A WESLEYAN THEOLOGY OF EVANGELISM by Leon O. Hynson

I discovered this excellent essay on Wesleyan evangelism at the Wesley online site. It is quite long but if you are interested in either Wesley or Evangelism it is well worth the read.The second part has been put on as a comment. Be inspired. AK
Introduction

Our task in this essay is to consider a theology of evangelism that will be

1. Biblically based; 2. Historically Wesleyan; 3. Of Contemporary Significance.

Initially, it seems necessary to work with some definition of the task and the key words "theology" and "evangelism." One could, of course, develop a three-hundred page opus with a full Prolegomena to all of the classifications of theology. The Wesleyan heritage has by and large not engaged in that kind of exacting effort, although we could cite John Fletcher, Richard Watson, John Miley, Randolph Foster, or Luther Lee, as notable exceptions.

Our effort here will require a simple approach to theology. For the philosophers of religion, theology is "God talk"; for the systematic theologian it is the rational analysis of the ways of God, through consideration of His self-revelation in Christ, in Scripture, and in the natural order. The cynic has described the work of the theologian by a biting analogy: it is, said Diderot, the story of a man wandering lost in a dark forest at midnight with a flickering candle to provide a little light. Along comes a theologian and blows out the light. In a more positive vein, the definition employed in this essay will be functional: "Theology is telling the faith of the fathers in the language of the children."

Now, "evangelism"-a word which has the highest and most honorable significance, but which like many words has fallen prey to the abuses of certain persons who sometimes stress a theology of human wretchedness that would upstage Karl Barth or a do-it-yourself religion that might have driven Pelagius into the arms of Augustine. The consequences of such abuse is the state of affairs that exists today concerning evangelism. A company of "cultured despisers" of evangelism has emerged over the years, thinking of evangelism in the narrow terms set by the unlearned and ignorant.

It is easy for us to rationalize our neglect of this essential Christian work, by appealing to such unattractive examples. Mr. Wesley (not Dr. Wesley), a man of the people, saw these types in his age. On one occasion he wrote:

"Let but a pert, self-sufficient animal that has neither sense nor grace, bawl out something about Christ, or his blood, or justification by faith, and his hearers cry out, 'What a fine gospel sermon.' "

But what Wesley judged to be an aberration of the gospel and an embarrassment to a reasonable person, did not become the guideline for his Christian activity. He engaged in an incessant effort to "reform the nation and especially the Church and to spread Scriptural (note, Scriptural) holiness across the land." He became the evangelist-reformer without peer in the eighteenth century (with all due credit to Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitefield). He rode up and down the land for more than fifty years, telling the faith of the fathers in the language of the children; expressing it in an admirable union of the "reasonable man" with a cool mind and style (the typical 18th century Englishman) and the man whose heart was strangely warmed, who shared God's good news wherever he went. It is all too easy for us to accent "cool mind" and ignore warmth of spirit. In our world many (most?) persons live and act on the largely affective level. To preach or teach on the rationally coherent and logical level alone i8 to miss the mark with many. This is the Wesleyan concern: to appeal to heart and mind, emotion and intellect on the level where real communication occurs. Wesley wrote this introduction to the Standard Sermons:

I design plain truth for plain people: therefore of set purpose, I abstain from all nice and philosophical speculations, . . . from even the show of learning, unless in sometimes citing the original Scripture.... I have accordingly set down in the following sermons, what I find in the Bible concerning the way to heaven. 1

This is evangelism in the Wesleyan manner and spirit.

This focus upon evangelism is found continually in Wesley's writing and preaching. His preoccupation was with evangelical tasks, but he did not construe that narrowly, as a few spiritual laws by which someone is converted to Christ. Wesley sought to develop the full Christian character and the mature, witnessing, sharing believer.

This is spelled out especially well in four appeals that Wesley wrote in 1744-1745. "An Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion" was written first, followed by three "Farther Appeals." The content of these essays so admirably summarizes Wesley's thought that they may be taken as the summa of Wesley's theology of evangelism. Indeed, I see the title "An Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion" as a definition of the Wesleyan approach to evangelism.

In these essays, Wesley is actually engaged in a polemic with certain "men of reason and religion." He appeals to them to recognize some of the essentials of evangelical faith, i.e., the heart of evangelism.

His concern is about:

1. The doctrines of Christian faith;

2. The manner of teaching them;

3. The effects which should follow the teaching of these.

In developing these concerns, we should recognize the ways they are pursued.

1. Doctrine. Three themes:

a. The doctrine of the faith that saves and that opens up new evangelical and ethical possibilities and expectations.

b. The life of Christian love (sanctification, perfect love) which enlarges the Christian's personal and social awareness and capacity for service.

c. The work of the Holy Spirit as a present (contemporary motivating) reality and presence (as opposed to those who relegate the Spirit's work to the ancient era of church history).

2. Manner

a. The reasoned approach to evangelism

b. The gracious appeal to the will; to an uncoerced free decision recognizing the essential freedom of persons. The right to say Yes or No. Right of private judgment.

c. Going where the people are-Field Preaching.

3. Effects-Moral change-Social transformation. Physical relief for sick and poor.

Gerald R. Cragg writes of Wesley's theology:

The particular emphasis of his theology derived from his preoccupation with evangelism. He included all the traditional elements of the Christian system of belief, but he so arranged them as to bring into the sharpest relief the doctrine of salvation.2


I. The Doctrines of Christian Faith

A. The Doctrine of Faith

Wesley's theology was an attempt to "describe the true, the scriptural experimental religion...."3 It was a theology of evangelism attuned to human failure and disorder and to God's grace and love. It was existentially sensitive, for Wesley had walked the way himself. Before he became an evangelist, he had to wrestle with his own failure, his angst, his lack of contact with Christian reality and certitude. He could not tell the way of faith until he saw with "spiritual sight," to use his metaphor, until he received the gift of faith. He could not tell the good news until he moved beyond the pre-understanding of his Oxford years to the liberating fulfillment of Aldersgate. "Experimental religion!": Religion that corresponded with life! With psychological, rational, and spiritual needs! A religion of love that calls a person into a service of love to the neighbor! Religion that works faithfully, hopefully, lovingly!

Without being too certain about the years from 1725-38 (on which good men differ), it is claimed that Wesley became an evangelist after Aldersgate. Before Aldersgate, he did not know or understand the preaching of faith. Peter Bohler had counseled Wesley in the early days of 1738. "Preach faith until you have it: then, because you have faith you will preach it." Albert Outler comments: "Wesley had preached faith until others had it-and that was what broke the drought in his own spirit."4

May I suggest that Wesley, like Luther and St. Paul before him becomes a mirror and an exemplar of the struggling ascents to faith; struggles that St. Paul depicts in Romans 10 and Luther in his anguished search to find a gracious God. Each man in his own way portrays the anguish of the human quest for the treasure that finally is seen and known as gift. St. Paul wrote, certainly out of his own experience:

But what the Scripture says about being put right with God through faith is this: 'You are not to ask yourself, who will go up into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down). 'Nor are you to ask, who will go down into the world below?' (that is, to bring Christ up from death). What it says is this: 'God's message is near you, on your lips and in your heart'-that is, the message of faith that we preach (Rom. 10:6-8).

Paul continues to claim that all who call on Christ will be saved, that to call they must believe, that faith comes out of the context of hearing the good news, that the good news must be proclaimed. The good news is Christ in whom faith discovers a spirit-transforming personal presence. And this faith is the gift of God made alive in the catalyst of preaching the Word. Those who seek the glory of the divine-human encounter by their own struggles or contributions to the relationship are only candidates for futility and despair. Doubt is sometimes a necessary preparation for spiritual illumination, for the moment of grace. However, it must finally become self- doubt and self-surrender to the giftedness of faith. Doubt is an understandable stage along the way. It is often a step in a person's progress from self- trust to confidence in God. To doubt the Almighty is not surprising; it is the shadow side of our own self-sufficiency. Soon enough, self-trust leads to the despair of human emptiness. The nakedness of Adam and Eve portrays the existential and spiritual finitude of all. We stand before God and one another naked, without recourse. Preeminently contingent or dependent, we require an adequate structure of trust. That structure is not found in our subjective resources. It is only in God whose image and likeness we bear and which bears us. We are marked by an infinite need for an infinite God.

This is perhaps Tony's most famous story. I hope you enjoy it and are challenged by its message.AK

'A Wretch Like Me' by George Verwer

George Verwer is probably one of the most well known missionaries around today, he is also one of the most honest.This message must have cost him a lot to bring, but it resulted in many young people, who were going through similar temptations, finding some help!George doesn't pull any punches about his own failures and encourages those who have also failed to find forgiveness and grace in Christ.

Having said that about George, I think I remember another well known missionary who once cried out that he was a 'wretched man' and later referred to himself as 'the chief of sinners'.Then man speaks about the grace of Christ and how much greater it was than sin :'where sin abounds,grace abounds all the more'-And the missionary? Of course it was St.Paul! AK

Sin is serious and incessant, but you don't have to live in defeat.

