Evangelism

The Mum effect is the natural human reluctance to share bad news with others, due to a desire to avoid a range of negative consequences, consequences affecting both self and the recipient of the bad news. Although the gospel is good news to those who believe, it may be viewed negatively by those who do not believe. Thus, Christians may be hesitant to share the gospel because of the negative consequences associated with the Mum effect. Because of the anonymity of the internet, social media is often filled with unre-strained criticism of Christianity. This may amplify the perceived negative consequences of sharing the gospel with unbelievers. In light of this cultural evolution, found now in the global north and increasingly present in the global south, Christian leaders can lead more effective ministries by distinguishing between outreach (building relationships in a way that makes the gospel attractive), witnessing (explaining how one has experienced God), and evangelism (sharing all that is necessary to make a decision for Christ), and by ensuring that all three occur in culturally relevant ways, carried out by individuals best equipped to do each, in a way consistent with the New Testament teaching on spiritual gifts. Specifically, outreach and witnessing can be done by all Christians who interact with non-Christians, whereas evangelism may be carried out, both on the individual level and in large groups, by those who are appropriately gifted. By addressing large groups in a more impersonal way, those gifted in evangelism may reduce the negative consequences of the Mum effect and build upon the outreach and witnessing done by others.

This article recovers “evangelical toleration” as a neglected tradition in early modern political thought with important consequences for contemporary political theory and practice.  Many political theorists dismiss the prudential arguments made by “proto-liberal” thinkers like Roger Williams or John Locke in favor of toleration as a necessary precondition for evangelism and conversion as intolerant, unacceptably instrumental, and inessential to their deeper theories. By contrast, critics of liberalism treat them as smoking gun evidence for an imperial and civilizing mission underlying liberal toleration. I argue that both sides underestimate evangelical toleration’s genealogical and theoretical importance. Not only were evangelical considerations essential in shaping the particular institutions associated with toleration in England and America, the varieties of evangelical toleration represented by Williams and Locke shed significant light on the very different institutions—and intuitions—governing the expression of religious difference in liberal democracies today.

"If our church doesn't get more young people soon, we're going to die," blurted the head deaconess during my pastoral interview. I looked around the room at the dedicated group of 60- and 70-year-old church leaders. I respected their openness about the reality in their church (and many other churches in North America).

When you don't have many, or any, young adults in your church, what do you do?

Here are four things that ANYONE in ANY CHURCH can do to activate young adults in your church whether you don't have many or any.

God's Missional Nature The important term Missio Dei (Mission of God) needs a biblical foundation. The sending of God by God is a foundational motive in the New Testament. Even at the very beginning of salvation history, shortly after creation, God became the first missionary. In Jesus, God is the missionary par excellence, and in the Holy Spirit, God is the most successful missionary. Mission is part of the nature of God, and therefore mission can only be described holistically and in a manner that transforms human mission into the image of God's mission.

Please feel free to copy, and to distribute as it might meet the purpose of helping yourself and others get to understand the purpose, person, and authority of Jesus' life and His teaching according to the Gospel of John.
Anyone who is seeking helpful interaction while or after completing these studies may feel free to contact me by email - brianwagner@vbc.edu

Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) is an Orthodox Christian whose music proclaims his faith. He does not attempt to proselytize for Christianity, but he is an evangelist, taking seriously the church's mandate to spread the word of God. In this chapter I describe Part as the "quiet evangelist," a man whose music is promulgating Christianity through his settings of Christian texts, but in a manner that is both modest and self-effacing. I focus on his setting of the “Magnificat” (1989), one of his most popular and frequently performed works.
I establish it as a landmark piece in Part's developmental history by virtue of the mastery of technique; in which the composer exhibits more musical control over the tintinnabuli processes he invented than before. I also suggest that Pärt’s “Magnificat” exemplifies the telos for his music, a goal that is nothing short of union with God. To this end, using semiotician Umberto Eco’s notion of "expression plane" and "content-plane," I present a textual analysis of the work concentrating on the extra musical processes at work, and I offer an exegesis of the piece demonstrating that it is part of the hesychast tradition (one in which practitioners seek divine quietness through contemplation of God). Finally, I broaden the project to describe this piece as one where Pärt is clearly evangelizing Christian theology not just to the initiated, but to a much wider and more diverse audience, and suggest that the key to understanding the religious context is through several Christian concepts notably found in the Orthodox tradition.

