Dr Paul Allen

IF YOU LIVE A COMMITTED CHRISTIAN LIFE BUT NEVER SHARE THE GOSPEL VERBALLY, THEN HOW DOES YOUR NON-CHRISTIAN NEIGHBOUR KNOW THE SOURCE OF YOUR HOPE? CONVERSELY, IF YOU COMMUNICATE THE GOSPEL VERBALLY BUT ARE A COMPLETE JERK IN THE PROCESS, THEN THOSE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE MAY WELL FALL ON DEAF EARS. By Timothy K. Beougher Bible-believing Christians know they are called to be Christ’s witnesses (Acts 1:8) and to commit their lives to making disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18–20). But some Christians have never begun the exciting adventure of sharing their faith, while others may witness it sporadically but not consistently. How can believers cultivate a Great Commission lifestyle? In this article, I share advice for cultivating and maintaining evangelism as a way of life. The Importance of Verbal Proclamation Evangelism is not “mere presence.” We often hear that faulty perspective expressed today. Individuals declare, “I’m just going to witness with my life and let my life do the talk...

For years, I’ve written articles and books about evangelism. On the surface, this looks like a desire to help foster evangelism in the Christian community. And it’s true; I do desire that. But on a deeper level, it stems from working out my internal angst concerning evangelism. How do I present the gospel honestly and boldly without needlessly offending? How do I ensure I don’t slip into heresy by adding or subtracting from the gospel? When do I need to remember that the gospel is offensive to those who love their sin and rebellion and that their distaste for the gospel has nothing to do with me at all? Can you identify with this inner struggle? After decades of asking myself questions like these, I'd like to offer seven suggestions for you to keep in mind as you consider how to get started in evangelism. 1 1. Sweep away misconceptions in your head about evangelism. It’s easy to listen to well-meaning believers and get the wrong idea about evangelism. The mistaken ideas are almost ...

We live in an increasingly pluralistic society. Ironically, it tends to celebrate diverse religious views while criticizing attempts at religious conversion. Critics accuse evangelism of objectifying the people it seeks to convert. What should Christians make of this claim? To objectify people with our actions simply means to treat them as objects or tools rather than as persons. Often, it’s to use others as a means to an end rather than treating each and every human being as an end in and of themselves. If Christians fail to honour, respect, and love the person we’re witnessing, it’s possible we could be guilty of this charge. Chandler Moore However, we should also realize there’s nothing inherent to evangelism that objectifies people. Rather, evangelism respects the intelligence and agency of others while simultaneously considering them as immensely valuable individuals. Dignify Others Evangelism can and should be a holistic way of engaging others in an effort to convince them of wha...

It’s not easy to initiate gospel conversations in a secular age. There can be various reasons: perhaps unhurried interactions are rare, the vibe isn’t conducive to profound moments, or we fall into relational and conversational ruts that make the thought of going there seem painfully awkward. But what if the reasons for our silence go deeper? One way to become reinvigorated for a task is to reflect on what keeps us from doing it in the first place. Here, then, are three common reasons we keep quiet. 1. We ignore our context. In a post-Christian age, we can’t presume any basic assumptions in those we’re trying to reach with the gospel. So we must lean in and listen well to climb into our neighbour’s way of seeing and inhabiting the world. Otherwise, we’ll speak about terms—even biblical ones—that’ll be misunderstood or rejected outright. “God loves you” is great news but meaningless if you don’t understand the nature of God (or, for that matter, love). “You are a sinner” is true, but me...

Worthen is a historian at the University of North Carolina and a journalist who has written extensively and sometimes critically of evangelicalism. In this interview, however, Worthen shares how she came to Christ last year after being a sceptic for virtually her whole life. I cannot highly recommend enough Collin Hansen’s  interview  with historian and journalist Molly Worthen (watch or listen below). I listened to it this morning, and it is one of the most encouraging testimonies I have ever heard. Worthen is a historian at the University of North Carolina and a journalist who has written extensively and sometimes critically about evangelicalism. In this interview, however, Worthen shares how she came to Christ last year after being a sceptic for her whole life. It is really a remarkable story. It is so easy to become cynical. Even for Christians, there is a powerful temptation to let the darkness of our time obscure the fact that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin...