Once when I told my story at a missions conference, a woman informed me I had a demon.

Another time I told my story, and shortly afterward one of our mission ships sank. Someone wrote to me that was the judgment of God on me. (Actually, we had hoped to replace the ship; no one was hurt when it sank, and we thought of it as a blessing from God.) But I've come to expect that kind of response.

Most people don't want to hear Christian leaders admit their sins or say they still, on occasion, sin. And almost no one wants to hear a leader say he's come to terms with his sinful nature. But I have. And I say so publicly.

I wouldn't call my temptation by pornography an addiction. My exposure to it has been infrequent. I don't look at it online. I won't pay for it. And I haven't had regular access to the magazines since I was a teenager.

A neighbor prayed for me for two years, she said, and at a Billy Graham crusade at age 16, I had a powerful conversion experience. After that, I knew that the pornography had to go, and so I burned my few magazines. If it were not for my conversion, pornography could have become a terrible addiction. Still, through most of my adulthood, I was subject to awful temptations and sometimes fell.

Over the years, I can honestly say, I haven't gone looking for pornography. It comes to me. And it takes me by surprise. One time while riding to a strategic meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, I found a magazine left in the lavatory. That happened again when I was aboard an ocean liner en route to Scandinavia.

A defining moment for me occurred more than 30 years ago as I was walking in the woods outside London. From a distance I saw something hanging in the branches of a tree. It was a pornographic magazine, shot through with bullet holes. Someone had hung it there for target practice. Suddenly, I was the target.

I wish I could say I destroyed that magazine and got the victory, but the truth is, in the woods that day, that magazine made a fool out of me.

I was in the woods for quite a while after my lustful episode before I could crawl my way back to the cross and ask for forgiveness. Most of the time since then, I have been able to withstand Satan's temptations. I wish I could say that was true every time, but I'd be lying.

And, in the woods, I found a new approach to my own sinfulness: when I sin, I ask forgiveness. Time after time.

What's victory really look like?
What is victorious living for the sinner? The absence of sin? The defeat of Satan at every temptation? Going undefeated for a whole season? If that's the measure, then I fail. And, I suspect, we all fail, and we will continue to fail without relief.

In my own life, giving myself the benefit of the doubt, I estimate I successfully resist temptation maybe 95 percent of the time. But with the number of temptations we face, that's still a lot of failure!

Over the course of my 45 years as a Christian, I have failed, and not only in the area of lust. There are far worse sins than sexual failure with a magazine. In my own life, irritability and anger are greater issues. For others, it's arrogance, or condemnation, or legalism.

Victorious living, given our sinful nature, is not the absence of sin, but knowing what to do when we sin. 1 John 2:1 says, "sin not." It is John's desire that his followers will not sin. But notice the verse continues, "but if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ the righteous One."

When I sin, I am ready, quickly, to confess. And when I confess, I undercut Satan's power. Satan is the deceiver, the adversary who wants me to believe lies (either "I really haven't done anything wrong" or "I've sinned so horribly that I'm disqualified to serve the Lord").

By honest confession, my strength to battle the next temptation is bolstered by the knowledge that the Evil One has nothing with which to condemn me. Christ is my defender before the Father, and Christ says I am forgiven. Satan has nothing to say.

Since the moment of my salvation, I have never doubted God's word about his love for me. It is vital that we realize God loves us and accepts us—even when we fail. That has been life-sustaining for me. Even when rejected by people for my sins, or for telling about my sins, I have always felt God's love. I have an open invitation to return to him as soon as I am ready to admit that sin, once again, has gotten the better of me.

God's love is not a license to sin. Grace without discipline can lead to disgrace. While God can forgive my disgraces, for the Christian leader, too many disgraces and my credibility and people's ability to trust me as a leader is gone. Paul said, "I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Cor. 9:27). If I had not dealt with my habit quickly and kept it in a small arena of my life, my sin would have grown to the point that I would be disqualified. It is only through the power of Christ that I am able to bring myself under subjection.

I have made myself accountable to my wife in the area of lust, and she has been an enormous source of affirmation for me. She prays for me. She listens to me. I report my occasional struggle to her and she does not condemn me. I remember telling her, now as an older man, that a quick glimpse at pornography had caused quite a stir in me physically.

"Well," she said, "at least it proves you've got something left." I can be honest with my wife, and she with me.

A sinner mentoring sinners
I have tried to be affirming for those who seek from me an accountability relationship. As creatures bent to sinning, we cannot master our sins alone. We need others who accept our sinfulness, but who will keep us from surrendering to it.

My special "mentoring" ministry began with my own public confession. I was invited to speak to the Urbana missions conference in 1967. My message was not about missions. It was about sexual sin.

That was the first time I gave my testimony in a large setting. Some were upset that I spoke so bluntly, but I told those young people that they, like me, needed to repent of sexual immorality. Some 4,000 stood up at the invitation, many weeping with repentance.

FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE READ THE FIRST COMMENT

Alistar McGrath on Dawkins,Creationism and Evolution

Some might be surprised to learn that Alister McGrath, one of the main adversaries of Richard Dawkins also believes in evolution.McGrath comes originally from Downpatrick and studied at the Methodist College in Belfast and Oxford University. It was at University that he became a Christian having thought through his atheist views and found then wanting. Watch him here as he appeared on the popular American T.V. show 'The Hour'.AK

Thanks St Pat

Perhaps two of Ireland's most loved Brits are Jack Charlton and St Patrick ( For those who don't know Jack Charlton was a very Englishman who was manager of the most successful Republic Of Ireland Soccer team).

Every St Pat's day I normally either put on St Pat's confession, which is brilliant, or his famous hymn. Today however I am posting an article written by Dan Kimball in which he quotes from George Hunter's 'The Celtic Way of Evangelism' which was written some years ago. Like many of the books on Celtic Christianity they sold well because of the wave of popularity of anything 'Celtic' at the time, even though many of them lacked historical accuracy.

Nevertheless books such as the one mentioned above are particulary inspiring as far as they have a biblical basis and encourage Christians to go out into the world with the great message we have been given. AK

Two of my missionary heroes are Hudson Taylor (China) and St. Patrick (Ireland). The reason is that they understood the need to contextualize how you go about church and mission in different cultures. I also am reminded that they both were criticized by their "home" base of Britain (in both these cases in totally different time periods). But they got criticism for changing how they went about "church", how they adapted their ministry even their dress and look if needed, to proclaim and teach the gospel catered to a specific culture.

I was just re-reading tonight the book "The Celtic Way of Evangelism" by George Hunter, which was a very influential book in my life several years ago. There are some who have disagreements with the author's take on the Celt's (as there is a variety of time periods and complexities in their history, so it is hard to say in a generic form "The Celts"). But never-the-less, it is a great and inspiring book. I will simply put a few quotes here from the book in memory and honor of the ministry of St. Patrick.

Patrick was kidnapped by the Irish at age 16 and became a slave for many years. He eventually escaped and went back to Britain. But then he ended up going back to the very people in Ireland he escaped from to share Jesus and proclaim the gospel. But he didn't do in normal ways. He did set up formal biblical training and education but so much was done relationally and creatively.

We can get fearful of being rejected or that people won't like us when they know we are Christians. But look at this description of the people Patrick went back to:

".... stripped before battle and rushed their enemy naked, carrying sword and shield but wearing only sandals and torc... while howling." (page 19)

Patrick got to understand those he was trying to reach:

"..Patrick understood the people and their language, their issues, and their ways...When you understand the people, you will often know what to say and do, and how. When the people know the Christians understand them, they infer that maybe the High God understands them too." (pages 19-20)

"After years of reflection on how the Irish might be reached, he moved into mission....employing parable, story, poetry, song, visual symbols, visual arts and perhaps drama to engage the Celtic people's remarkable imaginations. Often, we think, Patrick would receive the people's questions and then speak to those questions collectively." (page 21)

"They did not rely upon preaching alone to communicate the fullness of Christianity." (page 74)

The results:

"They baptized many thousands, probably tens of thousands. Patrick's mission planted about 700 churches. Within his lifetime, 30 to 40 (or more) of Ireland's 150 tribes became substantially Christian." (page 23)

The criticism that followed from the British and Roman church leaders (sounds like some similar criticism of today):

"One would naturally assume that the British Church which ordained Patrick and sent him to Ireland, would continue to affirm his mission and celebrate its achievements. This was far from the case. The British leaders had expectations that he was to be administer to local churches and care for faithful Christians. The British leaders were offended and angered that Patrick was spending priority time with "pagans", "sinners" and "barbarians". (pages 23-24)

"The Roman church leaders repeatedly criticized the Celtic wing for not doing church the "Roman way".....the hairstyle of the Celtics contrasted with the "tonsure" of the Romans. In hairstyle matter, and many others, Celtic Christianity had adapted to the people's culture; the Romans wanted Roman cultural forms imposed on all churches and people's - a policy that was alien to the Celtic movement's genius. The driving issues was control. That is why it was so important to the Romans for everyone to do church the "Roman way." (pages 40-41).