Uno de los aspectos más importante tras descubrimiento de América fue el proceso de conquista y ocupación del territorio que llevó a cabo la corona española. En este ámbito, el papel de las órdenes mendicantes (franciscanos, dominicos y agustinos) fue decisivo, ya que fueron las encargadas de llevar a cabo la empresa evangelizadora en el Nuevo Mundo.

Estas órdenes, con la ayuda de los indígenas, levantaron grandes conventos en el virreinato de Nueva España para expandir el cristianismo por este nuevo territorio y, partiendo de la misma tipología conventual occidental, desarrollaron una serie de nuevos conjuntos arquitectónicos que dejan de tener las características europeas. Se trata de una nueva arquitectura donde se fusiona la tradición occidental con la precolombina.

Se van generando así las primeras expresiones de arquitectura mestiza del siglo XVI, entendidas no como una mezcla de elementos de ambas culturas, sino como una nueva expresión donde se sintetizan las sensibilidades de ambos pueblos.

Lo que se plantea en este trabajo es el análisis y la demostración de este mestizaje mediante tres conventos, centrándonos en el legado que llevaban consigo tanto del fraile europeo como el indio mesoamericano.

This collection of studies by social anthropologists describes the complex and often controversial processes of religious change occurring in the postsocialist world. By critically examining the influx of missionaries, the adoption of ‘new’ faiths, and the reactions to these unanticipated shifts in religious landscape, the authors offer valuable insight into the fate of state supported secularism as well as providing fresh critiques of anthropological studies of conversion.

This paper analyzes Kierkegaard’s scattered writings on communication to foreground the distinctively theological dimension of Kierkegaard’s rhetorical theory. “Indirect communication” needs to be understood as a strategy to address a specific theological problem, namely, the tendency for readers who think they are already Christian to dismiss or domesticate rhetoric that summons them to authentic Christian existence. Since Christianity is an “existence-communication,” the questions of what it means to be a Christian and how one can faithfully communicate Christianity are integrally linked for Kierkegaard. Contemporary apologists, activists, and preachers who rely on more direct modes of communication to express the Christian gospel have much to learn from Kierkegaard’s grappling with the illusions that beset Christian witness.

La première biographie complète d'une grande humaniste oubliée de l'histoire. Soeur de roi (François Ier), femme de roi (Henri II de Navarre) et grand-mère de roi (Henri IV), Marguerite d'Angoulême a, trop souvent, été reléguée au second plan. Et sa vie étudiée à travers celle des hommes qui l'ont entourée. C'est oublier bien vite qu'elle a aussi et surtout été une grande mécène d'artisans du livre, tel François Rabelais, et elle-même une auteure prolifique sous le nom de Marguerite de Navarre. Fervente catholique mais aussi humaniste éclairée, elle a également cherché toute sa vie à « renouveler l'Eglise » en protégeant les réformateurs protestants, dont Jean Calvin. Née Marguerite de Valois-Angoulême en 1492, puis devenue reine consort de Navarre par son second mariage en 1527, Marguerite contribua fortement à faire de la cour de son frère François Ier un lieu où intellectuels et artistes de premier plan se pressaient. Après l'affaire des Placards en 1534, elle choisit de s'éloigner de la cour et de se consacrer à l'écriture. Auteure de poésie, de théâtre et de contes, elle laisse une oeuvre abondante. Ses écrits apparaissent comme révolutionnaires pour l'époque, éminemment modernes, et inspirent de nombreuses femmes de tête comme la célèbre Anne Boleyn. Dans cette biographie passionnante et étayée par de nombreuses sources inédites, Patricia Eichel-Lojkine réhabilite une figure oubliée et pourtant, à l'image d'une Madame de Lafayette, incontournable de l'histoire intellectuelle et politique de la Renaissance.