My family's beloved thirteen-year-old dog is named Keller. Every day he serves as a reminder of how a certain Presbyterian pastor in New York City influenced me in the early stages of my faith. I continue to admire him, even if I have turned elsewhere for guidance in our contemporary political moment.  If you were evangelical during the 2000s, Tim Keller was a name you couldn’t avoid. After completing theological studies at Gordon-Conwell in 1975, Keller accepted a senior pastor position in rural Virginia. He honed his preaching craft there, delivering multiple sermons a week for nine years. In the late 1980s, he started a church in New York City, which became Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Starting in 1989 with only fifty members, Redeemer eventually drew upward of 5,000 people on Sundays and launched a church planting network that has led to over 800 new churches in cities worldwide. The late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus noted in these pages that impressive work was happening in Kelle...

“May these precious seasons make me fruitful.” These words, found in the diary of a certain Isaac Staveley, who worked as a clerk for coal merchants in London during the 1770s, were written after he had celebrated the Lord’s Supper with his church, Eagle Street Baptist Church, in 1771. In the rest of this diary, Staveley makes it evident that the celebration of the death of the Christ at the Table was a highlight of his Christian life. On the evening of March 3, he recorded that he and fellow members “came around the table of our dear dying Lord to feast on the sacrifice of his offered body, show his death afresh, to claim and recognize our interest therein, to feast on the sacrifice of his offered body as happy members of the same family of faith and love.” How many today view the Table this way? Packed into these few words, Staveley reveals his conviction that the Lord’s Supper was a place of communion — communion with Christ and with his people. It was a place of spiritual nurture a...

If sharing the gospel sounds like we’re saying, “Come to Jesus for a better life,” we’re doing it wrong. In a day when religion is appreciated for its moral or therapeutic benefits, someone will hear us telling them about Jesus and presume we’re trying to sell them a version of personal, privatized spirituality. One good option among many. Even when that’s not what we say, that’s what people hear. Just Share Your Testimony? “Sharing your testimony” doesn’t avoid the problem; it sometimes makes the challenge more difficult. I once heard someone recommend a method of evangelism that relied solely on personal testimony. “No one can argue with your testimony!” he said. Exactly. That’s why it’s insufficient. If you talk to your neighbor about what Jesus means to you and how being a Christian has made your life better, how will you respond when your neighbor smiles and says, “I’m so glad Jesus has made your life better.  Here’s a mindfulness app that’s given me peace . . .” or “I’ve been...

Christian leaders often motivate others to talk about Jesus by appealing to guilt, duty, or even shame. I endured many sermons that told me I should share my faith, and I would if only I loved Jesus more. I left these messages feeling like a failure. And I didn’t feel closer to Jesus or inspired to talk about him. Now, as someone who regularly and joyfully talks to others about Jesus, I think differently about evangelism. The secret to evangelism—and something I missed for many years—is identity. When we miss this, we perceive evangelism as a guilt-driven task rather than part of joyful intimacy with God. We can define this identity from a key verb in Scripture—the often-overlooked word “sent.” In John 20:21 Jesus said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” Core Principles The sent identity operates from three core principles that can significantly change how we live even our most ordinary days. When we believe these biblical principles, our homes, n...

I’m a big proponent of using the Bible in evangelism . I want the book open with me when sharing the Gospel. I want the unbeliever to be looking down in the Bible, I want them to be hearing the Bible, If possible I want them to be able to quote some of the bible by the end of our conversation. I believe with all my heart that faith (only) comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God. (Rom. 10:17) But over the years I have found myself using the pilgrim’s progress at some point during an evangelistic encounter.  Early on at the end of long gospel conversations, I found myself not knowing what to do next. Of course, I’m not going to lead someone in a sinners prayer. As a believer in God’s sovereignty in salvation, I didn’t want to manipulate someone into making a false profession. At the same time, I wanted them to understand the urgency of what they heard and the importance of what had just occurred in their life. So, I always had this dilemma, how do I finish this conversati...

FLABBY CHRISTIANS > NOT PHYSICAL BUT SPIRITUAL! I agree that often Christians in the West are immature. I agree our walk doesn’t always match our talk. But I also think the average Christian is about 3000 bible verses overweight. The way many leaders approach maturity is to assume that knowledge produces maturity. Since when? It’s wonderful that people understand what they believe, but knowledge in and of itself is not a hallmark of Christian maturity. As Paul says, knowledge puffs up. Love, by contrast, builds up. And some of the most biblically literate people in Jesus day got by-passed as disciples. The goal is not to know, but to do something with what you know.  I wrote more on why our definition of Christian maturity needs to change here. 7 TRUTHS ABOUT AUTHENTIC DISCIPLESHIP Here are seven things I believe are true about biblical discipleship church leaders today should reclaim: 1.  Jesus Commanded Us To Make Disciples, Not Be Disciples. The way many Christians talk,...