Despite the criticism, the type of people this missionary venture produced:

"They were devoted, compassionate, sold-out citizens of Heaven. They relied, through "prayer without ceasing" upon the Triune God's providence and power. They would do anything they could to help other people find The Way." (page 76)

I pray that as a church, we become devoted, compassionate.... and we would also do anything we can to help others find The Way, The Truth, and the Life." .............Amen

Core Values of 'The Crowded House'

I was impressed when I read the core values of a group of churches called 'The Crowed House'led by Dr Tim Chester who I first heard speaking at Cliff College some years ago. No matter what church you belong to, these certainly seem to be biblical values that we may well want to make our own. What do YOU think of them? Do you think they would work well in practice or are they just grand notions that will be forgotten once one of the 'churches'within the group really gets big and ends up promoting itself? AK

The Crowded House is a family of church planting networks. Our congregations are committed to working together within, and between, networks around the following shared aspirations. They are a statement of our distinctives and are not intended to be a judgment on those with gospel commitment who do things differently.

In obedience to Christ and for his glory, we are committed to:
1. The priority of the gospel
('community in mission')
We are committed to filling ordinary life with gospel intentionality, pastoring one another with the gospel and sharing the gospel with unbelievers. We challenge one another to be sacrificial, servant-hearted, risk-taking and flexible because the gospel has priority over our comfort, preferences, security and traditions. We will not let Christian activity be just one part of our lives.

2. Mission through community
We are committed to communicating the gospel message in the context of a gospel community. As we build relationships with people and share the gospel message, we want to introduce them to Christian community. We want people to experience church as a network of relationships rather than a meeting you attend or a place you enter. We will not put on evangelistic missions outside the context of a Christian community.

3. Home as the primary location of church
We want a reproducible model of church without any trappings that might impede freedom and flexibility. We are committed to homes as a context for all or most of church life with home shaping the ethos of church. When congregations use other buildings, those buildings will not be viewed as the main focus of mission.

4. Sharing our lives as extended family
We are committed to sharing our lives in Christian community, caring for one another, discipling one another and resolving conflict. We expect one another to make decisions with regard to the implications for the church and to make significant decisions in consultation with the church. We will not let conflict continue unresolved, nor view church simply as a meeting you attend.

5. Inclusive communities
We are committed to welcoming broken people and making church accessible to unbelievers. We want to offer a sense of belonging, and be communities of grace in which people can be open and vulnerable. We will not let our welcome be dependent on adherence to any cultural norms not demanded by the gospel.

6. Working for city renewal
We are committed to working for neighbourhood and city renewal – redressing injustice, pursuing reconciliation and welcoming the marginalized. We celebrate the diversity of cultures in our local contexts while recognising the need for gospel renewal. We encourage one another to glorify God and serve others through the workplace, business, community projects, government and artistic endeavour. We will not make a division between spiritual and non-spiritual activities.

7. Growing by starting churches and church planting networks
We are committed to starting new congregations. We will work together within, between and beyond our networks of missionary congregations. Our vision is to collaborate in a wider church planting movement to litter the world with communities of light. We will not develop into single, large congregations, nor become insular.

8. Prayer as a missionary activity
Recognising that God is the primary agent and orchestrator of mission, we view prayer as a missionary activity. We want prayer to be both a regular community discipline, and an impromptu response to needs and opportunities. We will not assume we are in control of mission, nor rob God of his glory by boasting of our achievements.

9. Everyone exercising gospel ministry
We are committed to every Christian seeing themselves as a missionary and exercising gospel ministry in every aspect of life. We shape activities around gospel opportunities, and the gifts and passions of church members. Leadership is not about control, but setting a missional vision by modelling and teaching the gospel so creating a culture in which everyone flourishes in ministry. We will not make distinctions between full-time and nonfull-time ministers.

10. Shaped by the Bible
We want our lives and our life together to be formed and shaped by the Bible’s story of redemption. We believe the Bible to be the reliable, authoritative and sufficient word of God, and are therefore committed to good Bible learning. We will not act on the basis of tradition, habit or pragmatism without reflection on the Bible. We will not see Bible teaching as an end in itself, but as that which must shape our thinking and action.

For more information about the Crowded House check out the website at http://www.thecrowdedhouse.org/

“Rules for a Preacher’s Conduct” John Wesley

Here are the “Rules for a Preacher’s Conduct” which every Methodist preacher had to read and keep or be put out. This list was put together for convenience, though it does not quite cover everything. Other rules are scattered here and there among the general rules and regulations of the Societies.

Be diligent. Never be unemployed: never be triflingly employed. Never trifle away time: neither spend any more time at any place than is strictly necessary.

Be serious. Let your motto be, Holiness to the Lord. Avoid all lightness, jesting, and foolish talking.

Converse sparingly, and conduct yourself prudently with women.

Take no step toward marriage without first consulting your brethren (After losing out on a particularbride Wesley didn't take his own advice and sadly his marriage did not go well, ending in a separation).

Believe evil of no one without good evidence; unless you see it done, take heed how you credit it. Put the best construction on everything. You know the judge is always supposed to be on the prisoner’s side.

Speak evil of no one; because your word especially would eat as doth a canker. Keep your thoughts within your own breast, till you come to the person concerned.

Tell every one under your care what you think wrong with his conduct and temper, and that lovingly and plainly as soon as may be: else it will fester in your heart. Make all haste to cast the fire out of your bosom.

Avoid all affectation. A preacher of the gospel is a servant of all.

Be ashamed of nothing but sin.

Be punctual. Do everything exactly at the time. And do not mend our rules, but keep them; not for wrath but for conscience’ sake.

You have nothing to do but to save souls; therefore spend and be spent in this work. Observe! it is not your business only to preach so many times, and to take care of this or that society; but to save as many as you can; to bring as many sinners as you can to repentance, and with all your power to build them up in holiness without which they cannot see the Lord. And remember!—a Methodist is to mind every point, great and small, in the Methodist Discipline. Therefore you will need to exercise all the sense and grace you have.

Act in all things not according to your own will, but as a son in the gospel. As such, it is your duty to employ your time in the manner in which we direct: in preaching and visiting from house to house; in reading, meditation and prayer.

Be sure never to disappoint a congregation. Begin at the time appointed. Let your whole deportment be serious, weighty, and solemn. Always suit your subject to your audience. Choose the plainest texts you can. Take care not to ramble, but keep to your text and make out what you take in hand. Take care of anything awkward or affected, either in your gesture, phrase or pronunciation. Do not usually pray extempore above eight or ten minutes (at most) without intermission.

'THE TOZER CREED' ON HOW TO MAKE SPIRITUAL PROGRESS by A.W. TOZER

Time is short, and eternity is long. The end of all things is at hand. Man has proved himself morally unfit to manage the world in which he has been placed by the kindness of the Almighty. He has jockeyed himself to the edge of the crater and cannot go back, and in terrible fear he is holding his breath against the awful moment when he will be plunged into the inferno.

In the meantime, a company of people exist on the earth who claim to have the answer to all life's major questions. They claim to have found the way back to God, release from their sins, life everlasting and a sure guarantee of heaven in the world to come.

These are the Christians. They declare that Jesus Christ is very God of very God, made flesh to dwell among us. Thy insist that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. They testify that He is to them Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption, and they steadfastly assert that He will be to them the Resurrection and the Life for eternity to come.

These Christians know, and when pressed will admit, that their finite hearts have explored but a pitifully small part of the infinite riches that are theirs in Christ Jesus. They read the lives of the great saints whose fervent desire after God carried them far up the mountain toward spiritual perfection; and for a brief moment they may yearn to be like these fiery souls whose light and fragrance still linger in the world where they once lived and labored. But the longing soon passes. The world is too much with them and the claims of their earthly lives are too insistent; so they settle back to live their ordinary lives, and accept the customary as normal. After a while they manage to achieve some kind of inner content and that is the last we hear of them.

This contentment with inadequate and imperfect progress in the life of holiness is, I repeat, a scandal in the Church of the Firstborn. The whole weight of Scripture is against such a thing. The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to arouse the complacent. "Let us go on" is the word of the Spirit. The Apostle Paul embodies this in his noble testimony as found in his Philippian epistle: "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ . . . that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection . . . but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

If we accept this as the sincere expression of a normal Christian I do not see how we can justify our own indifference toward spiritual things. But should someone feel a desire to make definite progress in the life of Christ, what can he do to get on with it? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Strive to get beyond mere pensive longing. Set your face like a flint and begin to put your life in order. Every man is as holy as he really wants to be. But the want must be all-compelling.

