the gospel. This thinking is largely based on the Frances of Assisi quote: "Go out and preach the gospel and if you must, use words." This group of people believe strongly that we should not impose our wills on other people by verbally sharing the gospel, but by only sharing it with our actions.
4. The salvation of lost people was not the primary purpose of Jesus coming to earth. His primary purpose was to honor God. The salvation of lost people was secondary.

I did a dive into what the Bible says about the first set of beliefs today; the belief that Genesis, Revelation, and other prophetic books of the Bible make for good storytelling and drama, but they are just that, stories, and they play no real important role in our Christian thinking. I’ll address the other sets of beliefs in upcoming posts.

1. The belief that Genesis is not an important book in the Bible.
• Genesis was the first book with a prophecy about Jesus. It says the following: “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” Most scholars suggest that due the fact that God went from plural “offspring” to “he" and "him” two times, that the “he" and "him” refers to the future coming of Christ.
• Genesis is also the first reference to the fall of man that Paul later talks about in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. We wouldn’t even know we are sinners if it weren’t for God telling us in Genesis about it.
2. The belief that Revelation is not an important book of the Bible:
• Revelation 1:3 states, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near.”
• Revelation 22:18 states, “If anyone adds to them (the prophecies), God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.”
• Revelation 22:19 states, “If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, which are written about in this book.”

Being blessed by hearing and keeping the words of John’s prophecy speaks for itself. Everyone wants to be blessed. The person, however, that minimizes Revelation might say, “I haven’t physically added to, or taken away any prophecies in Revelation. I just don’t believe they are relevant in my life or the lives of others.” I would say to that person, “What you believe yourself about Revelation is up to you, although I think it can be detrimental to your spiritual and even your physical health, but I would advise you to be VERY, VERY careful if you teach other people that the prophecies of Revelation are unimportant in their lives.

I think Genesis and Revelation are VERY, VERY important Bible books. I think the other prophetic books are also very, very important, and to teach otherwise is outright heresy. Jesus quoted them frequently, and the apostles wrote about, and also quoted them frequently.

Next week I’ll get into the next set of beliefs, that there is no real hell with eternal torment, and that this another belief and teaching that causes people to think that we shouldn’t evangelize.

See you next time,

Arlen

PENTECOSTAL WITNESSING, CHAPTER 2: EARLY CHURCH EVANGELISM by Aubrey Maye

"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.

Hello Friends:

Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. I entitled my post today “Pentecostal Witnessing, Chapter 2: Early Church Evangelism”. Again, it’s based on an old book written in the 1960’s by Pastor Aubrey Maye of the Church of God. This chapter has so many good points it is difficult to contain my excitement. I pray that you also find it exciting.

Pastor Maye said “the sincere Christian of the Twentieth Century (now Twenty-First Century) is “brought face to face with the power of God glorifying His Son through the weakness of human flesh as these early Christians are engulfed by the Holy Ghost. We are challenged by their courage, shamed by their sacrifices, convicted by their dedication to one supreme purpose, and amazed at their almost unbelievable accomplishments.”

Pastor Maye wrote that while the philosophies of evangelism of the early church in Acts were unorthodox by today’s standards, but that due to their effectiveness we should question our ways of evangelism today, rather than to question the way they did it. He said his purpose of pointing in his book to the early church in Acts is that “the reader will be moved to action”.

Pastor Maye gave examples in the early church of “mass evangelism”, and “personal evangelism”. He said the early church wasn’t as concerned about the “how” of evangelism, "but that the job got done".

Mass evangelism came first, and it was very powerful and effective. But as extreme persecution arose the church scattered, and personal evangelism was the outcome of this. (Just a side note . . . this gives me hope that in today’s world of turmoil that God’s Holy Spirit will fill the lives of people to the point where they are inspired to share Jesus with other people.)

Pastor Maye wrote emphatically about the early church, “they were not waiting for the unsaved to come to them, they were busy taking the church to the world.”

He said that “nothing can take the place of the Spirit-filled life in soulwinning”. He said that the young church in Acts had a deep commitment to the Great Commission, in which “was born a sort of “daring” evangelism”. He said that they “dared to believe that if they continued with His Spirit and steadfast in His purpose, they could not fail regardless of the opposition”.

Pastor Maye said that this doesn’t mean they didn’t face discouragement, weakness, or fear. But that fresh infillings of the Holy Spirit strengthened them.

He wrote that “the spirit-filled life was the “norm” instead of the exception in that day.” He wrote that the nature of evangelism was “spontaneous” and “there was no indication that they had to be continuously prodded and challenged” to reach the lost. Pastor Maye said that Christians in today’s church may very well be filled with God’s Holy Spirit, but are hindered by present day misconceptions and traditions that the early church knew nothing about.

Pastor Maye said the following are some present-day misconceptions about soulwinning:

1. “Soulwinning is the sole responsibility of a few specialists.”
2. "Soulwinning should only occur at certain places, like in church buildings."
3. "Soulwinning should only occur at certain times, like at revival meetings."

