The specific location is Oke Bay. The land is in three titles. On one of the three pieces of land there is a 120 year old, six bedroom Kauri villa.

Oke Bay is situated at the start of the Cape Brett walking track, which is rated one of the 100 best in the world.

Literally thousands of people from all countries around the world walk this track which ends at Hole In The Rock.

Cape Brett has been made famous by this ” Hole In The Rock” tourist site (left)

Jesus said “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15).  The world is coming to Cape Brett and we are ready for them.

It’s been a great blessing to give people walking the track a www.biblein11.com card, and to take some through the gospel on my ipad.

We have a vision to build an international evangelism training centre on the largest lot of land, which overlooks Oke Bay.

To read about the vision in full, please click here.

The vision has four phases.

Phase 1 is to restore the existing villa, turning it into a cafe and boutique accommodation. The income from this venture will finance phase 2.

Phase 2 is building a backpacker accommodation for up to 20 people.

The income from phases 1 and 2 will finance phase 3, which is building the international evangelism training centre.

How are we doing?
Phase 1 has 4 phases.
1. The restore the outside of the house so that it’s weather proof and looking good. See the “after” and “before” photos below. These photos show our progress since January 2013.

This phase has almost been completed. We just need a builder and a roofer for a day to complete this phase.

2. Install a septic tank or similar waste water system. At the moment, we are using a long drop and a chemical toilet.
3. Undertake some earthworks to create car parks, build a retaining wall to increase the lawn area. Landscape.
4. Re-configure the inside of the house to create the cafe, restore the kitchen, and install a wood fire pizza. Obtain council consents to operate a cafe.

All the while this has been going on, I have been preaching and running evangelism seminars in Churches, evangelising, writing, blogging, and developing new resources. Its been a huge, gruelling challenge, given that Oke Bay is 3 hours fromAuckland and all the finances are coming from donations, as is the labour to do the work.

God has even provided non-Christians to help.

Typically what happens is that people hear about the vision and offer some time to come up and help. We provide meals and accommodation.  They provide their skills. Tradespeople stay for a few days or a few weeks. It’s up to them.

We are even offering “contra deals” to tradespeople i.e. they come for a week to work and in exchange we give them a week (or more) in the house during the holidays.  They swap a weeks work for a weeks holiday for themselves and their family.

It’s been incredible to see him provide.

Having said this, many times in the past six months I have felt totally spent, like the polar bear in the picture.

I have felt like Paul the Apostle who said “I have poured my life out like a drink offering” (Philippians 2:17).

If you know a roofer and a builder who can offer a days labour, please ask them to call / text me 0n 027476 44 30.

If you know Christians who can:

1. install waste water systems

2. operate earth moving equipment and build retaining walls.

Please ask them to contact me.

You might want to rent the villa. We recently posted it on a web site so people can rent it.  If you rent it, you’d be helping to finance this evangelism vision. Click here for more details

Please continue to pray for this vision.

It’s incredibly strategic.

The embers of the fires of evangelism in the Western Church around the world are glowing more dimly now than at any point in the history of the Church.

Overall, the number of Christians in the Western Church is plummeting.

Now, more than at any time in the last 2000 years, is there a need to train people how to mobilise whole churches back into true, biblical evangelism.

Thankfully, we are slowly getting insight into how to do this and there are some great examples of churches around the world and in New Zealand (e.g. St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Waipukurau) who are pioneering this work successfully.

Others churches are at various points on the journey.

Thank you once again for those who are praying and supporting this vision financially.

Our greatest need at the moment is for $25,000 to install the toilet system. We are asking the Lord to provide through his people. We need:

1 person to give $5000

5 people to give $1000

10 people to give $500

20 people to give $250

50 people to give $125

Someone has already pledged to be the one person giving $5000.   All gifts are tax rebatable because we are a registered charity.

One of the tools we use to reach the lost with the gospel is a little 3 minute survey.  To read the survey, click here

It’s simple to use.  All one does is approach a stranger, invite them to do a survey, and give them a gospel booklet at the end or share the gospel with them verbally.

After doing literally hundreds of these surveys, I have discovered an interesting thing.

Non Christians, whether they are atheists, buddhists, hindus, tree huggers, or whatever – they all have one thing in common.

With a few very rare exceptions, they want to know how to be sure of going to heaven when they die.

This truth was again bought home to me yesterday.

I was buying a trailer which was advertised on Trade Me.

Before I made the purchase, I made a pre-purchase inspection a few days before the auction closed.

Naturally, I gave the guy who owned the trailer (Mike) a www.biblein11.com card. All I said was “oh, by the way, have a look at this.  We just made a video which summarises the central message of the bible in 11 minutes” and gave him the card.