With attention to selected terms: grace, obedience, works, dead, alive, raised, circumcision of Christ, faith, baptism, baptized, forgiven, sins, saved, new life, crucified with Christ. Nowhere does Paul, the “works” theologian, even hint that baptism is a work of personal merit that cannot save, even in writing Galatian Christians who are condemned for turning aside to a different gospel. This alone is evidence that for Paul, the grace of Christ includes baptism in water.

The case of Lautsi v. Italy, better known as the “Crucifix Case,” is a particularly significant case. Its significance is not only political and legal, but also religious. Never before in the history of the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe has a case raised so much public attention and debate. The debate regarding the legitimacy of the symbol of Christ’s presence in Italian schools is emblematic of the cultural crisis in Western Europe regarding religion. Twenty-one State parties to the European Convention on Human Rights, in an unprecedented move, joined Italy to reassert the legitimacy of the public display of Christian symbols in European society. The Court finally recognized, in substance, that in countries of Christian tradition, Christianity enjoys a special social legitimacy that distinguishes it from other philosophical and religious belief systems. In other words, because Italy is a country of Christian tradition, Christian symbols may legitimately enjoy greater visibility in Italian society than other religious or ideological symbols.

Phil Callaway says, "I have a fear of speed bumps, but I'm getting over it." Janice gave Ed a birthday present of Phil Callaway's newest book 'Laugh Again like a Child'. Reading this book caused us to laugh and chuckle deeply. We hoped then that we could interview Phil. Who might have imagined that a comedian could be a missionary? Phil was told that it would never work. "I took a lot of heat early on for combining a message of humour with a message of hope in Christ. To laugh didn't seem to be the holiest of things." Becoming a missionary comedian was not intentional:

Sir George Williams had a profound impact on the youth and business people of the 19th century.  Out of this renewal movement was birthed the YMCA movement which has reached around the globe.  This article explores the faith and values that shaped this world-changer.

Discipleship is fundamental to developing Christian leaders. A discussion on Christian leadership requires we consider the importance of the church and personal character. Some people might not realize that these two topics correspond with prominent themes in honor-shame cultures; namely, collective identity and a practical approach to ethics. Many Asian religions and philosophies tend to emphasize the importance of community yet veer away from abstract doctrines that do not affect one's daily life. Therefore, this paper considers how honor and shame can and should influence our approach to discipleship and thus Christian leadership in general.

A igreja já aprendeu a ir para a rua. Agora precisamos aprender a entrar na sociedade. Como? Oferecendo serviços relevantes às comunidades ao redor das nossas igrejas e instituições. Para fazermos isso, provavelmente precisaremos utilizar a internet, pois atualmente esta é a ferramenta mais usada para manter comunicação direta com as pessoas, onde quer que elas estejam. Não vamos abandonar os métodos evangelísticos que temos utilizado até aqui. Ao contrário, vamos utilizá-los ainda mais à medida que aplicarmos esta nova abordagem. O objetivo deste artigo é oferecer uma proposta de como esse processo pode ser desenvolvido.

Records at the offices of registrar of societies in the registrar general division of the office of the Kenya's attorney general indicates that there are more than 4000 registered churches. These churches range from the mainstream common ones known by many to the less common ones only known by their members. A report on global index on religion and atheism approximates 84.8% of Kenyan population as Christians. This figure therefore indicates that majority of Kenyan are Christians and follow the doctrines of the various churches they are affiliated to. One of the practices of these churches is missionary and evangelism. Even though missionary and evangelism are practiced by mainstream churches, it is more defined in protestant churches with each church having their own approach and method. Missionary by the simplest terms seeks to spread the Gospel to the unreached with the main aim of harvesting souls to Jesus Christ. On the other hand, evangelism enables missioners to spread the word of God through witnessing and by way of preaching. The big question therefore: Is there a standard method to be followed when executing a Church Mission Project?

A Synopsis of Stephen Webb's Theology of Sound.  Webb's book engages with the role audio stimulus plays in Christian Proclamation.  This Synopsis was the result of an assigned paper at Eastern University's Palmer Theological Seminary.  The author of this paper challenges many of Webb's conclusions but found a hidden gem of "accommodation" within the pages of Webb's book that should not be overlooked.