Tie up the loose ends of your life. Begin to tithe; institute family prayer; pay up your debts as far as possible and make some kind of frank arrangement with every creditor you cannot pay immediately; make restitution as far as you can; set aside time to pray and search the Scriptures; surrender wholly to the will of God. You will be surprised and delighted with the results.

2. Put away every un-Christian habit from you. If other Christians practice it without compunction, God may be calling you to come nearer to Him than these other Christians care to come. Remember the words, "Others may, you cannot." Do not condemn or criticize, but seek a better way. God will honor you.

3. Get Christ Himself in the focus of your heart and keep Him there continually. Only in Christ will you find complete fulfillment. In Him you may be united to the Godhead in conscious, vital awareness. Remember that all of God is accessible to you through Christ. Cultivate His knowledge above everything else on earth.

4. Throw your heart open to the Holy Spirit and invite Him to fill you. He will do it. Let no one interpret the Scriptures for you in such a way as to rule out the Father's gift of the Spirit. Every man is as full of the Spirit as he wants to be. Make your heart a vacuum and the Spirit will rush in to fill it.

Nowhere in the Scriptures nor in Christian biography was anyone ever filled with the Spirit who did not know that he had been, and nowhere was anyone filled who did not know when. And no one was ever filled gradually.

5. Be hard on yourself and easy on others. Carry your own cross but never lay one on the back of another. Begin to practice the presence of God. Cultivate the fellowship of the Triune God by prayer, humility, obedience and self-abnegation.

Let any Christian do these things and he will make rapid spiritual progress. There is every reason why we should all go forward in our Christian lives and no reason why we should not. Let us go on.

'Jonah the prophet who ran away' by Brother Andrew of Open Doors

"But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord" (Jonah 1:3).

It is easier to identify with Jonah than with any other prophet. Others are so holy. Jonah is so much like us.

God says: Go ye!

Jonah says: No!

Jonah's basic problem: he had too much love for himself. He thought: "God will make a fool of me. I'll lose face."

He refused to be a fool for Christ.

He wanted God, but not God's kingdom. He wanted blessing without responsibility.

He was not making people ripe for hell. He just let them go to hell. He had no compassion for the lost.

What he did have was money. So rather than going east to Iraq, he headed west and bought a ticket on a Mediterranean cruise. He figured it was his money and he could spend it any way he chose. He didn't stop to think that he was spending God's money. Jonah pays with God's money to escape from God's call.

There is a burden on us. It's called the Great Commission. "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19a). I believe God has called enough people in each generation to fulfill the Great Commission in their lifetime. But too many have run away.

Where is our compassion? God is not willing that ANY should perish! That applies to Nineveh and Amsterdam and New York. WE are responsible for the Ninevehs of this world.

Why do we not weep for Muslims? Yes, why don't we weep for fundamentalists? Is it because we'd rather be entertained?

A man must be either entertained or challenged. It costs all your money to be entertained: television, radio, literature, cruises, time share condominiums, sport, travel (that includes the Holy Land), luxuries, food, eating out... (plus all at the expense of "family life.") And then, we've LOST all, everything.

We put so much on credit that there's nothing left for God's work. We borrow for "things." Do we ever borrow for missions? We cannot give what we do not have, and "to have" is unscriptural - the verb "to have" is not in the Hebrew language. However "to be" is; it is even God's name.

It costs nothing to be challenged - only your life.

We're stewards.

All that we have is entrusted to us.

And one day we must give an account (Romans 14:12).

Jonah ran because he saw opportunities as an enemy instead of the enemy as his biggest opportunity.

An encouragement to pray and keep on praying from Charles Wesley

I was preparing a talk and remembered this hymn by Charles Wesley that I used to sing in the fellowship group I attended some thirty years ago. Yes, we used to sing all twelve verses, and with great gusto, to a tune for the guitar written by a man called John Kelly. Reading it again proved to be a great encouragement for me and I hope that it will be the same for you. It brings back memories. Does anyone remember singing it? AK

Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son.
Strong in the Lord of hosts, and in His mighty power,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.

Stand then in His great might, with all His strength endued,
But take, to arm you for the fight, the panoply of God;
That, having all things done, and all your conflicts passed,
Ye may o’ercome through Christ alone and stand entire at last.

Stand then against your foes, in close and firm array;
Legions of wily fiends oppose throughout the evil day.
But meet the sons of night, and mock their vain design,
Armed in the arms of heavenly light, of righteousness divine.

Leave no unguarded place, no weakness of the soul,
Take every virtue, every grace, and fortify the whole;
Indissolubly joined, to battle all proceed;
But arm yourselves with all the mind that was in Christ, your Head.

But, above all, lay hold on faith’s victorious shield;
Armed with that adamant and gold, be sure to win the field:
If faith surround your heart, Satan shall be subdued,
Repelled his every fiery dart, and quenched with Jesu’s blood.

Jesus hath died for you! What can His love withstand?
Believe, hold fast your shield, and who shall pluck you from His hand?
Believe that Jesus reigns; all power to Him is giv’n:
Believe, till freed from sin’s remains; believe yourselves to Heav’n.

To keep your armor bright, attend with constant care,
Still walking in your Captain’s sight, and watching unto prayer.
Ready for all alarms, steadfastly set your face,
And always exercise your arms, and use your every grace.

Pray without ceasing, pray, your Captain gives the word;
His summons cheerfully obey and call upon the Lord;
To God your every want in instant prayer display,
Pray always; pray and never faint; pray, without ceasing, pray!

In fellowship alone, to God with faith draw near;
Approach His courts, besiege His throne with all the powers of prayer:
Go to His temple, go, nor from His altar move;
Let every house His worship know, and every heart His love.

To God your spirits dart, your souls in words declare,
Or groan, to Him Who reads the heart, the unutterable prayer:
His mercy now implore, and now show forth His praise,
In shouts, or silent awe, adore His miracles of grace.

Pour out your souls to God, and bow them with your knees,
And spread your hearts and hands abroad, and pray for Zion’s peace;
Your guides and brethren bear for ever on your mind;
Extend the arms of mighty prayer, ingrasping all mankind.

From strength to strength go on, wrestle and fight and pray,
Tread all the powers of darkness down and win the well fought day.
Still let the Spirit cry in all His soldiers, “Come!”
Till Christ the Lord descends from high and takes the conquerors home.

Devotional on John 19.16 by C.H.S.

Let us muse upon the fact that Jesus was [brought outside] the gates of the city. It was the common place of death. That little rising ground, which perhaps was called Golgotha, the place of a skull, from its somewhat resembling the crown of a man's skull, was the common place of execution. It was one of Death's castles; here he stored his gloomiest trophies; he was the grim lord of that stronghold. Our great hero, the destroyer of Death, bearded(challenged) the lion in his den, slew the monster in his own castle, and dragged the dragon captive from his own den. Methinks Death thought it a splendid triumph when he saw the Master impaled and bleeding in the dominions of destruction; little did he know that the grave was to be rifled, and himself destroyed, by that crucified Son of man.
— from "The Procession of Sorrow," delivered on March 1, 1863, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. Do you know who C.H.S. was? Read his testimony a few posts before this.

COMING AND GOING: Spreading God's word in North Korea

I got this article sent from Open Doors which I hope you find interesting and hopefully wish to participate in. We are encouraged daily by Christ to pray: 'Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven', when you do this, please lift up the needy country of North Korea that God may open those gates that the King of glory may indeed come in. AK

Through the centuries, God has extended His message of Christ’s work on the cross reconciling sinful man with a holy God. At times the message has extended out to new people groups through such means as missionary work, exploration, and commerce. At other times He has brought people to the gospel message as they travel to foreign lands, study abroad, or seek employment. We see this powerful work of building His church in North Korea, both the coming and the going of the gospel.


Businessmen from the north and the south have the opportunity to interact with each other in an industrial zone between the two Koreas where they enjoy far greater freedom than other places in the north. Christian businessmen from the south do not leave their faith behind, but bring it with them thus allowing them to share the truth of God’s grace and reconciliation while working in North Korea. The elite living in North Korea also have unique opportunities for exposure to Christ through their access to international events and the news and media. Other elite North Koreans have enjoyed the rare opportunity to travel beyond the North Korean borders where again they can encounter the gospel message.


Although not the privileged or elite many North Koreans are drawn to risk everything they have to cross the border into China. God has on countless occasions used this means to bring North Korean people to China that they might hear His gospel from the Chinese Christians who care for them, body and soul.
And so, through all of the political striving of man, God continues to build His church in North Korea, both in the coming and going.
As you remember the people of North Korea this week, pray:

Pray that God’s church in North Korea will grow in power. Acts 16:5
Pray that God would override North Korean efforts to limit business travel in the industrial zone. Psalm 3:8
Pray for Christian businessmen from the south, and North Koreans who respond to the gospel in China, to have opportunities to proclaim the gospel in authority and power, without hindrance, in North Korea. Acts 19:20
Pray for the Chinese Christians who care for the refugees along the border to share the gospel boldly and with wisdom. Acts 13:48
Praying with you,
Irene and the Prayer Force Team

'Lament by Evangeline Paterson

Weep, weep for those
Who do the work of the Lord
With a high look
And a proud heart.
Their voice is lifted up
In the streets, and their cry is heard.
The bruised reed they break
By their great strength, and the smoking flax
They trample.