He said (smiling) “sounds interesting” and thrust it into his pocket.  That was it. Very simple. Not confrontational at all.

The subject changed.

Two days later I won the auction and went to pick up the trailer.

I asked Mike (in his 60′s)  if he’d watched the video.

He had.

He said “I’ve been thinking about the stuff in the video for two years now.”

In the discussion that followed, it was obvious he wanted to be sure of going to heaven.

The conversation ended with me giving him the follow up booklet, “how to be sure of going to heaven when we die”

What are the lessons here? There are seven.

1) Before I met Mike, he’d been thinking about eternity for two years.   Who got him thinking? Answer: God. Through conscience and creation, the Holy Spirit is ‘ploughing’ the hearts of non-Christians, preparing them to hear the gospel.  Many Christians say ‘oh, we can’t reach strangers with  the gospel until we have built a relationship with them’.  This simply isn’t true. Such thinking limits God and denies non-Christians.

2)  Mike had been thinking about eternity for two years before we got to him.  How would he have known how to get to heaven if we hadn’t explained it to hear via the video and the follow up booklet?  Answer: he woudn’t.  Paul makes this point in Romans 10:14-15  He says “How will they hear unless we go? Who will tell them, unless we speak?”.  We have to go, and keep on going until they have all heard and understood the gospel. This is the essence of the Great Commission.

3) Who is going to follow Mike up, and lead him to Christ? If I don’t, the Holy Spirit will.  Many Christians say “oh, if I reach people with the gospel and don’t follow them up, I am being irresponsible.   So I only want to work with one person at a time.”   Mark 4:26-29 teaches that God follows up every seed of the gospel planted.  He is the Lord of the Harvest. So to think that we can only reach one person at a time limits God and denies non-Christians.

4)  Having this conversation with Mike made me feel truly alive. It was the highlight of the day.  Getting a bargain trailer paled into insignificance.  Deep down, most Christians are bored with their Christian lives.  Participation in evangelism is the escape hatch out of Christian boredom and into John 10:10 life.

5) Many groups and churches ‘do’ evangelism on Friday or Saturday night, as a special event.  I have never understood why they do this.  Evangelism, properly understood, is, Biblically, supposed to be done as we go about the course of our ordinary day.   Every time we brush with a non-Christian, this is our opportunity to share the gospel, either by giving out a Bible in 11 card or sharing the gospel verbally.  Mark 16:15 says “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel.” The Greek construction is best translated “As you go.”  If I’d been an ‘evangelism is a special event’ person, Mike would not have heard the gospel because the day I bought the trailer was Friday afternoon, not Friday night.

6) We have to have the tools on us at all time in order to do evangelism. Many Christians start their day with no tools to do evangelism on them.   Just as a builder can’t build a house without tools, so no Christian can be effective in evangelism without tools.  Get the tools and make sure you take them where ever you go. When we leave each day with no evangelism tools on us, what are we saying?

7) Mike, like many non-Christians, wanted to know how to go to heaven.  a. I could have lied to him (as happens in most funerals) and told him God loves him, and that he’s a good bloke,  and he’ll be going to heaven for sure.   b. I could have said nothing, and hoped someone else would share the gospel with him.  Chances are, given that only 2% of Christians participate in evangelism, no one would have shared the gospel with him and Mike would have ended in hell   c. I could have said nothing about God, been utterly selfish, grabbed the trailor, paid the money, not brought the conversation around to God, not mentioned God at all, and not given his eternal salvation one itsy bitsy thought i.e. I could have carried out the transaction as a non-Christian would have.

Which one would you have been? a,b, or c?

To be conscious and aware  of the eternal destiny (heaven or hell) of every non-Christian we brush with each day is to be truly Christian.  It’s to be Christ like.  It’s how Jesus was when He was on earth. It’s to love our neighbour as ourself.

It’s to obey the greatest commandment because Jesus said when we obey His commands we are loving him (John 14:21)

With the tools we now have, evangelism has never been easier.

Really, does anyone have a good excuse not to engage in evangelism as they go about their day?

You know the answer…..

Why was the outcome so easy to predict?

Answer? Because we as a Church have stopped proclaiming the gospel i.e. evangelising.

Only 2% of the Church now engage in Biblical evangelism.

And when the gospel ceases to be proclaimed, society rots.

Who says so?

John Stott is one of many theologians who advocate this.  Listen to his wise and insightful words.

“We have seen that society needs salt [preservation] and light [reformation], but only the gospel can create them. This is one way which we may declare without embarrassment that evangelism takes primacy over social action. Logically speaking, Christian social responsibility presupposes socially responsible Christians, and it is the gospel which produces them.”