A number of recent books examine the presentation of the gospel through the lens of honor-shame. This article assesses some of the arguments given in these books to see what they have to say is of valuable and what should be questioned from the perspective of anthropology, the Bible, language, and mission history.

Hit by dramatic membership decline in recent years, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is initiating multiple processes of religious renewal to revitalize its worshipping and outreach culture. This paper examines the transformation the ELCA envisions in its religious culture as revealed in semi-structured interviews and (non-)participant observation recently conducted in the Upper Midwest. Clergy and lay leaders are attempting to develop a spiritually vibrant and participatory church culture in what has generally been a rational, hierarchical, and passive-receptive denominational environment. By helping parishioners cultivate personal spirituality, contextual faith practices, and evangelism skills, they aim at a spiritually vital religious socialization untypical for mainline Protestantism, which is usually characterized by intellectualism and a social outreach focus. At the same time, the ELCA retains its traditional liturgy as a unique identity marker and corporate ritual that offers communal access to the transcendent. While liturgy is perceived as outdated and hierarchical by many, ELCA clergy hope to infuse it with the spiritual vitality of individual parishioners, thereby maximizing the liturgy's mystical effects. In this sense, personal spirituality and corporate liturgy are brought together in an attempt to revitalize and transform the ELCA's congregational culture in ways that stay true to its core tradition.

Dr. E Stanley Jones through his Kingdom of God perspective had a lasting impact on racism both in India and North America.  Through his formation in India of the Christian Ashram movement in 1930 and transplanting it worldwide, Jones modeled a christian community in which divisions of class and cash had no place.  His book on his good friend Gandhi was instrumental in encouraging Martin Luther King Jr in the formation of the nonviolent civil rights movement.

Missionaries seek to be credible to the people whom they try to influence with the message of the gospel. Although Christ first and foremost calls missionaries to be humble servants who love and serve him, empirical evidence from the behavioral sciences indicates that missionaries who are perceived as experts, who attract people to themselves, and, most importantly, who are trustworthy are most likely to be deemed credible. To be perceived as experts, missionaries need to demonstrate their knowledge of a topic and to speak with confidence. To be perceived as attractive to others, missionaries should have frequent contact with others, demonstrate appreciation to others, and take care with their physical appearance. To come across as trustworthy, missionaries need to demonstrate long-term integrity, trustworthiness, open communication, and concern for others.

This publication is a collection of essential tools for practical ministry in jails and prisons. It includes scores of Christian ministries and other faith-based organizations that offer free Bibles, books, literature, and other important resources for correctional chaplains.

„Helge Stadelmann und Stefan Schweyer präsentieren ein Lehrbuch der Praktischen Theologe, das sich von anderen abhebt: Es ist aus freikirchlicher Perspektive geschrieben und ergänzt so die Lehrbücher für Praktische Theologie aus volkskirchlichem Kontext. Und die Autoren sind überzeugt: jede gute Praxis braucht eine gute Theorie, und in der Gemeinde wird gute Praxis immer auch theologisch reflektierte Praxis sein. Bloße Pragmatik genügt nicht. In das Zentrum ihres Entwurfs haben die Autoren den Gemeindeaufbau gestellt, und sie gehen dabei der Frage nach: Wie können Gemeinden qualitativ und quantitativ wachsen?“

Die zweite Auflage umfasst 35 Seiten mehr als die erste Auflage. Alle Kapitel und die Register durchgesehen, aktualisiert und gelegentlich ergänzt. Das Kapitel über Spiritualität (Kap. 15) sowie die gemeinde- und religionspädagogischen Kapitel (Kap. 17; 18; 21) wurden neu konzipiert und grundlegend überarbeitet.