Weep not for the quenched
(For their God will hear their cry
And the Lord will come to save them)
But weep, weep for the quenchers

For when the Day of the Lord
Is come, and the vales sing
And the hills clap their hands
And the light shines

Then their eyes shall be opened
On a waste place,
Smouldering,
The smoke of the flax bitter
In their nostrils,
Their feet pierced
By broken reed-stems . . .
Wood, hay, and stubble,
And no grass springing.
And all the birds flown.

Weep, weep for those
Who have made a desert
In the name of the Lord.

From Deep Is the Rock

Carlos and Michaela Lozano

Please pray for my very good friends Carlos and Michaela Lozano who are at present learning the Cambodian language before they go out to serve God in that very needy country.Carlos who is originally from Argentina, met his young wife to be, while serving on an O.M. ship. Michaela who is originally from Germany was brought up by her missionary parents in Japan. They have also both studied at the Belfast Bible College, each gaining a degree in Theology with Michaela taking on an extra year of study to do her Masters degree which she passed in June 08. They also were among the leaders in the Youth Outreach group with myself and others in Belfast, so their going is a great loss to us.

Carlos' many talents include being an excellent magician and being able to walk around on his hands for several minutes! He can also 'put his hand' to almost anything, whether electrical or mechanical, which will prove useful as a missionary. On the other hand, Michaela's gifts include working with children, as well as being a surperb linguist and dramatist.But more than that, they both have a heart of love for God and the lost, and it has been a joy spending time with them.

They will be sorely missed by all who know them in Ireland and we pray that God would protect them from harm and grant them much fruit for their labour in that country.
Carlos in Cambodia last year.

Conversion stories wanted: Do people still get converted in a Postmodern age?

In this post I invite everyone who has had a 'conversion' experience to write about it here! Whether you consider your conversion to have been a process or through a crisis point in your life, it does not matter. It also does not have to be like Mr Spurgeon's as in the previous post, rather, feel free to describe it in your own way, whether in a short paragraph or a much longer piece of writing, as you desire.I would love to here from you.It may also give someone the opportunity to do this for the first time and for others who read it,through your story encourage those who are still 'on the journey to Christ'. Many thanks to all those who have so far told their great story. I will be putting them on as a separate post on my new blog http://storiesofconversion.blogspot.com/
If you would like to participate, just click the comment link,found at the below the last comment made,then write your story.Peace and Grace. AK

Spurgeon's Conversion in his own words

I never cease to be encouraged to tell others about the grace and forgiveness of God when reading the story of Spurgeon's conversion. Many around us are searching for God but there is no one to tell them:as Paul declares: 'How can they hear without a preacher?'May we who know the message be prepared to speak for Him.AK


' While under concern of soul, I resolved that I would attend all the places of worship in the town where I lived, in order that I might find out the way of salvation. I was willing to do anything, and be anything, if God would only forgive my sin. I set off, determined to go round to all the chapels, and I did go to every place of worship; but for a long time I went in vain.

I do not, however, blame the ministers. One man preached Divine Sovereignty; I could hear him with pleasure, but what was that sublime truth to a poor sinner who wished to know what he must do to be saved? There was another admirable man who always preached about the law; but what was the use of ploughing up ground that needed to be sown? Another was a practical preacher. I heard him, but it was very much like a commanding officer teaching the manoeuvres of war to a set of men without feet. What could I do? All his exhortations were lost on me. I knew it, was said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved;" but I did not know what it was to believe on Christ. These good men all preached truths suited to many in their congregations who were spiritually-minded people; but what I wanted to know was,—"How can I get my sins forgiven?"—and they never told me that. I desired to hear how a poor sinner, under a sense of sin, might find peace with God; and when I went, I heard a sermon on "Be not deceived, God is not mocked," which cut me up still worse; but did not bring me into rest. I went again, another day, and the text was something about the glories of the righteous; nothing for poor me! I was like a dog under the table, not allowed to eat of the children's food. I went time after time, and I can honestly say that I do not know that I ever went without prayer to God, and I am sure there was not a more attentive hearer than myself in all the place, for I panted and longed to understand how I might be saved.

I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair until now had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm, one Sunday morning, while I was going to a certain place of worship. When I could go no further, I turned down a side street, and came to a little Primitive Methodist Chapel. In that chapel there may have been a dozen or fifteen people. I had heard of the Primitive Methodists, how they sang so loudly that they made people's heads ache; but that did not matter to me. I wanted to know how I might be saved, and if they could tell me that, I did not care how much they made my head ache.

The minister did not come that morning; he was snowed up, I suppose. At last, a very thin-looking man,* a shoemaker, or tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach. Now, it is well that preachers should be instructed; but this man was really stupid. He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had little else to say. The text was,—

"LOOK UNTO ME, AND BE YE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH."

He did not even pronounce the words rightly, but that did not matter. There was, I thought, a glimpse of hope for me in that text. The preacher began thus—"My dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed. It says, 'Look.' Now lookin' don't take a deal of pains. It ain't liftin' your foot or your finger; it is just, 'Look.' Well, a man needn't go to College to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look. A man needn't be worth a thousand a year to be able to look. Anyone can look; even a child can look. But then the text says, 'Look unto Me.' Ay!" said he, in broad Essex, "many on ye are lookin' to yourselves, but it's no use lookin' there. You'll never find any comfort in yourselves. Some look to God the Father. No, look to Him by-and-by. Jesus Christ says, 'Look unto Me.' Some on ye say, 'We must wait for the Spirit's workin'.' You have no business with that just now. Look to Christ. The text says, 'Look unto Me.'"

Then the good man followed up his text in this way:—"Look unto Me; I am sweatin' great drops of blood. Look unto Me; I am hangin' on the cross. Look unto Me; I am dead and buried. Look unto Me; I rise again. Look unto Me; I ascend to Heaven. Look unto Me; I am sittin' at the Father's right hand. O poor sinner, look unto Me! look unto Me!

When he had gone to about that length, and managed to spin out ten minutes or so, he was at the end of his tether. Then he looked at me under the gallery, and I daresay, with so few present, he knew me to be a stranger. Just fixing his eyes on me, as if he knew all my heart, he said, "Young man, you look very miserable." Well, I did; but I had not been accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit on my personal appearance before. However, it was a good blow, struck right home. He continued, "and you always will be miserable—miserable in life, and miserable in death,—if you don't obey my text; but if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved." Then, lifting up his hands, he shouted, as only a Primitive Methodist could do, "Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothin' to do but to look and live." I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said,—I did not take much notice of it,—I was so possessed with that one thought. Like as when the brazen serpent was lifted up, the people only looked and were healed, so it was with me. I had been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard that word, "Look!" what a charming word it seemed to me! Oh! I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away. There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that moment I saw the sun; and I could have risen that instant, and sung with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith which looks alone to Him. Oh, that somebody had told me this before, "Trust Christ, and you shall be saved." Yet it was, no doubt, all wisely ordered, and now I can say,—

"Ever since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die."

The History of O.M.

"What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

Enjoy this potted history of one of the greatest missionary organizations in the world today.It started so small yet continued to grew into a large and robust body of passionate, as well as compassionate missionaries.

You might also like to check out George Verwer's website and join with a network of OMers and others who are aiming with God's help to being about a transformation in the world.

Paul the Evangelist : The apostle who being constrained by love became all things to all men that he might win some for Christ.

If Peter saw more people come to faith in Christ (8000 after two sermons) than any other evangelist, Paul had probably the most dynamic and certainly the most far reaching,apart from Christ. He was truly the evangelist to the Gentiles, but not only so. He also preached to the Jews in the Synagogues until he was kicked out. The one time arch-enemy of the Christian Church was to become the fearless apostle.

After his dramatic conversion when he met the risen Christ on the Damascus road, God told Ananias a disciple in the city that Paul was ‘a chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles, and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he will suffer for my name sake’ Acts 9.15.This proved to be true -and suffer Paul did!

Paul was the product of three backgrounds, Jewish, Greek and Roman, which proved to be of great importance in his proclamation of the gospel. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews ( Phil 3.5), not merely a Greek speaking Jew but one who could speak Hebrew as well as being a Pharisee- who were the purest of the pure. He was also brought up in Tarsus and educated in a Greek environment,hence when the situation required it, he could quote Greek poets and philosophers when preaching to win a hearing with the Greeks he was seeking to reach for Christ ( Athens). Paul was also a Roman citizen and was (several times)to use this to his advantage, such as getting a fair trial( though this didn’t always happen).