He goes on to say that when the gospel is faithfully and widely preached, it brings not only renewal to individuals, but produces in society what has been termed an ‘antiseptic atmosphere’  “in which blasphemy, selfishness, greed, dishonesty, immorality, cruelty, and injustice find it harder to flourish. A country which has been permeated by the gospel is not the soil in which these poisonous weeds can take root, let alone luxuriate.” (Dr John Stott, Issues facing Christians Today. Marshall Pickering, 1984, pp.69-70).

Charles Colson, former White House aide and Founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries, gives the analogy of an oyster.

“Oysters make their own shells, so if the shell is badly formed, the problem is not with the shell but with the oyster. Likewise, when a culture deforms and decays, don’t ask what went wrong with the culture; ask what went wrong with the cult – the religious core.” (Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey, How Now Shall We Live? Tyndale Publishers, 1999, p.37)

To put it bluntly, the gay marriage bill was a judgement on us in the Church.

So severe is the judgement that God allowed MP Maurice Williamson to openly and globally mock  us as Christians.

The Youtube video of his speech has gone viral all over the world with over a million hits.  To watch his video, click here

In the eyes of the world, the Church in NZ has become a laughing stock.

God is saying something loud and clear to us through all this. But will we take heed? Or just default back to business as usual?

Brothers and sisters in Christ – we’ve failed miserably to get the gospel to New Zealanders, and the gay marriage bill is the result.

With 2014 approaching, the Church in NZ is planning to celebrate the coming of the gospel to NZ.

Such a celebration is completely inappropriate – as inappropriate as telling a joke at the scene of a roadside death.

I have never seen or heard of  an organisation throwing a party to celebrate it’s failure with respect to the priority of it’s leader and the rotting of the society in which it has been placed.

Instead, don’t you think we ought to be repenting (seeking God’s forgiveness for not taking the gospel to lost NZ) and seeking God about how to mobilise all the people in our churches to start being obedient to Jesus’ Great Commission? i.e. proclaiming the gospel through personal evangelism?

One thing the passing of this bill did prove and prove beyond doubt.

Prayer alone is not enough to stop NZ’s downward spiral, and nor are lots of letters to MP’s, or social action programs.

They will never be enough, and were never intended to be enough.

For most Kiwi Christians, these things have become a smokescreen to avoid doing evangelism.

To God, obedience (i.e. evangelising the world) is better than sacrifice (i.e. spending hours in prayer, abounding in good works, and writing letters to MPs)  (1 Samuel 15:22)

These things must always be in support of the evangelisation of the world, but never a substitute for it.

If we want God to turn up in a nation, we have to obey Him with respect to His priorities, not ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).

And His priority is the evangelisation of the world. To read more about this, click here

To know what ‘evangelism’ is and isn’t, click here.

What was interesting too about the passing of this bill was that God didn’t answer our prayers in the way we would have wanted. God seemed impotent and powerless.  Why was this?  John 14:21 gives the answer.

This verse is key if we want to see the relationship between obedience and God showing His power.

If the priority command of Jesus is the command to evangelise the world (and it is), then when we obey Him in this (i.e. do His will), the promise of John 14:21 is that He will show us His power.

If we don’t obey Him in this, we are sinning, and he’ll stop up His ears to not hear our prayers and turn a blind eye to all  good works and letter writing (John 9:31, Isaiah 59:2 etc)

How long is it going to take for us to wake up to these truths?

Let’s heed the wise words of John Stott and Chuck Colson before more judgement comes.

p.s. To know how to mobilise everyone in your church to proclaim the gospel, click here

PPS. Please forward this blog onto as many people as you can.  Education is a key to turning this situation around, whereas ignorance or turning a blind eye will just perpetuate it.

I am sorry to by cynical, but if I was a betting man, I’d put my life savings on the chance that, coming Monday morning, in the offices of the pastors of most churches in NZ,  after the passing of this bill,  it will be business as usual.

If you are a pastor, and you’re wondering how to mobilise all your people for evangelism, and create a culture of evangelism at your church, come and window shop.

If you are an individual who wants to learn how to evangelise (i.e. reach the lost with the gospel),  this is for you!

Download a conference brochure here.

You can register by going to www.churchdnachange.com or texting Eleanor on 021 10 10 150

See you there!

Reinhard Bonnke has just exhorted the Church in NZ to make a priority of proclaiming the gospel.

Praise God for this man and His ministry!

I was not able to attend, but friends who were there report that “many tears were shed as the Holy Spirit moved powerfully over the attendees.”

Interesting.