For centuries, Christian theology has understood the Eucharist in terms of metaphysics or in protest against it. Today an opening has been made to imagine the sacrament through the method of phenomenology, bringing about new theological life and meaning. In Dialectical Anatomy of the Eucharist, Donald Wallenfang conducts a sustained analysis of the Eucharist through the aperture of phenomenology, yet concludes the study with poetic and metaphysical twists. Engaging the work of Jean-Luc Marion, Paul Ricoeur, and Emmanuel Levinas, Wallenfang proposes pioneering ideas for contemporary sacramental theology that have vast implications for interfaith and interreligious dialogue. By tapping into the various currents within the Judeo-Christian tradition--Jewish, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant--a radical argument is developed that leverages the tension among them all. Several new frontiers are explored: dialectical theology, a fourth phenomenological reduction, the phenomenology of human personhood, the poetics of the Eucharist, and a reinterpretation of the concept of gift as conversation. On the whole, Wallenfang advances recent debates surrounding the relationship between phenomenology and theology by claiming an uncanny way out of emerging dead ends in philosophical theology: return to the fray.

The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented need for innovations in churches around the world. Organizational innovativeness, a precursor of successful innovations in organizational contexts, is rarely studied in churches. This study of American church attenders (N = 244) found that perceived innovativeness of churches (conceived of as the elements of a church’s culture which promote innovation, specifically, creativity, organizational openness, future orientation, risk-taking, and proactiveness) was a very strong predictor of church commitment (conceived of as intentions to stay in the church, r = .60, p < .001). Of the moderators examined in this study (membership tenure, age of participant, church size, and gender), only gender moderated this relationship; the relationship between perceived innovativeness and church commitment was stronger for females than for males. This suggests that innovations that facilitated relationship development and relationship maintenance had th...

Evangelical Protestants are more supportive of the Iraq War than other major religious groups in the United States, such as Mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics. I argue this trend occurs due to demographic factors that lead Evangelical Protestants to rely more heavily on TV news over print news. TV news often employed more positive frames of the Iraq War than print news, leading to a skew in opinion and information presented. I present demographic statistical evidence and public opinion research and conclude with the implications of this study on public opinion and media framing.

Three easy gospel lessons using Christian Scriptures to find the answers from God to aid in overcoming depression.  The truths will be discovered concerning God's main purpose for each of our lives, God's value of love on our lives, and the hope we can develop for our future with God.  These lessons are especially designed for those who struggle with depression who are not yet Christians or might think they are, but often doubt any close relationship with God.  It would be helpful to go over the answers with another Christian that you respect.

Churches, pastors, leaders and believers often struggle with making disciples that reproduce themselves in others. This article presents three key challenges, faced in today´s context for making reproducing disciples, that are often overlooked. Attractional, missional, and hybrid models of ministry alike can benefit from Jesus’ approach to Zacchaeus. “The Zacchaeus Approach” is based on the analysis and observations drawn from the Biblical story written by Luke, a medical doctor, found in the Gospel of Luke 19:1-10. The thirteen transversal principles found in this New Testament narrative are discussed as an incarnational and missional guideline for believers to reproduce other disciple-makers. A disciple-making movement axiom is defined with the purpose of rapid disciple multiplication and streams of multiplying churches.

Keywords: overlooked challenges, disciple-makers, Zacchaeus approach,
incarnational, missional, thirteen principles, empowerment, disciple-making movement axiom

Quizás las cosas sean diferentes de como te las han contado...
Ahora, te propongo mirar desde otro punto de vista, otra perspectiva... más cercana, más tuya, más real.
Ojalá puedas ver más allá de lo que te han dicho porque ésta... Ésta es una historia fascinante.

Christians, more than ever, need a basic introduction to Bible doctrine that is systematic and true to Scripture. This book is a popular introduction to the study of Bible doctrine firmly in the evangelical tradition. Each chapter covers a biblical doctrine, stresses its doctrinal importance and inter-connectedness to formulating a Christian worldview. The study questions provided help reinforce the material and make it usable even for a formal study of Bible doctrine. It is ideal for personal study and in groups for the home, church, school or ministry environment.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1518707378

http://bastionbooks.com/shop/survey-of-bible-doctrine/

Firstly, the Roman Catholic «prehistory» of contact between the Panoan groups of Bolivian Amazonia and Jesuit, Franciscan and lay clergy missionaries is described. The paper then analyses the continuity of the evangelization process by diverse evangelical denominations, describing three missionary experiences with the Chacobo since 1955 to the present day. Finally, general insights are proposed relating the anthropological problem of religious conversion.