We also have a unique background, the value of which we should not underestimate( or overestimate) that may provide a key for us to go through doors to reach people that other Christians may not be able to go through ( can you think of any examples?).

Paul’s own conversion also had a great impact upon the rest of his life and ministry. On the Damascus when he was literally confronted by Christ he was told he had been persecuting Christ himself. This was because he had been involved in the deaths and persecution of many Christians including Stephen. What astounds me is that Stephen actually prayed,while he was being stoned, in imitation of Jesus, that God would not hold their sin against them. If this did not shake up Paul at the time,after his conversion when he had time to reflect upon it, it must surely have had an impact on his life and teaching.

To study the lessons that we could learn from Paul with regard to evangelism would take many weeks so I will only look at a few of them very briefly.What for instance made him such a great troubadour of Christ? I believe this was obviously to do with his close relationship with God.In his letters he often writes of this intimacy when he speaks of the believer not only being 'in Christ' but of Christ also being in the believer. In Galations he also made the amazing confession 'I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me'.Paul didn't however make out that he alone could have this close relationship, rather he invited all believers to imitate him as he had imitated Christ (1 Cor. 11:1).

Another important aspect to Paul's life and ministry was that he was empowered by the Holy Spirit and in turn encouraged those who believed to be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5.18).Also Like Christ he knew 'his calling' in life, in his case, as an apostle to the Gentiles, as well as that of a teacher and prophet.If we are lacking in spiritual power we are encouraged in scripture to ask the Father to fill us with the good gift of His Spirit and also ask Him what his will for our life is.

Most people when they think of Paul, rarely think of him as a great lover of humankind. I have heard him being called a misogynist or a dictator or single minded, but never as compassionate or winsome or loving. But those who don’t believe he had compassion like his Master, in my view don’t know him or fully understand him.

For the rest of this study see the first comment of this post.

An indiscriminate act of kindness : Foy Vance

In Ulster during 'the troubles' we experienced many 'indiscriminate acts of violence'.I'm sure Mr Vance is playing on this phrase which he uses to powerful effect.I also like the phrase 'random acts of kindness'. As Christ's followers we must always be open to being the vessels of such actions. I only recently heard this singer and can wholeheartedly say 'enjoy'.

She came from the cold wet
Dropped her luggage bags
Looked the concierge in the eye
Said, 'I need a room for the night,
But I don't got no money.
Would you take payment of any kind?'

He said, 'It's alright
I got a room here, you can share mine.
Make the bed in the morning and that'll do fine.
You can change in the bathroom,
Hang your clothes on the line.'
A tear came to her eye
She thought how could he be so kind
How could he be so kind (x2)

She sat down on the bed with a needle
He said, 'I'd hate to see you bleed,
Just fetch a warm towel,
I'll sit with you til you're dry.'
She started to cry
Said, 'Why? why? why? why? why? why?'

Consider it an indiscriminate act of kindness.
(x3)

She was cold turkey
He was holding her hand
She said, 'I was ruined by man,
This was never in my plans.
I dreamed of men who loved me,
Together we'd see the world.
Somehow I lost myself among the insults they hurled.'

'I'm sure your a wonderful woman,
And someday there will surely be someone.
So just relax now, it's important that you're calm.'

She said, 'How is it you can see past me as I am?'

Consider it an indiscriminate act of kindness.
(x3)

'When you took your chances,
It was like you placed a bet.
And sometimes this is the reward you can get.
I was always taught
If you see someone defiled,
You should look them in the eyes and smile,
And take their heart, no better yet
Take them home, home, home.'

She awoke early in the morning
Made the bed, gathered up her clothes to leave
Saw the concierge curled on the settee
Said, 'What you did for me was hard for me to believe.'

'I was just doing what was right.
No one that knows love could leave you out there on such a night.
If you can help someone,
Bare this in mind
And consider it an indiscriminate act of kindness.'

Consider it an indiscriminate act of kindness.
(x7)

Jesus the Master Evangelist invites each of us to be trained as fishers of men.

In this short series we will be looking at different New Testament evangelists Paul, Peter, Andrew and Philip(Peter and Philip can be found in a few recent posts).

However each one of these evangelist learnt from the Master Himself. Christ also invites each of us to learn from Him and to allow Him to make us 'fishers of men'.

The importance of Personal Evangelism

Imagine the situation where one Christian leads only one person to the Lord in a year. Then in the following year that same Christian invests their time bringing that new convert into spiritual maturity. The next year, the two Christians then each lead a person to the Lord and spend a year leading them into spiritual maturity. Every year, this doubling process will continue. As a result, in 20 years there would be one million converts!


When Andrew brought Peter to Christ, Peter later led 3000 to Christ on the day of Pentecost. When a Sunday school teacher brought D.L.Moody to Christ, through him, millions came to Christ.


Jesus himself also showed us through his parables and stories how the Church would grow through multiplication (Matt. 13- Parable of the Sower and the Mustard seed) These I believe were to encourage the disciples to keep on doing the work of evangelism.


Jesus: The example of an evangelistic lifestyle


1. He lived a life of intimacy and obedience to the Father. ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.’ (John 5 19-21).

2. Jesus ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit

‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor’ (Lk 4.18).

3. He knew his mission which was ‘to seek and save the lost’ (Lk.19.10).


Jesus and the woman at the well a model for personal evangelism(John 4)
In his relationship with the woman notice:

1. His relevance. Just before Jesus had been talking to Nicodemas ,Jewish male and learned Pharisee. He doesn’t use the same language but tailors it to suit the woman. He asks for water then offers her living water things which she could relate to.

2.His humanity and naturalness. Despite the different backgrounds and the breaking of social taboos ( the Jews do not associate with the Samaritans:Today read Roman Catholics , Muslims, Hindu’s. J.W.’s ) Jesus puts her at her ease.

3. His knowledge. Jesus knew the history of the relationship between the Samaritans and Jews. ( It is therefore important to know about those who we seek to reach though studying other religions, races etc so we don‘t make serious social mistakes that will alienate them ).Jesus also was given supernatural knowledge regarding the woman’s husbands.

4. His moral integrity and directness. It was not ‘easy believism’. He confronted her with her sin which she was prepared to acknowledge.

5.He refused to be side tracked. His goal was that she put her faith in him. Her question over the Jewish/Samaritan divide is not dismissed but neither does it deflect Him.

6. His compassion and sensitivity. ‘People want to know that we care before they care about what we know.’ Jesus deals with her as a woman in her own right. He takes into account her background : religious, moral and emotional. He could easily have condemned her out of hand. It was for those like her he came to save. ‘our failures in evangelism are often failures in love.’


Notice in this story recounted by John that Jesus was always sensitive to what his Father was doing.It should be noted that in doing sensitive personal evangelism that God will often be working with the person we are trying to reach in a way we will never understand. Such a divine appointment might be viewed as a door that God has opened for us which must then walk through.

In the story of Jesus with the woman at the well we see that he was both tired and thirsty and had merely asked the woman for a drink, but out of this meeting a great revival was to break out in the village. It was the woman who brought the question of religion and spirituality into the conversation not Jesus,then from this Jesus was able to respond in kind, this time offering her 'living water'. She gave him the opening which he walked through. Consider the many examples of how an effective message was proclaimed in response to a question from a seeker.

a)The Philippian Jailer who had experienced the earthquake and only for Paul and Silas would have killed himself cried out ‘ What must I do to be saved’ (Acts 16.30).

b) In response to the 'Speaking of tongues' at Pentecost some of the Jews asked ‘What does this mean’ (Acts2 v12). From this event three thousand became believers.

c) When Peter and John healed the beggar the crowd came running to them obviously wanted them to give some sort of explanation. The healing was also in response to a question. It says the number of men grew to about 5000 (Acts 3).


It would therefore seem that God the Father had prepared these people for the ‘evangelist’ who was to become something of a spiritual midwife. His job was to lead the person to faith even though the greater work of the Spirit had been going on apart from him. This takes the glory away from the evangelist who is merely an instrument in the hands of God.

Notice also how Paul in his letters often refers to having a door opened for the message
‘And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains’ (Colossians 4:3.See also 2 Cor 2.12., 1 Cor 16.9)


Giving out tracts with sensitivity

Even in the ministry of giving out tracts we should also be looking for evidence that God is working in this way. Our aim is connect. Sometimes when we give out tracts the person does not want to talk. They are possibly too busy or uninterested at that time: we should always let them walk away. We must respect that. We can not force them or cajole them against there wishes (we are actually asking them for a favour : to take a tract). But if ,when we ask them would they like a pamphlet ( I don’t normally use the word tract), they smile and take it gratefully, I sometimes take this as an invitation to speak further. They may of course be Christians but on the other hand they may possibly be interested by Christian things and would be prepared to have a spiritual conversation.