The acid test is this – is anything going to change as a result of this conference? By this I mean:

1. Will evangelists with the Ephesians 4:11-14 gift return to equipping whole churches to proclaim  the gospel?
2. Will they (i.e. evangelists) shift away from teaching people churches ‘how to make friends with the lost’ and ‘ how to be an influence’ and ‘how to build bridges into the community’ etc etc (which are aberrations of the job description of an Ephesians 4:11-14 evangelist), back to their core Biblical business which is teaching their fellow Christians how to communicate the gospel to the lost?
3. Will evangelists return to personally sharing the gospel with friends, family, and strangers on a regular basis?  Sad to say, many evangelists preach and teach about the importance of personal evangelism, but don’t actually do it themselves.
4. Will evangelists be faithful to preach and teach the historic gospel?  That is to say, for us to be able to say ‘we have proclaimed the gospel’, certain content must be covered in the message, namely a) why we must be saved b) how Jesus can save us c) what we must do to be saved d) the cost of being a disciple.
5. Will those who attended the conference seek out (with all their might) evangelists who will equip them to proclaim the historic gospel?
6. Will pastors and ministers of churches who attended the conference make it their priority to equip their people to proclaim the gospel? And once equipped, maintain the momentum – and the priority – not just for a week or two, but for the life of their church?
7. Will evangelists equip themselves with strategies and tools to help churches achieve point 6 above?

If the Holy Spirit was REALLY moving in the Reinhard Bonnke Conference, one thing is for sure – there will be strong evidence of points 1-7 all over New Zealand.

If not, the tears at conference can only have been reptillian.

Where the Spirit has genuinely moved, genuine change will surely follow.

After Pentecost in Acts 2, the whole Church exploded into action because “the move of the Holy Spirit” was authentic.

The jury, therefore,  is out on the Reinhard conference…..

As a ministry, we have two conferences coming up in April where you’ll be equipped to start making points 1-7 above a reality.

April 13: Auckland

April 20: Blenheim.

For detailes, contact Julian at julian@esisite.com / text 0274 76 44 30,  visit www.churchdnachange.com or  text Eleanor on 021 10 10 150.

We’d love to see you there. Let’s put legs on what Reinhard and the other speakers were exhorting us to do.  Let’s not let this excellent conference fall through the cracks.  Let’s refuse to go back to default mode, which is business as usual.

See you at training!

p.s another great “equipping” ministry in NZ is run by Matt Old at Kiwi Tracts or Go International. His mobile is 022 102 8060.  They have some brilliant tools and resources which will help make points 1-7 above a reality.

As a ministry we are working with pastors and leaders in various parts of the world.

One of those pastors (Darryl) and his wife (Pati), live in Alexandria, a city in the USA which is situated close to the border with Canada.

One Sunday recently, Darryl showed the Biblein11 video in the Sunday morning church service.

The following is what the Holy Spirit did in the life of an unsaved father who was in the congregation.

My dad, Bill, was really were convicted by Sunday’s message and we had a great talk after at Ben’s place (restaurant).  My dad wants to come back this spring and go to church here again.  He was very moved and profoundly awakened to his spiritual condition and desires to surrender to Jesus.  He realized that he had been going through the motions of being a believer by doing good works.  So we talked about how Jesus looks at the heart and sees us.  He realized that he was putting on a show.  He just wants to love Jesus back and be obedient to Him.  He cried and I told him that was a beautiful thing, that it was birth pains of his heart being surrendered to Jesus

Wow! Let’s pray for Bill. What are the lessons we can learn from what happened in the church Darryl and Pati pastor? There are at least five:

1. From time to time, show Bible  in 11 on Sunday mornings. Give the Holy Spirit a chance to save people.   Knowing that the gospel will be proclaimed in an interesting, contemporary, and powerful way will give the people in your church a compelling reason to bring their friends and family along.
2. When we show the bible in 11 video on Sundays in church the Christians in the Church get to see over and over what “the gospel” is and isn’t.  So showing the bible in 11 video is a powerful teaching tool for Christians.  If they see if often enough, they’ll be able to articulate the gospel without any tools.
3. Testimonies like the one above lift the faith level of a whole church.  When people see the Holy Spirit at work, it encourages them to join in, which in turn creates more faith, belief, and expectancy. How good is that!  This is how revivals start.
4. Proclaiming the gospel on Sunday mornings sends a powerful message to church members that the Great Commission is important.   Many Christians have not even heard of the Great Commission.  This is because many pastors don’t know that the evangelisation of the world is THE mission (i.e. the Biblical priority) of the Church.  Truly, we are living in the Dark Age of Evangelism.
5. In every church service, there are four types of people a) those who have been attending for years who are not saved. b) Unsaved friends and family of existing church members who have been brought to church c) walk in’s.  That is, people who just walk into church off the street.   d) the truly saved.  No pastor can know for sure, or even consciously notice which of these four types of people are in the church service on Sunday. For these reasons alone, proclaim the gospel regularly. Give the Holy Spirit something to work through to flush out the lost.