But the early church in Acts was not hampered by these misconceptions. He said the following about the early church:

1. “Soulwinning was not restricted to certain select individuals.”
• “Every Christian thought it was his (or her) “personal privilege and responsibility to share his (or her) experience with the unsaved.” They didn’t have to wait for a preacher or an evangelist to come along. Pastor Maye said, “They didn’t know any different.
2. “Soulwinning was not restricted to particular places.”
• They were never taught that a church building was required for a person to be saved. “The gospel was just as powerful to save sinners in the marketplace, on the street, or from house-to-house as it was in the temple or synagogue.”
• They took Jesus as “the supreme example” of talking to people everywhere about His saving power.
3. “Soulwinning was not restricted to a particular time.”
• Pastor Maye quoted Acts 5 that said, “the Lord added to the church daily”, “because the disciples were spreading the Good News daily”. They didn’t have to wait until a revival meeting to introduce Jesus to other people.

Pastor Maye quoted J.B Phillips in his book “Letters to Young Churches”. Phillips wrote, “These early Christians were on fire with the conviction that they had become through Christ, literally sons (or children) of God, they were pioneers of a new humanity, founders of a new kingdom.” He said, “They still speak to us through the centuries.” J.B. Phillips wrote, “Perhaps if we believe what they believed, we might achieve what they achieved.”

Do you and I feel like pioneers of a new humanity, like founders of a new kingdom, like children of God? Is it possible for us to regain some of the Holy Spirit inspired conviction of the early church . . . to believe what they believed, so that we might achieve what they achieved?

See you next time,

Arlen

PENTECOSTAL WITNESSING, CHAPTER 1: THE PURPOSE OF PENTECOST

 

Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.

Hello Friends:

Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. I entitled my post today “Pentecostal Witnessing, Chapter 1: The Purpose of Pentecost”. It’s based on an old book written in the 1960’s by Pastor Aubrey Maye of the Church of God. I bought the book from my mother-in-law at her garage sale about ten years ago. It’s become a treasure to me.

I haven't posted in a couple weeks for several reasons: 

1. The holiday season is upon us, which makes us all become busier with decorating, shopping, gatherings, etc. 
2. I couldn’t clarify in my mind what direction God might have me go with my posts. 
3. I was distracted by a number of things, one being sports, especially the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, which has become a fun team to follow, post Lebron James.

But I still feel my primary job, after my mental health career was over, is introducing Jesus Christ to people. To be honest, it should have been my primary job during my career, but it wasn’t. I’m not trying to make up for lost time, but definitely I AM trying to recapture my “first love”, which the Apostle John wrote about in Revelation 2 to the Church of Ephesus.

Pastor Maye encouraged readers of his book to read it prayerfully in light of the following questions:

1. “What is my personal responsibility in fulfilling the Great Commission”?
2. “What can I do to win souls that I am not now doing?”
3. “What is my church doing to evangelize its ‘Jerusalem’?”

Pastor Maye encouraged that the first step is to admit that we aren’t doing enough, and back in 1960’s he said, “we must do it NOW”, and, “The only hope for our generation is this: ministers and members alike, full of the Holy Spirit, moved with compassion, telling people everywhere the old, old story that Jesus lives and Jesus saves – even in the twentieth century” (now the twenty first century).

Let’s dive into this wonderful little book, starting with Chapter 1; “The Purpose of Pentecost”. First off, I realize that some might be put off by the term “Pentecost”. But Pentecost doesn’t mean strange church beliefs associated with speaking in tongues. It means that at the time of the Holy Spirit falling on and filling people, they were celebrating the Jewish “Day of Pentecost”, exactly fifty days after the Passover feast, and immediately after the week of “Harvest” celebrations on the Jewish calendar.

Pastor Maye said there were four reasons the Holy Spirit fell on the early disciples at that time:

1. Act as “a Comforter” to His followers after His departure.
2. Act as “a guide to lead His followers into all truth.”
3. Act as “a teacher” to help His followers remember the important lessons he taught.
4. To remind his followers that His “joy” would be in them, and their joy “would be made full”. John 15:11.

Pastor Maye said that great joy was the result of the Holy Spirit falling on and filling His followers, but joy was, and "is not the primary purpose of the Pentecostal experience”. He said that the joy of the Lord is “certainly essential to the believer”, but “it must always be interpreted as a source of strength and not as an end within itself”.

He said emphatically that the real purpose of Pentecost was “POWER” to give His followers strength when they were weak, to give them courage when they were afraid, and to carry out the true ministry of the Church in the world. He said simply, “the primary purpose of Pentecost was to empower the Church to fulfill the Great Commission”.

Pastor Maye said that Jesus’ followers were not the intellectual leaders of their day, and they could never carry out the task of the Great Commission with their own strength and abilities. They needed the Holy Spirit’s great power to help them to the point where, “they simply could not fail”.

The power His followers felt was not to draw people to themselves, but to take the saving message of Jesus to people everywhere, in every corner of the world, and their personal worlds. Pastor Maye said, “This is evangelism in the fullest sense.”

Pastor Maye said that God’s purpose is very clear according to 1 Timothy 1:15. “This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”. Very simple, isn’t it? Christ wants to save sinners. Pastor Maye said that saving sinners is “second to nothing else in the work of the Church.”

What then is Christ’s plan to evangelize the world? Pastor Maye said, “His plan was simple. His hope was not based on highly organized and intricate plans of operation . . . PEOPLE WERE HIS PLAN.” “Spirit-filled Christians who make up the Church WERE (and are) HIS PLAN TO REACH LOST SOULS! HE HAS NO OTHER PLAN!"

Where have we gotten off track? How can we get back on track? I’m praying for a move of the Holy Spirit again. It’s our only hope to reach a lost and dying world.

See you next time,

Arlen