I would then ask them are they a Christian. Nowadays the word ‘Christian’ can be ambiguous for some and they will not feel threatened by it. Depending on their answer it may result in a fruitful conversation. If on the other hand you ask them are they ‘born again’ or ‘saved’ this may cause a person to get their back up right away and the conversation might end sooner than hoped. Though these are biblical concepts, nowadays they carry so much baggage that I personally prefer not to use them. Jesus certainly used the term ‘born again ’ to Nicodemas but he was the only one and he was trained in the Scriptures. Jesus used different approaches with different people.


General conversations with non Christians.

In this story Jesus started with the natural and finished with the spiritual. He acknowledged his natural thirst and went on to speak of her spiritual thirst ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water’


At the end of the day most people will acknowledge that there is something beyond the natural realm. Even David Beckham one of the most ‘worldly wise’ who has everything the world has to offer acknowledged once that he had ‘a spirituality‘.

In this Post-modern era, spirituality is popular and people are willing to talk about it. Let us talk to them and listen in order to be able to understand what they are saying. If we do this, and listen to the Spirit within we can respond with words that are both relevant and effective. If we don’t listen well to them they may well do the same to us.

Can we too have an evangelistic lifestyle like Christ: Having an intimate relationship with God;Being empowered by the Holy Spirit and also having a sense of the call of God 'to seek and save that which was lost'.

I believe we can. Jesus invites us to come follow him and he would make us fishers of me. He also invites us to come to him, take his yoke and learn from him. To add to this, even when we fall and fail seven times a day, he encourages us again and again to stand on our feet again as he is gentle and lowly of heart. We just need a willing and good heart to serve him.

As regards intimacy with God he tells us to abide in Him and that if we love him and obey his commandments he promises that he and his Father would come and make their dwelling in us.

As regards being empowered by the Holy Spirit-He declares to all the thirsty:'If any man thirsts, let him come onto me and drink and out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.'

As regards the call of God, what more could be plainer Jesus declared to his disciples: 'As the Father has sent me:so I send you.

Charles Wesley writes:

'Now is the time no more delay,now is the acceptable day,
Come in this moment at His call and live for Him who died for all.

My gracious Master and my God assist me to proclaim
To spread through all the earth abroad the honours of His name'

Paul writes here for both his own ministry and that of the Church in general.
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Colossians 4.2-6)


Meditation

‘COME FOLLOW ME AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN’.

Christmas Greetings to all who read this blog: 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing'

The Gaze of the Soul by A.W.Tozer

This is a inspiring essay taken from Tozer's book 'THe pursuit of God'. The rest of the book can be found on my favourite links.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
Heb.12:2

Let us think of our intelligent plain man mentioned coming for the first time to the reading of the Scriptures. He approaches the Bible without any previous knowledge of what it contains. He is wholly without prejudice; he has nothing to prove and nothing to defend.
Such a man will not have read long until his mind begins to observe certain truths standing out from the page. They are the spiritual principles behind the record of God's dealings with men, and woven into the writings of holy men as they `were moved by the Holy Ghost.' As he reads on he might want to number these truths as they become clear to him and make a brief summary under each number. These summaries will be the tenets of his Biblical creed. Further reading will not affect these points except to enlarge and strengthen them. Our man is finding out what the Bible actually teaches. High up on the list of things which the Bible teaches will be the doctrine of faith.
The place of weighty importance which the Bible gives to faith will be too plain for him to miss. He will very likely conclude: Faith is all- important in the life of the soul. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). Faith will get me anything, take me anywhere in the Kingdom of God, but without faith there can be no approach to God, no forgiveness, no deliverance, no salvation, no communion, no spiritual life at all.
By the time our friend has reached the eleventh chapter of Hebrews the eloquent encomium which is there pronounced upon faith will not seem strange to him. He will have read Paul's powerful defense of faith in his Roman and Galatian epistles. Later if he goes on to study church history he will understand the amazing power in the teachings of the Reformers as they showed the central place of faith in the Christian religion.
Now if faith is so vitally important, if it is an indispensable must in our pursuit of God, it is perfectly natural that we should be deeply concerned over whether or not we possess this most precious gift. And our minds being what they are, it is inevitable that sooner or later we should get around to inquiring after the nature of faith. What is faith? would lie close to the question, Do I have faith? and would demand an answer if it were anywhere to be found. Almost all who preach or write on the subject of faith have much the same things to say concerning it. They tell us that it is believing a promise, that it is taking God at His word, that it is reckoning the Bible to be true and stepping out upon it. The rest of the book or sermon is usually taken up with stories of persons who have had their prayers answered as a result of their faith. These answers are mostly direct gifts of a practical and temporal nature such as health, money, physical protection or success in business. Or if the teacher is of a philosophic turn of mind he may take another course and lose us in a welter of metaphysics or snow us under with psychological jargon as he defines and re-defines, paring the slender hair of faith thinner and thinner till it disappears in gossamer shavings at last. When he is finished we get up disappointed and go out `by that same door where in we went.' Surely there must be something better than this.
In the Scriptures there is practically no effort made to define faith. Outside of a brief fourteen-word definition in Hebrews 11:1, I know of no Biblical definition, and even there faith is defined functionally, not philosophically; that is, it is a statement of what faith is in operation, not what it is in essence. It assumes the presence of faith and shows what it results in, rather than what it is. We will be wise to go just that far and attempt to go no further. We are told from whence it comes and by what means: `Faith is a gift of God,' (Eph 2:8) and `Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.' (Rom 10:17) This much is clear, and, to paraphrase Thomas à Kempis, `I had rather exercise faith than know the definition thereof.'
From here on, when the words `faith is' or their equivalent occur in this chapter I ask that they be understood to refer to what faith is in operation as exercised by a believing man. Right here we drop the notion of definition and think about faith as it may be experienced in action. The complexion of our thoughts will be practical, not theoretical.
In a dramatic story in the Book of Numbers faith is seen in action. Israel became discouraged and spoke against God, and the Lord sent fiery serpents among them. `And they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.' Then Moses sought the Lord for them and He heard and gave them a remedy against the bite of the serpents. He commanded Moses to make a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole in sight of all the people, `and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.' Moses obeyed, `and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived' (Num.21:4-9)
In the New Testament this important bit of history is interpreted for us by no less an authority than our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He is explaining to His hearers how they may be saved. He tells them that it is by believing. Then to make it clear He refers to this incident in the Book of Numbers. `As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life' (John 3:14-15).
Our plain man in reading this would make an important discovery. He would notice that `look' and `believe' were synonymous terms. `Looking' on the Old Testament serpent is identical with `believing' on the New Testament Christ. That is, the looking and the believing are the same thing. And he would understand that while Israel looked with their external eyes, believing is done with the heart. I think he would conclude that faith is the gaze of a soul upon a saving God.
When he had seen this he would remember passages he had read before, and their meaning would come flooding over him. `They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed' (Ps.34:5). `Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us' (Ps.123:1-2). Here the man seeking mercy looks straight at the God of mercy and never takes his eyes away from Him till mercy is granted. And our Lord Himself looked always at God. `Looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the bread to his disciples' (Matt.14:19).Indeed Jesus taught that He wrought His works by always keeping His inward eyes upon His Father. His power lay in His continuous look at God (John 5:19-21).
In full accord with the few texts we have quoted is the whole tenor of the inspired Word. It is summed up for us in the Hebrew epistle when we are instructed to run life's race `looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.' (Hebr 12:2) From all this we learn that faith is not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God.
The rest of this essay is found as a first comment on this post. AK

Philip the Evangelist: A man filled with the Holy Spirit

Both Philip and Stephen were among the first deacons in the first Church in Jerusalem that were marked as being full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Stephen became the first martyr and Philip became the first Christian who was known as an evangelist. He was a married man and Acts records that he had four daughters who were all prophetesses (Acts 21.9).

Things had not being going well for the Church as they were under immense pressure from the Jews primarily led by Saul. Nevertheless as Tertullian the early Christian writer wrote: The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church'.

It was the banishment of Philip from his hometown that resulted in many Samaritans finding Christ and it proved to be that the death of Stephen resulted in the salvation of Saul and his great witness to the Gentiles. We must therefore never underestimate what God through his Spirit may be doing 'unseen' in disappointments or outside pressures that we have no control over. God may actually, in love, be forcing us out of our comfort zones in order that He may use us in ways we never imagined. We must therefore always refer back to Him with the prayer: 'Why is this happening',what are you saying to me in this situation', or as Paul said after his confrontation with the risen Christ when he lost his sight: 'What would you have me to do.'

It might not always appear to be significant but at the very least it would mean drawing close to Christ for succour and help in such a time of need (Hebrews 4.16). I sometimes wonder why Paul ended in prison so often, perhaps the Lord wanted to minister to him and allow him time to pray and reflect-and write.

Stephen was not only an evangelist but also had the gift of miracles being able to heal the sick as well as cast out demons. In Samaria we see Philip as a sort of mass evangelist (Acts 8.4-25), but we also see him as a personal evangelist when he deals with the Ethiopian eunuch ( v 26-40). In God's dealing with the latter it reveals to us his concern for the individual and how he will use his servants to reach those individuals.

The first mission to Samaria seemed to be almost forced upon Philip and others through the onslaught of persecution. Philip's mission to the eunuch would appear to have been more directive with 'an angel of the Lord' directing him to a certain area where he would meet a prominent member of the Ethiopian government. There are perhaps times when the Spirit moves us and speaks to us more clearly than other times. Certainly if we are not open to Him speaking to us we are less likely to hear.



How does God speak to us today? Have you heard Him speak to you recently through his living word or through a sermon or book or even through 'a still small voice' from within? In the first lecture we saw that Jesus had an intimacy with the Father and did only what he saw his Father doing. He also said that his sheep knew his voice. It is through the experience of listening to him, then stepping out on his word that will teach us to discern the Shepherd's gentle voice from the Adversary's lies.

In the instance with the eunuch, Philip does not need to rush or push too hard to discover that God has opened up the wonderful opportunity to witness. The eunuch was reading Isaiah 53 out loud which was how they read in those days (Stott).He was at least 'a God Fearer' if not a Jewish convert and had just been to Jerusalem to worship. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading and was then invited on to the chariot to explain the meaning of the passage. Then Philip 'beginning with this Scripture he told the good news about Jesus.' Philip didn't have his pet verses or his 4 Spiritual laws that he had to impress upon the eunuch, but rather started where the seeker was and from that explained to him the way of salvation. The result was that the Eunuch believed and wanted to be baptised! After he baptised the eunuch his work was then done. Philip was then called away to preach and minister in other areas. The eunuch armed with spiritual food 'went on his way rejoicing'.

What lessons can we learn from Philip?

1. Experiencing difficult times in forcing us out of our comfort zone can provide opportunities for us to witness for Christ. Would Philip have preached to those in Samaria and later to the Ethiopian otherwise?

2.Philip by listening to God was open to what the Spirit was doing. Have you ever felt God speak to you in regard to moving out of your comfort zone?

3.Philip was prepared to preach to the Samaritans who were half Jew, half Gentile and saw great fruit. Would we be prepared to speak to those who are different from us?

4. The Ethiopian eunuch had been spiritually prepared for Philip by the Holy Spirit. Have you met people that are 'not far from the kingdom' who only need an encouragement or word of invitation to become a disciple of Christ? In this situation little sowing is required but the important work of reaping certainly is.

5. Paul encourages us to be filled with the Spirit continually. When was the last time we asked God for more love, more power, more of the Spirit in our lives?

6. Jesus declared that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1. 8.). Where is your Samaria?


MEDITATION

' On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"

John 7.37-38

PETER THE EVANGELIST WHO LEARNED TO LISTEN BEFORE HE SPOKE

THe martydom of St Peter took place in Rome under the emperor Nero around A.D.62-64. As far as we know from tradition, he showed no fear at his execution, in fact it is recorded that he told the guards that he wanted to be crucified upside down as he was not worthy to be killed the same way as his Master.He was originally brought to Jesus by his brother Andrew (John 1.41-43)and later Jesus then called both Andrew and Peter at the Sea of Galilee saying to them :‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’(Mk1.14).

At another time whenthe two brothers were out in their boat and had failed to catch any fish Jesus told them to cast their nets into the deeper waters to which Peter replied: ‘we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."(Lk.5.5) As a result of their action they caught so many that Peter fell down at Jesus’ knee and cried out:”Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord". Jesus then responded to him and said; "Don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." Peter therefore knew at an early stage the ministry that he would one day have.

It should be noted that in any list of the disciples recorded in the gospels Peter is always mentioned first and among the inner three along with John and James. Peter was truly devoted to his Master, however sometimes he was too quick to show it,which resulted in failure.It would seem that when he had first of all listened to Jesus then obeyed him, things went well; however when he took the initiative in order to help Jesus out, he ended up letting himself down.

For instance in Matthew 16.13-23 we see these both happening. First of all Jesus asked the question: ‘but who do you say that I am?’to which Peter repliesd: ‘you are the Christ the Son of the living God’. This was good and Peter was commended by Jesus, who then told him that it was the Father who had revealed this to him...
However shortly after when Jesus was describing what would happen to him in Jerusalem with regard to his suffering, death and resurrection, Peter starts to rebuke Him. This Jesus did not commend, rather strongly rebuking with the words: ‘get thee behind me Satan you are a hindrance to me, you are not setting your mind on the things of God but of man.’ Poor Peter!

In the story of Jesus walking on the water, again Peter wants to get involved. This time he asks Jesus: ‘Lord if it is you will command me to come to you on the water.’ This Jesus did and Peter succeeded in walking on the water, at least until he started to doubt.

Some time afterwards, Peter, despite Jesus stating the opposite, boasted that though all would leave Jesus during his time of trial, he would not. Jesus then predicted that he would deny him three times! After Peter denied his Master he was probably very much a broken man,but it is recorded that the Lord had prayed for him and prepared the way for him to be fully restored.

In John 21 which records the events after the death and resurrection of Jesus we read the story of the disciples being unable to catch any fish, even though they had been fishing all night. The next morning on discovering that they hadn’t caught any, Jesus teld them to cast out on the right side and immediately they caught a full load. John then realised it was the Lord and told the rest. At this, Peter, fully clothed jumped in the sea and made for the shore. Remember that the last time a similar event took place Jesus had promised Peter that he would from then on catch men. Perhaps he thought, despite his failure, that Jesus still had a work for him to do!

When the rest of the disciples arrived on the shore Jesus had already prepared a fire to cook the fish. Remember again that when Peter denied the Lord it was beside a fire. I’m sure when Peter saw any type of fire it brought him pangs of guilt and shame as it remind him how he denied his Master. But here we see how the Lord in his mercy brought him back to the fire, but instead of denial Peter was able to affirm three times his love, and three times the Lord commissioned him to feed his sheep and tend his lambs.

Gone was Peter’s boasting, instead a great sense of humility when he stated in his third reply: ‘Lord you know all things you know that I love you.’
Peter was no longer the self confident apostle but one who had been chastened by the Lord and had learned to listen before he spoke out of turn.

In Acts 2 it is recorded that on the day of Pentecost when the disciples started to speak in tongues Peter responded to the people’s comments : ‘they have had too much wine’ with an explanation, then a sermon which ultimately saw three thousand come to the Lord.

Peter’s next opportunity came after he healed the cripple at the gate called Beautiful (Acts3). After the healing had caused such a stir Peter again gave the people an first an explanation, then a sermon, and even though he and John were both arrested, five thousand believed through their message!

Note that these were not evangelistic crusades as such with lots of organization with lots of money spent on publicity. On the morning of these events Peter did not even intend to preach a sermon, though I'm sure he was always open to the Spirit's leading. He just responded to the commotion of the speaking in tongues and the healing in a dignified way, through explanation, then a sermon.

The gospel reaching the Gentiles was in the first place due to a God given vision, and obedience to the Spirit (Acts 10). It was not Peter’s own idea for sure- in fact he was, if anything a little hesitant. Peter’s letters also do not portray the brash evangelist. He seems concerned with Christians being a good witness in the world and staying steadfast in the midst of suffering and trial. He does however have a few things to say about speaking the words of Christ or words for Christ.

In 1 Peter 3 he tells wives not to preach at their non-Christian husbands, rather that they might be won without a word if their behaviour is right.In verse 15 of the same chapter Peter also writes: ‘But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect’.

Always be prepared like the scouts. Like Jesus with the woman at the well he was prepared for what the Father opened up for him. If we do not expect to see doors open we more than likely will miss them. We must learn to see and seize them! We must still be gentle and respectful as Jesus was with the woman at the well, and as Paul was with the woman who were praying along with Lydia by the river.

We don’t need to be brash , we don’t need to bully people. We just need to be willing and prepared to speak when He does open up the door. We must also be willing to persevere and not give up at the first sign of inconvenience or trouble.

I used to think that Jesus and the apostles just preached and always got great results in terms of people becoming followers of Christ. Then one day I read again one of my favourite verses: ‘Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me’. It made me think of Him knocking and waiting at the doors of the hearts of men and women.How long did he have to wait for us. Think of how many times we ignored his knocking before we responded. Are we sometimes too ready to give up on people too soon?He waited for us can we not wait in his name for others.We like instant coffee but we will never get instant saints.

Peter learned to listen to the Spirit within as well as listening to the people. Despite that he still needed boldness to take the opportunities when God had opened them up to him.

It didn’t have to be an organised evangelistic event (was there any in the New Testament or were they all spontaneous?, but it could be just going about doing everyday things: that is what makes the Christian life exciting.

Peter was no longer self reliant but God reliant and seeking always to please the Master, practising the presence of God.