Please continue to pray for Darryl and Pati as their attempt to mobilise 100% of their people in their church for evangelism!  Just recently, 8 other pastors in their city agreed to make the evangelisation of Alexandria their focus. How awesome is that!

Just recently I went on a tour of South America, kindly paid for by one of my supporters.

For the most part, the tour group were not saved.

I used the tour as a ministry trip, giving the gospel in Spanish wherever I went each day (See www.biblein11.org/espanol)  and networking with Christians I happened to meet in the countries we visited.

It struck me one day that I was just so different from my fellow tour party friends –  in my likes and dislikes, in what interested me and what interested them, in what lit their candle, and what lit mine, in the feelings I had for the native people of each country and the feelings they had.

Don’t get me wrong.  My fellow tour party friends were all lovely people, and we got on just fine. In fact,with some I will continue to keep in contact.

The truth is, most were nicer people than I was – well, this is what I felt anyway.

However, one day I was sitting in a cafe by myself, people watching, and meditating on our tour.

Then it struck me – this thought – it was more a revelation, inspired by the Spirit – that I must be a saved person. I got quite excited about this.

The Holy Spirit showed me that there was a big difference between being a Christian and being a ‘nice’ person.

True, all Christians are supposed to be ‘nice’ but being a Christian is much more than being a nice person.

A Christian (i.e a saved person) is someone who likes what Jesus likes and who hates what Jesus hates.  And the chief thing Jesus likes is the evangelisation of the world for His glory.

So how did I know I was a saved person?

1. I loved to give the gospel and watch the joy on the faces of those listening to it in their own language.  I felt such joy doing this. My tour friends did not like giving the gospel.
2. I felt great gut level compassion for the poor in each place.  Whereas my tour party friends just took photos of the poor and bought things from them, I felt a strong urge to give them money, and feed them where I could.  One morning I found myself waking early in our hotel.  The Holy Spirit gave me the idea of going to the hotel kitchen and asking to make up a doggy bag of food. This is did.  I then went out onto the streets to find a homeless person to give the package. I felt no greater joy as I did this. In contrast, my tour friends seemed to have little compassion for the poor, other than an intellectual understanding and as surface level appreciation of their plight.  The difference was I FELT A DEEP GUT LEVEL COMPASSION for them and felt I HAD to do something to help them.  Where was this feeling coming from? Certainly not me.  It was the work of the Holy Spirit. My tour party friends did not feel these things.  If they did, they certainly didn’t talk about them or show any evidence.
3. Our tour leader urged us to barter with the poor people who were selling their stuff in streets stalls. I felt a strong urge to NOT barter but to give them the price they wanted and to look at the inflated price as a neat way to help them. I found myself urging the others on the group to do the same.  At this suggestion, most of my tour party friends thought I was nuts or their eyes just glazed over.  Some started to give money away to them, but here’s the thing – it looked like they did it begrudgingly, like a chore.  Whereas, I felt genuine deep joy giving to them (even though it was small amounts) and I felt myself wanting to do it over and over again.
4. The others in our tour group were more interested in shopping, taking photos of things, and buying souvenirs.  I felt I couldn’t care a toss about such things. I had much more exciting things to do.

Where did all these feelings and attitudes come from?

Thirty years ago, before I was saved, I would NEVER have felt all this and had these attitudes and feelings.

Now they seemed to be bubbling up within me,  INVOLUNTARILY, SPONTANEOUSLY, AND STRONGLY.

As I sat in the cafe, I thought “You know what, I must be saved.”

The thoughts continued. “I have done many things I wish I could re-run the tape on in those 30 years, and I still have a lot of flaws in my character, but you know what, on the positive side, as it were, I have all these attitudes and likes that well up within me each day.”

Again I said, “I MUST BE SAVED! THIS MUST BE THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT!”

“Who else could be giving me these desires and attitudes, except the Holy Spirit? Certainly not the devil, or my natural man.”

And here’s another really cool thought that came to me.  ”I am a sinner who has sinned as a Christian, and still sins, yet God is still pleased to work through me!”

In contrast, many in the Church seem to have flawless characters and squeaky clean records, be theologically perfect, yet God is not using them other than to tithe, attend church each Sunday, sing two fast ones while there, one slow one, listen to a message, eat a muffin at the end and drink some tea, attend a home group during the week, hold down a good job, and care for their family (by the way, non-Christians can do all these things and more).

Self evaluation and reflection are powerful things.

They can be the conduit for God to reveal powerful, LIFE CHANGING thoughts to us.

This revelation in the cafe – that I was a saved person- and that being a Christian was much more than simply being a nice person – was powerful. 1 John 5:19 says “And we know that we are of God…”

After receiving this revelation, I sauntered back to the hotel, thanking God that He had imparted into me his attitudes, likes, and dislikes, and the guts to urge others to take on board the same.

Now, here’s the thing. The ONE thing my fellow tour party friends would NOT do – in fact which they were embarrassed about it when they saw me doing it – was giving the gospel.

I found myself having to evangelise privately, when they were not watching i.e. when they had gone to bed, or early in the morning before they got going, or when we had free time I would sneak off somewhere.

And here is another thought I had – many non-Christians I know are outwardly even better than those on my tour group – they have great Christ-like character and engage in works of social justice, and are even more lovely people than those in my tour group.

We have all met non-Chrisitans who put us to shame because they are just such nice people who show all the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc etc, even though they don’t have the Spirit.

Many are enormously generous with their time and money and do lots of voluntary work.

So what’s the bottom line difference between a fine, moral, upstanding non-Christian and a fine, moral, upstanding Christian?

The one and great observable difference is that non-Christians, no matter how nice they are,  NEVER have  the strong desire, will and courage to give the gospel.

This, surely, is the ONE distinguishing mark of a saved person.

Make no mistake about it, all the characteristics of a Spirit filled person can be imitated by the lost – EXCEPT THIS ONE.

Jesus said “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)

This is clearly a reference to those who are too ashamed to give the gospel in public.  What else can “me and my words” be, other than a reference to the gospel?

The gospel message is a summary of “the words of Jesus.”

The dictionary defines “embarrassed” like this: “Reluctant to do something through fear of embarrassment or humiliation.”

I don’t fit this definition.

I feel COMPELLED to give the gospel each day.  I am not embarrassed to do so, and I don’t care if I am rejected and humiliated. Who else could be giving me this desire, and these attitudes, other than the Spirit? 30 years ago, before I was saved, I would NEVER have given the gospel to anyone!

So why do so many Christians NOT feel compelled to give the gospel? Why do most not even give it a thought as they go about their day?

Why would the Spirit give the compelling desire to some in the church and not others, when the command to preach the gospel is universal to everyone in the Church, and applies to all believers?

The short answer is that He doesn’t give  the desire to evangelise to one, and not to another.  He doesn’t discriminate.  He gives it to all who are genuinely saved.

Some would argue that the compulsion I have to give the gospel is because I have the Ephesians 4:11-13 gift of an evangelist.

But this, as I have already pointed out,  does not fit with Scripture. To read more about how the command to evangelise is for all believers, please click here.

When Jesus sent out the 12 and then the 72 He send them, among other things, to give the gospel to those in all the surrounding towns and villages.  They all returned excited. (Luke 10:17)

Did they all have “the gift” of an evangelist?  Of course not.

Yet they all felt the desire to give the gospel and they all did give the gospel.

Think about it. 11 of the 12 disciples were martyred BECAUSE  they were giving the gospel, yet most did not have the gift of the evangelist.

No. The chief mark of the working of the Spirit and of the infilling of the Spirit is the desire to evangelise.

How do we know  this? Because the Spirit was given specifically to empower and motivate people to give the gospel (Acts 1:8).

Without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the desire to evangelise will not be there. 

So what shall we conclude?

We can only conclude that those who don’t possess this compelling desire to give the gospel, don’t have the Spirit dwelling within them, giving them the desire, compelling and empowering them.

And it’s impossible to not possess the in-dwelling Holy Spirit, and be saved.

Dear friends in Christ, what other conclusion can there be?

Some might say “But doesn’t the bible say we are not saved by good works (including “doing” evangelism) but by grace through faith?”

Indeed, this is true, and we ought never to forget the fact.

But here’s the twist – verse 10 of Ephesians 6 says we are saved FOR good works, chief of which (say the scholars) is the evangelisation of the world. For the completion of THIS mission, the Spirit was given.

To read more about this priority, and those who believe it, click here.

Thus, I say it again.

The same Spirit who saved us is the Spirit who empowers and motivates us for evangelism – if we are indeed saved.

If the Spirit truly saved us, the same Spirit will truly motivate and empower us for evangelism.

We can’t (and won’t) have one without the other.

If salvation has truly come, evangelism will truly be done.

The bottom line evidence that we are “…saved by grace through faith not by works people”  is that we have the will and desire and courage to proclaim or spread the gospel.

Now that is something to think about…..

APPLICATION:

1. If you are currently spreading or proclaiming the gospel, thank God for your salvation and the in-dwelling work of the Holy Spirit. Keep going! Focus now on mobilising others.
2. If you are not currently evangelising, ask the Holy Spirit why.  Are you saved? 
3. If you are saved, but presently not spreading or proclaiming the gospel, seek out someone who can train you.
4. If you are a minister or pastor, lead by example in evangelism in your church, then your whole church will naturally follow.
5. Please forward this blog onto others.

The following is a testimony from one of the faithful in New Zealand who is active in evangelism. It makes a great read.

___________________________________________________

My wife and I have been intentionally sharing our lives with the not yet saved. Looking for opportunities to bring the Kingdom to people and thus allowing them to open up to the Gospel message.

With one specific couple, we have developed a friendship for a number of years.

The friendship between the husband and myself was very easy to develop. He was to me a “person of peace” and his home was a home of peace to me as explained throughout the New Testament.

Meaning he was welcoming to me, open to talk freely and God had already been working on his heart.

Recently the house hold, starting with the father, committed their lives to Christ.

The next thing was through learning scripture, prayer, and the work of the Holy Spirit, God convicted them of certain things in their life He wanted to change.

Not by us pointing the finger and judging or trying to manipulate but by the Holy Spirit. So they got married and then baptised.

The next vitally important subject is for them to be obedient disciples to Christ is to share there faith and disciple others.

And this to is now happening.

My friend has been sharing his life with a friend that is in need. His friend has now also began regularly fellowshipping at our church. Exciting stuff, thank you God.

My wife Hailey and myself have a simple principle that we follow with regards to Kingdom building.

If you can imagine a circle with at the top “Blessing” then to the side “Belong” then to the bottom “Believe” then up the next side “Become” then the cycle continues back around to “Blessing”. This is the cycle we witnessed and were a part of with our friends.

1)We became a blessing to them (in actual fact they were and are an amazing blessing to me and my family). We served them shared our life with them where and when we could and it was appropriate just like any normal friendship.

2)They began to belong to our family and group of friends including other Christians.

3)They started to believe as we did as we not only were able to verbalise the Gospel message to them they were able to see the Christ through us that we were representing.

4)They became follows of Christ. Now God the them are working together shaping their life appropriately.

Then back to the blessing they have now become the blessing to others and so the cycle goes on.

Feel free to contact me on my email wgventures@ihug.co.nz.

Blessings

Warren Gillespie (on the right in the photo – friend on the left).

WHAT ARE THE LESSONS HERE?

(1) Warren and Hailey are deliberate about their evangelism. Unless we are deliberate, it will never happen.

(2) As a couple they are also deliberately seeking and saving the lost (Luke 19:10).  Unless we are deliberate, it will never happen.

(3) Whether they realise it or not, they are operating according to “THE SIX STEPS TO DRAWING A NON-CHRISTIAN TO CHRIST”.  Remember? Ploughing, sowing, watering, growing, harvesting and discipling.   Warren and Hailey ploughed the hearts of their friends through contact, kindness, and the witness of a good life. But this alone is not sufficient. They must sow. So they sowed the seed of the gospel.  Most Christians skip this step, which is why the Church in the West is in decline. The Holy Spirit ‘grew’ the seed they planted, and they had the privilege of ‘harvesting’ when the seed was ripe.  They watered the seed with on-going contact and discipleship.   All the six steps are in this process. If you are a Christian reading this, please become familiar with these six steps. They are important because they clarify why Jesus left us here on earth.  We are not here just to be nice people who go to Church. We have a mission, and it’s to evangelise the earth and disciple those who God saves.

(4) There is no mention in this testimony of evangelising strangers. This is also VITAL if the mission of Jesus is to be accomplished.  I know Warren and Hailey do this, but I didn’t want to you miss this point. 99.9% of pastors and leaders promote the idea of reaching out to people we already know, but not to strangers.  But Jesus said “go into ALL the world (i.e. friends AND strangers) and preach the gospel.” (Mark 16:15).   Any church or individual who is not reaching strangers with the gospel is falling well short of God’s best.

Now there is something to think about…..

I think we all agree that:

• All religions are not the same.
• All people who pray are NOT praying to the same God.  That is to say, many believe that there is only one God.   Christians call him “Jesus”, Muslims call him “Allah” , Buddhists call him “Buddha” etc  etc.  So when all the people of various religions are praying, they are praying to the same God, only they just don’t realise it. As Christians, we DON’T believe this.
• Jesus is the one true God.
• Jesus hears the prayers of the unsaved (because He knows every detail of everything that is going on on the the earth) but chooses to answer only some i.e. Jesus can and does hear some of the prayers of some of the unsaved.
• No one can be saved outside of saving faith in Jesus Christ.
• Allah (and all the others gods of the world) does not save nor can he.
• When it comes to talking about these truths, we must resist the temptation to retreat in cowardice.  We retreat in cowardice when we don’t stand up for these truths.  In fact, God calls us to pro-actively promote these truths  (i.e. we don’t just wait for someone to bring them up ) because they are part of the Christian gospel. That is to say, we are to preach these truths. (I am literally amazed how many Christians secretly hold to the view that all religions are the same, that all people who pray are really praying to the same God, that all the people of other religions will be saved, and that all people who have never heard of Jesus will be saved).
• When we enter into dialogue with people of other faiths (and even leaders who attend Church), we listen and learn, but we don’t compromise on these truths.

In the discussion I had with the Christian leader I mentioned in previous blogs, he made three statements:

1. “Jesus doesn’t put a gun to the head of non-Christians and say ‘if you don’t become a Christian, I am sending you to hell”’
2.  “If my son stuffed up, and rebelled against me, I would never wish to consign him to hell, no matter what he’d done wrong or how rebellious he was. Now God is more loving than me, so I am sure God wouldn’t send all those who rebel against Him to hell!”
3. Those who have  never heard of Jesus Christ will be saved.

A year ago I published a set of “Evangelism Readings”.  These are daily devotions which focus on evangelism and issues to do with evangelism.

The issues raised in the three statements made by the leader (above) are covered / answered in the reading for DAY 34, page 83 of the readings. To see these readings, click here.

You can purchase all the readings (or make a donation towards the cost of producing them)  by emailing Eleanor Goodall at : eleanorg@ihug.co.nz

Be blessed with these readings.  My prayer is that through them the Holy Spirit would keep us all steadily evangelising as we go about our business every day.

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I engaged in a vigorous debate (not nasty, thankfully) with a Christian leader.   A small audience  was listening.

The audience were either non-Christians or weak Christians.

We started off by discussing whether people in other religions are lost or not and whether God hears their prayers.

The question was put to me “I met a fine Muslim who prayed each day for his family, his work, and those in the world around him.  These are the same prayers I pray to Jesus” said the Christian leader. He went on:  ”I find it hard to believe Jesus wouldn’t hear the prayers of the Muslim, and respond to them, just like God responds to my prayers. Don’t you agree?”

The group listening heartily agreed.

I was cautious in my reply.

I said that the god to whom the Muslim is praying has no power to answer a prayer because he / it  is not god.   The god of the Muslim is an idol. Only Jesus is God.

It’s the same for all people in other religions who pray to their gods.

However, I said, I think Jesus does sometimes hear the prayers of people in other religions, and answers them.

How do I come to this conclusion?

Well, all we have to go on is examples in the Bible.

Sometimes God did answer the prayers of non-Christians, and sometimes he didn’t.

For example….

The people of Nineveh prayed that Nineveh might be spared (Jonah 3:5-10).

God answered this prayer and did not destroy the city of Nineveh as He had threatened.Hagar asked God to protect her son Ishmael (Genesis 21:14-19). God not only protected Ishmael, God blessed him exceedingly.

In 1 Kings 21:17-29, especially verses 27-29, Ahab fasts and mourns over Elijah’s prophecy concerning his posterity.

God responds by not bringing about the calamity in Ahab’s time.

The Gentile woman from the Tyre and Sidon area prayed that Jesus would deliver her daughter from a demon (Mark 7:24-30).

Jesus cast the demon out of the woman’s daughter.

Cornelius, the Roman centurion in Acts 10, had the apostle Peter sent to him in response to Cornelius being a righteous man.

Acts 10:2tells us that Cornelius “prayed to God regularly.”

God does make promises that are applicable to all (saved and unsaved alike) such as Jeremiah 29:13: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

This was the case for Cornelius inActs 10:1-6.

But there are many promises that, according to the context of the passages, are for Christians alone.

Because Christians have received Jesus as the Saviour and Lord, they are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace to find help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).

We are told that when we ask for anything according to God’s will, He hears and gives us what we ask for (1 John 5:14-15).

There are many other promises for Christians concerning prayer (Matthew 21:22;John 14:13,15:7).

So, yes, there are instances in which God does not answer the prayers of an unbeliever.

At the same time, in His grace and mercy, God can intervene in the lives of unbelievers in response to their prayers.

It was at this point that the conversation took an ugly turn.

He took my acknowledgment that Jesus hears and answers some of the prayers of some non-Christians and moved on to suggesting that when the people of other religions were praying to their gods, really they were praying to the One true God, Jesus Christ, only they just didn’t know it / realise it.

I was OK with this.

But then he said (and this is really where he want to go) that all people in other religions are saved, as long as they were sincerely seeking God.  He added to his argument by suggesting: